Yesterday’s Game of the Day between New Jersey and the New York Rangers finally gave the series its first overtime game, as the Devils won on a Lee Stempniak goal to grab the bonus point.
The Blueshirts struck first with a goal only 3:12 into the game, when Oscar Lindberg assisted Derek Stepan to his third goal of the season. The one-goal advantage held into the second period.
Assisted by Mike Cammalleri and Damon Severson at the 1:52 mark of the second, Adam Henrique leveled the score at one-all, the score that held until Stempniak, first star of the game, fired his game winner at the 3:07 mark of three-on-three overtime.
The DtFR Game of the Day series now stands at a six-all draw. a 6-5-1 advantage for the home team. *Sorry guys, first OT game of the season caught my “standings-counting” skills off-guard)
5oday is the second day of the season in which the league only has one game on the schedule, and the puck is dropped at 7 p.m. eastern (NHL Network). Hope you enjoyed watching the Blueshirts yesterday, ‘cuz…
…The World’s Most Famous Arena is hosting the Sharks tonight.
The Blueshirts won both games last season by a combined score of 7-1 after being swept by the Sharks the season before. So far this season, both teams have found early success as San Jose is 4-1-0 and New York is 3-2-1.
Some players to watch in this matchup include Sharks goaltender Martin Jones (two shutouts [tied for lead in league], averaging 0.33 goals against per game [second best in the league], stopping .987 percent of shots faced [second best in league] and owning three wins [tied for second in league]) and Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist (owns three wins [tied for second best in league]).
As stated before, the Sharks enter the game with the better record and on better rest. It will be interesting to see if Martin Jones can continue his early success against a proven Rangers side.
Heck, why not… I’ll pick Sharks in this one!