Wednesday NHL games

There were nine games scheduled today, with the next games for the regular season coming next Tuesday. We started off in...

Boston, where the Bruins hosted the Florida Panthers. Tomas Vokoun and Tim Thomas got the spots in net. Brad Marchand opened the scoring for Boston with his 13th of the season, helped along by Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara. Milan Lucic extended the lead to 2-0 in the second period with his 20th of the year, assisted by David Krejci. Florida got on the board with Bryan Allen in the third period putting his fourth of the season away, thanks to Radek Dvorak and Darcy Hordichuk. The Panthers ended up falling 2-1 to the Bruins, with Marchand, Thomas (34 for 35 saves), and Vokoun (33 for 35 saves) getting the stars.

Heading to New York, where the Islanders hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Rick DiPietro got the nods in goal. Zach Boychuk opened the scoring for Carolina with his fourth of the season, helped along by Eric Staal and Erik Cole. New York answered in the second period with Michael Grabner putting his 15th of the year in the twine, courtesy of Frans Nielsen and Andrew MacDonald. The Hurricanes got two in a row from Staal, his 24th and 25th of the year being assisted by Cole first, and Joe Corvo and Tim Gleason later. Brandon Sutter put Carolina up 4-1 in the third period with his eleventh of the season, from Jiri Tlusty and Jussi Jokinen. MacDonald made it 4-2 with his first of the season, helped along by Grabner, producing the final score. The three stars were awarded to Staal, Grabner, and Cole.

Down south, the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the Washington Capitals. Semyon Varlamov and Ondrej Pavelec were given goaltending duties. Atlanta opened the scoring in the second period with Nik Antropov scoring his ninth of the season, with help from Fredrik Modin and Ron Hainsey. This would be the final, with the Thrashers taking the Capitals down 1-0. The three stars were given to Pavelec (36 save shutout), Antropov, and Zach Bogosian, whose defensive role was expanded.

Out west a tad, with the Dallas Stars hosting the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Kari Lethonen got the puck blocking job. Dallas opened the scoring with Adam Burish netting his seventh of the season, with Mike Ribeiro and Trevor Daley picking up the helpers. Two fights broke out in rapid succession, with Dallas tough guy Krys Barch fighting Jim Vandermeer, shortly followed by Matt Niskanen going at it with Colin Fraser. The Stars made it 3-0 with two goals by Brenden Morrow, his 20th and 21st of the year, with Jamie Langenbrunner and Stephane Robidas picking up assists on the earlier power play goal, and Langenbrunner and Ribeiro helping out on the latter goal. Another pair of fights broke out, with Barch dropping the gloves again, this time with Zack Stortini, followed by James Neal and Theo Peckham's brawl. Dustin Penner put away his 16th of the season shortly thereafter, a power play goal made possible by Shawn Horcoff and Taylor Hall. This would be the end of the scoring, giving the Stars a 3-1 victory over the Oilers. The three stars were awarded to Morrow, Lethonen (34 for 35 saves), and Langenbrunner.

Up north again, with the Detroit Red Wings hosting the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Jimmy Howard were in between the pipes. Detroit scored first with Darren Helm's unassisted sixth goal of the season. New Jersey answered with Brian Rolston potting his sixth of the year, with the helpers provided by Anton Volchenkov and Patrik Elias. After a scoreless second period, the Red Wings took the lead at 2-1 with a Valtteri Filppula tally, his 12th of the season coming from Jiri Hudler and Ruslan Salei. Detroit put the dagger in the Devils, wrapping up the scoring at 3-1 with the 21st of the year from Johan Franzen, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall. The three stars were given to Helm, Filppula, and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Back west a bit more with the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Ilya Bryzgalov and Peter Budaj started out in front of the cages. Colorado struck first with the second goal of the season by Ryan Stoa, with helpers coming from Paul Stastny and Kevin Shattenkirk. Phoenix evened it with the 15th of the year by Scottie Upshall, a power play goal made possible by Keith Yandle and Lee Stempniak. Yandle made it 2-1 Coyotes and scared off Budaj with his eighth of the season, assisted by Martin Hanzal and Derek Morris. Craig Anderson came on to guard the net for Colorado. Phoenix made it 3-1 with an Eric Belanger goal, his sixth of the year going with help from Taylor Pyatt and Stempniak. Kyle Turris made it 4-1 Coyotes with his ninth of the campaign, thanks to Shane Doan. The Avalanche tried to start a comeback on the 20th of the season by Matt Duchene, with the lone assist by T.J. Galiardi. Belanger put the game away for Phoenix with his seventh of the year and second of the night, an empty net goal making it 5-2 with help from Lauri Korpikoski. Yandle, Duchene, and Bryzgalov (29 for 31 saves) earned the three stars.

Up north into Canada, where the Calgary Flames hosted the St. Louis Blues. Ty Conklin and Miikka Kiprusoff were in the blue paint. David Moss opened the scoring for Calgary with goals in the first and second period, his eleventh and 12th of the season, with the earlier being an unassisted power play goal (although Erik Johnson honestly did all the work) and the latter also on the power play, with help from Anton Babchuk and Olli Jokinen. Adam Pardy made it 3-0 Flames with his first of the year, helped along by Jokinen and Moss. Philip McRae put St. Louis on the board with his first of the season, thanks to Jay McClement and Brad Boyes. Jarome Iginla wrapped the game up for Calgary, ousting the Blues by a 4-1 final with his empty net goal from Mark Giordano, his 22nd of the year. The three stars were received by Kiprusoff (28 for 29 saves), Moss, and Giordano.

Across the Rockies to Vancouver, where the Canucks hosted the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Roberto Luongo got the netminding jobs for the game. It took until the third period for a goal, coming from Nashville's Shea Weber, his ninth of the season, from Martin Erat and Sergei Kostitsyn. Vancouver answered with an Alexandre Burrows tally, his eleventh of the year assisted on by Dan Hamhuis. Lee Sweatt put the Canucks up 2-1, the eventual final taking down the Predators with his first of the campaign, helped along by Daniel Sedin. Luongo (26 for 27 saves), Rinne (33 for 35 saves), and Sweatt were given the three stars.

Lastly, the Los Angeles Kings hosted their northern neighbors, the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Jonathan Quick tended the twines. Los Angeles struck first in the second period with the 19th of the season by Ryan Smyth, helped along by Jarret Stoll and Jason Williams. San Jose answered with Ryane Clowe potting his 13th of the year with no help required. Devin Setoguchi gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead with his tenth of the season, courtesy of Logan Couture. Forcing the overtime frame was the Kings' Alexei Ponikarovsky, whose fourth of the year deadlocked the teams at 2. He was helped by Brad Richardson and Michal Handzus. In the shootout, the Kings toppled the Sharks with Stoll's lone marker. The three stars went to Jack Johnson, Couture, and Ponikarovsky.

That's all for now. Tune in on Friday for the All-Star Fantasy Draft, where Team Lidstrom and Team Staal will pick their all-star teams. The next post after that will be the game on Sunday.