Oct 5, 2008 - 12:33 AM
0 shoutsBy PA SportsTicker
MINNESOTA 3, MONTREAL 0 -----------------------
MONTREAL (Ticker) -- If the Minnesota Wild intend on repeating as Northwest Division champions, Niklas Backstrom will need to continue his surge toward becoming a top-tier goaltender.
Preparing to take that step in his third season, Backstrom stopped all 25 shots he faced as the Wild rolled to a 3-0 preseason victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
The Finn stopped eight shots in the first and third periods, and nine in the second session.
Bounced by the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference quarterfinals, the Wild recorded just 12 goals in six games - none by offensive star Marian Gaborik.
Gaborik gave Backstrom all the support he would need in this one, putting the Wild on the board 5:24 into the first period after feeds from Stephane Veilleux and James Sheppard.
Goaltender Carey Price was solved again as Veilleux extended the Wild's advantage to 2-0 just 1:45 later.
After an impressive rookie campaign en route to leading Montreal to the playoffs, Price is entering his first stint as a full-time starter. The 21-year-old went 24-12-3 with a 2.56 goals-against average in 2007-08, when he was named the team's starter once Cristobal Huet was dealt to the Washington Capitals.
Price yielded a goal 2:14 into the third to Antti Miettinen, but finished with 22 saves.
ST. LOUIS 4, ATLANTA 1 ----------------------
ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The trio of Andy McDonald, Brad Boyes and Lee Stempniak continue to pile up the preseason points for the St. Louis Blues.
McDonald notched his fourth goal of exhibition play and added an assist and Stempniak recorded three assists to lead St. Louis to a 4-1 victory over the listless Atlanta Thrashers.
Boyes notched an assist and goaltender Manny Legace set aside 23 shots for the Blues, who finished their preseason slate at 4-2-1.
Boyes and Stempniak both notched their 10th point when they set up Roman Polak's goal from just inside the blue line 3:20 into the game. Stempniak also assisted McDonald for his fourth goal of the season on the power play just over two minutes later.
The 25-year old right wing from Buffalo found his teammate just above the left faceoff circle and McDonald whistled the puck past goaltender Kari Lehtonen's right blocker to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
Stempniak and McDonald also factored in St. Louis' third tally during a 5-on-3 advantage at 8:20 of the second as Paul Kariya banged in a loose puck from between the circles to give the Blues a 3-0 cushion.
Matheiu Schneider recorded an assist in his debut for Atlanta, setting up Brett Sterling to break up the shutout bid on the power play with 7:10 remaining in the contest.
Blues center Patrik Berglund capped the scoring on a tally with 2:03 left.
NY ISLANDERS 3, BOSTON 1 ------------------------
BOSTON (Ticker) -- Jon Sim scored to snap a tie with 6:01 remaining in the third period and Joey MacDonald made 28 saves as the New York Islanders posted a 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins in a preseason contest at TD Banknorth Garden.
Sim redirected a shot from defenseman Thomas Pock for the winning tally. The Islanders then killed a late penalty before Mike Comrie added an empty-net goal with 49 seconds remaining.
Following a scoreless first period, both teams converted on power-play opportunities in the second.
Moments after their two-man advantage disappeared, the Bruins opened the scoring when Patrice Bergeron slid a pass to defenseman Zdeno Chara, who blasted a shot past MacDonald just 3:14 into the session.
A hooking penalty on Boston's Blake Wheeler near the end of the period allowed New York to get the equalizer.
Blue-liner Mark Streit drew defenders to the right of goaltender Tim Thomas and slid a pass through the zone to Doug Weight for a one-timer. The goal was Weight's first goal of the preseason.
NEW JERSEY 4, PHILADELPHIA 3 ----------------------------
NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- For the New Jersey Devils, their preseason finale featured an impressive display on the power play.
Brian Rolston scored a power-play goal midway through second period and added an assist as the Devils struck three times with a man advantage and held off the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3.
David Clarkson also scored and John Madden added a shorthanded tally for the eventual game-winner.
Simon Gagne and Mike Richards scored power-play goals for the Flyers. Daniel Briere also scored and added a pair of assists.
Rolston set up a 5-on-3 tally by Bobby Holik just seven minutes into the contest by putting the puck on net and watching the 37-year-old center use his body to gather the rebound. Then he scored his first goal of the preseason by putting a slap shot past goaltender Martin Biron.
Martin Brodeur made his third appearance and stopped 17 shots.
DETROIT 4, TORONTO 3 --------------------
TORONTO (Ticker) -- Daniel Cleary scored two goals, including one late in the third period to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jan Mursak and Nicklas Kronwall also scored goals for Detroit, which also posted a 5-3 triumph over Toronto on Friday.
The Red Wings led 3-1 after Mursak and Kronwall each scored in the second period. Toronto rallied in the final session to tie the game on goals by Jason Blake and Mikhail Grabovski.
Blake scored 43 seconds into the third period and just over two minutes later Grabovski forged a 3-3 tie with a power-play goal.
Cleary answered 35 seconds later when he tipped a pass into the slot by Ville Leino past Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph.
Detroit goaltender Chris Osgood made 23 saves.
PHOENIX 5, LOS ANGELES 2 ------------------------
GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Steven Reinprecht scored two first-period goals as the Phoenix Coyotes cruised past the Los Angeles Kings, 5-2.
The 32-year-old center opened the scoring at the 10:08 mark, beating Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick with a wrist shot off assists from Kevin Porter and Keith Yandle.
Less than six minutes later, Reinprecht doubled the advantage with another wrister. Enver Lisin and Derek Morris picked up the helpers.
Midway through the second period, Porter snapped a shot past Quick. The unassisted tally made it 3-0.
The Coyotes struck shorthanded at 15:37 when Daniel Winnik and Zbynek Michaek set up Viktor Thikhonov for a slap shot that beat Quick to make it 4-0.
The Kings broke Ilya Bryzgalov's shutout big at 8:02 of the third when Dustin Brown scored on a wrist shot to make it 4-1.
Brown had a hand in bringing the Kings within 4-2 at 14:51. The 13th overall selection in the 2003 draft and Drew Doughty set up Sean O'Donnell, who snapped a shot into the net.
The Coyotes doused the Kings' dreams of a comeback with a power-play goal at 18:14. Shane Doan scored on a wrist shot off an assist from Porter, who finished with a goal and two assists.
