Thursday NHL action, live

There is a heavy slate of games on tonight, so we'll jump right in. First...

The Carolina Hurricanes host the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Cam Ward will tend the twine. Carolina gets out to the early lead on a Char LaRose goal, assisted by Jeff Skinner and Tuomo Ruutu as his tenth of the season. Jussi Jokinen made it 2-0 Hurricanes with his 12th of the year, a power play goal helped along by Joe Corvo and Ruutu. Brandon Sutter continued Carolina's scoring spree with his eighth of the season, assisted on by Sergei Samsonov. New York finally visits the scoreboard in the third period with Brandon Prust putting his sixth of the year away, with help from Chad Kolarik and Ryan McDonagh. Skinner silenced the rally by the Rangers with his 17th of the season, from LaRose. LaRose, Skinner, and Ward (39 for 40 saves) got the three stars in the 4-1 Carolina victory.

Into Boston, where the Bruins host the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Tuukka Rask get the starting nods. Dennis Seidenberg puts Boston up first with his fourth of the season, thanks to Mark Stuart and Marc Savard. Buffalo answers in the second period with a goal by Cody McCormick, his seventh of the season coming from Tim Connolly and Tyler Ennis. The Bruins retake the lead on a Gregory Campbell goal, his seventh of the year getting help from Blake Wheeler and Shawn Thornton. The Sabres got back into a tie with a Nathan Gerbe power play goal, his third of the year assisted by Tyler Myers and Ennis. Buffalo takes a 3-2 lead on a Thomas Vanek goal, his 18th of the season going unassisted. The Sabres extend the lead with Jason Pominville netting his tenth of the year, from Vanek and Jochen Hecht. The final had Buffalo over Boston 4-2, with the three stars going to Paul Gaustad, Gerbe, and Andrej Sekera, but I think the officials got this one wrong, and my personal three stars are Vanek, Ennis, and Miller (38 for 40 saves).

Up north to Toronto, where the Maple Leafs host the traveling Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Jean-Sebastien Giguere face off in a battle of teacher and student. Dan Sexton registered his third of the season for Anaheim to give them the early lead, with help from Lubomir Visnovsky and Matt Beleskey. Clarke MacArthur tied the game at 1 for Toronto with his 15th of the year, from Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak. The Ducks retake the lead with Maxim Lapierre netting his sixth of the season, courtesy of Brandon McMillan and Joffery Lupul. Carl Gunnarsson gets the Maple Leafs back into a tie with his third of the year, from MacArthur. Toronto takes the lead on a Bozak goal, his eighth of the season, from Kessel and Dion Phaneuf. Mikhail Grabovski gets Toronto going again with two in a row, his 19th and 20th of the season, the first going unassisted and the second coming off of MacArthur. The final would have the Maple Leafs defeating the Ducks 5-2, with the three stars handed out to Giguere (26 for 28 saves), Grabovski, and Bozak.

Back down south to Atlanta, where the Thrashers host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson and Ondrej Pavelec get to guard the cages. Niclas Bergfors puts Atlanta up early with his tenth of the season, made possible by Freddy Meyer and Nigel Dawes. Steven Stamkos provided the tying goal for Tampa Bay in his 36th of the year, an unassisted goal. Anthony Stewart and the Thrashers took the lead back with his eleventh of the year, thanks to Nik Antropoc and Brent Sopel on the power play. Stamkos put the Lightning back in a tie with his second of the night and 37th of the season, with help from Steve Downie and Pavel Kubina. Tampa Bay got the game 3-2 in the shootout after Adam Hall traded a barb with Bryan Little, leading to Dominic Moore's game winner. The three stars are Stamkos, Moore, and Bergfors.

Continuing the vertical zig-zag, the New Jersey Devils host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brent Johnson and Martin Brodeur are guarding the cages. Brian Rolston puts New Jersey ahead early with his fourth of the season, courtesy of Patrik Elias and Andy Greene. The Devils go up 2-0 on a Nick Palmieri goal, his third of the year going down unassisted. The final was the same score as the second and third periods went scoreless, with Brodeur (23 save shutout), Rolston, and Palmieri getting the three stars.

Short travel to Long Island, where the New York Islanders host the Washington Capitals. Facing the opposing shooters are Braden Holtby and Rick DiPietro. Jason Chimera puts Washington up early with his seventh of the season, from Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. The Capitals take the lead to 2-0 with Backstrom notching his 12th of the year, with help from Ovechkin and John Carlson. New York gets on the board with Michael Grabner putting away his 12th of the season, with Josh Bailey picking up the assist. Washington weathered through over a period of scoreless play to win 2-1 over the Islanders, with the three stars going to Backstrom, Ovechkin, and Grabner.

The final game teeing off on the earliest wave of puck drops is the Philadelphia Flyers hosting the Ottawa Senators. Brian Elliott and Sergei Bobrovsky are in between the pipes. Danny Briere puts Philadelphia up early with his 25th of the season, assisted by Andrej Meszaros and Sean O'Donnell. Mike Richards makes it 2-0 Flyers with his 16th of the year, thanks to Braydon Coburn and Andreas Nodl. Richards adds on his second of the night and 17th of the season to make it 3-0 with the power play tally from Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timmonen, good for Pronger's first point since returning from injury. Ottawa finally responds with a Milan Michalek goal, his eleventh of the year going in with help from Jarkko Ruutu shorthanded. Nick Foligno continues the Senators surge with his eighth of the year, thanks to Mike Fisher and Daniel Alfredsson. The Flyers rebuild a portion of their lead with Scott Hartnell notching his 16th of the season, with Briere and Ville Leino grabbing the helpers. Philadelphia makes it 5-2 with James van Riemsdyk notching his eleventh of the year, with the helpers from Richards and Pronger. The Flyers extend the lead farther with Meszaros putting his third of the year, a power play goal from Claude Giroux, prompting a late goalie change for the Senators, with Mike Borduer coming on to relieve Brian Elliott. Philadelphia took Ottawa down 6-2, with the three stars given out to nobody because everyone was in the penalty box after the 5-fight, 126-penalty minute game. To put this in perspective, each team had at least one player penalized for longer than the game was played. On Ottawa's side, the fighters were Jesse Winchester, Nick Foligno, Chris Neil, Jarkko Ruutu, and Matt Carkner, with misconducts handed out to Zack Smith, Neil, and Carkner. Their minors for roughing featured Neil twice, Chris Campoli, Ryan Shannon and Carkner. The Philadelphia fighting majors went to Jeff Carter, Claude Giroux, Jody Shelley, Scott Hartnell, and Sean O'Donnell. Misconducts were doled out to Shelley and O'Donnell. The roughing minors featured just Darroll Powe twice. Three stars are actually Richards, Briere, and Meszaros.

The St. Louis Blues were the next to start, hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Jaroslav Halak are in the creases. Detroit gets the first goal with Patrick Eaves scoring his 13th of the season, made possible by Henrik Zetterberg. Todd Bertuzzi put the lead at 2-0 Red Wings with his eighth of the year, courtesy of Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler. Jakub Kindl makes it 3-0 for Detroit with his first of the season, helped along by Filppula and Hudler. St. Louis enters the scoring with T.J. Oshie potting his second of the year, returning from injury and getting help from Patrik Berglund and Roman Polak. The Blues inched closer to a tie with Berglund potting his tenth of the season, assisted by Vladimir Sobotka and Alex Pietrangelo. David Backes got St. Louis into a 3-3 tie with his 15th of the year, with help from Brad Boyes and Alex Steen. Darren Helm gave the Red Wings the win in overtime with his fifth of the season, from the sock trick completion by Hudler and Niklas Kronwall. In the 4-3 victory, Filppula, Oshie, and Bertuzzi got the three stars.

Heading into Colorado, with the Avalanche hosting the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Craig Anderson get the starts. Nashville takes the early lead on the 12th of the season by Sergei Kostitsyn, with help from Martin Erat and Marcel Goc. The Predators make it 2-0 with Cody Franson nailing his sixth of the year, courtesy of Patric Hornqvist and David Legwand. Nashville went up 3-0 on a Matt Halischuk goal, his first of the season getting help from Shane O'Brien and J.P. Dumont. Shortly thereafter, the Predators tacked on another from Legwand, his sixth of the year coming from Hornqvist and Franson. Colin Wilson kept Nashville going with his 12th of the season, assisted by Shea Weber and Kevin Klein. Colorado finally scored to make it 5-1 when Matt Duchene netted his 19th of the year, thanks to Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Stewart. This was the final, with Rinne (32 for 33 saves), Franson, and Ryan Suter earning the three stars.

Up north in Canada, where the Edmonton Oilers host the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Nikolai Khabibulin are out to stop the shots. Jamie Benn notches his 13th of the season to put Dallas up early, with help from Adam Burish and Stephane Robidas. Ryan Jones quickly ties the game for Edmonton, potting his eleventh of the year thanks to Andrew Cogliano while shorthanded. Mike Ribeiro gives the Stars the lead back with his tenth of the year, assisted on by Nicklas Grossman. James Neal made it 3-1 Dallas with his 19th of the season, a power play goal helped along by Benn. The Oilers got a goal back when Jeff Petry netted his first of the season, thanks to Ladislav Smid and Magnus Paajarvi. The Stars did ice the game at 4-2 with Burish's sixth of the year into an empty net unassisted. Benn, Paajarvi, and Neal got the three stars.

Also in Canada, the Vancouver Canucks host the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Roberto Luongo will be tending the twines. Henrik Sedin opens the scoring for Vancouver with his tenth of the season, helped along by Daniel Sedin and Dan Hamhuis. San Jose tied it with Logan Couture notching his 21st of the year unassisted. late in third. San Jose took the game 2-1 in the shootout because of Joe Pavelski's goal. The three stars went to winning goalie Luongo (45 for 46 saves), losing goalie Niemi (36 for 37 saves), and Henrik Sedin.

Lastly, the Los Angeles Kings host the Phoenix Coyotes. Ilya Bryzgalov and Jonathan Quick are given the responsibility to block the shots. Phoenix opened the scoring in the second period with Martin Hanzal getting his tenth of the season, a power play goal assisted on by Ray Whitney and Keith Yandle. Fifty-seven seconds later, Lee Stempniak added his 12th of the year, an unassisted goal. This was the final after the scoreless third period with Bryzgalov (36 save shutout), Hanzal, and Willie Mitchell getting the three stars.

That's all for hockey. Live blogging will likely be continued on Friday night.