Notes From a Night of Hockey - 11/26

Buffalo 3 - NY Rangers 2 (OT)
In the battle for New York supremacy, the Sabres had the edge by virtue of a Chris Drury goal in the extra frame. "Battle for New York Supremacy", by the way, is a completely contrived way for me to try to make this game seem more interesting than it actually was. Half the time, I forget that Buffalo and the Big Apple are in the same country, let alone the same state. I once took a trip to Toronto, and at a rest stop on the Canadian side of the border, there was still a newspaper clipping hanging on the wall with a picture of Brett Hull's skate in the crease in 1999.

Anaheim 5 - Calgary 3
Remember Ilya Bryzgalov? The Anaheim Ducks certainly don't. After leading the then Mighty-in-name-only Ducks to the Conference championship, he's been pretty much a non-entity, playing second fiddle to J.S. Giguere's heartwarming comeback. Now, he's inactive with the ever-present "lower body injury" and with Anaheim in the second of back-to-back games, they turned to rookie Michael Wall. Needless to say, Bryzgalov wasn't missed.

Tampa Bay 3 - Ottawa 1
If the New York Rangers have taught us anything, it is that when you have no real viable option at goaltender, always go with the guy whose name has a "u" in disguise (Johan Holmqvist had 22 saves to lead the Lightning over the Senators). It is a little reported fact that one of Ken Hitchcock's first moves as the new coach of the Blue Jackets was to try and trade for Edmonton's Daniel Tjarnqvist, who, despite being, technically, a defenseman, has the added bonus of the silent "j".