Friday NHL coverage

There were six games on in the NHL on Friday, which I have slacked on again. Here goes, starting in...

D.C., where the Washington Capitals host the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo, proud father and Semyon Varlamov made the starts. Matt Hendricks put Washington on the board first with his fifth of the season, assisted by Boyd Gordon and John Carlson. Alexander Edler tied the game for Vancouver with his own fifth of the year, thanks to Jannik Hansen and Christian Ehrhoff. Ehrhoff gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead with his seventh of the season, a power play goal from Ryan Kesler and Edler. Daniel Sedin extended the lead for Vancouver to 3-1 with his 26th of the year, from Hansen only. Marcus Johansson cut the deficit down for the Capitals with his sixth of the year, from Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich. Daniel Sedin iced the game off with his second of the night and 27th of the year, courtesy of Alexandre Burrows and Kevin Bieksa on the empty net goal. Ehrhoff, Edler, and Backstrom got the three stars in the 4-2 Canucks victory.

Next up and a bit west, the Columbus Blue Jackets hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Steve Mason got the goaltending duties. Columbus struck first on a Jakub Voracek goal, his ninth of the season coming from Rick Nash and Derick Brassard. Grant Clitsome made it 2-0 for the Blue Jackets with his first of the year, thanks to Fedor Tyutin and Kristian Huselius on the power play. Jimmy Howard left at some point after the second goal due to injury, being replaced by Joey MacDonald. Drew Miller got Detroit going in the second period with a shorthanded goal, his second tally of the season, made possible by Justin Abdelkader. Jiri Hudler tied the game at 2 for the Red Wings with his fourth of the year, assisted on by Valtteri Filppula. The tie lasted through the third period and overtime into a shootout, where Columbus got the victory because of Antoine Vermette. The three stars went to Steve Mason (26 for 28 saves), Vermette, and Clitsome.

Following that, the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Dwayne Roloson picked up starting duties. Tampa Bay drew first blood, with Steven Stamkos putting himself in a tie for the league-lead in goals at 32, with help from Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier on the power play. Ilya Kovalchuk tied the game for New Jersey with his eleventh of the season, with helpers coming from Travis Zajac and Andy Greene. Brian Rolston put the Devils up 2-1 with his third of the year, thanks to Dainius Zubrus. Patrik Elias extended the lead again with his tenth of the season, from Greene and Rolston. Zajac made it 4-1 for New Jersey with a shorthanded goal going down as his seventh of the year, assisted by Colin White, and simultaneously scaring off Dwayne Roloson in favor of Dan Ellis. The Lightning answered in the second period with a St. Louis goal, his 19th of the campaign made possible by Stamkos and Victor Hedman. Kovalchuk put the game pretty much out of reach in the third period with his second of the night and 12th of the year, helped along by no one at all. The final favored the Devils 5-2, with Zajac, Kovalchuk, and Greene getting the three stars.

Into Georgia, where the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Ondrej Pavelec were in front of the cages. The first period went scoreless, but Atlanta struck first in the second period, on Andrew Ladd's 15th of the season, helped by Niclas Bergfors. Philadelphia answered with the second of the year by Jody Shelley, an unassisted goal. Twenty-one seconds later, the Flyers took the lead 2-1 with a Kimmo Timmonen goal, his second of the season, with help from Claude Giroux. With three seconds left in the period, Rich Peverley tied the game for the Thrashers, his 12th of the year coming off of Bergfors and Tobias Enstrom's sticks on the power play. Danny Briere gave Philadelphia the lead back in the third period with his 24th of the season, from Ville Leino and Scott Hartnell. The Flyers made it 4-2 on the 17th of the campaign by Giroux, with helpers credited to Matt Carle and Jeff Carter. Carter made it 5-2 for Philadelphia, putting his 18th in the empty net all alone and dispatching the Atlanta Thrashers. Briere, Bergfors, and Giroux got the three stars.

Heading north, with the Ottawa Senators hosting the Calgary Flames in the Scotiabank special, as both teams' arenas are sponsored by the Canadian bank. Henrik Karlsson and Brian Elliott were in between the pipes. The first period went scoreless, but Calgary found a way to ride David Moss to a 2-0 lead, as he scored his seventh and eighth of the year, thanks to Rene Bourque and Anton Babchuk the first time, and Tim Jackman and Babchuk again on the latter tally. The Flames took a 3-0 lead with Ales Kotalik scoring his second of the year, a power play goal made possible by Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen. Nick Foligno led a rally for the Senators with his unassisted seventh goal of the season. The Senators cut the score to 3-2 with a Milan Michalek goal, his tenth of the season, with help from Foligno and Erik Karlsson with only fifty-eight seconds left. The time was not enough for Ottawa, who fell 3-2 to Calgary, with the three stars doled out to Moss, Michalek, and Henrik Karlsson (33 for 35 saves).

Lastly, the Minnesota Wild hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Craig Anderson and Anton Khudobin were in the creases. Kevin Porter got on the board for Colorado first with his ninth of the season, assisted by Philippe Dupuis. Milan Hejduk made it 2-0 for the Avalanche with his 14th of the year, helped along by Paul Stastny and Matt Hunwick on the power play. Colorado made it 3-0 in the second period on a Tomas Fleischmann goal, his 12th of the season coming from John-Michael Liles and Ryan O'Byrne. Andrew Brunette put Minnesota on the board with his tenth of the year, thanks to Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen. Ryan Wilson put the Wild out of the game with his empty net goal, good for his third as an unassisted tally, giving the Avalanche a 4-1 win. Anderson (32 for 33 saves), Hejduk, and Brunette got the three stars.

Keep watch at some point for Saturday's hockey, all twelve games of it.