New Year's Eve hockey

This post will sound a little different, as the scores should come in as they happen. There are nine games tonight, the last day of 2010. Someone getting a new address to start the new year is Maxim Lapierre, who was traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Anaheim Ducks for AHL defenseman Brett Festerling and a 2012 fifth round pick, obviously showing what the Canadiens thought of their resident pest. Meanwhile, with game action, we start off with...

The New Jersey Devils hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Chris Mason and Johan Hedberg get the starts in a backup battle. Opening the scoring early for New Jersey was Mark Fayne, potting his second of the year thanks to Jason Arnott. Jamie Langenbrunner made it 2-0 for the Devils in the early second period, with Arnott picking up the helper again. Chris Thorburn of the Thrashers and Fayne of the Devils dropped the gloves in the second period. Dustin Byfuglien got Atlanta back into the game with his 15th of the season, from Alex Burmistrov and Anthony Stewart, but was answered by Ilya Kovalchuk netting his ninth of the year, unassisted. The Devils cruised to a 3-1 victory. Hedberg (28 for 29 saves), Langenbrunner, and Arnott earned the three stars.

Next up was the Montreal Canadiens continuing their travels to the Florida Panthers. In net were Alex Auld and Tomas Vokoun. The teams went scoreless through the first, and Florida came out strong in the second period. Stephen Weiss scored his eleventh of the year twenty-eight seconds in, assisted by Chris Higgins and Dennis Wideman. Following it up for the Panthers was Dmitry Kulikov potting his third of the season, from Mike Santorelli and David Booth. Montreal responded with James Wisniewski scoring his fourth of the year, and his first since coming over from the New York Islanders, with assists provided by Roman Hamrlik and Scott Gomez on the power play. The Canadiens converted another power play with a goal by Brian Gionta, his 13 marker of the season, assisted by Gomez and Wisniewski. Wisniewski ended things in overtime after the scoreless third period, notching his second of the night and fifth of the year with help from Michael Cammalleri and Tomas Plekanec, giving the Canadiens a 3-2 victory over Florida. Wisniewski, losing goalie Vokoun (45 for 48 saves), and Gomez earned the three stars honors.

Third on the list, the Minnesota Wild host the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Niklas Backstrom started in front of the cages. Nashville struck first as Cody Franson netted his fifth of the year from Shane O'Brien and David Legwand. Patric Hornqvist extended the Predator lead with his ninth of the season, assisted by Shea Weber and J.P. Dumont. Minnesota got on the board late in the third period with a goal by Chuck Kobasew, his sixth of the year, from Martin Havlat and Matt Cullen. Joel Ward made it 3-1 Nashville with his empty net goal, unassisted as his fourth of the season. Sergei Kostitsyn topped it off with another empty netter, giving the Predators a 4-1 win over the Wild with his seventh of the year, from Legwand and Weber. Franson, Rinne (22 of 23 saves), and Mikko Koivu earned the three stars.

Heading to Hockeytown, where the Detroit Red Wings hosted the New York Islanders. Dwayne Roloson and Jimmy Howard tended the twine in the game. Johan Franzen opened the scoring with his 17th of the year, giving the Red Wings a 1-0 lead, with Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom earning the assists. Matt Moulson evened it up for the Islanders with his 12th of the season, assisted by Andrew MacDonald and John Tavares on the power play. Tavares later picked up his eleventh of the season, courtesy of Bruno Gervais and Zenon Konopka, with three seconds left in the first period. Jesse Joensuu made it 3-1 for New York with his third of the season, assisted by Milan Jurcina and Matt Martin. Valtteri Filppula cut the lead down for Detroit with his ninth of the campaign, with help from Darren Helm and Nicklas Lidstrom. In the third period, Tomas Tatar recorded his first of the season, with help from Helm and Rafalski to even the score at 3 for the Red Wings. The tie lasted into overtime, where P.A. Parenteau won it for the Islanders on his ninth of the year, a power play goal from Tavares and MacDonald. Roloson (38 of 41 saves), Tavares, and Helm picked up the three stars.

A little farther south, the Columbus Blue Jackets hosted the Ottawa Senators. Brian Elliott and Steve Mason got the starting nods. R.J. Umberger put Columbus up first, netting his 12th of the year, courtesy of Fedor Tyutin and Jakub Voracek. The Blue Jackets extended their lead with Samuel Pahlsson's third of the year, helped along by Chris Clark. Rick Nash extended the lead to 3-0 with his 18th of the season, thanks to Kristian Huselius and Antoine Vermette. Mike Fisher got Ottawa on the board with his eleventh of the season late in the second period, an unassisted goal. Nick Foligno cut the lead to 3-2 for the Senators with his fifth of the season, from Jesse Winchester and Chris Neil. Daniel Alfredsson tied it late in the third period with his 12th of the year, made possible by Milan Michalek and Alex Kovalev. The tie was broken in overtime by Voracek, who potted his seventh of the year, requiring no assistance. Voracek, Nash, and Umberger were the three stars.

Heading well out west, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Jonas Hiller were in net for the game. Jason Blake opened the scoring for Anaheim with his seventh of the year, from Toni Lydman and goalie Jonas Hiller. Fighting in the first period was the Ducks' Kyle Chipchura and the Flyers' Dan Carcillo. Lubomir Visnovsky extended the Ducks lead to 2-0 with his sixth of the season in the second period, assisted by Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu. Blake added another goal, his eighth of the campaign and second of the game, with help from Joffery Lupul and Koivu on the power play. Philadelphia got on the board with Andreas Nodl's ninth of the season, from Matt Carle and Jeff Carter, who made it 3-2 for the Flyers with his unassisted 16th of the year. Bobby Ryan registered his 15th of the year for the Ducks to take the score to 4-2, with help from Lydman and Corey Perry. Visnovsky struck again with his second of the night and seventh of the season, helped along by Selanne and Brandon McMillan to make it 5-2 for Anaheim. This was the final, with Blake, Visnovsky, and Koivu earning three stars status.

Back east into Texas, where the Dallas Stars hosted the Vancouver Canucks. In goal were Cory Schneider and Kari Lethonen. Daniel Sedin drew first blood for Vancouver, potting his 20th of the year with help from Henrik Sedin and Christian Ehrhoff on the power play. Raffi Torres made it 2-0 for the Canucks with his eleventh of the season, from Jannik Hansen and Kevin Bieksa. Henrik Sedin extended the lead farther in the second period with his power play goal, the ninth tally for his season, from Alexander Edler and Daniel Sedin. Bieksa added his fourth of the year into the mix as well, another power play goal made possible by Dan Hamhuis and Manny Malhotra. This chased away Kari Lethonen in favor of Andrew Raycroft. Brenden Morrow got Dallas on the board by netting his 14th of the year, a power play goal assisted by Mike Ribeiro and Loui Eriksson. The Canucks cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Stars, with Cory Schneider (44 for 45 saves), Henrik Sedin, and Daniel Sedin grabbing the three stars.

Moving north a bit to St. Louis, where the Blues hosted the Phoenix Coyotes. Ilya Bryzgalov and Jaroslav Halak were in between the pipes for their respective teams. St. Louis struck first on the stick of Brad Boyes, who scored his ninth of the year in the first period, with help from Alex Steen and Barret Jackman. The Blues made it 2-0 with Erik Johnson's shorthanded goal, his third tally of the year, from David Backes and Jackman. Alex Pietrangelo extended the lead to 3-0 with his fifth of the year, courtesy of Carlo Colaiacovo and Patrik Berglund on the power play. Steen made it 4-0 for the Blues in the third period with his 12th of the year, unassisted. Shane Down finally got Phoenix on the board with his eighth of the season, made possible by Eric Belanger and Scottie Upshall. The Coyotes struck again with Lauri Korpikoski potting his ninth of the campaign, with help from Keith Yandle and Derek Morris. Doan made it a one goal game with his second of the night and ninth of the season, from Adrian Aucoin with twenty-one seconds left in the game. Phoenix could not get the equalizer, and fell 4-3 to St. Louis. Halak (30 for 33 saves), Steen, and Jackman were the three stars.

Lastly, the Calgary Flames hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Craig Anderson and Miikka Kiprusoff guarded the cages. The first period went by soundlessly, and the Calgary drew the first blood with Tom Kostopoulos notching his fourth of the year, thanks to Tim Jackman and Mark Giordano. Jarome Iginla made it 2-0 for the Flames with his 16th of the season, from Alex Tanguay and Olli Jokinen. Jackman netted his fourth of the year to make it 3-0, with Kostopoulos and Anton Babchuk picking up the helpers. Daniel Winnik got Colorado on the board in the third period with his sixth of the year, a shorthanded goal assisted on by Ryan O'Reilly. Tomas Fleischmann made it a one goal game for the Avalanche with his eleventh of the year, courtesy of Matt Duchene. Calgary hung on for the 3-2 victory over Colorado, with Jackman, Kostopoulos, and Winnik getting the three stars.

That's all the hockey we have for this year, we'll see you next year on the blog.