Saturday Hockey, partially live

Once again, we have partial live coverage of hockey. Tomorrow will also bring a football post dealing with the divisional weekend, recapped whenever I can get around to it. Sandwiches will also be covered, just as a heads-up. As for today, we start with a matinee in...

Boston, where the Bruins hosted the Penguins. In goal were Marc-Andre Fleury and Tuukka Rask. Pittsburgh got on the board first with a Chris Kunitz goal, his 15th of the season a product of Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke. Pascal Dupuis made it 2-0 Penguins early in the second period with his ninth of the year, assisted by Zbynek Michalek and Evgeni Malkin. Dennis Seidenberg got Boston on the board with his third of the season, thanks to Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell. The Bruins tied it only thirteen seconds later with Michael Ryder notching his 13th of the year, made possible by Marc Savard and Seidenberg. Staal scored his second of the season in the third period for Pittsburgh, giving them a 3-2 lead with help from Cooke and Tyler Kennedy, and this score would stand to defeat Boston. Staal, Ryder, and Seidenberg earned the three stars.

Heading out west to the Motor City, with the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Joey MacDonald are guarding the cages. Thirty-three seconds into the game, Derick Brassard scored to give Columbus an early lead, with Rick Nash assisting on his tenth. The Blue Jackets made it 2-0 with the second of the season by Grant Clitsome, with Jakub Voracek and Nash picking up the helpers. Valtteri Filppula got Detroit on the board with his eleventh of the season, thanks to Todd Bertuzzi and Jiri Hudler. Drew Miller tied it for the Red Wings with his third of the year, helped along by Darren Helm and Kris Draper. Columbus took the lead back in the second period on a Matt Calvert goal, his second of the year coming from Voracek and Jan Hejda. Detroit tied it again with the third of the season by Jonathan Ericsson, made possible by Helm. Brian Rafalski gave the Red Wings a 4-3 lead with his fourth of the campaign, assisted by Miller and Ericsson. The Blue Jackets tied it again in the third period with the 15th of the year by R.J. Umberger, thanks to Fedor Tyutin and Brassard on the power play. Draper gave Detroit the lead back with his fourth of the season, with Miller and Nicklas Lidstrom picking up the assists. Columbus would not go away however, and Nash tied it with his 21st of the year, with help from Clitsome and Antoine Vermette. The Red Wings put the game out of reach once and for all in overtime, winning 6-5 on Johan Franzen's 19th of the year forty-five seconds into the extra frame, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall. Earning the three stars were Draper, Nash, and Ericsson.

Next up, the Florida Panthers hosted the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Scott Clemmensen picked up the starting honors. New Jersey drew the first blood with Nick Palmieri netting his second of the year with help from Travis Zajac and Anssi Salmela. Florida answered back with an Evgeny Dadonov goal, his fourth of the year getting help from Stephen Weiss and Dennis Wideman on the power play. Wideman gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead in the second period with his own power play goal, his fifth of the season getting a boost from Mike Santorelli and Dmitry Kulikov. David Clarkson tied it in the third period for the Devils with his eighth of the year, with help coming from Tim Sestito. The 2-2 tie lasted until it was broken in overtime by Florida's Kulikov, who notched his fourth of the season with help from Weiss and Cory Stillman to win the game 3-2. Kulikov, Wideman, and Dadonov earned the three stars.

Into Canada, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting cross-country rivals in the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Jean-Sebastien Giguere got the starts, with Kiprusoff coming out of the doghouse and Giguere returning from injury. The game was quiet until Calgary scored in the third period with Matt Stajan nailing his third of the season, thanks to Niklas Hagman and Curtis Glencross. With only thirteen seconds in regulation, sweet victory was stolen from Calgary as Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski notched his 18th of the season, with help from Clarke MacArthur and Nikolai Kulemin on the power play. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Tyler Bozak and Alex Tanguay exchanged barbs, followed by another washing out pair by Colby Armstrong and Ales Kotalik, and then Calgary got the decisive goal off the stick of Olli Jokinen, the first star, with the other two being Grabovski and Stajan.

Moving over a province, with the Montreal Canadiens hosting the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Carey Price guarded the nets. New York got out to the early lead with Brian Boyle scoring his 15th of the season with help from Brandon Prust and Dan Girardi. Roman Hamrlik tied it for Montreal with his fourth of the year, a power play goal helped along by James Wisniewski and Michael Cammalleri. Tomas Plekanec made it 2-1 for the Canadiens with his 14th of the season, a power play goal as well, with helpers credited to P.K. Subban and Wisniewski. Andrei Kostitsyn extended the Montreal lead further with his eleventh of the year, assisted by Jeff Halpern. The Rangers waited until the third period to score again, cutting the lead down with Mats Zuccarello and his second of the year, with help from Derek Stepan and Girardi. Montreal managed to hold on and defeat New York 3-2, with Wisniewski, losing goalie Lundqvist (38 for 41 stops), and Kostitsyn (the Montreal version, of course) getting the three stars.

Speaking of New York, the Islanders hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Rick DiPietro were blocking the pucks, with the latter returning from yet another injury. The first period was quiet, but Thomas Vanek and Buffalo opened the scoring up in the second period just seventeen seconds in, with his 17th of the year, a power play goal with help from Tyler Ennis and Jason Pominville. John Tavares turned the game around for New York by going natural for a hat trick in a 5:46 span, being his 16-18th goals of the year. Matt Moulson picked up a sock trick in the process, P.A. Parenteau had two assists himself, and Andrew MacDonald earned one assist of his own. The middle goal came on the power play. Tavares surrendered full offensive rights for the Islanders when Blake Comeau notched his 13th of the season, thanks to Josh Bailey and Bruno Gervais. Ennis tried to rally the stunned Sabres troops with his tenth of the year, a power play goal made possible by Jordan Leopold and Pominville. New York made it 5-2 on a shorthanded goal by Michael Grabner, his tenth of the season, with assists credited to Matt Martin and Milan Jurcina. Buffalo gave one last gasp of breath with a goal by Jochen Hecht, his seventh of the year getting help from Pominville, who capped off a sock trick, and Vanek. The 5-3 final favored the Islanders over the Sabres, with Tavares, Parenteau, and MacDonald getting the three stars.

Going down the coast a bit to Carolina, with the Hurricanes hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the creases we had Dwayne Roloson and Cam Ward. Tampa Bay took an early lead on the 33rd of the season by Steven Stamkos, with assists provided by Steve Downie and Pavel Kubina. Chad LaRose tied the game for Carolina with his eighth of the season, helped along by Joe Corvo and Erik Cole on the power play. Jeff Skinner gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with his 16th of the year, thanks to Tuomo Ruutu and Ian White. Vincent Lecavalier tied the game back up for the Lightning with his eighth of the year, with helpers accredited to Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone. Tampa Bay took the lead back in the second period on a Simon Gagne goal, his fifth of the season made possible by Stamkos and Victor Hedman. Carolina would have none of it, tying the game on a power play goal by Jamie McBain, his second tally of the year getting helping from Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal. Jokinen gave the lead back to the Hurricanes with his own power play goal, good for his ninth of the season, with Sergei Samsonov and Skinner getting the helpers. Eric Staal scored his 22nd of the year to make it 5-3 on a shorthanded play, getting help from Cole. Gagne added his second of the night and sixth of the year to make it 5-4, with the goal going unassisted. Carolina, however, wasn't going to lose, and Jokinen's tenth of the year solidfied this fact, his second of the game making it 6-4 with Cole picking up his third assist to clinch the sock trick. Staal, Cole, and Jokinen picked up the honors as three stars.

Out to Texas, with the Dallas Stars hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Chris Mason and Kari Lethonen picked up the starting honors, but Mason faced only three shots before exiting the game, with Ondrej Pavelec covering for him. Trevor Daley opened the scoring for Dallas with his fourth of the season, helped along by Jamie Benn and Brad Richards on the power play. Atlanta answered in the second period with Andrew Ladd nailing his 16th of the year home with Tobias Enstrom and Nik Antropov picking up helpers. Adam Burish made it 2-1 Stars with his fifth of the season, assisted by Stephane Robidas and Nicklas Grossman. Daley extended the Dallas lead farther with his second of the night and fifth of the year, another power play goal, with help coming from Mike Ribeiro and the goalie Kari Lethonen. James Neal made it 5-1 Stars with his 17th and 18th of the campaign, thanks to Loui Eriksson and Richards the first time and Robidas and Benn the on the latter power play goal. Jeff Woywitka added on his first of the season for good measure, making it 6-1 Dallas on the power play goal that was helped by Brenden Morrow and Ribeiro. Daley, Lehtonen (29 for 30 saves + assist), and Neal earned the three stars.

In a Pacific division matchup, the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Ilya Bryzgalov were in between the pipes. Phoenix struck first with Ray Whitney scoring his ninth of the year with the help of Radim Vrbata. Matt Beleskey added his third of the year to tie the game for Anaheim, with assists given to Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry. Adrian Aucoin gave the Coyotes a lead early in the second period with his second of the year, made possible by Lee Stempniak and Vernon Fiddler. Taylor Pyatt made it 3-1 for Phoenix with his 12th of the season, assisted by Keith Yandle and Stempniak. Sami Lepisto extended the lead to 4-1 Coyotes with his fourth of the year, thanks to Whitney and Martin Hanzal, chasing Jonas Hiller out of the Anaheim net at the end of the second period, with Curtis McElhinney playing the final frame. Whitney added his second of the night and tenth of the season for Phoenix in the third period, getting help along the way from Vrbata and Lepisto. The Ducks gave a whimper of life with a Perry power play goal, his 23rd of the year getting help from Lubomir Visnowsky and Jason Blake. Stempniak put Anaheim out of their misery and made it 6-2 Coyotes, the eventual final, with his tenth of the season, helped along by Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Lauri Korpikoski. Whitney, Lepisto, and Vrbata earned the three stars.

Backing up a bit with the Nashville Predators hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Pekka Rinne were given the starting nods. Tomas Kopecky got Chicago on the board first with his eighth of the year, a power play goal from Dave Bolland and Brian Campbell. Viktor Stalberg extended the Blackhawks lead in the second period with his seventh of the year, from Jake Dowell and Jack Skille. Jerred Smithson put Nashville on the board in the third period with his fifth of the season, thanks to Nick Spaling and Joel Ward. Shea Weber tied it for the Predators with his eighth of the season, helped along by Ryan Suter and Ward. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Nashville took Chicago down by a final of 3-2 on a Marcel Goc tally. The three stars were handed out to Smithson, Weber, and Kopecky.

Hitting the west coast in Los Angeles, with the Kings hosting the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Jonathan Bernier get the starts tonight. Edmonton strikes first with Dustin Penner scoring his 14th of the year off of Ales Hemsky and Taylor Hall. Marco Sturm evens the score at 1 for Los Angeles with his fourth of the year, assisted by Drew Doughty and Wayne Simmonds. The Kings take a 2-1 lead on the 16th of the year by Anze Kopitar, thanks to Justin Williams. The Oilers, however, tie the game on Andrew Cogliano's sixth of the season, made possible by Ryan Jones and Liam Reddox. Jarret Stoll got Los Angeles a 3-2 lead with his 12th of the season, helped along by Dustin Brown and Sturm. The Kings extended the lead to 4-2 in the third period with a goal by Doughty, his third of the year, an unassisted goal. Stoll helped Los Angeles finish off the Oilers with his second of the night and 13th of the season, with Brown and Rob Scuderi picking up the helpers on the final tally of the game. Doughty, Stoll, and Hall earned the three stars.

To the Bay Area, with the San Jose Sharks hosting the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Antti Niemi are guarding the cages. B.J. Crombeen puts St. Louis on the board first with his fifth of the season, assisted by Brad Winchester and Roman Polak. Dany Heatley ties the game for San Jose with his 16th of the year, a power play goal from Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Erik Johnson tied the game for the Blues with his fourth of the season, assisted by Patrik Berglund. San Jose took a 3-2 lead in the third period on Heatley's second of the night and 17th of the year, with help provided by Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Jason Demers. Jamie McGinn finished the Blues off with his first of the season, with the lone assist coming from Scott Nichol to present us with the final score of 4-2 Sharks over Blues. Heatley, Nichol, and McGinn earned the three stars.

That's all for Saturday's hockey games. Sunday has 5 games of hockey and 2 games of football. Football will also be covered from Saturday at the conclusion and publishing of this post.