01/12/12 - Studs & Duds

[bondon]

Might as well jump right into it...a lot of great action around the league tonight.

Studs

3) Louie Louie - Is there any guy in the league more underrated than perennial Lady Byng candidate Loui Eriksson? People are starting to get the memo but for the greater part of the past two seasons all people have been saying is that this guy wouldn't make it without Brad Richards. Who's got more points now? Eriksson brought his total to 40 points in 42 games after potting two goals in tonight's 5-4 win for the Stars, and also got the game-winner in the shootout.

2) Hey the Hurricanes found a line that doesn't suck! - The 'Canes line of Tlusty-Staal-Ruutu dominated the game early as they scored two goals in the first five minutes against Mathieu Garon. All three players managed three points in the contest. Eric Staal in particular seems to be breaking out of his early season slump, and Cam Ward posted his fourth straight solid start. Are things looking up for the Hurricanes? I'd bet on no but I'd love to see them to prove me wrong.

1) D'uh, Winning - If I told you that Craig Anderson was in the top five this year for Wins would you believe me? What if I told you he had more wins than King Henrik? What if I told you he was tied for second with 22 wins along with Pekka Rinne. Anderson now has 11 wins in his last 16 starts as his save percentage slowly crawls over .900 and his goals against average sneaks under 3. Anderson has only posted a save percentage below .923% once in 2012 through six starts. The Senators have now snuck into 5th place in the East.

Honourable Mentions

Price vs. Thomas: IV - I love it when these two goalies go up against each other, as both are fierce competitors and terrific media personalities. This was their fourth matchup of the season, as Thomas moves up to 3-1 against Price this season. Fun fact, in four games against each other this season, both goalies have given up a combined 12 goals (three goals total per game)

Mark Giordano - Picks up an assist on the game-winner in his first game back after missing a month and a half with a partially torn leg tendon. Giordano also logged 21:28 TOI and things were business as usual for him as he threw three hits and blocked three shots. Mention to Kiprusoff as well who made 24 saves for his third shutout of the season.

Jack Johnson – played a large role in the Kings' third period comeback attempt scoring a goal and adding two helpers. He also somehow managed to end with an even rating.

Duds

3) It's a Hard Knock Life - Rough game for Josh Harding as he was pulled after allowing four goals again tonight against the Blackhawks. Harding was originally listed as questionable for the game due to illness leading to an emergency call up of Matt Hackett, but Harding surprisingly made the start. Harding blamed the loss on himself and refused to use illness as an excuse, but is anyone else also wondering where the hell Niklas Backstrom was? The Wild have gone 2-9-3 in their past 14 games.

2) Jets crash and burn - The Jets continue to struggle in 2012 after dominating the last month of 2011. The Jets were shut out by the Sharks tonight as they lost 2-0. Their offense is missing big shot Dustin Byfuglien in the worst way, and missing Zach Bogosian didn't help matters much. The Jets have been outscored 8-19 in five games so far in 2012.

1) Pierre Gauthier - LOL.

Dishonourable Mentions

The Ducks - Shut out for what seems like the hundredth time this season.

The 'Yotes - The fact that Mike Smith can make 40 saves on 42 shots and still lose is pathetic. If only his team could give him some support, as despite having a save percentage of .951% in five starts since returning to the lineup, he sits at a record of 1-1-3.

Cammalleri - The Habs should have sent him packing before the game, as Cammalleri failed to post a single statistic in nine minutes of play through two periods. Goose eggs across the board baby.

Quick Hits

Goonfest - HUGE penalty minute numbers from a couple of Kings players tonight as Richards landed 23 PIM after gunning for Brenden Morrow after Morrow laid Kopitar out with a hard hit. Doughty was later assessed a charging penalty and a misconduct in overtime for 12 PIM. Morrow walked away with seven penalty minutes and Souray with six.

Brian Elliott finally lost!! - Burrows, Edler, and the Sedin twins all chipped in two points in tonight's 3-2 win over Elliott and the Blues.

Anze Kopitar - Played his best game under Sutter this season only to see it cut short by a hard hit from Morrow. Keep an eye on his injury status here

David Rundblad - Rundblad now has two points in two games that were very far apart for the Coyotes. The last time he played before today was December 21, immediately after the trade. After watching a period of tonight's game it wasn’t hard to see why Tippet only gave him nine minutes of ice time tonight, as despite going +2 he was absolutely horrible in his own end.

Bobrovsky - Bobbles is now 10-3-1 on the season, and has a save percentage over .920 and a goals against average under 2.5. Just keep that pot boiling Ilya you're gonna be drinking tea for awhile.

Fantasy Tip of the Day - Give the players on the Islanders a good hard look. If you haven't already caught on, a handful of their players are red hot right now. Odds are at this point Tavares is near untouchable, while Moulson and Parenteau have probably been snatched off the wire. Likely to be available is Kyle Okposo as he now has eight goals and six assists in his past 19 games, and is seeing regular shifts with Tavares.

[shingy]

Thanks for the info, great read.