Wednesday NHL games

There are six games on today in the National Hockey League. The games start in...

Buffalo, with the Sabres hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Ryan Miller were in between the pipes. Buffalo opened the scoring with a Tyler Myers goal, his ninth of the season going in without assistance. Atlanta replied with the 22nd of the year for Andrew Ladd, a power play goal made possible by Bryan Little and Nik Antropov. The Sabres retook the lead with a Paul Gaustad tally, his ninth of the season coming off of Nathan Gerbe and Mike Weber. Thirty seconds later, Jason Pominville netted his 15th of the year, with the help of Myers. The Sabres made it 4-1 with Tyler Ennis notching his 13th of the season, courtesy of Jochen Hecht and Chris Butler. This was the final, with Myers, Miller (40 for 41 saves), and Gaustad getting the three stars.

Into Canada, where the Ottawa Senators hosted the Florida Panthers. Standing in goal are Scott Clemmensen and Craig Anderson. Ottawa was the first on the board with a Bobby Butler goal, his fourth of the season gathering steam from Colin Greening and Nick Foligno. The Senators made it 2-0 in the second period with the sixth of the year by Ryan Shannon, assisted by Jason Spezza and Filip Kuba on the power play. Florida got on the board with Chris Higgins' eleventh of the season, with help from goaltender Scott Clemmensen. Ottawa restored the two goal lead with another Butler goal, his second of the game and fifth of the year, which went down unassisted. The Senators made it 4-1 with Milan Michalek's 15th of the season, with assists by Matt Carkner and Spezza. Ottawa secured the game further with a Spezza tally, his eleventh of the year coming off of Shannon and Kuba. The three stars went to Butler, Spezza, and Shannon.

Farther south, the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera and Dwayne Roloson put on the masks. Tampa Bay opened the scoring with an unassisted goal from Teddy Purcell, going in the books as his 13th of the season. The Lightning made it 3-0 with two in a row for Martin St. Louis, his 21st and 22nd of the year, with helpers by Johan Harju and Nate Thompson on the earlier even strength goal and Vincent Lecavalier and Marc-Andre Bergeron on the latter power play tally. Steven Stamkos added on his 41st of the season, also a power play goal for Tampa Bay, with the help of Brett Clark and Lecavalier. Lecavalier added on his 14th of the year to make it 5-0 Lightning, with the help of St. Louis and Stamkos on the power play. Purcell extended the Tampa Bay lead in the second period with his second of the game and 14th of the year, helped along by Lecavalier (who notched a sock trick) and Randy Jones. Purcell completed a Lightning hat trick with his 15th of the season, extended the lead to 7-0, and the assists went to points-magnet Lecavalier and Simon Gagne. Phoenix finally got on the board with the 14th of the year for Martin Hanzal, thanks to Mikkel Boedker and Radim Vrbata. Tampa Bay extended the lead further with Adam Hall netting his seventh of the campaign, courtesy of Sean Bergenheim and Dominic Moore. The Coyotes replied with Kyle Turris getting his tenth of the season, with the help of Shane Doan and David Schlemko. Schlemko sent out a final message for Phoenix with his first of the year, with the lone assist going to Lauri Korpikoski. In the 8-3 beatdown, Purcell, Lecavalier, and St. Louis earned the three stars.

Up north again into Pennsylvania, where the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Marc-Andre Fleury took to the blue paint. Pittsburgh struck first with the 13th of the season by Tyler Kennedy, with helpers coming from Matt Cooke and Deryk Engelland. San Jose replied in the second period with the 25th of the year for Logan Couture, a power play goal made possible by Devin Setoguchi and Jason Demers. The Sharks took a 2-1 lead with a Patrick Marleau tally, his 23rd of the campaign going in with help from Dany Heatley. The Penguins tied it with another Kennedy goal, his 14th of the season, thanks to Jordan Staal and Cooke. The tie lasted into overtime, where Marleau snagged it with the second of the game and 24th of the year for him, assisted by Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Marleau, Kennedy, and Setoguchi were given the three stars.

West to Colorado, where the Avalanche hosted the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk opposed the new Colorado netminder Brian Elliott. Edmonton was the first on the board with a Dustin Penner power play goal coming off of Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky, good as his 21st of the season. The Oilers extended the lead in the second period when Sam Gagner netted his 13th of the year, courtesy of Magnus Paajarvi and Ryan Jones. Edmonton kept rolling with another power play goal, this time from Taylor Hall as his own 21st of the season, with assists provided by Jordan Eberle and Tom Gilbert. Colorado did get on the board with Milan Hejduk notching his 19th of the year, courtesy of Matt Duchene, who returned from injury, and John-Michael Liles. The Oilers regained the three goal margin with Eberle notching his 14th of the season with help from Andrew Cogliano and Theo Peckham. Edmonton made it 5-1, the eventual final, with Kurtis Foster potting his fifth of the year, assisted by Gilbert and Hall. The three stars went to Eberle, Hall, and Hejduk.

Finally, the Interstate-5 battle between the host Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Curtis McElhinney tended the twines. Los Angeles visited the scoreboard first with Ryan Smyth netting his 20th of the season, helped along by Jack Johnson and Jarret Stoll. Teemu Selanne replied with his own 20th of the year, made possible by Toni Lydman and Dan Sexton. The Kings regained the lead with an Anze Kopitar marker, his 18th of the campaign going down thanks to Justin Williams and the goalie Jonathan Quick. The Ducks got another equalizer when Corey Perry netted his 31st of the season, with helpers by Luca Sbisa and Bobby Ryan. Los Angeles eventually got the game winner with the second of the year by Willie Mitchell, with help from Williams and Trevor Lewis forthe 3-2 victory. Mitchell, Sexton, and Lydman earned the three stars.