SCOREBOARD
Friday, Nov. 9
St. Louis at Chicago (8:30 p.m. EST). The Blues and the Blackhawks play the third of their eight games this season. The visiting team has one win each so far.
STARS
Thursday
-Roberto Luongo, Canucks, made 22 of his 36 saves in the third period and Vancouver held off Calgary 3-2.
-Steven Reinprecht, Coyotes, had two goals and an assist in a 5-2 victory over Dallas.
-Shane O’Brien and Johan Holmqvist Lightning. O’Brien scored twice and Holmqvist made 40 saves to lead Tampa Bay to a 5-1 win at Carolina.
-Dainius Zubrus, Devils, scored his first two goals in a 4-1 win over Philadelphia.
-Viktor Kozlov, Capitals, had a goal and two assists in the second period of Washington’s 4-1 victory at Ottawa.
-Carey Price, Canadiens, made 28 saves and Montreal edged Boston 2-1.
SAYING GOODBYE
Former NHL MVP Eric Lindros retired Thursday, ending a career derailed by a series of concussions and other injuries. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound power forward had 372 goals, 865 points and 1,398 penalty minutes in 760 games for Philadelphia, Toronto, the New York Rangers and Dallas. The 34-year-old won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1995 and was part of the Canadian Olympic team that won gold in 2002.
SNAPPED
Ottawa’s team-record eight-game winning streak ended with a 4-1 home loss to Washington on Thursday night. The Senators also lost for just the second time in 14 games (12-2-0). … Phoenix snapped a six-game home losing streak with its 5-2 win over Dallas. The Coyotes hadn’t won at home since a 3-2 victory opening night against St. Louis.
FINALLY
Tampa Bay won its first road game in eight tries this season, 5-1 at Carolina on Thursday night.
RANGER REVIVAL
The New York Rangers scored at least four goals in a game for just the third time in 12 contests in a 4-2 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Despite their offensive struggles, the Rangers have won six of their last eight games and five straight at home.
UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY
Tampa Bay defenseman Shane O’Brien recorded his second two-goal game this month in a 5-1 win at Carolina on Thursday night. O’Brien, who also did it against Atlanta on Nov. 3, only had two tallies in 80 career NHL games entering this season.
STRUGGLING
Glen Murray has one goal in 15 games for Boston after being held scoreless in Thursday night’s 2-1 loss to Montreal. He had 32 goals last season and 44 and 41 in the previous two respectively.
FIRSTS
Brandon Dubinsky scored his first NHL goal in the New York Rangers’ 4-2 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday night. … New Jersey’s Rod Pelley had his first career tally in a 4-1 victory over Philadelphia.
SIMON SAYS SIT
Philadelphia left winger Simon Gagne was scratched from Thursday’s game against New Jersey after complaining of dizziness stemming from a collision with Pittsburgh’s Gary Roberts. The hit occurred in the third period of Philadelphia’s 3-1 road win Wednesday night. Gagne missed four games due to dizziness before returning Monday night against the New York Rangers.
WHERE’S WES?
Wes Walz is still missing from the Minnesota Wild, who officially granted an indefinite leave of absence for the veteran center on Thursday. The team said Walz requested the leave, but provided no further details. Wild general manager Doug Risebrough and assistant general manager Tom Lynn were unavailable for comment. Walz’s agent, Jay Grossman, didn’t return a phone call.
MVT IN TORONTO
The Toronto Maple Leafs are the most valuable NHL team, even though the Original Six franchise hasn’t captured the Stanley Cup in 40 years, according to Forbes. The value of the Maple Leafs has gone up 23 percent a year since the initial investment by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in 1994 and has a current value of $413 million, $48 million more than the New York Rangers in second place. The Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks rank 12th among the 30 teams with a value of $197 million.
SPEAKING
“Obviously, I would be lying if I said I feel good right now. It’s tough for me to be sitting here. I feel a lot of the symptoms from the concussion and so far it’s hard for me to walk 200 feet without feeling dizzy and light headed. Pretty much day-to-day stuff I would normally do is tough.” – Boston’s Patrice Bergeron on the effects of the concussion he received after being checked into the boards from behind by Philadelphia defenseman Randy Jones on Oct. 27. Bergeron spoke about the incident publicly for the first time on Thursday and also said that “NHL players need to respect each other a bit more.”