Last Night's Preseason Performers (Oct 2)

The Montreal Canadiens were not threatened by the Maple Leafs' big game the night before, probably because it wasn't the same team, and it was the Habs' depth that really showed their stuff, beating their long-time rivals, 3-1, on Saturday night.  Paul Byron led the way with a 3-point night, while checking forward Philip Danault also checked in with a couple of points.  Al Montoya got the start and played the entire game, he made 24 saves for the win.

The Rangers and Devils were involved in a good old fashioned shootout in the swamp and it was the home team that held on for a 5-4 victory in the end.  French defenseman Yohan Auvitu makes another appearance in the performers post, thanks to a 3-assist night in the win, leading the Devils to the victory.  Beau Bennett, Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri and Pavel Zacha were all 2-point players from the forward position, while tryout goalie Anders Lindback got the call for the whole game, making 30 saves for the win.  The Devils are flexing their new muscles and look pretty good doing it.

Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad and defenseman Adam Clendening were also back on the post, each picking up 2 points in the loss.

The Bruins and Flyers needed a shootout to decide their preseason tilt in Philadelphia on Saturday night and it was the visiting team from Boston that got the better of their hosts, 4-3. It appears to have been a single line that did most of the damage for Boston in regulation, with David Pastrnak and David Backes each coming away with 3 points in the win and in net, it was Malcolm Subban making 29 saves through overtime for the win.

The boxscore shows a pretty good game in Nashville, between the Lightning and the Predators, and it was the home side that took the victory in this one, Marek Mazanec doing his best to try and earn the back-up job with a 23-save win.  The Preds got help from James Neal, Mike Ribeiro and the big draw, P.K. Subban, all coming away with 2 points each.

Valtteri Filppula was decent in the loss, scoring a goal and adding an assist to his preseason totals and getting a quick nod on the blog.

It was a solid effort at both ends of the ice from the Chicago Blackhawks, as they shutout the St. Louis Blues, 4-0, for a preseason victory. Scott Darling only had to make 18 saves in his full night's work, earning the shutout, while prospect forward Tyler Motte was the big offensive force, picking up a pair of goals.


The Ducks sent a very shallow team to the desert to play the Coyotes and the dogs still needed overtime to pick up the win in the last of the preseason action on Saturday night. Shane Doan, Alex Goligoski and Mike Smith led the way for the home side, each taking 2 points away from this game, Doan scoring the winner in the extra frame.

The Ducks were able to stay in it, thanks to a goal and an assist from Michael Sgarbossa, but that was about it.