New York. Seven months after the terrifying night he injured his knees in the same sequence, Anton Forsberg was back in the box last night — making 35 saves as Ottawa won 3-2 in their preseason opener against Toronto.
– I have been waiting for this moment for a long time and I am very happy that I am able to play again, says the 30-year-old Angers native.
In a game against Edmonton in February, Anton Forsberg was so unlucky that he had his kneecaps demolished during the same tackle.
Since then, he hasn’t played a game, but last night, just over seven months later, he returned to the ice to guard the penalty box in Ottawa’s first practice game of the season — against Toronto.
And it went great. The Angerman native stopped 35 shots and helped his team win 3-2.
“It felt good, even if it took a few periods until I could find my game again,” he told the Ottawa Sun.
-I have waited for this moment for a long time and I am very happy that I am able to play again.
William Lagesson scored one of Toronto’s goals.
The NHL preseason got off to a great start with games against the LA Kings and Arizona in Australia earlier this weekend, and tonight it gets underway in earnest back home in North America — with rosters full of young, not-yet-established players looking to show coaches they’re worthy of a chance to be installed in the league. The team ahead of its regular season premiere on October 10.
For example, the Penguins and Blue Jackets settled for playing two games — one in Pittsburgh and one in Columbus — without calling up stars like Erik Karlsson, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang for duty.
In the first game, at PPG Paints Arena, the Penguins won 3-2 on penalties by Alex Nylander. He also scored a goal during normal time, while Emil Bomstrom and Adam Boqvist each provided an assist for the visitors.
The final encounter, at Nationwide Arena, was instead won by the Blue Jackets 4-3. The most notable thing is that third-round draft pick Adam Fantilli made two direct passes in his first game.
Leo Karlsson made his ‘real’ debut for Anaheim at home against Los Angeles which was completely devoid of regular players. There were no points, but the Swedish number two draft pick played over 28 minutes and was part of a 3-2 win.
Dallas had an impressive preseason opener at home at the American Airlines Center, beating Arizona 7-0. Farmlander Oscar Back contributed the assist. However, it must be emphasized that almost all of the players who would represent the Coyotes during the season were on a plane on their way home from Australia.
Vancouver has no such excuse for its 10-0(!) loss to Calgary.
Granted, there were only a few regular Canucks on the ice, but they were still there.
– They had better players on their team than we had and that was a lot for the young players, but they have to learn from that, says coach Rick Tocchet.
Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice for the Flames and Rasmus Andersson played to one goal.
Other training matches during the night:
Washington-Buffalo 3-4, Colorado-Minnesota 3-4, Boston-New York Rangers 3-0, Edmonton-Winnipeg 1-2, San Jose-Vegas 5-2.