Dany Heatley's name may be mud in Ottawa, but the two players the San Jose Sharks traded to get the talented forward are still fondly remembered in their former city.
Heatley assisted on two goals in his first game against Ottawa since his blockbuster trade to San Jose, leading the Sharks to a 5-2 victory over the Senators on Tuesday night. Heatley was vilified in Canada this summer, first for demanding a trade from Ottawa and then for turning down a potential deal to Edmonton. He finally was dealt to the Sharks on the eve of training camp for forwards Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo.
While Heatley is sure to get an earful the first time he goes back to Ottawa, fans warmly welcomed Michalek and Cheechoo in their return to San Jose.
Michalek was cheered after scoring both goals for the Senators, while Cheechoo got an ovation when his picture was shown on the video board early in the first period, and heard the train whistles when he touched the puck that were traditional when he played here.
"It was pretty cool," Cheechoo said. "I played a lot of games in this rink, so it was neat. Yeah, you hear the fans. They were always supportive. The fans were always great to me, so coming back and playing here again so soon was great."
Elsewhere in the NHL, Toronto suffered a scare when starting goaltender Jonas Gustavsson left the game with an elevated heart rate, but the Maple Leafs hung on to beat Montreal 3-0. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville earned his 500th win as the Blackhawks edged Columbus 4-3 in a shootout. And Los Angeles beat Anaheim 4-3 in the first meeting between the Southern California rivals this season.
At San Jose, Calif., Heatley faced the Senators after playing in front of a hostile crowd in Edmonton on Friday, where he was booed constantly in the Sharks' 5-4 shootout win.
"It was an interesting week," Heatley said. "It's good to get them over with. It's good to be back here and get on with things."
Heatley did appear to have just a little extra spring in his step early, putting six shots on goal in the first period as he seemed eager to score against his former teammates.
He finished with eight shots in all, his most in a game since having nine on April 3, 2008, against Toronto. He wasn't able to score, settling for assists on both of Patrick Marleau's goals.
"I thought a couple of those were going to go into the back of the net," teammate Joe Thornton said. "Usually those go in, but I don't know what they hit. Dany played great tonight. He's one of the best players in the world. We're glad he's on our side now."
With the two goals in his 900th career game, Marleau passed Heatley for the team lead with 19 goals. Jamie McGinn, Ryane Clowe and Manny Malhotra also scored for San Jose, while Thornton had two assists to up his league-leading total to 32. Backup goalie Thomas Greiss made 25 saves.
Heatley set up the first goal of the game after making a good effort to keep the puck in at the blue line. He got it to Thornton, who fed Marleau for the opening score.
Heatley assisted on another goal by Marleau in the second period when his backhand shot was deflected onto the stick of Marleau, who beat Brian Elliott to make it 3-1 just 4 seconds after Matt Carkner came out of the box for a delay-of-game penalty.
Michalek also came out with a little extra pep in his step, scoring on a backhander in the first period and converting with a one-timer off a feed from Daniel Alfredsson on the power play in the second to cut San Jose's lead to 4-2.
"I would have exchanged the two goals for two points. That would have been better," Michalek said. "It was a little weird during warmups, but then I was able to just play."
Maple Leafs 3 Canadiens 0
At Montreal, Maple Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson was taken to the hospital with an elevated heart rate following the first period of Toronto's victory over the Canadiens, but Joey MacDonald came in to complete the shutout.
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Blackhawks 4 Blue Jackets 3 (SO)
At Chicago, Brent Seabrook scored in the 11th round of a shootout Tuesday night and the Blackhawks beat Columbus to give coach Joel Quenneville his 500th career victory.
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Kings 4 Ducks 3
At Anaheim, Calif., Jack Johnson scored the go-ahead goal with 2:20 left in the third period and Los Angeles beat the Ducks.
