Friday NHL

Completing a trio of days with six games on was Friday. They started the games in...

New Jersey, with the Devils hosting the Florida Panthers. Tomas Vokoun and Johan Hedberg were sent out to stop the puck. Chris Higgins put Florida on the board first with his ninth of the season, with the assists provided by Steve Bernier and Keaton Ellerby. New Jersey answered with a Travis Zajac goal, his eighth of the year going in unassisted. Giving the Devils a lead was Jason Arnott with his 13th of the season, helped along by Henrik Tallinder and Mattias Tedenby. Shortly after that, the Panthers retied the game with a power play goal by Dennis Wideman, courtesy of David Booth and Michael Frolik. New Jersey took the lead back in the second period with Mark Fayne notching his third of the season, with the help of Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk. Coming up big to tie the game in the third period, the Panthers got an unassisted and shorthanded goal from Mike Santorelli, going in the books as his 14th of the campaign. The tie lasted into overtime, where Florida took the Devils down on a Rostislav Olesz goal, his fifth of the year, from Radek Dvorak to win the game 4-3. The three stars were handed out to Olesz, Santorelli, and Zajac.

To Pittsburgh, where the Penguins hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Marc-Andre Fleury took their places in front of the nets. Seventeen seconds into the game, Paul Gaustad put Buffalo up with his sixth of the season, assisted by Rob Niedermayer. Mike Grier added on his third of the year for the Sabres, making it 2-0 with the help of Niedermayer and Gaustad. Pittsburgh got on the board in the second period with Dustin Jeffrey scoring his fourth of the season, made possible by Chris Conner and Alex Goligoski. Tyler Kennedy tied the game for the Penguins with his ninth of the campaign, and Zbynek Michalek picked up the lone helper. Forty second later, Pittsburgh took the lead when Matt Cooke scored his tenth of the year, with Jordan Staal and Pascal Dupuis helping out along the way. The score went unchanged throughout the third period, leading the Penguins to a 3-2 victory, and giving Cooke, Kennedy, and Gaustad the three stars.

Next up, the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the Washington Capitals. Semyon Varlamov and Dwayne Roloson faced the rubber. Teddy Purcell put Tampa Bay up first with his eleventh of the season, with the help of Simon Gagne and Victor Hedman. Nicklas Backstrom answered for Washington with his 13th of the year, courtesy of Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green. Brooks Laich extended the Capitals lead to 2-1 with his tenth of the season, made possible by Mathieu Perreault and Jay Beagle. Washington extended the lead farther with an Ovechkin power play goal from Backstrom and John Carlson, his 20th of the year. The Lightning got a goal back on the power play from Brett Clark, his eighth of the campaign going in with assistance from Purcell and Gagne. The Capitals restored the two-goal lead in the third period with another Backstrom tally, his second of the game and 14th of the season, with helpers coming from Ovechkin and Jason Chimera. Chimera sealed the game at 5-2 with his empty netter for his eighth of the year, assisted by Ovechkin for the sock trick and Backstrom. The three stars of the game were Backstrom, Ovechkin, and Gagne.

Out west, the Detroit Red Wings brought the Columbus Blue Jackets to Joe Louis Arena. Steve Mason and Jimmy Howard took their places between the pipes. Columbus drew first blood with an Antoine Vermette goal, his 12th of the season getting assistance from Matt Calvert and R.J. Umberger. The Blue Jackets went up 2-0 in the second period with a Jared Boll marker, his sixth of the year, with the help of Andrew Murray and Derek MacKenzie. In the third period, Columbus sealed the deal at 3-0 with the empty net fourth of the season by Murray, getting steam from Vermette and Jan Hejda. This was the final, where Steve Mason (34 save shutout), Calvert, and MacKenzie earned the three stars.

Following that, the St. Louis Blues hosted the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Ty Conklin covered the goal mouth. T.J. Oshie put St. Louis up first with his third of the season, assisted by Alex Steen and Patrik Berglund. Edmonton answered with a goal by Sam Gagner, his 12th of the year, with help from Ladislav Smid and Linus Omark. Twenty seconds later, the Blues took the lead back with an Alex Pietrangelo tally, good as his sixth of the season coming courtesy of Brad Boyes and Andy McDonald. St. Louis went up 3-1 with a Matt D'Agostini goal in the second period, via Nikita Nikitin and Alex Steen on the power play for his eleventh of the year. Boyes added on his eleventh of the season as well, getting some help by fellow Blues Berglund and Erik Johnson. The Oilers answered with a Taylor Hall goal, his 17th of the year assisted by Andrew Cogliano and Jordan Eberle. Theo Peckham put Edmonton within a goal on his third of the season, as Cogliano and Eberle picked up the helpers again. Brad Winchester restored a two goal lead for St. Louis with his ninth of the year, courtesy of Jay McClement and B.J. Crombeen. This would be the final of the game, where McDonald, Oshie, and Conklin (29 for 32 saves) got the three stars.

Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks host the Chicago Blackhawks in the fierce rivalry. Marty Turco and Roberto Luongo stand between the pipes. Christian Ehrhoff put Vancouver out on the right foot first with his tenth of the season, gaining steam from Tanner Glass and Cody Hodgson. Chicago answered in the second period with Jonathan Toews potting his 19th of the year, courtesy of Fernando Pisani and Brent Seabrook. Nick Boynton gave the Blackhawks a lead with his first of the season, coming off of Toews and Troy Brouwer. The Canucks found an equalizer on the power play with Mikael Samuelsson notching his eleventh of the year, with the help from Henrik Sedin and Dan Hamhuis. Chicago took the lead back on the 12th of the campaign by Dave Bolland, assisted by Bryan Bickell and Brent Seabrook. Vancouver tied it again with a power play goal by Henrik Sedin, his 12th of the season helped along by Samuelsson and Daniel Sedin. Daniel Sedin gave the Canucks a 4-3 lead with his 28th of the year, made possible by Henrik Sedin and Alexandre Burrows. This would be the final score, with Luongo (42 for 45 saves), Henrik Sedin, and Toews grabbing the three stars.

That's all for Friday. Trying to work on Saturday's in the same day format, but no promises.