Studs & Duds - Friday 2/22
Sorry for being so late with this. I meant to have it posted after I got home from work this morning. Tough night too, no multi-point players, and only three low scoring games. Well here goes nothing....
Studs
No reason to feel Saad
With the game tied entering the final frame and the Hawks point streak on the line, the rookie stepped up and notched the game winner shorthanded. It was only Brandon's third point of the season, all goals by the way, but it continues his strong play which has seen him log consistent top-six minutes all season.
Who was that masked man?
On a night with only three games there's not much competition for a spot in the limelight. All six netminders on Friday night did their best to lay claim to one of those spots. Only Jacob Markstrom of the Panthers allowed more than two goals, but he faced 40 shots from the high-powered Pens offense. On the night the six combined for an aggregate 1.35 GAA and .953 SV%, with Lou pitching the shutout.
This pains me greatly as a Wings fan, but...
Congrats to the Blackhawks on setting the NHL record for points to open a season. Give the devil his due, points in each of their first 17 games is impressive. Now....lose damnit!!! Excuse me I have to go take a shower. I feel so dirty now.
Duds
That's going to leave a mark
It's not that Evgeni Malkin did anything wrong to earn this dud, quite the contrary. Geno tallied an assist and now has a four game point streak going. He's listed here for what his injury may do to his fantasy owners teams. It's being called an UBI, but the dreaded term "concussion like symptoms" has been bandied about. That loud noise you may be hearing is the wailing and lamentations of his owners.
Help a brother out here
C'mon man! What gives with only three games on a Friday night? Really? That's the best you nitwits in the league office can come up with? I've got a damn Studs and Duds column to write and you give me this pathetic excuse for a schedule to generate said column from. Ah well, it's better than that one game Friday from a couple of weeks ago.
Quick hits
- Matt Niskanen picked up his third goal of the season, the game-winner as it turned out. Just driving that knife deeper and deeper into the heart of Big D.
- Brandon Sutter had a great night on the dot going 14-4 on faceoffs.
- Dustin Jeffrey tallied his first goal in over a year last night. Before that insurance goal he hadn't scored since 2-18-12.
- Roberto Luongo now has wins in five of his last six after last night's 1-0 blanking of the Preds.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....