Momma Said There'd Be Days Like This

What a brutal night in terms of picks.

Conklin continued his slide down the slope of consistency by allowing 4 goals on 20 shots before being yanked for Sabourin. The Penguins offense, however, didn't give him much help only scoring 1 goal on Lehtonen in 30 shots. Atlanta looked very strong and showed why they can be a tough team when they all come together. Lehtonen was sharp but in the second period a potentially crushing blow was dealt when Jarko Ruutu attempted to finish his check on Ilya Kovalchuk and had Kovie step out of the way just enough to make knee-on-knee contact. Kovalchuk left the game and did not return and Ruutu received a 5-minute penalty for kneeing. I love that refs would call that play for a major penalty, which it wasn't, and yet allow anyone and everyone to run people from behind into the boards. No update on Kovie's status.

Anaheim got shocked in Minnesota as Giggy was pulled after allowing 3 goals in the first 3:18 of the second period. Hiller, his replacement, didn't fare much better allowing 2 goals on 12 shots. Anaheim mustered one goal to lose 5-1. Selanne didn't play and apparently it's up to him as to when he will return to the lineup. I think it'll happen on the current road trip.

Chicago looked, well, like Chicago or at least Khabibulin looked consistently like his inconsistent self allowing 6 goals on 30 shots. While the Chicago offense was anemic as well only mustering 15 shots on goal but managing to bury 3 of them. 1 on Theodore, who missed the third period with back spasms and 2 on Budaj. Budaj's stock continues to tumble as he allowed 2 goals on only 4 shots. Luckily, for Colorado, the game was already a done deal by that point.