Ray Emery lived up to the No. 1 on his back.
He made the start in goal for the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night and left after one shot against, one save, one injury, and yes – even one win.
Not too shabby, but that’s just how well this season has gone for the Senators, the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference.
Martin Gerber was an early fill-in for the injured Emery and made 31 saves in the Senators’ 6-0 road victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
“Top to bottom, he was solid all night, didn’t give up anything,” said Dany Heatley, who had two goals and an assist. “Our (penalty kill) was there when it needed to be, and obviously our offense was there.”
Jason Spezza had a goal and two assists, Dean McAmmond added a goal and an assist, and Mike Fisher and Shean Donovan also scored for Ottawa.
The Eastern Conference-leading Senators had a 2-0 edge before the game was 5 1/2 minutes old. They scored three first-period goals and added three more in the third for their third straight victory.
That was more than enough for Gerber, who blanked his former team but didn’t get a win to show for it.
Emery stopped the one shot he saw before leaving due to soreness in his right hip. Gerber came on and helped the Senators avenge a 5-3 loss to Carolina in October – Ottawa’s only loss in its 13-1 start.
“We came out really hard, and it was a different game than the last one,” Gerber said. “The last one, they had a step on us. And today, we had a step on them.”
In other NHL games, it was: Boston 5, Atlanta 3; Buffalo 5, the New York Islanders 3; Columbus 4, Colorado 1; Washington 5, the New York Rangers 4 in overtime; Chicago 6, Los Angeles 3; and Vancouver 3, Anaheim 2.
Cam Ward, who replaced Gerber as the Hurricanes’ top goalie two seasons ago during Carolina’s Stanley Cup run, allowed goals on two of the first four shots he faced and finished with 20 saves for the Southeast Division-leading Hurricanes.
They outshot the Senators 32-26, but went 0-for-4 on the power play and fell to 5-9 in the last 14 games. Carolina was shut out for the third time this season.
“We got outworked. We got embarrassed in our own building,” Hurricanes defenseman Glen Wesley said. “It’s unacceptable. The bottom line is that there is nothing to talk about. It’s embarrassing. It’s disappointing.”
Senators coach John Paddock said he expected Emery would be healthy enough to be Gerber’s backup Thursday night at Pittsburgh.
Capitals 5, Rangers 4
Mike Green scored 3:41 into overtime after posting two assists in regulation, Joe Motzko had his first two goals of the season, and the Capitals beat the visiting Rangers.
The winning goal came after New York’s Brendan Shanahan stumbled and fell to the ice in the Capitals zone, setting up Washington’s odd-man rush.
That blunder ruined a good night for Shanahan, who had a goal and two assists. Martin Straka scored twice for New York, and Jaromir Jagr had an assist.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 22nd goal, and enforcer Donald Brashear added his first two assists this season for Washington.
Sabres 5, Islanders 3
Ales Kotalik had a goal and an assist, Ryan Miller made 28 saves, and the host Sabres scored three goals in the second period against the New York Islanders.
Nolan Pratt, Toni Lydman, Derek Roy and Jochen Hecht also scored for the Sabres, who have won two of three. Buffalo beat the Islanders for the first time in three meetings this season.
Miroslav Satan, Richard Park and Mike Sillinger scored for New York, which has lost six of seven.
Bruins 5, Thrashers 3
At Atlanta, Milan Lucic scored the go-ahead goal off a rebound with 3:47 remaining and Alex Auld won his third straight start for Boston.
Mark Recchi scored twice in his first game with the Thrashers, and Ilya Kovalchuk added his NHL-leading 24th goal.
Marc Savard scored an empty-net goal with 3.5 seconds left.
Blue Jackets 4, Avalanche 1
At Columbus, Ohio, Fredrik Norrena stopped 15 shots, and the Blue Jackets relied on defense to beat Colorado.
It was the second time in a week the Blue Jackets defeated the Avalanche, a first for the franchise that was 2-21-2 against Colorado before the back-to-back wins.
Kris Beech, Jared Boll, Manny Malhotra and Sergei Fedorov scored, but the Blue Jackets went more than 14 minutes without a shot and mustered only one in the second period. The teams finished with 16 each.
Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock earned his 450th NHL victory in his 850th career game.
Blackhawks 6, Kings 3
At Chicago, Martin Havlat scored twice, and Patrick Sharp and rookie Jonathan Toews each had a goal and two assists to help the Blackhawks end a season-high, four-game losing streak.
Tuomo Ruutu and Duncan Keith also scored for Chicago. Patrick Kane, the NHL’s leading rookie scorer, added two assists.
After missing 22 games with a shoulder injury, Havlat has five goals and three assists in seven games.
The Kings’ Michal Handzus scored and assisted on a goal by Patrick O’Sullivan. Anze Kopitar also scored for Los Angeles, extending his point streak to eight games (six goals, six assists).
Jean-Sebastien Aubin started in goal for Los Angeles, but was replaced by Jonathan Quick late in the first period after allowing three goals on nine shots.
Canucks 3, Ducks 2
At Anaheim, Calif., injury fill-ins Mason Raymond and Jason Jaffray assisted on each other’s first NHL goals and Vancouver – without forward Brendan Morrison – knocked off the Ducks.
Morrison’s 542-game playing streak, the longest current run in the NHL, ended when the center was forced out of the lineup by a wrist injury that will require surgery. The streak that began on Feb. 27, 2000, is the 11th-longest in league history.
Daniel Sedin had the other goal for the Canucks, and Curtis Sanford – starting in place of injured Roberto Luongo – stopped 34 shots.
Chris Pronger and Todd Bertuzzi scored for the Ducks.
Add A Comment
THIS IS NOT A GAMBLING SITE – If you think you have a gambling problem click here.
Disclaimer: This site is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Individual users are responsible for the laws regarding accessing gambling information from their jurisdictions. Many countries around the world prohibit gambling, please check the laws in your location. Any use of this information that may violate any federal, state, local or international law is strictly prohibited.
Copyright: The information contained on TheSpread.com website is protected by international copyright and may not be reproduced, or redistributed in any way without expressed written consent.
About: TheSpread.com is the largest sports betting news site in the United States. We provide point spread news, odds, statistics and information to over 175 countries around the world each year. Our coverage includes all North American College and Professional Sports as well as entertainment, political and proposition wagering news.
©1999-2023 TheSpread.com