Last Night's Preseason Performers (Sep 30)

It was a big night for the Buffalo Sabres, hosting division rivals from Toronto in front of their home crowd, showing off some of their gains in the off-season. The Sabres came to play and they were able to beat the Leafs 4-0 at the First Niagara Center.

Their new number one goalie, Robin Lehner, made 26 saves for the shutout win, which would have been good enough for 4 points in the season, while rookie forward Evan Rodrigues scored a pair of goals in the game to be the other notable player for the blog.

It was a huge night for the new top line for the Blue Jackets, as they invaded Nashville and laid a good one on the Predators on Tuesday night.  Brandon Saad had a 4-point night, followed by Ryan Johansen with a 3-point night and Nick Foligno chipped in with 2 points of his own in a 5-2 win.  Early chemistry between these three have got to make a few people worried in the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference.

Sergei Bobrovsky also got the start and the whole game, making 35 saves for the win.  The Jackets are now rolling along in this preseason.

The Senators and Jets played at the MTS Centre on Tuesday night and they hooked up for a pretty good game, as the two sides try and make some of their final decisions in camp.  The Jets came away as 4-3 overtime winners in this one.

Ondrej Pavelec got the game for the Jets, making 22 saves for the win.  Andrew Ladd and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist in the game as well, making some notable stops in the blog.

Milan Michalek, J-G Pageau and Bobby Ryan all had 2 points for the Senators in the loss.

The St. Louis Blues scored four unanswered goals after going down 1-0 to the Dallas Stars in the middle frame to take the game, 4-1, in preseason action.

Brian Elliott was the goaltender of record, making 26 saves for the win, while Kevin Shattenkirk had a pair of assists to be the only notable skater in this game.

The Blues have done well putting up some goals in this preseason and they haven't really flexed any of their big muscles yet.  They have some real potential for us poolies this year.

The Calgary Flames played host to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, in their last preseason meeting of the Fall and it was the Flames that took the game and the 2-game series, with a 2-0 shutout win.

The shutout was split in the crease, so nothing notable came out of there, but Jiri Hudler scored both goals, each with unique players getting assists, so he was the only notable player in this game.

Hudler will be leaned upon to help carry the young kids up to the next level.

It was the Oilers' turn to take on the lowly Coyotes from the desert and they had their way with them in their game as well, soundly defeating the dogs, 4-0, at home at Rexall Place.

Anton Lander picked up a hat-trick in the game for the Oilers, leading the way for the team, while Anton Slepyshev continues to have a great preseason, picking up a couple of assists, same as veteran defenseman Nikita Nikitin.

The crease was also split for the Oilers in the shutout, so no big points there either.

The Ducks and Kings played their second and final match-up of the preseason and the scorelines were eerily similar, as the Ducks won both games, 2-1, but Tuesday night's game was done in overtime.

Corey Perry scored both goals for the Ducks, while Rickard Rakell assisted on both goals, combining to be a pretty potent duo on the night.  Back-up goalie, Anton Khudobin, got another start for the Ducks, making 31 saves for the win.

I don't think there should be many doubts about who will start in goal for the San Jose Sharks this year, as Martiin Jones should have a pretty good handle on the job, as he made 30 saves in a 2-1 win over the Vancovuer Canucks on Tuesday night.

Jones was the only notable player in this game, as he got the full game for the Sharks and he should only be just warming up at this point.  I'm expecting some good things from him, even better if the team in front of him comes around.