ATLANTA THRASHERS (3-0-2-0) AT TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (3-0-0-0), 7 p.m. --------------------------------------------------------------------
(Sports Network) - Two of the league's three remaining unbeaten clubs clash tonight when the Tampa Bay Lightning welcome the Atlanta Thrashers to the St. Pete Times Forum.
Tampa Bay is off to its second consecutive 3-0 start, and a win would mark its first-ever 4-0 clip. The Lightning have defeated Boston, Phoenix and New Jersey by a combined score of 13-4.
Martin St. Louis scored the winning goal late in the third period on Saturday, lifting the Bolts to a 3-2 victory over the Devils at the Meadowlands. Nikolai Khabibulin made 29 saves for the Lightning, and Martin Cibak and Vincent Lecavalier tallied as well.
St. Louis is tied with Cory Stillman for the club lead at two goals in the early going.
Tampa Bay opens a key stretch tonight, as it will play seven of the next eight at home. The Lightning will visit Columbus on Thursday before starting a six- game stand.
Atlanta, meanwhile, has opened the campaign with a franchise-record five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2). On Saturday the Thrashers posted a 7-2 pounding of the Chicago Blackhawks at Philips Arena. Ilya Kovalchuk recorded his second career hat trick and Vyacheslav Kozlov added a goal and three assists, while Pasi Nurminen made 24 saves.
Marc Savard added a goal and two assists for Atlanta, which tallied a club- record four power-play markers in 15 chances with the man advantage.
Kovalchuk's three goals continued the stellar start to his third NHL season. The Russian sniper, who is being counted on while Dany Heatley recovers from injuries suffered in last month's tragic auto accident, is tied for the league lead with five goals and sits tied for second with seven points. Kovalchuk was named NHL Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
The Thrashers play four of their next six on the road starting tonight.
Atlanta and Tampa Bay went 2-2-1 against each other last season, and the home team is 6-1-3 in the last 10 meetings. The Thrashers have lost in four of their last five trips to Tampa.
CALGARY FLAMES (2-2-0-0) AT MINNESOTA WILD (1-4-1-0), 8 p.m. ------------------------------------------------------------
(Sports Network) - The Minnesota Wild try to break out of their current funk tonight when they welcome the Calgary Flames to Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota is 0-3-1 since a comeback victory over the New York Rangers on opening night, and the normally defensive-minded club has allowed the fourth- most amount of goals in the NHL (17).
On Sunday the Wild suffered a 3-1 defeat in Dallas, as the Stars scored three times in a 4:47 span of the second period. Christoph Brandner scored the lone goal for Minnesota, while Manny Fernandez finished with 27 saves.
The Wild, who advanced to the Western Conference finals a season ago, continue to play without their two leading scorers from a season ago, Marian Gaborik and Pascal Dupuis, both of whom are unsigned Group II/restricted free agents. Gaborik, however, is in Minnesota trying to hammer out a deal.
Minnesota will play six of its next eight on the road after tonight, starting Friday in Florida.
Calgary, meanwhile, had a two-game winning streak snapped via a 2-0 loss to Buffalo Saturday and enters this evening as one of the league's most inept clubs. The Flames are tied with Anaheim at the bottom of the NHL rankings with a mere five goals.
Illustrating the club's woes is the fact that Jarome Iginla, Craig Conroy and Dean McAmmond, who make up the club's top line, have yet to produce a point between them.
On the injury front, starting goaltender Roman Turek suffered a knee injury Saturday night and will be out of the lineup. Jamie McLennan, who has both of the team's wins thus far, will start in his place.
The Flames play four of their next five on the road starting tonight. They'll host St. Louis on Friday.
Calgary and Minnesota went 2-2-1 against each other last season and the home team is 7-2-3 in the last 12 meetings.
BOSTON BRUINS (3-1-2-0) AT COLORADO AVALANCHE (2-2-0-0), 9 p.m. ---------------------------------------------------------------
(Sports Network) - The Boston Bruins put a three-game winning streak on the line tonight when they visit the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.
Since starting the season 0-1-2, the Bruins have posted victories over Dallas, Los Angeles and Anaheim, including Sunday's 4-3 overtime triumph versus the Ducks. Sergei Samsonov scored with 52 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Bruins, who played the fifth portion of a six-game road trip.
Boston forced overtime when Mike Knuble tallied his second goal of the game with 4:25 left in regulation to cap a three-score rally. Brian Rolston found the net as well, and Andrew Raycroft finished with 26 saves.
Raycroft, 2-0-1 with a 1.44 goals-against average thus far, is making a serious pitch for playing time against veteran Felix Potvin, who was signed as a free agent shortly before the season.
The Bruins head home after tonight and will host Carolina on Thursday.
Colorado, meanwhile, has rotated wins and losses to this point, including Saturday's 6-3 setback in Edmonton. Rob Blake had a goal and an assist, and Paul Kariya and Alex Tanguay also scored for the Avs, who yielded a pair of shorthanded tallies.
Goaltender Philippe Suave allowed five goals on 24 shots in a forgettable NHL debut. David Aebischer, who has surrendered just four goals on 80 shots this season, is expected to be back between the pipes tonight.
Kariya's goal was his third of the season, which ties him with 2003 Maurice Richard Trophy winner Milan Hejduk for the club lead. His five points knot him with Blake and captain Joe Sakic for second on the team behind Forsberg (7).
The Avalanche, perhaps still trying to develop chemistry within their star- studded dressing room, will host Edmonton on Thursday.
Boston and Colorado split two games last season and the Avs are 6-1-1 in the last eight meetings.
ST. LOUIS BLUES (2-1-0-1) AT EDMONTON OILERS (3-2-0-0), 9 p.m. --------------------------------------------------------------
(Sports Network) - The Edmonton Oilers target their third straight win tonight when they conclude a three-game homestand against the St. Louis Blues at Skyreach Centre.
The Oilers remained unbeaten at home (3-0) on Saturday, as Steve Staios scored two goals and assisted on another to lead a 6-3 win over Colorado.
Ryan Smyth tallied a goal and two assists, while Cory Cross and Marty Reasoner each had a goal and an assist in the win. Mike York also lit the lamp for the Oilers, who have outscored opponents 15-8 on their ice. Away from home, though, it has been a different story as Edmonton has been shut out in both of its road contests.
Staios, who picked up his second consecutive three-point game, recorded the first multi-goal contest of his career.
Tommy Salo made 31 saves in the win.
Edmonton, which was 2-for-8 on the power play, will head to Colorado following tonight's game before returning home for another three-game homestand.
St. Louis, meanwhile, also enters tonight's contest on a high-note following a victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Keith Tkachuk and Pavol Demitra each had a goal and an assist and Doug Weight added three helpers to lead the Blues to a 4-1 victory.
Chris Osgood stopped 9-of-10 shots in two periods before leaving the game with a sore hip flexor. Brent Johnson took over in goal and made four saves, and he will get the nod tonight.
This will be only the fourth start for Johnson in the 25 games (including the playoffs) since Osgood made his debut with the Blues on March 15.
Petr Cajanek and Chris Pronger also scored in the victory for the Blues, who scored three times with man-advantage. They had entered the game just 3-for-37 on the power play.
Blues defenseman Al MacInnis remains out indefinitely and could be lost for the season after the discovery of a torn retina in his left eye. MacInnis underwent surgery on Friday to re-attach the retina and also had a laser procedure performed on the right eye to repair a slightly torn retina.
St. Louis was 2-1-1 last season versus the Oilers and is 4-1-2 against them in the last seven and 6-3-2 against them in the last 11 meetings. Edmonton, though, has won four of its last six at home against the Blues (4-1-1).
(Sports Network) - Two of the league's three remaining unbeaten clubs clash tonight when the Tampa Bay Lightning welcome the Atlanta Thrashers to the St. Pete Times Forum.
Tampa Bay is off to its second consecutive 3-0 start, and a win would mark its first-ever 4-0 clip. The Lightning have defeated Boston, Phoenix and New Jersey by a combined score of 13-4.
Martin St. Louis scored the winning goal late in the third period on Saturday, lifting the Bolts to a 3-2 victory over the Devils at the Meadowlands. Nikolai Khabibulin made 29 saves for the Lightning, and Martin Cibak and Vincent Lecavalier tallied as well.
St. Louis is tied with Cory Stillman for the club lead at two goals in the early going.
Tampa Bay opens a key stretch tonight, as it will play seven of the next eight at home. The Lightning will visit Columbus on Thursday before starting a six- game stand.
Atlanta, meanwhile, has opened the campaign with a franchise-record five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2). On Saturday the Thrashers posted a 7-2 pounding of the Chicago Blackhawks at Philips Arena. Ilya Kovalchuk recorded his second career hat trick and Vyacheslav Kozlov added a goal and three assists, while Pasi Nurminen made 24 saves.
Marc Savard added a goal and two assists for Atlanta, which tallied a club- record four power-play markers in 15 chances with the man advantage.
Kovalchuk's three goals continued the stellar start to his third NHL season. The Russian sniper, who is being counted on while Dany Heatley recovers from injuries suffered in last month's tragic auto accident, is tied for the league lead with five goals and sits tied for second with seven points. Kovalchuk was named NHL Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.
The Thrashers play four of their next six on the road starting tonight.
Atlanta and Tampa Bay went 2-2-1 against each other last season, and the home team is 6-1-3 in the last 10 meetings. The Thrashers have lost in four of their last five trips to Tampa.
CALGARY FLAMES (2-2-0-0) AT MINNESOTA WILD (1-4-1-0), 8 p.m. ------------------------------------------------------------
(Sports Network) - The Minnesota Wild try to break out of their current funk tonight when they welcome the Calgary Flames to Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota is 0-3-1 since a comeback victory over the New York Rangers on opening night, and the normally defensive-minded club has allowed the fourth- most amount of goals in the NHL (17).
On Sunday the Wild suffered a 3-1 defeat in Dallas, as the Stars scored three times in a 4:47 span of the second period. Christoph Brandner scored the lone goal for Minnesota, while Manny Fernandez finished with 27 saves.
The Wild, who advanced to the Western Conference finals a season ago, continue to play without their two leading scorers from a season ago, Marian Gaborik and Pascal Dupuis, both of whom are unsigned Group II/restricted free agents. Gaborik, however, is in Minnesota trying to hammer out a deal.
Minnesota will play six of its next eight on the road after tonight, starting Friday in Florida.
Calgary, meanwhile, had a two-game winning streak snapped via a 2-0 loss to Buffalo Saturday and enters this evening as one of the league's most inept clubs. The Flames are tied with Anaheim at the bottom of the NHL rankings with a mere five goals.
Illustrating the club's woes is the fact that Jarome Iginla, Craig Conroy and Dean McAmmond, who make up the club's top line, have yet to produce a point between them.
On the injury front, starting goaltender Roman Turek suffered a knee injury Saturday night and will be out of the lineup. Jamie McLennan, who has both of the team's wins thus far, will start in his place.
The Flames play four of their next five on the road starting tonight. They'll host St. Louis on Friday.
Calgary and Minnesota went 2-2-1 against each other last season and the home team is 7-2-3 in the last 12 meetings.
BOSTON BRUINS (3-1-2-0) AT COLORADO AVALANCHE (2-2-0-0), 9 p.m. ---------------------------------------------------------------
(Sports Network) - The Boston Bruins put a three-game winning streak on the line tonight when they visit the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.
Since starting the season 0-1-2, the Bruins have posted victories over Dallas, Los Angeles and Anaheim, including Sunday's 4-3 overtime triumph versus the Ducks. Sergei Samsonov scored with 52 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Bruins, who played the fifth portion of a six-game road trip.
Boston forced overtime when Mike Knuble tallied his second goal of the game with 4:25 left in regulation to cap a three-score rally. Brian Rolston found the net as well, and Andrew Raycroft finished with 26 saves.
Raycroft, 2-0-1 with a 1.44 goals-against average thus far, is making a serious pitch for playing time against veteran Felix Potvin, who was signed as a free agent shortly before the season.
The Bruins head home after tonight and will host Carolina on Thursday.
Colorado, meanwhile, has rotated wins and losses to this point, including Saturday's 6-3 setback in Edmonton. Rob Blake had a goal and an assist, and Paul Kariya and Alex Tanguay also scored for the Avs, who yielded a pair of shorthanded tallies.
Goaltender Philippe Suave allowed five goals on 24 shots in a forgettable NHL debut. David Aebischer, who has surrendered just four goals on 80 shots this season, is expected to be back between the pipes tonight.
Kariya's goal was his third of the season, which ties him with 2003 Maurice Richard Trophy winner Milan Hejduk for the club lead. His five points knot him with Blake and captain Joe Sakic for second on the team behind Forsberg (7).
The Avalanche, perhaps still trying to develop chemistry within their star- studded dressing room, will host Edmonton on Thursday.
Boston and Colorado split two games last season and the Avs are 6-1-1 in the last eight meetings.
ST. LOUIS BLUES (2-1-0-1) AT EDMONTON OILERS (3-2-0-0), 9 p.m. --------------------------------------------------------------
(Sports Network) - The Edmonton Oilers target their third straight win tonight when they conclude a three-game homestand against the St. Louis Blues at Skyreach Centre.
The Oilers remained unbeaten at home (3-0) on Saturday, as Steve Staios scored two goals and assisted on another to lead a 6-3 win over Colorado.
Ryan Smyth tallied a goal and two assists, while Cory Cross and Marty Reasoner each had a goal and an assist in the win. Mike York also lit the lamp for the Oilers, who have outscored opponents 15-8 on their ice. Away from home, though, it has been a different story as Edmonton has been shut out in both of its road contests.
Staios, who picked up his second consecutive three-point game, recorded the first multi-goal contest of his career.
Tommy Salo made 31 saves in the win.
Edmonton, which was 2-for-8 on the power play, will head to Colorado following tonight's game before returning home for another three-game homestand.
St. Louis, meanwhile, also enters tonight's contest on a high-note following a victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Keith Tkachuk and Pavol Demitra each had a goal and an assist and Doug Weight added three helpers to lead the Blues to a 4-1 victory.
Chris Osgood stopped 9-of-10 shots in two periods before leaving the game with a sore hip flexor. Brent Johnson took over in goal and made four saves, and he will get the nod tonight.
This will be only the fourth start for Johnson in the 25 games (including the playoffs) since Osgood made his debut with the Blues on March 15.
Petr Cajanek and Chris Pronger also scored in the victory for the Blues, who scored three times with man-advantage. They had entered the game just 3-for-37 on the power play.
Blues defenseman Al MacInnis remains out indefinitely and could be lost for the season after the discovery of a torn retina in his left eye. MacInnis underwent surgery on Friday to re-attach the retina and also had a laser procedure performed on the right eye to repair a slightly torn retina.
St. Louis was 2-1-1 last season versus the Oilers and is 4-1-2 against them in the last seven and 6-3-2 against them in the last 11 meetings. Edmonton, though, has won four of its last six at home against the Blues (4-1-1).
