A High Scoring Affair

Last night saw a few cracking games in the NHL, which was led by a pulsating 6-5 win by shootout for Montreal over Boston at TD Garden. The Habs started brightly and were two goals to the good by the beginning of the 2nd period thanks to goals by Matt Ryder and the ever excellent Patrice Subban. But a four goal rally mid second period by the Bruins led them to be 4-2 down in the blink of an eye. This glut of goals led to starting goalie Carey Price being benched in favour of backup Peter Budaj.

 But it was a move that paid off as despite a Tyler Seguin goal from Boston- Ryder and Gallagher then pulled the Canadiens back into the game in the third period to bring score back to 5-4. Then with 8.2 secs left on the clock, defensemen Andrei Markov hit a long ranger which skimmed off Bruins Captain Chara to level the scores at 5-5! In the shootout it was left to Gallagher to score past Rask and give the Habs a deserved away win and the extra point!

Elsewhere Calgary Flames put the loss of their popular skipper Jerome Iginla behind them as they beat Colorado Avalanche at home 4-3 with Mike Cammileri the stand out with two goals as the Flames took an early lead and aided by 27 saves from goalie Joey McDonald they ensured it was never lost, despite Ryan O’Reilly’s goal for Colorado giving them a scare late in the 3^rd period!

Mikku Koivu’s overtime winner saw Minnesota Wild claim a seventh straight victory in their increasingly impressive season as they overcame Phoenix Coyotes 4-3. But Wild had to watch a 2-0 lead with goals by Mitchell and Cullen disappear in 10 minutes during the second period as the Coyotes levelled the scores, Michael Stone goal for Phoenix early in the period suggested that the winning streak maybe coming to an end. But the Wild staged a late fight back in the 3^rd period with Ryan Suter’s goal pushing it to over time- allowing Koivu to score and extend the streak!

San Jose’s tie with Anaheim Ducks was a more one sided affair as the Sharks steamrollered over their opponents at the HP Pavilion with goals from Pavelski, Marleau, Burns and Wingels. San Jose has been a team who seem to like scoring in flurries which makes up for their slight inconsistent form. But with a little luck they should be among the main players come play-off time!