Buffalo Sabres' Veteran Rick Martin Dies

At 1:00 p.m today, Rick Martin was pronounced dead at a hospital in Buffalo.  Martin's car drifted across lanes on a road, rolling onto the shoulder, striking a utility pole, coming to rest against a tree.  Martin was seen asleep behind the wheel after he had, "An undetermined medical emergency."

Martin's "French Connection" line-mate Rene Robert found out about his close friends death soon after hearing his brother died earlier Sunday in Montreal.  Robert said, "It's like a bad dream...First my brother, then my left winger."  The center on the same line, Gilbert Perreault, said, "It's a reminder that you never know in life. I mean, he was 59. That's young, and he always seemed to be in such good shape."


Rick Martin was drafted fifth overall in '71 and scored a then-record 44 goals in his rookie season.  Martin served on the famous "French Connection" line.  Martin's #7 ,  Robert's #14, and Perreault's #11 have all been retired and there banners hang together in the HSBC Arena. For today's victory against Ottawa, the Sabres wore helmet decals with Martin's name and number and pointed there sticks at his banner before the game.  He is survived by his wife Mikey and there two sons, Corey and Josh.

Final Scores 3-13-11

Blackhawks (37-24-8) @ Capitals (40-20-10)

Washington 4 - Chicago 3 OT

Without Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Michal Neuvirth, and Semyon Varlamov, Washington still managed to pull through against the Stanley Cup winning Chicago squad.  Chicago tied the game 3 - 3 with a powerplay goal with 39 seconds remaining in regulation, but with 1:09 left in OT, Marcus Johanssen passed to Mike Knuble down low, who put the puck passed Chicago goalie Corey Crawford.  The Capitals extend there win streak to 8 games.

Oilers (23-38-9) @ Penguins (40-22-8)

Pittsburgh 5 - Edmonton 1

Saturday in Montreal, Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled early in the 2nd Period in what Penguins GM called, "...a horrible game...".  But today, back home in the CONSOL Energy Center, Fleury bounced back to almost shut-out the visiting Oilers. Pittsburgh's Chris Kunitz scored the first and last goals of the game, Ryan Jones scored the only goal for Edmonton, and Matt Cooke recorded his 300th NHL point when he assisted Jordan Staal in the 2nd Period.

Kings (39-25-5) @ Stars (37-24-8)

Los Angeles 3 - Dallas 2

The people of Dallas saw an exciting match between two evenly matched teams that came down to the last few seconds.  Los Angeles' Drew Dougherty recorded the first score of the game with a powerplay goal 3 minutes into the 1st period.  The Kings scored again 14 minutes into the 2nd period but Dallas' Brad Richards scored his teams 1st goal with 2 minutes left in the 2nd period.  With 1 minute left in the game, Dallas was searching for a saving grace and they found it in Jamie Langenbrunner who knotted it up 43 seconds left, but Los Angeles quickly took the lead with only 21 seconds left to win the game.

Senators (25-35-9) @ Sabres (34-27-8)

Buffalo 6 - Ottawa 4

In there return from a seven-game road-trip,  Buffalo ousted Ottawa 6 - 4 with a pair of goals by Tyler Ennis.  The two teams went goal-for-goal in the 1st 20 minutes, but Buffalo ran away with the game in the 2nd Period.  Ottawa tried to come back, but Buffalo scored twice for Ottawa's only 2nd Period goal. The Senators late effort with a goal in the last minute of regulation wasn't enough to surpass the Sabres.

NHL Rookie Spotlight: Jeff Skinner

At the age of 18, Jeff Skinner is currently the youngest player in the NHL. He's a front-runner for the Calder and is leading his rookie class in points and assists with 50 and 26 respectively.