NHL Goalie Updates

Updates by Matt Barr

Ottawa staked goalie Ray Emery to a 4-0 lead and he made it stick, stopping 42 Minnesota Wild shots including 34 over the final two periods.  The Senators won 5-3.  Manny Fernandez had 28 saves for the Wild.

For the second straight night, an NHL goalie was victim of the shutout jinx, this time Tomas Vokoun lost a shutout with just 15 seconds to go, but his Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1.  The Blue Jackets have been shut out five times already this season.  Fredrik Norrena had 20 saves in the loss.  Vokoun finished with 23.  Columbus didn't manage a shot on the power play.

The Boston Bruins' season high four game winning streak ran into Alexander Auld, as the visiting Florida goaltender made 29 saves en route to a 3-2 Panthers win.  Auld had to be sharp early, denying Marc Savard on a partial breakaway to help keep the Bruins scoreless until the third.  Tim Thomas was once again in net for Boston, and made 25 saves of his own.

Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was perfect at even strength against the Philadelphia Flyers, stopping all 15 shots he faced, and 22 overall.  His Penguins won 5-3 and have outscored the Flyers 20-7 in NHL action this year.  Antero Niittymaki shouldered the loss despite 29 saves.

Toronto goalie Andrew Raycroft returned to action from a groin injury and had 19 saves to lead the Maple Leafs to a 4-2 victory at home over the New York Islanders.  Rick DiPietro turned aside 29 Leafs attempts in the loss.

Rookie goaltender Mike Smith relieved Marty Turco in the Dallas net and turned aside 16 of 18 shots to help the Stars down the Colorado Avalanche 5-4.  Peter Budaj was the hard-luck loser, stopping 26 shots.  Joe Sakic tied Larry Murphy for 13th place on the NHL career assists list.  

Marc Denis drew the short straw and endured a seven goal second period by the Buffalo Sabres, who retook the NHL standings lead with a 7-2 win over Tampa Bay.  Ryan Miller was the winning goalie with 24 saves.