Friday hockey recap

Friday brought along another eight games to cover. The first was in...

Columbus, where the Blue Jackets hosted the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Bernier and Steve Mason made the starts. Los Angeles opened the scoring with Anze Kopitar sinking his 22nd of the season on the power play, with the help of Jack Johnson and Justin Williams being required. Scottie Upshall answered for Columbus on his 19th of the year, helped along by Derek Dorsett. Kopitar gave the Kings the lead back with his second of the game and 23rd of the season, with guidance from Drew Doughty and Williams. Kopitar also extended the lead to 3-1 Los Angeles in the second period, completing the hat trick with his 24th of the year, assisted on by Dustin Brown and Matt Greene. The Blue Jackets got a goal back when Derick Brassard netted his 15th of the season off of Rick Nash and Fedor Tyutin. It wouldn't be enough, as the Kings closed the door for a 4-2 victory with Williams' 22nd of the year, finding twine with the help of Dustin Penner and Doughty. The three stars were awarded to Kopitar, Williams, and Upshall.

Heading back east to Washington, D.C., where the Capitals hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Braden Holtby played in the creases. The scoring was silent until late in the second period, when Tuomo Ruutu gave Carolina the lead on his 16th of the season, helped along by Cory Stillman and Bryan Allen. Alex Ovechkin tied it early in the third period for Washington with his 28th of the campaign, courtesy of Marcus Johansson and Mike Knuble. Matt Hendricks gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead with his eighth of the year, made possible by Jason Arnott. This lead would not be relinquished, and the three stars went out to Hendricks, Holtby (40 for 41 saves), and Ward (24 for 26 saves).

Heading off to Long Island, where the New York Islanders hosted the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Al Montoya guarded the cages. Boston opened the scoring with a Nathan Horton goal, his 20th of the season, with helpers credited to Milan Lucic and David Krejci. The Bruins extended their lead with Zdeno Chara netting his 12th of the year on the power play, guided in by Krejci and Tomas Kaberle. New York got on the board with two seconds left in the second period, a power play goal from Matt Moulson being the tally, his 29th of the season being powered by John Tavares and P.A. Parenteau. The Islanders tied it in the third period with Michael Grabner potting his 28th of the year, courtesy of Kyle Okposo and Milan Jurcina. New York obtained the lead with Jack Hillen notching his fourth of the season, fueled by Radek Martinek and Okposo. With ten seconds left in the game, the Islanders secured a 4-2 victory on Parenteau registering his 16th of the year, with the help of Moulson. Hillen, Okposo, and Moulson got the three stars.

South to Atlanta, where the Thrashers hosted the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Ondrej Pavelec tended the twines. Atlanta opened the scoring in the second period with a Blake Wheeler goal, his 15th of the season coming via Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little. New Jersey tied it with a Travis Zajac goal on the power play, his eleventh of the year gathering steam off of Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston. The Thrashers reclaimed the lead in the third period with Dustin Byfuglien netting his 20th of the campaign on the power play, with the help of Tobias Enstrom and Little being required. The Devils tied it again with yet another power play goal, with Ilya Kovalchuk sending his 25th of the season to the back of the net thanks to efforts from Nick Palmieri and Mark Fayne. New Jersey toppled Atlanta in the overtime period with a power play goal by Zajac, his second of the game and 12th of the year, helped along by Elias and Kovalchuk. The three stars went to Zajac, Little, and Elias.

Heading up to Detroit, where the Red Wings hosted the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Jimmy Howard put on the masks. Edmonton opened the scoring with a Ryan Jones goal, his 15th of the year, finding the net thanks to Jim Vandermeer. With twenty-five seconds left in regulation, Nicklas Lidstrom pounded home his 14th of the campaign, with Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen picking up the assists. Datsyuk gave the Red Wings the victory in the overtime by a 2-1 margin on his 21st of the year, made possible by Franzen and Niklas Kronwall. The three stars went to Dubnyk (42 for 44 saves), Datsyuk, and Lidstrom.

Back south again to Tampa Bay, where the Lightning hosted the Ottawa Senators. Curtis McElhinney opposed Dwayne Roloson in his first Senators start. Jason Spezza put Ottawa up first with his 13th of the season, a power play goal from Ryan Shannon and Erik Karlsson. The Senators extended their lead when Bobby Butler sank his seventh of the campaign, assisted by Sergei Gonchar and Colin Greening. Tampa Bay got on the board in the third period with a power play goal by Martin St. Louis, his 26th of the year going down thanks to Teddy Purcell and Steven Stamkos. This wouldn't be enough, as the offense shut down again for a 2-1 Senators victory, and the three stars belonged to McElhinney (34 for 35 saves), Karlsson, and Dominic Moore.

Westward to Dallas, where the Stars hosted the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Kari Lethonen backstopped their teams. Dallas was the first to score with a Jamie Benn goal, his 19th of the season assisted on by Jamie Langenbrunner and Nicklas Grossman. Trevor Daley extended the Stars lead with his seventh of the year, with Mike Ribeiro and Langenbrunner picking up the helpers. Tom Wandell kept Dallas going with his sixth of the season, powered by Loui Eriksson and Brad Richards. The Stars made it 4-0 with Ribeiro sinking his 15th of the year unassisted. After a silent third period, this became the final, with Lethonen (14 save shutout), Ribeiro, and Benn getting the three stars.

Finally, heading to Denver, where the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Dan Ellis and Brian Elliott played between the pipes. Colorado got on the board first late in the first period with Ryan O'Reilly sinking his seventh of the season, with the help of Ryan Wilson and Ryan O'Byrne (the all-Ryan goal). Thirty-four seconds into the second period, Anaheim tied it with Saku Koivu sinking his 14th of the year, assisted by Teemu Selanne and Luca Sbisa. The Ducks took the lead with Ryan Getzlaf netting his 17th of the season on the power play, powered by Corey Perry and Selanne. The Avalanche tied the game at 2 with a David Jones goal, his 24th of the year, coming off of Paul Stastny and Erik Johnson. Anaheim retook the lead with Perry's 34th of the season, courtesy of Getzlaf. Dan Sexton kept the Ducks going with his fourth of the year, thanks to Brandon McMillan. Bobby Ryan also scored for Anaheim in the third period, with his 32nd of the season being helped in by Lubomir Visnovsky and Getzlaf. The Ducks secured their victory at 6-2 with Brad Winchester registering his tenth of the year, as Koivu and Sbisa picked up the assists. The three stars belonged to Getzlaf, Perry, and Johnson.