Tuesday National Hockey League Capsules.
NHL hockey newsTuesday National Hockey League Capsules.
TAMPA BAY 3, NY RANGERS 2
TAMPA, Florida It took three games, but Steven Stamkos finally got his name on an NHL scoresheet.
The first overall pick of this past Junes draft, Stamkos scored for the first time this preseason as the Tampa Bay Lightning skated to a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers.
After failing to record a point in his first two exhibition games, the 18-year-old Stamkos gave Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead seven minutes into the second period, putting a wrist shot from the bottom of the left faceoff circle past goaltender Miika Wiikman and under the crossbar during a power play.
Martin St. Louis made it a three-goal bulge three minutes later, burying a shot from the slot during another man advantage.
New York attempted to stage a comeback as defenseman Daniel Girardi netted a power-play goal with 24 seconds remaining in the middle period and Fredrik Sjostrom cashed in with the extra skater with just under three minutes to go in the third. But Mike Smith prevented the Rangers from getting the equalizer as he finished with 38 saves, including 10 in the final session.
Ryan Craig also scored and Jussi Jokinen collected an assist for his fourth point of the preseason for the Lightning, who were outshot, 11-2, in the third period.
Wiikman allowed three goals on 14 shots before being replaced by Stephen Valiquette, who turned aside all four shots he faced.
NY ISLANDERS 2, BOSTON 1 (OT)
MONCTON, New Brunswick Trevor Smith scored at 2:03 of overtime, giving the New York Islanders a 2-1 preseason victory over the Boston Bruins at the Moncton Coliseum.
Smith, who split last season between Bridgeport of the American Hockey League and Utah of the ECHL, beat a defender before lifting a backhander past goaltender Tuukka Rask for the winning goal.
Jon Sim scored a power-play goal while Joey MacDonald and Yann Danis combined to make 18 saves for the Islanders, who outshot the Bruins, 38-19.
Defenseman Dennis Wideman tallied for Boston.
MONTREAL 3, BUFFALO 2
ROBERVAL, Quebec Tomas Plekanec scored a pair of goals, leading the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 preseason triumph over the Buffalo Sabres at the Benoit Levesque Arena.
Plekanec opened the scoring midway through the first period, banking in a shot from the right corner off goaltender Patrick Lalime. After Andrei Kostitsyn doubled Montreals lead with 6:23 remaining in the middle session, Plekanec put a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle just inside the left goalpost late in the period for his third goal of the preseason and a 3-0 lead.
The Czechs second goal proved crucial as the Sabres attempted a third-period comeback. Derek Roy got Buffalo on the scoreboard just 73 seconds into the session and Nathan Gerbe cut the deficit to 3-2 at 9:14, beating netminder Marc Denis to the glove side with a slap shot from the left circle.
Kostitsyn also recorded an assist for Montreal.
CHICAGO 4, COLUMBUS 3
CHICAGO Patrick Sharp and Troy Brouwer scored less than three minutes apart midway through the third period, leading the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 triumph over the Columbus Blue Jackets in the preseason opener for both teams.
After the Blue Jackets rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take the lead, Sharp netted a power-play goal at 10:44 of the third to forge a 3-3 tie. Brouwer buried a rebound with 6:18 remaining, putting the Blackhawks back in front.
Following a scoreless first period, Pascal Pelletier tallied during a man advantage at 3:55 of the second to give Chicago the edge. Kris Versteeg doubled the lead 21 seconds later, but Jason Chimera answered 36 seconds afterward, halving the deficit.
Jiri Novotny knotted the contest midway through the middle session, and Alexandre Picard – the eighth overall pick in the 2004 draft – gave Columbus its first lead at 8:36 of the third.
Defenseman Cam Barker notched two assists and Corey Crawford made 25 saves for the Blackhawks, who did not dress new captain Jonathan Toews.
Fredrik Norrena allowed two goals on 24 shots before being replaced after two periods by Dan LaCosta, who made six saves for Columbus, which played without star Rick Nash.
ST. LOUIS 3, DALLAS 2
ST. LOUIS Alex Pietrangelo set up a pair of goals, including the eventual power-play winner at 2:17 of the second period by Brad Boyes, as the St. Louis Blues skated to a 3-2 preseason triumph over the Dallas Stars.
Selected fourth overall in this past Junes draft, the 18-year-old Pietrangelo also recorded an assist on Lee Stempniaks man-advantage tally with 2:23 remaining in the first period that gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead. The 6-3, 206-pound defenseman, who is the nephew of former NHL goaltender Frank Pietrangelo, did not play in St. Louis preseason-opening loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
Andy McDonald opened the scoring for the Blues 50 seconds into the game, but Loui Eriksson forged a 1-1 tie just 2:19 later. McDonald, Stempniak and Boyes each added an assist.
Manny Legace allowed one goal on eight shots and Ben Bishop made eight saves for St. Louis, which prior to the game announced defenseman Erik Johnson would be out indefinitely due to a right knee injury. The 2006 first overall pick tore his ACL and MCL in an incident involving a golf cart before the start of training camp.
Newcomer Sean Avery – who signed a four-year, $15.5 million contract during the summer – scored a goal and collected 18 penalty minutes for Dallas, which was playing its first exhibition game.
FLORIDA 3, CALGARY 2
CALGARY, Alberta Defenseman Jay Bouwmeester scored with 3:27 remaining in the third period to snap a tie and lead the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames in the preseason opener for both teams.
Signed to a one-year, $4.875 million contract in July, Bouwmeester beat goaltender Curtis McElhinney with a backhander late in the third to snap a 2-2 deadlock. Rostislav Olesz had forged the tie at 10:14 of the third after the Panthers squandered a 1-0 lead.
David Booth opened the scoring 79 seconds into the middle period, but Dustin Boyd pulled Calgary even at 13:02. Captain Jarome Iginla, a finalist for the Hart Trophy last season, put the Flames in front with 45 seconds to go in the session with a power-play goal.
Craig Anderson played the entire game for the Panthers, turning aside 24 shots – including all 10 he faced in the third period.
Boyd added an assist and McElhinney made 22 saves for Calgary.
Newcomer Todd Bertuzzi, who inked a one-year, $1.95 million free-agent deal with the Flames during the offseason, finished with a minus-two rating.
VANCOUVER 2, EDMONTON 1
VANCOUVER, British Columbia Michael Grabner snapped a tie with a power-play goal in the second period and Roberto Luongo made 13 saves as the Vancouver Canucks recorded a 2-1 preseason victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Just over a minute into the second, a high-sticking penalty to Gilbert Brule gave the Canucks their fifth power play. Although Edmonton goaltender Dwayne Roloson turned away two shots beforehand, a backhand pass by rookie Jannik Hansen set up Grabner for the go-ahead goal just 2:48 into the period.
A two-time Vezina Trophy finalist, Luongo is coming off his third straight 35-win season – joining five others in league history, including Martin Brodeur, Marty Turco and Miikka Kiprusoff – and was in top form. A power-play goal by Kyle Brodziak less than six minutes into the first was Luongos only blemish in 35 minutes of action.
Darcy Hordichuk tied the game just over seven minutes after Brodziaks tally.
One night after Mathieu Garon stopped 33 shots in Edmontons 4-3 shootout loss to Vancouver in the preseason opener for both teams, Roloson recorded 29 saves and also picked up an assist.
Vancouver and Edmonton each had 88 points last season, falling three short of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, which was claimed by the Nashville Predators.
Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 8:35 pm and is filed under NHL hockey news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
