Saturday hockey

There are ten games of hockey on Saturday, with only one in the afternoon. This one game has the...

Pittsburgh Penguins hosting the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price and Marc-Andre Fleury got the starts. Forty-six seconds into the game, Montreal took the lead with Tomas Plekanec's 21st of the season, assisted by Michael Cammalleri. Twenty-four seconds into the second frame, the Canadiens extended their lead with Travis Moen's fourth of the year, courtesy of Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez. Cammalleri made it 3-0 Montreal with his 16th of the season, with Jeff Halpern snagging the lone assist. Brent Johnson relieved Marc-Andre Fleury after this goal. This would be the final after a scoreless third period, with Price (26 save shutout), Cammalleri, and Plekanec getting the three stars.

To the games at the normal times with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and James Reimer were in front of the nets. Buffalo commanded the first lead with Mike Weber sinking his fourth of the season thanks to Tim Connolly and Rob Niedermayer. Toronto tied it with Clarke MacArthur's 20th of the year, helped along by Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin. The Maple Leafs took the lead with a Tyler Bozak goal in the second period, his eleventh of the season guided in by Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul. The Sabres replied with Jochen Hecht netting his 12th of the year, courtesy of Andrej Sekera and Thomas Vanek. Buffalo regained the lead with the 12th of the season from Jordan Leopold, a power play goal powered by Tyler Ennis and Cody McCormick. Toronto tied it with Grabovski notching his 27th of the year, fueled by Carl Gunnarsson and Dion Phaneuf. The Maple Leafs took the lead with Kessel netting his 28th of the season, with Luke Schenn and the goalie James Reimer providing the assists. The final had Toronto winning 4-3, with the three stars awarded to Reimer (39 for 42 saves), Kessel and Grabovski.

Down to Florida for the all-state battle between the host Panthers and visiting Tampa Bay Lightning. Mike Smith and Scott Clemmensen opposed each other as the backups snagged the starts. Florida opened the scoring with David Booth sinking his 21st of the season, coming from Mike Weaver and Keaton Ellerby. Tampa Bay replied on the power play as Steven Stamkos notched his 43rd of the year, with the help of Martin St. Louis and Simon Gagne present. The Panthers retook the lead with Ryan Carter netting his second of the season, helped along by Dmitry Kulikov. Niclas Bergfors added on for Florida with his 12th of the year, courtesy of Jason Garrison and Stephen Weiss. The Lightning regained one goal as Vincent Lecavalier sank his 17th of the season on the power play with St. Louis and Gagne helping out. Tampa Bay tied it with Gagne on the power play with his eleventh of the year, assisted by Lecavalier and Stamkos. The Panthers defeated the Lightning in the overtime that ensued with Garrison netting his fourth of the campaign, courtesy of Mike Santorelli and Marty Reasoner. Garrison, Gagne, and Stamkos got the three stars.

Into Pennsylvania for the second time today, as the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Sergei Bobrovsky got the starting nods. Philadelphia struck first with Ville Leino potting his 15th of the season with the help of Scott Hartnell and Danny Briere. The Flyers kept going with Kimmo Timonen recording his fifth of the year shorthanded, with Mike Richards and Claude Giroux picking up the helpers. Leino struck again with his second of the game and 16th of the season, a power play goal for Philadelphia with Richards and Kris Versteeg helping it along, and allowing Chris Mason to relieve Ondrej Pavelec. Atlanta got on the board in the third period with an unassisted goal by Evander Kane, his 18th of the year. The Thrashers pulled closer with Zach Bogosian potting his fifth of the season, with helpers credited to Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd. The Flyers answered quickly with Leino finishing off his hat trick on his 17th of the year, another power play goal, with Timonen and Richards picking up the assists, the latter getting his third of the game for a sock trick. Tobias Enstrom got a goal for Atlanta, putting the score at 4-3 with his tenth of the season, a power play goal helped in by Anthony Stewart and Nik Antropov. Ladd tied it at 4 for the Thrashers with his 26th of the year with forty-five seconds left in regulation, and Bryan Little picked up the helper. Atlanta capped the comeback in overtime and defeated Philadelphia with Ron Hainsey's third of the campaign, helped in by Kane and Stewart. Leino, Hainsey, and Richards got the three stars.

Into New Jersey, where the Devils hosted the New York Islanders. Al Montoya and Martin Brodeur tended the twines. Jacob Josefson put New Jersey on the board early with his first of the season, helped along by David Clarkson and Anton Volchenkov. New York entered the scoring in the second period with a shorthanded goal from Blake Comeau, his 20th of the year getting help from Jack Hillen. The Islanders took a lead when John Tavares sank his 25th of the season, fueled by Matt Moulson and Andrew MacDonald. The Devils retied it in the third period with Clarkson netting his tenth of the season off of Mattias Tedenby and Josefson. The tie lasted into overtime, where New Jersey defeated New York on Anssi Salmela's first of the campaign, with help from Tedenby and Patrik Elias. The three stars went to Salmela, Clarkson, and Josefson.

Back south again to Carolina, where the Hurricanes hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Cam Ward dominated the creases. Columbus was the first on the board with a shorthanded goal by Samuel Pahlsson, assisted by Derek Dorsett and Kris Russell. The Blue Jackets extended their lead early in the second period with a Derek MacKenzie goal, his seventh of the year, with Matt Calvert and Jan Hejda providing the helpers. Carolina finally got on the board in the third period with a Jeff Skinner goal, his 24th of the season, made possible by Erik Cole and Jussi Jokinen. MacKenzie added an insurance goal Columbus with his second of the game and eighth of the year, with help from Grant Clitsome. The Hurricanes replied quickly with Tuomo Ruutu netting his 17th of the season, thanks to Eric Staal and Jay Harrison. The final stood at 3-2 Columbus with the three stars going to MacKenzie, Pahlsson, and Mason (29 for 31 saves).

Westward to Nashville, where the Predators hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Peter Budaj and Pekka Rinne stood in the blue paint. Nashville took control early with Shea Weber notching his 15th of the season off of Joel Ward and Martin Erat. Matt Halischuk extended the lead for the Predators with his second of the year, helped along by Kevin Klein and Blake Geoffrion. Colorado got on the board with a Ryan O'Reilly goal, his eighth of the season going in off of David Van Der Gulik and David Jones. Nashville restored their two-goal lead with Ward potting his tenth of the year unassisted. The Avalanche replied again with a Daniel Winnik goal, his ninth of the season gathering steam from Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Byrne. The Predators secured victory at a 4-2 margin with Erat's empty netter with two seconds remaining in the game, his 13th goal of the year going in unassisted. The three stars went to Ward, O'Reilly, and Weber.

West again to Missouri, where the St. Louis Blues hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Jaroslav Halak guarded the cages. St. Louis opened the scoring with the first of the season by Adam Cracknell, guided along by Ryan Reaves and Cam Janssen. Ruslan Salei answered for Detroit with his second of the year, an unassisted goal. Darren Helm gave the Red Wings a lead with his eleventh of the season, assisted by Justin Abdelkader and Kris Draper. Detroit kept going with the eleventh of the year for Niklas Kronwall on the power play with helpers given to Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen. The Blues got a goal back as David Backes netted his 25th of the season with assists from Andy McDonald and Matt D'Agostini. D'Agostini tied it for St. Louis with his 15th of the year, helped along by Kevin Shattenkirk. The Red Wings retook the lead on a Datsyuk goal, his 22nd of the season draining thanks to Tomas Holmstrom and Kronwall. Detroit continued on with a Abdelkader goal, his fifth of the year made possible by Kronwall and Brad Stuart. The final would be 5-3 for the Red Wings, with Kronwall, Datsyuk and Helm gathering up the three stars.

Along to western Canada, where the Calgary Flames host the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo and Miikka Kiprusoff play between the pipes. Calgary gets off to an early lead with Mikael Backlund notching his eighth of the season unassisted. The Flames extend their lead with a Matt Stajan goal from Tim Jackman and Cory Sarich, good for his sixth of the year. Vancouver got on the board with the 34th of the season by Ryan Kesler, a power play goal powered by Mikael Samuelsson and Henrik Sedin. The Canucks tied it in the second period with a Daniel Sedin goal, his 36th of the year, with helpers credited to Henrik and Christian Ehrhoff. Calgary retook the lead with David Moss sending home his 17th of the season, with the help of Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay required. Alexandre Burrows retied the game for Vancouver by notching his 20th of the year, courtesy of Daniel and Ehrhoff. Daniel netted his second of the game and 37th of the season for the Canucks on the power play, with assistance from Kesler and the sock trick earning Ehrhoff giving them the lead. This 4-3 lead would hold up to be the final after a silent third period, and the three stars went to Daniel, Backlund, and Ehrhoff.

Down to San Jose, where the Sharks host the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Antti Niemi tended the cages. San Jose opened the scoring with Ryane Clowe on the power play, his 22nd of the season going in thanks to efforts from Logan Couture and Dan Boyle. Erik Christensen replied for New York by nailing his tenth of the year, coming off of Vinny Prospal and Marian Gaborik. The Rangers took the lead in the third period with the second goal of the season by Mike Sauer, assisted by Ruslan Fedotenko and Brandon Prust. The Sharks retied it with the fifth of the year by Ben Eager, courtesy of Torrey Mitchell and Boyle. The tei at 2 lasted into a shootout, where Boyle exchanged a goal with Wojtek Wolski before New York secured a victory over San Jose on the Brandon Dubinsky marker. The three stars were given to Lundqvist (31 for 33 saves), Dan Girardi, and Boyle.

That's all of Saturday games. Sunday has five games and a sandwich post to come later.