Posted by Tim Kavanagh, special to ESPN.com
Although it's normally a quiet night around the league, a whopping 9 NHL games littered the North American landscape Friday, and three of them ended in a shutout. The Elder Statesman of goaltending, Dominik Hasek, needed just 19 saves against the Wild to earn his, and he also recorded a highlight reel hit on Marian Gaborik with about three minutes left that sent the latter player flipping onto the ice. The story of this game from an offensive standpoint begins and ends with Henrik Zetterberg; literally, he had goal No. 1 and goal No. 5 for Detroit (as well as goal No. 2), which puts him at 21 on the season.
In a game that was almost a double shutout, Evgeni Nabokov and the Sharks bested the Coyotes and Ilya Bryzgalov, 1-0. Milan Michalek had the lone tally of the game, but Daniel Carcillo earned six penalty minutes to increase his league-leading total to 136. Although he was held off the scorer's sheet, Radim Vrbata had five shots-on-goal in this one, so coupled with the eight he fired on Wednesday, that adds up to a decent week if your league counts that stat; if not, it's encouraging to see he's getting looks at the goal because eventually that leads to an increase in scoring.
The third shutout of the evening came from Tomas Vokoun, who stopped all 25 Islander shots as the Panthers won, 3-0. Rick DiPietro had a sharp outing as well, stopping 38 of 40 shots (the third goal was an empty-netter). The Panther goals came from Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton and Olli Jokinen. Bill Guerin continued his goal-less streak -- which now stands at 16 games -- but did contribute seven penalty minutes. Really, I can't believe that anyone would own Guerin anymore, but his name recognition has brought him ownership in 64 percent of ESPN leagues.
In another matchup of the Atlantic versus the Southeast Division, Travis Zajac scored the game-winning goal to lead the Devils over the Capitals, 3-2. Martin Brodeur made 22 saves to earn his ninth straight victory and New Jersey also got goals from Dainius Zubrus -- who was playing on the top power-play line -- and Vitaly Vishnevski. Alexander Semin scored his second goal of the year, as 97 percent of ESPN leagues still have an owner who believes he can turn this thing around. I admire that kind of persistent dedication to an athlete, but at some point, ya just gotta let it go.
"Hold on loosely/But don't let it go" sang .38 Special in 1981, but Jean-Sebastien Giguere did them one better in 2007, with 39 special saves to lead the Ducks to victory 5-3 over the Blackhawks. Ryan Getzlaf picked up a power-play goal and two assists, and Chris Kunitz found the net twice for the Ducks. Chicago got seven shots-on-goal and an assist out of Dustin Byfuglien, with goals coming off the sticks of Robert Lang, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp. Nikolai Khabibulin had a tough outing, ratio-wise (.810 save percentage), but this is mainly because the Ducks didn't total many shots on goal (21).
Shootouts and Stephen Valiquette starts had gone hand-in-hand for the Rangers this year, with his past two starts both going to that end. Atlanta wanted no part of that on-ice version of tiddlywinks, however, and won at Madison Square Garden, 4-2. The third period was owned by the Thrashers, as Slava Kozlov and Marian Hossa both scored to seal the deal. Jim "Don't call me AC" Slater added two assists for the victors, equaling his seasonal output to date. Backstopping the win for Atlanta was Johan Hedberg, who is now in an equal timeshare with Kari Lehtonen, having alternated starts with the Finn the past five games. The Rangers got goal No. 1 on the year from Marian's brother Marcel Hossa, who is playing the part of Sean Avery on the Scott Gomez-Brendan Shanahan line while the prized pugilist rehabs from wrist surgery.
Although it's not a strict one-for-one timeshare in Colorado, Jose Theodore and Peter Budaj have split the starts almost 50-50 this season, with Theodore being coach Joel Quenneville's fave so far for the month of December. Theodore was brilliant in net against the Flyers, aiding the Avalanche to a 2-1 victory after making 28 saves. Milan Hejduk extended his scoring streak to six games by grabbing a game-winning, power-play goal in the second period. The lone Flyer goal came from Daniel Briere.
With early-season goaltending dynamo Martin Gerber struggling during his past three contests, Ray Emery has been forced back into the consistent starting role for the Senators. He outdueled Mike Smith as Ottawa earned a victory 4-2 over the Stars. Although it hasn't been pretty, Emery has now earned two straight wins, saving 23 of the 25 shots he faced while Smith stopped 16-of-19. Niklas Hagman had a nice game for his fantasy owners, scoring the Stars' first goal on the power play and then grabbing 17 penalty minutes during the second period (including a game misconduct). Mike Fisher continues to get looks on the top power-play line, and he made the most of the opportunity in the third period, scoring his seventh of the year which turned out to be the eventual game-winner.
In Edmonton, Brad Boyes scored in the first and third periods to lead the Blues past the Oilers 4-3, ending a two-game goal-less drought. Two games … I guess that's not much of a "drought" … he ended a two-game goal-less "forgot to pay the water bill so the town shut off your water until you paid them." Anyways, that's 17 goals on the year, and it looks like he's going to end up closer to his rookie season's 69 points at year's end than this past season's disappointing 46. Fellow former Bruin Hannu Toivonen earns the win in goal, with 25 saves on 28 shots, and also for the Blues, Erik Johnson strayed from the cliffs of Dover long enough to record a power-play assist. For the Oil, Shawn Horcoff had a goal and an assist, and now has 10 points in his past six games.
Tim Kavanagh is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com
