NHL Prospect Tournament Recap – Day 3

Game 1 – Dallas vs. Columbus

Early this game was a tight checking defensive game, not unlike the NHL counterparts of the respective teams. Dallas struck early with a goal from Sergei Korostin. Both teams traded goals in the 2nd with Dallas having the 2-1 lead heading into the 3rd. I was able to watch most of this period and a few things were very clear, first that Matt Calvert is a man on a mission as he was flying all over the rink with numerous scoring opportunities capitalizing on one. Columbus made there push but the Stars closed out the game with a garbage goal on a nice rebound put back by Mathieu Tousignant. All in all the 3rd period of this game was very entertaining with a lot checking and hard hits.

1st2nd3rdFinal
Columbus0123
Dallas1124
Goal Scores:ColumbusDallas
Matt Calvert – 2ndSergei Korostin – 1st
Matt Calvert – 3rdScott McColluch – 2nd
Hubert Labrie – 3rdSergei Korostin – 3rd
Mathieu Tousignant – 3rd
Winning Goaltender – Dallas Stars – Richard Bachman ( 38 shots, 35 Saves)
Losing Goaltender – Information not available

Game 2 – Atlanta vs. Carolina

I was able to watch most of this game with the exception of the early 1st period, this was hands down the most entertaining game of the day, with a lot of end to end action. Atlanta did not play like a team that was (0-2) heading into this game, they came out flying and were relentless on the Carolina goalies. Mike Murphy stood on his head the first two periods for the Hurricane’s stopping 30 of 32 shots, his glove hand looking to be his weapon of choice. At the start of the the 3rd period Carolina looked like they could get back in the game with a couple of great shifts from Sutter, Bowman, and Boychuk but Atlanta’s Josh Unice was equal to the task. Unice’s big saves were just the momentum shift that Atlanta needed as they exploded for 5 goals against the helpless Valiquette of the Hurricane’s.

1st2nd3rdFinal
Atlanta2057
Carolina1023
Goal Scores:AtlantaCarolina
Andrew Kozak – 1stMatt Kennedy – 1st
Mike Forney – 1stZack Boychuk – 3rd
Andrew Kozak – 3rdHarrison Reed – 3rd
Paul Postma – 3rd
Eric O’dell – 3rd
Evander Kane – 3rd
Eric O’dell – 3rd
Winning Goaltender – Atlanta Thrashers – Josh Unice (36 shots, 33 saves)
Losing Goaltender – Andrew Valiquette (9 shots – 4 saves)

Game 3 – St. Louis vs. Minnesota

I did not see any of this game and will write more this evening when I have time.

1st2nd3rdFinal
Minnesota0033
St. Louis1113
Goal Scores:MinnesotaSt. Louis
Carson McMilan – 3rdPhilip McRae – 1st
Matt MacKay – 3rdAnthony Nigro – 2nd
Zack Torquato – 3rdAnthony Nigro – 3rd
Winning Goaltender – St. Louis Blues – Jake Allen (34 shots, 31 saves)
Losing Goaltender – Minnesota Wild – Matthew Hackett (21 shots, 18 saves)

Game 4 – Detroit vs. New York Rangers

This game was all Rangers from the start, scoring 2 goals in each of the first 2 periods, in a dominating performance and complete team effort. Both of the 1st period goals by the Rangers were on bad giveaway’s in the Wings own zone and left the Wings goalie Chris Whitley pretty much a sitting duck. The Rangers played a solid two way game in the 1st and 2nd led by the teams star defenseman Michael Del Zotto, who should see some considerable playing time in the NHL this year. During the 3rd the Wings mounted a comeback with three 3rd period goals but in the end came up short. There were not alot of bright spots for the Wings in this game, the strongest player for the Red Wings was once again Tomas Tatar who carried the play at times and was able to set up a few strong play’s, including the Wings 3rd goal in the 3rd period which was scored bye the Wings ever improving Brian Lashoff.

1st2nd3rdFinal
Detroit0033
New York Rangers2204
Goal Scores:DetroitRangers
Jan Mursak – 3rdLuke Walker – 1st
Brett Raedeke – 3rdDaniel Bartek – 1st
Brian Lashoff – 3rdEthan Werek – 2nd
Luke Walker – 2nd
Winning Goaltender – New York Rangers – Chad Johnson (35 shots, 32 saves)
Losing Goaltender – Detroit Red Wings – Chris Whitley (28 shots, 24 saves)

I will be tweeting live from the Tournament today for the Wings game against the Dallas Stars which starts at 3pm EST

My name is David Swartzlander check me out on Twitter @octopusthrower

Don’t forget to check out “RealTime Pro Football ’09” – rated “One of our favorite sports apps of all time” by Touchtip.com