Feature Articles

Preds Sweep Through Atlantic Trip By James Meyerriecks

Even with goaltender Tomas Vokoun taking the night off, the Nashville Predators stayed red hot as they completed their sweep through the New York Metropolitan area. Martin Erat scored a power play goal and added an assist in regulation, while he netted the only successful shootout attempt as the Preds beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 . Paul Kariya added a pair of helpers, while Jason Arnott stuck it to his old mates with a Power Play goal two minutes into the contest. Backup Chris Mason made thirty saves in the victory, while Nashville did have the advantage of facing the Devils Scott Clemenssen, rather than Martin Brodeur.

Since a slow start saw Nashville lose twice to the perrenial doormat Blackhawks, Nashville has gotten rolling, winning four in a row. The three most recent victories saw them defeat the Islanders, Rangers, and Devils during a vicious four-day road trip. They'll return home Saturday to host the Vancouver Canucks, and currently find themselves tied atop the Central Division despite losing their first three games.

For New Jersey, it was simply a lack of scoring depth that hurt them in this one. The top line was as amazing as ever, with Brian Gionta scoring twice and adding an assist. Scott Gomez would score the other New Jersey goal, while captain Patrik Elias assisted on all three Devils goals. Still, it wasn't enough, as the only other player to record a point for New Jersey was Brian Rafalski.

In Other Action

- San Jose made the Red Wings wish they'd foregone their west coast trip. A night after getting blasted by Anaheim, Detroit was beaten even more soundly by the Sharks, 5-1. Patrick Marleau paced the Shark attack, scoring twice in the victory, while Milan Michalak continues to look like a stud in the early-going. Not only did Michalak net his sixth of the year; he also added a pair of assists to bump his point total to ten through seven games. Rookie defenseman Matt Carle added two more assists to take the NHL lead among defensemen with eight points on the year. Both were on the Power Play. Vesa Toskala made 21 saves as he improved to 4-0 on the year.

- Mathieu Garon continued to look strong early on, stopping all forty shots he faced as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0. Garon, who will have to split time with Dan Cloutier until one of them wins the job outright, has certainly made a statement in two of his three starts to this point. With the victory, he moved to 2-1 with a 1.67 GAA and a .952 Save Percentage on the year. All four Kings goals came on the Power Play in this one, and (for the most part) the usual suspects were providing them. Mike Camalleri (1-1), Anze Kopitar (1-1), Alexander Frolov (1-1), and Rob Blake (0-2) each had two point nights. Dustin Brown added his first of the season to complete the scoring. Backup Coyotes' goaltender Mike Morrisson looked anything but sharp, allowing three goals on just thirteen shots before getting pulled to start the second.

- Dany Heatley finally got on the board, but it wasn't enough as the Senators lost to the Colorado Avalanche 2-1. Heatley, coming off a fifty-goal effort last season, took six games to get into the scorer's column before burying a wrister top shelf midway through the third period. Joe Sakic got the scoring started midway through the second period, while Brad Richardson would net his second shorthanded goal of the year for the eventual game-winner a few minutes later. Jose Theodore made 27 saves as he improved to 2-2-1 on the year.

- Ryan Craig scored his fifth goal of the year and Marc Denis stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced as the Tampa Bay Lightning disposed of the Flyers 4-1. Brad Richards and Vinny Lecavalier each had two assists in the victory.

- Evgeni Malkin scored for the second time in two games, and also added an assist as the Penguins snuck off Long Island with a 4-3 overtime win. Sidney Crosby had three assists, while Nils Ekman, Sergei Gonchar, and Ryan Whitney each had multi-point games. Marc-Andre Fleury showed he's more than capable of playing on back to back nights, and stopped 34 of 37 shots to improve to 3-3 on the year. Isles center Alexei Yashin had a hand in all three New York goals, scoring once and adding a pair of helpers.

- Glen Murray scored twice and Hannu Toivonen made 26 saves as the Bruins beat the Calgary Flames 3-2.

- Alexander Semin and Alexander Ovechkin each scored, but it wasn't enough as the Caps lost to the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 in a shootout. Marian Hossa scored twice and added an assist for the Thrashers, while Ilya Kovalchuk had a hand in setting up two of the three Atlanta goals. Caps backup Brent Johnson had his second strong showing in as many starts thi season, stopping 40 of the 43 shots he faced. Unfortunately, Washington hasn't been able to give him much support (either offensively or defensively), and he dropped to 0-0-2 on the year.

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