The three-game sweep of the NHL from Monday starts in San Jose, where the Sharks welcomed newcomer Ben Smith (late of Chicago Blackhawks) who scored and added an assist in a 4-0 thrashing of the Montreal Canadiens.
“There was an energy to the team that we haven’t seen for a while,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. “I think some of that had to do with Ben Smith coming in and scoring right off the bat. He energized everybody.”
There were only quiet small changes made by the Sharks’ leadership on trade deadline day but Smith was the biggest of the moves and had the immediate impact.
“I had to drive home, grab a suitcase, a couple of suits,” Smith said. “Got to the airport around 1 and flew out (to San Francisco) at 2. A little bit of a crazy day. They got me a car and we had a little bit of a police escort to get me down here.”
He arrived at SAP arena about an hour ahead of the game.
“Any time you get traded to a team you want to bring a boost whether they’re in first place in the League or last place,” Smith said. “You want to come in and show you can help and try to find a way to give that team a boost. It starts shift by shift trying to do the small things that can uplift a team. It’s not just me coming in, it’s everybody on the team. Definitely a nice night. Nice for me to come in and be a part of a team win. It was a solid effort throughout.”
Joe Pavelski, Matt Irwin and Patrick Marleau also scored for San Jose who got a solid 20-save effort from Alex Stalock who recorded his fourth career shutout.
“It was important and big for this team,” Stalock said. “Yesterday we had a group day with just the team. I think a lot came out and a lot got taken in. It was good. Obviously there was some stuff that happened today with moves. We know the group we have in here now and we got a spark from our new guy. That was huge and fun for him. The way the guys kept the foot on the gas pedal was pretty special to watch. We knew it was desperation time. I think you saw the guys in this room and how they responded.”
The Habs were disappointed in their shot total, 20, and being outshot 37-20 for the game.
“Tonight, first of all you have to give a lot of credit to the Sharks, they were really aggressive and for us it seemed like we had no energy tonight,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. “I thought our team was drained and it always happens this time of the season depending on a lot of things and tonight was one of those nights for us. … Was it because of the traveling or the time change? Not quite sure the reason why, but when the energy isn’t there it’s really difficult to play with that type of aggressiveness.”
Rick Nash scored 38th in empty net in win over Predators – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
In New York, the Rangers welcomed their own newcomer in Keith Yandle and did it with goals from Marc Staal, Chris Kreider, Dominic Moore and Rick Nash. In a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators.
“I thought for [Yandle’s] first game it was good outing but as a team it was one of the more complete efforts we’ve had,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “We were real solid defensively against the number one team in the League; we didn’t give them a lot of good looks. I thought we generated quite a lot.”
Cam Talbot made 25 saves for the win as the Rangers pushed back into a tie for first in the Metropolitan Division.
“We wanted to come in and beat this team and I don’t think it’s so much a statement game because we know what we have in here and we know we can win a lot of hockey games,” Staal said. “It was a good test and excited to know [the makeup of] our group moving forward.”
The win came after a poor showing in Philadelphia where the Blueshirts lost to the Flyers Saturday.
The trade for Yandle cost the Rangers youth and that cost will be thrown on his shoulders by the Madison Square Garden fans.
“I had a little bit of butterflies and I was nervous a little bit just being on a new team but the crowd did a great job of welcoming me,” Yandle said. “The teammates in here made it really easy for me. It was a fun game and great to get a win.”
It was the third straight loss for the Preds, the first time that has happened this season.
“It will be good to see some of the character come through [on Tuesday] in order to get out of this,” Nashville’s Mike Ribeiro said. “We need to keep believing in what we’re doing here and pay attention to the details of the game, special teams. It’s just the small details that are hurting us right now; I guess we might as well lose now than later on.”
In Chicago, the Blackhawks had their own welcoming party as Jonathan Toews scored twice to lead the Hawks to a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
“We took advantage of our chances,” said Toews, who opened the scoring at 8:07 of the first and made it 2-0 while shorthanded 44 seconds into the second. “When you’re able to distance yourself in a game like that, I think you can just play with confidence and play a little more relaxed. That’s what we did in the last 40 minutes. We haven’t done that a whole lot lately, but it feels good to play the right way in our own building and get a win like that.”
Newly acquired Kimmo Timonen and Antoine Vermette dressed for the game.
“I have two-and-a-half weeks [skating] under my belt, [and] that is not much yet,” said 39-year old Timonen. “Consider these guys have played four months, five month already. I was really happy to be out there, but I have a lot of work to do.”
Timonen has been out of action with blood clots for six months.
The Canes had won three straight and four of five coming into the game but left after less than stellar performance.
“We weren’t very good,” Carolina coach Bill Peters said. “You have to give them credit. They played with good pace. We didn’t execute, didn’t have the right pace to keep up. We have to get back to playing with pace and better execution with the puck.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.