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NEW YORK ISLANDERS 5 @ BUFFALO SABRES 2
Goaltending match-up: Nathan Lawson (10/10, left knee injured) & Kevin Poulin (26/28, .929 SV%) vs. Ryan Miller (8/10, .800 SV%) & Patrick Lalime (16/19, .842 SV%)
Combos: Matt Moulson - John Tavares - P.A. Parenteau/ Michael Grabner - Frans Nielsen - Kyle Okposo/ Blake Comeau - Rob Schremp - Josh Bailey/ Matt Martin - Zenon Konopka - Jeremy Colliton/ Travis Hamonic - Andrew MacDonald/ Radek Martinek - Jack Hillen/ Dylan Reese - Bruno Gervais
Scratches: Gillies, DiPietro
Top PP times: Parenteau (3:08), Tavares (2:49), Moulson (2:40), MacDonald (2:36), Okposo (1:51)
Trending: John Tavares (1A, 6 SOG) netted three goals against the Sabres in the last match-up and he’s been going gangbusters in general for the last five weeks. Michael Grabner (2G, +1, 0:49 PP, 5 SOG) has potted goals in four straight with points in five in a row. He also had six consecutive games of at least 3 SOG coming in here too. He added the ENG, which also provided Kyle Okposo (1A, 2 PIM, 2 SOG) with his first point of the season in his second start. Andrew MacDonald (1A, +2, no SOG) had six January points before tonight and Matt Moulson (1G, 2 SOG) had been blanked in his past two since registering three helpers against this game club on Jan. 15. Rob Schremp (2A, +2, no PP, 2 SOG) had three points in seven affairs headed into this evening. Travis Hamonic (1A, +2, 2 SOG) has chipped in helpers in three of his past five, but also had six different “minus” games to his credit this month coming in. P.A. Parenteau (1G, 2 SOG) had four points in four tilts coming in here. Blake Comeau (1A, +1, 0:21 PP, 1 SOG) reached 30 points on the season and kept his January point-per-game average alive.
Combos: Thomas Vanek - Jochen Hecht - Jason Pominville/ Tyler Ennis - Tim Connolly - Cody McCormick/ Marc-Andre Gragnani - Rob Niedermayer - Mike Grier/ Nathan Gerbe - Paul Gaustad - Patrick Kaleta/ Shaone Morrisonn - Tyler Myers/ Jordan Leopold - Steve Montador/ Mike Weber - Andrej Sekera
Scratches: Stafford, Butler, Rivet
Top PP times: Vanek (3:30), Connolly (3:30), Pominville (3:23), Leopold (3:07), Sekera (2:16)
Trending: Nathan Gerbe (2G, +1, 2 PIM, 1:40 PP, 8 SOG) broke the shutout bid and has points in four of six with goals in three in five. He scored two quickies in a matter of five seconds!
MONTREAL CANADIENS 7 @ OTTAWA SENATORS 1
Goaltending match-up: Carey Price (33/34, .971 SV%) vs. Mike Brodeur (11/15, .733 SV%) & Brian Elliott (17/20, .850 SV%)
Combos: Max Pacioretty - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta/ Andrei Kostitsyn - Tomas Plekanec - Lars Eller/ Benoit Pouliot - David Desharnais - Mathieu Darche/ Ryan White - Andreas Engqvist - Travis Moen/ James Wisniewski - Roman Hamrlik/ Hal Gill - P.K. Subban/ Yannick Weber - Jaroslav Spacek
Scratches: Halpern, Picard, Pyatt
Top PP times: Wisniewski (3:19), Subban (2:11), Pacioretty (1:44), Gomez (1:44), Gionta (1:44)
Trending: Nice night for Tomas Plekanec (2G, +3, 1:08 PP, 6 SOG), who actually only had 6-15-21 in 38 GP vs. OTT coming in. Max Pacioretty (1G, 1A, 2 PIM, 5 SOG) had nothing in his past five starts, while Brian Gionta (1G, 4 SOG) also broke a similar slide here. He had 1G, 1A the last time he faced the Sens. Scott Gomez (2A, 1 SOG) had two points in seven tilts before this outing and Benoit Pouliot (1G, +1, 0:27 PP, 2 SOG) has points in four of six after returning to the line-up following some flu-based R&R. Andrei Kostitsyn (1G, 1A, +3, 1:08 PP, 3 SOG) has goals in three of his past four starts. James Wisniewski (2A, +1, 3 SOG) maintained his point-per-game Habs pace with his third period contribution and P.K. Subban (1G, +1, 2 SOG) added to the six points in eight games this month he had.
Combos: Milan Michalek - Mike Fisher - Daniel Alfredsson/ Nick Foligno - Chris Kelly - Bobby Butler/ Ryan Shannon - Peter Regin - Alex Kovalev/ Zack Smith - Jesse Winchester - Chris Neil/ Chris Campoli - Sergei Gonchar/ Chris Phillips - Erik Karlsson/ Filip Kuba - Brian Lee
Scratches: Carkner, Leclaire
Top PP times: Kovalev (3:59), Gonchar (3:33), Alfredsson (2:30), Karlsson (2:24), Butler (1:48)
Trending: Chris Kelly (1G, -1, no PP, 1 SOG) had a two-pointer @NYI Jan. 13 as his only January output coming in. Alex Kovalev (-1, 16:18 TOI, no SOG) returned to the line-up against his former team, but... yeah.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 2 @ FLORIDA PANTHERS 1 (SO)
Goaltending match-up: Dan Ellis (29/30, .967 SV%) vs. Tomas Vokoun (20/21, .952 SV%)
Combos: Martin St. Louis - Steven Stamkos - Steve Downie/ Simon Gagne - Vincent Lecavalier - Sean Bergenheim/ Ryan Malone - Dominic Moore - Teddy Purcell/ Dana Tyrell - Nate Thompson - Adam Hall/ Brett Clark - Victor Hedman/ Randy Jones - Pavel Kubina/ Mattias Ohlund - Mike Lundin
Scratches: Ritola, Smaby, Smith
Top PP times: Stamkos (0:59), St. Louis (0:59), Kubina (0:59), Lecavalier (0:59), Downie (0:49)
Trending: Steven Stamkos (1A, no SOG) came into tonight with 22-11-33 in 28 road games. Martin St. Louis (1A, no SOG) had 22-22-44 in 55 GP vs. FLA before this evening. Steve Downie (1G, 1 SOG) hadn’t scored since Nov. 18. He missed most of December, naturally, and has points in five of seven now. Dominic Moore scored the only goal of the shootout, although it went through video review because it looked like it might have been a double touch/ rebound situation.
Combos: Evgeny Dadonov - Stephen Weiss - Michael Frolik/ David Booth- Shawn Matthias - Cory Stillman/ Rostislav Olesz - Marty Reasoner - Radek Dvorak/ - Mike Santorelli - Steve Bernier/ Bryan Allen - Dennis Wideman/ Joe Callahan - Keaton Ellerby/ Mike Weaver - Jason Garrison/ Clay Wilson
Scratches: Kulikov, Hordichuk
Top PP times: Wideman (8:51), Santorelli (8:06), Wilson (8:00), Weiss (7:37), Stillman (7:13)
Trending: Cory Stillman (1G, +1, 1 SOG) has been on a hot streak with points in six straight and he had eight January points coming in.
DALLAS STARS 4 @ CALGARY FLAMES 7
Goaltending match-up: Andrew Raycroft (12/19, .632 SV%) vs. Henrik Karlsson (17/21, .810 SV%)
Combos: James Neal - Brad Richards - Jamie Benn/ Brenden Morrow - Mike Ribeiro - Jamie Langenbrunner/ Steve Ott - Tom Wandell - Adam Burish/ Francis Wathier - Aaron Gagnon - Krys Barch/ Nicklas Grossman - Stephane Robidas/ Karlis Skrastins - Trevor Daley/ Mark Fistric - Matt Niskanen
Scratches: Sutherby, Eriksson, Woywitka
Top PP times: Richards (3:26), Ribeiro (2:10), Morrow (2:10), Robidas (1:58), Langenbrunner (1:54)
Trending: Mike Ribeiro (3A, 2 SOG) extended his point streak to 11 games early on. Jamie Benn (1A, -3, 2 PIM, 1:36 PP, no SOG) has points in each of his past six and had eight points in that span before this evening. Brenden Morrow (1G, 2 PIM, 4 SOG) came into tonight with 10-7-17 in 22 road games. Brad Richards (1G, 1A, 3 SOG) had gone seven games without a goal, but overall his totals are outstanding. Loui Eriksson missed tonight’s game with the flu and that ended a streak of 310 consecutive starts. James Neal (1G, -1, 1:52 PP, 1 SOG) had potted five goals in five games before tonight and Jamie Langenbrunner (1A, +1, 1:54 PP, 1 SOG) has points in two of his last three. This was his sixth game with the Stars.
Combos: Alex Tanguay - Brendan Morrison - Jarome Iginla/ Rene Bourque - Olli Jokinen - David Moss/ Niklas Hagman - Matt Stajan - Curtis Glencross/ Ales Kotalik - Mikael Backlund - Tim Jackman/ Robyn Regehr - Jay Bouwmeester/ Mark Giordano - Cory Sarich/ Adam Pardy - Anton Babchuk
Scratches: Kostopoulos, Conroy, Mikkelson
Top PP times: Giordano (1:24), Babchuk (1:12), Iginla (1:09), Morrison (1:09), Tanguay (1:09)
Trending: Jarome Iginla (1G, 1A, +1, 3 SOG) had 29 points in 50 GP vs. DAL coming in and 42 points in 47 points overall. Alex Tanguay (1G, 1A, +1, 2 PIM, 1 SOG) scored the last time he squared off against the Stars and has goals in two of three after a period of one point in six games. Brendan Morrison (1G, 1A, +1, 2 SOG) has points in three of six after six without a point. Olli Jokinen (1G, 1A, +1, 0:38 PP, 2 SOG) hadn’t scored since just after Christmas, but had five helpers in five games coming in. This was David Moss’s (2G, 1A, +1, 2 PIM, 0:38 PP, 5 SOG) third multi-pointer of the month. Niklas Hagman (1A, +1, 2 PIM, no PP, 1 SOG) had four points in six games before this evening. Mark Giordano (1A, +1, 2 SOG) has really cooled off this month and only had two points in that time before this evening.
