Sunday Hockey recap

The NHL got back to game play after taking the Christmas break, and hosted a heavy 11 game slate. All the games kept combined goals at 5 or less, which makes this post a lot easier to put out. We start off in...

Atlanta, where the Thrashers hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dan Ellis and Ondrej Pavelec had the goaltending duties for the game. The Lightning got the first goal of the game, thanks to Steven Stamkos potting his 28th of the year, assisted by Ryan Malone and Martin St. Louis. The Thrashers answered in the second period with a goal by Zach Bogosian, his third of the year, helped along by Anthony Stewart and Bryan Little. Tampa Bay retook the lead with Vincent Lecavalier's fifth of the season, assisted by Simon Gagne and Sean Bergenheim. Atlanta kept themselves in the game and tied it up again in the third period when Fredrik Modin notched his seventh of the season, courtesy of Jim Slater and Ben Eager. The 2-2 tie lasted to force overtime, where Lecavalier did magic and won the game for the the Lightning with his sixth of the year and second of the night, a power play goal assisted by St. Louis and Stamkos. Lecavalier, losing goalie Pavelec (31 for 34 saves), and Bogosian were the three stars.

Next on the list were the Chicago Blackhawks hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Mathieu Garon and Marty Turco were the goalies for the game. Tomas Kopecky opened the scoring for Chicago with his sixth of the year, assisted by returning star Marian Hossa and Jassen Cullimore. The 1-0 lead for the Blackhawks stayed until Patrick Sharp extended it in the third period with his 19th of the year, helped by Brent Seabrook and Hossa on the power play. Dave Bolland made it 3-0 with his fifth of the year, also a power play goal, from Troy Brouwer and Bryan Bickell. Sharp potted another, his 20th of the season and second of the night with help from Brouwer and Jonathan Toews. The Blue Jackets showed signs of life with a power play goal by Derrick Brassard, his eighth of the year being helped by Tom Sestito and Fedor Tyutin. Hossa, Sharp, and Turco (26 for 27 saves) picked up the three stars.

Following that game was the St. Louis Blues hosting the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Jaroslav Halak were the netminders for the game. The first period was scoreless, and David Backes opened up in the second period with his eighth of the year, assisted by Vladimir Sobotka. Backes put the game away with an empty net tally in the third period, his ninth of the year and second of the night, courtesy of Alex Steen. Halak's 32 save shutout, Backes' two goals, and Rinne's 24 of 25 were the three stars.

Moving right along with the Minnesota Wild hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Niklas Backstrom played in net for this showdown. Henrik Zetterberg notched the first goal of the game, his 13th of the season, assisted by Niklas Kronwall and Johan Franzen. Danny Cleary made it 2-0 for Detroit with his 16th of the year, helped by Valtteri Filppula. The lead was extended further in the second period by Kris Draper, who potted his first of campaign, thanks to Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson. Tomas Holmstrom made it 4-0 with his tenth of the year, a power play goal courtesy of Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom. Minnesota showed signs of life, avoiding the shutout with Brent Burns scoring his tenth of the year, a power play goal assisted by Martin Havlat and Patrick O'Sullivan. The final ended up 4-1 for the Red Wings over the Wild. Zetterberg, Kronwall, and Lidstrom were the stars of the game.

Going along to Carolina, where the Hurricanes hosted the Washington Capitals. Semyon Varlamov and Cam Ward were the goalies in the game. Washington struck first as Mathieu Perreault netted his fifth of the season, assisted by Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich. Carolina tied it in the second period with a goal by Jussi Jokinen, whose sixth of the season was assisted by Tuomo Ruutu and Jeff Skinner. The Capitals retook the lead with Dave Steckel's fourth of the season, assisted by Alex Ovechkin, who made it 3-1 with his 13th of the year later in the second period. Mike Green picked up the assist on the Ovechkin goal. The Hurricanes tried to get a rally going in the third period, with Ruutu striking early, his eighth of the year being helped by Jay Harrison and Jokinen. They couldn't muster any extra offense and fell 3-2 to the men from D.C. Ovechkin, Varlamov (33 for 35 saves) and Ruutu were the three stars.

Next up was the New York Islanders hosting the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price and Dwayne Roloson were tending the twine in this game. New York struck first with Blake Comeau, who scored his eighth of the year thanks to Rob Schremp and Mark Eaton. They made it 2-0 when Michael Grabner scored his eighth of the year with help by Frans Nielsen. The Islanders kept the scoring going in the third period with P.A. Parenteau's seventh of the year, a power play goal assisted by Nielsen and John Tavares. James Wisniewski made it 4-0 for the Islanders with his third of the season, also on the power play with help from Andrew MacDonald and Parenteau. Montreal avoided the shutout with Tomas Plekanec netting his eleventh of the season, from Andrei Kostitsyn and Michael Cammalleri. The final would be 4-1, favoring New York over the Canadiens. Roloson (38 for 39 saves), Wisniewski, and Parenteau would pick up the three stars.

Moving a short distance to New Jersey, where the Devils hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jonas Gustavsson and Martin Brodeur would get the starting nod for the game. Toronto struck first with Colby Armstrong in the first period, with his second of the season being helped by Kris Versteeg. They extended the lead in the second period when John Mitchell netted his second of the season, assisted by Versteeg and Carl Gunnarsson. The Maple Leafs ran the lead to 3-1 with Nikolai Kulemin's 12th of the year, assisted by Clarke MacArthur and Mikhail Grabovski. Johan Hedberg replaced Martin Brodeur in the Devils net to start the third period, and New Jersey woke up with a power play goal by Rod Pelley, his first of the year assisted by Mark Fayne and Andy Greene. Armstrong put Toronto up 4-1 with his third of the year and second of the night, assisted by Tomas Kaberle. That would be the final, with Versteeg, Armstrong, and Gustavsson (29 of 30 saves) earning the stars for their performances. There was a notable fight in the game (something I've taken out of this post due to my lack of energy) between Dion Phaneuf and Ilya Kovalchuck in the second period.

Heading north with the Ottawa Senators hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Brian Elliott were in between the pipes. Ottawa struck first with a Mike Fisher goal, his tenth of the year getting help from Erik Karlsson and Sergei Gonchar on the power play. Karlsson added his own goal to make it 2-0 for the Senators, with his seventh of the year assisted by Chris Kelly and Jason Spezza. Karlsson struck again early in the second period, with his second of the night and eighth of the season coming on the power from Spezza. Pittsburgh avoided the shutout because Sidney Crosby was unwilling to kill his almost historical point streak, potting his 30th of the year thanks to Matt Cooke and Chris Kunitz. It was too late to help the Penguins, who lost 3-1 to Ottawa. Elliott (44 for 45 saves), Karlsson, and Chris Phillips earned the three stars. There was an early fight between tough guys Eric Godard of Pittsburgh and Matt Carkner of Ottawa.

Traveling significantly farther south, to Dallas, with the Stars hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera and Kari Lethonen were the masked men. Phoenix opened the scoring with Kyle Turris in the second period, his fifth of the year coming from Shane Doan and Mikkel Boedker. This proved to be the deciding factor, as the Coyotes beat the Stars 1-0. LaBarbera (30 save shutout), Lethonen (24 for 25 saves), and Turris earned the three stars. Keeping the fans awake in the first period was Phoenix tough guy Paul "BizNasty" Bissonnette fighting Krys Barch of Dallas.

Moving along to Hollywood, where the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Jonathan Bernier were the starting goalies for the game. All scoring occurred in the second period, started off with Wayne Simmonds scoring his eighth of the year for the Kings, from Michal Handzus and Kyle Clifford. The Ducks answered thirty-two seconds later with a Matt Beleskey goal, his first of the season from Toni Lydman and Ryan Getzlaf. Anze Kopitar and Los Angeles took the lead back later with his 15th of the year. from Marco Sturm and Dustin Brown. Justin Williams made it 3-1 with his 14th of the year, an unassisted goal. Brown struck with his 14th of the year to put Anaheim down 4-1, with the power play goal being helped by Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson. Jonas Hiller was replaced by Curtis McElhinney after the Brown goal. This score would prove to be the final. Kopitar, Johnson, and Bernier (18 of 19 saves) picked up the three stars status. Two fights occurred, with Kyle Clifford of the Kings fighting George Parros of the Ducks in the second period, followed by Simmonds dropping the gloves with Anaheim superstar Corey Perry in the third period.

Last on the Sunday schedule was the Vancouver Canucks hosting the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Cory Schneider were the cage protectors. After going scoreless in the first thirty-three minutes, The Oilers got on the board with a Ryan O'Marra goal, his first of the season assisted by Linus Omark. Edmonton would take the lead to 2-0 with Ryan Whitney scoring his second of the season, assisted by Andrew Cogliano and Dustin Penner. Vancouver tried to start a rally back, with Jeff Tambellini scoring his eighth of the campaign late in the second period, with help from Ryan Kesler and Alexander Edler. Mikael Samuelsson continued the Canucks scoring in the early third period with his eighth of the season, courtesy of Raffi Torres and Manny Malhotra. Kevin Bieksa gave Vancouver the lead with twenty-four seconds left in regulation by potting his third of the year, helped along by Alexandre Burrows and Henrik Sedin. The Canucks held on to topple the Oilers 3-2, with Tambellini, Whitney, and Bieksa receiving the three stars.

That's all for Sunday's games. I will get the Monday Night Football, Monday Hockey recap, and possibly Tuesday Night Football out when I can. Thanks for your patience.