The Daily Phil Esposito (2/8/11)

There were fourteen former Featherheads to take the ice last night. One was a goalie who continued his winning streak, while the thirteen skaters came out to play scoring six goals and four assists. We even had a Colin Fraser sighting! This is remarkable. Shout out and big thank you to Meredith Gross, a dedicated follower to the site who has contacted me with kind words. Keep the emails and tweets coming guys! Hope you enjoy today’s edition, I have added a lot of side commentary today.

Click the jump for updates from the 2/7/11 games

Kris Versteeg – Toronto
15:52 TOI, one assist (21), 2 PIM, three shots
That’s four straight games with a point for Steeger who now has 35 total on the season. That would put him fourth on the Hawks, and just as a little tid bit, he was playing the RW position on the 3^rd line, which is currently filled by Fernando Pisani who has 16 points… Rough. I think we miss Steeger.

Tim Brent – Toronto
11:13 TOI, one goal(7), plus one, two shots, 5 of 11 on face-offs
There was a hard fought battle along the boards for this entire line, fighting to gain control of the puck. Brent skated towards the net, received a nice pass from Crabb. Great execution by Brent to get the puck in the net to pick up the game winning goal. That was his career high seventh goal, and career high tenth point. Great job kid.

Dustin Byfuglien – Atlanta
29:07 TOI, one goal (17), minus one, 2 PIM, four shots
Of course, I say that the guy hasn’t don’t jack shit in the past month and the guy scores a goal on the Power Play in the first period! Nice goal, just a simple slap slot from the point. This goal broke a 14 game pointless streak. Also look at those minutes! Those are Duncan Keith minutes.Big Buff still leads the Thrashers in points with 42.

Andrew Ladd – Atlanta
24:00 TOI, one goal (17), 2 PIM, five shots
Ladd got his first goal in eight games on a garbage goal. He found the puck in the crease while bodies were scrambling to get to it and he just taped it in. Ladd has 40 points right now which would tie him for third on the Hawks currently. To put it into perspective, Kaner also has 40 points after tonight’s games. I miss Laddy, he was the guy I was most upset about that we lost.

Brent Sopel – Atlanta
15:56 TOI, minus two

Dan Cleary – Detroit
16:10 TOI, one assist (11), plus one, three shots, 4 of 10 on face-offs
First points since returning from injury. His last point game when he scored December 26^th, the game in which he was injured.

Steve Sullivan – Nashville
11:34 TOI, minus one, one shot, 1 of 1 on face-offs

J.P. Dumont – Nashville
11:10 TOI, two shots

Craig Anderson – Colorado
Loss (14), 23 saves on 26 shots, .885 SV%
Five straight losses… This guys has lost it…

Rene Bourque – Calgary
14:41 TOI, one goal (16), two shots
His goal was an empty netter for those who didn’t watch that shitty game.

Colin Fraser – Edmonton
10:41 TOI, one assist (2), plus one  3 of 8 on face-offsI think hell has frozen over. Fraser recorded his first point since he scored two goals on my birthday, November 12^th. This was a 36 game scoreless drought. I never thought he was going to break it. Also the Oilers scored four goals and defeated a pretty hot Nashville team on the road. Great just what the Hawks need, an Oiler team with a little momentum, who has already beaten the Hawks twice this year…

Jim Vandermeer – Edmonton
19:01 TOI, one assist (6), plus two, 2 PIM

Adrian Aucoin – Phoenix
24:54 TOI, plus one, four shots

Radim Vrbata – Phoenix
15:39 TOI, two goals (12,13), plus one, 2 PIM, eight shots
First goal came on a good set up from Hanzel, second came on the Power Play where he put back a rebound.

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