Monday Hockey

Another week begins, and so do another six games at some point tonight. The first of these games is in...

Toronto, where the Maple Leafs host the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Jean-Sebastien Giguere are guarding the cages. Evander Kane puts Atlanta up first with his 14th of the season, a power play goal from Bryan Little and Zach Bogosian. Dustin Byfuglien put the Thrashers up 2-0 with his 17th of the year, also a power play goal, courtesy of Bogosian and Rich Peverley. Toronto answered in the second period with the second of the season by Dion Phaneuf, assisted by Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin. Grabovski tied it for the Maple Leafs with his 22nd of the year, coming off of Clarke MacArthur and Tomas Kaberle. Thirty-nine seconds later, Atlanta regained the lead with a Nik Antropov goal from Anthony Stewart, good for his tenth of the season. Toronto found another equalizer in the form of the 17th of the year from MacArthur, thanks to Kaberle and Kris Versteeg. Kulemin gave the Maple Leafs a 4-3 lead with his 19th of the campaign, unassisted. Tim Brent added some insurance with his seventh of the season, helped along by Joey Crabb and Colby Armstrong. The Thrashers tried to get going again with Andrew Ladd putting his 17th of the year away with the help of Peverley and Little, but no further offense came of it and the Maple Leafs held on for a 5-4 victory. The three stars are awarded to Kaberle, Kane, and Grabovski.

Next up features the Detroit Red Wings hosting the New York Rangers. Martin Biron and Jimmy Howard are in the nets. The scoring was opened in the second period by Pavel Datsyuk, who returned from injury to net his 13th of the season with the help of Jiri Hudler and Danny Cleary. New York tied it in the third period with a Derek Stepan goal, his 15th of the year getting help from Matt Gilroy and Wojtek Wolski. Hudler took the lead back for the Red Wings on his fifth of the season, via Jonathan Ericsson and Datsyuk. Detroit extended their lead out to 3-1 with the fourth of the year by Drew Miller, assisted by Justin Abdelkader. The Rangers came back within a goal thanks to Brandon Dubinsky notching his 18th of the campaign with the help of Sean Avery and Marian Gaborik, but it wasn't enough to avoid defeat. Datsyuk, Hudler, and Howard (45 for 47 saves) were the three stars.

Southward a bit, with the Nashville Predators hosting the Edmonton Oilers. Earning the privilege to start are Devan Dubnyk and Pekka Rinne. Edmonton dented the scoreboard first with Andrew Cogliano notching his eighth of the season, made possible by Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall. Ryan Jones put the Oilers up 2-0 with his 12th of the year, helped along by Colin Fraser and Liam Reddox. Eberle made it 3-0 in the early third period with his tenth of the season, with assists coming from Jim Vandermeer and Cogliano. Dustin Penner kept the Oilers going with his 18th of the year, courtesy of Ales Hemsky. Pekka Rinne was pulled for Anders Lindback at this point. Edmonton would cruise to a 4-0 victory, giving the three stars to Dubnyk (37 save shutout), Jones, and Cogliano.

Meanwhile, Edmonton's Alberta rivals, the Calgary Flames host the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Miikka Kiprusoff are tending the twines. Calgary struck first with a Mikael Backlund goal, his seventh of the season, with assists by Lance Bouma and Adam Pardy. Chicago answered in the second period with a Patrick Kane marker from Jonathan Toews and Troy Brouwer, good as his 15th of the year. Calgary regained the lead in the third period with a goal by Curtis Glencross, his 14th of the season from Olli Jokinen and Robyn Regehr. Rene Bourque put the dagger in for Calgary with his 16th of the year, an empty net goal with helpers from Jokinen and Jarome Iginla. The three stars went to Glencross, Iginla, and Brent Seabrook.

After that, the Phoenix Coyotes played host to the Colorado Avalanche. Craig Anderson and Ilya Bryzgalov were the featured goaltenders. Phoenix struck first with a Radim Vrbata goal, his 12th of the season going down thanks to Martin Hanzal and Ray Whitney. The Coyotes added on in the second period with a Scottie Upshall marker, the 16th of the campaign for him coming off of Kyle Turris and Shane Doan. Vrbata sank another goal in the third period, making it 3-0 with his second of the night and 13th of the year on the power play from Taylor Pyatt and Whitney. This was the final, and Bryzgalov (26 save shutout), Vrbata, and Adrian Aucoin took the three stars home.

Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Ottawa Senators. Playing the creases were Brian Elliott and Roberto Luongo. Alexandre Burrows opened the scoring for Vancouver with his 14th of the season, assisted by Henrik Sedin and Christian Ehrhoff. Ryan Kesler added on his 31st of the year to extend the Canucks lead, with the helpers by Mason Raymond and Mikael Samuelsson. Samuelsson potted his own goal in the second period for Vancouver, making it 3-0 with his 12th of the season courtesy of Kesler and Raymond. Ottawa finally got on the board when Nick Foligno sank his ninth of the year, with the help of a returning Jason Spezza and Daniel Alfredsson. Spezza made it a one goal game for the Senators with his tenth of the season, with the lone assist by Chris Phillips. Samuelsson iced the game off for the Canucks with his second of the night and 13th of the year, an empty net goal getting help along the way from Raymond, who finished a sock trick. The three stars went to Samuelsson, Spezza, and Dan Hamhuis.

Tuesday's games are on the way, keep watch very soon.