Friday Hockey games

Friday only had four games on. The first was held in...

Carolina, where the Hurricanes hosted the New York Islanders. Al Montoya and Cam Ward made the starts. Jeff Skinner opened the scoring for Carolina with his 25th of the season, assisted by Jussi Jokinen and Tuomo Ruutu. New York soon replied with a Frans Nielsen goal off of Michael Grabner and Radek Martinek, his tenth tally of the year. The Islanders took the lead in the second period with the 29th of the season from Grabner, courtesy of Travis Hamonic and Nielsen. The Hurricanes retied it in the third period with Erik Cole's 20th of the year, helped in by Cory Stillman. The tie allowed Carolina to defeat New York in overtime with Joni Pitkanen nailing his third of the campaign, thanks to Skinner and Eric Staal. The three stars were awarded to Ward (35 for 37 saves), Pitkanen, and Cole.

To New York City, where the Rangers hosted the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist guarded the cages. The first action came a second into the game, with Brandon Prust fighting Travis Moen. Artem Anisimov opened the scoring for New York with his 17th of the season, an unassisted goal. P.K. Subban replied for Montreal on his eighth of the year, courtesy of Benoit Pouliot and David Desharnais. The Rangers retook the lead with Dan Girardi notching his fourth of the season, fueled by Erik Christensen and Mats Zuccarello. Ryan Callahan extended the New York lead with his 22nd of the year, coming off of Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky. Thirty-two seconds later, the Rangers struck again, with Marian Gaborik netting his 21st of the season via Christensen and Vinny Prospal. Thirty-five seconds after that, New York made it 5-1 with Brian Boyle's 21st of the year, made possible by Marc Staal and Prust, leading to Alex Auld relieving Carey Price. The Canadiens answered back after the barrage with James Wisniewski in the second period, his ninth of the campaign produced by Roman Hamrlik and Brian Gionta. Montreal pulled closer with a Gionta power play goal in the third period, his 26th of the season powered by Wisniewski and Michael Cammalleri. Prospal sealed up a 6-3 victory with his fifth of the year, a power play goal created by Girardi and Staal. Anisimov, Callahan, and Prust earned the three stars.

Staying in the general area, the New Jersey Devils hosted the Washington Capitals. Michael Neuvirth and Martin Brodeur were in front of the nets. Washington opened the scoring with Jeff Schultz notching his first of the season, with the help of Mike Knuble and Dennis Wideman. Knuble ran the score to 3-0 by the end of the game with a second and third period goal as his 18th and 19th goals of the year. John Carlson and Alex Ovechkin each had a primary and secondary assist. The three stars went to Neuvirth (33 save shutout), Knuble, and Ovechkin.

Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera opposed Roberto Luongo. The scoring didn't begin until the third period, where Radim Vrbata notched his 18th of the season for Phoenix on the power play, with help coming from Eric Belanger and Shane Doan. Doan extended the Coyotes lead with his own 18th of the year, also on the power play, powered by Vrbata and David Schlemko. Christian Ehrhoff used his eleventh of the season to put Vancouver on the board, with assistance from Mikael Samuelsson and Daniel Sedin. Lee Stempniak secured a 3-1 victory for Phoenix with his 17th of the year sailing into the empty net, courtesy of Belanger. The three stars went to LaBarbera (46 for 47 saves), Ehrhoff, and Vrbata.

Ten games on Saturday, I'll try to get them done quickly.