Tuesday NHL coverage

There were nine games of hockey played on Tuesday. The first was up north...

With the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Jonas Gustavsson were given the starting nods. Jeff Skinner score first for the Hurricanes, his ninth of the year made possible by Jussi Jokinen and Tuomo Ruutu. Phil Kessel tied it up for the Maple Leafs with his 13th of the year, a power play goal from Tomas Kaberle and Dion Phaneuf. Eric Staal gave Carolina the lead back with his 17th of the year, which was unassisted. Kessel again did the work to tie the game, with his second of the night and 14th of the season coming from Joey Crabb and Tyler Bozak. Staal, not wanting to be outdone, put in his second of the night and 18th of the year, a power play marker from Sergei Samsonov and Pat Dwyer. Mikhail Grabovski took it into his hands to relieve Kessel from the tie-it-up role, netting his 13th of the year with help from Kris Versteeg and Kaberle on the power play. Carolina did have a third period hero though, with Dwyer coming in to score his sixth of the year off of Tim Gleason and Zach Boychuk. The Hurricanes would hold strong to win 4-3 over the Maple Leafs. Ward (34 for 37 saves), Grabovski and Staal earned the three stars in the game.

Next on the slate was the Pittsburgh Penguins hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Marc-Andre Fleury played the role of cage guards. Evander Kane drew first blood, giving the Thrashers a 1-0 lead on his 12th of the year, from Bryan Little and Alex Burmistrov. Sidney Crosby extended his point streak to 25 games with his 31st of the year, a power play goal from Kris Letang. Dustin Byfuglien made it 2-1 for Atlanta by registering his 14th of the season, assisted by Tobias Enstrom and Little. Crosby struck again, putting Pittsburgh in a 2-2 tie with his 32nd of the year and second of the night, assisted by Alex Goligoski. The Penguins took the lead on a shorthanded goal by Craig Adams, his second marker of the year, with help coming from Matt Cooke. Chris Kunitz gave the Penguins a 4-2 lead with his tenth of the season early in the third period, assisted by Crosby and Pascal Dupuis. Mark Letestu extended the lead farther with his eighth of the year, which found mesh unassisted. Cooke also scored for Pittsburgh, his eighth of the year, courtesy of Crosby and Zbynek Michalek. Atlanta gave a heartwarming goodbye from the game as Eric Boulton buried his fifth of the year, assisted by Jim Slater and Chris Thorburn. Picking up stars in the Penguins 6-3 win were Crosby, Cooke, and Adams.

Heading along to Washington, where the Capitals hosted the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price and Semyon Varlamov played in goal. Jay Beagle opened the scoring for Washington, netting his second of the season, with Eric Fehr and Matt Hendricks getting the helpers. Mike Green recorded his seventh of the year in the last minute of the first period, assisted by Nicklas Backstrom. After going scoreless throughout the second period, Alex Ovechkin put the game away with his 14th of the season, the empty net goal assisted by Karl Alzner. The Capitals defeated the Canadiens 3-0, with Varlamov (25 save shutout), Beagle, and Green getting the three stars.

Following that, the Boston Bruins visited the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tim Thomas and Den Ellis played in the creases. Michael Ryder scored early, with his eleventh of the year, a power play goal putting Boston up 1-0 from Mark Recchi and Dennis Seidenberg. Steven Stamkos tied it for the Lightning with his 29th of the year, also a power play goal, assisted by Brett Clark and Ryan Malone. The Bruins retook the lead in the second period on Steve Kampfer's first of the year, assisted by Marc Savard and Nathan Horton. Vincent Lecavalier tied it again for Tampa Bay, his seventh of the year coming from Sean Bergenheim and Pavel Kubina. Brad Marchand gave the Bruins the lead back with his fifth of the season, assisted by Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell. Martin St. Louis kept the pattern up with his 15th of the year, tying the game again, with help from Stamkos and Kubina. Recchi gave the Bruins what would be the winner with just twenty seconds left in the game, scoring his seventh of the year, courtesy of Patrice Bergeron and Seidenberg on the power play. Earning the three stars in the 4-3 Bruins win were Recchi, Lecavalier, and Seidenberg.

Continuing along to the west, where the St. Louis Blues hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. Marty Turco and Ty Conklin were the starters. Jake Dowell opened the scoring for Chicago late in the first period, notching his fifth of the year, assisted by Viktor Stalberg. St. Louis answered in the second period with another player scoring his fifth of the season, Vladimir Sobotka, who needed no help. Brad Boyes gave the Blues the lead with his eighth of the year, from Erik Johnson and Matt D'Agostini. Brad Winchester added an insurance goal, his fifth of the year, courtesy of Barret Jackman and Jay McClement. The Blues would cruise to a 3-1 victory over the Blackhawks, with Sobotka, D'Agostini, and Turco (40 of 43 saves) earning the stars.

Along to Nashville, where the Predators hosted the Dallas Stars. Andrew Raycroft and Pekka Rinne were the goaltenders. The first period went soundlessly, and Steve Ott got the Stars up in the second period with his eighth of the year, assisted by Loui Eriksson and Brad Richards. Colin Wilson tied it late in the second period for Nashville, scoring his own eighth of the campaign, assisted by J.P. Dumont and Sergei Kostitsyn on the power play. Wilson struck again early in the third period, his second of the night and ninth of the season coming from Joel Ward and Jerred Smithson. Eriksson retied it for Dallas, netting his 16th of the year thanks to Jamie Benn and Karlis Skrastins. The Predators fell behind on Mark Fistric's first of the season, unassisted. Krys Barch put Nashville down 4-2 with his first of the year, with help from Brian Sutherby and Matt Niskanen. Earning the Stars in the Dallas win were Eriksson, Wilson, and Raycroft (44 for 46 saves).

Going into Canada again, where the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Dustin Penner put the Oilers up early in the first period with his eleventh of the year, assisted by Ales Hemsky. Luke Adam tied it for the Sabres later that same period with his second of the year, helped along by Patrick Kaleta and Steve Montador. Buffalo took the lead in the second period with a goal by Mike Weber, his first of the season, assisted by Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville. Hecht made it 3-1 with his fourth of the season in the third period, thanks to Nathan Gerbe and Weber. Edmonton cut the lead to a goal with Ryan Jones potting his eighth of the season, assisted by Tom Gilbert and Jeff Petry. Weber put the game in Buffalo's favor, notching his second of the season and of the night, an empty net goal that went unassisted. Picking up the three stars in the Sabres win were Weber, Gilbert, and Hecht.

Heading down south to the desert, where the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Ilya Bryzgalov were your goalies for the game. The Ducks opened the scoring with Luca Sbisa potting his first of the season, from Saku Koivu. Joffery Lupul extended the Anaheim lead to 2-0 with his fourth of the year, courtesy of Brandon McMillan and Andreas Lilja. Corey Perry made it 3-0 with his 20th of the year, which was unassisted. Phoenix got on the board with a power play goal by Shane Doan in the second period, his fifth of the year being helped by Ray Whitney and Keith Yandle, but the Coyotes couldn't manage additional offense and fell 3-1 to Anaheim. Picking up the three stars were Jonas Hiller (31 for 32 saves), Lee Stempniak, and Doan, officially from Phoenix. More obvious choices in the second and third spots would be Perry and Sbisa, but my opinion does not matter to the Coyotes three stars selectors. Also, in the first period, the best of fights occurred in a new chapter with Paul Bissonnette and George Parros dropping the gloves once again.

Lastly, the Philadelphia Flyers go a comfortable place for them, visiting the Vancouver Canucks. Brian Boucher and Roberto Luongo were the goalies of choice in the game. Manny Malhotra opened the scoring with his sixth of the year for Vancouver, from Christian Ehrhoff and Raffi Torres. Ryan Kesler made it 2-0 for the Canucks with his 18th of the year, thanks to Kevin Bieksa. Daniel Sedin exteneded the lead farther with his 19th of the year, from Alexandre Burrows and Henrik Sedin. Philadelphia got on the board with Danny Briere's 17th of the season, assisted by Ville Leino. Kesler got Vancouver back into scoring with a power play goal, his second marker of the night and 19th of the year, assisted by Henrik Sedin and Ehrhoff, good enough for the Flyers to replace Brian Boucher with Sergei Bobrovsky. Making it 5-1 for B.C. was Jannik Hansen, scoring his fourth of the year, courtesy of Daniel Sedin and his sock trick brother Henrik. Jeff Tambellini made it 6-1 Vancouver with his ninth of the year, assisted by Kesler. Jeff Carter gave the Flyers one last kick with his 14th of the year, a power play goal assisted by Briere and Claude Giroux to bring the game to its 6-2 Vancouver final. Kesler, Henrik Sedin, and Luongo (35 for 37 saves) earned the stars.

That's finally all, I'm all caught up after pacing myself today. Tonight, there were six hockey games, and those will be covered tomorrow as quickly as possible.