Winning ugly still counts for 2 points, Ryane Clowe scores twice in third and adds a shootout goal to pull out a 5-4 win over the St Louis Blues

.nhl ALLSTAR NOMINEE #20 EVGENI NABOKOV MADE 25 SAVES ST LOUIS GOALIE #30 BEN BISHOP MAKES A GOAL LINE SAVE IN THE 2ND SAN JOSE ROOKIE LW #64 JAMIE MCGINN PREPARES FOR A FACEOFF More notes from the San Jose Sharks 5-4 OT shootout win over the St Louis Blues will be posted soon. A photo gallery from the game is available here. Youtube video highlights from the game are available here.Source

Evgeni Nabokov injured on final save of the shootout, extent of injury not yet released

EVGENI NABOKOV LANDS AKWARDLY ON THE FINAL SHOOTOUT SAVE AGAINST STL NABOKOV REMAINED MOTIONLESS ON THE ICE FOR SEVERAL MINUTES TEAMMATES GATHER AFTER THE WIN, THEN CALL FOR A TRAINER SAN JOSE SHARKS TRAINER RAY TUFTS HELPS NABOKOV OFF THE ICE Evgeni Nabokov was injured on the final save of the fourth round OT shootout in San Jose's Thursday night win against St Louis. Blues rookie center Patrick Berglund came down the middle of the ice and tried to snap a shot past Nabokov low to the left side. Berglund shot the puck wide off the outside of the post, but Nabokov extended his left leg and landed akwardly on the ice. As his teammates came off the bench to congratulate him, Nabokov remained face down on the ice in pain. Head Athletic Trainer Ray Tufts helped Evgeni off the ice. He was not able to put any pressure on the leg as he was helped into the locker room. An/nhl official speculated that landing on an over-extended leg may result in a sprain or a hyper-extension, but an official announcement on the extent of the injury has not been made yet by the San Jose Sharks. Nabokov stopped 25 of 29 shots on Thursday night to pick up his/nhl leading 10th win. Video of the 4-round shootout is available here. [Update] Sharks bitten on game’s final play - Ross McKeon for Yahoo Sports. [Update2] Backup goaltender Brian Boucher has stopped all 43 shots he has faced this season, earning shutouts on the road against Los Angeles (Oct 12th) and Tampa Bay (Oct 25th). Boucher shut out the St Louis Blues 2-0 in his first start as a San Jose Shark during the 2007-08 season, finishing with a 3-1-1 record, 1.76GAA, and .932SV% in limited duty. Boucher set two modern-day/nhl records in 2003-04 with a 5-game consecutive shutout streak and a scoreless sequence of 332:01 minutes. [Update3] David Pollak's Working the Corner blog posts the first Nabokov update, but under the/nhl's new injury disclosure policy the update does not detail how significant a hit the Sharks are going to take. Nabokov is listed as day-to-day with a lower body injury. Pollak also notes that goaltender Thomas Greiss has been called up from the AHL Worcester Sharks along with RW Brad Staubitz for the Dallas Stars game on Saturday, and that rookie left wing Jamie McGinn will be sent back down to Worcester.Source

Avalanche Continue Losing Skid, Downed 3-1 by Wild

Last night the Avalanche looked to still be reeling from the switch to Daylight Savings Time. The game started at 7:00 MT but they didn't pull their heads out of their asses until about an hour later when Darcy Tucker finally contributed to the team with his second goal of the season.By then it was too late as the Wild had already run up a 3-0 lead. And if you thought the Avalanche would be able to come back, here's an interesting stat the Altitudes mentioned: in Niklas Backstrom's last 114 games, he has allowed 3 goals or less in 97 of them.*That prospect in hand, I didn't have high hopes for the remainder of the game. Credit the Avs for fighting hard in the final minutes but it's getting a bit old to see them fall behind early and then spend the remainder of the game playing catchup. Are they timing their meals or afternoon naps incorrectly? I'm at a loss to understand how they can continue to come out so ill-prepared to start every game. Tucker making us proudDarcy Tucker must not even be getting his naps because he made an absolutely boneheaded move. Apparently at the end of the second period, he told Wild defenceman Nick Schultz that he was going to take out his knees. And then he actually tried to follow through on that promise.If that's the case, the.nhl should suspend him and Tony Granato should plant his ass in the press box for a few games after the suspension. There is no room for that in the game and it should not be tolerated in the slightest by the league or the team.If you're worried about who would replace him, don't be. T.J. Hensick came up last n ight and played superbly. In fact, it was Hensick's hard work and great pass which led to Tuckers goal in the second period. He also won key faceoffs all night long and made an excellent case for keeping him in the big leagues.The upside?The only redeeming point of the night for me was that I had a bet against the Avs. That's right, I bet against a team on a 4-game losing streak. It's completely counter to my strategy but I have zero faith in the team at the moment.Side notePeople talk about Pavel Datsyuk being a late-round steal but how about Backstrom? The guy wasn't even drafted and now he's among the top-10 goaltenders in the league.* Numbers may be slightly off as I'm going off the top of my head this morning but you get the idea.Related Links.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/ES020187.HTM.nhl.com Event SummaryIn the Cheap Seats RecapDenver Post RecapRusso's Rants RecapSource

Pens v Islanders (W 4-3 SO)

Heads up - don't miss our latest collection of fan photos!!BTW, Sid is in the lineup tonight. (FYI: On.nhl Live on XM Radio this weekend, the hosts were speculating that he may have a broken rib after possibly taking a stick to the midsection in the Phoenix game last week. But due to the Pens' tight lipped injury policy, we'll just have to wait and see and hope our captain is okay...)FIRST PERIODThroughout the entire game, the ice was absolutely dreadful. Bodies were flying everywhere. Even Dany Sabourin wiped out late in the 3rd. The puck bounced around more than the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It lead to fluky goals and missed opportunities for both teams.Early on, Geno Malkin got tagged by a wicked slapshot in his left hand. He immediately left his glove on the ice and made his way back to the bench for treatment. Sid had a nice chance that Joey MacDonald stopped cold. Mad Max Talbot took the first penalty of the night for slashing. Bill Guerin fired a shot from the point, but Sabou was able to make a great glove save. The Isles didn't score on their advantage.Rob Scuderi lost the puck in the Pens' zone. An Islander took the puck and went 1-on-1, but Scudsie poked it free and took it right back. Jordan Staal threw the puck across the goal mouth, but Eric Godard couldn't get his stick down for the goal. Later, a blocked shot rebounded right to Doug Weight, who shot a knuckle puck towards the net. It hit Petr Sykora's stick and went up and over Sabou's glove. [Pens 0, Islanders 1]The Islanders tried to continue their offensive assault when they went 2-on-1, but Brooks Orpik got back and blocked the shot. With less than a minute left, Ruslan Fedotenko (whom I have nicknamed Raggedy Ruslan because of his Raggedy Andy pink cheeks) was tripped at the red line (no call), and Superstar was high sticked (no call). Just as the period came to an end, Tim Jackman and Matt Cooke exchanged words.SECOND PERIODJust at the start of the 2nd, Paul Steigerwald told us that Sid made a self-deprecating joke about his scoring slump: "Do they sell goals at Dick's?" It was then that Steigy and Bob Errey noted that Geno had not returned to the bench with his teammates. Then, Tyler Kennedy passed the puck to Mike Zigomanis. Ziggy fooled all the Isles, froze the goalie, and passed the puck back to TK, who easily scored on the wide open net. [Pens 1, Islanders 1]The Pens got their first power play of the night when Brett Skinner was called for hooking. Just after the first whistle during the PP and right as Steigy and Errey just got finished saying that Geno would likely be gone for the rest of the game, the camera zoomed in on the Pens' runway to show Geno coming back to the ice. Despite his presence on the ice, the Pens didn't capitalize on their advantage.We were then shown a quick shot of the visiting Pens' dressing room. Raggedy Ruslan's former teammates left him a present in his stall - a Darth Tater! Then Geno drew a slashing penalty on Weight. The Pens again didn't score on their advantage. Weight emerged from the box and went 2-on-1 with Jackman. Weight passed the puck to Jackman, who promptly scored. [Pens 1, Islanders 2]Syko and Weight had a scary incident - they collided at center ice. Syko got right up and skated over to Weight to make sure he was okay (he was) and help him up. Andy Hilbert was left alone in the crease while four Pens were up high. There seemed to be some confusion among the Pens, and it led directly to a Hilbert goal. [Pens 1, Islanders 3]But hope was kindled when Gronk got to a bouncing puck, carried it to the net, and scored an even strength goal, his second of the season. [Pens 2, Islanders 3] Shortly afterwards, Guerin was called for slashing. Siddo made a sick move during the ensuing power play. He shot the puck to the side of the cage and rushed in for his own rebound. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. The Pens didn't score on their power play. Near the end of Guerin's penalty, a melee erupted in front of MacDonald.With less than 45 seconds left in the period, Bruno Gervais was penalized for (what else?) slashing. The Pens didn't score on their abbreviated power play.THIRD PERIODThe Pens finally got the memo. This time they pwned the 3rd period. They began with a little more than half the time left on a penalty to Gervais. Because MacDonald was incredible, the Pens didn't score on their advantage. Cooke, who is still looking for his first goal as a Penguin, rang one off the crossbar. The Pens continued to dominate offensively, but MacDonald (and bad ice) kept them off the board.Syko was called for hooking. The Pens killed the penalty remarkably well. Then, the Pens' third line had a few solid minutes of possession in the Isles' zone. They fired shot after shot and cycled the puck so nicely. About 30 seconds after I yelled, "How are they not scoring?!" at my TV, Alex Goligoski fired a shot that TK tipped into the net. [Pens 3, Islanders 3]Neither team scored in the final three minutes of the game. So, we headed to...OVERTIMEThe ice was dreadful. With 1.9 seconds left in the OT period, Ziggy was called for high sticking. In addition to the extra attacker from the penalty, the Isles opted to pull MacDonald in favor of one more attacker and try for the win. It didn't work. Now it was time for a...SHOOTOUTThe Isles decided to go first.Weight ? No diceSyko ? SCORE!!!!!!Guerin ? Stoned by SabouSatan ? Blocked as he was booed heartily by his former team's fansHunter ? With the game on his stick, he fired a shot that got lost in Sabou's leg pads. Sabou continued the backwards momentum as his entire body save for his ankle crossed the goal line. The officials on the ice ruled it a NO GOAL. And what kind of coach would Scott Gordon be if he didn't demand a recount? We waited for several minutes as a replay showed over and over again that the puck wasn't visible from any angle. If a puck is not visible, the on ice call cannot be overturned. After waiting for what seemed like forever, the War Room echoed the NO GOAL call.PENS WIN!!! During the post game interview, TK was hit in the face with a towel covered with shaving cream. Instead of scrapping the interview to let him go clean up, FSN PGH reporter Dan Potash used another towel to clear out his eyes and kept right on pounding him with questions. It was hilarious!The Pens have 2 days off before they head west to Detroit for their first meeting with the Red Wings since they dashed our Stanley Cup dreams and stole our superstar winger away. It's time to show them who they messed with. ;)GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Source

GAMEDAY [14] -- NEW YORK ISLANDERS

4-8-1We hate a lot of things in life.But seeing the Islanders 6 times a year instead of 8 is not one of them.It's not that the Islanders are good.It just seems like they're a waste of time.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Bing is playing tonight. PGThe big story is the return of Fedo and Satan to Long Island.Because it's the only thing keeping this intra-divisional rivalry alive anymore.Therrien's thoughts on Semin/Crosby. PG"Is he talking about the youngest guy to get 100 points in the history of the National Hockey League?" Therrien said yesterday. "Is he talking about the [second-youngest] guy to win the Hart Trophy and [the youngest] leading scorer? Is he talking about the youngest captain in the history of the National Hockey League, and to bring his team to the Stanley Cup final?""That's all I have to say."Ryan Whitney is skating again. PGJust a rhetorical question.Anyone else realize Mark Eaton didn't play against the Oilers?'Cause we didn't. BOX SCORE:: STEEL CITY SPORTS FAN has the transcriptof Scuderi and Ty Conklin's appearance in SI's Pop Culture Grid.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::The prime minister of Ukraine:YULIA TYMOSHENKOSpeaking of hot chicks, we are all highly critical of what the/nhl does.But they do get some things right.Especially when you review the decision to give Carrie Millbank the mic on "The Hockey Show." [Thanks to Matty W for the pic]Here is the latest "Hockey Show" from/nhl.com. Never thought we'd want to have sex with a woman in a Rangers shirt, but things have changed.Wow.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::We don't like throwing Lincolns around on Penguin game nights, but it's the weekend.Kevin Weekes is 0-6-0 against Detroit. He has given up 15 goals in three starts in the Motor City.Over is 5.5.Something is fishy about the value of the over, but whatev.We really don't want to take this next one but it is to interesting to pass up.St. Louis has to get a win.They are the slight dog.Taking them to win.::::::::::::::::::::::If he's the real deal, he'll get another one.Source

Costly gaffe by Dallas goaltender Marty Turco results in Patrick Marleau game winning goal with 29 seconds left, Sharks down Stars 2-1

SAN JOSE GENERATED CONSISTENT TRAFFIC IN FRONT OF TURCO DALLAS GOALTENDER #35 MARTY TURCO MAKES A BARREL ROLL SAVE DALLAS STARS FILE OUT OF THE LOCKER ROOM FOR THE 3RD PERIOD More on the Sharks last second 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars will be posted soon. A photo gallery from the game is available here. Video highlights from the.nhl Network Online are available here.Source

Mike Richards or Mike Awesome?

Being that Deutsche Bank had the marbles to slap a 0$ price tag on General Motors today I felt the need to upgrade Mike Richards. Thanks DB! A simple sell without a tag would have been fine. This is what I think of that price tag.There is something in the way that Mike Richards plays that just gets me sooo excited. He plays with a tenacity not seen in awhile. Not quite as flary as Ovy, not quite as pronounced as Crosby but so Bepop and Rock Steady like the old oxen you picked up on the Oregon Trail. They always gave me a tough time on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turts. A mean cleaness to his game. Take for example the hit on Schubert, Ottawa tough nut last Thursday. I can't get the video up here but please...please do yourself a favor and go to nhl.com/scores/ last Thursday, Flyers v. Senators and watch the video highlights because damn! The hit was so hard, so dirty but so clean. He hit Schubert so hard that it made Schubert lay on the ice for a bit afterwards thinking about how he messed up his breakwawy chance completely and how Mike Richards let him know how he messed up his opportunity. This hit, above his scoring ability and leadership qualities best incapsulates what makes Mike Richards so great. He is Mike Awesome.If you tried to beat some of the announcers, the Japanese one's, you couldn't even begin to. By the way, if me and Nemy had to do a show with Ronald Petrovicky, what would I say? Is there anything to say? Pre-game meal? ARZELLionSource