Calgary @ Chicago 3-2 OT - Reto Berra felt the nerves building prior to his NHL debut Sunday night against the defending Stanley Cup champions at United Center. The 26-year old rookie goaltender had just been called up from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League to join the Calgary Flames and coach Bob Hartley decided to toss the talented 6-foot-4 rookie straight into the fire against the Chicago Blackhawks. After calling Berra a "thoroughbred" following the Flames' morning skate, Hartley looked pretty smart. Berra made 42 saves and earned his first win when Kris Russell scored 1:32 into overtime in a 3-2 victory. It was a force that was bolstered even more by the traditional singing of the Canadian and U.S. anthems. Berra said he was forewarned about how stirring the American version is in Chicago, but still wasn't quite prepared. Some of the saves Berra made in stopping the Blackhawks' 18 first-period shots were also pretty remarkable. He stopped 29 of the first 30 he saw and helped the Flames thwart a 5-on-3 situation late in the third for 1:42 before Marian Hossa's well-placed one-timer tied it 2-2 during 5-on-4 play. Russell's blast from the blue line 92 seconds into overtime gave Calgary the second point in the standings and Berra his first win, not to mention the fire helmet award. Acquired by Calgary in the trade that sent defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to the St. Louis Blues last season, Berra declined to play another season in the Swiss League and came to North America with the NHL in his sights. After playing nine games in the AHL, he's now expected to stick around in Calgary to share playing time with Karri Ramo and possibly work his way into the starting role. The Blackhawks found out why Hartley is so excited by Berra. Patrick Kane, who played with Berra in Switzerland during the lockout last season, scored with a great wrist shot early in the second to give Chicago a short-lived 1-0 lead. Curtis Glencross, who had the primary assist on Russell's game-winner, tied it 1-1 a little more than two minutes later and Mike Cammalleri gave the Flames (6-6-2) a 2-1 lead 2:16 into the third. That led to Hossa's game-tying goal at 15:41 of the final period, which he one-timed past Berra from the right circle off a feed by Kane. The new goalie also instilled confidence in his teammates with a number of stops that left the Blackhawks shaking their heads or banging sticks on the ice out of frustration. Hartley hopes that "positive energy" Berra referred to carries over into what's likely to be his next start on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild, in the second leg of a four-game road trip. As for the Blackhawks, the 2013 Cup champs will put the final capper on their title Monday by flying to Washington, D.C., and visiting the White House. They'll leave knowing they had a chance to sweep their third back-to-back set of 18 on the schedule, snapping a three-game win streak in the process.
New Jersey @ Minnesota 0-4 - Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding is making things look easy. His teammates are making it easy for him too. The Wild scored a goal in each period and added an empty-netter late in a 4-0 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday night. Minnesota needed Harding's A-game in the opening 20 minutes, and got it. He stopped 10 shots in the first period, helping the Wild overcome a sluggish start that featured three penalty kills. From there, Minnesota's skaters did the heavy lifting, holding the Devils to just nine shots on goal the rest of the way, helping to secure Harding's second shutout of the season and ninth of his career. Harding finished with 19 saves. The victory was Harding's seventh in nine starts this season. His goals-against average dropped to 1.10 and his save percentage increased to .950. Each is tops in the NHL amongst goaltenders with at least five starts. Besides Harding, perhaps no group has pulled more of its fair share than the Wild's second line. Mikael Granlund entered the game with a career high four-game point streak, and extended it to five at 13:20 of the first, slamming home a pass from Niederreiter in the slot for his first goal of the season. Over his current five-game streak, Granlund also has seven assists. He leads the team with 10 assists this season. The Wild extended their lead at 7:35 of the second when Zach Parise, playing in his first career game against his former team, got a return feed from Ryan Suter at the right circle. With Devils goaltender Cory Schneider in solid position, Parise flipped a puck towards the front of the crease, where a crashing Suter and Torrey Mitchell were headed. The puck caromed off Mitchell and in for his first of the season. Mitchell, who has slotted in on the Wild's fourth line much of the season, was playing up with the first line of Parise and center Mikko Koivu. Parise said playing against the Devils was about what he expected it would be heading in. Minnesota struck with the man-advantage early in the third when a shot from the point by Keith Ballard was tipped in front by Dany Heatley for his second of the season. The goal was Heatley's 141st career power-play goal, the most in the NHL since he entered the League in 2001-02. For Ballard, it was his third assist in two games and first multi-game point streak since Dec. 4-6, 2011 when he played for the Vancouver Canucks. He has four assists in eight games this season. Niederreiter assisted on that goal as well and also on Jason Pominville's empty-netter at 17:35. Playing its second game in two nights, the Devils have been shut out in both and have not scored a goal since 10:54 of the second period last Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a stretch of 149:05. Schneider, making his return from a groin injury that cost him three games, stopped 16 shots in the loss. The Devils played shorthanded on their blue line for much of the game. Anton Volchenkov was declared out Sunday with a lower-body injury. He was replaced in the lineup by Jon Merrill, who made his NHL debut. But his first appearance was marred by an injury less than five minutes into the game, when he crashed awkwardly into the boards while chasing a loose puck in the corner. The team announced during the third period he would not return due to lacerations. The Devils, who also played without forwards Patrik Elias and Travis Zajac for the second straight night, will have three days to try and get healthy before continuing their three-game road trip with back-to-back games Thursday and Friday against the Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Minnesota wraps up its four-game homestand Tuesday against the Calgary Flames.
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