Wednesday
10Feb2010
Snap Shots: February 11, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 10:46PM Notes from around the NHL:
- In four games with the New Jersey Devils, Ilya Kovalchuk has a whole two points, both of which are assists he got in his first game. The league's 7th-highest goal scorer has no goals despite 23 shots. Kovy's firing blanks right now.
- Defenceman Anssi Salmela, the other guy in the Kovalchuk trade, has one goal with the Devils on six shots. He's also missing a bunch of teeth after scoring that goal, courtesy of Jeff Carter.
- Oh, and Niclas Bergfors has two goals and an assist (on nine shots) with Atlanta. Good start.
- The mystery that only I seemingly cared about has been solved: Vesa Toskala's visa issues have finally been resolved. Toskala took a nice jab at the Maple Leafs on his way out, saying he can't wait to get the blue and white out of his gear. For anyone keeping track, Toskala will be wearing #36, so expect Giguere's number to be retired in the future.
- Edmonton can't catch a break. Both their goals against Anaheim were shorthanded markers, yet they lost the game to a Todd Marchant goal. If you're an Oilers fan... that's got to sting a little.
- Since Ken Hitchcock's firing, Steve Mason is 3-0, has two shutouts, a 0.33 GAA, and a pretty nice .989 save percentage.
- Speaking of coach firings, despite Saturday's debacle, Ottawa's record after firing goalie coach Eli Wilson is 12-1. Brian Elliott has gone 10-1 with a 1.59 GAA and .948 save percentage. Pascal Leclaire's been back in the lineup for four games and has yet to start.
- Brooks Laich's hat trick against Montreal was only the second by a Washington Capital this season (Ovechkin had one the game before). Pretty amazing when you consider that Washington is leading the league in scoring by 39 goals.
- If the Capitals lost every game from here until the end of the season, they would finish with a record of 41-34-7.
- Finally, the baby Caps aren't doing too poorly, either. That's a pretty nice 39-9-2 record the Hershey Bears have in the AHL. Their 219 goals are 44 more than the next best team. They've scored 101 more goals than they've allowed (218-118). This all while lending their starting goalie (Michal Neuvirth) to the Capitals for most of the season.
