This post is made possible by low scoring games, and a little extra time I have. Also, keep posted, as it looks like that Marco Sturm to the Los Angeles Kings deal may eventually be completed. As for today's game action, we start in...
The nation's capital, where the Washington Capitals hosted the road-tested Colorado Avalanche. Craig Anderson was called for duty for Colorado, while Michal Neuvirth started for the Capitals. Kevin Shattenkirk scored his fifth of the year early, giving the Avalanche a 1-0 lead with the assist from Paul Stastny. Mike Knuble evened it for Washington with his sixth of the year, assisted by Alex Ovechkin and Karl Alzner. Ryan Wilson scored late in the first for the Avalanche, his first of the season, helped along by Stastny and Kevin Porter. Stastny finally scored his own goal, his 12th of the season coming on the power play courtesy of Shattenkirk and Daniel Winnik. Washington tried to jump-start things in the third period with a goal by Matt Hendricks, his fourth of the year being a power play goal, and it was assisted by Knuble and Nicklas Backstrom. The Capitals could muster no more offense, however, and fell 3-2. Stastny earned the first star for one goal and two assists, followed by Shattenkirk, who had a goal and an assist, and Knuble, who had a goal and an assist as well, but in a losing effort. One fight was fought between Washington's Matt Bradley and Colorado's Cody McLeod.
Heading into the Western Conference, with the Columbus Blue Jackets hosting the New York Rangers. Steve Mason was in between the pipes for the Blue Jackets, while Henrik Lundqvist got another start for the Rangers. New York took until the second period to open the scoring, with a power play goal by Marc Staal, his fifth of the year being with a man advantage, and assisted by Ruslan Fedotenko and Brandon Dubinsky. Antoine Vermette tied it later that same period, with his eighth of the year also being a power play goal, from R.J. Umberger and Rick Nash. Nash scored two of his own in the third period, his 15th and 16th of the season, with the first from Jakub Voracek and Jan Hejda, and the second one compliments of Rostislav Klesla. The Rangers could not recover, and Columbus won 3-1. Nash was the first star with two goals and an assist, followed by Steve Mason's 32 for 33 save outing, and lastly by Samuel Pahlsson, who did nothing overly spectacular.
Going back east to Boston, where the Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers played a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals. Tim Thomas was in the paint for Boston, while Brian Boucher played goal for the Flyers. It took until late in the second period to dent the scoreboard, but James van Riemsdyk allowed Philadelphia to do so with his fifth of the season from Claude Giroux and Jeff Carter. Nathan Horton tied it up for the Bruins with his eleventh of the season, thanks to David Krejci and Milan Lucic. The 1-1 tie lasted late into overtime, where Mike Richards' eleventh of the year gave the Flyers the edge, 2-1. The game winning goal was enough for the first star, followed by the 35 for 36 save outing by Brian Boucher, and Zdeno Chara earned the third star for what I'll presume as his usual stunningly good play, despite the losing result.
Going north of the border for an all-Canada game between the host Toronto Maple Leafs and visiting Montreal Canadiens. Alex Auld got the start for Montreal, while Jean-Sebastien Giguere was given the goalkeeping duties for Toronto. Phil Kessel put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 early with his eleventh of the season, with assists given to Tyler Bozak and Tomas Kaberle. Kaberle added his first of the year quite soon after, assisted by Fredrik Sjostrom and Tim Brent. Michael Cammalleri put the Canadiens on the board in the second, with his tenth of the year hoping to spark a rally. Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn had the assists. Alas, Montreal could muster no effort, and Kris Versteeg put the nail in the coffin with his ninth of the year sailing into an empty net, courtesy of Sjostrom. Kaberle was the first star for a goal and an assist in the 3-1 win, followed by Kessel, who had a goal, and Sjostrom, who had two assists.
Moving back stateside, with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ryan Miller was in net for the Sabres, as was Marc-Andre Fleury for the Penguins. Dustin Jeffery opened the scoring, netting his first of the year for Pittsburgh, with the helpers going to Ben Lovejoy and Craig Adams. Aaron Asham extended the Penguin lead to 2-0 with his fourth of the year, assisted by Max Talbot. Tyler Ennis got Buffalo on the board with his seventh of the year, a power play goal from Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek. The teams went cold for over 35 minutes, before Pittsburgh scored again with Alex Goligoski's sixth of the season, assisted by Pascal Dupuis and Sidney Crosby. The Sabres answered with Jason Pominville's fourth of the year, helped along by Tyler Myers and Andrej Sekera. Michael Rupp made it 4-2 Pittsburgh with his third of the year, assisted by Dustin Jeffery, and Matt Cooke finished the game off with his fifth of the year into an empty net, courtesy of Craig Adams. Marc-Andre Fleury earned the first star with his 34 of 36 save performance, followed by Pominville, who had one goal in the losing effort, and Dustin Jeffery, who had one goal and an assist for the Penguins. Matt Cooke and Jason Pominville also had a first period fight.
Going to New Jersey, where the Devils hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Martin Brodeur got the start for New Jersey, while Chris Osgood guarded the Red Wings' cage. Detroit gave personification to "two quick goals" in the first period, starting with Tomas Holmstrom's ninth of the year, assisted by Pavel Datsyuk and Brad Stuart, and followed by Danny Cleary's 13th of the season, from Todd Bertuzzi and Justin Abdelkader. Henrik Zetterberg extended the lead to 3-0 with his tenth of the year, courtesy of Holmstrom and Datsyuk. The Devils finally got on the board in the early third period, with a power play goal from Patrik Elias, his sixth mark of the year, assisted by Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk. Datsyuk put it away with his eleventh of the year, helped along by Zetterberg and Jonathan Ericsson, the latter of which fought with the Devils' David Clarkson in the second period. Detroit went on to win 4-1. Datsyuk's goal and two assists were good enough for the first star, with Zetterberg's goal and assist being the second star, and Chris Osgood's 33 for 34 save outing good enough for the third star.
Going onto Long Island, where the New York Islanders hosted the Atlanta Thrashers, and where Quebec Nordiques fans crowded in to make a statement. The Islanders post a dramatic attendance increase, albeit, not with their own fans. All jokes aside, Rick DiPietro was sent out to stop pucks for the Islanders (okay, maybe we're not done with the jokes yet, since DiPietro is a noted sieve), and Chris Mason got a start for Atlanta. Matt Martin opened up the scoring for the Islanders, his second of the year being assisted by Blake Comeau and Rob Schremp. Matt Moulson extended the lead in the second period with his tenth of the year, an unassisted goal. Anthony Stewart answered for the Thrashers, scoring his eighth of the year via Brent Sopel. Johnny Oduya scored two in a row to open the third period scoring, his first two of the year, assisted by Jim Slater and Chris Thorburn on the first and Nik Antropov and Rich Peverley on the second. Schremp tied it for New York, scoring his fifth of the year from Andrew MacDonald and Comeau. Bryan Little took the lead back for Atlanta with his seventh of the year, shorthanded and unassisted. Alex Burmistrov made it 5-3 with his fifth of the year, helped by Sopel. Comeau tried to rally the Islander troops late with a power play goal, his fifth notch of the year coming from Schremp and Moulson, but they couldn't muster another goal and fell 5-4. Oduya earned the first star with his two goals, while Schremp's goal and two assists in the loss were good for the second star, and the third star honors went to Little, who had one goal. John Tavares and Alex Burmistrov shared a fight in the second period as well.
We're going to cut it off here, because of technical difficulties (thanks Yahoo!) in the Phoenix Coyotes-Dallas Stars box score. I'll recap the other six games tomorrow, along with football, Subway, and whatever else I blog on Sundays.
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