What a crazy night…

It all starts with Ryan Miller throwing down a shutout in a 38 save effort against the Maple Leafs. Tim Kennedy, Henrik Tallinder, and Jochen Hecht got goals past ‘the Monster’ as the Sabres cruised. Hecht seemed to stand out to me, playing very well in all areas and getting rewarded there at the end. I actually got to see it, too, which made it all the sweeter. Hopefully Buffalo can keep it going right on through the Rangers tomorrow night.

One more thing that made me happy: the Patriots got smacked by the Saints 38-17. Drew Brees tossed 5 TD passes (Tom Brady had 0, with 2 INTs). It remains to be seen if the Patriots can reload in the offseason, but I can’t help but cackle at them being just another ordinary team.

Alexander Ovechkin went knee-on-knee on the Hurricane’s Tim Gleason, leaving Ovechkin limping off the ice and ejected for the second time in three games. It’s amazing how all of these ‘accidents’ keep happening around him. It’s his ‘wide stance’ or the ‘edge’ he plays with or maybe, just maybe, OV is dangerous and needs to learn about the consequences of his actions.

Is Party Now?

H/T to Puck Daddy for the still.

In the craziest moment of the night, Keith Ballard (Florida Panthers) got schooled by Ilya Kovalchuk (Thrashers), and slammed his stick on the goal post in frustration…except Tomas Vokoun’s helmet was in the way:

Maxim Afinogenov shot the game-winning goal in off Ballard’s stick, just to add insult to injury.

“There’s not a guy who feels worse than he does,” said fellow defenseman Bryan Allen. “He means well, he was doing the right thing. He was showing he cares. It was an unfortunate accident, and I feel bad for him. I know he feels 100 times worse than anyone else.”

Except maybe Vokoun. Just guessing, though. Wow.