SCOREBOARD
Friday, March 14
St. Louis at San Jose (10:30 p.m. EDT). The Sharks go for the first 11-game winning streak in team history when they host the Blues.
STARS
Wednesday
-Alexander Ovechkin, Capitals, scored his NHL-leading 55th and 56th goals, including the tiebreaker with 1:54 left, and Washington edged Calgary 3-2.
-Eric Staal, Hurricanes, had a goal and two assists in the first period to help Carolina beat Chicago 3-0.
-Karlis Skrastins, Panthers, broke a tie with 8:42 left to lead Florida to a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders.
SID STILL SORE
Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby missed Wednesday night’s game against Buffalo after feeling pain in his right ankle during the team’s morning skate. Crosby recently missed 21 games with a ligament sprain in the same ankle, an injury commonly known as a high ankle sprain.
DISCIPLINE DAY
The NHL suspended three players on Wednesday for various infractions. Dallas’ Steve Ott was suspended three games without pay because of a hit to the head of Colorado defenseman Jordan Leopold on Sunday. Buffalo enforcer Andrew Peters was suspended for one game without pay for a confrontation from the bench with Colton Orr of the New York Rangers on Monday. Chicago defenseman James Wisniewski drew a one-game ban without pay for cross-checking Detroit’s Mikael Samuelsson in the neck area Monday night.
OLIE MOLEY
Washington’s Olaf Kolzig became the 23rd goalie in NHL history to record 300 career victories after a 3-2 win over Calgary on Wednesday night. All of his victories have come during his 17-year career with the Capitals.
ELITE EIGHT
Anaheim set a club record with its eighth straight home win Wednesday night after topping Vancouver 4-1. The Ducks, 15-2 at Honda Center since Dec. 18, reached 40 wins for the fourth time in five seasons and avoided a four-game season sweep by the Canucks.
SHUTOUT CITY
Carolina recorded its fifth straight victory and eighth in nine games after blanking Chicago 3-0 Wednesday night. The Hurricanes maintained their seven-point lead over the Capitals and Panthers in the Southeast Division standings.
REMEMBER ME?
Ty Conklin defeated Buffalo for the fourth time this season, stopping 30 shots in Pittsburgh’s 7-3 victory on Wednesday night. Conklin, traded to the Sabres by Columbus at the 2007 trade deadline, has allowed just five goals to his former team this season. The Penguins swept the season series 4-0 for the first time since the Sabres entered the conference in 1970.
KUBINA, KUBINA
Toronto completed the home-and-home sweep against Philadelphia with its 3-2 victory on Wednesday night. Maple Leafs defenseman Pavel Kubina recorded the winning goal in each contest, including in overtime Tuesday when Toronto rallied from a three-goal deficit.
SCARY MOMENT
Buffalo defenseman Nathan Paetsch lay motionless on the ice for several minutes and was helped off the ice after being leveled by an elbow thrown by Pittsburgh’s Georges Laraque early in the second period Wednesday night. Seconds after Paetsch passed the puck up the ice from along the goal line in the Sabres’ zone, Laraque came skating by and hit him with a raised elbow. Laraque was given a five-minute penalty for elbowing and was ejected.
SWEDE START
Pittsburgh will open the 2008-09 season with two games against Ottawa in Stockholm, Sweden. The Penguins will play an exhibition against Jokerit of Finland’s top professional league on Oct. 2 at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland, before starting the season against the Senators on Oct. 4-5. The NHL will host regular-season games between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 4-5 in Prague, Czech Republic.
SPEAKING
“It was cheap shot. How is it that not suspendable, taking an elbow to the chin and (being knocked) out cold? Somebody would have to explain to me why it’s not.” – Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff on Pittsburgh’s Georges Laraque injuring Sabres defenseman Nathan Paetsch on Wednesday night, sidelining him indefinitely. The Penguins won 7-3.