Last Night's Preseason Performers (Sep 26)

Even though the scoreline reads seven goals, there wasn't much for notable players in the 5-2 Flyers win over the Islanders on Friday night.

Free agent defenseman Yevgeni Medvedev was the only skater to get the nod for the blog, picking up a couple of assists in the win and Michal Neuvirth was scheduled and did play every minute for the Flyers, making 23 saves for the win.

Medvedev appears to be a reasonable sleeper pick, if you think of him late on, as he should be making the team, coming over from Russia with a $3 million contract in hand.

I don't think there is too much to decide in New Jersey's camp, especially who is going to be playing back-up to Cory Schneider this season.

In Friday night's 4-2 Devils win over the Islanders, the only notable player in the game was goalie Keith Kinkaid, who made 21 saves for the victory and further cemented his spot as the number two guy on the team.

I don't expect the Devils to be a big points team, but Kinkaid should be the back-up and he's currently projected at about 10 points for the year.

It was a big win for the Blackhawks training camp squad in Montreal on Friday, as they went into the Bell Centre and came out with a 5-1 victory. NCAA free agent last year, Kyle Baun, was the big gainer, picking up 3 points in the game, as Trevor Daley, Andrew Desjardins and Garrett Ross each had 2 points in the win.

Projected back-up goalie, Scott Darling, made 22 saves and played the entire game for the Hawks, earning the win and a nod in the blog post this morning.

In the preseason version of the Battle of Florida, the Lightning came out on top, 4-1, over their state rivals, the Panthers.

Nikita Kucherov, Matthew Peca and Vladislav Namestnikov each came away with 2 points each and come away with a nod on the blog.  Kucherov is leading example of a pool player among the three, as he is expected to play a big role with the Lightning again in the 2016 season, while Peca and Namestnikov may be bit players in the season.

A couple of rebuilding franchises went head-to-head on Friday night as well, as the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs compared their off-season results on the ice. The Sabres, by last night's result, have had the better turnaround, winning 6-4 over the Leafs.

Defenseman Mark Pysyk and rookie forward Sam Reinhart led the way with 3 points each in the game, while Brian Gionta, Nicolas Deslauriers and Brendan Guhle all had 2 points a piece in the win.  Reinhart is expected to make the club this year, helping the rebuild out a bit, but Pysyk might still be a year away, trying to work through a bit of that newly-acquired depth.

Nazem Kadri had a couple of points in the loss.  He'll be leaned upon to help guide the new Leafs through some tough times this year.

In Winnipeg, the Oilers and Jets took to the ice, working on their respective rosters and had a game of their own.

Ben Scrivens, who is fighting to remain the number one guy in the Oilers crease, made 31 saves in a 4-3 overtime win.  Lauri Korpikoski and Rob Klinkhammer were the notable skaters for Edmonton, each picking up a goal and an assist.

Andrew Copp was the most notable Jets player in the game, picking up a goal and assist of his own.

In the first of a home and home series between the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames, the home team was the better of the two sides, earning a 4-1 win in front of their fans.

Jonas Hiller got the nod for the whole game, making 25 saves for the win, making the goalie conversation increasingly more difficult for the Flames coaches.  Michal Frolik, Micheal Ferland, Sam Bennett and Dennis Wideman were also 2-point players on the night as well.

The expected number one for the Anaheim Ducks was the only notable player in their win over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night, a 2-1 scoreline to the home team.  Frederik Andersen got some work in this preseason, making 24 saves in the victory, getting the best of a pretty decent lineup for the Kings.

Andersen is definitely expected to go early in the pool draft next weekend and he should pay off quite well in the process.

It was a good night for the San Jose Sharks, as they hosted the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night, defeating them 4-1 in their preseason match-up.

Another goalie got a nice long look in the game, as Alex Stalock got the whole game for the Sharks, making 27 saves for the win.  Youngsters Dylan Demelo and Joonas Donskoi each had a couple of points, as they try and crack the roster, while Joe Thornton and Marc-Edouard Vlasic also had a couple points to help lead the way for the team