Friday, January 18, 2008

Shoot out showcase

Thursday night was shoot out night in the NHL, with eight games on the schedule, half went through over time and on to the shoot out the Maalox moments for goaltenders everywhere.

From Boston, Detroit, Atlanta and Washington the drama played out with the one on one showdown.

Toronto kept their winning ways of late (well two wins in a row is almost cause for a parade these days in Toronto) with Alex Steen putting away the winning goal to dash the hopes of Bruins faithful.

Saku Koivu provided some more of the on ice leadership that he’s becoming known for on Thursday, scoring the Habs winning goal against Atlanta, marking MontrĂ©al’s fourth win in five games.

In Detroit, the Canucks battled back to tie the Red Wings, only to watch the Wings sneak one goal more past Roberto Luongo in the extra work period at the Joe Louis Arena. Both teams were struggling heading into Thursday’s game, the Wings eventually riding the hot hand of Henrik Zetterberg to claim victory in the shoot out, Zetterberg scored the only goal in the showdown portion of the game.

Finally, the Oilers who are becoming the veterans of the shoot out world, once again went past overtime to seek a solution to a nights work. This time coming up short as the most unlikely of Capitals put away the only goal of the shoot out. Matt Bradley, who has accumulated two goals all season, took the initiative to jump on the ice and go for a shot, a bit of brazenness that most likely won’t be dealt with too severely, considering he made good on a promise to go and score the winning goal.

Four other games went the more traditional route, with Ottawa winning over Carolina 5-1, Anaheim edging out Nashville 2-1, Columbus handing Phoenix a 4-3 loss and the Dallas Stars doubling the San Jose Sharks 4-2.

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