Saturday Games NHL

There were ten games to begin with on Saturday, including three in the afternoon. The first of these had...

The New York Islanders hosting the St. Louis Blues. Ben Bishop and Al Montoya were in front of the nets. John Tavares opened the scoring for New York with his 24th of the season, with assists from P.A. Parenteau and Travis Hamonic. Parenteau extended the lead with his 15th of the year, helped along by Michael Grabner and Tavares. Andrew MacDonald tallied for the Islanders in the second period by sinking his third of the season, courtesy of Matt Martin and Josh Bailey. Andy McDonald finally put St. Louis on the board with his 14th of the year, coming off of T.J. Oshie and Alex Pietrangelo. MacDonald replied for New York with his fourth of the campaign, an unassisted goal. The Blues got the goal back again, as Chris Stewart netted his 20th of the season on the power play from Patrik Berglund and McDonald. The Islanders made it 5-2, which eventually was the final, with a Grabner goal, his 26th of the year, gathering steam from Frans Nielsen and Jack Hillen. The three stars were given to MacDonald, Tavares, and Parenteau.

The second afternoon game pitted the Philadelphia Flyers against the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Sergei Bobrovsky collected the starts. Philadelphia was the first on the board with Kris Versteeg netting his 18th of the season on the power play with the help of Matt Carle and Mike Richards. The Flyers made it 2-0 with a James van Riemsdyk tally, his 16th of the year, courtesy of Claude Giroux. Buffalo got on the board with Drew Stafford notching his 25th of the season, helped on by Thomas Vanek and Tyler Ennis. Ennis tied the game for the Sabres with his 14th of the year, guided by Paul Gaustad and Andrej Sekera. Sekera put Buffalo in front with his third of the season, assisted by Brad Boyes and Jason Pominville. Philadelphia retied the game at 3 with a shorthanded goal by Kimmo Timonen, his fourth of the year, with the lone helper from Braydon Coburn. The Sabres reclaimed the lead with a Pominville goal, his 16th of the season, made possible by Vanek and Boyes. Buffalo secured a 5-3 victory with the Nathan Gerbe empty net goal from Gaustad and Patrick Kaleta, his eighth of the year. Stafford, Timonen, and Versteeg were the game's three stars.

Heading to Southern California, where the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Vancouver Canucks. Tending the twines were Roberto Luongo and Jonathan Quick. Los Angeles opened the scoring with Dustin Penner's 22nd of the season, helped along by Brad Richardson and Justin Williams. Vancouver tied it with Jannik Hansen scoring his ninth of the year thanks to Raffi Torres. The scoring stayed quiet in the second period, and it took a Daniel Sedin third period goal to give the Canucks the lead, his 33rd of the season being aided by Christian Ehrhoff and Henrik Sedin. Vancouver secured the victory at 3-1 with the empty net goal provided by Alexandre Burrows, his 18th of the year being produced by Manny Malhotra. Hansen, Willie Mitchell (?), and Ehrhoff got the three stars, with an honorable mention to Spartan goalie Luongo on his 300th victory.

Starting the regularly timed games were the Boston Bruins hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Tim Thomas played in front of the cages. Two first period fights were the highlights of the opening frame, with Michael Rupp taking on Shawn Thornton early and Craig Adams exchanging punches with Nathan Horton later in the period. The scoring began in the second with Boston's Zdeno "Bullet" Chara scoring his eleventh of the season thanks to David Krejci and Milan Lucic. Pittsburgh replied with the seventh of the year from Jordan Staal, fueled by Tyler Kennedy and Matt Cooke. The Penguins took the lead with Dustin Jeffrey's sixth of the season, with a little assistance from Max Talbot and Zbynek Michalek. With just thirty-three second remaining in the third period, the Bruins found an equalizer on Krejci's tenth of the year, and Lucic and Horton picked up the assists. The tie was broken by Pittsburgh in the overtime frame, with Jeffrey potting his second of the game and the seventh of the season, an unassisted game-winner. Fleury (29 for 31 saves), Paul Martin, and Dennis Seidenberg were the official three stars, but the bottom two should be Jeffrey and Krejci.

Moving under the microscope in Toronto, with the Maple Leafs hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and James Reimer started off in front of the goalmouths. Marian Hossa opened the scoring early for Chicago with his 18th of the season, an unassisted goal. The Blackhawks went up 2-0 with the tenth of the year by Michael Frolik, with Troy Brouwer and Jake Dowell earning the helpers. Chicago rolled on with Jonathan Toews netting his 27th of the season, courtesy of Patrick Kane and Hossa. Toronto got on the board in the second period with the eighth of the year by Joffery Lupul, going down with no assistance. The Blackhawks replied with Viktor Stalberg's tenth of the season, coming off of Tomas Kopecky and Ryan Johnson. Chicago made it 5-1 with a Bryan Bickell tally, his 16th of the year, fueled by Dave Bolland and Brent Seabrook. The Maple Leafs tried to fuel a comeback with Joey Crabb potting his second of the season in the third period with the help of Luke Schenn. Schenn got another goal to make it 5-3 late in the final frame of regulation, which went down unassisted. This went on to become the final, and the three stars were Crawford (30 for 33), Brouwer, and Schenn.

Heading south to Tampa Bay, where the Lightning hosted the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price and Dwayne Roloson tended the twines. Hal Gill continued his hot streak with his second goal of the season, putting Montreal on top first with the help of Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec. David Desharnais extended the Canadiens lead with his eighth of the year, a power play goal powered by Andrei Kostitsyn. Tampa Bay got on the board with the 12th of the season for Dominic Moore, a power play goal as well, with assistance from Pavel Kubina and Teddy Purcell. Montreal restored the two-goal lead with yet another power play goal, the 13th of the year by Max Pacioretty, gathering steam off of Plekanec and P.K. Subban. Pacioretty added a third period goal for the Canadiens as well, his 14th of the season helped out on by Scott Gomez. The Lightning tried a comeback by making it 4-2 on the 16th of the year from Vincent Lecavalier, assisted by Moore and Purcell, but it wouldn't be enough. The three stars were Pacioretty, Price (43 for 45 saves), and Gomez.

Crossing into Georgia, where the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the Florida Panthers. Tomas Vokoun and Chris Mason put on the masks. Florida was first on the board with a Sergei Samsonov goal, his eleventh of the season a product of efforts by Niclas Bergfors and Stephen Weiss. Atlanta tied it in the second period with the 13th of the year by Blake Wheeler, assisted by Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd. Ladd put the Thrashers in front in the third period with his 24th of the season, a power play goal powered by Tobias Enstrom and Bryan Little. Wheeler struck again to make it 3-1 Atlanta with his second of the game and 14th of the year, helped along by Byfuglien. Weiss got the Panthers going again with his 18th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Samsonov and Mike Santorelli. David Booth provided the equalizer for Florida with his own 18th of the year, courtesy of Dmitry Kulikov and Jason Garrison. The tie lasted until overtime, where Ladd scored his 25th of the season and second of the game for the Thrashers, as Byfuglien clinched a sock trick and Little provided another assist to take down the Panthers. Ladd, Wheeler, and Byfuglien were the three stars.

Heading out west to the desert, where the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Ilya Bryzgalov played between the pipes. Drew Miller put Detroit on the board first with his seventh of the season, with help from Darren Helm. The Red Wings extended the lead with Johan Franzen notching his 27th of the year, a power play goal guided in by Nicklas Lidstrom and Mike Modano. Phoenix got on the board when Kyle Turris sank his eleventh of the season with the help of Adrian Aucoin and Brett MacLean. Detroit made it 3-1 with a Valtteri Filppula goal, his 13th of the year, assisted by Lidstrom and Brad Stuart. Helm added on his ninth of the season for the Red Wings, a shorthanded goal made possible by Stuart. The Coyotes started a comeback attempt with a Mikkel Boedker goal, his second of the year going into the twine unassisted. Ray Whitney cut the score to 4-3 for Phoenix with his 13th of the season, with Kyle Turris and Shane Doan picking up the helpers. Martin Hanzal provided the equalizer for the Coyotes with his 16th of the year, coming off of Radim Vrbata and Whitney. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Phoenix beat Detroit on the lone Vrbata tally. The three stars went to Turris, Vrbata, and Whitney.

Moving north into Colorado, where the Avalanche hosted the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Brian Elliott started in front of the cages. Edmonton opened the scoring with a Sam Gagner goal, his 15th of the season coming on the power play via Andrew Cogliano and Linus Omark. Ryan Jones added his 14th of the year for the Oilers, also a power play goal, with the help of Gagner and Tom Gilbert. Shawn Horcoff made it 3-0 Edmonton with his ninth of the season, assisted by Magnus Paajarvi and Jordan Eberle. The Oilers kept going with Alexandre Giroux netting his first of the year, thanks to Omark and Gagner. Colorado finally got on the board with the sixth of the season by Ryan O'Reilly, with the help of David Jones and John-Michael Liles required. Andrew Cogliano made it 5-1 Edmonton with his eleventh of the season, a shorthanded goal fueled by Liam Reddox and Gilbert. This would be the final, with the three stars going to Gagner, Dubnyk (33 for 34 saves), and Jones.

Finally, the San Jose Sharks hosted the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi got the starting nods. Dallas opened the scoring with a Jamie Benn goal shorthanded, his 16th of the season coming from Stephane Robidas. San Jose answered back with a Kyle Wellwood goal, his fourth of the year, with help from Torrey Mitchell and Joe Pavelski. The Sharks took the lead in the second period with Patrick Marleau's 26th of the campaign, assisted by Dany Heatley. The Stars retied it with Loui Eriksson getting his 23rd of the season, with the help of Mark Fistric and Benn. Dallas took the lead 3-2 with the first of the year for Jason Williams, with Steve Ott and Trevor Daley providing the helpers. This would be the final, with the three stars Benn, Marleau, and Alex Goligoski getting the three stars.

That's all there is for Saturday. Please pardon for the delay, and Sunday's games with a Sandwich post coming out later.