Last Night's Preseason Performers (Sep 28)

The Philadelphia Flyers got a boost to their blueline before their match-up with the New York Rangers on Thursday night, as they saw both Andrew MacDonald and Travis Sanheim both returned from injury and they got some much-needed reps before the season started.  Two more healthy bodies didn't do the Flyers much good, as the Rangers were the better team on the night, winning 4-2.

Prospect goalie Alexandar Georgiev got the job done for the Rangers, making 26 saves in the victory and on the scoresheet, it was Kevin Hayes, Vladislav Namestnikov and Kevin Shattenkirk all had 2 points.

The Flyers did have a couple of bright spots in James Van Riemsdyk and Mikhail Vorobyov each had 2 points in the loss.  Vorobyov appears to have made his mark on this roster and could be a good sleeper pick this year.

From Orlando, FL, the Panthers and Lightning squared off in a neutral site game, bringing the ice cold action to another one of those hot spots in the south.  Lightning, too, brought the heat on the evening, lighting up the Panthers, 6-2, and raking in the points, even without Nikita Kucherov or Tyler Johnson in the lineup.  Mathieu Joseph led the way for the Bolts, scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist and it was a collection of Lightning players with 2 points a piece, including Alex Killorn, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, Victor Hedman and goalie Louis Domingue.  Tampa is running hot and they'll be hard to stop.

A fairly solid offensive outing between the Devils and Jets at the Bell MTS Centre in Winnipeg last night, as the visitors kept some of their 2018 mojo going with a 5-3 win.  Keith Kinkaid, the projected starter for the Devils on opening night, made 21 saves in the victory, Kyle Palmieri and Sami Vatanen each had a goal and an assist and Taylor Hall and Marcus Johansson each had a pair of assists.  These Devils could still be the real thing with that kind of lineup.

On the other side, both Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele had a pair of assists on the night, but they just couldn't squeeze any more out of their lineup.

The lowly Ottawa Senators went into Chicago on Thursday night and actually came away with a 2-1 win over their hosts on the night, probably surprising many.  Both teams had very close to completed rosters on the night and the Sens buckled down and got the win.  Mike Condon, the favourite for the Senators backup spot, made 27 saves for the win and in a low scoring game like this, he was the only notable player to speak of.

There are 82 games for every team this season and the Senators are bound to surprise us in a few of them, right?

The Coyotes and Oilers tangled at Rogers Place and this one needed overtime to settle and it was Connor McDavid, scoring his 2nd of the night, winning it for the home side, 3-2.  Mikko Koskinen has the leg up on the backup job now in Edmonton, after a 25-save effort for the victory, not to mention the bigger dollar value on his contract.

Both Clayton Keller and Alex Goligoski each came away with 2 points in this one as well.  The Coyotes have shown some flashes in this preseason, it is certainly a looming question, as to whether or not they'll be able to string it all together in the regular season.

Finally, in the late, late game at the Shark Tank, the Flames used four straight goals in the early part of the game to put their lead together, enough for them to hold on and win away, 4-3.  Mike Smith made 23 saves for the win for Calgary, Elias Lindholm and Travis Hamonic each had a goal and an assist and Mikael Backlund continued a good preseason with another pair of assists in the win.

24-year old undrafted prospect Antti Suomela may have cracked this San Jose roster through a strong preseason, which continued on Thursday night, as he potted a pair of goals in the loss.