Sunday, March 25, 2007
The goalies below have been confirmed by a source:
Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins - Thomas is the probable starter for Sunday's game against the Penguins, reports the Boston Globe.
Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins - Fleury is the probable starter for Sunday's game against the Bruins, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Jocelyn Thibault was once again fantastic last night in a 2-1 win over the Thrashers and has now stopped 90 of the last 93 shots he's faced. Still, while coach Michel Therrien stopped short of naming Fleury as the team's playoff starter, he did re-iterate that Fleury is the team's #1 goalie and thus will get the lion's share of icetime.
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers - Lundqvist is the probable starter for Sunday's game against the Islanders, reports the New York Newsday.
The goalies below have not been confirmed by any sources:
Rick DiPietro, New York Islanders - DiPietro is the probable starter for Sunday's game against the Rangers.
Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames - Kiprusoff is the probable starter for Sunday's game against the Blackhawks.
Nikolai Khabibulin, Chicago Blackhawks - Khabibulin is the probable starter for Sunday's game against the Flames.
Jason Bacashihua, St. Louis Blues - Bacashihua is the probable starter for Sunday's game against the Blue Jackets. He was terrific last night and would probably get a second straight start regardless of if Curtis Sanford was healthy. As it turns out, Sanford probably won't dress for tonight's game either.
Fredrik Norrena, Columbus Blue Jackets - Norrena is the probable starter for Sunday's game against the Blues.
Peter Budaj, Colorado Avalanche - Budaj is the probable starter for Sunday's game against the Canucks.
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks - Luongo is the probable starter for Sunday's game against the Avalanche.
Year-to-date: 2140 / 2252 = 95.0%
Hockey Today - March 25
Sat, Mar 24, 2007
By Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
Colorado at Vancouver (10 p.m. EDT). The Canucks are 9-1-1 in March, while the Avalanche had their late playoff push temporarily derailed with Friday night's 4-3 shootout loss to Edmonton. Oddsmakers have listed Vancouver as -140 favorites and the total is set at 5 1/2 goals.
STARS - Friday
-Dwayne Roloson, Oilers, stopped 43 shots in regulation and five more in the shootout to lead Edmonton to a 4-3 win over Colorado.
-Drew Stafford and Thomas Vanek, Sabres. Stafford broke a third-period tie and Vanek had two goals and an assist and Buffalo rallied to defeat Toronto 5-4.
-Scott Niedermayer, Ducks, scored with 2:32 remaining in overtime to give Anaheim a 3-2 victory over Dallas.
-Mike Weaver, Kings, scored a power-play goal with 3:29 left that snapped a tie and helped Los Angeles defeat Chicago 2-1.
FINALLY
Edmonton snapped its franchise-record 12-game losing streak with a 4-3 shootout win over Colorado on Friday night. It was also the first win for the Oilers since their deadline deal that sent forward Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders.
FOUR SCORE
Buffalo scored four unanswered goals in the third period to defeat Toronto 5-4 on Friday night. The comeback was the Sabres' ninth this season when trailing by two or more goals. Buffalo has won four of five following a four-game losing streak and kept the rival Maple Leafs in 11th in the Eastern Conference, two points behind Carolina for the eighth and final playoff spot.
TWO TICKETS PUNCHED
Detroit and Anaheim both clinched playoff spots on Friday night. The idle Red Wings clinched by virtue of Colorado's 4-3 shootout loss to Edmonton. The Ducks used the Avalanche's loss plus their 3-2 overtime win over Dallas to seal their spot.
WELCOME BACK
Defenseman Tomas Kaberle returned to the Toronto lineup Friday night after missing eight games with a concussion. Kaberle hasn't played since being checked into the boards on a late hit by New Jersey's Cam Janssen on March 2. He had an assist in the Maple Leafs' 5-4 loss at Buffalo.
STREAKING
Los Angeles rookie Patrick O'Sullivan extended his point streak to seven games with a goal in Friday night's 2-1 victory at Chicago. He has two goals and eight assists during the span. Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp scored for the third straight game and has seven goals in his past eight contests.
SPEAKING
''I didn't think I would be in the top five for our shootout order. I think I'm somewhere behind Ethan Moreau and just before Steve Staios. Definitely in double digits.'' - Marty Reasoner, who scored in the fifth shootout round to give Edmonton a 4-3 win over Colorado on Friday night and snap the Oilers' franchise-record 12-game losing streak.
Red Wings' Lebda carried off on stretcher
Sat, Mar 24, 2007
By Associated Press
DETROIT -- Detroit Red Wings defenseman Brett Lebda was carried off the ice on a stretcher minutes into Saturday's game with the St. Louis Blues after having his face rammed into one of the metal stanchions that supports the glass behind the Detroit net.
Lebda, who was knocked into the metal support by a forearm from St. Louis' Ville Nieminen, waved to the crowd as he was being taken off.
Nieminen received a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct.