NHL Tuesday recap

Another five-game night on Tuesday, so it's not a large load of games. There were some high scoring ones, but before I spoil it any farther, we start the recaps in...

Toronto, where the Maple Leafs hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jonas Gustavsson was handling the goaltending duties for the Maple Leafs, while Dan Ellis was placed in front of the twine for the Lightning. Kris Versteeg potted his seventh of the year to open the scoring, giving Toronto an early lead. Assists came from Tyler Bozak and Carl Gunnarsson. Ryan Malone tied it for the Lightning, when his sixth of the year went in. It was a power play goal, assisted by Simon Gagne. The Leafs responded with Nikolai Kulemin's eighth of the year, also on the power play, with assists by Tomas Kaberle and Kris Versteeg. Kulemin added another, good for his ninth of the year, in the third, coming from Joey Crabb and Mike Komisarek. Martin St. Louis added two goals for the Lightning, his ninth and tenth of the year. The first one of the night came off of Steve Downie, with the second one, a game tying goal with nine seconds left in the third, came from Steven Stamkos and Dominic Moore. Simon Gagne scored the winner in overtime, his first of an injury-plagued season, with an assist from Brett Clark. Gagne got the first star with his game winning goal and earlier assist, while teammate Martin St. Louis got second star with two goals. Toronto's Nikolai Kulemin got third star with his two goals in the losing effort.

Into the Windy City, where Chicago's Blackhawks hosted the Blues from St. Louis. Ty Conklin was in front of the visitor's net, while Corey Crawford was allowed to start for the 'Hawks. Chicago was on the board first with Tomas Kopecky's third of the year, coming from Patrick Sharp. Patrik Berglund got the Blues on the board with his sixth of the season from Vladimir Sobotka and David Backes, but Chicago responded quickly with Patrick Sharp's 16th of the year from Kopecky and Brian Campbell. Troy Brouwer kept Chicago going strong in the second, with his fifth of the year, a power play goal from Jeremy Morin and Brian Campbell. Jonathan Toews also notched a power play tally, his tenth goal of the year, coming from Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook. Kane got his tenth of the year as well, coming from Viktor Stalberg and Toews. St. Louis started digging into the Blackhawks 5-1 lead with Eric Brewer's third of the year, from Backes and Sobotka, who also picked up assists on Alex Pietrangelo's second of the year. The Blues kept rolling with Brad Boyes' sixth of the year, assisted by Alex Steen and Erik Johnson. The Blackhawks came in and squashed this comeback attempt with Kane's eleventh of the year from Stalberg and Kopecky, and Toews also notched another goal, a power play strike from Kopecky and Duncan Keith. David Backes tried to get the Blues a late comeback, with his fourth of the year coming from Pietrangelo, but it was too little too late as the Blackhawks beat the Blues 7-5. Patrick Kane was the first star with two goals and an assist, while Patrick Sharp was the second star with a goal and an assist. Tomas Kopecky grabbed the third star with his sock trick and goal. There was a fight in every period, with John Scott of the Blackhawks fighting Cam Janssen of the Blues, Nick Boynton and B.J. Crombeen having a dance, and Jeremy Morin tangling with Chris Porter. These two rivals had quite the bitter evening.

Into Nashville, where the Predators hosted the Phoenix Coyotes. Ilya Bryzgalov got the nod for the Desert Dogs, while Pekka Rinne served the Predators in the blue paint. Shea Weber opened the scoring, notching one for the Predators, his third of the year coming off of Patric Hornqvist and Steve Sullivan on the power play. Cal O'Reilly added on with his fifth of the year, also on the power play and coming from Sullivan and Ryan Suter. Jordin Tootoo finished it off with his empty netter, good for his third of the year. The lone assist on his goal was from Jerred Smithson. Nashville defeated Phoenix 3-0. Pekka Rinne was the first star for his 33 save shutout, with goal scorers Weber and O'Reilly taking the second and third stars in that order.

Going upward a bit, to Denver where the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Atlanta Thrashers. Peter Budaj was the masked man for the Avalanche, whereas Ondrej Pavelec protected the net for the Thrashers. Rich Peverley's sixth of the season got Atlanta going, with assists coming from Andrew Ladd and Zach Bogosian. After a scoreless second period, Colorado tied it with Matt Duchene's unassisted seventh goal of the year. The Avalanche took the lead with David Jones eleventh tally of the year, this one being a power play goal with assists by Kevin Shattenkirk and Milan Hejduk. Dustin Byfuglien tied the game again for Atlanta, with his tenth of the year from Tobias Enstrom and Alex Burmistov. In the overtime period that followed, Atlanta prevailed riding on Anthony Stewart's seventh of the season, with Byfuglien and Ron Hainsey grabbing the helpers for the winning goal. Stewart's goal was good enough for the first star, while Colorado's Matt Duchene got the second star with his goal. Byfuglien was third star with his goal and assist.

Finally, at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, where the Sharks hosted Western Conference rivals from Detroit, the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard was playing goal for the Winged Wheel, while Antero Niittymaki got the start for the Sharks. The first goal in the game was a power play tally by Danny Cleary, his eleventh goal of the year, with assists by Henrik Zetterberg and Valtteri Filppula. Pavel Datsyuk extended the Red Wings lead with his eighth goal of the year, assisted by Brian Rafalski and Zetterberg. Dany Heatley's 12th of the year trimmed the lead down to 2-1, with assists on the power play goal coming from Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Zetterberg scored his own goal, his eighth of the year in the second period, with assists by Rafalski and Datsyuk, but was answered by Benn Ferriero's second of the year for the Sharks, assisted by Jamie McGinn and Derek Joslin. Detroit struck late in the third with Patrick Eaves' fourth of the year, from Cleary and Niklas Kronwall. Zetterberg added another goal, his ninth of the season and second of the night in the third period to run the lead up to 5-2. Datsyuk provided the assist for the goal. Ryan Clowe attempted to mount a comeback for the Sharks with his fifth of the season, assisted by Justin Braun and Torrey Mitchell. The Red Wings won, 5-3 over the Sharks. Zetterberg's four point night of two goals and assists was good enough for the first star, with Datsyuk earning the second for his goal and two assists. Ryan Clowe was the third star with his goal.

That's Tuesday's hockey action. Wednesday night features seven games, so about half the NHL is playing tonight. Recaps will be tomorrow at the same time, same place, along with a Thursday Night Football recap, time permitting. Thank you again for reading, and I'll see you tomorrow.