Thursday NHL Recap

Another day, another round of games played, this time with eight games. The Marco Sturm to LA rumor has been squashed as well. Initial thoughts are that his knee is not well enough off, and the Kings would like to be receiving a healthy-certified player. So Sturm will sit on Boston's shelf for now. Onto the games, starting in...

Pittsburgh, where the Penguins hosted the Atlanta Thrashers. Marc-Andre Fleury was in net for the Penguins, while Ondrej Pavelec played goal for Atlanta. Bryan Little started the scoring in the game, with his fifth of the season coming on the power play assisted by Anthony Stewart and Johnny Oduya. Sidney Crosby responded with his 19th of the year from Chris Kunitz and Deryk Engelland. Crosby tallied his 20th of the season in the second period, giving the Penguins the lead, with this one from Aaron Asham. He completed the hat trick with his 21st of the year, with assists by Brooks Orpik and Kris Letang. Nik Antropov started to mount a comeback for the Thrashers with his seventh of the year from Niclas Bergfors, but the third period was scoreless and the Penguins won 3-2. Crosby was the first star, with his hat trick, while Orpik was second star for his assist, and Antropov's goal was good for the third star in his team's losing effort. Chris Thorburn of Atlanta and Deryk Engelland featured in an early first period fight.

Along to New Jersey, where the Montreal Canadiens were hosted by the Devils. Johan Hedberg started for the Devils, while Carey Price got the nod for Montreal. Brian Gionta scored early with his eighth of the season from Roman Hamrlik and Tomas Pleckanec, followed shortly by Lars Eller's second of the season, which was unassisted. Montreal chased starter Johan Hedberg after the second goal so early. Hedberg was replaced by Mike McKenna. The Canadiens continued in the second period with Tom Pyatt's first of the season, assisted by Maxim Lapierre and Jeff Halpern. Scott Gomez also got a goal, his fourth of the season, a power play score assisted by Mathieu Darche and Yannick Weber. Piling it on, Benoit Pouliot potted his sixth of the year from Eller and Hamrlik. To prevent being shut out, Jason Arnott scored his ninth of the year for the Devils, from Patrik Elias and Dainius Zubrus. Montreal went on to win 5-1. Lars Eller was the first star, with a goal and an assist, followed by Brian Gionta, who had a goal. Carey Price was the third star, with 27 for 28 saves in his start.

Onto Toronto, where a pair of lowly teams in the host Maple Leafs and visiting Edmonton Oilers faced off. Nikolai Khabibulin started for Edmonton, while Jonas Gustavsson tended the Maple Leaf twine. Jordan Eberle opened the scoring with his fifth of the year, assisted by Ryan Whitney. Taylor Hall got a goal in the second period, his seventh of the year, which Eberle picked up an assist on. This was enough for Toronto to yank Gustavsson and replace him with Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Sam Gagner scored late in the second period with his eighth of the year, with helpers from Magnus Paajarvi and Ryan Jones. Hall added another goal in the third period, second of the night and eighth of the season for him, on which Shawn Horcoff and Jordan Eberle assisted on. Adding insult to injury, Jones netted his fifth of the year from Ryan Whitney and Jim Vandermeer. First star went to Taylor Hall with two goals, while Eberle got second star with a goal and two assists. Nikolai Khabibulin's 33 saves for the shutout were good enough for the third star. Colton Orr of the Maple Leafs and Steve MacIntyre of the Oilers dropped the gloves in the early going of this 5-0 rout.

Onto New York, where the Islanders hosted cross-town rivals, the New York Rangers. DiPietro started for the Islanders, as did Martin Biron for the Rangers. The Rangers drew first blood with Erik Christensen's fourth of the season, assisted by Sean Avery and Marian Gaborik. They extended their lead with Ryan Callahan's eighth of the season, from Brandon Dubinsky and Derek Stepan. The Islanders got on the board late in the first period with Zenon Konopka's first of the season, assisted by James Wisniewski and John Tavares. Matt Moulson tied the game with his ninth of the year, assisted on by Tavares and P.A. Parenteau. Rob Schremp gave the Isles the lead with his third of the year from Radek Martinek and Blake Comeau, chasing Rangers starter Martin Biron, with Henrik Lundqvist coming on in relief. Brandon Prust re-tied the game with his second of the season, from Marc Staal. Marian Gaborik gave the Rangers the lead back with his sixth of the year, an unassisted power play goal. He extended the Blueshirts lead to 5-3 with his second goal of the night and seventh of the season, this time allowing help from Sean Avery. Michael Grabner started to rally the Islander troops with his sixth of the season from Martinek and Frans Nielsen. Comeau then tied it minutes later with his fourth of the year, assisted by Parenteau and Travis Hamonic. Gaborik broke the tie and completed his hat trick 25 seconds later, with his eighth of the year coming from Christensen and Avery. This was the decisive goal, and the Rangers won 6-5. Gaborik was the first star with his hat trick and extra assist, while Avery's sock trick of three assists was good for second star. Comeau's goal and assist in the losing effort was good enough for third star. There were two fights in the game, with Trevor Gillies of the Islanders taking on Rangers overpaid toughman Derek Boogaard, and the later dance between Matt Martin and Mike Sauer.

Over to Boston, where the Bruins went against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tim Thomas started for the hosts, while Mike Smith was given the goaltending duties for the Lightning. David Krejci started the scoring with his third of the season, from Milan Lucic and Andrew Ference. Dennis Seidenberg added his first of the year to the scoresheet for the Bruins, late in the first period and assisted by Michael Ryder. Lucic notched his 12th of the year in the second period, from Krejci and Nathan Horton. Victor Hedman scored for the Lightning, his second of the year, coming from Ryan Malone and Sean Bergenheim. Shawn Thornton restarted the Bruins scoring with his fifth of the year, assisted by Brad Marchand and the goalie, Tim Thomas. David Krejci scored again early in the third, his fourth of the year, unassisted this time. Mike Smith was promptly replaced by Dan Ellis. Ellis couldn't stop the Bruins scoring barrage, as Michael Ryder scored his seventh of the year quickly after the change. Ryder needed no assistance for his goal. Mark Recchi added his fifth of the year on the power play, assisted by Ryder and Zdeno Chara. Blake Wheeler topped it all off with his sixth of the year, with the lone assist by Recchi. Boston won 8-1. Krejci was the first star, with two goals and an assist, while Milan Lucic was the second star for his goal-and-assist performance, and Zdeno Chara was third star with an assist.

Up to Ottawa, where Dany Heatley's return as a San Jose Shark was much anticipated, and a reality when the Senators hosted his team. Antti Niemi played in net for the Sharks, while Pascal Leclaire guarded the host's net. Patrick Marleau got things going for the Sharks, with his eleventh of the season from Dan Boyle and Joe Thornton on the power play. Justin Braun added a power play goal in the second period, his first tally of the season, with an assist from the much-maligned former Senator Dany Heatley. Logan Couture added two goals in the third period for San Jose, with assists on both by Ryan Clowe, and the primary assist on the first from Benn Ferriero. These were Couture's ninth and tenth of the year, and the last goals in the game. Couture earned the first star for his two goals, while Antti Niemi was the second star with his 28 save shutout, and receiving the third star was Dan Boyle with his assist.

Down to Big D, where the Dallas Stars hosted the Washington Capitals. Andrew Raycroft started for the Stars, while Michal Neuvirth was in between the Capitals pipes. After a scoreless first period and a half, Mike Rebeiro opened the scoring for Dallas with his fourth of the season, a power play goal assisted on by Brad Richards and James Neal. Mike Knuble responded in the third period for the Capitals, with his fourth of the year, also a power play tally, assisted by Mike Green and Eric Fehr. Twenty seconds later, Brandon Segal scored for the Stars, his third of the year with helpers added on by Brenden Morrow and Jeff Woywitka. This was the decisive goal, and the Stars won 2-1. Andrew Raycroft was the first star with a 37 for 38 save performance in the face of a high-power offense, and Brandon Segal was second star with his goal. Adam Burish was the third star. Segal also dropped the gloves earlier in the game with Matt Hendricks.

Onto the last game of the night, played in Los Angeles, where the Kings hosted the traveling Florida Panthers. Jonathan Quick started for the Kings, opposed by Tomas Vokoun of the Panthers. Jarret Stoll started the scoring with his eighth of the year for the Kings, assisted by Justin Williams and Ryan Smyth. Michal Repik responded for the Panthers with his first of the year from Keaton Ellerby and Bill Thomas. Florida took the lead in the second period with David Booth's sixth of the year, with assists going to Steven Reinprecht and Steve Bernier. Los Angeles started a comeback with Peter Harrold's first of the season, assisted by Kyle Clifford and Brad Richardson. Anze Kopitar gave the Kings the lead with his ninth of the season from Dustin Brown. They were able to hold on and defeat the Panthers 3-2. Drew Doughty was the first star for... who knows what. David Booth's goal in the losing effort was second star and Anze Kopitar was the third star with his game winning tally.

There are another six games going on in the hockey-verse for Friday night, which will be recapped tomorrow. Thank you for reading, and on a side note, Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov will be out for the season with another knee injury. Catch you tomorrow.