February 17, 2004
NHL Roundup
In Denver, the Canucks ended their three-game losing skid with a 1-0 win over Colorado. Daniel Sedin scored the third period game winner, and Dan Cloutier had 23 saves, but the big news was the hit that Avalanche center Steven Moore laid on Canucks Captain Markus Naslund that left the Swede bloddied and sprawled on the ice. After the game, Cancucks coach Marc Crawford was livid:
"He got a pretty nasty hit," Crawford said. "It could have been an obstruction call, it could have been an elbow, but instead they call absolutely nothing. It mystifies me why this happens in this league. They talk about players not having respect for players. How about the officials? Should they not have respect for the leading scorer in the league?
"It was a cheap shot by a young kid on a captain, and we get no call. That's ridiculous."
I watched the game on Rogers SportsNet, and while the hit was nasty, the call wasn't exactly clear, and could have gone either way. Vancouver has 74 points, and trails Colorado by four for the lead in the Northwest Division and the Western Conference.
Miroslav Satan scored four goals to lead the surging Sabres to a 7-2 rout over Atlanta. Back on Long Island, a third period goal by Aaron Asham gave the Islanders a 1-1 tie with the Kings. At the end of the day, the Islanders had tied Montreal for seventh place in the East with 64 points. Buffalo, who has two more games to play this week before meeting the Islanders Saturday on Long Island, is only four points back in ninth.
At the Mellon Arena, the Maple Leafs doubled up the Penguins 8-4, sending Pittsburgh to their 12th straight home loss, and 14th straight overall. Owen Nolan scored twice for Toronto. At the Compaq Center, the Sharks ended Philly's five-game win streak with a 5-2 victory. Toronto, with 76 points, trails Philly for the top spot in the East by just two points. At Madison Square Garden, the Senators drop-kicked the Rangers 4-1 with a three-goal outburst in the third period. Ottawa sits in fourth place with 75 points, just three off Philly's pace in the East.
In Anaheim, the Stars dropped further behind San Jose, losing a 3-1 decision to the Mighty Ducks. Dallas, with 64 points, trails Pacific-leading San Jose by eight. Back in Detroit, the Red Wings got two points they didn't deserve in a 2-1 win over Edmonton. In the first period, replays clearly showed a puck off the stick of Ales Hemsky crossed the goal line, but the video replay judge inexplicably ruled no goal.
St. Louis dropped Phoenix, 4-2, moving the Blues past Nashville and into seventh place in the Western Conference. Speaking of the Predators, they lost to Columbus, 4-2, in a game where the Blue Jackets' Manny Malhotra scored twice.
And finally, in a game critical to determining who will finish second in the brutal Southeast Division, Carolina beat Florida 3-1. The Hurricanes trail Las Panteras by just five points for second place in the division.
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