Saturday in Review

Tonight's Three Stars











1. Tomas Kaberle - 3 G, 1 A, +2, 29:36 TOI
2. Sidney Crosby - 3 G, +3, 4 SOG
3. Jaromir Jagr - 1 G, 3, A, +2

Game Thoughts
* Sergei Samsonov had his first big night as a Hab but was upstaged by Tomas Kaberle who scored his first three goals of the year plus another in the shootout
* JS Aubin got the win and although the Leafs blew a late 2-goal lead I think he may have earned the start on Monday thanks to his performance in the shootout
* If you're a Leaf fan you've got to find it disturbing that they have allowed 4+ goals in 7 of their last 8 games
* This is the third straight 5-4 game the Leafs have played in on HNIC - further proof that hockey has not been this exciting in quite a while
(AP Photo/Ryan Remiorz,CP)
* Chara faced the Sens for the first time and scored the winner on a blast from the Powerplay.
* On a positive note for Ottawa, Martin Gerber played well for the third game in a row while Tim Thomas picked up his first win of the year amidst rumours that Boston may be in the market for a goalie

(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
* Another disaster for the Flyers tonight at home. Nittymaki let in four of nine shots and Pittsburgh had a 4-goal second period to break the game wide open
* Malkin scored for the fifth straight game and added two assists while Crosby had his first career hattrick.
* After the game the Flyers' locker room was closed for 20 minutes for a team meeting. Off-ice moves aside the Flyers still need help up front and on D.

(AP Photo/H. Rumph, Jr.)
* The streak is over in Buffalo as they were knocked off by Atlanta. A very impressive accomplishment for a great Buffalo team but don't look now.. the Thrashers are just 2 points behind in the standings
* The Sabres battled back to tie the game on four occasions, but they just couldn't beat Lehtonen in the shootout, which was happening at the same time Toronto/Montreal were starting their shootout and New York/Florida were well into theirs. I've said it a few times already but NHL Center Ice is just a dream come true.

(Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

And in other action...
* A point-less Andy Hilbert scored in the 10th round of the shootout for the Islanders. Ed Belfour had another very strong start for the Panthers:

Ed Belfour (season): 17 goals, 339 minutes, 163 shots = 3.00 GAA, .896 svp
Andrew Raycroft (last 6 starts): 26 goals, 346 minutes, 170 shots = 4.51 GAA, .847 svp

* In the other net, Rick Dipietro got win #2 on the season
* Carolina scored 3 goals in 43 seconds (Staal, Adams and Cole) to knock off Tampa Bay. Cam Ward gave up 4+ for the fourth game in a row and sixth time this year. In the Spring, the Ward-Miller debates were rampant but so far this year there is no comparison
* Lecavalier continued to play well for Tampa, putting up 2 points. What's ironic may be that the better he plays, the better the chances that Tampa will move him at some point.
* Marty Brodeur had his second straight shutout and Columbus was involved in their third straight (on the losing end for two)
* The NHL may be much more wide open but when Jersey is on top of their game they can be just as effective shutting down the opposition as they used to be
* The Kings scored twice but still lost - this time to Dallas. On the season they have just 25 goals in 12 games.
* Dallas did suffer one loss - Steve Ott broke his ankle and will miss the next 2 months.
* Detroit continued to roll, behind two from Holmstrom and one from a kid named Valtteri Filppula who, according to the IIHF study is a marginal, below average player who should have stayed in Europe (congrats on your first NHL goal Valtteri).
* The Ducks went to Bryzgalov and got another shutout - they still haven't lost a game in regulation so far
* The Blackhawks may get some good news this week as Tuomo Ruutu should be back they are still playing through several key injuries
* Calgary got two from Iginla who got to see firsthand one of the centers that the team could have added but did not. Jason Arnott played another strong game and potted two goals - what a great addition he was for this Preds team
* Dwayne Roloson had the second shutout of the night in the highly anticipated Ovechkin debut in Edmonton. Not to beat a dead horse or anything but it's just wrong that it takes 90 games of his career before Alex the Great played the Oilers - and based on the numbers on "After Hours" on CBC, 93% of respondants to a survey agreed that all teams should meet at least once a year
* Phoenix snapped their big winning streak at one, as the Rangers won big behind a big night from Jagr
* JR was a -2 to bring his season total to -8. If Phlly stops getting shelled and JR doesn't retire he may challenge for the league lead but if Hatcher keeps this up (-14) nobody will catch him.

Thumbnails from Getty Images and AP Photo