Pascal Leclaire (pictured) shone tonight as he picked up his first win of the season, beating the Havana Moon, 3-1. The first line of Jason Spezza, Kyle Wellwood, and Marty St. Louis continued thier hot streak (2 points each) and Michael Ryder added a goal just as Havana looked like they might get back into the game. Jason Spezza was a shocking 22-3 in the face-off circle on the night as well, ripping mainly into Eric Staal and brought his season point total to 95.
Linz took the lead early in the 1st period on Kyle Wellwood's 19th goal of the season on a stellar pass from Spezza. Early in the 2nd period, Spezza added one of his own, this time on a rebound off of a Martin St. Louis shot and Linz headed into the 3rd on unknown ground, holding a 2-0 lead, perhaps the worst lead in all of hockey. Only 32 seconds in the 3rd period, Alex Ovechkin scored his 32nd and brought the Moon within one and many of the fans in the Eishalle thought this was the beginning of another Black Wings 3rd period meltdown. However, midway through the third, Michael Ryder intercepted a Ric Jackman pass and was left all alone to spring down the ice and deposit the puck behind Marty Biron to make it 3-1 and seal the deal.
Overall the game was a small bright spot after a loss against Southwest the night before (despite the heroics of Spezza-Wellwood-St. Louis) and the night before travelling to Karlstad for their third game in three nights. Making tomorrow nights game even more difficult will be the fact that Jordan Leopold, Linz' #1 (when healthy) defenseman left the game again. He'll not suit up in Sweden and may indeed be lost for the rest of the season after managing only 52 games this year. Andy Greene will take his place in the line-up as the Black Wings play out the rest of the season.
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