Last Night's Preseason Action (Sep 27)

The Kraft Hockeyville game went in St. John's, Newfoundland on Monday night between the Winnipeg Jets and the Ottawa Senators, in front of a capacity crowd at the Mile One Centre and it was Canada's newest team that took the game, 3-1. No one really stood out, as per the usual guidelines for the blog post, but rookie Mark Schiefele scored another goal in this preseason, continuing to raise some eyebrows in Jets camp.  It looks like Ondrej Pavelec was in net for the whole game, but I couldn't find actual confirmation of that.

Michal Neuvirth made 22 saves for the Capitals in a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jackets on Monday night, giving himself a last minute mention before tonight's draft. Neuvirth is going to push Tomas Vokoun for the top job in Washington this year and rightfully so. Prospect forward Chris Bourque had a good game as well, assisting on all three Capitals goals, while Mathieu Perreault made another push for an opening night spot with a goal and an assist in the win.

Good game in Philadelphia on Monday night, as the Flyers and Rangers went back and forth for three periods, but it was the home team that prevailed on Winter Classic Announcement Day, 5-3. Jaromir Jagr had 2 goals and an assist, while both Daniel Briere and Claude Giroux each had a trio of assists. Rookie forward Matt Read made yet another splash with a goal and an assist and he could be worthy of a late round pick-up this year, as he showed some real poise on the ice.  Ilya Bryzgalov made 17 saves for the victory.

On the losing side of the game, it was only Brian Boyle who picked up 2 points in the game, scoring a goal and an assist.  Boyle showed some real fantasy value in the 2011 season and I don't think there is any reason why you wouldn't want to pick him up at a reasonable point this season.  The Rangers are likely to score this season and since Boyle scored 21 goals last season, I could see him doing it again.

The Boston Bruins are boasting a pair of good goalies going into defend their championship and Tuukka Rask may be leaned on a little bit more, trying to keep Tim Thomas fresh. Well, Rask provided reason to have confidence in him, beating Montreal 2-1 on the road on Monday night, making 31 saves in the process.  It's hard to say exactly how many games he'll get, but there's a good chance he'll win most of what he gets.