Friday Hockey

Tonight brings us five games of hockey, starting off in...

New Jersey, where the Devils hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brent Johnson and Martin Brodeur collected the starts. The scoring was opened in the second period by New Jersey, specifically Travis Zajac with his tenth of the season, made possible by Nick Palmieri and Andy Greene. Pittsburgh tied it with a Tyler Kennedy snipe, his 15th of the campaign technically unassisted, although the ref did provide a beneficial block. The tie lasted throughout the third period and into the overtime, where the Devils toppled the Penguins with Ilya Kovalchuk netting his 23rd of the year on the power play from Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston. Kovalchuk, Kennedy, and Zajac earned the three stars.

Heading north into Ottawa, where the Senators hosted the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Craig Anderson were called on for the starts. New York opened the scoring with Vinny Prospal netting his fourth of the season, courtesy of Sean Avery. The Rangers extended the lead in the second period with Mats Zuccarello notching his fourth of the year, via Derek Stepan and Wojtek Wolski. Twelve second later, New York struck again, as Artem Anisimov sank his 15th of the campaign, guided in by Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi. Stepan scored his 18th of the season for the Rangers as well, with the help of Wolski and Steve Eminger. Ottawa finally got on the board with a power play goal by Sergei Gonchar, his seventh of the year fueled by Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson. The final would stand at 4-1, with Lundqvist (28 for 29 saves), Girardi, and Stepan getting the three stars.

Moving west to Chicago, where the Blackhawks hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Justin Peters opposed Corey Crawford in the nets. Chicago opened the scoring just fifty-five seconds in with Jonathan Toews notching his 26th of the season, with the lone assist from Patrick Sharp. Carolina replied with Eric Staal netting his 29th of the year, thanks to Cory Stillman and Erik Cole. The Blackhawks reclaimed the lead with Bryan Bickell's 15th of the campaign, made possible by Brent Seabrook and Marian Hossa. Chicago, after a silent second period, extended their lead in the third frame with Ryan Johnson scoring his first of the season, with Chris Campoli and Brian Campbell providing the assistance. The Blackhawks added on with Dave Bolland getting his 15th of the year, with the help of Hossa and Bickell. Patrick Kane also tallied for Chicago, scoring his 21st of the season with the added efforts from Sharp and Campoli. The Hurricanes cut the deficit to 5-2 with Jeff Skinner nailing his 23rd of the year, courtesy of Joe Corvo and Jussi Jokinen. This would be the final, where the three stars went to Hossa, Johnson, and Toews.

Back north and a bit west, with the Calgary Flames hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Miikka Kiprusoff tended the twines. Columbus was first on the board on the second of the season by Craig Rivet, assisted by Derek MacKenzie. Calgary answered with Olli Jokinen potting his 14th of the year, with the help of Curtis Glencross and David Moss. Forty-four seconds later, the Flames took the lead with Jarome Iginla netting his 29th of the season, off of Rene Bourque and Cory Sarich. The Blue Jackets tied it in the second period with Antione Vermette scoring his 16th of the year, helped along by Kris Russell and Jakub Voracek. Calgary reclaimed the lead with a Bourque power play goal from Jokinen and Glencross, his 22nd of the season. Glencross added on his 21st of the year for the Flames, also on the power play, fueled by Anton Babchuk and Alex Tanguay. Columbus got a goal back to make it 4-3 in the third period when Jan Hejda netted his third of the campaign via Voracek and Vermette. This would be the final as the Blue Jackets produced no more offense, where Jokinen, Kiprusoff (37 for 40 stops, two penalty shots denied), and Glencross collected the three stars.

Moving along to California, where we wrap up the games in Anaheim, as the Ducks hosted the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Dan Ellis took to the creases. Anaheim opened the scoring with a Lubomir Visnovsky goal, his tenth of the season, which came from Bobby Ryan and Dan Sexton. Dallas answered in the second period with the 15th of the year by Jamie Benn, assisted by Alex Goligoski and Brendan Morrow. The Stars took the lead on the eighth of the season by Adam Burish, with the help of Jason Williams and Trevor Daley. Dallas continued to extend the lead on the power play when Loui Eriksson netted his 22nd of the year thanks to Stephane Robidas and Mike Ribeiro. Visnovsky tallied again for the Ducks, his second of the night and eleventh of the campaign coming as a power play goal in the third period via Teemu Selanne and Ryan Getzlaf. Selanne tied it for Anaheim with his 21st of the season, gathering steam off of Getzlaf and Visnovsky. The tie lasted into overtime, allowing Visnovsky to complete the hat trick with his 12th of the year, securing a 4-3 victory with the power play goal powered by Getzlaf, who converted a sock trick simultaneously. Visnovsky, Selanne, and Benn earned the three stars.

That's all there is for Friday. Saturday's games will be out early Sunday morning in their final form.