Saturday Hockey recap

Today we have ten games, including one matinee between...

The Minnesota Wild, who host the Columbus Blue Jackets. Mathieu Garon and Niklas Backstrom played in front of the goals. Columbus opened the scoring with a Rick Nash tally, his 30th of the season coming off of Derek Dorsett and Samuel Pahlsson. Minnesota replied with the first of the year from Brad Staubitz, assisted by John Madden and Clayton Stoner. The Wild took the lead in the second period with Cal Clutterbuck sinking his 19th of the season, courtesy of Mikko Koivu and Madden. The Blue Jackets retied it with the fifth of the year from Kris Russell, with help from Sami Lepisto and Rick Nash. Columbus took the lead again in the third period with the fifth of the season from Jan Hejda, aided by Nash and Lepisto. Nash extended the Blue Jackets lead on his second of the game and 31st of the year, fueled by Derick Brassard and Lepisto, the latter finishing a sock trick. Minnesota pulled within one on Antti Miettinen's 12th of the season, guided in by Nick Schultz and Koivu. Pierre-Marc Bouchard provided an equalizer for the Wild with his ninth of the year, helped along by Jared Spurgeon and Matt Cullen. The tie lasted into overtime, where Columbus defeated Minnesota with Antoine Vermette, his 17th of the campaign being the unassisted deciding factor. The three stars went to Nash, Lepisto, and Koivu.

Going to Ottawa for regularly timed games, with the Senators hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson and Curtis McElhinney were given the starting nods. Tampa Bay started the goal-scoring with Vincent Lecavalier netting his 19th of the season via Nate Thompson. The Lightning extended their lead in the second period with the sixth of the year from Dana Tyrell, with the help of Sean Bergenheim alone. Ottawa struck with Ryan Shannon in the third period, his ninth of the season coming shorthanded off of Erik Condra and Erik Karlsson. Nick Foligno supplied an equalizer for the Senators with his 12th of the year, made possible by Zack Smith and Chris Neil. Ottawa defeated Tampa Bay in the ensuing overtime with Jason Spezza notching his 16th of the campaign, thanks to Karlsson, for a 3-2 victory. Spezza, McElhinney (35 for 37 saves), and Roloson (31 for 34 saves) earned the three stars.

Down to South Florida, where the Panthers hosted the New York Islanders. Rick DiPietro and Scott Clemmensen took to the nets. The scoring started with New York in the second period with Michael Grabner notching his 30th of the season, assisted by Frans Nielsen shorthanded. Florida took the lead with a pair of Evgeny Dadonov tallies, his fifth and sixth of the campaign, with guidance from Clay Wilson and David Booth on the first goal, and Sergei Samsonov and Dmitry Kulikov on the second. P.A. Parenteau tied it for the Islanders in the third period with his 18th of the year, with help from Jack Hillen. New York reclaimed the lead with Micheal Haley netting his second of the season, powered by Grabner. The Panthers retied it with the 21st of the year by Stephen Weiss, with assistance from Samsonov and Niclas Bergfors. The tie lasted into the shootout, where the Islanders took the 4-3 lead on clinching tallies by Nielsen and Parenteau. Nielsen, Dadonov, and Grabner picked up the three stars.

Up to Buffalo, where the Sabres hosted the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Ryan Miller made the starts. Twenty-four seconds in, Buffalo had a goal on the board from Jason Pominville, his 18th of the season produced by Tim Connolly and Tyler Myers. Atlanta replied with an unassisted goal from Chris Thorburn, his ninth of the year. Mark Mancari put the Sabres back in the lead with his first of the season on the power play via Myers and Nathan Gerbe. Buffalo extended their lead with Rob Niedermayer's third of the year, courtesy of Chris Butler and Mike Weber. Ondrej Pavelec was replaced by Chris Mason for the second period. The Thrashers got a goal back with Alex Burmistrov notching his sixth of the season off of Anthony Stewart and Ron Hainsey. Gerbe replied for the Sabres with his tenth of the year, assisted by Mancari and Weber. Tyler Ennis kept Buffalo rolling with his 18th of the season, an unassisted goal. The Sabres struck again with Brad Boyes on the power play, his 17th of the year powered by Mancari and Andrej Sekera. Niedermayer potted his second of the game and fourth of the season as well for Buffalo, with guidance from Myers and Mike Grier, the former completing his sock trick. Twenty-eight seconds later, the Sabres had an 8-2 lead, the eventual final, with a power play goal off of the stick of Connolly, previously from Pominville and Thomas Vanek, for his tenth of the year. The three stars went to Mancari, Myers, and Miller (28 for 30 saves).

Into Toronto, where the Maple Leafs hosted the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask both caught time opposing James Reimer. Toronto entered the scoring first with the fourth of the season by Luke Schenn, coming off of Joey Crabb. Adam McQuaid used his second of the year for Boston, tying the game with the unassisted tally. The Maple Leafs replied on the first of the season by Nazem Kadri, with help from Crabb and Carl Gunnarsson. Toronto rolled on with Crabb's third of the year, helped along by Darryl Boyce and Kadri. Twenty-nine seconds later, the Maple Leafs tallied again, with the third of the campaign by Mike Brown, assisted by Tim Brent and Brett Lebda. Toronto continued to extend the lead with the second of the season by Keith Aulie, guided in by Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel. The Bruins sent a final message in the third period with Daniel Paille sinking his third of the year, courtesy of Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell. The final stood at 5-2 with the three stars going to Reimer (35 for 37 saves), Crabb, and Kadri.

South to Dallas, with the Stars hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Kari Lethonen played in the creases. Philadelphia opened the scoring with a Jeff Carter tally, his 33rd of the season coming off of Andrej Meszaros and Matt Carle. The Flyers extended their lead with Mike Richards netting his 20th of they ear thanks to Meszaros and Carle again. Dallas replied with an Alex Goligoski goal, his eleventh of the season made possible by Brenden Morrow and Jamie Benn. Stephane Robidas provided the equalizer with his fifth of the year in the third period, fueled by Steve Ott. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Claude Giroux exchanged goals with Mike Ribeiro, before Philadelphia toppled Dallas 3-2 on the tally from Ville Leino. Leino, Robidas, and Meszaros collected the three stars.

To Tennessee, where the Nashville Predators hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Pekka Rinne covered the goalmouths. Detroit was the first to score with Danny Cleary's 23rd of the season, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Todd Bertuzzi on the power play. Nashville replied in the second period with the third of the year from Blake Geoffrion, guided in by Patric Hornqvist and Matt Halischuk. The Predators took the lead with Jonathon Blum netting his third of the season, powered by Hornqvist and Sergei Kostitsyn on the power play. Nashville secured a 3-1 victory with an empty netter from David Legwand, his 13th of the year, helped along by Ryan Suter and Nick Spaling. Blum, Geoffrion, and Rinne (39 for 40 saves) got the three stars.

Into Edmonton, where the Oilers hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Brian Elliott and Nikolai Khabibulin were given the starting nods. Colorad opened the scoring with Matt Duchene notching his 23rd of the season, assisted by Daniel Winnik. Edmonton replied in the second period with Jordan Eberle, his 16th of the year coming on the power play via Andrew Cogliano and Kurtis Foster. The Avalanche took the lead again on the 13th of the season by Kevin Porter, helped in by Ryan Wilson and Duchene. Foster provided the equalizer for the Oilers in the third period with his sixth of the year, thanks to Linus Omark and Magnus Paajarvi. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Colorado defeated Edmonton 3-2 with Ryan Stoa's lone tally. The three stars went to Foster, Duchene, and Omark.

West to San Jose, where the St. Louis Blues were brought to the Sharks. Jaroslav Halak and Antti Niemi took control of the cages. San Jose opened the scoring with Torrey Mitchell notching his seventh of the season, assisted by Joe Pavelski and Ian White. The Sharks made it 3-0 with a pair of Pavelski power play goals (don't try to say that out loud, I'm not responsible for tongue damage produced by my blog), his 15th and 16th of the campaign, with assists from Patrick Marleau and Devin Setoguchi on the first and Dan Boyle and Joe Thornton on the second. St. Louis got on the board with T.J. Hensick's first of the year in the second period, with help from Matt D'Agostini and Ian Cole. San Jose added back onto the lead with Setoguchi notching his 20th of the season, assisted by Marleau and Thornton. The Sharks continued with Pavelski wrapping up his hat trick on his 17th of the year, courtesy of Boyle and Mitchell. David Backes tallied on for the Blues with his 26th of the season, thanks to Carlo Colaiacovo and Alex Pietrangelo. Andy McDonald also scored for St. Louis, the last goal of the game to make it a 5-3 loss, with the help of Backes and D'Agostini for his 18th of the year. Pavelski, Mitchell, and Boyle earned the three stars.

Down south, the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Ray Emery and Jonathan Quick played between the pipes. Anaheim opened the scoring with Brandon McMillan notching his tenth of the season, assisted by Dan Sexton and Francois Beauchemin. Los Angeles replied in the third period with Dustin Brown registering his 23rd of the year off of Michal Handzus and Alexei Ponikarovsky. The tie lasted into overtime, where the Ducks beat the Kings 2-1 with Corey Perry's 37th of the campaign off of Cam Fowler. Perry, Quick (23 for 25 saves), and Emery (31 for 32 saves) picked up the three stars.

Six games on Sunday, with a Sandwich Showdown also destined to get out at some point.