Last Night's Preseason Performers (Oct 6)

The Islanders and Devils were back at it in the preseason on Wednesday night, as rosters are starting to dwindle down.  It was a good spread of the offense in this one, as the visiting team from Brooklyn took this one, 3-2, no one had a notable game for this blog post, except for the goalie, Thomas Greiss, who made 19 saves for the victory.  Greiss is expected to be the number two guy and will be chomping at the bit for his chance to try and win his way into number one and run with it.

It was another road team win in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, as the Detroit Red Wings were better than their hosts, the Penguins, 5-2 on Wednesday night.  Gustav Nyquist continues to have a good preseason, picking up a 3-point night, showing that his World Cup appearance was a good boost.  Tyler Bertuzzi and Riley Sheahan also had a couple of points to round out the Detroit skaters, while prospect keeper Jared Coreau made 30 saves for the win.

The Colorado Avalanche have to be pleased that both of their goalies are playing well in this preseason, as Calvin Pickard earned a shutout against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night, a 1-0 decision.  Pickard and Semyon Varlamov are expected to make the tandem for the Avalanche this year and they have both registered bagels in the preseason schedule and if the goaltending can keep the pace, this team could be really exciting.

It was a battle of starters in Calgary, between the Coyotes and the Flames, and it was the host team (this time!) that took the victory, as the Flames came away as 2-1 shootout victors.  The new number one, Brian Elliott, got the call for the Flames, making 21 saves through regulation and overtime and then not allowing a shootout goal in the skills competition to take the win.  2016 1st round draft pick, Matthew Tkachuk, got the shootout winner for the Flames, giving him more reason to stick around.

I'm sure that if there was one thing that Jonathan Bernier wants to do this season that prove to some in Toronto that it wasn't the goaltending's fault that made the Leafs so bad over the past couple of years.  Bernier is in tough for the number one job in Anaheim, but a shutout against the Sharks in preseason action should help his cause, as he stopped all 22 shots that came his way in a 2-0 win.  John Gibson is still the favourite for the job, but age and experience is certainly in Bernier's favour.