Today is the last day of our Classic Posts series for now….it will go on hiatus until after the New Year. So why not have a post about a New Years Day from 2008. Enjoy.
So yes everyone watched the Ice Bowl with baited breath just to see Sidney Crosby score the game winner in the shootout. Well I have a bit of a confession to make, I turned it off after the first period. I figured after that point, this game would be likely decided by Crosby, especially considering the great fawning the NBC folks were doing over him. I will admit that I am more of a purist than I lead on to be. The snow made the game very nice and yes, later on I did watch the rest of the game as I did Tivo it. Pretty much what I expected, though I did think I was going to see a few more goals but that didn’t materialize. Thanks to Erin for providing a concise and thoughtful writeup and to Derek from Battle of New York for the great liveblog.
The games that intrigued me more happened later in the evening. The Washington Capitals are on a roll. Today’s 6-3 win got them to 3 under .500 and don’t look now but that does get you in the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference. Mike Green delivered with 2 goals and an assist. Brooks Laich added the GWG and an assist and Olaf Kolzig stopped 31 shots despite a shaky first 5:00 in which Ottawa went up 2-0 and nearly 3-0….but Washington struck 3 times in 139 seconds to take a lead they would never give up. Bruce Boudreau has this team playing very well and they may just make some noise yet. Southeast Division look out below!!
The Toronto Maple Leafs managed to avoid certain embarrassment by yanking out a 4-3 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Hey if you’re a Tampa fan at least it is a point and maybe that will keep Tampa radio from wanting Tortorella and Feaster’s heads on a platter for at least a night…ok, maybe not! Toronto was headed for a sure win…when with :41 left Paul Ranger found the back of the net past Scott Clemmensen in a battle with Karri Romo which felt like an AHL duel rather than an NHL game but still had a raw excitement that made me want to watch this but alas it was only available via radio as it was not on Center Ice for contractual reasons. Once it got to the shootout, Mats Sundin scored the game winner while Clemmensen stopped Martin St. Louis cold…too bad he could never do that in Jersey….go figure!
The final game of the night still has me shocked…and it ended about 40 or 45 minutes ago. With 8:59 left in the first period…the Chicago Blackhawks went up 2-1 on a pretty goal by Patrick Sharp on the Power Play….and then it went down like an Amtrak train wreck….as the Kings proceeded to score eight unanswered goals in a 9-2 rout of the Hawks. This included going an astonishing 5 for 7 on the man advantage. Ladislav Nagy had a hat trick with 2 assists and Alexander Frolov chipped in with 2 goals and 3 assists. After the third goal in a little less than 4:30, Khabibulin was yanked for Patrick Lalime who really fared worse…especially in the third period where he only stopped 1 shot out of 4. In baseball, that isn’t bad…in hockey, that is disaster. It is also a recipe for ugliness and sure enough that transpired in this game.
At 6:30 of the final period…there was a major fracas in which a couple misconducts and a game misconducts were handed out but all seemed to be calm. Then with under a minute left, Patrick Sullivan got a match penalty for an attempt to injure Andrei Zyuzin. I am guessing a meeting with Colin Campbell is in his future after that one…it looked bad. Honestly I am expecting a suspension of more than 1 game here. However, at least for one night the Kings looked every bit the team they envisioned during the free agency frenzy. Certainly it was an unexpected day and night…just wait until what tomorrow brings.
Finally, I am asking any of the bloggers that read The NHL Arena Program to send me an email if they want to be on the next Hockey Around The Horn. This will be a special bloggers edition as without the bloggers I wouldn’t have this little show. Good night everyone!!
