NHL Saturday

As mentioned earlier, there are eight games on throughout today. We start with a pair of afternoon games, led by...

The Dallas Stars hosting the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Kari Lehtonen received the starting honors. Dallas opened the scoring on the fourth of the season by Tom Wandell, which went unassisted. Nashville tied it in the second period with the second of the year by Ryan Suter, with help from Colin Wilson and David Legwand. The Predators took a lead with the 14th of the campaign by Wilson, with Cody Franson and Legwand providing help. The Stars retied it with an Alex Goligoski goal, his tenth of the season, which gained steam from Brendan Morrow and Mike Ribeiro. Dallas took a lead at 3-2 with a Loui Eriksson power play goal assisted by Goligoski and Morrow, his 21st of the year. This was the final, with the three stars going to Lehtonen (25 for 27 saves), Goligoski, and Wilson.

Also in the afternoon, the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Brian Elliott and Jonathan Quick were sent out to stop the puck. Los Angeles scored first with the 20th of the season by Anze Kopitar, with assists from Brad Richardson and Wayne Simmonds. Alec Martinez extended the lead for the Kings with his fourth of the year, helped along by Kyle Clifford and Trevor Lewis. Los Angeles kept going with Drew Doughty notching his tenth of the season on the power play with guidance from Kopitar and Ryan Smyth. The Kings made it 4-0 with the 17th of the year by Jarret Stoll in the third period, coming off of Justin Williams and Doughty. Colorado woke up with two David Jones goals, his 21st and 22nd of the season just thirty-nine seconds apart, with assists credited to John-Michael Liles and Erik Johnson on the earlier power play goal, and Johnson and Liles again on the even strength goal. With thirty seconds left in regulation, Paul Stastny tacked on his 19th of the year for the Avalanche, an unassisted goal. This wouldn't be enough, as Los Angeles held on to win 4-3. Doughty, Kopitar, and Jones picked up the three stars.

For the games at regularly scheduled times, we open up in Buffalo, with the Sabres hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Joey MacDonald and Ryan Miller took the nets in their hands. Buffalo opened the scoring on Andrej Sekera's second of the season, helped along by Jochen Hecht and Drew Stafford. The Sabres extended the lead to 2-0 with Mike Grier's fifth of the year, assisted by Sekera and Rob Niedermayer. Detroit got on the board with a power play goal from Pavel Datsyuk, his 18th of the season made possible by Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg. With fifty-eight seconds left in regulation, Jiri Hudler tied the game for the Red Wings, his seventh of the year finding twine with guidance from Danny Cleary and Johan Franzen. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Detroit clinched the victory on goals by Datsyuk and Hudler. Datsyuk, Sekera, and Hudler earned the three stars.

Continuing along, the New York Islanders hosted the Washington Capitals. Michal Neuvirth and Al Montoya were called on for the starts. New York opened the scoring on the third of the season by Kyle Okposo, fueled by Michael Grabner and Andrew MacDonald. The Islanders got up a 2-0 lead with Travis Hamonic putting his third of the year away, with no assistance required. Washington got on the board with Brooks Laich registering his 13th of the campaign, helped along by John Carlson. The Capitals tied it on a Mike Knuble goal, his 15th of the season coming off of Laich and Marcus Johansson. Washington took the lead in the third period with Alexander Semin notching his 22nd of the year, with help from Alex Ovechkin. This was the final score, with Semin, Laich, and Okposo getting the three stars.

Heading north, the Ottawa Senators hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Craig Anderson put on the goalie masks. Philadelphia scored first with Scott Hartnell netting his 19th of the season, courtesy of Claude Giroux. Ottawa replied in the second period with Nick Foligno sinking his tenth of the year on the power play with help from Filip Kuba and Ryan Shannon. Erik Condra put the Senators ahead with his first of the campaign, assisted by Shannon and Colin Greening. Ottawa extended the lead in the third period when Chris Phillips nailed his first of the season into the twine, thanks to help by Jason Spezza and Bobby Butler. Condra made it 4-1 Senators with his second of the game and of the year, a power play goal made possible by Erik Karlsson. This was the final, with Condra, Anderson (30 for 31 saves), and Shannon picking up the three stars honors.

Staying in Ontario, the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and James Reimer were in net for the game. Toronto was first on the board with Joffery Lupul notching his sixth of the season on the power play with helpers by Dion Phaneuf and Phil Kessel. Pittsburgh quickly replied with the 15th of the year by the newly-acquired Alex Kovalev, with the lone assists coming from Ben Lovejoy. The Maple Leafs retook the lead in the second period with Colby Armstrong potting his eighth of the season, courtesy of Mike Brown. The Penguins tied it again with Mark Letestu scoring his eleventh of the year onthe power play, fueled by Kris Letang and Jordan Staal. Pittsburgh took the lead at 3-2 with Dustin Jeffrey netting his fifth of the season, thanks to Pascal Dupuis and Matt Cooke. Toronto retied it on the 19th goal of the year for Clarke MacArthur, with assists provided by Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin. Thirty-five seconds later, Lupul gave the Maple Leafs the lead again with his second of the game and seventh of the season, made possible by Carl Gunnarsson. The Penguins found another tying goal with Max Talbot potting his seventh of the year shorthanded and unassisted. Phaneuf put Toronto back on top just fifty-three seconds later with the power play goal via Tim Brent and Kessel, good for his third of the season. Pittsburgh got yet another equalizer with Michael Rupp notching his sixth of the year, with the lone assist by Letestu. This tie lasted into a shootout, where the Penguins topped the Maple Leafs with Kovalev's lone tally. The three stars went to Lupul, Kovalev, and Rupp.

Keeping with the east Canada theme, the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Alex Auld tended the twines. Carolina was the first to score with Jussi Jokinen potting his 16th of the season, from Brandon Sutter and Jiri Tlusty. Montreal tied it with Michael Cammalleri scoring his 15th of the year, assisted by Tomas Plekanec. The Canadiens took the lead with Lars Eller netting his fourth of the campaign with the help of Andrei Kostitsyn. The Hurricanes tied it in the second period when Tuomo Ruutu nailed his 15th of the season into the mesh, thanks to passes from Char LaRose and Jerome Samson. Plekanec put Montreal back ahead with his 20th of the year, courtesy of Cammalleri and Roman Hamrlik. Cory Stillman tied it again for Carolina with his eighth of the season and first since returning to this franchise, with guidance by Jeff Skinner and Tim Gleason. Kostitsyn put the Canadiens up 4-3 with his 15th of the year in the third period, a power play goal with helpers provided by Hamrlik and P.K. Subban. This was the final, and the three stars went to Cammalleri, Plekanec, and Kostitsyn.

Finally, crossing the country to Vancouver, where the Canucks hosted the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Roberto Luongo were in between the pipes. Vancouver was the first on the board with a Manny Malhotra goal, his ninth of the season, assisted by Raffi Torres and Christian Ehrhoff. Boston tied in the second period with the 16th of the year for Nathan Horton, with helpers coming from Milan Lucic and Tomas Kaberle. Lucic gave the Bruins the lead in the third period with his 27th of the season, thanks to Dennis Seidenberg and David Krejci. Boston secured victory when Patrice Bergeron sank his 21st of the year into the empty net with guidance from Lucic, producing the 3-1 final. The three stars went to Lucic, Thomas (27 for 28 saves), and Malhotra.

Two last nuggets of information. Bryan McCabe was traded from Florida to the New York Rangers in return for Tim Kennedy and a third round draft pick in the 2011 draft. Also, being claimed off waivers were Marco Sturm (Washington), Craig Rivet (Columbus), and Nick Boynton (Philadelphia). Sunday has another eight games to be covered.