Wednesday in the NHL

There were four games on Wednesday as I digressed back into procrastination. We start off with...

The Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Washington Capitals. Semyon Varlamov and Dwayne Roloson were the goalies. Tampa Bay opened the scoring with Dominic Moore potting his eighth of the season, assisted by Nate Thompson and the goalie Dwayne Roloson. The Lightning made it 2-0 on the eighth of the year from Sean Bergenheim, with helpers coming from Victor Hedman and Steve Downie. Simon Gagne made it 3-0 in the late second period with his fourth of the season, assisted by Bergenheim and Vincent Lecavalier. This score would remain unchanged in the third period, giving Tampa Bay a 3-0 win over Washington. Mattias Ohlund (?), Dwayne Roloson (23 save shutout), and Nate Thompson were the designated and controversial three stars.

Heading to Quebec, with the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Carey Price were given the starting nods. Pittsburgh got out to the early lead with Alex Goligoski notching his eighth of the season, with assistance from Chris Kunitz and Mark Letestu. Montreal answered back with the 13th of the year by Tomas Plekanec, made possible by Mathieu Darche and Benoit Pouliot. The Canadiens took the lead on the first of the year by David Desharnais, assisted by P.K. Subban and Tom Pyatt. The Penguins answered back in a rally of four straight power play goals. Tying the game was Tyler Kennedy with his seventh of the year, courtesy of Kris Letang and Jordan Staal. Staal scored his first of the year since returning from injury to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead, and it went down unassisted. Goligoski added his second of the night and ninth of the season, with help from Staal and Letang. Making it 5-2 Pittsburgh, the eventual final score, was Kunitz, who supplied his 14th of the year thanks to Letang, who finished off a sock trick, and Goligoski. Staal, Desharnais, and Letang were the recipients of the three stars.

Heading out west again, with the Chicago Blackhawks hosting the Colorado Avalanche. Peter Budaj and Corey Crawford were sent out as the primary puckstoppers. Chicago got on the board in the first period with Troy Brouwer scoring his eleventh of the season, with assists by Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane. Dave Bolland made it 2-0 Blackhawks with his seventh of the season, assisted by Fernando Pisani and Brent Seabrook. Chicago extended the lead with Pisani's seventh of the year, helped along by Bolland in the second period. Bringing the score to its eventual final in the third period was Jack Skille with his seventh of the campaign, with the lone assist coming from Seabrook. Gaining the three stars status in the 4-0 Chicago victory over Colorado were Crawford (24 save shutout), Bolland, and Pisani.

Lastly, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the St. Louis Blues. Ty Conklin and Jonas Hiller were in the creases. Bobby Ryan opened the scoring for Anaheim with his 19th of the season, assisted by Joffery Lupul and Lubomir Visnovsky on the power play. Jason Blake made it 2-0 for the Ducks with his ninth of the year, thanks to Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne. Ryan added his second of the night and 20th on the year to make it 3-0 Anaheim before the end of the first period, with Corey Perry and Visnovsky picking up the helpers. David Backes cut the deficit down for St. Louis with two goals in a row, his 13th and 14th of the season to make it a 3-2 margin for the Blues, with Vladimir Sobotka picking up both primary assists, and Alex Pietrangelo and Erik Johnson picking up the secondaries in that order. Ryan finished off his hat trick in the third period with his 21st of the season, assisted by Andreas Lilja and Cam Fowler. Perry made it 5-2 for the Ducks with his 22nd of the season, from Matt Beleskey and Ryan. Visnovsky made it 6-2 with his eighth of the year, a power play goal helped along by Fowler and Selanne. Then, there was warfare. Barret Jackman and George Parros started the fighting at 13:47. Three hockey seconds later, B.J. Crombeen and Maxim Lapierre dropped the gloves and threw punches. Fifteen seconds after that, Eric Brewer and Luca Sbisa exchanged some hits. After the carnage, Brandon McMillan added on his fourth of the year for Anaheim, making it 7-2, with assists credited to Andy Sutton and Todd Marchant on the power play goal. St. Louis, now physically and officially beaten up, got back to scoring with Ryan Reaves' first goal of the year, assisted by Matt D'Agostini. Obviously an unacceptable move, as Vladimir Sobotka took a dance with Matt Beleskey afterward. Brad Boyes lessened the pain for the black-and-Blues with his tenth goal of the season, a power play tally coming from D'Agostini and Alex Steen. The final favored the Ducks 7-4, with Ryan, Perry, and Visnovsky earning the three stars for the game.

In last minute hockey news, the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs created a low key trade, with Dallas trading away once-famed prospect Fabian Brunnstrom for the Maple Leafs prospect Mikhail Stefanovich. No huge implications for that trade, but a nugget meant to be known nonetheless. Thursday's hockey will be mostly live-blogged, so keep watch for the post later.