Sunday NHL recap

There were four games on for the puckheads among us in a football-dominated Sunday, with the first two being early enough to compete a bit with football broadcasts. We start in Detroit...

Where the Red Wings hosted the Dallas Stars. Andrew Raycroft and Chris Osgood were the netminders. Pavel Datsyuk drew first blood for the Red Wings, potting a power play goal, his 12th marker of the season, from Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen. Patrick Eaves made it 2-0 with his seventh of the year, from Niklas Kronwall and Valtteri Filppula. Brad Richards put Dallas on the board with his 15th of the year, thanks to Loui Erikssoin and Jeff Woywitka. Brenden Morrow potted a goal for the Stars to even it at 2 after the first period, a power play goal from Trevor Daley and Eriksson, good for his eleventh of the year. Franzen put Detroit back up late in the second period with his 14th of the year, helped along by Brian Rafalski and Datsyuk. Morrow tied it for the Stars in the third period with his second of the night and 12th of the year, with help from Jamie Benn. The tie lasted late into overtime, but was broken by Dallas with Eriksson's 14th of the year, assisted by Jamie Benn. Eriksson, Morrow, and Eaves got the stars for the game. Fighting in the second period were Dallas' Steve Ott and Detroit's Justin Abdelkader.

We head to Chicago for the second game, where the Blackhawks hosted the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Corey Crawford were the goalkeepers for the game. Jonathan Toews got the Blackhawks up first with his 15th of the season in the first period, assisted by Brian Campbell and Patrick Sharp. Kyle Clifford evened the score for the Kings, potting his second of the year, with help from Michal Handzus and Wayne Simmonds. Duncan Keith netted his third of the year to make the lead 2-1 for Chicago, assisted by Sharp and Toews. Fernando Pisani made it 3-1 for the 'Hawks, potting his fifth of the year, with help from Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland. Simmonds tried to get Los Angeles back together with his seventh of the year, with help from Anze Kopitar and goalie Jonathan Quick, but they couldn't muster any more offense in the third period and fell 3-2 to Chicago. Toews, Keith, and Simmonds earned the stars for the game. Sharing a dance in the first period were the Blackhawks' John Scott (the real estate manager) and the Kings' Kevin Westgarth.

Moving along to Ottawa, where the Senators hosted the Washington Capitals. Michal Neuvirth and Brian Elliott got the nod for their respective teams. Ottawa opened the scoring with a goal by Ryan Shannon, his fourth of the season, from Jesse Winchester. The Senators had a 2-0 lead when Chris Kelly potted his eighth of the year, assisted by Chris Neil. Washington answered in the second period with an early goal by Mathieu Perreault, his third of the year, with helpers from Mike Knuble and Brooks Laich. Forty-six seconds later, Eric Fehr tied it with his fifth of the year, assisted by Alex Ovechkin. Later that same period, Perreault had struck again, with his second of the night and fourth of the year, with assistance for this goal coming from Fehr, on the power play. No more scoring would be conducted after this point, and the Capitals went on to defeat the Senators 3-2. Perreault, Kelly, and Fehr earned the stars for their performances.

Lastly, we have the game between the Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens, at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Carey Price and Craig Anderson were in between their pipes for the game. Michael Cammalleri opened the scoring for the Canadiens, with a power play goal from Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn. The Avalanche answered with a power play goal from Ryan Wilson late in the first period, his second marker of the season helped along by Ryan O'Reilly and goalie Craig Anderson. Montreal regained the lead in the second period with a goal by Alexandre Picard on the power play, his second goal of the year, assisted by Max Pacioretty and Scott Gomez. Kevin Porter tied it up for Colorado with his seventh of the campaign, helped along by Philippe Dupuis, and they took the lead on a goal by T.J. Galiardi, his fifth of the season, helped by O'Reilly and Jonas Holos. This 3-2 Avalanche lead would hold up to defeat the Canadiens. O'Reilly, Anderson (27 for 29 saves) and Cammalleri were the three stars.

That's all the hockey there is for Sunday. The Sunday Night Football post will follow this one at the conclusion of the game. Tomorrow, there will be Song of the Week and Fantasy Hockey All-Stars, plus the Monday Night Football post at its regularly scheduled time.