Massive Thursday Hockey Recap

Trying to squeeze games in before the Christmas break, 13 games were on the slate for Thursday. They start with the...

New York Rangers hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dan Ellis and Henrik Lundqvist were the starters. Tampa Bay drew first blood when Martin St. Louis scored his 14th of the year, unassisted. The Rangers answered with Ruslan Fedotenko potting his sixth of the year, thanks to Brian Boyle. Twelve seconds later, New York took a 2-1 lead with Alexander Frolov netting his seventh of the season. The Lightning tied the game before the end of the first period with Steven Stamkos potting his 27th of the year, assisted by St. Louis. They took the lead back in the second period with Vincent Lecavalier's fourth of the year, helped along by Pavel Kubina and Brett Clark. Derek Stepan tied it again for the Rangers in the third period with his tenth of the season, with Brandon Dubinsky and Matt Gilroy picking up the helpers. The tie would last into a shootout, where New York's Erik Christensen scored, followed by Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman and Adam Hall, then retied with Mats Zuccarello, before several rounds of good goaltending ended when Ryan Malone earned the win for the Lightning. St. Louis, Frolov, and Malone picked up the stars in the game.

Next on the board were the New Jersey Devils hosting the New York Islanders. Dwayne Roloson and Martin Brodeur were in between the pipes. Josh Bailey opened the scoring, netting two in a row, his fourth and fifth of the season. The first was unassisted, and the second came on a power play from Andrew MacDonald and Blake Comeau. John Tavares gave the Islanders a 3-0 lead with his tenth of the year, assisted by Travis Hamonic and P.A. Parenteau. Travis Zajac got the Devils on the board with his fourth of the year, from Patrik Elias and Jamie Langerbrunner. New York responded with a shorthanded goal from Frans Nielsen, his fifth of the year made possible by Josh Bailey. Comeau made it 5-1 for the Islanders with his seventh of the year, assisted by Rob Schremp and James Wisniewski, and the score stood up to be the final. Bailey, Roloson (34 for 35 saves), and Comeau were awarded the three stars. Two fights were featured in the game, with New Jersey's Adam Mair fighting Zenon Konopka in the first period, before Konopka tangled with David Clarkson in the third period.

Staying far east, we have the Boston Bruins hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Tim Thomas were in between the pipes for the game. Patrice Bergeron opened the scoring for the Bruins with his seventh of the year, a shorthanded and unassisted goal. Michael Ryder extended the Boston lead to 2-0 with his tenth of the year, a power play goal from Bergeron and Dennis Seidenberg. Shawn Thornton continued the scoring run for the Bruins with his sixth of the year, assisted by Adam McQuaid and Daniel Paille. The Thrashers got on the board with Dustin Byfuglien, who scored his 13th of the year off of Evander Kane and Bryan Little. Shawn Thornton produced what would be the final score with his seventh of the year and second of the night, assisted by Paille and Gregory Campbell. The 4-1 final was in Boston's favor, and there was some fighting in the game. Two seconds in, Shawn Thornton and Eric Boulton dropped the mitts. The third period at the 15:54 mark featured a line brawl, involving Atlanta's Evander Kane, Freddy Meyer, Bryan Little, and Anthony Stewart, and Boston's Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton, Marc Savard, and Andrew Ference. All total, there were 110 penalty minutes assessed in what turned out to be an ugly game, with 86 of those minutes handed out in the brawl.

Going to more peaceful lands with the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price and Cam Ward were the netminders for the game. All the scoring occurred in the second period, led off by Chad LaRose's seventh of the year for Carolina, a shorthanded goal from Ryan Carter and Tim Gleason. Scott Gomez tied it for the Canadiens with his fifth of the season, assisted by Roman Hamrlik and Jaroslav Spacek. The Hurricanes retook the lead with Erik Cole's seventh of the season, assisted by Eric Staal. Andrei Kostitsyn tied it again for Montreal, potting his tenth of the year with help from Tomas Plekanec and Michael Cammalleri on the power play. The Canadiens would notch another late power play goal, courtesy of Alexandre Picard, which was his third of the season, assisted by Gomez and Spacek. The final was 3-2, favoring the Canadiens. Gomez, Spacek, and LaRose earned the three stars.

Moving inland a bit, to where the Columbus Blue Jackets hosted the Vancouver Canucks. Cory Schneider and Mathieu Garon were designated to protect the cages. Alexandre Burrows gave Vancouver the lead with his seventh of the year, assisted by twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Christian Ehrhoff extended the lead to 2-0 with his sixth of the year, with Henrik Sedin and Burrows picking up the assists. Raffi Torres kept the Canucks going with his ninth of the year, helped along by Andrew Alberts. Daniel Sedin made it 4-0 in the second period with his 18th of the season, assisted by Alexander Edler and Henrik Sedin, who completed a sock trick with that assist. Ryan Kesler followed it up with his 17th of the year to make it 5-0 in the Canucks' favor, with Jannik Hansen and Jeff Tambellini picking up the helpers. Henrik Sedin then chased away Garon with his eighth of the year, assisted by Daniel Sedin and Burrows. Steve Mason came on to tend the twine for the Blue Jackets, who showed they were still alive when R.J. Umberger netted his ninth of the year, courtesy of Antoine Vermette. Torres made it 7-1 for Vancouver, notching his second of the night and tenth of the season, with help from Dan Hamhuis and Mikael Samuelsson on the power play. Umberger went on to pot another goal, his second of the night and tenth on the campaign, with the assist by Jakub Voracek. Tom Sestito scored as well for Columbus, to make it 7-3, with his second of the year being helped by Kris Russell and Kyle Wilson. The score would stand as the final, with Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, and Alexandre Burrows getting the three stars honors.

Heading back east to Buffalo, where the Sabres hosted the Florida Panthers. Tomas Vokoun and Ryan Miller were in the creases for the game. Florida opened up first with Chris Higgins scoring his fourth of the year, assisted by Evgeny Dadonov. The Panthers got to 2-0 when Stephen Weiss scored his tenth of the year, a power play goal from Michael Frolik and Bryan McCabe. Higgins notched another one to make it 3-0, and his fifth of the year was assisted by Weiss and Dadonov. Buffalo started a comeback in the second period with Jordan Leopold's eighth of the year, assisted by Jason Pominville and Jochen Hecht. Pominville netted his sixth of the year to cut the lead down to 3-2, which was a power play goal helped along by Tyler Myers and Andrej Sekera. Leopold tied it for the Sabres with his second of the night and ninth of the campaign, with help from Myers. Jason Garrison struck for Florida, netting his second of the year to make it 4-3, which held on to be the final. Higgins, Leopold, and Garrison were the three stars.

The most notable game on the slate featured a Winter Classic preview, as the Washington Capitals hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Michal Neuvirth were given netminding duties. Sidney Crosby opened the scoring for Pittsburgh, scoring his league-leading 29th of the year, assisted by Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin. Mike Green tied it for the Capitals with his sixth of the year, a power play goal that was assisted by Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom. Chris Kunitz retook the lead for the Penguins, potting his ninth of the year, courtesy of Crosby and Paul Martin. Mike Knuble gave Washington another equalizer with his eighth of the year, shorthanded and assisted by Brooks Laich. The tie would last into the shootout, where Alex Ovechkin and Kris Letang exchanged goals, and then in the seventh round, Pascal Dupuis secured the win for the Penguins. Fleury (32 for 34 saves), Crosby, and Knuble earned the three stars for the game.

More solidly in the west, we have the St. Louis Blues hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Chris Osgood and Jaroslav Halak were given the nods for the game. The Blues struck first with Erik Johnson's second of the year, a power play goal courtesy of Vladimir Sobotka and Brad Boyes. Thirty seconds later, the Red Wings had tied the game thanks to Johan Franzen's 15th of the year, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Brian Rafalski. Patrik Berglund made it 3-1 for St. Louis, scoring his seventh and eighth of the year back-to-back, with Alex Steen and B.J. Crombeen getting the assists for the first while the helpers for the second went to Carlo Colaiacovo and David Backes. In the second period, Matt D'Agostini extended the St. Louis lead to 4-1 with his eighth of the season, assisted by Backes and Eric Brewer. Nicklas Lidstrom tried to rally Detroit back with a power play goal, his ninth tally of the year, from Zetterberg and Rafalski. It became 4-3 when Patrick Eaves scored for the Wings, his eighth of the year being helped by Darren Helm and Kris Draper. However, the third period was without scoring, and the Blues held on to win 4-3. Berglund, Jaroslav Halak (35 for 38 saves) and Zetterberg were the three star recipients.

Heading to Nashville, where the Predators hosted the Ottawa Senators. Brian Elliott and Pekka Rinne were in the nets, with Rinne making his first start since returning from injury. Alex Kovalev produced the first goal for the Senators, assisted by Peter Regin. Nick Foligno extended the Ottawa lead to 2-0 with his fourth of the year, a power play goal from Milan Michalek and Filip Kuba. Nashville tried to rally with Marcel Goc, who netted his seventh of the year, helped by Cody Franson, but the last half of the game was scoreless, and the Predators fell 2-1 to the visiting Senators. Foligno, Elliott (25 for 26 saves), and Goc were the three stars.

The Dallas Stars hosted the Calgary Flames in the next game on the list. Miikka Kiprusoff and Kari Lethonen tended the twine for the game. Calgary struck first with a power play goal by Anton Babchuk, his fifth of the year assisted by Jay Bouwmeester and Brendan Morrison. Dallas answered with their own power play goal, from Mike Ribeiro, his sixth of the year being helped along by Loui Eriksson and Brad Richards. The second period went by scoreless, and the Stars broke the silence and took a 2-1 lead in the third period when Brenden Morrow scored his 13th of the year, assisted by Ribeiro and Jamie Benn. The Flames answered late in the period with Alex Tanguay scoring his tenth of the season, from Jarome Iginla and Rene Bourque. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Tanguay's lone marker gave the Flames a 3-2 victory. Ribeiro, Kari Lethonen (31 for 33 saves), and Tanguay were the three stars. Dropping the mitts in the first period were Iginla and Benn, followed in the third period with Robyn Regehr and Brandon Segal.

Going into a Northwest division battle, where the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Minnesota Wild. Niklas Backstrom and Craig Anderson were given the go-ahead to guard the cages. Matt Cullen gave Minnesota an early lead with his seventh of the year, a shorthanded goal assisted by Cal Clutterbuck. David Jones and Colorado tied it with his 12th of the year, a power play goal assisted by Brandon Yip and Matt Hunwick. Cullen struck again for the Wild, notching his eighth of the season and second of the night, assisted by Marek Zidlicky. Andrew Brunette made it 3-1 for the Wild early in the second period with a power play goal from Cullen and Antti Miettinen, which chased away Craig Anderson in favor of Peter Budaj. The score would hold up through the rest of the game, giving Minnesota the win. Cullen, Niklas Backstrom (36 for 37 saves), and David Jones got the stars. Ryan Wilson of the Avalanche and Kyle Brodziak of Minnesota also fought in the first period.

Heading into California, where the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Jonathan Quick were the masked men in the game. After going scoreless through the first period, Taylor Hall recorded his eleventh of the season for the Oilers, a power play goal assisted by Sam Gagner and Ryan Whitney. The Kings tied it with a power play goal by Justin Williams, his 13th of the year, from Michal Handzus and Jack Johnson. Edmonton retook the lead with the first goal of the season by Jean-Francois Jacques, assisted by Theo Peckham and Zack Stortini. Los Angeles answered twenty seconds later with Jack Johnson's third of the season, assisted by Wayne Simmonds. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Jordan Eberle and Dustin Brown traded barbs before Jarret Stoll secured victory for the Kings. Johnson, Hall, and Williams were the three stars. Scrapping in the first period were the Kings' Kyle Clifford and the Oilers' Theo Peckham.

Staying in the same state, with the San Jose Sharks hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera and Antti Niemi were the goalkeepers for this game. Going scoreless through the first period, until Ray Whitney marked his fifth of the year for Phoenix in the second, with the Wizard getting assistance from Keith Yandle and Shane Doan. San Jose answered with a power play goal of their own, produced by Dan Boyle, his fifth of the year, assisted by Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski. Giving the Sharks the lead was Joe Thornton, who tallied his eighth of the year, also a power play goal, with help from Dany Heatley and Pavelski. Marleau struck twice in the third period, his 12th and 13th of the season, with Thornton and Douglas Murray helping out on the first one and Thornton and Jason Demers picking up assists on the latter power play goal. The 4-1 score gave San Jose the victory over the Coyotes. Marleau, Thornton, and Pavelski were the three stars in the game.

That's all for hockey until Sunday I believe, and there will be a football post sometime tonight and also hopefully tomorrow night as well, with Saturday Night Football.