Last Night's Preseason Performers (Sep 23)

The Bruins got off to a good start in the preseason, taking down the Capitals, 2-1, at home.  There's a lot of promise in the combination of David Pastrnak and David Krejci through one night of action, the former with a pair of goals and the latter picking up the primary assist on both.

Pastrnak has taken to the NHL quite well and if he can show off some of that talent in his sophomore year, he could be in for a very solid career.  Keep an eye on him.

Some more split squad action on Tuesday night, as the Blues and Blue Jackets went head-to-head, the first game going in Columbus.  The Jackets were 3-1 winners and the two top forwards for the team last year, came up big to start this preseason.  Ryan Johansen went one and one, while Nick Foligno had a pair of assists in the win.

I don't think there are many people out there who think Johansen is a flash in the pan, but Foligno certainly could be considered that.  If that's the case, you may want to re-think that.

The Flyers entertained the Rangers on Tuesday night and for a second straight night, the team from the Big Apple was involved in a high scoring game.  This time, they took a 5-3 loss in preseason action.

For the Flyers, Steve Mason played the full 60 minutes, making 29 saves for the win.  Shayne Gostisbehere scored a pair of goals, Sam Gagner went one and one, while Wayne Simmonds and R.J. Umberger had a couple of assists each.

In the loss, Mat Bodie had a pair of goals and Oscar Lindberg had a goal and an assist.

If you have been paying attention to the advertising on the Pittsburgh Penguins offense in this off-season, you'd know that they are promoting all kinds of skill in their top six.  Against the Carolina Hurricanes, they had it in full display.

In a 7-3 win, Kristopher Letang had a goal and 3 assists, Sidney Crosby had a 3-point night, while Olli Maatta, Chris Kunitz, Daniel Sprong, Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist and Phil Kessel each had 2 points each.  What output!

The Hurricanes had one bright spot in Elias Lindholm, who had a pair of assists in the loss.

The Panthers had a much better showing on Tuesday night, as they played host to the Dallas Stars, winning that game 3-2.  Jonathan Huberdeau scored a pair of goals to start the game, playing on a line with Jaromir Jagr, who assisted on both goals.

The young Panther forwards are going to be the fountain of youth for Jagr, as he doesn't look out of place with these guys, certainly helping out their power play, among other things.  I wouldn't expect the world from him, but he should be a good fit this year.

The preseason is a bad gauge of teams, as a whole, since most teams are not fielding their best players or having their number one goalies play entire games.  Nevertheless, the Maple Leafs are perfect through three games, thanks to a 2-1 overtime win over Montreal on Tuesday night.

Jake Gardiner scored the winner and added an assist to be the only notable player from this game.  There are still some high expectations for Gardiner this season, despite the rebuilding nature of his club, so plan accordingly for him.

It wasn't much of a game for the blog site, but Carter Hutton will get his nod for his 26-save performance, as the Nashville Predators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 in overtime.  Hutton is the clear favourite now for the back-up job behind Pekka Rinne, but that's only worth so much, since Rinne is such a minute-hog in the Predators net.  Still, he'll be good for some points, especially if he can put up some performances like that, behind a very decent defense.

In the second half of the split squad games between Columbus and St. Louis, it was made into a home team split, as the Blues took their game, 5-2.

It was a great night for Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Steen, who each had a goal and 2 assists, leading the way for the Blues in their former divisional match-up.  Rookie defenseman Colton Parayko also had a couple of assists in the game.

Lots of eyes will be on Tarasenko at the draft, early on, so an early 3-point night in the preseason should get his stock rising through the roof, a likely 1st round pick in 10 days.

Just when you thought Niklas Backstrom was down and out for the Minnesota Wild, he goes into the MTS Centre in Winnipeg and has himself a game.  Backstrom posted a 28-save shutout in a 1-0 overtime win over the Jets and the reviews of his game were quite good.

It seems unlikely that the Wild will deviate from the Devan Dubnyk experience, as their number one guy, but having Backstrom trying to come back to form could only mean good things, like an asset that could be in play in the trade market.  A very interesting play, to say the least.

In Chicago, the Red Wings and Blackhawks shot out the lights a little bit, giving the fans a pretty good game, a 5-4 home team win in overtime.

For the home side, Jonathan Toews, Ryan Garbutt and Trevor Daley all went one and one in the game, while Brent Seabrook had a pair of assists to join the fun in this one.

The Red Wings had a few names worth mentioning as well: Riley Sheahan had a goal and an assist, while Andy Miele and Nathan Paetsch each had a couple of assists.  Sheahan is the only expected roster player, as Miele has yet to crack the big lineup and Paetsch is now only a tryout these days.

It was another 5-4 overtime contest in the Mile High City, as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Anaheim Ducks by the same score as the game above.

Alex Tanguay and Jack Skille each had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, while Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Zadorov each had a couple of assists.  Skille's name has popped up in some reports, as a tryout that has a real shot to crack the roster in Colorado, so that's one to look out for.

For the Ducks, Jiri Sekac had a couple of goals and Mike Santorelli had a couple of assists in the loss, both are expected to be on the roster on opening night.

The San Jose Sharks got sweet revenge on their loss on Monday night, defeating the Canucks in Vancouver, by a score of 4-0.

Their projected number one, Martin Jones, got the entire game on Tuesday night, making 30 saves for the shutout on the night.  Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl also had good games, each scoring a goal and adding an assist in the win.

Finally, in Los Angeles, it was a good night for the AHL'ers for the Kings, as they came up big in a 3-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes.

Jordan Weal and Brian O'Neill were the notable players from this one, each scoring a goal and an assist in the game last night.  Weal is the more likely of the two to have a shot at a regular place in the lineup, come opening night and a couple points will go a long way to help his cause out.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.