Yesterday's Top Newsmakers in the NHL: Kolzig Returns to Washington

1. Olaf Kolzig returns to Washington:Olaf Kolzig spent 15 years as a member of the Washington Capitals, and on Monday night he played his first game in the nation's capital while wearing a different sweater. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't exactly a happy homecoming for the 38-year old goaltender.

Sure, he received a nice welcome from the fans -- who witnessed Kolzig win 301 games as a member of the Capitals -- while his former teammates proceeded to score three goals on their first seven shots (including their first two shots) on their way to a 4-2 victory over Kolzig's new team, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tom Poti and Mike Green opened the scoring with two goals in the first ten minutes, while Eric Fehr added a third tally in the opening period, which would be all the Capitals needed as they carried the play for much of the night over a sluggish Lightning squad.

Tampa Bay lost Ryan Malone to what is being called a "lower body injury" in the first period, while the recently acquired -- and former Capital -- Steve Eminger was a -3 in 20 minutes of action. Gary Roberts represented all of the offense for the Lightning, as he picked up his first two goals of the season.

2. Welcome back Alex Ovechkin:
Reigning league MVP Alex Ovechkin entered Monday's game on somewhat of a goal-scoring drought. I guess that would be fair to say, seeing as how he hadn't filled the net since his two-goal performance on October 11 against Chicago, which also represented his only two goals of the season.

Rest easy, Capitals fans, because the 23-year old super star finally ended his drought when he added a goal at the 15-minute mark of the third period.

Also noteworthy on the play? Alexander Semin picked up the primary assist, moving him into a tie with Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin for the league lead in scoring with 22 points.

3. Jeff Drouin-Deslauiers stops 40 shots in Edmonton's Shootout win: The Edmonton Oilers ended a seven-game road trip on Monday night, when they traveled into Madison Square Garden to take on the early season juggernaut that is the New York Rangers.

The Oilers managed to skate away with a 3-2 shootout win, ending their road trip with a respectable 4-3 mark. The story of the night for Edmonton? Rookie goalie Jeff Drouin-Deslauiers who, making his third NHL start, turned aside 40 shots in regulation and overtime, and all three shots in the shootout.

Drouin-Deslauiers has stopped 117 of the 123 shots he's faced this year (.951 save percentage) and has posted a 3-0 record for the Oilers.

Yesterday's Top Newsmakers in the NHL: Kolzig Returns to Washington originally appeared on NHL FanHouse on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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