Saturday NHL recap

There were slightly less games on for Saturday than Friday, which isn't usually the case in the NHL. Saturday tends to be the busier day for playing. However, ten games is still two-thirds of the league, and that is no small amount. The first of the ten games took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Many teams, like the two teams in this game, were playing for the second day in a row. This means many backup goalies, or starters who didn't play on Friday. Here's how Saturday looked:

The Penguins played host to the Calgary Flames in Pittsburgh. Brent Johnson was in net for the Penguins, and Miikka Kiprusoff was his opposing goaltender. After a quiet first period, Aaron Asham opened the scoring with his third of the year, with assists by Kris Letang and Brooks Orpik. Sidney Crosby also added a goal, his 16th of the year, and he was assisted by Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang. The Penguins took a 2-0 lead into the third period, where Crosby tallied another goal, his 17th of the year and second of the night, coming on the power play. Assists went to Paul Martin and Letang again. Rene Bourque notched his eleventh of the season to put the Flames on the board. He got help from Alex Tanguay and Jay Bouwmeester. Crosby completed his hat trick on an empty net goal good for his 18th of the year, and with an assist from Brooks Orpik. Crosby earned first star honors for his hat trick, with Brent Johnson taking the second star with a 30 for 31 save performance and Kris Letang picked up the third star for the "sock trick" of three assists. Tim Jackman also fought with Deryk Engelland in the second period.

Moving to Joisy, where the New Jersey Devils hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Johan Hedberg started for the Devils, and Brian Boucher made an appearance for the Flyers. Adam Mair got his first of the year for the Devils, with assists by David Clarkson and Brian Rolston. The Flyers tied it of Danny Briere's 12th of the year in the third period, which came on the power play. Helpers go to Scott Hartnell and Jeff Carter. The game stayed tied at one throughout overtime and was determined in the shootout after Nikolay Zherdev scored for the Flyers, who were beaten out by Jason Arnott and Travis Zajac. Johan Hedberg took first star status for a 40 for 41 save appearance, and the goal scorers Briere and Mair took the second and third stars.

Heading north to Montreal where the Canadiens hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Carey Price backstopped the Canadiens, while Ryan Miller controlled the netminding duties for Buffalo. Andrei Kostitsyn scored first for Montreal, his ninth on the year, with the assists from Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec on the power play. Gionta scored two of his own in the second period, his sixth and seventh of the year, with Kostitsyn assisting on the first and Plekanec and Jaroslav Spacek picking up helpers for the second. Montreal led 3-0 until Jordan Leopold struck late for the Sabres, scoring his seventh of the year with assists from Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville. Gionta's two goals and an assist gave him the first star, with Carey Price receiving the second for a 35 for 36 save performance, and the third star went to Andrei Kostitsyn with a goal and assist. Cody McCormick and Travis Moen received fighting majors in a scrum near the end of the second. They also drew other penalties in the brawl.

Staying in Canada for the Ottawa Senators hosting of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brian Elliot took the crease for the Senators and Jonas Gustavsson was in net for the Maple Leafs. Alex Kovalev struck first for Ottawa on the power play for his seventh of the year, with an assist from Mr. Carrie Underwood, Mike Fisher. Fisher scored two goals in the second, with assists on both of them coming from Kovalev and Milan Michalek. This concluded the scoring through a quiet third period, and Brian Elliot was the third star with a 29 save shutout. Mike Fisher took the first star with his two goals and one assist, and Alex Kovalev took the second with his goal and two assists.

Going south in Tampa Bay, where the Lightning hosted their in-state rivals, the Florida Panthers. In net for the Lightning was Dan Ellis (and all his money problems) and between the pipes for Florida was Tomas Vokoun. Teddy Purcell opened the scoring for the Lightning with his fifth goal of the season, coming on the power play from Steven Stamkos and Ryan Malone. Dana Tyrell added his third of the season in the second period to put the Lightning up 2-0, and was assisted by Mattias Ritola and Steve Downie. Radek Dvorak responded with a penalty shot goal to put the Panthers on the board. In the third, Dmitry Kulikov's first of the year was enough to tie the game at two, and that Panther's goal went unassisted. Five and a half minutes later, Shawn Matthias scored his fourth of the season with an assist from Mike Santorelli. The Panthers led 3-2 until Sean Bergenheim tied it with his fourth of the season coming from Teddy Purcell and Ryan Malone. The tie lasted through to a shootout, where Stephen Weiss' goal was the difference, giving the Panthers the win. Weiss got the first star, with Purcell getting the second for a goal and assist, and Dana Tyrell getting the third star.

To St. Louis, where the Blues returned the favor and hosted the Stars. Kari Lethonen and Jaroslav Halak both retook the nets for the rematch. It took until late in the second period for B.J. Crombeen's third goal of the season to give the Blues a lead. Assists came from Patrik Berglund and Brad Winchester. Jamie Benn's fifth goal of the season tied the game at one early in the third period, and he got help from Mike Rebeiro and Brenden Morrow. Loui Eriksson's tenth goal of the season put Dallas ahead, and it came on the power play with assists from Brad Richards and Stephane Robidas. Jamie Benn's goal gave him first star status, while Lethonen got the second star for his 35 for 36 save performance, and Andy McDonald received the third star. Cam Janssen and Brian Sutherby had an early first period fight as well.

Over to Nashville, where the Predators hosted the New York Rangers. Pekka Rinne received the green light to start for the Predators, as did Lundqvist for the Rangers. Colin Wilson dented the scoreboard for the Predators early in the first, with his third of the season. Marcel Goc and Francis Bouillon had the assists. The 1-0 lead would last until just over halfway through the third period, where Ryan Callahan's seventh of the year tied the game. Assists go to Michael Del Zotto and Brandon Dubinsky. In the shootout that followed later, Erik Christensen's goal proved to be the deciding factor, and the Rangers won, 2-1. Henrik Lundqvist's 29 for 30 save performance earned him the first star, with Christensen taking the second, and Rinne's 23 for 24 save appearance was good enough for the third star. Two fights in the first happened twelve seconds apart, the first featuring the Rangers' Sean Avery and the Predators' Jordin Tootoo, and the second featuring Brandon Prust and Shane O'Brien.

Into the desert, where the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Ilya Bryzgalov started for the 'Yotes, and Jonas Hiller took the paint for the Ducks. Derek Morris opened the scoring with his second of the year for the Coyotes, and he was assisted by Ray Whitney and Radim Vrbata. Jason Blake answered for the Ducks, with his fourth of the year via Dan Sexton's helper. In the second, Lauri Korpikoski's sixth of the season, assisted by Shane Doan and Scottie Upshall gave Phoenix the lead back, and that was bolstered by Keith Yandle's fourth of the year, coming on the power play with help from Doan and Vrbata. Bobby Ryan responded with a pair of goals, his tenth and eleventh of the year. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry assisted the first one, and the second, game-tying goal was unassisted. The Ducks scored three more in the third, the first of which was Brandon McMillan's first of the year, coming from Getzlaf and Cam Fowler. Corey Perry then recorded his eleventh, which was also assisted on by Getzlaf and Fowler. Bobby Ryan completed the hat trick with his 12th of the year, where Getzlaf and Perry recorded assists. Trying to make a comeback, Upshall scored his sixth of the year with helpers from Korpikoski and Doan, but it wasn't enough and the Ducks won 6-4. Bobby Ryan was the first star with his hat trick, whereas Shane Doan's sock trick gave him second star, and Ryan Getzlaf's four assists were good enough for third star status.

Into the mountains where the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Minnesota Wild. Peter Budaj got the start for the Avs, while Niklas Backstrom was in the crease for the Wild. Paul Stastny's ninth of the year opened up the scoring, and he was assisted by Kevin Shattenkirk and Milan Hejduk. Antti Miettinen responded for the Wild with his sixth of the year from Cal Clutterbuck, and Minnesota took a 2-1 lead when Matt Cullen's fifth of the year went in on the power play near the end of the first. Assists on Cullen's goal went to Miettinen and Mikko Koivu. Colorado responded with four straight, starting with Greg Mauldin's second of the year, assisted by Stastny and Ryan O'Byrne. Hejduk kept it going with a power play goal, his eighth tally for the year, which was assisted by Chris Stewart and John-Michael Liles, giving the Avalanche a 3-2 lead. Greg Mauldin's third of the year and second of the night kept it going, on which Ryan Wilson and Cody McLeod assisted. Kevin Shattenkirk's fourth of the year extended the lead to 5-2, and his goal went unassisted. Kyle Brodziak scored his third of the year for the Wild, with an assist from Martin Havlat, to cut the lead to 5-3. David Jones added his tenth for Colorado, from Mauldin and Ryan Wilson, to make it 6-3, and Matt Duchene's sixth of the year coming from Mauldin and Shattenkirk made it 7-3. Brodziak got his second of the night and fourth of the year, assisted by Havlat and Marek Zidlicky, but it was too late to save the Wild, who fell 7-4. Mauldin's two goals and two assists were good for the first star, and Shattenkirk's goal and two assists gave him the second star. Hejduk got the third star with a goal and an assist. Brodziak and Stewart had a fight in the second period.

Up to Edmonton, where the Oilers hosted the San Jose Sharks. Antero Niittymaki played goal for the Sharks, as did Devyn Dubnyk for the Oilers. Benn Ferriero scored his first of the year for the Sharks, with assists by Logan Couture and Justin Braun. Edmonton's Sam Gagner answered with a power play goal, his sixth tally of the year, with an assist by Dustin Penner, to tie it at one through the first period. Dany Heatley scored his tenth and eleventh of the year in the second period, the first on a power play from Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle, and the second at even strength from Braun and Thornton, giving the Sharks a 3-1 lead through the second. Joe Pavelski scored his eighth of the year for the Sharks from Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley. Edmonton attempted to rally back with Shawn Horcoff's seventh of the year from Jordan Eberle and Ryan Whitney, and Jim Vandermeer's first of the year from Sam Gagner, but they couldn't catch up and the Sharks won 4-3. Heatley earned the first star with two goals and an assist, while Sam Gagner's goal and assist were good enough for second star, and Justin Braun's two assists earned a third star.

Moving to Los Angeles, where the Kings hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. Jonathan Quick managed the goaltending duties for the Kings, while Corey Crawford was in net for the Blackhawks. After a scoreless first period, Patrick Sharp scored his 15th of the year halfway through the second. Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith picked up the assists. Kane scored his own goal early in the third, to give the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead. It was his ninth of the year, coming from Tomas Kopecky and Patrick Sharp. Anze Kopitar scored his eighth of the season to try and rally the Kings back, which was assisted by Jack Johnson and Ryan Smyth on the power play. The Kings could not recover, and Chicago took the game 2-1. Patrick Sharp got the first star with a goal and assist, while Jarret Stoll took the second star, and Duncan Keith grabbed the third star with an assist. Kevin Westgarth and John Scott had a fight in the second period.

There's your recap for the NHL on Saturday, November 27th, 2010. There are three games on Sunday, so a shorter recap is took come at the conclusion of those games.