Faceoff Factor

"Justin" Case You Missed It - Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Justin Maffei | National Hockey League

Mar 5, 01:14 AM | Hype this story!

Hello FF community, This is Justin Maffei and I’m glad you decided to take a look at my first article. My hopes are that we will all grow together to make “‘Justin’ Case You Missed It” as benefitial as possible. Any suggestions/comments/concerns will be appreciated.

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Game summaries for Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Florida Panthers 1 – Boston Bruins 0 (OT)
This was obviously a very defensive game. I don’t feel like this has happened very often, in fact only three times in their previous ten games, but the Bruins lost as Nathan Horton scored 22 seconds into overtime. In Boston goalie Craig Anderson’s past two games, he stopped 93 shots, posting shutouts in both games. On March 2nd, he set an NHL record for the most saves in a shutout.

Three Stars
1 Anderson, FLA (40 saves)
2 Auld, BOS (31 saves)
3 Horton, FLA (1 G, 0 A, 1 P)

Attendance: 14,473

NHL.com Recap
Boston Globe
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

New York Islanders 4 – New York Rangers 3 (SO)
Dipietro did not play again tonight after the passing of his grandmother. However, the Islanders were still able to pull out the win in the shootout. In their last 10 games, the Rangers have not lost in regulation. They do, however, fall behind by a point since the Penguins and Devils both won tonight.

Three Stars
1 Tambellini, NYI (0 G, 0 A, 0 P – Game winning goal in SO)
2 Callahan, NYR (1 G, 0 A, 1 P – Game tying SH goal in 3rd)
3 Gomez, NYR (0 G, 2 A, 2 P)

Attendance: 18,200

NHL.com Recap
New York Daily News

Buffalo Sabres 5 – Philadelphia Flyers 2
Philadelphia is in quite a funk. They need to get back to their game if they want to remain in the playoff hunt. Buffalo is now within one point of overtaking Philly for the final playoff position. The game was tied 2-2 after two periods. However, Buffalo shocked Philadelphia right out of the gates in third by scoring two goals in the first two minutes and adding another one four minutes later.

Three Stars
1 Afinogenov, BUF (2 G, 1 A, 3 P)
2 Pominville, BUF (2 G, 0 A, 2 P)
3 Bernier, BUF (0 G, 2 A, 2 P)

Attendance: 19,516

NHL.com Recap
The Buffalo News
The Philadelphia Inquirer & Philadelphia Daily News

New Jersey Devils 4 – Toronto Maple Leafs 1
The game was 2-1 after two periods. Midway through the third the Devils decided to turn it on, scoring two quick goals to ice it. The win ends a three game skid for the Devils. The Devils remain a point behind the Penguins in the standings.

Three Stars
1 Brodeur, NJ (41 saves)
2 Parise, NJ (2 G, 0 A, 2 P)
3 Sundin, TOR (0 G, 1 A, 1 P)

Attendance: 19,507

NHL.com Recap
Newark Star-Ledger
Toronto Star

Pittsburgh Penguins 2 – Tampa Bay Lightning 0
Superman Returns! I haven’t actually seen the movie but this was the live version for Pens’ fans. Crosby returned after a month and a half recovery. He looked a bit rusty and tentative for a while, but settled down during the third period. Staal also left the game with bruised ribs, but should not miss any/much time. Fleury was solid in this one as well, he made a key save against Lecavalier on a breakaway with around 8 minutes remaining on his way to posting a shutout (his third of the season). Halpern played very solid for the Lightning. Sykora could have helped the cause, but missed on a penalty shot. Don’t ask me why O’Brien didn’t get a penalty for Unsportsmanlike Conduct when he dropped his gloves to fight Ruutu, but Ruutu didn’t join in. Penguin fans saw that called against Colby Armstrong earlier in the season. The game remained scoreless until Talbot put a rebound in at 17:13 of the third. Crosby also received credit for the first assist with Dupuis getting the second. Talbot also made a great play at the end of the game to get Malkin the puck so that Malkin could put it into the empty net.

Three Stars
1 Fleury, PIT (35 saves)
2 Smith, TB (21 saves)
3 Talbot, PIT (1 G, 1 A, 2 P)

Attendance: 19,206

NHL.com Recap
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
St. Petersburg Times

Chicago Blackhawks 4 – Minnesota Wild 2
Patrick Lalime had another solid game as the Blackhawks continue to fight their way into the final playoff spot. Pavol Demitra scored first for the Wild. That would be the only lead they had in this game as Chicage scored the next three goals to make it 3-1. The Wild scored to make it 3-2, but an empty netter capped off the night.

Three Stars
1 Williams, CHI (1 G, 1 A, 2 P)
2 Schultz, MIN (0 G, 1 A, 1 P)
3 Byfuglien, CHI (1 G, 0 A, 1 P)

Attendance: 18,568

NHL.com Recap
Chicago Sun-Times
Pioneer Press

Los Angeles Kings 2 – St. Louis Blues 3
The Blues snapped out of a six game losing streak with this victory. The Kings, however, are in their own five game losing streak. The Blues were able to find enough offense in this game to pull out the W.

Three Stars
1 Tkachuk, STL (1 G, 0 A, 1 P)
2 McDonald, STL (1 G, 0 A, 1 P)
3 R. Johnson, STL (1 G, 0 A, 1 P – GW goal)

Attendance: 14,973

NHL.com Recap
Los Angeles Times
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Columbus Blue Jackets 0 – Calgary Flames 1
The Flames pulled to a first place tie in their division with the Minnesota Wild with this victory. Craig Conroy scored the only goal of the game and Miikka Kiprusoff recorded a shutout.

Three Stars
1 Kiprusoff, CGY (39 saves)
2 Nash, CBJ (0 G, 0 A, 0 P)
3 Conroy, CGY (1 G, 0 A, 1 P – GW goal)

Attendance: 19,289

NHL.com Recap
Columbus Dispatch
Calgary Sun

Nashville Predators 5 – Edmonton Oilers 1
Nashville had this win from the word ‘Go,’ as their first goal came in the first minute of the game. Martin Erat added his first NHL hat trick (a natural hat trick, mind you), scoring goals 2, 3, and 4 in the game.

Three Stars
1 Erat, NSH (3 G, 0 A, 3 P)
2 Koistinen, NSH (1 G, 1 A, 2 P)
3 Nilsson, EDM (0 G, 1 A, 0 P)

Attendance: 16,839

NHL.com Recap
Edmonton Sun
Nashville City Paper

Vancouver Canucks 1 – Colorado Avalanche 2
Forsberg returned to the ice tonight. The Aves have won their past four games. Colorado received bad news, however, as Svatos will miss the rest of the season. This was a heated battle as multiple fights occured in the game.

Three Stars
1 Liles, COL (1 G, 0 A, 1 P)
2 Stastny, COL (1 G, 0 A, 1 P)
3 Theodore, COL (26 saves)

Attendance: 17,621

NHL.com Recap
Denver Post
The Province

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GAME OF THE NIGHT
A superstar returned to the ice tonight. How could that not be the game of the night? Sorry, Avalanche fans, Crosby is more of a star than Forsberg.