NHL Streaks End: Panthers,Sabres Win, Avalanche Loses on the Road
Down 2-0 in the first period, the Florida Panthers (4-11-4) came back and defeated the Anaheim Ducks (15-4-1), 3-2 on Tuesday. This snapped a nine-game losing streak but they remain as the second-worst NHL team in the East in front of the lowly Buffalo Sabres (4-15-1).
For the Ducks, their five-game win streak had been snapped but they still remain at the top of the NHL.
Tim Thomas
The Panthers’ turnaround came from three unanswered goals (two in the second period over 70 seconds, one in the third). Scottie Upshall and Shawn Matthias scored in the third period while Brad Boyes hit the tiebreaking goal. Panthers goalie Tim Thomas stopped 24 shots in the last two periods and for the night had 32 (of 34) overall saves.
Tuesday’s victory represented the first one under the Panthers’ new coach, Peter Horachek. He said of the win via The Associated Press, “I’m real, real proud of the way they responded. You don’t just come back from 2-0 against a team like that without a lot of effort and a lot of character.”
He added, “I didn’t know how confident to feel that we could come back against a really good team. But in the second period, it started to come together for all of us, myself included. It was a real great effort after that.”
Next up for the Panthers is a Friday game against the Minnesota Wild (10-4-4) while the Ducks will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (13-5-0) on Thursday. Anaheim has 14/1 odds to win the 2014 Stanley Cup while the Pittsburgh Penguins (11-6-0) sit at the top with 13/2 odds.
Colorado Suffers First Road Loss
On Tuesday night, another streak came to an end as the Colorado Avalanche (14-3-0) suffered their first road loss of the season. The Carolina Hurricanes (7-7-4) defeated the Avalanche, 2-1.
For the win, Patrick Dwyer and Jordan Staal each had one goal and one assist while Nathan Gerbe added two assists. Goalie Justin Peters stopped 33 shots in the game. The Hurricanes now have fourth consecutive wins over the Avalanche on their home ice.
Semyon Varlamov
Colorado has now suffered its first loss in its seven road games for this season. Goalie Semyon Varlamov stopped 26 shots for the night while Paul Stastny scored goal No. 7 for the season.
Colorado coach Patrick Roy said of the game via The Associated Press, “I have to give it to (the Hurricanes). They played really well at the start of the game. I would say that the second half of the game was ours. We just didn’t execute around the net, and I thought that was the only thing that was missing because we had a lot of chances.”
Next up for the Hurricanes is the Anaheim Ducks on Friday while the Avalanche will play the St. Louis Blues (11-2-3) on Thursday.
The Avalanche sit at 20/1 to win the 2014 Stanley Cup while the Hurricanes have 40/1 odds to do so.
Sabres Also Get a Win
In other Tuesday night action, the Sabres got their first win of the season in a 3-2 shootout against the Los Angeles Kings (11-6-1). This comes after the team lost its first nine home games and sat one game short of a league record that had been set in the 1983-1984 season by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
For the Sabres, goalie Ryan Miller had 43 saves with Cody Hodgson hitting two goals during regulation and Tyler Ennis and Matt Moulson scoring during the shootout.
Kings goalie Jonathan Quick made 43 saves for the night with Dwight King and Justin Williams scored during regulation for the team.
For the Stanley Cup, the Kings sit at 16/1 to win it while the Sabres have 300/1 odds to do so.
Wednesday’s games
Toronto at Minnesota (-155, 5 o/u)
Philadelphia at Pittsburgh (-225, 5.5 o/u)
