Wednesday NHL recap

Not many games on Wednesday, with only four, and I still found a way to get behind. We start with...

The New York Islanders hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dan Ellis and Dwayne Roloson were the starters for the game. Ryan Malone and Tampa Bay got on the board first with a power play goal, Malone's tenth of the year. Brett Clark and Teddy Purcell picked up the helpers. P.A. Parenteau tied the game late in the second period with his sixth of the season, assisted by John Tavares and Andrew MacDonald. After going scoreless through the third period, Tavares gave the Islanders the win with his ninth of the year, assisted by James Wisniewski and MacDonald. Roloson (34 for 35 saves), Tavares, and Ellis (26 for 28 saves) got the three stars.

Next up, we have the Pittsburgh Penguins hosting the Florida Panthers. Tomas Vokoun and Brent Johnson were in the creases to start the game. Mark Letestu opened the scoring for Pittsburgh with his seventh of the year, from Tyler Kennedy and Chris Connor. Stephen Weiss tied it up with his ninth of the year for the Panthers, assisted by Michael Frolik and Mike Weaver. The Penguins regained the lead with Sidney Crosby notching his 28th of the season, assisted by Chris Kunitz and the goalie Brent Johnson. Pittsburgh took a 3-1 lead when Matt Cooke netted his seventh of the year from Max Talbot and Evgeni Malkin. Tomas Vokoun was then replaced for Scott Clemmensen. Making it 4-1 for the Penguins was Ben Lovejoy, scoring his first of the season, unassisted. Brent Johnson came out of the game after the second period with presumably an injury, and Marc-Andre Fleury was brought in, giving up a goal to Florida's Bryan McCabe, his fifth of the season, with helpers from Bill Thomas and Darcy Hordichuk. Pascal Dupuis put the Panthers out of their misery with his eighth of the year to give Pittsburgh a 5-2 win, the empty net goal assisted by Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz. Lovejoy, Crosby, and Letestu got the three stars. Two fights occurred during the game, with Lovejoy fighting Florida's Shawn Matthias in the first period, and Hordichuk taking on Pittsburgh tough guy Michael Rupp.

The next game had the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo and Jimmy Howard were in between the pipes. The Red Wings struck first, with Danny Cleary netting his 15th of the season, assisted by Todd Bertuzzi and Brian Rafalski. Henrik Sedin tied the game early in the second period, scoring his seventh of the year for the Canucks, a power play goal assisted by Ryan Kesler and Daniel Sedin. Detroit regained the lead with a goal by Valtteri Filppula, his eighth of the year assisted by Cleary and Jonathan Ericsson. Daniel Sedin retied it for Vancouver with his 17th of the season, assisted by Kesler and Christian Ehrhoff on the power play. Late in the second period, the Canucks took their first lead with Mikael Samuelsson's seventh of the year, assisted by Henrik Sedin. Early in the third period, the Red Wings got it tied at 3 with Henrik Zetterberg's eleventh of the year, from Niklas Kronwall and Ruslan Salei. Jeff Tambellini made it 4-3 for Vancouver with his seventh of the season, assisted by Kesler, who locked up his sock trick for the night. Lidstrom tied the game at 4 for Detroit with his eighth of the season, a power play goal from Zetterberg and Rafalski. The tie lasted until Zetterberg tallied his 12th of the season and second of the night in overtime to secure the 5-4 win for the Red Wings. Assists were from Rafalski, getting his own sock trick, and Darren Helm. Zetterberg, Kesler, and Cleary were the three stars.

Lastly was the Chicago Blackhawks hosting the Nashville Predators. Anders Lindback and Corey Crawford were given the starting nods. Dave Bolland opened the scoring with his fourth of the year, with Fernando Pisani assisting to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Jack Skille extended the lead to 2-0 with his fifth of the season, a power play goal from Bolland and Duncan Keith. Skille added an even strength goal in the third period, assisted by Jake Dowell and Duncan Keith, good for his sixth of the year and second of the night. Giving Nashville a sign of life was Sergei Kostitsyn, potting his sixth of the year while the Predators were a man up, with help from Martin Erat and Ryan Suter. Bryan Bickell put it away for the Blackhawks, potting his tenth of the year with help from Jassen Cullimore to bring the final score to 4-1 Chicago. Skille, Bolland, and Corey Crawford (24 for 25 saves) got the three stars.

That's all there was for Wednesday. I'm sorry I've been behind on these, and I hope to get Thursday Night Football coverage out today, along with yesterday's hockey. Thanks for the patience.