Gästebuch » The Stars had their most lopsided

GLENDALE Custom Washington Capitals Jerseys , Ariz. — The Tampa Bay Lightning are well aware of the dangers of waiting until January or February to start making a playoff push.Perhaps that’s why they often take care of business, and in an emphatic way, well before that.The Arizona Coyotes, whose inability to reach the playoffs is in direct contrast to the Lightning’s frequent playoff success, know all too well how a season can get away from a team in October.Article continues below ...The Lightning, off to their usual strong start, will take a seven-game points streak into Gila River Arena to play the Coyotes on Saturday night. It’s the second half of a back-to-back for the Lightning, who won their third in a row by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.Tyler Johnson, Brayden Point and J.T. Miller scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves.“Our goaltender was there when we needed him and recorded a big win in a tough spot on the road,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “He was in the zone again and was tracking pucks, and our guys were good with letting him see pucks. You can get the shots, but if he can see them, he’ll usually stop them.”Victor Hedman, the Lightning’s star defenseman, sustained an undisclosed injury midway through the first period and didn’t return. He is not expected to play Saturday, but Cooper doesn’t think his injury will be long term.The Lightning are 7-1-1 overall and 6-0-1 in their last seven games. Nothing new there for a team that opened up 9-1-1 and 16-3-2 last season and was 5-1 to start the 2016-17 season. They’ve used good beginnings to help them reach the Eastern Conference finals two of the last three seasons.The Coyotes, however www.officialhockeyjetsshop.com , aren’t the team they were at the start of the last two NHL seasons — and that’s encouraging to coach Rick Tocchet and his players.Arizona opened up 1-10-1 last season and never recovered. The season before that, the Coyotes lost five of their first six. This season, the Coyotes (4-5-0) have won two in a row — the first time in three Octobers they’ve done that — and three of four. Much of the reason for the Coyotes’ improvement is their goaltending, with both starter Antti Raanta (2-4, 2.32 goals-against average) and backup Darcy Kuemper (2-1, 1.34) playing well to date.“We’ve gotten excellent goaltending, right from the start of the year, and it’s really helped us,” Tocchet said Friday. “We’re still giving up some Grade-A chances, and we’ll try to eliminate that, but the goalies have been really good. They’re giving us a chance to win every night.”Raanta sat out the last two games with flu-like symptoms, and Kuemper stepped in to make 62 saves on 64 shots as the Coyotes beat the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday and the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, both by 4-1 scores.The Coyotes’ season quickly came apart last season when Raanta missed much of the first half of the season with three different injuries and Tocchet and general manager John Chayka couldn’t find a suitable backup. They tried Louis Domingue, Scott Wedgewood and Adin Hill without success, with Dominque going 0-6 with a 4.33 goals-against average and an .856 save percentage.But once Raanta was healthy during the second half of the season, his 2.24 goals-against average and .930 save percentage were the best in the NHL for goaltenders who played as much as he did. And Chayka not only picked up the reliable Kuemper in a late-season trade with the Los Angeles Kings, he signed Raanta and Kuemper to multi-year contracts.Coincidentally, Domingue landed with the Lightning despite his horrid statistics with Arizona Winnipeg Jets T-Shirts Authentic , and he’ll start Saturday night against his former team.The Coyotes also appear to have solved their early-season scoring issues. They were shut out in three of their first four games, including their first two home games, but they’ve scored 15 goals in the past four games.“We didn’t score in the first few games, but we knew if we stuck with it the goals would come in bunches, and that’s kind of happened,” forward Brendan Perlini said.The Lightning and Coyotes split their two-game season series in 2017-18, with each team winning in the other’s building. DALLAS (AP) Jacob Markstrom and the Vancouver Canucks were good enough on Sunday.Two days after saying, ”I’m not good enough,” Markstrom made 30 saves for his second career shutout and the Canucks beat the Dallas Stars 6-0.Markstrom also had said some teammates weren’t playing well enough to be in the NHL after Vancouver’s fourth straight loss.”We talked, the whole team, (Saturday),” Markstrom said, ”We weren’t happy with the result and how we were playing hockey. It’s frustrating when we know how good we can play. This was a perfect example.”Reid Boucher scored his first two goals of the season to help Vancouver equal its highest goal total.Boucher opened the scoring 2:11 into the game. Dallas defenseman Dan Hamhuis tried to carry the puck out from behind the goal, but Boucher hit the puck into the right corner of the net.”I got a good jump, won the battle, and just tried to stuff it in there,” Boucher said. ”I saw it go in. Nobody really moved or did anything. I told (a referee), and then he went over and took a look at it.”After the video review Winnipeg Jets Hoodies Authentic , the goal counted.”It was definitely nice to get a lead,” Vancouver coach Travis Green said. ”And the type of goal. We talked about going to the net tonight and finding a greasy goal.”The Canucks’ Jake Virtanen and Thomas Vanek also scored in the first 13:27. Virtanen’s goal came on a breakaway after picking off Mattias Janmark’s pass in the Vancouver zone.”The concern for me is the odd-man rushes,” Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. ”We’re giving up more, which is a recipe for disaster. We tried to put the brakes on it and weren’t able to, so now we’ve paid the price and this should get everybody’s attention.”In the second period, Bo Horvat scored on the power play, and Boucher connected on a tip-in. Erik Gudbranson had a third-period goal.Dallas won its previous five games, with the loss preventing the Stars from passing St. Louis for third place in the Central Division.The Canucks had not beaten Dallas in regulation time since Feb. 21, 2013. The Stars were 13-0-1 in the previous 14 games against Vancouver.Dallas’ Kari Lehtonen had 19 saves after replacing Ben Bishop following Horvat’s goal. Bishop allowed four goals in 20 shots.The Canucks came out firing with 10 of the first 11 shots on goal and a 16-6 advantage for the first period.Boucher had another scoring chance five minutes after his first goal, but Bishop made a pad save on Boucher’s short backhand.”That was a great save he made on that one. I got about three or four good whacks at it,” Boucher said.Video review also denied that an attempt by Dallas’ Jason Spezza to tuck the puck into the left corner crossed the goal line midway through the first period.”Today we were strong on the blue lines,” Markstrom said. ”We blocked a ton of shots.”Gudbranson had five of Vancouver’s 20 blocks.Daniel Sedin led Vanek with a pass across the blue line for his slap shot from the slot into the upper left corner.Horvat scored on a wrist shot from the slot at 4:41 of the second period. At 14:35, Boucher deflected Derrick Pouliot’s shot from the blue line past Lehtonen.NOTES: The Canucks’ previous largest margin of victory had been four goals. Only three teams have fewer points than Vancouver’s 50. … The Stars had their most lopsided loss while tying for the most goals allowed in 2017-18. … Boucher’s goals came in his sixth NHL game this season and tied his career high for a game. … Each team was playing its third game in four days. … Vanek has 23 points in 23 career games against the Stars. … In Markstrom’s first 150 games, his only shutout was this season on Dec. 5 at Carolina, when he had 30 saves.UP NEXTCanucks: Return home for one game against Florida on Wednesday.Stars: Finish a three-game homestand on Friday vs. St. Louis.