Hype for December 02, 2009

Florida coach Pete DeBoer was jotting down a note, then he looked up and saw Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun sprawled out on the Atlanta ice, writhing in pain.

"I really didn't understand what happened," DeBoer said Tuesday.

Florida defenceman Keith Ballard had accidentally whacked Vokoun with his stick, cutting the goalie's ear during an act of frustration after Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk scored. Ballard was aiming for the goal, but instead got a piece of Vokoun's head.

Vokoun was carted off the ice on a stretcher and taken to an Atlanta-area hospital. Vokoun needed several stitches, but travelled with the team back to South Florida. Immediately after the incident, however, Ballard looked like he could have used a Prozac.

The Chicago Blackhawks needed three periods, an overtime and then 11 rounds of a shootout Tuesday night to secure coach Joel Quenneville's 500th NHL victory.

Brent Seabrook scored the game-winner in the 11th round of the shootout, sending the Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets and putting Quenneville in an exclusive club. He is the 14th head coach to reach 500 wins.

Washington's Alex Ovechkin was suspended two games by the NHL on Tuesday for a knee-on-knee hit during Monday's game against Carolina.

Earlier Tuesday, the team announced that its Russian sniper was day-to-day after his knee was injured on the hit.

It marks the first time the hard-hitting Ovechkin has been suspended in his NHL career.

The Toronto Maple Leafs' goaltending tandem of Jonas Gustavsson and backup Joey MacDonald combined to shut out the Canadiens 3-0 on Tuesday in Montreal.

MacDonald made 17 second- and third-period saves after Gustavsson was sent to hospital as a precaution during the first intermission. He was expected to remain there overnight before returning to Toronto to be examined by a cardiologist.

Earlier this year, the Swedish goalie underwent a medical procedure known as a cardiac ablation to correct an elevated heart rate.