Tuesday games

There are another six games on Tuesday, with all starting before 5 Pacific. This post should be finished tonight. We open up with...

The New York Islanders hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. The youngsters in net were James Reimer and Mikko Koskinen. Toronto opened the scoring with the seventh of the season by Colby Armstrong, with assists by Holy-Nose Darryl Boyce and Tomas Kaberle. The Maple Leafs extended the lead to 2-0 with the first of the year by Jay Rosehill, assisted by Luke Schenn. New York visited the scoresheet with a Matt Moulson marker, his 19th of the season coming on the power play thanks to John Tavares and P.A. Parenteau. The Islanders tied the game in the second period on a Michael Grabner goal, his 17th of the year, with help from Radek Martinek and Kyle Okposo. Toronto came back and retook the lead with Kaberle's third of the season, courtesy of Armstrong and Boyce. Nikolai Kulemin made it 4-2 Maple Leafs with his 20th of the year, made possible by Phil Kessel. Toronto kept scoring with the second of the season by Fredrik Sjostrom, helped along by Armstrong, and the sock trick earning Boyce. New York attempted to close in by making it 5-3 with a Rob Schremp goal, his tenth of the year gaining steam from Milan Jurcina and Matt Martin. This was the final, and the three stars went out to Armstrong, Kaberle, and Grabner.

Next up, the New Jersey Devils hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Johan Hedberg were called on to make the starts. The game was scoreless into the second period until Jeff Skinner netted his 19th of the season, with the help of Joe Corvo and Joni Pitkanen on the power play. New Jersey answered with the sixth of the year for Mattias Tedenby, courtesy of Jason Arnott and Colin White. Skinner added on another power play goal for the Hurricanes, his second of the game and 20th of the season, assisted by Eric Staal and Ian White. The Devils tied it again, this time with Nick Palmieri notching his fifth of the year, with help from Ilya Kovalchuk and Colin White, and forcing an overtime. It was in the extra frame that Tedenby nailed his second of the game and seventh of the season to win it for New Jersey, thanks to Travis Zajac and the goalie Johan Hedberg. The three stars went to Tedenby, Palmieri, and Skinner.

After that, the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Marc-Andre Fleury picked up the starts. First of major mention, there was a fight between Derek Dorsett and Ben Lovejoy early in the first. Columbus was the first to score with a Rick Nash goal, his 24th of the season, which came from Derick Brassard and Jakub Voracek. Another fight broke out after a controversial Matt Cooke hit on Fedor Tyutin, and Cooke dropped the mitts with Brassard. Samuel Pahlsson extended the Blue Jackets lead with his fifth of the year, assisted by R.J. Umberger and Jan Hejda. Voracek added his own for Columbus, his tenth of the season making it 3-0 with the help of Nash and Brassard. Pittsburgh did get on the board with a power play goal by Tyler Kennedy, his tenth of the campaign with helpers by Michael Rupp and Paul Martin. Antoine Vermette answered with his 13th of the year to make it 4-1 Blue Jackets, courtesy of Kristian Huselius and Umberger. After a fight between Eric Godard and Jared Boll, the game concluded with the aforementioned score. The three stars went to Mason (32 for 33 saves), Nash, and Voracek.

A little ways south, the Washington Capitals hosted the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Michal Neuvirth were in between the pipes. The game was silent through two periods and half of the third until Logan Couture put his 24th of the season away, assisted by Ben Eager and Kent Huskins, giving San Jose a lead. Dan Boyle made it 2-0 Sharks with his sixth of the year, coming from Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi. This was the final, and Couture, Neuvirth (34 for 36 saves), and Niemi (25 save shutout) were the three stars.

Also being played, the Florida Panthers hosted the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Tomas Vokoun got the starting honors. Dennis Wideman put Florida up first with his eighth of the season, a power play goal made possible by Stephen Weiss and Michael Frolik. David Backes tied it for St. Louis late in the second period by scoring his 18th of the year, with the help of Andy McDonald and Brad Boyes. Matt D'Agostini put the Blues up 2-1 in the later third period with his 12th of the season, which was helped along by Vladimir Sobotka and Barret Jackman. The Panthers couldn't recover and lost 2-1, with the three stars awarded to D'Agostini, Halak (30 for 31 saves), and Backes.

Finally, the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Dwayne Roloson put on the masks. Sean Bergenheim put Tampa Bay on the board first with his ninth of the season, assisted by Vincent Lecavalier and Brett Clark. Buffalo answered back with a Drew Stafford tally, his 18th of the year, with the help of Jordan Leopold. Lecavalier put the Lightning back out front with his tenth of the season, gaining steam from Victor Hedman. Bergenheim added on another goal to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead, his second of the game and tenth of the year, with the help of Ryan Malone. Thomas Vanek got the Sabres going again, making it 3-2 with his 20th of the season, courtesy of Mike Weber. Leopold tied the game in third period for Buffalo with his eleventh of the year, helped along by Tyler Ennis. Ennis also picked up the assist on the go-ahead goal for the Sabres, Tim Connolly's eighth of the season. Forty-seven seconds later, and the lead was 5-3 for Buffalo when Vanek netted his second of the game and 21st of the year, made possible by Cody McCormick. Stafford later added two in a row to complete his hat trick, the 19th and 20th of his season which got help from Shaone Morrison and Weber first and Leopold and Vanek on the latter power play tally. The Lightning tried feebly to make the comeback with Lecavalier netting his second of the game and eleventh of the year on the power play from Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos. The final was 7-4, and the three stars were Stafford, Vanek, and Lecavalier.