Saturday Hockey (back to same-day)

There are eleven scheduled games for Saturday. These will be played throughout much of the day, starting with...

The Boston Bruins hosting a former trading partner, the San Jose Sharks. In the nets were Antti Niemi and Tim Thomas. San Jose got on the board in the first period with a Logan Couture goal, his 23rd of the season coming on the power play from Ryane Clowe and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The game was relatively quiet throughout until the last three seconds, where the game was sealed 2-0 for the Sharks on a Devin Setoguchi empty net goal from Clowe and Niclas Wallin for his eleventh of the year. The three stars went to Couture, Niemi (26 save shutout), and David Krejci (best last name east of the Mississippi).

Heading up north a bit, the Montreal Canadiens host the New York Rangers. Martin Biron and Carey Price tended the twines. The scoring was opened by Montreal in the late second period by Scott Gomez with his seventh of the season, thanks to Alexandre Picard and Yannick Weber. The Canadiens sealed a 2-0 victory with an empty netter from Tomas Plekanec, assisted by P.K. Subban for his 18th of the year. The three stars were awarded to Price (35 save shutout), Gomez, and Biron (27 for 28 saves).

Out west for the last of the matinees, the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Guarding the cages were Curtis McElhinney and Peter Budaj. Anaheim drew first blood on a Corey Perry power play goal, with helpers provided by Teemu Selanne and Cam Fowler for his 26th of the season. Perry added a pair more for the hat trick in the third period, his 27th and 28th of the year, with the helpers by Bobby Ryan and Brandon McMillan for the earlier goal and Todd Marchant and Saku Koivu on the game-sealing empty netter. The three stars went to Perry, McElhinney (25 save shutout), and Ryan O'Byrne (to get three stars, presumably).

For the regularly scheduled games, the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Dallas Stars. Kari Lethonen and Brian Boucher were called on to make the starts. Andrej Meszaros put Philadelphia on the board first with his fourth of the season, helped along by Ville Leino. Darroll Powe added his own fourth of the year, a shorthanded goal from Blair Betts and Sean O'Donnell, giving the Flyers a 2-0 lead. Dallas dented the scoreboard with Brendan Morrow putting his 23rd biscuit of the season in the basket, courtesy of Mike Ribeiro and Trevor Daley. Jeff Carter put Philadelphia back in front by two goals with his 25th of the year, made possible by Claude Giroux and Chris Pronger. This was the final, giving the Flyers a 3-1 win over the Stars, and the three stars were given out to Boucher (30 for 31 saves), Meszaros, and Morrow.

Next up, the Carolina Hurricanes host the struggling Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Cam Ward were in the creases. Atlanta drew the first blood with a Niclas Bergfors tally, his eleventh of the season draining with the help of Bryan Little and Johnny Oduya. Carolina answered in the second period with an Eric Staal goal, his 26th of the year, getting help from Tuomo Ruutu and Jeff Skinner on the power play. The Hurricanes took the lead in the third period with Brandon Sutter notching his 12th of the season, courtesy of Jiri Tlusty and Joni Pitkanen. Brent Sopel answered for the Thrashers with his second of the year, an unassisted goal. Twenty-eight seconds later, Carolina took the lead back when Tlusty notched his fourth of the season, helped along by Pat Dwyer and Ian White. Atlanta found another equalizer off the stick of Zach Bogosian, his fourth of the year getting assistance from Little and Rich Peverley. In the overtime period, Erik Cole sealed the game for the Hurricanes, notching his 14th of the season with the help of Jamie McBain and Pitkanen. The three stars went to Cole, Sutter, and Tlusty.

In the border battle, the Buffalo Sabres hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Ryan Miller were sent out to stop the puck. Buffalo found the back of the net first with a Jason Pominville goal, his 12th of the season assisted by Thomas Vanek. Drew Stafford made it 2-0 for the Sabres with a power play goal from Jordan Leopold and Tyler Myers, good for his 16th of the year. Buffalo kept it going in the second period with a Paul Gaustad tally, his seventh of the season getting aided by Mike Grier and Rob Niedermayer. Tim Connolly added on his seventh of the year as well for the Sabres, a power play goal made possible by Vanek and Stafford. Toronto got on the board with a Nikolai Kulemin goal, his 18th of the season coming shorthanded via Luke Schenn. Stafford made it 5-1 with his 17th of the year, an unassisted goal for Buffalo, prompting Toronto to put Jean-Sebastien Giguere in the crease. The Maple Leafs answered back with a Francois Beauchemin marker, his second of the season helped along by Kris Versteeg and Colby Armstrong. Vanek wrapped the game up for the Sabres on his unassisted 19th of the year. Earning the three stars were Stafford, Vanek, and Leopold.

Heading down to Long Island, where the New York Islanders hosted the Ottawa Senators. Brian Elliott and Kevin Poulin made the starts. New York found twine first with a Matt Moulson goal, his 18th of the season coming from Jack Hillen and John Tavares. Ottawa responded with the third of the year by Chris Neil just thirteen seconds later, with the lone assist going to Mike Fisher. The Islanders took the lead back with a Michael Grabner goal from Frans Nielsen and Ty Wishart, good for his 16th of the season. The Senators tied the game again with a Fisher marker, his 14th of the year gaining power with Chris Kelly and Chris Campoli. Ottawa took a 3-2 lead when Alex Kovalev netted his eleventh of the season, courtesy of Peter Regin and Campoli. Seventeen seconds later, New York retied the game at 3 with the eighth of the year by Rob Schremp, assisted by Jeremy Colliton and Wishart. Elliott was replaced by Robin Lehner. After going scoreless in the second period, the Islanders took the lead back with another Schremp goal in the third period, his ninth of the season and second of the game coming on the power play thanks to Travis Hamonic and Grabner. Nielsen sealed the game for New York, 5-3, with his sixth of the year into the empty cage, with Hamonic providing the assistance. The three stars were handed out to Schremp, Grabner, and Fisher.

Out further west, the Columbus Blue Jackets played host to the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Steve Mason were in front of the cages. Edmonton scored first with Magnus Paajarvi getting his eighth of the season, courtesy of Linus Omark and Sam Gagner. The Oilers took a 2-0 lead with the Dustin Penner goal, assisted by Ales Hemsky and Ladislav Smid, for his 17th of the year. R.J. Umberger got Columbus on the board with his 18th of the season, thanks to Antoine Vermette and Fedor Tyutin. The Blue Jackets tied the game in the second period on a Kristian Huselius marker, his tenth of the year getting help from Umberger and Grant Clitsome. Edmonton took the lead back in the third period with the second of the night and ninth of the campaign from Paajarvi, with Omark and Gagner picking up the helpers once again. Umberger responded again with his second of the game and 19th of the season, his assistance provided by Kris Russell and Vermette. Huselius finally put the Blue Jackets out front with his second of the game and eleventh of the year, helped along by Umberger and Russell. Columbus held on to defeat the Oilers 4-3, and the three stars went to Umberger, Huselius, and Russell.

Following that, the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Minnesota Wild. Niklas Backstrom and Ilya Bryzgalov put on the masks for the game. It took until the third period to see a goal scored, and this one came from Phoenix's Taylor Pyatt, his 13th of the season seeing help from Sami Lepisto and Eric Belanger. The Coyotes defeated the Wild by this 1-0 score, and the three stars were Bryzgalov (25 save shutout), Pyatt, and Lauri Korpikoski.

Back in the east a bit, the Nashville Predators brought the Detroit Red Wings to town. Joey MacDonald and Pekka Rinne took charge of the cages. Nashville took the lead on a Shea Weber power play goal in the first period, his tenth of the year coming from Ryan Suter and Colin Wilson. Sergei Kostitsyn made it 2-0 in the second period with a beautiful shorthanded, one-handed (told you it was shorthanded), goal, good as his 13th of the season, with Suter gathering in another assist. Kostitsyn added another goal in the third period for his 14th of the year, courtesy of Marcel Goc and Martin Erat, presenting us with the 3-0 Predators final over Detroit. The three stars were given to Rinne (35 save shutout), Kostitsyn, and Suter.

Lastly, the late game between the Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Miikka Kiprusoff were in between the pipes. Los Angeles struck first just thirty-nine seconds into the game with a Rob Scuderi goal, his second of the season coming from Justin Williams and Ryan Smyth. Forty-two seconds after that, Calgary found the tying goal in the form of the first of the year for Robyn Regehr, helped along by Alex Tanguay and Brendan Morrison. The Kings tied it later with a Dustin Brown marker, his 18th of the season finding twine on the power play thanks to Williams and Jack Johnson. Tanguay tied the game forty-five seconds into the second period with his 13th of the year, made possible by Morrison and Jarome Iginla, to put the Flames in a tie again. Williams gave Los Angeles the lead back with his 19th of the season, with Andrei Loktionov and Brown snapping up the assists. Tanguay added on another equalizer for Calgary, his second goal of the game and 14th of the year, assisted by Morrison and Iginla again, this time on the power play. The tie lasted through the rest of the game and into a shootout, where both teams got two quick goals, the Flames markers coming from Rene Bourque and Tanguay, which were answered by the Kings' Michal Handzus and Jarret Stoll, before Williams sealed the game in the seventh round for Los Angeles. Earning the three stars were Tanguay, Williams, and Morrison.

That's all for Saturday. Posts coming out later on Sunday are the Sandwich Showdown, NHL action, and Super Bowl XLV. Keep watch.