Wow!!!  You don’t often seen Pittsburgh Penguins captain, Sidney Crosby, get into a fight but the Kid threw down with Brett McLean on Saturday night and earned a fighting major (19 minutes – five for fighting, two for unsportsmanlike conduct, two for instigating and a 10 minute misconduct). 

Crazy times.  Good to see Sid fired up, though.  McLean said he was surprised to look up and see Crosby swinging at him.  Yeah, I am sure that was a shock!

Anaheim Ducks forward, Corey Perry, took a cheap shot on Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers) by elbowing him in the head during the third period of their game Friday night.  As a result, the NHL has chosen to suspend him for four games and he will forfeit $114,516.12 in salary which will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Watch the video.  Not cool.

Mike Cammalleri got his first career hat trick last night as he helped the Calgary Flames earn a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.  It was an intense game with lots of back and forth scoring and I have to say that, while Miikka Kiprusoff (Calgary) made some incredible saves, Curtis Sanford (Vancouver) kept right up and, hopefully, this period of time while Roberto Luongo is injured, Sanford will get to gain some experience and respect as a goaltender.
Watch the highlights:

Jason Arnott might have been out of the lineup for a short time with an injury but he wasn’t showing any signs of strain tonight as he scored 2 goals to help lift the Nashville Predators over the Carolina Hurricanes.  He wasn’t the only Pred to put in a double effort – Shea Weber also contributed 2 goals in the 5-2 victory. 
I have to talk about the first goal of the night.  J.P. Dumont fed a pass across the crease to Arnott and it was just a sweet, sweet goal.  Arnott’s second goal really should have been saved by …read more

What a game for the New Jersey Devils!  I have to admit that I was worried about them when their star goaltender, Martin Brodeur, was placed on the injured reserve and had surgery to repair his bicep but the team’s 4-game winning streak has shown their strength and determination and I’m really impressed (so far). 
In tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Devils clearly dominated over the struggling team with a 7-3 victory.  The game was all but decided with New Jersey up 5-0 when Radim Vrbata made the first goal for the Bolts, followed by a sweet …read more

 
Montreal Canadiens defenceman, Mike Komisarek, suffered a shoulder injury after he tangled with Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins last week.  As a result, he will be off the roster for about a month.  That really sucks.  He’s one of the Habs’ hardest hitters so I’m sure they will miss him.  Here’s a video of the fight:

image: TSN

Here are some of the best plays from last week across the NHL.  I am not a huge fan of Roberto Luongo (goalie, Vancouver Canucks) but I have to admit that he made an incredible save!  There were several good clips from the Washington Capitals vs. Ottawa Senators game (I don’t even want to look at the highlights from the Montreal Canadiens/Toronto Maple Leafs game) and, of course, I loved the saves that Calgary Flames netminder, Miikka Kiprusoff made (too bad his team sucked majorly last week for the most part).

Tonight’s match up between the 2008 Stanley Cup winners, the Detroit Red Wings, and the team they defeated in their victory, the Pittsburgh Penguins, will be aired on Versus and I’m looking forward to it.  I’m hoping it’s an emotional, gritty game so I hope they deliver!

The NHL will be reviewing Tom Kostopoulos’ (Montreal Canadiens) hit on Mike Van Ryn (Toronto Maple Leafs).  Van Ryan has subsequently been sidelined for at least a month with a concussion, gash to the forehead, broken nose and a broken bone in his hand.  Yeah, he basically got pretty jacked up.
Kostopoulos got a major penalty for boarding and was thrown out of the game.
"It was a dirty hit," Leafs forward Matt Stajan told reporters following the game.  "It’s something that can’t happen in the game. Luckily, we made them pay."
Missed it or want to see it again?  Watch it and …read more

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know I’m not the biggest fan of hits.  I don’t dislike them, or anything, they just aren’t usually my favorite part of the game but I’m always a sucker for the hits that send someone into the players’ bench or make someone do a big flip.  If you’re like me, you’ll like #1 and #2 on this Top 10 list: