It's one thing to give up a hat trick to Sidney Crosby — but Mike Rupp? Never before in an NHL season had Rupp scored more than six goals, yet he netted three on Monday night to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers and a sweep of the home-and-home series. Crosby chipped in two goals and an assist just two days after his hat trick and two assists carried the…
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Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 22 shots for his second shutout in a row, and Jarome Iginla and Curtis Glencross each had a goal as the Calgary Flames beat the Nashville Predators 5-0 Monday night. It was the third shutout of the season for Kiprusoff, who also blanked Detroit 3-0 on Friday night. He has 33 shutouts in his career.
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Matt Duchene credits his recent success to good karma. Duchene had two goals and Craig Anderson made 33 saves to lead the Colorado Avalanche past the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 on Monday night. "Some luck may be coming back my way," the rookie center said. "I've been playing better, too." Duchene put Colorado up 1-0 at 8:16 of the first.
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Ryan Miller may be taking his Olympic audition a little too far. Millero stopped all 38 shots he faced Monday to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-0 victory over Brian Burke's Toronto Maple Leafs. Burke is in charge of assembling the U.S. Olympic team while Leafs coach Ron Wilson will be behind the American bench at the Vancouver Games.
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The Washington Capitals won the game but may have lost their star. Nicklas Backstrom had two goals and an assist while Eric Fehr added a goal and an assist, leading the Capitals past the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Monday night in a game Alex Ovechkin left early with an apparent knee injury. Ovechkin was hurt with 7:55 left in the first period when he appeared to initiate a knee-to-knee collision…
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The Atlanta Thrashers got themselves a huge bonus when they signed veteran Maxim Afinogenov. Afinogenov scored with six seconds remaining in the third period to give the Atlanta Thrashers a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers for their fourth consecutive victory. It was the fifth straight loss for the Panthers.
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As the hats and caps rained down, R.J. Umberger smiled, pumped his fist and savored the moment. Umberger scored three goals for his second career hat trick to lead Columbus past the St. Louis Blues 5-2 on Monday night, ending the Blue Jackets' five-game losing skid. "It's pretty neat. I don't have them very often," Umberger said.
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Florida Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun was taken off the ice on a stretcher after he was accidentally hit in the head by the stick of teammate Keith Ballard in the opening period of Monday night's game against the Atlanta Thrashers. Vokoun had a laceration to his ear but was alert when he was placed in an ambulance and taken to a local hospital, a Panthers spokesman said. Read Original Post Here
The Chicago Blackhawks are back home after a long and successful road swing and are looking forward to playing eight of their next 10 games at the United Center. The Central Division leaders will have a chance to give coach Joel Quenneville his 500th career coaching win in Tuesday's game against Columbus. Read Original Post Here
Dan Boyle scored the go-ahead goal on a power play 6:15 into the second period, and Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night. Manny Malhotra scored on a breakaway with 2:35 left and Jamie McGinn made it 4-1 on a scramble in front 13 seconds later for San Jose.
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