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“We’ll talk about it in a few more years,” he said.

Honors to Russians

Hall of Fame: G Vladislav Tretiak, RW Valeri Kharlamov, C Igor Larionov, D Viacheslav Fetisov, RW Pavel Bure

MVP: C Sergei Fedorov (1994), RW Alexander Ovechkin (2008, 2009, 2013), C Evgeni Malkin (2012)

Playoff MVP: Malkin (2009)

Scoring champion: Ovechkin (2008), Malkin (2009, 2012).

Vezina Trophy (top goalie): Sergei Bobrovsky (2013)

Rookie of the Year: RW Sergei Makarov (1990), Bure (1992), LW Sergei Samsonov (1998), G Evgeni Nabokov (2001), Ovechkin (2006), Malkin (2007)

TOP RUSSIAN SCORERS

The top 15 Russian scorers in NHL history:

Rank, Player

Seasons

Pts

A

1, Sergei Federov

1,179

696

1989-2006

1,032

473

3, Alexei Kovalev

1992-2013

1,029

599

1992-2010

853

356

5, Ilya Kovalchuk

2001-2013

816

399

1993-2007

781

337

7, Pavel Bure

1991-2003

779

342

1994-2013

775

217

9, Sergei Zubov

1992-2009

771

619

2001-2013

767

255

11, Alexander Ovechkin

2005-2013

735

364

1992-2006

719

249

13, Igor Larionov

1989-2004

644

475

1997-2011

571

235

15, Evgeni Malkin

2006-2013

560

343

With the Stars

Defenseman Sergei Gonchar is the third all-time Russian great to play for the Stars. Defenseman Sergei Zubov played 12 seasons for the Stars between 1996-97 and 2008-09. Sergei Makarov, who was a member of Russia’s famed KLM line with Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov, played four games with Dallas in 1996-97.

Dallas Morning News LOADED: 10.06.2013

719722 Dallas Stars

Chiasson's goal lifts Stars over Capitals 2-1

Posted Saturday, Oct. 05, 2013

The Associated Press

DALLAS — Alex Chiasson is off to a fast start in the NHL.

Chiasson scored the tiebreaking goal at 12:07 of the second period, and Dallas defeated the Washington Capitals 2-1 on Saturday night to give Lindy Ruff his first victory as coach of the Stars.

It was the second goal this season for Chiasson, who has eight in nine career games. Still, the 23-year-old right wing said he doesn't think much about scoring goals.

"I just play my game. That's my main focus. As long as the team wins, that's all I care about," he said.

Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves for Dallas, which stopped a Capitals flurry on a power play as the game ended.

Alex Ovechkin scored in the first period for Washington. Erik Cole tied it 3:35 later.

"We had lots of chances — lots of crossbars and posts," Ovechkin said.

Midway through the second, the Stars skated in 3-on-2 against goalie Braden Holtby. Cody Eakin took a shot and the rebound went out to Chiasson as he skated down the slot and beat Holtby.

Before joining the Stars last April, Chiasson had 36 goals in 109 games at Boston University and 14 in 66 American Hockey League games. Dallas said he became the first NHL player to score eight or more goals through his first nine games since Rob Gaudreau in 1992-93, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The only other active player who started as well was Anaheim's Teemu Selanne.

"He finds the right place," Ruff said. "He needs a little of that magic to rub off on the other guys."

Ovechkin's goal came on a power play 4:26 into the game when he took a pass from Mike Green in the left circle and one-timed the puck past Lehtonen.

It was the fourth goal in three games this season for Ovechkin, who entered tied with teammate Mikhail Grabovski for the NHL scoring lead.

The Capitals came in with a league-best 56 percent success rate (5 for 9) on power plays. They were 1 for 3 against the Stars.

"I thought we did a nice job on their power play," Ruff said. "Ovechkin just did what he does. He took a shot from a tough angle and he found a hole."

About 3½ minutes after that, Jamie Benn kept the puck in the Capitals end by shooting it around the boards behind the net. Tyler Seguin backhanded the puck behind him into the slot, where Cole beat Holtby.

"I thought we looked really good in our zone, breaking out the puck and in the neutral zone coming back," Chiasson said.

Seguin's assist was part of an early payoff from the July trade that brought him and center Rich Peverley to Dallas from the Boston Bruins.

Peverley played for the first time since missing the preseason. He was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat.

But while he wasn't skating, he was watching.

"I got to go through training camp and see (Ruff's) style. I think it fits this team well. He's a puck-possession type of coach," Peverley said.

The Stars did much better at possessing the puck than they had in their opening game against Florida on Thursday. They led 2-1 in the third period that night, but allowed 39 shots on Lehtonen and lost 4-2.

The best chance for the Capitals came when they appeared to have a goal with 12 minutes left in the second period. The puck popped up behind Lehtonen and went into the net when Nicklas Backstrom made contact with the goalie. The play was ruled no goal on review because of goaltender interference.

"I thought once the puck goes in there, you're allowed to go after it," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. And I didn't think (Backstrom) interfered with him. I think he touched the puck first and then the goalie."

In the third period, Dallas allowed only five shots on goal.

"That's part of the deal," Oates said. "You've got to try to wear them out, wait for your turn. We get a power play and you get a chance."

Washington's final power play lasted 36 seconds after Seguin was called for delay of game at 19:24.

"We really didn't sit on (the puck). We had some great zone time, and didn't do anything foolish that would lose the game," Ruff said.

NOTES: Peverley missed a chance for a power-play goal in the third period. He poked a rebound behind Holtby but off the left post. ... Capitals wing Joel Ward found himself unable to open the door of a men's room stall at the team hotel Saturday morning. He tweeted, "Stuck in the washroom ... someone help?" According to the Washington Post, teammates Karl Alzner and John Carlson found a ladder and helped Ward climb over the top of the door.

Star-Telegram LOADED: 10.06.2013

719723 Detroit Red Wings

Bruins 4, Red Wings 1: Why the Red Wings lost on Saturday night

October 6, 2013 |

By Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

At TD Garden, Boston

■ In the first period: The teams played pretty evenly until Niklas Kronwall was called for holding Loui Eriksson at 8:56, sending Boston onto a power play. The penalty killers that had looked so great against Buffalo and solid at Carolina were put on their heels within the opening seconds of the man advantage. Milan Lucic maneuvered the puck around and found Torey Krug, who ripped a slap shot past Jimmy Howard at 9:11. The Bruins kept the momentum going, buzzing around Howard while the Wings barely got near Tuukka Rask, registering just two shots after 12 minutes. Eight minutes passed before Justin Abdelkader got a deflection near Rassk. Henrik Zetterberg tied it up at 16:49, firing a shot in from the left circle after Justin Abdelkader had done the dirty work to clear space. That was only Detroit's fourth shot. They were outshot, 14-5.

In the second period: The Bruins re-established a lead 36 seconds into the period when Brad Marchand scored off a rush. Marchand skated off the ice with a little help from teammates minutes later after contact from Abdelkader knocked Marchand to the ice. Jordan Caron put Detroit into a 3-1 hole at 7:58, scoring after outworking the Wings down low. Reilly Smith, Brendan Smith’s brother, assisted on the play. Marchand was back out late in the period. The Wings got a power play at 13:45, but still fell to 0-for-7 after lackluster chances. Despite 15 shots in the period, the Wings were still outshot, 27-20 after the second

In the third period: The Wings seemed out of energy after 40 minutes, barely getting near Rask while Howard had to do acrobatics to keep his teammates in the game. Two straight penalties didn’t help spur anything offensively, and then Zdeno Chara took a pass from Krug, leaned forward and poked the puck in at 12:17 on a power play, giving Boston a 4-1 lead. The Wings had put two shots on net after 10 minutes, another one after 15 minutes. They were outshot, 37-26.

Quotable: Jimmy Howard on having Chara in front of the crease: “It’s not easy when there’s someone that’s 6-foot-9 standing in front of you. It’s something that you’ve got to figure out. It’s extremely difficult with him in front.” ... Tuukka Rask on how the Bruins played: “I thought we played a great game right from the start. We played such a good game as a team that I didn’t have to do a lot of back-door plays, no odd-man rushing. They have a lot of skill, so you just have to be on your toes all the time.”

Up next: Thursday against the Phoenix Coyotes.

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 10.06.2013

719724 Detroit Red Wings

Boston 4, Detroit 1: 'It didn't look like us,' Red Wings' Daniel Cleary says after loss

October 6, 2013 |

By Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

BOSTON — The Red Wings come back to TD Garden inside of 10 days, a date that gained significance after the first trip to Boston went so badly.

A 4-1 loss to the Bruins on Saturday night sat so badly that Wings players echoed one another in disappointment.

“We didn’t play, at all,” defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “They did a good job, and we didn’t. We weren’t even there. It felt like we were a step behind the whole game. We didn’t give ourselves a chance.”

Jimmy Howard was the only reason the Wings could maintain hopes of a rally until late in the third period, turning away 33 shots. The Bruins, he said, “controlled the whole game, from the drop of the puck to the end of the game; they pretty much dominated in every aspect.”

Captain Henrik Zetterberg had the sole goal, scoring on a broken play that allowed the Wings to exit the first period with a tie score despite having just five shots on Tuukka Rask.

Torey Krug had scored 15 seconds into Boston’s first power play, and Zdeno Chara used his lengthy stick to bookend another power-play goal late in the third period. Brad Marchand and Jordan Caron had the other goals.

The Wings finished with 26 shots, 15 of them stemming from the second period. They had two shots for much of the third period.

“We never got on the inside,” coach Mike Babcock said. “We were on the outside too much. I didn’t think we were good tonight. Making an assessment after a game you didn’t play very well is probably not a healthy thing to do.”

The Wings came into the game on a two-game winning streak to open the season, but they hadn’t faced anyone of Boston’s caliber. The Wings did come in playing their third game in four nights after having spent Friday at Carolina, while the Bruins had fresh legs.

“We realized the fact that that was their third game in four nights and we wanted to put the pressure on their D and keep the puck in their end,” Rask said, “and I think we managed to do that the full 60 minutes.”

The Bruins pressured on power plays, collapsed around Rask on penalty kills and used their depth to force the Wings back into their zone time and again.

“We played slow,” Daniel Cleary said. “It didn’t look like us.”

Krug, a Livonia product who spoke in the morning of the thrill of seeing the Wings win the Stanley Cup in 1997, dealt the first blow at 9:11, blasting a slap shot past his hometown team.

The Wings had just three shots on goal after 15 minutes, but one good shift in hockey can make an uneven game even. Justin Abdelkader did a terrific job down low clearing space, allowing Zetterberg to score, snapping a shot from the left circle. The Wings still left the period badly outshot — 14-5 — but with a 1-1 score.

By the end of the night, the Wings had just 26 shots, three of them on two-man advantages that dropped the power play to scoreless through three games and eight opportunities.

The Wings get a second shot at Boston a week from Monday.

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 10.06.2013

719725 Detroit Red Wings

Boston 4, Detroit 1: Red Wings' offense sputters in loss to Bruins

8:08 PM, October 5, 2013 |

By Helene St. James

BOSTON -- Faced with their first elite opponent of the season, the Red Wings came up short.

Their offense sputtered and their penalty kill stumbled and their defense was run through by the Bruins, who took an early lead and built it into a 4-1 victory Saturday at TD Garden, ending Detroit's season-starting winning streak at two.

The brightest spot was the goaltending of Jimmy Howard; he faced 37 shots and two of the goals allowed came on power plays. Henrik Zetterberg had Detroit's goal.

The Wings did come in playing their third game in four nights after having spent Friday at Carolina, while the Bruins had fresh legs.

The only fresh legs in the Wings lineup belonged to Tomas Tatar, who replaced veteran Mikael Samuelsson in the lineup as Mike Babcock followed through on making personnel changes. The only other change was on the power plays, where Daniel Cleary and Johan Franzen flip-flopped spots in the rotation. Those groups, though, didn't see much action, getting just two opportunities.

One night after rallying from a 2-0 deficit to win in overtime against the Hurricanes, the Wings were the ones outshot and outplayed in the first period, and the ones who still got a goal. The Bruins went up 1-0 at 9:11, 15 seconds into a power play, when Livonia's Torey Krug blasted a slap shot behind Howard. The Bruins looked like they continued to have a man advantage for several minutes afterwards, peppering Howard with shots while Tuukka Rask grew glassy-eyed.

The Wings had just three shots on goal after 15 minutes, but one good shift in hockey can make an uneven game, even. Justin Abdelkader did a terrific job down low clearing space, allowing Henrik Zetterberg - hero of Friday's game after tying that one up in the last minute of regulation - to score, snapping a shot from the left circle. The Wings still left the period badly outshot - 14-5 - but with a 1-1 score.

Despite a better second period, the Wings weren't able to get a handle on the game. Brad Marchand stymied them when he scored off a rush in the opening minute, and the Bruins' third liners combined to make it 3-1 by eight minutes in, with Jordan Caron scoring on a wrist shot.

As the Wings ran out of time to dent Rask again, Franzen was move up to Pavel Datsyuk's line to start the third period, and Abdelkader was put with Stephen Weiss and Daniel Alfredsson. Attempts at pulling off a second straight rally weren't helped when Danny DeKeyser was called for interference and the penalty killers had to come on for a third shift, just as the period neared its midpoint. Ten minutes in, the Wings had two shots on Rask. The Wings faced another penalty just past the 10-minute mark, and Zdeno Chara made them pay, using his enormously long stick to poke a puck in for a three-goal lead, too much for the Wings to overcome against so good an opponent.

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 10.06.2013

719726 Detroit Red Wings

'Puck hound' Tomas Tatar gets call for Red Wings against Bruins

7:13 PM, October 5, 2013 |

By Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

BOSTON — Tomas Tatar has impressed the Red Wings with his craftiness, his puck instincts, his unwavering optimism.

His offensive skill is why he got into the lineup Saturday at TD Garden, as the Wings sought to show more toughness in the offensive zone against one of the best teams in the NHL. Tatar didn’t play badly through 10 minutes, he even had a little breakaway though he pulled up short, but the Wings suffered their first loss of the season after falling, 4-1.

“Normally I don’t change a winning lineup,” coach Mike Babcock said. “I just was looking for more, and I didn't get it.”

Tatar, 22, had sat out as a healthy scratch through the first two games, but he showed in appearances last season with the Wings just what kind of potential he has got. Tatar isn’t a big guy, but he’s sneaky, hard-nosed and fearless.

“He’s one of those guys that the puck follows him around,” Johan Franzen said. “He’s not afraid to make plays, either.”

Daniel Cleary described Tatar as “a puck hound.”

Tatar delivered seven points in 18 games with Detroit last season, before being sent to the minors. He was named AHL playoff MVP after helping the Griffins to the Calder Cup last spring with 21 points in 24 games.

"Going to the Calder Cup final and winning the thing and being the leading scorer, is a real positive for him in his career,” Babcock said. “Now, obviously, now he's got to do it every day in the National Hockey League.”

Mikael Samuelsson was scratched in Tatar’s place.

Tatar made the Detroit roster out of training camp because he can’t be sent down without being exposed on waivers. More than that, though, he’s clearly ready for the NHL. He brings to mind former Wing Jiri Hudler, another undersized winger with a knack for scoring. Hudler worked his way up from grunt to top-six forward in a matter of seasons. Tatar is a better skater, and better defensively, than Hudler, and will get more chances to show he belongs in the lineup, even if that doesn’t continue right away with the next game.

“There’s going to be lots of games this season,” Tatar said. “It’s 82 games. There’s going to be lots of changes to the lineup. Just, be patient and I’m sure the chances are coming.”

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 10.06.2013

719727 Detroit Red Wings

Livonia's Torey Krug proves skeptics wrong as Bruins defensive standout

Ted Kulfan

The Detroit News

October 5, 2013 at 11:24 pm

Boston — Bruins defenseman Torey Krug said after the morning skate Saturday his family and friends were likely going to forego the Tigers game to watch him play against the Red Wings.

“Maybe switch channels,” said Krug, a Livonia native who attended Livonia Churchill and Michigan State, and is starring on the Bruins’ blue line.

Krug, 22, was named the game’s first star, and it was difficult to argue, after he scored a power-play goal and had an assist in the Bruins’ 4-1 victory over the Red Wings.

The goal was actually Krug’s first regular-season goal. He scored four after joining the Bruins in the playoffs last season after injuries hit the Boston defense.

Considered too small (5-foot-9, 180 pounds) to be an effective NHL defenseman Krug, who skated for Belle Tire and Honeybaked as a youth player, is firmly smashing those predictions.

“Just the fact the opportunity presented itself was pretty special,” said Krug on the way he capitalized on his chance in the playoffs. “Things might not have happened if they (the Bruins) had lost to Toronto (in the first round of the playoffs), but the opportunity presented itself and the coaching staff showed confidence in me.”

Krug’s ability to get the puck on net has ignited the Bruins’ power play.

“It’s great, he’s creating a lot just by his size and the way he retrieves the puck, finding that loose puck,” Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron said. “That’s what keeps the play going.”

Krug’s family and friends were as excited as he was when NHL realignment was announced and the Bruins and Red Wings became division rivals.

“I got a few texts saying they were going to see more quite a bit more,” Krug said. “It’s going to be cool playing in that building.”

Tatar debuts

Forward Tomas Tatar made his regular-season debut Saturday, playing 9 minutes, 8 seconds on 16 shifts in the loss to the Bruins.

With Tatar in the lineup, Mikael Samuelsson was a healthy scratch.

“I’ve been waiting for a chance. Coach said to be ready,” said Tatar, who scored four goals in 18 games with the Red Wings last season and then starred during Grand Rapids’ run to the Calder Cup championship.

Coach Mike Babcock has always liked Tatar’s instincts offensively and his willingness to go into tough areas.

“He likes the puck, and he’s not scared of it, he goes gets it,” Babcock said. “He can score from in tight. He’s a kid going in the right direction and he brings enthusiasm.

“Obviously he has to do it every game in the NHL.”

Bruins dominate on special teams

The Red Wings clearly lost the special teams battle against the Bruins.

Boston scored two power-play goals (on four attempts) while killing both Red Wings power-play chances.

The Red Wings are 0-for-8 on the power play this season through three games.

“It wasn’t good tonight,” said Babcock of the power play. “They were better on the penalty kill and the power play than us. They were harder on it. They were more efficient. They won way more battles than we did.

“It looked like their energy level was high and it looked like ours wasn’t.”

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20131005/SPORTS0103/310050085#ixzz2gvmO8vT1

Detroit News LOADED: 10.06.2013

719728 Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings soundly outplayed in loss to Bruins

Ted Kulfan

The Detroit News

October 5, 2013 at 10:48 pm

Boston — The Red Wings learned the hard way Saturday the road through the Eastern Conference goes through Boston.

The defending Eastern Conference champions look utterly capable of getting at least that far again.

They sure did against the Red Wings, defeating Detroit 4-1.

"They won in every statistic tonight, every battle," goalie Jimmy Howard said. "I'm not going to to make that excuse that we're tired or anything like that. But we need a better effort out of all of us."

The Red Wings ended 2-1 in a season-opening three-games-in-four-nights stretch.

This was expected to easily be the most difficult opponent and it was.

The Bruins didn’t let the Red Wings venture close to goalie Tuukka Rask, using their size and physicality, and outworking the Red Wings.

"We weren't very good," coach Mike Babcock said. "We didn't play hard enough, trust each other enough, or do what we're supposed to do.

"They were better than us."

Henrik Zetterberg scored the Red Wings goal, his second in two games.

Torey Krug (Livonia, Michigan State), Brad Marchand, Jordan Caron and Zdeno Chara had the other Bruins goals, both Krug and Chara scoring on the power play.

Krug opened the scoring with a power-play goal.

Milan Lucic found Krug alone at the top of the slot, and with 6-foot-9 Chara screening goalie Jimmy Howard, Krug fired a shot that beat Howard cleanly at 9:11.

"It's not easy when there's someone that's 6-foot-9 standing in front of you," Howard said. "It's something that you've got to figure out and find a way to try and find the puck. But it's extremely difficult with him in front."