Friday NHL action

There were a total of 13 games played on Black Friday, spread out well across the whole day starting at 9 AM Pacific and ending... significantly later. Black Friday is a determining point in the NHL season, as statistics are out there that show 77.5% of teams in a playoff spot on Black Friday will go on to play in the playoffs at the end of the year for a shot at the Stanley Cup. Here's how the games looked this time.

The first game was between the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins. Goaltenders were Cam Ward for the 'Canes and Tim Thomas for the Bruins. Jeff Skinner tallied his seventh goal of the season late in the first on a power play with assists from Tuomo Ruutu and Joe Corvo. Ruutu scored his fifth of the season on a power play midway through the second period with assists from Ian White and Joni Pitkanen. Jussi Jokinen added his fifth goal of the season in the third period, also on a power play, and got help from Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner. Cam Ward was the first star with a 37 save shutout, and Ruutu and Skinner took the other two stars with their goals and assists.

Moving to Long Island, New York, where the Islanders hosted the New Jersey Devils. Rick Dipietro tended the twine for the Islanders while Johan Hedberg did the same for the Devils. Jesse Joensuu scored his first of the season early in the first with assists from Frans Nielsen and Michael Grabner. Rob Schremp added another goal for the Islanders, his second this season, and he was assisted by Blake Comeau and James Wisniewski. This would prove to be the margin, and DiPietro held on with 29 saves for a shutout and the first star. The goal scored Joensuu and Schremp got the other two stars for their performance. Bruno Gervais and Colin White featured in a first period fight, with each of them drawing penalties before the fight.

Into Philadelphia, where the Flyers played host to the Calgary Flames. Sergei Bobrovsky played in net for the hosts, and Miikka Kiprusoff was in the paint for the Flames. The first period was quiet with no goals, and it remained scoreless until the second period with Nikolay Zherdev's eighth of the season with assists from Matt Carle and Blair Betts. Curtis Glencross answered for the Flames with an unassisted shorthanded goal, his seventh on the year. Philadelphia's James van Riemsdyk scored his third with an assist from Mike Richards later in the second, and Calgary answered with Steve Staios and his first of the year with assists from Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla. With the score tied at two in overtime, Mike Richards thought he had a goal, but it was waved off because of Chris Pronger's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Calgary held on and forced a shootout, in which Claude Giroux scored early for the Flyers, but Kiprusoff held on while Niklas Hagman evened the score, and Rene Bourque notched the game clincher, earning him first star status. Second and third stars go to Glencross of the Flames and van Riemsdyk of the Flyers.

Going cross-state into Pittsburgh, where the Penguins hosted the Ottawa Senators. Marc-Andre Fleury played in goal for the Penguins, and Pascal Leclaire was in net for Ottawa. Ottawa opened the scoring in the first with a goal from Jesse Winchester, his third of the year with assists from Jarkko Ruutu and Erik Karlsson. Evgeni Malkin helped to even the score with his eighth of the year on the power play and was assisted by Tyler Kennedy and Sidney Crosby. The Penguins then took the lead in the third with a goal with a power play goal from Alex Goligoski. Assists on this eventual game winner go to Zbynek Michalek and Tyler Kennedy. Fleury earned the first star, with his opponent goaltender Leclaire earning the second, and Tyler Kennedy took the third with his two assists.

Minnesota played host to Nashville in the day's fifth game to start, with Jose Theodore and Pekka Rinne starting the game in net. The host Wild set the tone early on, with a goal by Marek Zidlicky, his third of the year on assists from Cal Clutterbuck and Antti Miettinen. Andrew Brunette scored his fourth of the year for the Wild as well, with Patrick O'Sullivan and Mikko Koivu picking up the helpers. The last goal in the first was from Martin Havlat, his fourth of the year, and he was assisted by Zidlicky. This was enough to chase away Pekka Rinne, who was replaced by Anders Lindback in net. The Wild scored another goal early in the second from Nick Schultz, his second of the year, with the lone assist going to Havlat. The Predators finally got one past Theodore, with Steve Sullivan's sixth of the year, coming off a power play, with assists given to Colin Wilson and Patric Hornqvist. Minnesota responded with Havlat's fifth of the year and second of the game, and assists went to Matt Cullen and Zidlicky. Nashville scored one more time late on Martin Erat's second of the year on the power play from Hornqvist and Ryan Suter. Minnesota won 5-2, with Havlat getting the first star with two goals and an assist, Zidlicky receiving the second star with a goal and two assists, and Theodore getting the third for his 32 for 34 performance in net. Clayton Stoner and Jordin Tootoo participated in a third period fight as well.

Moving out west to Orange County where the Anaheim Ducks played host to the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks. Jonas Hiller started in net for the Ducks, as did Corey Crawford for the 'Hawks. Dan Sexton opened the scoring for the Ducks on the power play with assists from Saku Koivu and Cam Fowler. It was his first of the year. Duncan Keith answered in the second period with a shorthanded goal, his second score of the year, with an assist from Patrick Sharp. Sharp added his 14th of the year unassisted in the third to give the Blackhawks the lead. Niklas Hjalmarsson added his first of the year, assisted by Dave Bolland and Jonathon Toews. Capping off the scoring was Troy Brouwer's fourth goal of the year on which Jake Dowell and Jack Skille added assists. This chased Hiller out of the game, and Curtis McElhinney relieved him for the remainder of the game. the Blackhawks won 4-1, and Patrick Sharp's goal and assist earned him first star honors, with Sexton getting the second and Duncan Keith grabbing the third.

Into the American capital, where the Washington Capitals played host to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Semyon Varlamov started for the Capitals and Mike Smith was in the pipes for Tampa Bay. John Carlson's third of the year for the Capitals opened the scoring, with Marcus Johansson picking up the assists. The second period proved to be a goal fest for the Capitals, with John Erskine getting his third of the year from Brian Fahey and Brooks Laich. Alexander Semin then scored a hat trick naturally, with his 15th of the season coming from Johansson, and his 16th and 17th both coming on the power play and both from Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin. Mike Smith was pulled after Semin's second of the night, in favor of Dan Ellis. Tom Poti added his second of the season in the third period for good measure, with an assist from Matt Hendricks. Semyon Varlamov made 17 saves in this shutout, good enough for third star behind Carlson's one goal performance, and Semin's first star-quality hat trick. Ryan Malone and John Erskine also got in a third period fight.

Moving into the capital of Ohio, where the Detroit Red Wings paid a visit to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Jimmy Howard played in net for Detroit, as did Steve Mason for Columbus. The first period was uneventful, but Johan Franzen opened up the scoring with his tenth of the season for the Red Wings in the second period. Assists came from Todd Bertuzzi and Valtteri Filppula. Filppula added his fifth of the year in the third period, a power play goal with assists from Brad Stuart and Jiri Hudler. Antoine Vermette attempted to get the Blue Jackets going with his fifth of the year from Jared Boll and R.J. Umberger, but the Red Wings held strong for the 2-1 win. Filppula was the first star with a goal and assist, with Jimmy Howard getting the second for a 34 for 35 performance and Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason took the third star.

Back to New York, near the border, where the Buffalo Sabres hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ryan Miller started for the Sabres, and Jonas Gustavsson was in the crease for the Maple Leafs. Jordan Leopold got a power play goal, his sixth tally on the season with an assist by Andrej Sekera. Thomas Vanek also got a power play goal, his ninth of the year, from Derek Roy and Luke Adam. Buffalo held onto this 2-0 lead until the third period, where Patrick Kaleta's third goal of the year extended the lead to 3-0. It was a shorthanded goal, assisted by Paul Gaustad. Toronto got on the board with a shorty of their own, in the form of Phil Kessel's tenth goal of the year, which went unassisted. This was not enough, and Buffalo went on to win 3-1. Ryan Miller was the first star in his 35 for 36 save performance, with Kaleta getting second star, and Luke Adam getting the third. Kaleta also had a first period fight with Toronto's Luke Schenn.

Going to south Florida, where the Panthers hosted the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist was the Rangers netminder, and Scott Clemmensen was controlling the Florida net. Derek Stepan notched his sixth goal of the year in the first period, giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Sean Avery and Marc Staal had the assists. They extended it in the third period with a power play goal by Ryan Callahan, his sixth of the year, with assists by Erik Christensen and Steve Eminger. Brandon Prust iced the cake with his first of the year, a shorthanded goal with the assist coming from Marc Staal. Henrik Lundqvist was the first star for the Rangers with a 40 save shutout, and Callahan and Prust received the other two stars. Prust also dropped the gloves with Florida's Darcy Hordichuk early in the first period.

Moving north into Georgia, where the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the Montreal Canadiens. Alex Auld played goal for Montreal, as did Ondrej Pavelec for Atlanta. Late in the first period, Rich Peverley opened the scoring with his fourth of the year and with assists from Niclas Bergfors and Tobias Enstrom. Enstrom scored a goal of his own in the second period, which was his third of the year and it went unassisted. Peverley returned to the scoresheet with his fifth of the year and second of the night, this time on the power play. Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd added assists. This was the final goal of the game, and Atlanta won 3-0. Pavelec received the first star with his 25 save shutout and Peverley was second with his two goals, followed by Enstrom, with a goal and an assist. P.K. Subban also had a fight with Zach Bogosian in the third period during a scrum on ice.

Into Dallas, where the Stars hosted the St. Louis Blues. Kari Lethonen started for the Stars, and Jaroslav Halak was in between the pipes for the Blues. Andy McDonald's seventh goal of the season opened the scoring, a shorthanded tally with helpers from Alex Pietrangelo and Barret Jackman. Brad Richards evened the score with his eleventh of the year from Loui Eriksson and Trevor Daley in the second period, but was answered by Andy McDonald again, good for his eighth of the year and second of the night, with an assist by David Backes. Jamie Benn answered again to tie the game at two in the third period with his fourth of the year, a shorthanded goal going unassisted. Mike Rebeiro added his third of the year with an assist from Benn, capping the scoring and giving Dallas a 3-2 win. Jamie Benn claimed the first star with a goal and assist, with St. Louis' Andy McDonald getting the second for his two goals, and the third star went to Brad Richards with a goal. Two fights occured in the second period between Brad Winchester of the Blues and Brian Sutherby of the Stars for the first one and Eric Brewer and Steve Ott in the second bout.

The last game of the day featured the visiting San Jose Sharks going north to take on the Vancouver Canucks. Antti Niemi was in net for the Sharks and Roberto Luongo played goal for the Canucks. Jeff Tambellini scored his third for the 'Nucks with assists from Alexander Edler and Ryan Kesler in the first period. The Sharks responded with Dany Heatley's ninth of the year, from Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle. Raffi Torres answered in the second period early, with his eighth of the year from Jannik Hansen and Dan Hamhuis. Mikael Samuelsson netted his fifth of the year just under two minutes later, with an assist from Tanner Glass. Samuelsson also got his sixth of the season in the third period, which was unassisted. Alexandre Burrows scored his third of the year from the Sedin twins Henrik and Daniel. Capping off the scoring was Keith Ballard's first of the year, an unassisted goal. The Canucks won 6-1 over the Sharks, giving first star honors to Samuelsson with two goals, and Luongo received  the second star for his 32 for 33 save performance. Jannik Hansen received the third star with one assist.

That's Friday, November 26th, 2010 in hockey. Saturday's post to follow shortly.