Off Wing Opinion

In St. Louis, Keith Tkachuk scored a third period goal to power the Blues to a 3-2 win over the Canucks. The win snapped Vancouver's nine-game unbeaten streak. Though Vancouver has started hot, it's important to note that all three of their losses this year have come on the road.

In Philadelphia, the Jeremy Roenick and Tony Amonte had a goal and an assist each as the Flyers beat the Capitals 4-2. Washington is 0-12-1 in its last 13 trips to Philadelphia, as head coach Bruce Cassidy marches ever closer to oblivion.

In Philly, Jeremy Roenick dumped Boyd Gordon and the Caps again.

In Manhattan, the Hurricanes doubled up the Rangers, 6-3. Craig Adams had two goals, and Kevin Weekes posted 29 saves for Carolina. The game was the third this season between the two teams. Each had a win, a loss and a tie.

A few miles West in the New York suburbs, the Islanders scored three times in the third period to beat the Stars, 4-1. Rookie Trent Hunter had his fifth goal, and goalie Rick DiPietro got the win for the Islanders.

In Tampa, Ziggy Palffy scored with 7.7 seconds left in OT to give the Kings a 1-0 win over the Lightning. It was LA's first win in Tampa since 1998. In Boston, it was Sergei Samsonov with the late heroics, as his third period goal gave Boston a 5-5 tie with San Jose.

In Ottawa, the Oilers came back from a 3-1 deficit in the second period to tie the Senators, 3-3. Ottawa is now 0-2-2 in its last four games, and panic may be setting in near Kanata.

Finally, in Denver, Milan Hejduk's third period power play goal snapped a tie to give the Avalanche a 2-1 win over Phoenix. Joe Sakic had the other goal for Colorado, the 512th of his career, tying him with Gil Perrault for 28th all-time. Phil Sauve had 27 saves for Colorado, and got his first NHL victory.

UPDATE: Steve Ovadia thinks NHL players need a break, and wonders if we might need to cut back on the Olympics, World Championships, and the World Cup. It's a common complaint, one that's heard often enough in international Soccer, where a combination of professional and national team committments keep many of the world's top flight players on the pitch continually for about 11 months a year.

ESPN.com has included total team payroll along with their weekly power rankings. The results are instructive. Credit an assist to Tom Benjamin.

In Buffalo, the Thrashers overcame a 3-1 first period deficit to beat the Sabres 7-4. Ilya Kovalchuck had a goal and two assists, as the win propelled Atlanta into first place in the Southeast Division ahead of idle Tampa Bay.

In South Florida, the Kings beat the Panthers 3-2, marking the first time the Kings had ever beaten Florida on the road in seven visits (0-4-3). Roman Cechmanek had 33 saves for the Kings. Jamie Langenbrunner scored the game winner in OT, as the Devils beat the Sharks in New Jersey, 3-2. Scott Stevens had two assists to reach the 900 point mark for his career. Maritn Brodeur made only 13 saves to get the win for New Jersey.

And in Nashville, the Canucks won their ninth straight game, 4-3 over the pesky Predators. Johan Hedburg had 23 saves, and Markus Naslund had three assists for the Canucks. Before the game, Canucks defenseman Bryan Allen was suspended for two games for slashing Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg -- a slash that broke Zetterberg's leg. The suspension will cost Allen a little more than $11,000.

In other news, things are looking up for Ziggy Palffy. Mario Lemieux will return to the ice on Friday. The Red Wings will have to increase their Medicare contributions after signing 40-year old Steve Thomas to a one-year deal.

UPDATE: Jason Scavone has a bone to pick with Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff over last night's game with Atlanta. On The Wings weighs in on the Steve Thomas signing, while Steve Ovadia is musing over the situation in Detroit as well.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Derian Hatcher of the Red Wings had surgery to repair a right knee ligament today, and is expected to miss 4-6 months. The Wings hope to have him back in time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That's if they make the playoffs.

And if you have the time, check out this profile of Penguins rookie goalie Marc Andre Fleury by the AP's Alan Robinson.

In Manhattan, the Rangers beat Dallas 3-0, but the night belonged to Mark Messier, as he passed Gordie Howe as the NHL's second highest leading scorer behind Wayne Gretzky.

Congratulations, Mark.

Messier got his 1,851st point on his second goal of the game, an empty-netter as time was running down in the third period. Congratulations to Messier. Check out Hockeybird for a great roundup of all things Messier.

In Tampa, the Washington Capitals stopped the Lightning's season-opening unbeaten streak at 8, winning 5-1. Dainius Zubrus had two goals, and Sergei Gonchar had three assists for the winners. And the Caps new $20 million line (Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang, Peter Bondra) had two goals.

Marc-Andre Fleury had 38 saves (God help this kid playing in Pittsburgh), and Rico Fata had a goal and an assist, but it wasn't enough as the Penguins fell to the Maple Leafs in Toronto, 4-2. Over at Puck Update, Steve Ovadia has some thoughts on Leafs coach Pat Quinn's job security.

In Edmonton, the Oilers helped extend Montreal's current skid, beating the Canadiens 4-2. The Habs are 1-5 in their last six games after their quick start.

In St. Louis, Keith Tkachuk scored the game winner in OT, as the Blues beat the Ducks, 2-1. The loss was the third in the row for Anaheim, in the midst of a six-game roadtrip.

Minnesota welcomed back Marian Gaborik, but gave up two third period goals to Colorado, and had to settle for a 4-4 tie with the Avalanche. Joe Sakic had an assist, but was a -2, as his slow start to the season continued.

Finally, in Calgary, the Red Wings shutout the Flames, 3-0. Brendan Shanahan scored two goals, and Curtis Joseph had 21 saves for the crew from "Hockeytown."

One question for Red Wings GM Ken Holland: what happens if you discover that Curtis Joseph has more left in the tank than Dominik Hasek?

Over at TSN.ca (Canada's ESPN), they're celebrating Bobby Orr Week on the 25th anniversary of his departure from the game.

Deep in the suburbs outside New York City, the New York Islanders surprised the Ottawa Senators, 6-3. The win broke an 8-year, 17-game home winless streak against Ottawa for the Islanders. Former number one draft pick Rick DiPietro got the win, as six different players scored for the Islanders -- including newly promoted winger Trent Hunter, who got his fourth goal of the season.

In a bad sign for the team, however, less than 11,000 fans showed up for the Monday night matchup.

In Vancouver, the Canucks strafed Detroit goalie Manny Legace and the Red Wings, 5-1. The Wings are now winless in their last five games (0-4-1), a stretch where they've yielded 23 goals. At this point, it's clear to see how critical the offseason acquisition of defenseman Derian Hatcher was to the Wings, and how much his injury-related absence is hurting the team now.

Over at ESPN.com, former Buffalo News reporter Jim Kelley seems to be out to turn himself into the Len Pasquarelli of the NHL; while John Buccigross gives us a tour of "hockey values."

Up in Toronto, the class of 2003 was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. And I don't care what anybody says, they all deserved to be inducted.

Finally, in Manhattan, New York Rangers winger Anson Carter is giving Derek Jeter a run for his money.

After all the bad news around the Caps, I would be remiss to mention that the team snapped their six game losing streak on Friday night, beating the Thrashers at home, 2-1. Unfortunately, on Saturday, the team followed up the win with an uneven performance against the Minnesota Wild, dropping a 2-1 decision. Ex-Cap Andrew Brunette, who the team let go in an expansion draft several years, got the game-winner against his former teammates. The Wild have now won four of their last five.

Saturday in Pittsburgh, rookie Marc-Andre Fleury had 30 saves as the Penguins beat the Bruins in OT, 3-2. Rico Fata, acquired by the Penguins from the Rangers in the deal that sent Alexi Kovalev back to New York, had two goals for the Penguins. Unfortunately for the home team, Mario Lemieux left the game early in the first period with a hip injury. No word yet on how long he'll be out.

Meanwhile in Toronto, the Flyers crushed the Maple Leafs 7-1. Repeat, as I said a few weeks ago, the Maple Leafs will not make the playoffs, which means Pat Quinn will not last the season as head coach. In Tampa Bay, the Lightning remained unbeaten as they took down Southeast Division rivals, Carolina, 4-3. Cory Stillman got the game winner in the third period, scoring on a shot from center ice that surprised Hurricane goalie Kevin Weekes.

On Sunday, I listened to most of the first two periods of the Rangers-Avalanche game, as the Broadway Blueshirts took a 2-0 lead into the third period. I lost track of the game as I picked up the Eagles-Falcons game further down the New Jersey Turnpike, so I missed the third period where the Avalanche tied the score, and then won the game in OT, 3-2. Journeyman Karlis Skrastins got the game winner for the Avalanche. As uneven as the Rangers have played this season, their woes can't be blamed on goalie Mike Dunham, who has made sure the team hasn't missed Mike Richter.

And finally, in Dallas on Sunday, Bill Guerin had a hat trick in the team's 7-3 win over Nashville. Guerin now has 10 points in his last four games.