12/08/11 - Studs & Duds

[bondon]

Not even the flu and exams could keep me from doing Studs and Duds tonight! Hope you guys enjoy em!

Studs

3) Yes he can Hackett - Two days after shutting the door (34 saves) on the Sharks in his first NHL appearance, Matt Hackett proved today that it was no fluke. Hackett stopped 42 out of 44 shots tonight helping the Wild maintain their grip on first place. No rush Nik and Josh, take all the time you need.

2) Looking Sharp there Hoss - Captain Serious took a well-deserved night off from the scoresheet and the duo of Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa picked up the slack. Both players contributed on all three of the Blackhawks' goals tonight as Sharp (2G,1A,+1,2PIM,3SOG) picked up the game-winning goal in overtime and Hossa (1G,2A,+2,6SOG) picked up his 400th goal of his career. Congratulations Hoss man!

1) No way, Jose!?! - Jose Theodore was the recipient of a lot of verbal jabs and mockery on these boards (including myself) during the offseason, but who's really laughing now? Theodore has been the best goaltending surprise of the season next to Mike Smith. Tonight he shut down the Bruins' offense, Tyler Seguin and all, making 40 saves for his second shutout of the season (11-5-3, 2.16 GAA, .929%)

Honourable Mentions

Defensemen on the Prowl - Both Ryan Suter and Shea Weber now have 20 points in 27 games, on pace for 61 points which would be a career high for both. $$$

Scotty Hartnell - What a turnaround it has been for Hartnell. He scored his 13th goal of the season tonight which stood up to be the game-winner, and added some studly roto numbers to his stat sheet (2PIM, 3SOG, 2 Blocks, 3 Hits)

Duds

3) PP leak - Some teams could have used a few sets of diapers or something tonight on their powerplay as six shorthanded goals were scored tonight. It was finally great to see the Devils on the giving end of the short-handed stick as they accounted for two of them. Oh wait what? The Devils gave one up too? Well, what else is new.

2) Baby I'm Howlin' for You - The Coyotes had something to cry about tonight as they were absolutely embarrassed after 20 minutes. The Red Wings jumped on top of them quickly scoring five goals, four on Smith who abruptly got the hook, and another one on the first shot against LaBarbera. The Coyotes never stood a chance.

1) Just Marty being Marty - Second time in the past three games that he's seen the bench early. Surprisingly (at least to me) this is only the second time he has been given the hook this season. Playing Martin Brodeur in fantasy leagues this year is like playing Russian Roulette with five rounds instead of one.

Dishonourable Mentions

Blue Jackets or Predators? - I wanted to give one of these teams a dishonourable mention but I couldn't figure out which one. In corner A we have the Predators, who only had a grand total of 11 shots with 17 minutes remaining in the third period. In corner B we have the Blue Jackets, who allowed three goals from that point on, eventually losing in OT. Bah, who am I kidding, it's the Blue Jackets. Don't bother moving your things guys, you're still in last place.

No Habs No! - For blowing a 3-0 lead to Vancouver and eventually losing 4-3 in the shootout. Carey Price deserved a better fate tonight

Quick Hits

Kovalchuk-Henrique-Parise - This line is on fire (and has been for awhile). While the buy-low window on Parise and Kovalchuk are probably way past due, there is a chance Adam Henrique is still out there on the wire in some leagues. Since being matched up at the start of November, Henrique (18GP, 6G, 13A) has been the glue holding the line together. He tallied another two assists tonight.

Nick Foligno - He scored his tenth goal of the season tonight but what some have failed to notice is that he is now riding a six game point streak (4G, 3A), and has really turned it on since the beginning of November (17 GP, 8G, 8A). He is also on pace to set a career high in hits (232).

Rays of Sunshine - With Quenneville already going public about evaluating his goaltending on a 'game by game' basis, Ray Emery's 31 save OT win is going to give Coach Q some sweet dreams tonight.
Mason Raymond - great to see him score his first goal since returning from injury, on a sweet short-handed effort no less.
Ray Whitney collected his 600th assist tonight, making him the 75th NHL player to do so. While his pace has slowed, he still has a healthy 25 points in 28 games.

Dustin Brown - The Kings' captain threw a whopping 12 hits tonight against the Wild.

Fr??d??ric St-denis - I don't know about you guys but that's what I see when I look at the Yahoo! boxscore. Congratulations to Frederic St-denis for scoring the first goal of the game, which was his first goal in his first NHL game! The guy doesn't even have a Yahoo! player page yet! (at least at the time of this post)