Sunday Hockey action

Today's slate of eight games are all relatively early games.They started with NBC's game, which was at...

The Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings, who hosted the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Jimmy Howard took care of the nets. Boston scored first with Tyler Seguin notching his ninth of the season with the help of Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder. Todd Bertuzzi answered for Detroit with his eleventh of the year, an unassisted goal. Brad Marchand restored the lead for the Bruins with his 16th of the season, a power play goal going in thanks to Ryder and Mark Recchi. The Red Wings got the game tied again with Pavel Datsyuk registering his 14th of the year, courtesy of Brian Rafalski and Jiri Hudler. Kris Draper gave Detroit a 3-2 lead with his sixth of the season, assisted by Patrick Eaves and Darren Helm. Bertuzzi locked up the game with his second of the afternoon and 12th of the year, with help from Johan Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg, making it 4-2 Red Wings, the final. The three stars went to Bertuzzi, Draper, and Zdeno Chara.

Next up, the New York Rangers hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Henrik Lundqvist were in the blue paint. Pittsburgh opened the scoring with a Deryk Engelland goal, his third of the season helped along by Chris Conner and Michael Rupp. Nick Johnson put the Penguins up 2-0 with his first of the year, courtesy of Jordan Staal and Pascal Dupuis. Thirty-seven seconds later, New York entered the scoring with Brian Boyle potting his 19th of the season, thanks to Marc Staal. The Rangers tied the game with Ryan Callahan getting his 13th of the year on the power play from Dan Girardi and Wojtek Wolski. New York obtained the lead in the second period with the second goal of the season by Vinny Prospal, assisted by Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik. Callahan added his second of the night for the Rangers, also his 14th of the year, with helpers from Marc Staal and Derek Stepan on the power play. Artem Anisimov put New York up 5-2 with his 12th of the season, also on the power play, helped along by Mats Zuccarello and Callahan. Pittsburgh tries to make a comeback in the third period with the second of the year by Brett Sterling, a power play marker made possible by Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang. The Rangers were able to hold on throughout the rest of the third period and defeated the Penguins 5-3. Callahan, Marc Staal, and Boyle earned the three stars.

Staying in the east, the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the road-weary Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Sergei Bobrovsky tended the twines. Los Angeles got the first goal seventeen seconds into the second period with Drew Doughty notching his seventh of the season with the help of Anze Kopitar and Wayne Simmonds. This was the only goal in the game, giving the Kings a 1-0 victory over the Flyers, with Quick (40 save shutout), Doughty, and Claude Giroux getting the three stars.

Following that, the Buffalo Sabres hosted the New York Islanders. Mikko Koskinen and Ryan Miller picked up the starts. Forty seconds into the game, New York struck with a Michael Grabner goal, with help from Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo for his 22nd of the season. Buffalo responded with a Jochen Hecht tally, his ninth of the year going in unassisted. Drew Stafford made it 2-1 for the Sabres on his 21st of the season, courtesy of Tyler Ennis and Tim Connolly. John Tavares retied the game for the Islanders with his 21st of the year, with Travis Hamonic and Matt Moulson picking up the helpers. Stafford restored the lead for Buffalo with his second of the game and 22nd of season, via Ennis and Connolly again. The Sabres extended their lead and chased away Koskinen with Nathan Gerbe potting his seventh of the year, with the help of Shaone Morrison. Al Montoya came on in relief. New York got back within a goal later in the second period, a Blake Comeau tally for his 14th of the season, with assistance from Nielsen and Okposo. The Islanders tied it with the second goal of the game and 23rd of the year by Grabner in the third period, an unassisted goal. Buffalo made it 5-4 with a Tyler Myers goal, his eighth of the campaign finding twine with guidance from Jason Pominville. Milan Jurcina retied it yet again for New York with his fourth of the season coming on the power play from Nielsen, who wrapped up his sock trick, and Tavares. Ty Wishart gave the Islanders a lead with his first of the year, also a power play goal, made possible by Jurcina and Josh Bailey. Thirty-one second later, the Sabres retied the game at 6 with Stafford completing his hat trick on his 23rd goal of the season, assisted by Jordan Leopold and Tyler Ennis, who finished a sock trick. The tie lasted until Grabner gave New York the 7-6 victory in overtime, completing a hat trick of his own on his 24th of the year, thanks to Okposo, who also earned a sock trick, and Andrew MacDonald. Grabner, Stafford, and Ennis all earned the three stars.

Heading southwest, the Dallas Stars hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets. Kari Lethonen and Steve Mason put on the masks. Dallas struck first with a Brad Richards goal, his 24th of the season coming on the power play via Trevor Daley and Steve Ott. Columbus answered forty-six seconds later with Matt Calvert notching his fourth of the campaign with the help of Anton Stralman and Jan Hejda. Rick Nash put the Blue Jackets up 2-1 in the second period on his 26th of the year, seeing the sticks of Jakub Voracek and Stralman previously. The scoring dried up after this point, and Columbus held on for the 2-1 victory over the Stars. The three stars went out to Mason (29 for 30 saves), Lethonen (37 for 39 saves), Stralman.

Continuing along, the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Ondrej Pavelec stood tall in the paint. Carolina was the first to strike with a Jiri Tlusty marker, his fifth of the season getting steam from Joni Pitkanen and Sergei Samsonov. Atlanta replied in the second period with Andrew Ladd sinking his 18th of the year unassisted. Joe Corvo put the Hurricanes back out front with his ninth of the campaign, courtesy of Brandon Sutter and Jeff Skinner. Ladd again provided the equalizer for the Thrashers with his second of the game and 19th of the season, again needing no help. Carolina managed to retake the lead again at 3-2 with Erik Cole sinking his 16th of the year with the help of Samsonov and Ian White, which would be the final. The three stars went out to Cole, Ladd, and Ward (41 for 43 saves).

Staying on the east coast, the Florida Panthers hosted the San Jose Sharks. Tending the twines were Antti Niemi and Tomas Vokoun. San Jose opened the scoring with Kent Huskins netting his second of the season, courtesy of Joe Pavelski and Torrey Mitchell. Florida responded late in the second period with Mike Santorelli nailing his 15th of the year with help from Cory Stillman and Keaton Ellerby. Pavelski gave the Sharks the lead back on his 12th of the campaign, assisted by Dany Heatley and Mitchell. The Panthers tied it again with Chris Higgins notching his tenth of the season thanks to Marty Reasoner and Dennis Wideman. Jason Garrison gave the Panthers a 3-2 lead with his third of the year, coming off of Reasoner and Higgins. This would be the final, with the three stars going to Garrison, Higgins, and Santorelli.

Finally, the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Devan Dubnyk were between the pipes. Thirty-four seconds into the game Teemu Selanne potted his 17th of the season, allowing Jason Blake and Andreas Lilja to pick up the helpers. Brandon McMillan made it 2-0 Ducks in the second period with his eighth of the year, via Dan Sexton and Maxim Lapierre. Bobby Ryan added on his 26th of the season for Anaheim shortly after, thanks to Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. The troublesome trio made it 4-0 Ducks in the third period when Ryan nailed his 27th of the year and second of the game, with Perry and Getzlaf helping out again. Nikolai Khabibulin closed out the game for Edmonton, who still lost 4-0. The three stars went to Ryan, Perry, and Selanne, and Hiller was noted to have an easy night, making a mere 12 saves for the shutout.

Monday brings three games, hopefully I have the time for them.