Today in the NHL (look who's back on same-day games for like a whole day) there are five games. As of this post, some games are still in action and others have been completed already. We start in...
Carolina, where the Hurricanes host the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Justin Peters were in goal. Tuomo Ruutu opened the scoring for Carolina with his tenth of the season, assisted by Joe Corvo on the power play. Bryan Little answered for Atlanta, scoring his eleventh of the season, with Nik Antropov and Tobias Enstrom picking up the helpers on the power play tally. The Hurricanes retook the lead in the second period with Zac Dalpe netting his third of the year, assisted by Pat Dwyer and Ruutu. Jeff Skinner made it 3-1 for Carolina with his 14th of the year, a power play goal made possible by Corvo and Jamie McBain. The Thrashers started a comeback later in the second period with Niclas Bergfors potting his ninth of the year while they were a man up, with assistance from Andrew Ladd and Enstrom. Little tied it with his second of the night and 12th of the season, with help coming in the form of Anthony Stewart and Johnny Oduya. This tie at 3 was preserved until overtime, where Erik Cole and his eleventh of the year gave Carolina a 4-3 victory over Atlanta, with help from Ian White and Eric Staal. Earning the three stars in the contest were Ruutu, Staal, and Corvo.
Keeping with the afternoon theme, the New Jersey Devils hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dan Ellis and Martin Brodeur were given the starting nods (hesitant as they may have been). Teddy Purcell put Tampa Bay up first with his seventh of the season, assisted on by Mattias Ritola and Steve Downie, who registered his first point since returning from injury. David Clarkson answered for New Jersey with his sixth of the year, helped along by Tim Sestito and Rod Pelley. Ryan Malone took the lead back for the Lightning on the power play, notching his eleventh of the year thanks to Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. Both teams had to return to their original shooting nets to produce any offense, going scoreless in the second period before Clarkson struck again for the Devils in the third period, his second of the night and seventh of the year, a power play goal from Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias. Jason Arnott gave New Jersey their first lead of the game with his tenth of the year, from Henrik Tallinder and Vladimir Zharkov. Dainius Zubrus kept up the scoring for the Devils, making it 4-2 with his sixth of the season, assisted by Brian Rolston and Elias. Elias late added his own, an empty net goal good for his ninth of the year, courtesy of Rolston. Twenty-three seconds later, the Lightning decided to wake up too little too late, with Dominic Moore netting his seventh of the year, thanks to Adam Hall and Mattias Ohlund. Thirty-eight more seconds later, and the Devils produced what would be the final score of 6-3 with another empty net goal, this time in the shape of Nick Palmieri's first of the season, with help from Kovalchuk and the goalie Martin Brodeur. The three stars for this offense-fest were Clarkson, Brodeur (33 for 36 saves and a donut. Just kidding Marty, no donut.), and Elias.
Heading west and a bit north, with the Minnesota Wild hosting the Dallas Stars. Andrew Raycroft and Jose Theodore tended the twines. Trevor Daley opened the scoring for Dallas with his third of the season, assisted by Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson. Jamie Benn added on for the Stars late in the first period with his tenth of the season, from Nicklas Grossman and Brenden Morrow. Dallas waited to strike again until the third period, where James Neal sank his 15th of the year, with help from Richards and Daley. Benn added on again for the Stars with his second of the night and eleventh of the campaign, helped along by Mike Ribeiro and Morrow. The final score would favor Dallas over Minnesota by a 4-0 margin, with Daley, Benn, and Clutterbuck (who didn't do much in the game besides his usual hitting, but had an awesome beard nonetheless) getting the three stars. Blogger Objection rights on this one, as I think Andrew Raycroft's 26 save shutout is far better than Cal Clutterbuck's beard, but I'm no official, I just write what it says and make it sound witty.
Getting into the live action games I promised you all four paragraphs ago, as the Chicago Blackhawks host the New York Islanders. Nathan Lawson and Corey Crawford are the designated puckstoppers. Patrick Sharp put Chicago up first with his 25th of the season, assisted by Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook on the power play. Marian Hossa made it 2-0 in the second period with his tenth of the year, from Tomas Kopecky and Sharp. Kane kept it going for the Blackhawks with his 13th of the campaign, helped along by Jonathan Toews and Niklas "the Hammer" Hjalmarsson. Dave Bolland made it 4-0 for Chicago with his sixth of the season, courtesy of Hossa and Bryan Bickell. Hjalmarsson tacked on his second of the year late in the second period, with the helpers being provided by Hossa and Brian Campbell, making it 5-0 Blackhawks. After a scoreless third period, this would be the final, with Crawford (29 save shutout), Hossa, and Hjalmarsson getting the three stars.
Lastly, we have the Anaheim Ducks hosting the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Jonas Hiller are the goalies for the game. Anaheim got on the board first, albeit over halfway through the game in the second period, with a Bobby Ryan goal, his 18th of the year, assisted by Toni Lydman. This goal would hold up as the only one for the game, with Hiller (37 save shutout), Saku Koivu, and Bobby Ryan got the three stars in the Ducks' 1-0 over the Sharks.
That's all the hockey for tonight. Tomorrow, two posts guaranteed, as Song of the Week returns and Fantasy Hockey All-Stars will also be covered. There's a chance for Monday's games to be recapped alongside that.
No comments :
Post a Comment