Lots of hat-tricks last night... one of them was from someone you'd expect and the other not so much. Rick Nash put up the 3-spot in a romp over Detroit and that gives him 8+8=16 in his last 11 games as he seems to be taking the CBJs push for the playoffs pretty seriously. The surprise trick came from Sean Bergenheim, we mentioned him recently as a kid that is worth watching with an eye towards next year as he now has seven goals in his last seven games.
Kyle Quincey has already become the biggest breakout dmen of the year but apparently he's not satisfied as he's still getting better... with five points in his last five games the kid is on pace for 47 points to go along with a solid number of PIMs, shots & PP points.
New Hurricane Eric Cole is looking very happy to be back in North Carolina. After four assists last night he now has five points in two games playing with Eric Staal and Tuomo Ruutu. Staal went 4+2=6 last night and Ruutu went 3+2=5. This line is really clicking...hit the waiver wire or activate accordingly.
Last night, Chris Osgood let in seven goals on 23 shots. Ouch, that will hurt the old gaa and sv%. Conks should get a few more starts down the stretch as Osgood struggles.
Drew Stafford looks to be over his recent slump (five games, no points) as he's picked up goals in his last two games. It's no coincidence that Stafford's struggles ended when Thomas Vanek returned from injury.
Speaking of slumps ending David Booth ended his in a big way last night. After only one point in his last seven games Booth picked up the hat trick and tacked on an assist for good measure.
There was another David had a big game last night. David Backes picked up another two points and four more PIM's. He's up to 36 points and 143 PIM's on the season. Not many players can give you that combinations of points and penalties. Keep him active.
We wouldn't bet on this happening too often but both Niklas Backstrom and Marty Brodeur got pumped last night. Three goals on 13 shots for Backstrom and six goals on 26 shots for Brodeur. Just an off day for two of the best goalies in the league.
Danny Carcillo only played 10 minutes last night but he managed an assist and seven PIMs playing mostly on the 3rd line but he did see some action on Jeff Carter's line as well. We'd expect big things from the kid as the Flyers are obviously high on him, he's got some skills and Philly has never been known as a disciplined team so he should have lots of opportunities to take stupid penalties.
Injury Updates (see our Injury Updates page for a consolidated list of injuries):
Rob Blake took a shot off the foot last night and had to be helped off the ice. No word yet on severity but we'll keep our ear to the ground for you. Mike Van Ryn left last night's game with what looked like a knee injury. This guy seems to have inherited Carlo Colaiacovo's misfortune since joining the Leafs. We'll let you know on the extent. There were a couple of scratches last night and Brent Burns couldn't go do to illness and Blake Wheeler was a scratch of the healthy variety. Maxim Afinogenov returned from injury on Friday but was out again on Saturday with a sore neck. This doesn't sound too serious and he'll likely be in there on Tuesday...not that you would want to start him.
What's distracting us today? Joey MacDonald has been a saviour for Islanders this year...now he get a chance to be a real saviour as he's gets to be fire fighter for a day
Since it's a lazy Sunday you might need something else to kill a few minutes...how about Thomas Vanek telling us about his journey to the NHL?