Article:Around the NHL 10/20-10/26

Lester Patrick Award handed out The Lester Patrick Award is awarded to people in the game that have made great contributions to hockey in the United States. This year’s winners were former defenseman Phil Housley, Ducks GM Brian Burke, former Wild owner Bob Naegele, and Detroit great Ted Lindsay.

Super Saturday With every team in the NHL in action it was a great day with lots of headlines. There were 10 games that were decided by just one goal, three of them in shootouts and one in overtime. And two games were shut out’s. See a complete list of the games and scores at nhl.com, it was a crazy day.

Lucic gets first career hatty Maybe the comparisons to Cam Neely really are true, a grinder who can put the puck in the net. In his first season Milan Lucic proved to be more of a grinder, netting just 8 goals and 19 assists while sitting in the box for 89 minutes. This season he has 4 goals and 3 assists with just 16 penalty minutes. Three of those goals came in Saturdays 5-4 win over Atlanta. His third goal gave his team a lead they would never let go of. He is spending most of his time on the first line in the absence of Chuck Kobasew. Patrice Bergeron scored his first goal of the season this week as well, it was his first goal since he suffered a season ending injury last October, he has been playing well and looks as though he will return to form for the Bruins. The Bruins have just three wins on the season and have lost in three shootouts; they are having trouble hanging on to late leads.

Brodeur gets number 98 Martin Brodeur is inching closer and closer to breaking records this season. He picked up his 98th career shutout against the Dallas Stars this week. He now sits at 543 wins, just 8 away from the great Patrick Roy’s record of 551. He is just 5 away from tying Terry Sawchuk’s career shutout record. The Devils are off to a good start this season, they are 5-2-1.

Oilers are streaky The Edmonton Oilers entered this week on a 5 game win streak, they end the week on a 3 game losing streak. They will try to turn around their luck on Monday against the Boston Bruins.

Sabres still putting up a ZERO The Buffalo Sabres have yet to lose in regulation. They have two overtime losses on the season, the latest coming in Saturdays 2-1 OT loss to Colorado. The team’s record stands at 6-0-2. Their captain Craig Rivet had knee surgery during the week and will miss at least the next two weeks. They also have center Paul Gaustad on injured reserves. Franzen out with knee injury Detroit Red Wings winger Johan Franzen will miss at least the next month with a knee sprain he suffered in Saturday’s win over the Blackhawks. The defending champ’s are off to a great start on the season, after losing their opener they have jetted out to a 6-1-1 record. On Saturday they had a late comeback and beat the Blawkhawks in a shootout.

Bruised and battered Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes have run into injury problems as well early this season. Their young center Brandon Sutter suffered a concussion and is listed as day to, while defenseman Joni Pitkanen will have knee surgery on a torn meniscus, and be out for at least a month. Carolina is off to a 4-2-1 start this season.

Blues have add another to out for season list As if it wasn’t bad enough having Erik Johnson, a key part to the rebuilding Blues, out for the season, the St. Louis Blues now add young winger DJ King to the list. He will have season ending surgery on his shoulder. The Blues are off to a pretty good start this season at 5-3. It looks as though this team is putting pieces together to be a competative team this season as well as deep in to the future. They shut the Panthers out 4-0 on Saturday.

Wild keeping 0 in loss column The Sabres are not the only team with a goose egg in the loss column, as the Minnesota Wild have started the season 5-0-1. The only loss the Wild have is in overtime to the Sabres. They beat the Blue Jackets 2-1 on Saturday.

Other news and notes -Alexander Ovechkin will miss Tuesday’s game as he heads to Russia to see his sick grandfather. -Rick DiPietro is questionable for Monday’s game against the Rangers. -The Tampa Bay Lightning picked up its first win of the season on Tuesday a 3-2 overtime win over the Thrashers. -The Rangers lead the league in wins (8) and points (17). -The Lightning have the least wins (1) and are tied with the Bruins, Maple Leafs, Flyers, and Blackhawks for the most overtime/shootout losses with 3. -The Senators, Blue Jackets, and Islanders are tied for the most losses in the league with 5. -The Islanders have the least points in the league (4).