NHL from Saturday

There were a total of eleven games played in hockey on Halfway Day. There was also a little extension in the works for Jack Johnson of the Los Angeles Kings, who will be staying in California for the next seven years, receiving a $30.5 million extension. As for the games...

The Philadelphia Flyers led off by hosting the New Jersey Devils. Johan Hedberg and Brian Boucher played in net. Philadelphia opened the scoring with a goal by James van Riemsdyk, his tenth of the season, assisted by Jeff Carter. The Flyers made it 2-0 with Danny Briere notching his 21st of the year, a power play goal with help from Claude Giroux and Kimmo Timmonen. This got New Jersey starter Johan Hedberg pulled in favor of the unfavorable Martin Brodeur. The Devils got on the board in the second period with Andy Greene netting his third of the year, unassisted, but it wouldn't go to any good, as the Devils lacked any more offensive production in the game, losing 2-1 to Philadelphia. Van Riemsdyk, Brodeur (19 for 19 saves in relief), and Boucher (34 for 35 saves) got the three stars in the matinee game.

Heading out west for an afternoon game with the Colorado Avalanche hosting the New York Islanders. Kevin Poulin and Craig Anderson were obligated to block the puck. Milan Hejduk got Colorado on the board forty-five seconds into the game, his 12th of the year a product of T.J. Galiardi and Adam Foote. David Koci added his first of the year for the Avalanche rather quickly afterward, making it 2-0 with assists coming from Ryan O'Byrne and Philippe Dupuis. Jeremy Colliton got New York on the board with his first of the season, a power play goal from Jon Sim and Andrew MacDonald. Blake Comeau tied the game for the Islanders with his tenth of the year, also a power play goal, with helpers from Milan Jurcina and Jack Hillen. Colliton gave New York a 3-2 lead in the second period with his second of the season and of the game, another power play goal, assisted by Josh Bailey and Comeau. With four seconds left in regulation, Colorado avoided defeat on Hejduk's second of the night and 13th of the year, tying the game at 3 thanks to Tomas Fleischmann and Kevin Shattenkirk. This, however, was just a postponement of the inevitable, as the Islanders won in overtime via John Tavares scoring his 14th of the year, helped along by Hillen and Matt Moulson, for a 4-3 victory. Tavares, Hejduk, and Poulin (34 for 37 saves) were given the three stars.

Opening the regularly timed games were the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Carey Price were in between the pipes. The only action in the first period featured Boston's Adam McQuaid squaring off with Montreal's Travis Moen late in the period. The scoring started in the second period for the Bruins, who took a 2-0 lead with the ninth and tenth of the season by Patrice Bergeron, with Blake Wheeler and Brad Marchand assisting on the first goal and Mark Recchi and Zdeno Chara getting helpers on the second one. Montreal got on the board late in the third period thanks to Scott Gomez netting his sixth of the season, a power play goal with help from Mathieu Darche. Brian Gionta put the Canadiens into a tie with his 15th of the year, from James Wisniewski and Max Pacioretty. The tie lasted into overtime, where Pacioretty completed the comeback by Montreal with his third of the year, with P.K. Subban and Hal Gill getting the assists. The goal did spark a brawl between Chara and Gill, with both getting misconducts. The three stars went to Pacioretty, Tim Thomas (39 for 42 saves in a loss) and Bergeron.

Heading back stateside, where the Pittsburgh Penguins played host to the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Marc-Andre Fleury played in front of the cages. Minnesota opened the scoring first with Chuck Kobasew potting his seventh of the year, with help from Mikko Koivu and Andrew Brunette. Martin Havlat extended the Wild lead to 2-0 with his tenth of the year, assisted by Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Kyle Brodziak. There was nothing happening in the second period, and the Wild regained their touch when shooting at the same net as in the first period with Cal Clutterbuck notching his 13th of the season, helped along by Patrick O'Sullivan and Matt Cullen. Brodziak finished it off with his ninth of the year, an empty net goal coming from Havlat. The final put the Wild up 4-0 over the Penguins. Theodore (26 save shutout), Havlat, and Koivu received the three stars honors.

Back up to Canada, where the Ottawa Senators hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning in the last game of the first half of the 2010-2011 NHL season. Dwayne Roloson and Brian Elliott were the designated netminders. The game was scoreless through the first period and well into the second period before Ottawa got on the board thanks to Zack Smith netting his third of the season, from Jesse Winchester and Ryan Shannon. Tampa Bay took little time in the third period to tie the game, with Adam Hall registering his sixth of the year, with help from Dominic Moore. The Lightning took the lead on the 18th of the year by Martin St. Louis, from Steven Stamkos and Ryan Malone. The final ended up being 2-1 favoring the Lightning over the Senators, with St. Louis, Roloson (31 for 32 saves), and Winchester earning the three stars.

Making another border crossing to head to the American capital, with the Washington Capitals hosting their rival Florida Panthers. Scott Clemmensen and Semyon Varlamov were the men in the creases. Florida struck first with Mike Santorelli potting his eleventh of the season, assisted by Dmitry Kulikov and David Booth. Washington answered in the second period with Eric Fehr scoring his eighth of the season, with help from Mike Green and Mathieu Perreault. Green gave the Capitals the lead in the third period with his eighth of the year, a power play goal made possible by Fehr and Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin extended the lead to 3-1 Capitals with his 15th of the season, helped along by Mike Knuble and Nicklas Backstrom. The Panthers attempted a late rally starting with Evgeny Dadonov scoring his third of the season, from Booth and Stephen Weiss to make it 3-2, but this would be the last scoring in the game, and Washington would hold on for the win. Earning the three stars were Green, Fehr, and Varlamov (25 for 27 saves).

Heading a bit west to St. Louis, where the Blues hosted the New York Rangers. Martin Biron and Jaroslav Halak were given the starting nods. All scoring occurred in the second period, led off by Brad Winchester for St. Louis, netting his seventh of the year thanks to Eric Brewer and Brad Boyes. Derek Stepan evened the score for New York with his 12th of the season, assisted by Mats Zuccarello and Brandon Dubinsky. The Rangers took the lead on the second of the season by Sean Avery, with his goal being helped along by Marian Gaborik and Dubinsky. This would later be the final score, with New York toppling the Blues 2-1. Biron (24 for 25 saves), Gaborik, and Winchester were given the three stars.

Heading to the desert for the next game, where the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Buffalo Sabres, despite the earlier violence in Tuscon during the day. Take a moment to give out thoughts and prayers to the families of those involved in that traumatic incident. The goalies were Ryan Miller and Jason LaBarbera. The first period went by quietly here, until Buffalo got on the board in the second period thanks to Jordan Leopold notching his tenth of the year, a power play goal made possible by Tyler Myers and Thomas Vanek. Scottie Upshall answered for Phoenix in the same period with his 12th of the year, assisted by Adrian Aucoin and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The tie at 1 lasted throughout the third period and into overtime, where Drew Stafford saves the day for the Sabres, scoring his 14th of the year with help from Leopold to win it 2-1 for Buffalo. Winning goalie Miller (33 for 34 saves), losing goalie LaBarbera (30 for 32 saves), and Stafford were the three stars in the game.

Heading even farther west, into California, where the San Jose Sharks hosted the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Antti Niemi were given the starting duties. Nashville struck first in the first period with David Legwand scoring his third of the year, an unassisted goal. San Jose answered in the second period with Logan Couture potting his 19th of the year, leading all rookies in that regard, with the assist coming from Ryane Clowe. The Predators took the lead back in the third period on the eleventh of the year by Sergei Kostitsyn, with Patric Hornqvist and Marcel Goc picking up the helpers. Nashville would hold on to take the Sharks down 2-1. Rinne (42 for 43 saves), Kostitsyn, and Clowe received three stars status.

Heading up north, where the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Roberto Luongo were the goaltenders. The game was scoreless in the first period, and Vancouver had the only second period goal, a product of Daniel Sedin, his 25th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Ryan Kesler and Henrik Sedin. Detroit provided an answer in the third period with their own power play goal, the 18th of the year by Johan Franzen, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Brian Rafalski just forty-two seconds into the final frame. The tie was preserved until Jiri Hudler saved the day for the Red Wings in the shootout, giving them a 2-1 victory over the Canucks. Winning goalie Howard (34 for 35 saves), Keith Ballard (nothing much), and losing goalie Luongo (32 for 33 saves) picked up the three stars.

Finally, back into California, with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Mathieu Garon and Jonathan Quick played in between the pipes in the finale for Saturday. Dustin Brown opened the scoring for Los Angeles with his 17th of the season, assisted by Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. The Kings took a 2-0 lead on the Alec Martinez power play goal, his third of the season, with Jack Johnson and Marco Sturm grabbing the assists. Jarret Stoll put together two goals in a row for Los Angeles to make it 4-0 in the second period, with his earlier tenth of the year being helped along by Doughty and Ryan Smyth and his latter eleventh of the campaign getting assistance from Sturm and Johnson shorthanded. Matt Calvert stopped the bleeding by Columbus with his first of the season, assisted by absolutely no one. Rick Nash continued the scoring for the Blue Jackets, cutting the deficit down to 4-2 with his 19th of the year, helped along by Jakub Voracek and Anton Stralman. Fedor Tyutin chipped farther away at the Kings lead, cutting it back to 4-3 with his third of the season, with help from Antoine Vermette and R.J. Umberger. Ryan Smyth put Los Angeles back into firm control with his 17th of the season, assisted by Justin Williams and Michal Handzus. Nash answered back for Columbus just fifty-eight seconds later with his second of the night and 20th of the year, thanks to Voracek and Kris Russell. The Kings managed to hold them off and bolstered their lead on the empty net goal by Williams, his 16th tally of the season, with help from Johnson, who finished up a sock trick, and Handzus. The final was 6-4 in favor of the Kings over the Blue Jackets. Stoll, Nash, and Johnson ended up getting the three stars.

That's all the hockey world had for us on Saturday. For today, keep watch for a sandwich post directly following this post's publication, and a wild card weekend coverage post for football that will be completely emotionless and unbiased (you wish). Also, if I so choose, today's hockey action will get proper coverage tonight.