Mark Parrish nets hat trick in Stars debut

November 8, 2008   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Mark Parrish scored a hat trick in his first game with the Dallas Stars last night sparking them to a 5-2 road win over the Anaheim Ducks. The same Parrish who was given a pro tryout by Bridgeport and could’ve been signed by anybody.

So like it really happened because Sabre contributor Brian Sanborn Im’d me with the details. Anyway, here was the former Islander’s big night:

Dallas10:44, Mark Parrish 1 (power play) (Sean Avery, Philippe Boucher)

Dallas1:13, Mark Parrish 2 (power play) (Mike Ribeiro, Brad Richards)

Dallas5:52, Mark Parrish 3 (unassisted)

Who said he was done? I certainly never counted him out. Didn’t I say something recently about how the Rangers should’ve taken a look at him considering their lack of finishers? And heck. He wouldn’t have been a bad consideration for the Devils even if they have been packing a little more scorer’s punch.

Parrish is one of those hard working American wings who will go to the dirty areas and score cheap goals. He also is great at deflecting home shots and finding loose change. I’m very pleased to see him pay some early returns for Dallas cause this is one of those guys who you knew had something left.

If he finds a new home with the Stars, that’s great!

In the game of the night, the Thrashers used Jason Williams’ overtime winner 48 seconds in via the power play to punch past the Sabres 5-4 at HSBC Arena. This was easily one of the most entertaining games with both teams using their skating to generate plenty of offense. Williams got the scoring started when he finished off a nice passing play from Ilya Kovalchuk, wiring one off the bar and in.

The Sabres responded with two in a row first with rookie Clarke MacArthur rebounding home a Henrik Tallinder shot and Ales Kotalik blasting a Derek Roy feed home on a well executed five-on-three. The local teams might want to take note by watching the way the Sabres pass the puck and shoot.

The second period saw the teams split four goals in highly entertaining fashion. Second-year Thrasher center Bryan Little scored the goal of the night by taking a Slava Kozlov lead pass and then beating a couple of Sabres and while being hooked, still scored falling down to tie it. This kid is pretty good. For years, the Thrashers haven’t had a center since Marc Savard. Well, the former 2006 first rounder looks to be a keeper. He was all over the ice.

There was a Maxim Afinogenov sighting. The MIA Russian reappeared by scoring on a nice feed from Teppo Numminen moving in and going shortside on Johan Hedberg. But Little struck again rebounding home a Kozlov shot which Ryan Miller kicked out. He was in the right spot for his eighth. The kid knows where to go. If nobody’s done so yet in your fantasy league, pick him up. If it’s a keeper league, even better.

The game was tied all of 50 seconds due to Thomas Vanek somehow getting a piece of a Tim Connolly point shot for his league best 12th on the power play. What I’d like to know is how cause the MSG Sabres feed showed enough replays and it looked like Connolly just put it through a maze off the left post and in. Though it was Vanek’s hard work which prevented the Thrashers from clearing resulting in the goal. So, maybe he got the reward.

The Sabres led by one but couldn’t hold it as Todd White struck on the power play with 12 minutes left in regulation converting from Little and Kozlov. It eventually wound up in OT where a Roy trip was all it took for Atlanta to win it. Miller couldn’t control Kovalchuk’s blast with the rebound going right to Williams, who flipped it past him for his second of the night and the winner at 48 seconds.

The Thrashers deserved to win because they stayed with one of the league’s early surprises and played hard. This wasn’t the same team which a week ago got destroyed by the Devils. They’ve now won a season high three in a row and at 5-7-2 are tied with the Lightning just six points behind Carolina who got two third period tallies from Dennis Seidenberg and Joe Corvo (2:40 left) to give coach Peter Laviolette his 240th NHL win- the most by an American born coach surpassing former Lightning coach John Tortorella.

Other notables who won 200 or better are Bob Johnson (234), ex-Devil coach Robbie Ftorek (229) and former 1980 Team USA Olympic hero Herb Brooks (219).

“I think when things like that happen, you’re in the game long enough and you’re fortunate to be around long enough,” Laviolette later pointed out. “You get good organizations, and I’ve had two, and you get to work with a lot of great players, and I’ve been fortunate that way. I think coaches, too. I’ve worked with some terrific coaches and a good wife that lets me do it.

“In saying that, I just think those things happen. Every year, somebody plays their 400th game, somebody scores their 300th point. If you stay around long enough, something will happen, and I’ve been fortunate and lucky to stay around long enough in this game.”

Nice accomplishment for a good coach who gets the most out of his players. Thinking of all the injuries Carolina’s had the past couple of seasons with this one being no exception, it’s amazing that they win as much as they do. Granted. They’ve had two meltdowns in a row at the end but they’re always competitive. That’s a credit to the guy behind the bench.

Congrats!

In the other game, the Blue Jackets got the better of the Canadiens in a shootout 4-3 to win on home ice. The Habs rallied to tie it with backup Jaroslav Halak pulled for an extra attacker. Sergei Kostitsyn took a pass from brother Andrei beating rookie Steve Mason to tie it with 41 ticks left.

But the game wound up in a skill competition with Kristian Huselius (forehand shot) and rookie Derick Brassard (backhand forehand deke) beating Halak while Mason stopped Alex Tanguay and Andrei Kostitsyn to give the Blue Jackets the win.

Rick Nash and Jan Hejda tallied two assists and R.J. Umberger scored for the fourth straight game. The former Ohio State star is up to five after starting so quietly. Maybe he’s finally settling in with his new team.

That takes care of Friday night’s games. Saturday will be very busy with all three locals back in action with the Rangers visiting the Capitals while the Devils visit the defending champion Red Wings with the Islanders home for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Penguins.

So, it should be a fun night.

See ya later!