Tell me » islo – An undrafted free agent out of the University of New Ham

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Mike Smiths unwitting mistake gave the short-handed Buffalo Sabres a 2-1 overtime win over the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday night. With 3:47 gone in overtime, Sabres defenceman Mark Pysyk took a shot that hit Martin Hanzal and became lodged in the back of Smiths jersey. The Coyotes goalie retreated into his crease, unknowingly carrying the puck across the line and ending the game. "I didnt feel it at all," Smith said of the bizarre goal. "I didnt know what happened. I knew that puck went up in the air but had no idea where it went after that." Ryan Miller made 36 saves for the Sabres, and said hes never seen anything quite like Mondays ending. "A little unlucky for Smith there," Miller said. "I think hell be shaking his head for a while. Its a little bit of a Christmas present for us and well take it." The Sabres started the game with just 16 skaters after a virus left Linus Omark, Cody Hodgson, Ville Leino, Marcus Foligno and Alexander Sulzer unable to play. Buffalo was only able to recall Pysyk and left wing Johan Larsson from its AHL affiliate in Rochester because the team was en route to the Spengler Cup tournament in Davos, Switzerland. Tyler Ennis also scored for Buffalo, which is 4-0-1 in its last five home games after starting the season 3-12-1 at First Niagara Center. The fans gave the Sabres several standing ovations throughout the contest, and the team went to centre ice to salute them after the game. "I play on emotion and when fans are just supportive like that, its a huge boost," Sabres rookie centre Zemgus Girgensons said. "First 30 games fans were there for us but we didnt play well." Hanzal scored for the Coyotes, who concluded a four-game road trip with a 1-1-2 record. Smith made 30 saves. Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said the odd ending fit his teams performance. "The game is an honest game," he said. "If youre supposed to win, usually you can win. And we didnt deserve to win tonight, so those things happen." Phoenix outshot Buffalo 15-3 in the first period, though the two best chances belonged to the Sabres. The Coyotes opened the scoring 19 seconds into the second period when Hanzal raised his stick to deflect Connor Murphys slap shot over Miller. The play was reviewed and it was determined Hanzals stick struck the puck below the height of the cross bar. Miller didnt like the call and directed blame to the NHL Situation Room in Toronto, which reviewed the goal. "It hit the top of his blade and his blade was up high," the goalie said. "The puck wasnt rising, it was already over the crossbar in my mind so I think Toronto got it absolutely wrong." Buffalo native and former Sabres left wing Tim Kennedy recorded an assist on the goal. Miller kept the deficit at 1 by coming out to the top of his crease to stop a high shot from Michael Stone. Girgensons was thwarted on a breakaway just two minutes later as Murphy grabbed the rookies stick before he could get a shot on Smith. There was no penalty on the play. Drew Stafford left the Sabres with 15 available skaters after receiving a five-minute elbowing penalty and game misconduct. Facing the boards to the right of Smith, Stafford swung his elbow backward at oncoming Oliver Ekman-Larsson and caught the defenceman in the face. The Sabres killed off 2 1/2 minutes of the major penalty before Hanzal took a roughing penalty. In the remaining 30 seconds, Smith stopped Otts slap shot during a 2-on-1 break. Buffalos penalty kill has been successful on 21 of its last 22 chances. "Short bench, all the penalties we had, it didnt seem like anything in the game was really going our way," Girgensons said. "We just worked probably the hardest weve worked throughout the whole season and stuck to the system. Thats the way we won." Ennis tied the score 14:01 into the third. Girgensons forced a turnover at the Coyotes blue line and found Ennis, who beat Smith for his eighth goal of the season. "The guy just fell and I lifted his stick and slid the puck through the two guys I was hoping it would go through and Ennis finished it really good," Girgensons said. Jamie McBain had a partial breakaway in overtime but was stopped by Smith, who quickly had to make a second stop on McBain. The game ended moments later with Pysyks goal. "I just put it on net, figuring Id maybe get a rebound," Pysyk said. "Just popped up right in the air and was lucky enough that he spun and it went right into the net." Smith was embarrassed by his teams effort considering the Sabres line-up woes and an impending three-day break for Christmas. "That was embarrassing as far as Im concerned," he said. "You go on a Christmas break, you have three days off and you come out like that? I think thats a bunch of garbage as far as far as Im concerned." NOTES: The Sabres placed C Kevin Porter on injured reserve before the game and assigned D Chad Ruhwedel to AHL Rochester. ... Phoenix scratched Gilbert Brule for the first time in three games. ... John Scott played forward and defence for the Sabres. Brock Nelson Jersey . City, fielding a depleted team having already qualified, was twice pegged back by the plucky Czech champions but substitute Negredo tapped home in the 78th minute and Dzekos header made sure of victory in the 89th. The result kept City three points behind Bayern Munich ahead of their meeting in Germany in two weeks. Thomas Greiss Jersey . - The Kansas City Royals are hoping All-Star catcher Salvador Perez will be back in a few days. http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-pat-lafontaine-islanders-jersey/ . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Billy Smith Islanders Jersey . Nick Holden scored two goals and had an assist and the Avalanche held off the Nashville Predators 5-4 Saturday night for their fourth straight victory. Andrew Ladd Islanders Jersey . Henderson (20-3) received winning scores of 48-47 and 49-46, and the other judge scored it 48-47 for Thomson (20-6). The announcement drew boos from the United Center crowd. "Train this hard for this long, its such a long camp and I see my title shot disappear," said Thomson, who fought most of the fight with a broken right hand.A Jets winger flying high, strong Senators goaltending and a Bruins defenceman stepping up when needed; lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Evander Kane – The Jets left winger returned to action last week and delivered his best game of the season last night against Pittsburgh. He notched a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (goal, assist, fight against Penguins D Simon Despres), and generated 13 shot attempts, with six shots on goal in Winnipeg’s 4-3 shootout loss to Pittsburgh. Craig Anderson – The Ottawa goaltender moved into the league lead with a .948 save percentage following his 35-save shutout against Minnesota. It was the fourth time this season that the Wild, who have a 7-5 record, have lost a game while outshooting their opponent by double digits. Dougie Hamilton – Taking on a bigger role on the injury-ravaged Boston blueline, Hamilton led the Bruins to a 5-2 win over Edmonton, tallying a goal and two assists. Hamilton has 10 points in 15 games this season, playing a career-high 22:51 per game, and his 57.2% Corsi is best among Boston’s regulars on the blueline (minimum 100 5-on-5minutes). Bruins Blueline Regulars BRUINS D CORSI% CORSIREL% Dougie Hamilton 57.2% +4.3% Zdeno Chara 56.7% +2.6% Torey Krug 54.3% +1.6% Dennis Seidenberg 53.9% -0.8% Adam McQuaid 50.5% -6.3% ZEROES Senators Second Line – It was during a 3-0 win, so there are likely some score effects involved, but Ottawa’s line of LW Milan Michalek, C Mika Zibanejad and RW Alex Chiasson was locked in its own end against Minnesota. Michalek(1 shot attempts for, 13 against, 7.1%) was worst of the bunch, followed by Zibanejad (1 for, 12 against, 7.7%) and Chiasson (2 for, 11 against, 15.4%). Zibanejad, Michalek and fellow Sens forwards David Legwand and Mark Stone did not register a single shot attempt between them. Stars Not Shining – Veteran C Shawn Horcoff and LW Erik Cole were boxed into their own zone against Nashville, with Horcoff (5 for, 23 against, 17.9%) and Cole (4 for, 18 against, 18.2%) running into the most trouble when matched against the Predators’ top line of C Mike Ribeiro, LW Filip Forsberg and RW James Neal. Mikael Granlund – Despite starting 87.5% of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone at Ottawa, the Wild centre was held without a single shot attempt in 19:30 of ice time. SHORT SHIFTS Blues RW Vladimir Tarasenko and LW Jaden Schwartz each had a goal and an assist at New Jersey. Tarasenko now has eight goals and 11 points in the past six games…Bruins C Carl Soderberg and RW Loui Eriksson and RW Reilly Smith each had a goal and an assist in a 5-2 win over Edmonton. Soderberg is Boston’s leading scorer, with 12 points in 15 games…Penguins agitator Steve Downie had a goal and an assist in 8:52 of ice time and C Brandon Sutter had a goal and two assists in a 4-3 shootout win at Winnipeg…Senators rookie LW Mike Hoffman had a goal and an assist in a 3-0 win over Minnesota. Hoffman’s 12.82 shots per 60 minutes is far-and-away best on the Sens. With a goal and an assist at Colorado, Maple Leafs RW Phil Kessel is within one point of Penguins C Sidney Crosby and Flyers RW Jakub Voracek for the league scoring lead…Islanders G Chad Johnson stopped 28 of 29 shots in a 2-1 shootout win at Los Angeles…Canucks G Ryan Miller stopped 34 of 36 shots in a 3-2 win at San Jose…Kings LW Marian Gaborik was held without a shot attempt in 16:47 vs. the Islanders. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Justin Williams – Los Angeles’ possession ace is dealing with an eye injury, so the Kings inserted Jordan Nolan to the top line, with Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik, against the Islanders. Paul Stastny – Returned to the Blues lineup for his first game in three weeks and didn’t register a shot attempt in 15:37 of ice time, playing mostly with Alexander Steen and Joakim Lindstrom, at New Jersey.dddddddddddd Morgan Rielly – The second-year rearguard was a healthy scratch in Colorado Thursday, making room for rookie Stuart Percy in the lineup. Jake Gardiner – The Maple Leafs defenceman suffered a bone bruise on his knee after blocking a shot, and was forced to leave after playing 2:55 at Colorado. As a result, Dion Phaneuf played 31:07, his most in a regular-season game since January 26, 2013. Roman Polak played 28:12, his highest time on ice since January 2, 2009. Daniel Winnik – A recent addition to Toronto’s top line, Winnik lasted one shift at Colorado before falling awkwardly after a neutral zone hit and requiring a stretcher to leave the ice. With Winnik out, the Leafs gave Leo Komaro and Richard Panik opportunities to play with Kessel and Nazem Kadri. Ryane Clowe – The Devils winger left Thursday night’s game against St. Louis with an injury and the Devils aren’t providing additional information. If Clowe is out for some time, the Devils may have to dip into their farm system, having already promoted wingers Steve Bernier and Mike Sislo. Adam Henrique – Tied for the Devils’ scoring lead, with nine points in 12 games, Henrique is out with a lower-body injury. Ales Hemsky – Played a season-high 18:34 for the Stars as Dallas shuffled up lines, moving Patrick Eaves to the top line with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, while Hemsky skated with Jason Spezza and Valeri Nichushkin. Avalanche Deployment - It may be a mere one-game statistical oddity, but the Avalanche started fourth-liners Marc-Andre Cliche, Cody McLeod and Maxime Talbot in the offensive zone for more than 60% of their shifts against the Maple Leafs, while Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Jarome Iginla started 27.2% of their even-strength shifts in the offensive zone. That doesn’t seem to be optimal asset utilization. FIRSTS Cedric Paquette – The Lightning rookie centre scored the first two goals of his career in a 5-2 win over Calgary. Iiro Pakarinen – The 23-year-old Oilers right winger played in his first NHL game, after putting up eight points in seven AHL games, and played all of 5:50 in Boston. A seventh-round pick of the Panthers in 2011, Pakarinen was signed by the Oilers as a free agent in the summer, after scoring 20 goals and 30 points in 60 games for HIFK of the Finnish League last season. Keith Kinkaid – The 25-year-old out of Union College made his NHL debut, playing 10 minutes in relief of Cory Schneider against St. Louis. The Devils have sent vet Scott Clemmensen to the AHL and are giving Kinkaid, who had a .931 save percentage in his first six games of the season for Albany (AHL), a shot at the backup role. Mike Sislo – An undrafted free agent out of the University of New Hampshire, Sislo has played three-plus years in the AHL for the Devils and registered his first career NHL point, in his 15th career game, with an assist against St. Louis Thursday. FANTASY FOCUS A few players in action tonight that you may want in your lineup: Tom Wilson – He’s known for his toughness, but the second-year winger has three points in the past two games and is playing more for the Capitals, with a recent move to the top line, with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, a particularly enticing opportunity. Elias Lindholm – The second-year Hurricanes centre is starting to produce, with five points in the past three games, and he’s played more than 16 minutes in four of the past five games. Tomas Tatar – Hasn’t recorded an assist yet this season, and had only one goal through nine games, but has lit the lamp three times in the past four games, splitting time between lines with Pavel Datsyuk and Justin Abdelkader or Riley Sheahan and Gustav Nyquist. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca ' ' '