New Year's hockey

Pulling out another blog of hockey semi-live. There are seven games today, highlighted by the Winter Classic (see the fifth game paragraph). It starts off in...

Carolina, where the Hurricanes host the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Cam Ward started in net for the game. Carolina opened the scoring with Tuomo Ruutu's ninth of the year, assisted by by Joe Corvo on the power play. Jeff Skinner made it 2-0 for the Hurricanes with his tenth of the season, with help from Tim Gleason and Chad LaRose. Extending the lead farther was Sergei Samsonov potting his seventh of the year, from Corvo and Jamie McBain on the power play, chasing away New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur in favor of Johan Hedberg. Zac Dalpe made it 4-0 for the 'Canes with his first of the season, assisted by Ruutu and McBain. Rod Pelley got the Devils on the board finally with his second of the campaign, assisted by Matthew Corrente and Anssi Salmela. New Jersey made it 4-2 with Travis Zajac striking early in the second period, with help from Patrik Elias and Anton Volchenkov. Samsonov answered with his eighth of the year and second of the night, helped along by Ruutu and Eric Staal on the power play. The Devils cut the lead to two goals again at 5-3 with Elias netting his eighth of the season, from Corrente. Skinner answered with his second of the night and eleventh of the campaign, with help from LaRose and Ruutu, the latter finishing up a sock trick. The 6-3 score favoring Carolina over New Jersey was the final, with Ruutu, Samsonov, and Skinner grabbing the three stars.

Heading north for an All-Canada match, with the Ottawa Senators hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Brian Elliott played in goal. Toronto opened the scoring with Clarke MacArthur scoring his tenth of the year, assisted by Tomas Kaberle. Tyler Bozak netted two in a row for the Maple Leafs, his sixth and seventh of the season, both from Joey Crabb and Phil Kessel. Brian Elliott was lifted for Mike Brodeur in the Ottawa goal. Matt Carkner tried to change the pace for Ottawa by dropping the gloves with Colton Orr while down 3-0. It did little good, as it became 4-0 in the second period with Darryl Boyce scoring his first of the year, assisted by Kris Versteeg and Colby Armstrong. Luke Schenn extended the lead farther with his second of the season, helped along by Kaberla and Nikolai Kulemin. The Senators finally got on the board with a power play goal from Sergei Gonchar, his fifth tally of the year made possible by Erik Karlsson and Daniel Alfredsson. Toronto held on through the scoreless third period to beat their rivals from Ottawa 5-1. Bozak, Crabb, and Schenn picked up the three stars.

Back into the states, with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Boston Bruins. Tuukka Rask and Ryan Miller got the starting nods. The scoring started early on with Andrew Ference potting his second of the year for Boston, with Adam McQuaid and Marc Savard picking up the helpers. Thirty-seven seconds later, the game was tied after Jason Pominville sank his seventh of the season, from Thomas Vanek and Mike Weber. The Bruins retook the lead forty-three seconds after that with Dennis Seidenberg netting his second of the campaign, unassisted. They took a 3-1 lead with a goal by Brad Marchand, his sixth, with help from Johnny Boychuk and Mark Recchi. Cody McCormick and Adam McQuaid dropped the gloves mid-period to set a tone. It inspired Buffalo, specifically Vanek, who notched his 14th of the year, thanks to Tim Connolly and Pominville. Thirty second later, the Bruins had an answer in a shorthanded goal by Zdeno Chara, his fifth of the year coming from Patrice Bergeron and Recchi. Drew Stafford added two in a row, with his eleventh of the year in the first period going unassisted, enough to chase away Tuukka Rask in favor of Tim Thomas, and his 12th of the season coming in the second period thanks to Paul Gaustad. This tied the game at 4, and the Sabres took the lead on Pominville's second of the night and eighth of the year, assisted by Andrej Sekera and Jochen Hecht on the power play. Boston rookie Tyler Seguin tied the game at 5 with his early third period goal, the sixth for him this season, with help from Daniel Paille. Boston retook the lead with Steve Kampfer notching his second of the season, assisted by Seguin and Chara. Stafford completed his hat trick for Buffalo to send it to overtime with twenty-eight seconds left in regulation, his 13th of the year coming from Connolly and Pominville at an opportune time for the Sabres. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Stafford scored, was answered by Michael Ryder, followed up by Vanek netting a goal, answered again with Seguin scoring, and once more the Sabres took the lead with Tyler Ennis, and winning 7-6 on the miss by Chara. Picking up the three stars in the Sabres victory over the Bruins were Stafford, Pominville, and Seguin.

Next on the list, the Tampa Bay Lightning host the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Cedrick Desjardins were in the paint. Tampa Bay struck first with Dana Tyrell netting his fourth of the season, courtesy of Nate Thompson. It was 1-0 Lightning until late in the third period, with a timely goal by New York's Marian Gaborik, his eleventh of the season, assisted by Dan Girardi. The Rangers would fall in the ensuing overtime, however, as Thompson netted his sixth of the year for the Bolts, from Tyrell and Mike Lundin to win it 2-1. Earning the three stars were winning goalie Cedrick Desjardins (34 of 35 saves), losing goalie Henrik Lundqvist (31 of 33 saves), and Nate Thompson.

The Main Event of New Year's Day will go here, in full neon green color, as the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Washington Capitals on the Heinz Field rink outside at the home of the Steelers. Semyon Varlamov and Marc-Andre Fleury earned the starts in this prestigious game. The first period was uneventful, save for a John Erskine of Washington and Michael Rupp of Pittsburgh fight. The second period featured more of what we like to see, scoring, opened up by the Penguins' Evgeni Malkin, who scored his 14th of the year thanks to Kris Letang and the goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Mike Knuble answered for the Capitals with his ninth of the season, a power play goal from Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green. Eric Fehr extended the Washington lead with his sixth of the season, helped along by Marcus Johansson. Fehr extended the lead with his seventh of the season, also his second of the night, from Jason Chimera and John Erskine, which led to the Capitals 3-1 win over the Penguins outdoors. Varlamov (32 for 33 saves), Fehr, and Malkin earned the three stars.

Heading out west for the Los Angeles Kings hosting the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center. Your goalies for this game are Antti Niemi and Jonathan Quick. After going nearly two periods scoreless, Devin Setoguchi got San Jose on the board with his seventh of the season, from Kent Huskins and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. This would prove to be the final, and the three stars went to winning goalie Antti Niemi (29 save shutout), Setoguchi, and losing goalie Jonathan Quick (18 of 19 saves).

Lastly, in the battle of Alberta, the Edmonton Oilers host the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Nikolai Khabibulin are in between the pipes. Tim Jackman put Calgary up first, his fifth of the season being helped along by David Moss and Jay Bouwmeester. Edmonton evened the score with Ryan Jones' ninth of the year, assisted by Tom Gilbert and Dustin Penner. The Flames retook the lead on Mark Giordano's fourth of the season, with Alex Tanguay and Olli Jokinen getting the helpers. Calgary would hold onto the 2-1 win and defeat their vicious rivals at the enemy rink. Giordano, losing goalie Khabibulin (28 for 30 saves), and Bouwmeester were the three stars.

Busy day on Sunday, with all football being played today. That will be spread over three posts. I'll try to put out the hockey post as well. Also, last minute hockey news, as the New York Islanders have traded ageless Dwayne Roloson to the Tampa Bay Lightning for minor league defenseman Ty Wishart.

New Year's Eve hockey

This post will sound a little different, as the scores should come in as they happen. There are nine games tonight, the last day of 2010. Someone getting a new address to start the new year is Maxim Lapierre, who was traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Anaheim Ducks for AHL defenseman Brett Festerling and a 2012 fifth round pick, obviously showing what the Canadiens thought of their resident pest. Meanwhile, with game action, we start off with...

The New Jersey Devils hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Chris Mason and Johan Hedberg get the starts in a backup battle. Opening the scoring early for New Jersey was Mark Fayne, potting his second of the year thanks to Jason Arnott. Jamie Langenbrunner made it 2-0 for the Devils in the early second period, with Arnott picking up the helper again. Chris Thorburn of the Thrashers and Fayne of the Devils dropped the gloves in the second period. Dustin Byfuglien got Atlanta back into the game with his 15th of the season, from Alex Burmistrov and Anthony Stewart, but was answered by Ilya Kovalchuk netting his ninth of the year, unassisted. The Devils cruised to a 3-1 victory. Hedberg (28 for 29 saves), Langenbrunner, and Arnott earned the three stars.

Next up was the Montreal Canadiens continuing their travels to the Florida Panthers. In net were Alex Auld and Tomas Vokoun. The teams went scoreless through the first, and Florida came out strong in the second period. Stephen Weiss scored his eleventh of the year twenty-eight seconds in, assisted by Chris Higgins and Dennis Wideman. Following it up for the Panthers was Dmitry Kulikov potting his third of the season, from Mike Santorelli and David Booth. Montreal responded with James Wisniewski scoring his fourth of the year, and his first since coming over from the New York Islanders, with assists provided by Roman Hamrlik and Scott Gomez on the power play. The Canadiens converted another power play with a goal by Brian Gionta, his 13 marker of the season, assisted by Gomez and Wisniewski. Wisniewski ended things in overtime after the scoreless third period, notching his second of the night and fifth of the year with help from Michael Cammalleri and Tomas Plekanec, giving the Canadiens a 3-2 victory over Florida. Wisniewski, losing goalie Vokoun (45 for 48 saves), and Gomez earned the three stars honors.

Third on the list, the Minnesota Wild host the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Niklas Backstrom started in front of the cages. Nashville struck first as Cody Franson netted his fifth of the year from Shane O'Brien and David Legwand. Patric Hornqvist extended the Predator lead with his ninth of the season, assisted by Shea Weber and J.P. Dumont. Minnesota got on the board late in the third period with a goal by Chuck Kobasew, his sixth of the year, from Martin Havlat and Matt Cullen. Joel Ward made it 3-1 Nashville with his empty net goal, unassisted as his fourth of the season. Sergei Kostitsyn topped it off with another empty netter, giving the Predators a 4-1 win over the Wild with his seventh of the year, from Legwand and Weber. Franson, Rinne (22 of 23 saves), and Mikko Koivu earned the three stars.

Heading to Hockeytown, where the Detroit Red Wings hosted the New York Islanders. Dwayne Roloson and Jimmy Howard tended the twine in the game. Johan Franzen opened the scoring with his 17th of the year, giving the Red Wings a 1-0 lead, with Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom earning the assists. Matt Moulson evened it up for the Islanders with his 12th of the season, assisted by Andrew MacDonald and John Tavares on the power play. Tavares later picked up his eleventh of the season, courtesy of Bruno Gervais and Zenon Konopka, with three seconds left in the first period. Jesse Joensuu made it 3-1 for New York with his third of the season, assisted by Milan Jurcina and Matt Martin. Valtteri Filppula cut the lead down for Detroit with his ninth of the campaign, with help from Darren Helm and Nicklas Lidstrom. In the third period, Tomas Tatar recorded his first of the season, with help from Helm and Rafalski to even the score at 3 for the Red Wings. The tie lasted into overtime, where P.A. Parenteau won it for the Islanders on his ninth of the year, a power play goal from Tavares and MacDonald. Roloson (38 of 41 saves), Tavares, and Helm picked up the three stars.

A little farther south, the Columbus Blue Jackets hosted the Ottawa Senators. Brian Elliott and Steve Mason got the starting nods. R.J. Umberger put Columbus up first, netting his 12th of the year, courtesy of Fedor Tyutin and Jakub Voracek. The Blue Jackets extended their lead with Samuel Pahlsson's third of the year, helped along by Chris Clark. Rick Nash extended the lead to 3-0 with his 18th of the season, thanks to Kristian Huselius and Antoine Vermette. Mike Fisher got Ottawa on the board with his eleventh of the season late in the second period, an unassisted goal. Nick Foligno cut the lead to 3-2 for the Senators with his fifth of the season, from Jesse Winchester and Chris Neil. Daniel Alfredsson tied it late in the third period with his 12th of the year, made possible by Milan Michalek and Alex Kovalev. The tie was broken in overtime by Voracek, who potted his seventh of the year, requiring no assistance. Voracek, Nash, and Umberger were the three stars.

Heading well out west, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Jonas Hiller were in net for the game. Jason Blake opened the scoring for Anaheim with his seventh of the year, from Toni Lydman and goalie Jonas Hiller. Fighting in the first period was the Ducks' Kyle Chipchura and the Flyers' Dan Carcillo. Lubomir Visnovsky extended the Ducks lead to 2-0 with his sixth of the season in the second period, assisted by Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu. Blake added another goal, his eighth of the campaign and second of the game, with help from Joffery Lupul and Koivu on the power play. Philadelphia got on the board with Andreas Nodl's ninth of the season, from Matt Carle and Jeff Carter, who made it 3-2 for the Flyers with his unassisted 16th of the year. Bobby Ryan registered his 15th of the year for the Ducks to take the score to 4-2, with help from Lydman and Corey Perry. Visnovsky struck again with his second of the night and seventh of the season, helped along by Selanne and Brandon McMillan to make it 5-2 for Anaheim. This was the final, with Blake, Visnovsky, and Koivu earning three stars status.

Back east into Texas, where the Dallas Stars hosted the Vancouver Canucks. In goal were Cory Schneider and Kari Lethonen. Daniel Sedin drew first blood for Vancouver, potting his 20th of the year with help from Henrik Sedin and Christian Ehrhoff on the power play. Raffi Torres made it 2-0 for the Canucks with his eleventh of the season, from Jannik Hansen and Kevin Bieksa. Henrik Sedin extended the lead farther in the second period with his power play goal, the ninth tally for his season, from Alexander Edler and Daniel Sedin. Bieksa added his fourth of the year into the mix as well, another power play goal made possible by Dan Hamhuis and Manny Malhotra. This chased away Kari Lethonen in favor of Andrew Raycroft. Brenden Morrow got Dallas on the board by netting his 14th of the year, a power play goal assisted by Mike Ribeiro and Loui Eriksson. The Canucks cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Stars, with Cory Schneider (44 for 45 saves), Henrik Sedin, and Daniel Sedin grabbing the three stars.

Moving north a bit to St. Louis, where the Blues hosted the Phoenix Coyotes. Ilya Bryzgalov and Jaroslav Halak were in between the pipes for their respective teams. St. Louis struck first on the stick of Brad Boyes, who scored his ninth of the year in the first period, with help from Alex Steen and Barret Jackman. The Blues made it 2-0 with Erik Johnson's shorthanded goal, his third tally of the year, from David Backes and Jackman. Alex Pietrangelo extended the lead to 3-0 with his fifth of the year, courtesy of Carlo Colaiacovo and Patrik Berglund on the power play. Steen made it 4-0 for the Blues in the third period with his 12th of the year, unassisted. Shane Down finally got Phoenix on the board with his eighth of the season, made possible by Eric Belanger and Scottie Upshall. The Coyotes struck again with Lauri Korpikoski potting his ninth of the campaign, with help from Keith Yandle and Derek Morris. Doan made it a one goal game with his second of the night and ninth of the season, from Adrian Aucoin with twenty-one seconds left in the game. Phoenix could not get the equalizer, and fell 4-3 to St. Louis. Halak (30 for 33 saves), Steen, and Jackman were the three stars.

Lastly, the Calgary Flames hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Craig Anderson and Miikka Kiprusoff guarded the cages. The first period went by soundlessly, and the Calgary drew the first blood with Tom Kostopoulos notching his fourth of the year, thanks to Tim Jackman and Mark Giordano. Jarome Iginla made it 2-0 for the Flames with his 16th of the season, from Alex Tanguay and Olli Jokinen. Jackman netted his fourth of the year to make it 3-0, with Kostopoulos and Anton Babchuk picking up the helpers. Daniel Winnik got Colorado on the board in the third period with his sixth of the year, a shorthanded goal assisted on by Ryan O'Reilly. Tomas Fleischmann made it a one goal game for the Avalanche with his eleventh of the year, courtesy of Matt Duchene. Calgary hung on for the 3-2 victory over Colorado, with Jackman, Kostopoulos, and Winnik getting the three stars.

That's all the hockey we have for this year, we'll see you next year on the blog.

Thursday NHL recap

Once again, there were six games of hockey being played. However, I will take the time here to go to college football and congratulate the University of Washington Huskies on their Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska. Bringing pride to the locals. As for hockey, it started off in...

Toronto, with the Maple Leafs hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Jonas Gustavsson were in net for the game. The Maple Leafs struck first with Nikolai Kulemin scoring his 13th of the year, assisted by Clarke MacArthur and Darryl Boyce. Kristian Huselius tied it for the Blue Jackets with his seventh of the year, from Jan Hejda and Antoine Vermette. Tyler Bozak gave Toronto the lead back with a power play goal late in the first period, assisted by Phil Kessel as his fifth of the season. Huselius retied it in the second period with his second of the night and eighth of the campaign, from Rick Nash and Vermette. Columbus took the lead in the third period with R.J. Umberger scoring his eleventh of the year, a power play goal from Nash and Kris Russell. The Blue Jackets would hold on to defeat the Maple Leafs 3-2. Huselius, Nash, and Kulemin picked up the three stars.

Heading far south, to Atlanta, where the Thrashers hosted the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Ondrej Pavelec were in between the pipes. Tobias Enstrom got Atlanta up first with a power play goal, his sixth tally of the season, assisted by Dustin Byfuglien and Niclas Bergfors. Patrice Bergeron tied the game for Boston with his eighth of the season, which was unassisted. The Bruins took the lead in the second period on a goal by Blake Wheeler, his ninth of the season, from David Krejci. Enstrom put the Thrashers back into a tie with his seventh of the year and second of the night, another power play goal this time going unassisted. The tie would last through until the shootout, where goals by Atlanta's Bryan Little and Tim Stapleton and misses by Boston's Blake Wheeler and Tyler Seguin clinched a Thrasher victory of 3-2. Enstrom, Pavelec (42 of 44 saves), and Little earned the three stars.

Next up was the Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price and Cedrick Desjardins played in goal, with the latter making his first NHL start. Max Pacioretty opened the scoring for Montreal with his second of the year, helped along by Scott Gomez. Tampa Bay tied it in the second period with a goal by Martin St. Louis, his 16th of the season made possible by Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos on the power play. The Lightning took the lead on Pavel Kubina's second of the season, from St. Louis and Stamkos. Stamkos added two goals of his own in the third period, his 30th and 31st of the year, with the first coming on a penalty shot thanks to Roman Hamrlik's hooking penalty, and the second from Ryan Malone and Victor Hedman. Tampa Bay would cruise to a 4-1 victory over the Canadiens.

Heading to Chicago next, with the Blackhawks hosting the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Marty Turco got the starts. Patrick Sharp scored first for the Blackhawks, his 21st of the year coming on the power play from Tomas Kopecky and Brent Seabrook. The Sharks tied it with Scott Nichol notching his fourth of the season, assisted by Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Benn Ferriero gave San Jose the lead with his fourth of the year, a power play goal courtesy of Logan Couture and Dan Boyle. They extended the lead with another power play goal, this time from the stick of Dany Heatley, his 15th tally of the season made possible by Jason Demers and Boyle. Troy Brouwer sent Chicago back in the right direction with his tenth of the year, assisted by Patrick Kane and Sharp on the power play. Twenty-two seconds later, the game was tied at 3 with a goal by Brian Campbell, his second of the campaign, with help from Dave Bolland and Bryan Bickell with just one second left in the second period. San Jose came back in the third period with a Joe Thornton goal, his tenth of the year, assisted by Vlasic and Heatley to give them a 4-3 lead. Ryane Clowe finished it for the Sharks with his empty net goal, the tenth of his season, unassisted. Thornton, Sharp, and Boyle picked up the three stars honors.

Following that was the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Colorado Avalanche. Craig Anderson and Devan Dubnyk were the starters. T.J. Galiardi opened things up for Colorado early, registering his seventh of the year, from Paul Stastny and Ryan Wilson. Stastny scored the next one for the Avalanche, his 14th of the season, assisted by David Jones and Galiardi. Making it 3-0 was Tomas Fleischmann, who potted his tenth of the year, thanks to Matt Duchene. Edmonton got their crap together and started scoring in the second period, with Taylor Hall's 12th of the year leading the way, assisted by Sam Gagner and Kurtis Foster. Ales Hemsky scored in the third period to make it a one goal deficit for the Oilers, his eighth of the year finding mesh with help from Andrew Cogliano and Dustin Penner. Cogliano tied it with his fourth of the season, from Hemsky and Penner. The tie lasted into a shootout, where the Avalanche won on the lone goal by Milan Hejduk. Stastny, Hemsky, and Galiardi were the recipients of the three stars.

Finally, the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Michael Leighton and Jonathan Bernier were in the paint for the start. Ryan Smyth started the scoring, giving Los Angeles a 1-0 lead with his 13th of the year, helped along by Rob Scuderi and Jarret Stoll. Philadelphia tied it on Danny Briere's 18th of the season, assisted by Mike Richards and Matt Carle. Justin Williams took the lead back for the Kings, notching his 15th of the year thanks to Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar. The Flyers tied it again with Richards netting his 12th on the year, courtesy of Claude Giroux and Sean O'Donnell. Scott Hartnell gave the black and orange the 3-2 lead with his ninth of the campaign, assisted by Giroux and Darroll Powe. Richards extended the lead with his 13th of the season and second of the night, from James van Riemsdyk and Briere. Jack Johnson tried to start another rally with his fourth of the year for the Kings, an unassisted power play goal. Philadelphia got back to scoring with Jeff Carter's 15th of the season, a power play goal from Richards and Giroux, the latter completing a sock trick. Van Riemsdyk made it 6-3 with his eighth of the year, also a power play goal, and unassisted. Los Angeles made it 6-4 with Smyth's 14th of the season and second of the night, assisted by Stoll and Doughty. Ville Leino capped it off for the Flyers in the third period with his ninth of the year, assisted by Carter and Andreas Nodl. Philadelphia cruised from there to a 7-4 victory over Los Angeles. Richards, Giroux, and Smyth were the three stars.

There are nine New Year's Eve hockey games on, and I'll try to have that post out tonight. I am going to attempt to do it as scores come. Also, for those planning on watching tomorrow's Winter Classic, it has been postponed to 8 P.M. Eastern, 5 Pacific.

NHL recap 12/29

Wednesday brought us six games as we close down on 2010 and get ready for 2011. They started in...

New Jersey, with the Devils hosting the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur were in between the pipes. Travis Zajac got the Devils on the board first with his fifth of the year, assisted by Mattias Tedenby and Ilya Kovalchuk. Forty-seven seconds later, Brian Boyle put the Rangers in a tie with his 14th of the year, from Ruslan Fedotenko and Brandon Prust. Michal Rozsival gave New York the lead with his third of the year, helped along by Brandon Dubinsky and Derek Stepan. Dubinsky put the game away with six seconds left in the third, potting his 16th of the season, with help from Artem Anisimov on the empty netter to give the Rangers a 3-1 win over New Jersey. Lundqvist (43 for 44 saves), Rozsival, and Brodeur (23 for 25 saves) were the three stars recipients. Dropping the gloves in the second period were Dainius Zubrus and Brian Boyle.

Staying in the Tri-State area, the New York Islanders hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Rick DiPietro picked up the starts. After going scoreless in the first period, Josh Bailey scored his sixth of the year to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead early in the second period. Travis Hamonic picked up the lone assist. The Penguins tied it on Chris Connor's fourth of the year, from Tyler Kennedy. The tie would be preserved until a shootout. Rob Schremp and Kris Letang traded barbs in the first round, Frans Nielsen put New York ahead in round two, but was answered by Evgeni Malkin in the third. P.A. Parenteau ended up saving the Islanders with his goal and the subsequent miss from Mark Letestu, giving the Islanders the 2-1 win over Pittsburgh. DiPietro (37 of 38 saves), Bailey, and Fleury (25 of 26 saves) earned the three stars.

Next up, the Ottawa Senators hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Brian Elliott were the starters. Carolina got out hot in the first period, with Zach Boychuk scoring his first and second of the season, with help from Pat Dwyer and Joe Corvo on the first, and Tuomo Ruutu on the latter power play goal. The Hurricanes extended their lead with Erik Cole's eighth of the year in the second period, which was unassisted, as was Dwyer's seventh of the campaign in the third period. Carolina took down the Senators 4-0. Ward (37 save shutout), Boychuk, and Jesse Winchester of the Senators earned the three stars.

Heading into the state of hockey, where the Minnesota Wild hosted the San Jose Sharks. Antero Niittymaki and Niklas Backstrom were the masked men. Minnesota opened the scoring as Kyle Brodziak scored his seventh of the year, a power play goal from Martin Havlat and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. San Jose answered with Joe Thornton potting his ninth of the season, also a power play goal, courtesy of Ryane Clowe and Dan Boyle. The Sharks took the lead in the second period on Devin Setoguchi's sixth of the season, assisted by Clowe and Logan Couture. Mikko Koivu retied the game for the Wild with his ninth of the year, made possible by Andrew Brunette and Antti Miettinen. San Jose took the lead back with Patrick Marleau's 14th of the season, a power play goal helped along by Thornton and Dany Heatley. Minnesota put themselves into a 3-3 tie with Chuck Kobasew potting his fifth of the season, assisted by Nick Schultz and John Madden. Brent Burns gave them the lead with his eleventh of the year, an unassisted goal. Brodziak made it 5-3 with his eighth of the year and second of the night, from Havlat and Burns, and that margin proved to be the final later. Brodziak, Koivu, and Burns were the night's three stars.

Moving along to Dallas, where the Stars hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Kari Lethonen were in the paint for the game. Jiri Hudler opened the scoring with his third of the year for Detroit, a power play goal from Todd Bertuzzi and Nicklas Lidstrom. Brad Richards evened it for Dallas with his 17th of the year, from Loui Eriksson and Trevor Daley. They took the lead on Mark Fistric's second of the season, assisted by Brenden Morrow and Jamie Benn. The Stars led 3-1 with Benn potting his ninth of the year, thanks to Mike Ribeiro. The Dallas goals came within 1:14 of each other. Detroit finally answered back, as Lidstrom netted his eleventh of the season, assisted by Valtteri Filppula and Betuzzi. Patrick Eaves put the Red Wings back into a tie with his ninth of the campaign, with help from Johan Franzen and Brian Rafalski on the power play. Detroit continued the scoring trend in the third period, with Brad Stuart registering his third of the season, thanks to Hudler and Drew Miller. Giving the Wings a 5-3 lead was Kris Draper, netting his second of the year with help from Eaves and Darren Helm. Eaves scored his second of the night and tenth of the year with assistance from Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg. Eaves then completed the hat trick with a long range shot into an empty net for his eleventh of the season, made possible by Jonathan Ericsson and the goalie Jimmy Howard. The Red Wings would topple the Stars 7-3, with Eaves, Benn, and Lidstrom earning the three stars in a scoring fest.

Finally, the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Ilya Bryzgalov played in front of the nets, with Bryzgalov returning from injury. The Coyotes scored first, as Shane Doan scored his sixth of the year, from Scottie Upshall and Ed Jovanovski. The Kings answered with Brad Richardson scoring his sixth as well, with help from Anze Kopitar and Kevin Westgarth. Phoenix took the lead back on Ray Whitney's sixth of the season, from Keith Yandle and Lauri Korpikoski. Ryan Smyth tied it again for Los Angeles with his 12th of the campaign, a power play goal from Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson. Upshall took the lead back for the Coyotes with his ninth of the year, from Doan and Yandle. Brett MacLean extended the Phoenix lead to 4-2 with his first of the year, assisted by Upshall and Adrian Aucoin on the power play. Marco Sturm capped off the seven goal first period with his second of the year, assisted by Kopitar to keep the Kings within striking distance. Doan potted his second of the night and seventh of the year in the second period, a power play goal requiring assistance from Whitney and Yandle, who completed a sock trick. Kyle Turris made it 6-3 for Phoenix, notching his sixth of the year, unassisted. This would prove to be the final through the quiet third period, with the Coyotes toppling their division rivals. Earning the three stars were Upshall, Yandle, and Doan. Fighting in the second period were Kevin Westgarth of Los Angeles and Paul Bissonnette of Phoenix.

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.

Fantasy Football Championship All-Stars

As the games were played, many fantasy owners competing in this week's general consensus grand finale were meticulously watching the games affecting their glorious hopes. The week had games on 5 different days, including the extension of drama to Tuesday night where fantasy powerhouse Michael Vick tried to give his owners their final push. Here's whose most likely to have helped you win your league.

Quarterbacks: Aaron Rodgers and Josh Freeman
Running Backs: Jamaal Charles and Matt Forte
Wide Receivers: Jerome Simpson (0% owned in Yahoo! formats) and Dwayne Bowe.
Tight Ends: Kellen Winslow and Rob Gronkowski
Kickers: Sebastian Janikowski and the Bionic Foot and Neil Rackers

I personally, out of 18 teams managed alone eligible for glory this week had three winners, four second place, and two third place with two teams next week going, one for all the glory and another for third place. Look for the last edition of this post for the season to come out next week.

Tuesday Football make-up (Tuesday say what?)

Making up the originally scheduled Sunday Night game that was postponed due to suspected heavy snowfall in Philadelphia, the Eagles hosted the Minnesota Mother Nature's Wrath, or as they are more commonly known, the Vikings. Michael Vick got Philadelphia up first in the opening quarter with a 3 yard touchdown pass to Clay Harbor, and David Akers kicked the extra point. Losing his grip on the ball, a Vick fumble recovered by Viking Antoine Winfield was taken back 45 yards for the touchdown, with Ryan Longwell providing the tying extra point. Longwell added a 30 yard field goal and an extra point on the Joe Webb 9 yard touchdown rush in the third quarter, giving Minnesota a 17-7 lead. Vick attempted to rally the troops by running into the end zone from 10 yards out, and Akers made it a 3 point game with his point after. However, the Vikings had a different plan, letting Adrian Peterson put the nail in the Eagles' hopes of winning the game with his 1 yard touchdown run capped off with Longwell's extra point. The 24-14 Vikings win improved them to 6-9, and dropped Philadelphia to 10-5.

This concludes this post. In just a few minutes, the Fantasy Football Championship Week All-Stars will be out.

Monday NHL Recap

One of the nice things about being so far behind is that you get to make trades sound like they happened earlier than they actually did, with James Wisniewski being traded from the New York Islanders to the Montreal Canadiens. After acquiring him in the offseason for a conditional third round draft pick, the Isles shipped him off in return for a second round pick in 2011 and fifth round pick in 2012. Way to make the management look serviceable. Also of news this Tuesday, Calgary Flames general manager and executive vice president Darryl Sutter has stepped down, being replaced by former assistant general manager Jay Feaster in the general manager role. As for the six Monday games, we start with...

The New York Islanders visiting the New York Rangers. Dwayne Roloson and Henrik Lundqvist were in between the pipes for the game. Matt Gilroy and the Rangers struck early with his first of the season, assisted by Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky. The Islanders answered back with a Rob Schremp goal, assisted by James Wisniewski (his final point in this stint with the Islanders) and Blake Comeau. It was Schremp's seventh of the year. P.A. Parenteau gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead with his eighth of the season, from Matt Moulson and John Tavares. The Rangers tied the game late in the first period with Marian Gaborik scoring his tenth of the year, with help from Marc Staal and Derek Stepan on the power play. Gilroy potted his second of the night and the year in the second period, with help from Brian Boyle. Boyle would make it 4-2 with his 13th of the year, assisted by Michal Rozsival. Dubinsky would continue the Rangers scoring surge in the third period with his 15th of the year, assisted by Artem Anisimov and Drury. Ruslan Fedotenko made it 6-2 with his seventh of the year, courtesy of Brandon Prust and Boyle. Stepan registered what would be the last goal of the game, which was his eleventh of the year, helped along by Gaborik and Mats Zuccarello on the power play. The Rangers beat their archrivals 7-2. Gilroy, Boyle, and Dubinsky earned the three stars.

Heading down to Florida, where the Panthers hosted trading partners of the offseason, the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Scott Clemmensen played in goal for the game. The first period was scoreless, and The Panthers got on the board first with David Booth potting his ninth of the season, from Michael Frolik. The Bruins answered back with David Krejci scoring his sixth of the season, assisted by Michael Ryder and Zdeno Chara. Florida answered back later in the second period with Mike Santorelli scoring his tenth of the season, assisted by Frolik and Bryan Allen. Krejci retied the game for Boston in the third period with his seventh of the year and second of the night, assisted by Blake Wheeler and Ryder. The 2-2 tie lasted until a shootout was needed, with Wheeler's lone goal in the skills competition being the factor, earning him a star alongside Krejci and Thomas (32 for 34 saves).

Heading west a bit, with the Columbus Blue Jackets hosting the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Steve Mason were delegated to the starting job. Chuck Kobasew gave Minnesota an early first period lead with his fourth of the year, assisted by Nick Schultz and Brad Staubitz. Columbus tied the game in the second period with Derick Brassard scoring his ninth of the season, assisted by Kristian Huselius and Rick Nash. The Wild retook the lead later when Mikko Koivu potted his eighth of the year with two seconds left in the second period, with Antti Miettinen and Marek Zidlicky picking up the helpers. Fedor Tyutin scored his second of the year to get the Blue Jackets in a 2-2 tie in the third period, thanks to Jared Boll and Rick Nash. Forty-one seconds later, Columbus had a 3-2 lead after Andrew Murray netted his second of the season, from Marc Methot and Samuel Pahlsson. Minnesota would tie it up with the tenth goal of the season by Cal Clutterbuck, with help from Zidlicky and Kobasew. The game would require a shootout, where Nash and Kyle Wilson put Columbus up early, Pierre-Marc Bouchard answered to give the shootout tally a 2-1 Blue Jackets advantage, but Huselius put it away, giving the Blue Jackets a 4-3 win over the Wild. Steve Mason (37 for 40 saves), Nash, and Huselius earned the three stars. In the fighting category, Boll and Staubitz had a first period dance, with Staubitz coming back for more in the third period, dueling with Tom Sestito.

Next up we have the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Chris Osgood and Peter Budaj were the goalies for the game. Colorado opened the scoring in the first period with a goal by Matt Duchene, his 14th of the year, assisted by Tomas Fleischmann and Milan Hejduk. Detroit answered with a power play goal by Jiri Hudler, his second tally of the season, with help from Valtteri Filppula and Nicklas Lidstrom. The Avalanche retook the lead with T.J. Galiardi scoring his sixth of the campaign, and David Jones and Adam Foote picked up the helpers. The Red Wings scored another power play goal courtesy of Johan Franzen, his 16th marker of the year, assisted by Lidstrom and Niklas Kronwall. After going scoreless through the second period, the Red Wings would return to the scoresheet with Lidstrom potting his tenth of the season, a power play goal from Hudler and Todd Bertuzzi. Duchene put the game into a 3-3 tie for the Avalanche with his second of the night and 15th of the season, assisted by Paul Stastny and John-Michael Liles on the power play. The tie would last until Detroit's Kronwall broke it in overtime, notching a power play goal from Henrik Zetterberg and Lidstrom to win the game. The goal was his eighth of the year. Detroit would beat Colorado 4-3, with Osgood (46 of 49 saves and 400th career victory), Kronwall, and Duchene grabbing the three stars.

Next up was the Calgary Flames hosting the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Miikka Kiprusoff were the men tending the twine. Drew Stafford and Buffalo struck first with his tenth of the year, from Jason Pominville and Andrej Sekera. Calgary answered in the second period with Olli Jokinen potting his eighth of the year, from Alex Tanguay and Robyn Regehr. Jarome Iginla gave the Flames their first lead of the game with his 15th of the season, assisted by Tanguay and Jokinen. Extending the lead in the third period was Ales Kotalik, whose first of the year made it 3-1 with help from Anton Babchuk. Calgary scored again, with David Moss sneaking his fourth of the year past Ryan Miller, assisted by Tim Jackman. Patrick Kaleta netted his fourth for the Sabres, with Jochen Hecht and Mike Weber picking up the helpers. Tom Kostopoulos made it 5-2 for Calgary in the final second, his third of the year coming on the man advantage from Adam Pardy and David Moss. Iginla, Cory Sarich, and Jokinen earned the three stars.

Lastly, we have the San Jose Sharks hosting their rivals from the south, the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Antti Niemi picked up the starts. The game was uneventful through two periods, save for a Brad Richardson of the Kings and Scott Nichol of the Sharks bout in the second period. Los Angeles did wake up in the third period, with Trevor Lewis scoring his second of the campaign from Richardson. Marco Sturm extended the lead with his first of the season, courtesy of Anze Kopitar and Matt Greene. Dustin Brown took a pair of goals to wrap up the scoring, his 15th and 16th of the years for the Kings, from Drew Doughty and Kopitar first and Kopitar again for his sock trick and Jack Johnson. Quick's 24 save 4-0 shutout, Brown, and Kopitar grabbed the stars for the game.

That's all for this post here. Still in ketchup mode at this point, but two posts will quickly follow this one.

Monday Night Football, week 16

This week's Monday Night game featured NFC South rivals fighting for playoff honors, as the New Orleans Saints traveled to Atlanta to face the division leading Falcons. Garrett Hartley opened the scoring for the Saints by kicking a first quarter field goal of 52 yards. New Orleans took the lead to 10-0 with Pierre Thomas running in for a touchdown of 2 yards and an extra point by Hartley. Atlanta answered with Matt Ryan passing 7 yards for the touchdown to Roddy White, and Matt Bryant providing the extra point. The Saints led the Falcons 10-7 going into halftime and throughout the scoreless third quarter. The Falcons took a lead with Chauncey Davis intercepting Drew Brees for 26 yards and the touchdown, and Bryant's extra point made it 14-10 for Atlanta. However, Brees threw one to the right team later, connecting for 6 yards with Jimmy Graham for the touchdown. Hartley was good on the point after. The Falcons could not manage a comeback, and fell 17-14 to their rivals, with the Saints jumping up to 11-4, and the Falcons falling to 12-3.

More recaps of various sports to come later.

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.

Fantasy Hockey All-Stars, week 11

Another week passed, as the now 24 game point streak Sidney Crosby has kept alive is still going. Will it be enough to give him the all-star status? We'll see below:

Center: Sidney Crosby, 4 goals, 3 assists, +4, 4 penalty minutes, 2 power play points, 25 shots on goal
Left Wing: Henrik Zetterberg, 3 goals, 4 assists, +4, 0 penalty minutes, 3 power play points, 10 shots on goal
Right Wing: Bryan Little, 1 goal, 4 assists, +4, 17 penalty minutes, 0 power play points, 7 shots on goal
Defenseman: Kris Letang, 1 goal, 3 assists, +1, 6 penalty minutes, 2 power play points, 18 shots on goal
Goalie: Dwayne Roloson, 3 wins, 0.98 goals against average, 106 saves, .972 save percentage, 0 shutouts

Those were the best players to have on your team in the last week. Approaching the middle of the season now, good luck in the second half.

Song of the Week

This week we have another song by Snow Patrol, coming off of their two disc greatest hits package, Up To Now, with the song being PPP. The lyrics are pretty simple, as the phrase "It won't be long forever girl, you gotta grab life with both hands" being repeated as the only line in the song. In the background is an equally easy strumming pattern on the guitar and repetitive drum rhythm. However, the simplicity of the song is part of what makes it so easy to listen to. Check it out, and I'll throw another of these out their next week.

Sandwich Showdown

This showdown features a Friday sub (no pun) of Spicy Italian on garlic against a Sunday Roasted Chicken Breast on Herbs & Cheese. Due to illness by the eater (a shame I'd say), neither sandwich won bonus points for being friendly. However, with the bacon add-on, the Chicken gets the advantage over its toasted Friday competitor. It really filled me up, which is rare, because I am a bottomless pit. Hopefully next week I'll be in better judging conditions.

NFL Full recap Sunday, December 26th

Since I was away for most of today, and catching up on some rest stolen from me over the holiday, I'll put out the full recap. There were 12 games today, with the Eagles/Vikings game being postponed until Tuesday due to heavy snow. We start with...

The Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Tennessee Titans. The Chiefs got two touchdown passes from Matt Cassel to Jamaal Charles in the first quarter, from 14 and 5 yards. Ryan Succop added the extra points, and also a 35 yard field goal in the second quarter to make it 17-0. Kansas City extended the lead farther, to 24-0 after Cassel hooked up with Dwayne Bowe for 75 yards, and Succop's extra point (note to Jamaal Charles: one man in a celebration leap only please). Kerry Collins and the Titans woke up with a 53 yard touchdown pass to Kenny Britt, followed by a Rob Bironas extra point. Collins gave the Chiefs a touchdown as well, throwing an interception to Eric Berry for 54 yards, followed by a Succop extra point. Making it 34-7 for Kansas City in the third quarter was Succop, who kicked a 42 yard field goal. Tennessee responded with Collins making a touchdown pass to Jared Cook for 22 yards. Bironas added the point after, and the score stood at 34-14, which lasted through the fourth quarter to be the final. Kansas City improved to 10-5, and Tennessee fell to 6-9.

The second game was the Cleveland Browns hosting the Baltmore Ravens. Cleveland opened the scoring with receiver Mohamed Massaqoui passing to Brian Robiskie for 29 yards, and Phil Dawson's extra point making it 7-0. Billy Cundiff and Baltimore answered, with Cundiff sandwiching a touchdown with field goals from 27 and 40 yards. Baltimore's touchdown was a 15 yard Joe Flacco pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh, with Cundiff adding the extra point. Dawson made it 13-10 Ravens with his field goal of 30 yards for the Browns before halftime. Flacco struck quickly in the third quarter, finding Derrick Mason for 22 yards and the touchdown, with Cundiff's extra point producing the eventual final of 20-10 Ravens. Baltimore jumped up to 11-4, and Cleveland fell to 5-10.

Continuing along to Buffalo, where the Bills hosted the red-hot New England Patriots. The Bills got the early lead with Rian Lindell's field goal of 26 yards. Danny Woodhead answered for the Patriots with a 29 yard touchdown run, followed by Shayne Graham with the extra point. Tom Brady threw a touchdown to Rob Gronkowski, good for 8 yards, with Graham adding an extra point, following it up with a field goal from 34 yards out, and the extra point on Brady's touchdown to Alge Crumpler of 4 yards. New England led 24-3 over Buffalo at halftime. Brady found Gronkowski again for 8 yards and the touchdown in the third quarter, with Graham adding the extra point once again, before kicking a 26 yard field goal in the fourth quarter, bringing the score to 34-3 Patriots, which would be the final. New England improved to 13-2, while Buffalo fell down to 4-11.

Next up was the St. Louis Rams hosting the San Francisco 49ers. The Rams got going first, with Steven Jackson breaking the goal line with a 1 yard touchdown run, followed by a Josh Brown extra point. The St. Louis defense got in on the next score, pinning 49ers quarterback Troy Smith in his own end zone for the safety to give them a 9-0 lead. San Francisco got back in action when St. Louis punted, and Ted Ginn, Jr. returned the kick from Donnie Jones for 78 yards and the touchdown, with Jeff Reed getting the extra point. Brown made it 12-7 for the Rams with his 43 yard field goal, but Troy Smith passed to Michael Crabtree for 60 yards and the touchdown, followed by Reed's extra point to make it 14-12 San Francisco at halftime. St. Louis retook the lead with another field goal by Brown, from 30 yards, and extended the lead to 22-14 with Sam Bradford's touchdown pass to Laurent Robinson for 3 yards, and Brown's point after. Reed and Brown exchanged fourth quarter field goals, with Reed good from 47 yards and Brown true from 28. The Rams would take the 49ers down 25-17, boosting themselves to 7-8, and dropping their opponents to 5-10.

Moving onto a less playoff-relevant game, but still dramatic nonetheless, where the Miami Dolphins hosted the Detroit Lions. Dave Rayner of the Lions and Dan Carpenter traded field goals, with Rayner kicking a 39 yard shot and Carpenter one-upping him with a 40 yard kick. In the second quarter, touchdowns started flying, with Shaun Hill finding Brandon Pettigrew to give Detroit a 10-3 lead after Rayner's extra point. Miami answered with a 4 yard run by Lousaka Polite for a touchdown and a Chad Henne pass Davone Bess for 13 yards. Carpenter's extra points made it 17-10 for the Dolphins going into the locker room. The Lions re-tied the game in the third quarter with a Maurice Morris 5 yard touchdown run, followed by a Rayner extra point, but the Dolphins stole the lead back with Ronnie Brown's 1 yard touchdown run, with Carpenter making it 24-17 with his extra point. Carpenter extended the lead with a fourth quarter field goal of 28 yards. Detroit, now with some catching up to do, let Hill find Jahvid Best for 53 yards, and Rayner's extra point put them within 3, which he later amended with a game-tying field goal of 47 yards. The Lions defense would bail them out with DeAndre Levy intercepting Henne for 30 yards, and Rayner providing the extra point making it 34-27 for the Lions. They would hold on to get the win, improving to 5-10, dropping the Dolphins to 7-8.

Next to last in the morning games was the Washington Redskins visiting the Jacksonville Jaguars. Washington got out to an early 10-0 first quarter lead with Graham Gano's 48 yard field goal, followed by his extra point on the Rex Grossman touchdown pass of 1 yard to Fred Davis. David Garrard got Jacksonville into the scoring game with a 19 yard touchdown to Mike Thomas, with Josh Scobee providing the extra point, and also the tying field goal in the third quarter, from 34 yards. The Redskins and Jaguars traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter, with Ryan Torain giving Washington the lead back on a 1 yard run for a score, followed by a Gano point after before Garrard took it in from 20 yards out, and Scobee providing the extra point. The tie at 17 would last into overtime until Gano notched a 31 yard field goal to win it 20-17 for the Redskins. Washington jumped up to 6-9, and Jacksonville fell to 8-7.

The morning games were wrapped up by the New York Jets visiting the Chicago Bears at a cold Soldier Field. The Bears opened the scoring with a Robbie Gould 37 yard field goal, with Gould adding the extra point on Matt Forte's 22 yard touchdown run. Chicago took a 10-0 lead into the second quarter, but the Jets woke up, with Shonn Greene running 3 yards for the score, the defense getting a 20 yard interception return in the hands of Dwight Lowery from Jay Cutler's misguided pass, and LaDainian Tomlinson running his own 3 yard touchdown in. Nick Folk was present to make it 21-10 by adding all 3 extra points. Chicago was able to answer the scoring bombardment by New York with Cutler running a touchdown in from 2 yards out and Gould providing the extra point. Nick Folk kept the Jets up by a touchdown with his 26 yard field goal making it 24-17 at halftime. Cutler and the Bears came out with their own shellacking of the Jets in the third quarter, with touchdown passes of 40 and 25 yards going to Johnny Knox and Devin Hester. Gould tacked on both extra points. Mark Sanchez found a tying touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes for 23 yards, with Folk's extra point tying the game, but Chicago made it 38-31 with a Cutler touchdown to Knox from 26 yards, with Gould making the point after. The Jets answered early in the fourth quarter with a Folk field goal of 34 yards, but New York couldn't find any more offense and fell 38-34 to the Bears. Chicago jumped up 11-4 and knocked the Jets down 10-5.

This brings the post to its halftime.

The Denver Broncos and Houston Texans led off the late games in a meaningless battle. Arian Foster led off the scoring with a touchdown run of 3 yards, with Neil Rackers making the extra point. By halftime, Houston had gained a 17-0 lead, thanks to Matt Schaub connecting with Owen Daniels for 3 yards, and rackers adding an extra point and a 34 yard field goal. Denver found the end zone in the third quarter with Correll Buckhalter running 6 yards for the touchdown, and Steve Hauschka making it 17-7 with the extra point. The Texans kicked a pair of field goals off the foot of Neil Rackers in the third quarter, sandwiching a Hauschka kick of 27 yards. Rackers was true from 54 and 57 yards. Houston had a 23-10 lead going into the fourth quarter. Tim Tebow and the Broncos decided to change this with Tebow throwing a touchdown pass to Buckhalter for 23 yards and then running in 6 yards for a score. Hauschka's two extra points gave Denver a 24-23 lead, one they would not relinquish. Denver jumped up to 4-11, and Houston fell to 5-10.

Going into Oakland for the next game, with the Raiders hosting playoff-hungry Indianapolis Colts. The Colts opening kickoff was returned by Jacoby Ford for 99 yards and a touchdown, with Sebastian Janikowski making it 7-0. Joseph Addai would even the score for Indianapolis with his 6 yard touchdown run, and Adam Vinatieri added on the extra point. Indianapolis would take a 10-7 lead when Vinatieri knocked in a 30 yard field goal, but Oakland retook the lead when Janikowski kicked two field goals from 59 and 38 yards. The Colts would retake the lead before halftime as Peyton Manning found Jacob Tamme for 19 yards and the touchdown, and Vinatieri's extra point made it 17-13. Janikowski found the lead foot again in the third quarter, booting one in from *only* 51 yards. Manning would connect with Blair White to make it 24-16 after Vinatieri's extra point, with the touchdown pass good for 4 yards. Oakland attempted a comeback on the foot of Janikowski, who booted in a 45 yard field goal in the fourth quarter, but was promptly answered by Manning connecting with Pierre Garcon for 7 yard and the touchdown, and Vinatieri's extra point made it 31-19. Jason Campbell got a touchdown for the Raiders with a 6 yard pass to Zach Miller, and the 31-26 score was made possible by Janikowski's extra point, but Oakland didn't have enough time left to win the game and lost to Indianapolis, who improved to 9-6 and dropped the Raiders to 7-8.

Next up was a must-win situation for the San Diego Chargers, who visited the Cincinnati Bengals. Carson Palmer allowed the Bengals to draw the first blood with a touchdown pass to Jermaine Gresham for 3 yards, followed by a Clint Stitser extra point. Palmer found Jerome Simpson in the second quarter from 10 yards out, but the score stayed at 13-0 as Stitser bumbled the extra point attempt. The Chargers regained themselves with a late second quarter field goal by Nate Kaeding. San Diego got even closer in the third quarter, as Ryan Mathews rushed a touchdown in from 23 yards, allowing an extra point by Kaeding. Cincinnati got back on track with Palmer finding Jordan Shipley for 3 yards. Stitser made the extra point this time. Kaeding responded for the Chargers with a 28 yard field goal, but was promptly answered by Palmer finding Simpson for a 59 yard touchdown. Stitser's extra point made it 27-13. Bernard Scott squashed any hopes of the playoffs San Diego had left by running a 10 yard rush into the end zone for the Bengals, and Stitser was good again with the extra point. Philip Rivers sent a goodbye message to Cincinnati with a 5 yard touchdown pass to Kelley Washington, and Kaeding was good on the extra point, producing the final of 34-20 in favor of the Bengals, who improved to 4-11, and dropped the Chargers to 8-7.

Second to last on the slate was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks, both teams with playoff hopes still very much alive. Seattle opened the scoring with a 1 yard touchdown run by Matt Hasselbeck, who found a new way to get injured before Olindo Mare kicked the extra point. Connor Barth answered for Tampa Bay with a 46 yard field goal. Josh Freeman kicked the Buccaneers into a higher gear with touchdown passes to Kellen Winslow and Mike Williams (TB), of 10 and 20 yards. Barth's points after made the score 17-7 for Tampa Bay at the half. Freeman did another edition of Winslow first, Williams second, connecting with both for touchdown in the third quarter, this time from 21 and 7 yards. Barth added another two extra points to bring the score to 31-7. The Seahawks showed a sign of life again in the fourth quarter with Leon Washington running 16 yards for a touchdown, and Charlie Whitehurst finding Ben Obomanu for the two point conversion to bring the score to 31-15. Freeman threw his fifth touchdown pass to Maurice Stovall, for 2 yards, followed by a Barth extra point that created the final score of 38-15. Tampa Bay jumped up to 9-6, and Seattle fell to 6-9.

Lastly, the marquee game between the hosting Green Bay Packers and visiting New York Giants. Aaron Rodgers opened up the scoring for the Packers with two touchdowns passes of 80 and 3 yards to Jordy Nelson and James (Earl?) Jones. Mason Crosby produced both extra points. Eli Manning did his own two-pack of touchdowns, to Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham for 36 and 85 yards. Tying the game was Lawrence Tynes who nailed two extra points. John Kuhn gave Green Bay the lead back with an 8 yard touchdown run, followed by a Crosby extra point. The Packers led the Giants 21-14 into the locker rooms. Crosby and Tynes exchanged field goals in the third quarter, from 31 and 38 yards, respectively. Rodgers extended the Green Bay lead with a 1 yard touchdown pass to Donald Lee. Crosby made it 31-14 with the extra point, before adding two more on fourth quarter touchdowns by Rodgers to Kuhn for 5 yards and a 1 yard Kuhn rush. The final score would stand at 45-17 Packers over Giants, with Green Bay jumping up to 9-6 and dropping New York to the same margin.

That's all for the football today. I hope you readers appreciate the 100 minutes that took to put out, and be watching for Monday's Song of the Week, Fantasy Hockey All-Stars, and Hockey recap. Also, directly following this supersized post will be a Sandwich review.