Tuesday, October 04, 2016

Last Night's Preseason Performers (Oct 4)

Johnny Boychuk returned to preseason action for the Islanders on Monday night and picked up a couple of assists in a 4-3 win for his club, beating the Devils at the Barclay's Center.  Prospect forward Matthew Barzal was also good for a goal and an assist in the game, while pro tryout forward Steve Bernier figured in with a couple of assists as well.

Thomas Greiss was given the whole game, making 25 saves and registering the win.  Greiss might be limited to the back-up role after Jaroslav Halak's outstanding World Cup, but he will be a clever add through.

If the Philadelphia Flyers are going to be a force this season, they will need to get contributions from their top players this season, after some of them have been taking some time off in recent years.  Jakub Voracek scored a pair of goals, Shayne Gostisbehere had a couple of assists and Steve Mason made 27 saves for the win, all worth 2 points in their win against the Rangers on Monday night.

Radko Gudas returned to preseason action as well, but his appearance was limited to under seven minutes after receiving a boarding major and a game misconduct for hitting Jimmy Vesey.  Vesey was okay and Gudas isn't to receive any extra discipline on the play.

Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien didn't miss much time at all after being taken out of a game for precautionary reasons on the weekend, coming back on Monday night and picking up a couple of assists in Winnipeg's 4-2 win over the Senators.  Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers and Mathieu Perreault were all strong contributors in the game, 2 points a piece.  In goal, it was Michael Hutchinson again, making 27 saves for the win.

The Arizona Coyotes were happy to have Oliver Ekman-Larsson in their preseason lineup against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night and he was a help for their 4-2 win.  Ekman-Larsson was nursing a minor lower-body injury from his World Cup appearance.  Dylan Strome and Alex Goligoski were the main two performers on Monday night, each picking up a couple of assists each and making a stronger case for the Coyotes' upcoming season.

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