Sunday NHL games

There are five games on today, interspersed throughout the day so that a good 7 or 8 hours of the day will be covered by hockey. First off...

The Washington Capitals host the team from the Canadian capital, the Ottawa Senators. Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth are in goal. Mike Fisher strikes first for Ottawa with his 12th of the season, helped along by Nick Foligno and Ryan Shannon. Washington answers in the third period with Brooks Laich notching his ninth of the season, an unassisted goal. John Carlson gives the Capitals the lead forty-five seconds later with his fifth of the year, a power play goal assisted by Nicklas Backstrom. Jason Chimera made it 3-1 for Washington with his sixth of the season, from Dave Steckel and Karl Alzner. This would be the final, with Carlson, Neuvirth (22 for 23 saves), and Laich getting the three stars.

Next up is the Minnesota Wild hosting the Vancouver Canucks. In net are Cory Schneider and Anton Khudobin. Andrew Brunette opens the scoring in the second period with his eleventh of the year, a power play goal for Minnesota assisted on by Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Antti Miettinen. Martin Havlat put the Wild up 2-0 with his eleventh of the season, an unassisted goal. In the third period Matt Cullen strikes with his ninth of the year, a shorthanded goal from Kyle Brodziak and Nick Schultz to make it 3-0. John Madden sinks Vancouver to the final 4-0 favoring Minnesota with his sixth of the season, helped along by Chuck Kobasew and Cullen. Khudobin (32 save shutout), Cullen, and Havlat earned the three stars.

Following that, the New York Rangers host the Philadelphia Flyers. In front of the nets are Brian Boucher and Martin Biron. Jeff Carter put Philadelphia on the board first with his 19th of the season, from Matt Carle and Ville Leino. Leino added his own goal for the Flyers, making it 2-0 with help from Andrej Meszaros and Carle. Mike Richards extended the Philadelphia lead to 3-0 with a shorthanded goal by Mike Richards, with help coming in the form of Claude Giroux. Wojtek Wolski put New York on the scoreboard in the third period, cutting the score to 3-1 with his eighth of the season, with Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan providing the helpers. Stepan trims the deficit for the Rangers down to a goal with his 13th of the season, from Zuccarello and Wolski. Leino, Stepan, and Carle got the three stars in the 3-2 Flyers win.

Heading into the Windy City, where the Chicago Blackhawks host the Nashville Predators in the second game of a home-and-home. Anders Lindback and Marty Turco get the honors in a battle of backups. Nashville struck first, with Martin Erat opening the scoring on his sixth of the season, a power play goal assisted by Cody Franson and Alexander Sulzer. Chicago answered with Dave Bolland notching his eighth of the year, helped by Bryan Bickell. The Predators retook the lead on a J.P. Dumont goal, his fifth of the year happening with a man advantage, thanks to Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Bolland tied the gave back up for the Blackhawks with his second of the night and ninth of the season, courtesy of Tomas Kopecky. Nashville retook the lead on another Dumont goal, helped along by Chris Mueller as his sixth of the season and second in the game. Troy Brouwer scored twice in forty seconds to put Chicago back on top by a 4-3 score, his 12th and 13th of the year getting help from Duncan Keith and Kopecky on the former power play tally and Patrick Kane on the latter even strength marker. Bickell made it 5-3 for the Blackhawks with his 12th of the year, courtesy of Brian Campbell and Brent Seabrook. Jonathan Toews extends the lead to 6-3 Chicago with his 17th of the year, an unassisted goal. This was the final, with Brouwer, Bolland, and Dumont earning the three stars.

Finally, the Anaheim Ducks host the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Curtis McElhinney are in between the pipes. Luca Sbisa put Anaheim on the board first with his second of the year, assisted by Toni Lydman and Joffery Lupul on the power play. Teemu Selanne made it 2-0 Ducks with his 13th of the campaign, made possible by Lubomir Visnovsky and Jason Blake. Selanne added his second of the night and 14th of the year on a power play goal from Visnovsky and Cam Fowler. Edmonton gets on the board with Magnus Paajarvi scoring his fifth of the year, thanks to Sam Gagner and Taylor Chorney. Twenty-six seconds later, the lead for Anaheim is down to 1 with the Oilers scoring on Gagner's eleventh of the season, assisted by Linus Omark. McElhinney had to leave the game after those two quickies, and was replaced by Jonas Hiller. The 3-2 margin favoring the Ducks over the Oilers was the final, with Selanne, Saku Koivu, and Gagner getting the three stars.

Posts that are supposed to be out tomorrow morning will be finished tomorrow morning. Please take time, to my American readers, to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. tomorrow.