Monday in Review

Tonight's Three Stars:

1. Ilya Kovalchuk - 3 G, 1 A, 7 SOG
2. Petr Sykora - 1 G, 3 A, +1, 4 SOG
3. Slava Kozlov - 4 A, 5 SOG






Game Thoughts:

* Buffalo is now an amazing 9-0. Before we start mentioning them challenging the league record of 10 wins by the Leafs it's worth noting (as my best friend, a Leafs fan pointed out) that the Sabres have won three games in the shootout and these games would have ended as ties in the old NHL. Still, whether you wan to add the asterisk or not I continue to be more and more impressed by this Sabres team.
* The day that Colorado started to slide from being a team that terrifies you in the playoffs was October 1, 2002. That was the day they traded Chris Drury for Derek Morris, a trade that I don't think I will ever understand.
* Janne Niinimaa didn't exactly turn in a Messier/Namath performance tonight - 0 points, 10:43 TOI, -1, 1 SOG
* San Jose has rotated their goalies through the first 8 games but Toskala is doing everything he can to try and steal the job. Combined the Sharks now have three shutouts already
* Joe Thornton is still looking for goal #1 yet the Sharks are playing so well that not many have noticed
* Ilya Kovalchuk exploded for the hat trick tonight with three PPGs as the upstart Thrashers moved to 7-1-1
* Colorado got three goals on 5-3 powerplays to go up 3-1 in the game and coasted to a 6-1 win. The Avs have three young scorers up front in Svatos, Wolski and Stastny who will be relied on in a secondary scoring role if Colorado will contend for a playoff spot. So far they have produced..
* Vancouver came an inch or two away from their third straight comeback on the road but Zubov kept the puck on the goal line with under :30 to play. The Stars moved to 8-1 but according to the AP story the arena was half-empty due to the Monday nighter being played in Dallas. At this point I'm thinking the fans have a better chance of seeing a winner if they watch the Stars rather than the team with the stars on their helmets.
* Luongo has only given up more than 3 goals once in his first nine games in Vancouver.
* The Coyotes are off to their worst start in franchise history (since moving to Phoenix) and there are no signs of things getting better any time soon - they are now 2-7 although they did score their first goal in three games (JR of all people)

Photos from Getty Images and the Associated Press