NHL Recap – Oct 6th 2013

Here is SenShot’s Daily NHL recap looking at all the happenings from around the league last night. There were 10 games besides Ottawa’s 5-4 shootout loss to the Leafs:

Oct 5, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara (33) scores a goal against Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard (35) during the third period at TD Banknorth Garden. The Bruins won the game 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

• The Boston Bruins welcomed the Detroit Red Wings to the Atlantic division by handing them a 4-1 loss in their first meeting as divisional rivals. Torey Krug had a goal and an assist to lead the Bruins, while Jordan Caron, Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara also scored to help Tuukka Rask and his 25 saves get the win.  Jimmy Howard was peppered by 37 shots, and only Henrik Zetterberg could beat him.
• The Philadelphia Flyers’ undisciplined play proved to be their undoing as they allowed 2 third period power play goals in a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.  Brian Gionta opened the scoring in the first, while Lars Eller, Brendan Gallagher and Rene Bourque finished them off in the third.  Vincent Lecavalier was the lone Flyers marksman, who tallied on the power play to make it 3-1 at the time.  Montreal went 2-9 win the man advantage.  Ray Emery lost his Philly debut, allowing 4 goals on 34 shots while Carey Price stopped 22 of 23 shots sent his way.
• The Columbus Blue Jackets staged a third period comeback from a 2-0 deficit to down the New York Islanders 3-2 in a shootout.  After Lubomir Visnovsky and Matt Moulson had staked the Isles to the lead with 2nd period goals, Mark Letestu and Nick Foligno tallied for the Blue Jackets to force extra time.  Cam Atkinson scored the winner in the 4th round of the shootout, after Letestu and Moulson had the teams even through the first 3 rounds.
• Marc-Andre Fleury saw his GAA skyrocket to 0.50 after he finally allowed a goal after playing 115 minutes of shutout hockey in Pittsburgh’s 4-1 win over the Sabres.  Sidney Crosby, Chuck Kobasew, Chris Kunitz and Craig Adams scored for the Pens, while Thomas Vanek broke Fleury’s bid for a second straight shutout with a late 3rd period goal and the only offense the Sabres could muster, and they have now scored just 2 goals in 3 games.
• The Chicago Blackhawks went over 20 games last season before losing a game, this season that streak is over at 2.  Despite looking home and cooled up 2-0 before the midway point of the game on goals by Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad, they couldn’t make that lead stand up against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Martin St. Louis and Teddy Purcell scored less than 2 minutes apart in the third and Valtteri Filppula scored the lone goal in the shootout for the 3-2 Tampa win.  Ben Bishop held the Lightning in the game while they found their legs, making 37 saves plus 3 more in the shootout.  Tampa didn’t register a shot in the first period, and ended up with just 16, but got the two points.
• The honeymoon might be over early for Tim Thomas, who allowed 5 goals on 28 shots before being pulled after the second period in Florida’s 7-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues.  Jacob Markstrom replaced Thomas and allowed 2 goals on 6 shots in 20 minutes.  Jaroslav Halak made 19 saves for the shutout.  Jaden Schwartz led the St. Louis attack with a goal and two assists, with Vladimir Tarasenko, Derek Roy and Brenden Morrow all adding a goal and an assist. Patrik Berglund, Alex Steen and Ryan Reaves added singles while Chris Stewart and Vladimir Sobotka each had a pair of helpers.
• The Dallas Stars eked out a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on the strength of 25 saves from Kari Lehtonen.  Alex Ovechkin beat him on an early first period power play, but that was all the Caps would get, while Erik Cole and Alex Chiasson beat Braden Holtby to give the Stars the win.
• Mathieu Perreault scored the winner with 5 seconds left in overtime to give the Ducks a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild.  Anaheim had taken a 3-1 lead on goals by Saku Koivu, Nick Bonino and Jakob Silfverberg. Zach Parise scored twice and Jason Pominville had the other for the Wild.  Jonas Hiller made 30 saves for the win, while Niklas Backstrom took the loss, allowing 4 goals on 26 shots.
• The Edmonton Oilers got an early goal from Jeff Petry, but it was all Vancouver Canucks after that as they scored 5 unanswered goals en route to a 6-2 win, giving John Tortorella his first win behind the Vancouver bench. Brad Richardson started it off with a shorthanded breakaway goal, while Dan Hamhuis, Jannik Hansen, Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler continued the rally and Chasing Devan Dubnyk.  Boyd Gordon scored to make it relatively respectable after 2, but the Oilers could get no closer.  Jason Garrison sealed the deal with an empty net shorhanded goal.  Roberto Luongo made 21 saves for the win.
• The San Jose Sharks fired 50 shots at Phoenix goalie Mike Smith, and 47 saves wasn’t enough as the Sharks got 3 past him in the first period en route to a 4-1 win.  Tomas Hertl scored his first two NHL goals to break the ice and score what would prove to be the game winner.  Patrick Marleau rounded out the first with a power play goal of his own.  Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored the lone Coyotes goal in the second period, but they would get no closer, as Logan Couture iced it with an empty netter with 25 seconds left.

That concludes our tour around the NHL.  There are 3 games on Sunday, so check back tomorrow for a recap of the action.