Thursday NHL recap

There were eight games played in the NHL on Thursday. We will head right into them by starting in...

Boston, where the Bruins hosted the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Tuukka Rask were given the starting nods. The game went scoreless into the second period, where Minnesota got up first with Martin Havlat potting his ninth of the season, a power play goal from Patrick O'Sullivan. Steve Kampfer tied it for Boston with his third of the year, with Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron picking up the helpers. The Wild retook the lead on the 12th of the season by hard hitter Cal Clutterbuck, an unassisted goal. Mikko Koivu put it away for Minnesota with his tenth of the campaign, an empty net goal made possible by John Madden and Clutterbuck. The Wild would take the Bruins down 3-1, and the three stars were handed out to Havlat, Bergeron, and Theodore (35 of 36 saves).

Staying east to cover the New Jersey Devils hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Johan Hedberg were in the battle of backup goaltenders. New Jersey struck first with Dainius Zubrus netting his fifth of the year, courtesy of Anton Volchenkov and Patrik Elias. Philadelphia evened the score in the second period on the eleventh of the year from Scott Hartnell, with assists coming from Ville Leino and Matt Carle. The Devils retook the lead with David Clarkson posting his fifth of the year, thanks to Andy Greene. The Flyers responded again with Hartnell's second of the night and 12th of the season, from Leino and Kimmo Timmonen. Philadelphia got their first lead on Danny Briere putting away his 19th of the year, from Leino, who completed a sock trick, and Carle. Briere potted another one later in the same period, his second of the night and 20th on the campaign, which was unassisted, and eventually produced the final score of 4-2 Philadelphia over New Jersey. Briere, Hartnell, and Leino were the three stars.

Crossing the border, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Jonas Gustavsson were in the creases. Toronto struck first with a Colby Armstrong goal fifteen seconds in the game, his fourth of the season being guided by Kris Versteeg and Darryl Boyce. Alex Steen answered for St. Louis later in the first period with his 14th of the year, from David Backes only. Backes gave the Blues the lead with his eleventh of the year, which got assistance from Matt D'Agostini. The Maple Leafs tied it at 2 in the second period with the 15th of the year by Mikhail Grabovski, assisted by Clarke MacArthur and Nikolai Kulemin. Versteeg gave Toronto the lead with his eleventh of the season, helped along by Armstrong and Francois Beauchemin. Phil Kessel made it 4-2 for the Maple Leafs with his 15th of the year, which required no help going to the net. Kessel added his second of the night and 16th of the campaign in the third period to make it 5-2 for Toronto, with Mike Komisarek and Beauchemin picking up the helpers. Brad Winchester helped to right the ship for St. Louis with his sixth of the season, helped along by Jay McClement and Brad Boyes. Eric Brewer got it closer for the Blues, making it 5-4 with his sixth of the year, assisted by Boyes and McClement. D'Agostini tied the game at 5 with his ninth of the season, thanks to Vladimir Sobotka. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Steen was one-upped by a beautiful Grabovski tally, answered by Boyes and re-answered by Versteeg, and then Toronto won it on Tyler Bozak's marker and the subsequent miss by Patrik Berglund. Earning the three stars from the Canadian Pressure Cooker were Bozak, Kessel, and D'Agostini.

Going over to Quebec, where the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brent Johnson and Carey Price were sent out to block the puck. Pittsburgh got on the board first with Aaron Asham netting his fifth of the year, thanks to Ben Lovejoy and Alex Goligoski. Montreal tied the game at 1 with Benoit Pouliot scoring his eighth of the season, with help from Mathieu Darche and David Desharnais. The tie would last throughout the third period and into a shootout, where the only goal came from the Canadiens, taking down the Penguins on Pouliot's marker, for a 2-1 final. Pouliot, Price (31 for 32 saves), and Desharnais were the three stars.

Heading out west, with the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera and Craig Anderson were in front of the cages. Taylor Pyatt got Phoenix on the board first with his eighth of the year, courtesy of Vernon Fiddler and Lee Stempniak. Pyatt waited over two more periods to ice the game off, potting his second of the night and ninth of the season into an empty net, with help from Shane Doan. The final had the Coyotes over the Avalanche 2-0. LaBarbera (34 save shutout), Pyatt, and losing goalie Anderson (31 for 32 saves) were the three stars in the defensively sound game.

Popping back north of the border, with the Edmonton Oilers hosting the New York Islanders. Nathan Lawson and Devan Dubnyk were starting in net for a battle of no-name goaltenders. Edmonton opened the scoring on Gilbert Brule potting his sixth of the year, assisted by Andrew Cogliano and Dustin Penner. Penner added his 12th of the year for the Oilers slightly later, a shorthanded goal from Cogliano that chased away Lawson in favor of an even lesser-known goalie, Kevin Poulin. New York got it back together in the second period, with Blake Comeau netting his ninth of the season, courtesy of Rob Schremp and Josh Bailey. However, the Islanders failed to produce any extra offense and suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of Edmonton. Dubnyk (30 for 31 saves), Cogliano, and Poulin (19 saves, 0 goals allowed in relief) were the three stars.

Heading to California, where the San Jose Sharks host the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Antero Niittymaki were in between the pipes. Luke Adam put Buffalo on the board first with his third of the season, assisted by Cody McCormick and Rob Niedermayer. Jochen Hecht made it 2-0 for the Sabres with his sixth of the season, made possible by Tyler Ennis. Thomas Vanek extended the lead for Buffalo in the third period with his 16th of the year, a power play goal courtesy of Drew Stafford and Jordan Leopold. (second intermission)

Lastly, the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Nashville Predators. In net were Anders Lindback and Jonathan Bernier, in another backup battle. The first period was scoreless, but the tie was broken as Los Angeles took the lead on the third of the year from Kyle Clifford, with help from Marco Sturm and Anze Kopitar. Jarret Stoll made it 2-0 for the Kings with his ninth of the season, assisted by Ryan Smyth and Kopitar on the power play. Nashville cut the lead down a bit in response with Colin Wilson notching his tenth of the season, made possible by Ryan Suter and Sergei Kostitsyn on the power play. Marek Svatos tied the game with his first goal since returning from Russia, obviously his first of the season, helped along by Wilson and Shea Weber. Patric Hornqvist gave the Predators a 3-2 lead with his 12th of the campaign, a power play goal from Wilson and Suter. (second intermission)