HOCKEY LAST NIGHT: LEAFS ROLL IN D.C.

Meantime, as you weighed whether to make the commitment to wakin' up at the crack a' noon, for deep-knee rock squats ...

Leafs 7 Capitals 1: Call it a defence mechanism in the face of a lot of jokes the Leafs are going to hear due to That Gay Ex-NHLer Movie I mentioned yesterday, but they sure played with a lot of jam. They scored two goals in the first three minutes, and it didn't matter that Washington had the first four power plays. Washington didn't have it, and the Leafs put them away with four goals in the second.

The Leafs managed nine of a possible 14 points while Mats Sundin was out, which is good for them, since they'll probably geek it when he returns tonight at home against Boston.

Stars 5 Kings 3: Go figure that Dallas d-man Phillippe Boucher would get the first hat trick of his 14-year NHL career the day before he was slated to leave the team and visit his father, who's battling pancreatic cancer.

Senators 6 Panthers 4: C'est la vie in Hockey Country. Four games ago it there was much hand-wringing over the Sens, and now callers to the post-game show are saying, "Let's ride Ray Emery all the way to the Stanley Cup." Geez, there's meds you can take for that.

The Sens weren't perfect, but when Dany Heatley can pop three goals, they don't need to be.

Habs 2 Sabres 1: Remember that Friday night game about a month and a half ago where Montreal couldn't hold a two-goal lead? Well, now they're even: Sheldon Souray got a last-second winner in overtime, and Cristobal Huet made 23 of his 29 saves over the final two periods and OT.

Oilers 5 Blackhawks 1: Not much to say here, except for the Oilers being a bit sluggish in the second, which could be expected since they knew they didn't need a full 60 minutes to knock off Chicago. If it wasn't for San Jose's Vesa Toskala, Dwayne Roloson would be the early leader for the Vezina Trophy. Not bad for a journeyman goalie, eh?

'Canes 5 Bruins 1: The B's were just due to come out flat after playing six straight one-goal games, and the 'Canes got the result they were looking for after getting 44 saves from John Grahame in their last game and losing.

Lightning 3 Thrashers 2: Johan Holmqvist is one several goalies projected as backups who are doing well in the early going -- he's 7-3-0 with a 2.69 goals-against average after last night's win. Not bad for a 28-year-old who came into '06-07 with only four games' NHL experience.

Islanders 3 Penguins 1: Did the Islanders really have 15,625 people in the building? Did Rick DiPietro really stop 35 of 36 shots? Are the Isles really tied for first place in the Atlantic?

Elsewhere: Flyers 3, Blue Jackets 2; Blues 3 Red Wings 2 (shootout); Ducks 4 Devils 2; Wild 4 Coyotes 0.

Tonight's better games: Bruins-Leafs, 7 p.m.; Red Wings-Preds, 8 p.m.; Flames-Kings, 10:30 p.m.; Devils-Sharks, 10:30 p.m.

HOMETOWN BREAKDOWN

Hard to get a read on the Kingston Frontenacs 3-2 shootout win over the Oshawa Generals. Oshawa's not very good, and briefly went ahead early in the third. The Fronts tied it up two minutes later, then won in the shootout after Jason Guy faced down all three Gens shooters, including The John Tavares, in the shootout and Bobby Hughes (who'd been in the box when Ottawa got its go-ahead goal) slipped in the winner. The Fronts have now made it 10 straight games without a regulation loss and are over .500 for the first time in weeks.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.