There were another five games played on Wednesday. Most of them featured the winning team having 5 goals, which may not seem to bad to you readers, but it's a nice chunk of work for the writer. In baseball news, the Boston Red Sox grabbed up outfielder Carl Crawford for 7 years and 142 million. Some writers now label them as "the team to beat" in the American League. Going back to hockey, specifically in...
Philadelphia, where the Flyers hosted the San Jose Sharks. Antero Niittymaki started for the visiting Sharks, playing against his (one of many) old teams. Sergei Bobrovsky was in the pipes for the Flyers. Ryan Clowe scored late in the first to put San Jose up, his sixth of the season being assisted by Niclas Wallin and Jason Demers. Claude Giroux responded for Philadelphia in the second period with his 14th of the season, from Jeff Carter and Braydon Coburn. Ville Leino put the Flyers ahead with his sixth of the season, assisted by Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timmonen. Nikolay Zherdev continued the Flyers scoring spree with his ninth of the year, assisted by Matt Carle and Claude Giroux. Hartnell made it 4-1 in the third period with his seventh of the year, assisted by Carle and Leino. San Jose finally answered with Demers' first of the season, with the helper going to Dany Heatley. Logan Couture cut the lead farther with his 13th of the year, from Clowe and Justin Braun. Joe Pavelski's power play goal, his ninth goal of the season, tied it at 4. He was assisted by Joe Thornton. The tie lasted until the shootout, where the Sharks took the game 5-4 thanks to goals by Couture and Clowe. Couture was the first star with his goal, and a shootout mark, followed by Pavelski, who had a goal. Ville Leino, who had a goal and an assist, was the third star despite his team's loss.
Staying in Pennsylvania, where the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jonas Gustavsson started for the Leafs, while Marc-Andre Fleury played in net for the red-hot Penguins. Sidney Crosby opened the scoring for Pittsburgh, with his 25th(!) of the season, assisted by Chris Kunitz and Matt Cooke. Pascal Dupuis tallied a shorthanded goal for the Penguins in the second period, from Kunitz. Mark Letestu made it 3-0 with his fifth of the season, from Tyler Kennedy and Chris Connor. Crosby added his second of the night and 26th of the season afterward, with Kunitz and Brooks Orpik picking up the helpers on this one. Toronto finally got on the board with Tyler Bozak's fourth of the year, a power play goal assisted by Phil Kessel and Kris Versteeg. Mikhail Grabovski made it 4-2 with his seventh of the season, courtesy of Tomas Kaberle and Nikolai Kulemin. Letestu finished it off with his second of the night and sixth of the year, making it 5-2 with assists going to Tyler Kennedy and Alex Goligoski. Kunitz's sock trick was the first star, followed by Crosby and Letestu who had two goals apiece. Wednesday was fight night in Pittsburgh as well, with four fights. These will be listed in the Toronto versus Pittsburgh player format. Colton Orr and Deryk Engelland duelled in the first period, followed by Mike Komisarek and Aaron Asham in the second period. Komisarek fought with Michael Rupp in the third period, amidst a surrounding brawl. Forty (hockey) seconds later, Jay Rosehill and Eric Godard fought in the midst of another brawl.
Moving to Detroit, where the Red Wings hosted division rivals, the Nashville Predators. Jimmy Howard was given the nod for the Red Wings, while Anders Lindback played in the crease of the Predators. Colin Wilson opened the scoring for Nashville, his sixth of the season coming late in the first period. Cal O'Reilly and Steve Sullivan picked up the assists. Martin Erat added a quick goal to open the second period and extend the lead to 2-0. His third of the year came from Sergei Kostitsyn and Marcel Goc. Pavel Datsyuk got the Wings on the board with his ninth of the season, a shorthanded goal assisted on by Henrik Zetterberg. J.P. Dumont restored the two goal lead with his fourth of the year, an unassisted goal. Johan Franzen made it 3-2 with his 13th of the year, assisted by Datsyuk and Valtteri Fillpula, but Detroit couldn't muster another goal and fell 3-2 to Nashville. Anders Lindback was the first star, going 35 for 37 in saves, followed by Shea Weber, who did something right, and Pavel Datsyuk, who had a goal and an assist in a losing effort.
Moving into Chicago, where the Blackhawks hosted the Dallas Stars. Corey Crawford started for Chicago, while Andrew Raycroft got the nod for Dallas. Bryan Bickell opened the scoring for the Blackhawks, scoring his sixth of the season from Jassen Cullimore and Nick Boynton. Jonathan Toews added on to the lead with his 13th of the season, from Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith. Jeremy Morin made it 3-0 with his first of the year, assisted by Dave Bolland. James Neal answered twenty seconds later for the Stars, with his eleventh of the year, courtesy of Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson. Troy Brouwer would have none of it, making it 4-1 twenty-five seconds later with his sixth of the year, helped along by Bolland and Bickell. Brandon Segal cut the lead back down with his fourth of the year, an unassisted goal. Eriksson made it 4-3 just over a minute later, with his eleventh being assisted by Richards and Neal. The Stars were unable to muster another goal, and Patrick Sharp sealed the deal with his 17th of the year into an empty net, from Toews and Keith. Bickell was the first star with a goal and an assist. Morin got the second star for his goal, and Brad Richards was the third star for two assists in a losing effort. One fight, in the first period, was between Chicago's Jake Dowell and Dallas' Steve Ott.
Finally, to British Columbia, where the Vancouver Canucks took on their rhyming friends from southern California, the Anaheim Ducks. Curtis McElhinny started for Anaheim, while Roberto Luongo was in between the pipes for the hosting Canucks. Corey Perry put the Ducks on the board first with his 13th of the year, a power play goal from Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne. Ryan Kesler evened it up with his eleventh of the season, also on the power play, assisted by Alexander Edler and Christian Ehrhoff. Eleven seconds later, the Canucks had the lead, with Jeff Tambellini's fifth of the year from Mason Raymond and Dan Hamhuis. Joffery Lupul evened it up again with his first of the year for Anaheim, from Todd Marchant and Lubomir Visnovsky. Teemu Selanne gave the Ducks the lead late in the second period with a power play goal, his tenth tally of the season, from Corey Perry. Cam Fowler made it 4-2 for the Ducks in the third period, with his third of the year being assisted by Marchant and Paul Mara. Vancouver started to rally back with Daniel Sedin's 15th of the season, a power play goal from Ehrhoff and Kesler. Kesler then notched the tying goal with twenty-two seconds left in regulation, his second of the night and 12th of the season, with assists going to Manny Malhotra and Henrik Sedin. The 4-4 tie lasted until the shootout, where Tambellini netted the only goal, and the Canucks won 5-4. Kesler was the first star with two goals and an assist, followed by Teemu Selanne, who had a goal and an assist in a losing effort. Tambellini was the third star, with his goal in regulation and shootout winner. There were two fights, with the first period dance between Luca Sbisa of the Ducks and Alexandre Bolduc of the Canucks. The follow up in the second period featured Aaron Voros and Kevin Bieksa.
That's all there was for Wednesday's hockey action. Following this post at the end of the game will be the Thursday Night Football post, and tomorrow, there should be an earlier recap of tonight's eight games of puck.
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