November 25, 2003
NHL Roundup
Two days after owner Ted Leonsis unloaded publicly on his Washington Capitals, the team seemed to get the message, surprising the Red Wings 4-1 in Detroit.
The Caps scored three times in the first period on just nine shots, after which Detroit head coach Dave Lewis replaced Curtis Joseph with Manny Legace. Rastislav Stana had 38 saves for the Caps in his first NHL start -- something that ought to serve as a wakeup call for Washington's presumptive number one goalie, Olie Kolzig.
Yesterday, before the game, Matt at On The Wings had this to say about the matchup:
This should be a good opportunity for the Wings to get a win. Typically, lower-tier teams step it up to play the Wings but the Caps may be too messed up to do even that. Of course, I'll probably be wrong and the Caps will play their best game of the season,
Steve Ovadia noticed something else last night in Detroit too.
In Toronto, the Maple Leafs beat the Canucks 2-1, completing a two-game sweep of the team's home at home series. Ed Belfour got the win for the Maple Leafs, a victory that moved him into fifth place all-time with 408. Patrick Roy is first with 550.
Mathieu Biron became the first NHL player to score a goal against his brother since Phil Esposito, as the Panthers beat the Sabres, 2-1. The goal came in the second period, as Biron tipped the puck past his brother, Sabres goalie Martin. As it turned out, both of the brothers parents were at the game -- though not many other folks were as the game in Florida drew only 12,927 fans.
The Stars got a solid effort at home out of Marty Turco in a 5-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. Mike Modano, who's been playing better now that Jere Lehtinen is playing on his wing, had a goal and two assists. I got my first look at the new Coyote white uniforms, and I'm afraid that on television they don't look all that different than the Carolina Hurricanes. Not a good sign.
Out in Denver, the Predators withstood a furious third period charge from the Avalanche to hold on for a 3-2 win. Tomas Vokoun had 34 saves for Nashville. In other Avalanche news, center Andrei Nikolishin will be out of the lineup for three weeks with a sprained knee.
Thanks to Saturday's Heritage Classic, and the below photo of Jose Theodore, a new tuque craze is sweeping Quebec. As for the actual tuque that Theodore wore in Edmonton that night, it's already on its way to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
Now that J.S. Giguere is playing well again, folks are starting to complain about his equipment again.
The latest from John Buccigross has been posted at ESPN.com. Over at TSN, Bob McKenzie says that Ottawa GM John Muckler ought to think about calling up a minor league goalie to help light a fire under his listless and underachieving squad.
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