Saturday hockey

Today, hockey will run from 10 AM to 10 PM on the Pacific coast, with eleven total games being played. The first is...

The Philadelphia Flyers hosting the New Jersey Devils in an eastern matinee. Johan Hedberg and Brian Boucher are sent out to block pucks. New Jersey opens with a goal by Henrik Tallinder, his second of the season going in unassisted. Patrik Elias made it 2-0 Devils with his eleventh of the year, with help from Mark Fayne and Brian Rolston. Philadelphia answered late in the second period with a James van Riemsdyk tally, his 12th of the season seeing the sticks of Claude Giroux and Mike Richards before finding twine. New Jersey sealed the game off with another Elias goal, his second of the afternoon and 12th of the year, getting help from Rolston and Tallinder for the empty net marker. The final was 3-1, with the three stars given out to Elias, Hedberg (26 for 27 saves), and Giroux.

West a bit for the next afternoon special, as the Detroit Red Wings host bitter rivals in the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Jimmy Howard have earned the starts. Detroit got on the board first with the first of the year by Cory Emmerton, assisted by Brian Rafalski and Jonathan Ericsson. Dave Bolland put Chicago back into a tie with his tenth of the season, thanks to Troy Brouwer and Duncan Keith on the power play. The Blackhawks take the lead on another power play goal, this one the ninth tally of the season for Tomas Kopecky, assisted by Bolland and Keith. Kopecky tallied another one to make it 3-1 Chicago, getting help this time from Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp. Brouwer finished the scoring off, producing the final of 4-1 Blackhawks over Red Wings with his 14th of the season, from Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. The three stars went to Kopecky, Keith, and Crawford (36 for 37 saves).

The last matinee features the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Craig Anderson will guard the nets to the best of their abilities. Paul Stastny put Colorado on the board first with his 17th of the season, made possible by Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Stewart. Boston tied the game with the eleventh of the year by Brad Marchand, courtesy of Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins took the lead with a Milan Lucic goal, his 18th of the season coming with the man advantage thanks to David Krejci and Recchi. Recchi added his own goal in the second period, his tenth of the year coming from Marchand. Lucic notched his second of the night and 19th of the year to put Boston up 4-1 late in the second, with helpers provided by Krejci and Bergeron. Shattenkirk attempted to get the Avalanche back into the game with his sixth of the season, with help from Milan Hejduk. Boston answered back with a Bergeron goal, his 16th of the year getting help along the way by Marchand and Johnny Boychuk. Marchand finished it off with his second of the night and 12th of the season, an empty net goal assisted by Gregory Campbell and Andrew Ference. Picking up the three stars in the Bruins 6-2 victory were Recchi, Lucic, and Marchand.

Now at the normally scheduled games, the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Marc-Andre Fleury were in between the pipes. The first period was scoreless, and Pittsburgh struck late in the second frame with Dustin Jeffrey's second of the season, thanks to Brooks Orpik. The Penguins made it 2-0 in the third period with Mark Letestu notching his tenth of the year, a power play goal from Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang. It became 3-0 with Pascal Dupuis netting his tenth of the year, a shorthanded goal made possible by Jordan Staal and Paul Martin. Carolina got on the board with Sergei Samsonov potting his ninth of the season, with help from Jiri Tlusty. Eric Staal cut the deficit to 3-2 with his 23rd of the season, assisted by Joe Corvo and Joni Pitkanen, but the Penguins weathered the last fifty-eight seconds and won by the previously mentioned score. The three stars went to Fleury (24 for 26 saves), Jordan Staal, and Eric Staal.

Down the coast a bit, the Atlanta Thrashers host the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Ondrej Pavelec made the goalie appearances. Nik Antropov put Atlanta out front first with his eighth of the season, helped along by Tobias Enstrom and Tim Stapleton. Wojtek Wolski tied it for New York in the second period with his ninth of the year, coming from Derek Stepan and Dan Girardi. The Thrashers retook the lead via Anthony Stewart notching his 12th of the season, assisted by Bryan Little and Andrew Ladd. Brian Boyle tied it up for the Rangers again with his 17th of the year, with Kris Newbury and Mike Sauer getting the helpers. The tie lasted into the shootout, where New York toppled Atlanta with Mats Zuccarello putting his away and giving his team a 3-2 win. The three stars were awarded to Zuccarello, Antropov, and Boyle.

To the Canadian hockey hub, where the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Washington Capitals. Braden Holtby and Jean-Sebastien Giguere tended the twines. Washington scored first with Alex Ovechkin nailing his 17th of the season, assisted by Jeff Schultz and Nicklas Backstrom. Early in the third period, the Capitals got up 2-0 on another Ovechkin goal, his 18th of the year and second of the night, with helpers by Mike Green and Jason Chimera. Toronto got on the board with a Tim Brent goal, his fourth of the season, helped along by Jay Rosehill and Dion Phaneuf. Washington later took the two goal lead back with a Matt Hendricks tally, his sixth of the year requiring no assistance to get to the net. Ovechkin completed his hat trick with an empty net goal for his 19th of the season, making it 4-1 with help from Backstrom and John Carlson. Holtby (35 for 36 saves), Ovechkin, and Phaneuf earned the three stars.

Staying north to a much-anticipated reunion game for the Montreal Canadiens with Saku Koivu returning as an Anaheim Duck to the Bell Centre. Jonas Hiller and Carey Price took their normal spots in front of the net. Cam Fowler struck first for Anaheim with his fourth of the season, a power play goal powered along by Lubomir Visnovsky and Teemu Selanne. Montreal tied the game at 1 with a Max Pacioretty marker, his fifth of the year receiving assistance from Scott Gomez on the power play. Bobby Ryan retook the lead for the Ducks with his 22nd of the season, thanks to Joffery Lupul. Anaheim made it 3-1 with Corey Perry putting away his 25th of the year on the power play, assisted by Saku Koivu and Selanne. Mathieu Darche started the Canadiens back on the path with his eighth of the season, courtesy of Yannick Weber and Andrei Kostitsyn. Pacioretty supplied his second of the night for Montreal, tying the game at three with his sixth of the year, courtesy of Tomas Plekanec and P.K. Subban on the mad advantage. The tie lasted into the shooutout, where the lone tally came from Bobby Ryan, giving the Ducks a 4-3 victory over the Canadiens. The three stars were given to Ryan, Koivu, and Pacioretty.

Next up, the St. Louis Blues hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Jaroslav Halak had the goaltending responsibilities. While both teams feature blue in the name, the game started off black and blue with two fights, as Brad Winchester and Derek Dorsett dropped the mitts ten seconds in, followed by the sequel involving B.J. Crombeen and Jared Boll. St. Louis got into the scoring mindset first with Eric Brewer putting away his seventh of the season, with help from Alex Steen and Brad Boyes. Patrik Berglund made it 2-0 shortly after with his eleventh of the year, a power play goal made possible by Steen and Alex Pietrangelo. Columbus finally found twine off the stick of Antoine Vermette, his eleventh receiving assistance from R.J. Umberger and Kristian Huselius. The Blue Jackets tied the game with Jared Boll notching his fifth of the season, assisted by Derek MacKenzie and Matt Calvert. Andrew Murray gave Columbus a 3-2 lead with his third of the campaign, with the puck visiting the sticks of Jan Hejda and Samuel Pahlsson before finding his stick and the twine. Rick Nash made it 4-2 for the Blue Jackets with his 22nd of the year, a power play goal courtesy of Derick Brassard and Jakub Voracek. Fedor Tyutin iced the game off at 5-2 with his fifth of the season, an empty netter from Brassard and Voracek. The three stars were given to Nash, Boll, and Pietrangelo.

To the desert, where the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Ilya Bryzgalov were in the creases. Justin Williams put Los Angeles up early with his 18th of the season, helped along by Ryan Smyth. Drew Doughty made it 2-0 Kings with his fourth of the year, assisted by Anze Kopitar and Brad Ricahrdson. Alec Martinez extended the Los Angeles lead to 3-0 with his third of the season, thanks to Matt Greene. Lee Stempniak got Phoenix on the board after an early shellacking with his 13th of the campaign, helped along by Taylor Pyatt and Eric Belanger. Martin Hanzal continued the efforts with a power play goal in the second period, his eleventh of the season made possible by Keith Yandle and Ray Whitney. Stempniak tied it late in the second period with his second of the night and 14th of the year, with assists provided by Pyatt and Yandle. The Kings regrouped themselves in the third period, and notched the only goal of that frame to retake the lead and the eventual win over the Coyotes with Jarret Stoll's 14th of the year, assisted by Smyth and Jack Johnson. The three stars were awarded to Stempniak, Stoll, and Paul Bissonnette (who did nothing spectacular in his 7:51 of ice time, besides record 1 shot and stay out of the penalty box. We assume he earned the third star for his Twitter account, his soul patch, and mustache, the latter two mentioned pictured here.)

Into live action (finally caught up) with the Vancouver Canucks hosting the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Roberto Luongo and subjected to a barrage of shots for the game. Vancouver got out to the early lead with Alexander Edler scoring his seventh of the season, from Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin. Brendan Morrison got Calgary into a tie with his eighth of the year, assisted by Tim Jackman and Jarome Iginla on the power play. Twenty seconds later, Curtis Glencross put away his eleventh of the season for the Flames, giving them a 2-1 lead with the help of Matt Stajan. Edler tied it for the Canucks with his eighth of the year and second of the night, assisted by Alexandre Burrows and Christian Ehrhoff. Calgary takes a 3-2 lead on a Jackman goal, with assists from Adam Pardy and Mikael Backlund. Ryan Kesler put Vancouver back into a tie with his 26th of the year, a shorthanded goal with help from Burrows and the goalie Roberto Luongo. The tie lasted into the shootout, with Jeff Tambellini and Rene Bourque exchanging tallies before a controversial winner by Alex Tanguay (watch for yourself here). The three stars in the Flames 4-3 win over the Canucks were Edler, Morrison, and Burrows.

Down the west coast to San Jose, where the Sharks host the Minnesota Wild. Niklas Backstrom and Antti Niemi were sent out for the starts in the final game of the day. San Jose struck first with Logan Couture notching his 22nd of the season, assisted by Jason Demers. Minnesota responded with Mikko Koivu potting his 13th of the year, a power play goal made possible by Brent Burns. The Sharks take a 2-1 lead in the second period with the eighth of the season by Devin Setoguchi, with helpers provided by Patrick Marleau and Dan Boyle. San Jose extended the lead to 3-1 with Setoguchi striking on the power play with his second of the night and ninth of the year, with help from Joe Pavelski and Marleau. The Wild got a goal back when Koivu netted his second of the night and 14th of the season, a power play goal from Matt Cullen and Burns. The Sharks took the lead up to 4-2 with Benn Ferriero scoring his fifth of the year, courtesy of Joe Thornton and Jamie McGinn. Minnesota attempted to come back starting with Burns' 14th of the season, helped along by Cal Clutterbuck and Pierre-Marc Bouchard, however they fell 4-3 after mustering up no further scoring. The three stars were handed out to Setoguchi, Burns, and McGinn.

That's all for Saturday. Sunday will have a Sandwich showdown, Championship round football summaries, hockey games, and a special Lyrics post for the songs I wrote and will be passing along to the musicians I know. This is not in order, so keep eyes peeled for these throughout the day.