Monday Hockey recaps

Today we only have three games, and two of them are whoppers. We start in...

Toronto, with the Maple Leafs hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson and James Reimer were called on to make the starts. Tampa Bay got on the board first with the eighth of the season by Nate Thompson, assisted by Teddy Purcell and Brett Clark. Toronto answered in the second period with a Dion Phaneuf tally, his fifth of the year, with Tim Brent and Joffrey Lupul picking up the helpers. The Lightning went ahead 3-1 with Mattias Ritola sinking his third and fourth of the campaign, courtesy of Adam Hall and Thompson on his first goal and Purcell and Clark on the second. The Maple Leafs got a goal back with the 26th of the season by Nikolai Kulemin, an unassisted goal. Tampa Bay answered with Vincent Lecavalier notching his 18th of the year, thanks to Simon Gagne and Purcell, the latter completing a sock trick. The Lightning rolled on in the third period with a Dominic Moore goal, his 13th of the season, fueled by Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos, prompting Reimer to be pulled for Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Tampa Bay secured a 6-2 victory with Mike Lundin's first of the year, with assists coming from Stamkos and St. Louis. The three stars went to Ritola, Purcell, and Thompson.

Into Chicago, where the Blackhawks welcomed back their Stanley Cup winning goalie, Antti Niemi and the San Jose Sharks. Niemi opposed Corey Crawford in the nets. San Jose opened the scoring with Joe Pavelski netting his 14th of the season on the power play, coming off of Dan Boyle and Patrick Marleau. Chicago replied with Viktor Stalberg notching his eleventh of the year, assisted by Chris Campoli and Ryan Johnson. The Sharks reclaimed the lead on a Joe Thornton goal made possible by Marleau and Pavelski, his 17th of the season. The Blackhawks took a 3-2 lead on two Marian Hossa power play goals in a row, his 20th and 21st of the year, with primary assists by Patrick Sharp twice, while Patrick Kane and Tomas Kopecky grabbing the secondaries. Chicago extended the lead with a Jonathan Toews goal, his 30th of the season, helped along by Brent Seabrook and a sock trick earning Sharp. Niklas Hjalmarsson kept the Blackhawks rolling with his third of the year, powered by Kopecky and Duncan Keith. San Jose got a goal back with the 26th of the season by Logan Couture, guided in by Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Ryane Clowe. Twenty-two seconds later, Chicago made it 6-3 with a Kane goal, his 24th of the year, with Sharp and Toews providing the assists. The scoring was silent in the third period, so this score was the final, with the three stars given to Sharp, Hossa, and Toews.

Lastly, in British Columbia, where the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Minnesota Wild. The goalies were Niklas Backstrom and Roberto Luongo. Vancouver opened the scoring with a Raffi Torres goal, his 14th of the season helped in by Manny Malhotra and Jannik Hansen. The Canucks extended their lead with a power play goal by Daniel Sedin, his 38th of the year, powered by Mikael Samuelsson and Henrik Sedin. Vancouver continued scoring with Ryan Kesler on the power play, his 35th of the season gaining steam off of Samuelsson and Christian Ehrhoff. Minnesota entered the scoring in the second period with Andrew Brunette notching his 17th of the year, assisted by Mikko Koivu and Clayton Stoner, the former returning from injury. Koivu pulled the Wild to within a goal with his 16th of the season, thanks to Brunette and Brent Burns. Kesler secured a 4-2 Canuck victory with his second of the night and 36th of the year into the empty net, with help along the way from Malhotra and Ehrhoff. The three stars were awarded to Luongo (33 for 35 saves), Burns, and Kesler.