Jeremy Roenick and Mike Modano both moved up scoring lists for American-born players.
Roenick scored his 496th and 497th career goals to help the San Jose Sharks beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Friday night. Roenick is now three goals away from becoming just the third American-born player to score 500, and five goals shy of matching Joe Mullen (502) for second place behind the Stars’ Modano (507).
“Every goal is an exciting one now as you do inch closer to a milestone but more important is doing the things this team needs me to do, going out here and helping them win,” Roenick said. “If I go out and play the way they want me to and play hard, that stuff is going to come and I can enjoy it when the season is over.”
Modano had an assist in the Stars’ 4-1 victory over Boston, giving him 1,227 points – five shy of matching Phil Housley’s mark. Sergei Zubov had a goal and an assist, and Joel Lundqvist and Nicklas Hagman also scored for Dallas.
“Year to year, it’s just different, even with the same guys, the same team,” said Stars goalie Marty Turco, who stopped 24 shots and allowed only a power-play goal. “The mentality from being hungry, to being deep and physically strong, that’s a key component.”
In other NHL games Friday night, it was: Columbus 4, Anaheim 0; Carolina 4, Pittsburgh 1; the New York Islanders 6, Buffalo 4; and Washington 3, Atlanta 1.
At Vancouver, British Columbia, Joe Thornton opened the scoring 5:30 in by turning a 2-on-1 into a breakaway shot that trickled past Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo.
Roenick’s first goal proved to be the winner as he put San Jose a 2-0 at 11:48. He easily fought off Canucks defenseman Lukas Krajicek and poked in Torrey Mitchell’s rebound while standing in front of Luongo. Roenick capitalized again less than 4 minutes later as he deflected in defenseman Doug Murray’s point shot following a faceoff in the Vancouver zone.
“He sees all the talent we have and we certainly respect what he’s done in his career,” Sharks coach Ron Wilson said of Roenick. “We’re not asking him to do too much, just to come in, be part of the team and be positive in the room. He’s been great so far.”
Coming off career scoring lows of 22 and 28 points in Los Angeles and Phoenix the previous two seasons, Roenick was close to retiring this summer until Sharks general manager Doug Wilson called with an offer.
“I was retired, are you kidding?” said Roenick, who is also third among U.S.-born players with 1,172 points. “I had my golf clubs in hand and was ready to hang them up, but thank goodness a call from Doug Wilson kept me around.”
Evgeni Nabokov had 22 saves for the Sharks, who lost a shootout in Edmonton the previous night and arrived late in Vancouver.
At Dallas, the Stars, who started the season with a 4-3 loss at Colorado two nights earlier, won their fifth straight home opener and improved to 8-0-1 in the last nine.
“A lot of positive things again,” coach Dave Tippett said. “Like the other night, there are some positive things to build on.”
Dallas took a 1-0 lead late in the first on Joel Lundqvist’s one-timer from the edge of the circle, on a pass from rookie defenseman Matt Niskanen.
Nicklas Hagman got behind the Boston defense and scored on a backhander early in the second period to put Dallas up 2-0. The Stars went ahead 3-0 when Morrow scored from the middle of the right circle on a pass from Zubov on the break with Modano.
Zubov’s power-play goal with 16:21 left made it 4-1.
Hurricanes 4, Penguins 1
Eric Staal scored two first-period goals to help host Carolina spoil Pittsburgh’s season opener.
Cam Ward stopped 33 shots and took a shutout into the final minutes, Jeff Hamilton had a goal and two assists and Andrew Ladd also scored for the Hurricanes.
Mark Recchi scored for Pittsburgh, and Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 22 saves in two periods. Sidney Crosby was held to one shot in 19:27 of ice time in his first game as Penguins captain.
Blue Jackets 4, Ducks 0
Rick Nash had two goals and a career-best four points and Pascal Leclaire stopped 28 shots for his second career shutout to help Columbus beat road-weary Anaheim.
Sergei Fedorov and Ron Hainsey each added a power-play goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, opening their first full season under coach Ken Hitchcock.
Islanders 6, Sabres 4
Mike Comrie scored twice and had two assists in his Islanders debut, helping visiting New York open with a victory for the first time since 2001 and second time in the past 12 seasons.
Ruslan Fedotenko had a goal and two assists, including the 100th of his career, and Bill Guerin added three assists, while Comrie’s four-point game matched a career high. Chris Campoli and Josef Vasicek also scored for the Islanders.
Defenseman Jaroslav Spacek had a goal and assist, while Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy and Drew Stafford also scored for the Sabres.
Capitals 3, Thrashers 1
Michael Nylander and John Erskine scored two goals in a 2-minute span in the first period, and Viktor Kozlov added a goal in the third to lead visiting Washington.
Brent Johnson stopped 28 shots for the Capitals, who outshot the Thrashers 40-29.
Bryan Little scored the Thrashers’ goal in his NHL debut.
Add A Comment
THIS IS NOT A GAMBLING SITE – If you think you have a gambling problem click here.
Disclaimer: This site is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Individual users are responsible for the laws regarding accessing gambling information from their jurisdictions. Many countries around the world prohibit gambling, please check the laws in your location. Any use of this information that may violate any federal, state, local or international law is strictly prohibited.
Copyright: The information contained on TheSpread.com website is protected by international copyright and may not be reproduced, or redistributed in any way without expressed written consent.
About: TheSpread.com is the largest sports betting news site in the United States. We provide point spread news, odds, statistics and information to over 175 countries around the world each year. Our coverage includes all North American College and Professional Sports as well as entertainment, political and proposition wagering news.
©1999-2023 TheSpread.com