Sunday Hockey Recaps

There were a total of six games featured on Sunday to preoccupy us. The NBC game had an interesting bit of karma in it, with...

The New York Rangers (sans Olli Jokinen) facing the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden. Brian Boucher and Henrik Lundqvist made the starts. Opening the scoring was Ryan Callahan of New York with two goals, his 17th and 18th of the season, with the first coming just fifty-one seconds into the game via Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov, and the latter coming on the power play thanks to Vinny Prospal and Bryan McCabe. In between the goals, Jody Shelley fought with Brian Boyle. Also fighting were Dubinsky and Mike Richards in the second period's opening minute. The Rangers kept going with Mats Zuccarello netting his fifth of the year, courtesy of Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan McDonagh. Callahan made it 4-0 New York by finishing up his hat trick with his 19th of the season, an unassisted goal, scaring off Boucher in favor of Sergei Bobrovsky for the Philadelphia net. Callahan struck again on the power play for the Rangers in the third period with his 20th of the year, and fourth of the game (perspective: 20% of his goals coming in one game), with helpers from Matt Gilroy and Prospal. Anisimov also scored for New York, potting his 16th of the season with the help of Callahan and Dan Girardi. Zuccarello made it 7-0 with his second of the game and sixth of the year, assisted by Wojtek Wolski. This was the final, with Callahan, Lundqvist (24 save shutout), and Zuccarello collecting the three stars.

Out on Long Island, the New York Islanders hosted the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Al Montoya tended the twines. The scoring opened in the second period with a power play goal by Brian Rolston, his 12th of the season gathering steam off of Ilya Kovalchuk and Travis Zajac. New York tied it with their own power play goal, with Josh Bailey's tenth of the year finding twine thanks to P.A. Parenteau and Kyle Okposo. The Devils reclaimed the lead on Kovalchuk's 24th of the season, assisted by Jacob Josefson and Anton Volchenkov. The Islanders found another equalizer with the 18th of the year for Blake Comeau, an unassisted goal. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Frans Nielsen and Kovalchuk swapped goals before Rolston netted the winner many rounds later.

Heading down south to Florida, where the Panthers hosted the Washington Capitals. Michal Neuvirth and Scott Clemmensen were given the starting nods. Florida opened the scoring with Bill Thomas potting his third of the season with the help of Michal Repik and Mike Santorelli. Washington replied with a Nicklas Backstrom tally, his 17th of the year, guided in by Alex Ovechkin and Mike Knuble. The Capitals took the lead in the second period with Boyd Gordon sinking his second of the season, with assistance from John Carlson and Matt Hendricks. The Panthers found the equalizer on the power play with a David Booth goal, his 19th of the year getting help from Stephen Weiss and Dmitry Kulikov. The tie was broken by Alexander Semin's 23rd of the campaign in overtime, helped along by Marcus Johansson and Karl Alzner, giving the Capitals the victory over the Panthers by a 3-2 margin. The three stars went to Semin, Booth, and Neuvirth (32 for 34 saves).

Going north to Minnesota, where the Wild hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Guarding the cages were Jhonas Enroth and Jose Theodore. Buffalo was the first on the board with a Jason Pominville goal, his 17th of the season made possible by Steve Montador and Thomas Vanek. The Sabres extended the lead with a Rob Niedermayer goal, his first of the year, with the help of Andrej Sekera and Cody McCormick being required. Minnesota got on the board when Warren Peters sank his first of the campaign, thanks to passes from Brad Staubitz and Brent Burns. Marek Zidlicky tied it for the Wild with his fifth of the year, a power play goal fueled by Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Martin Havlat. The only event of the third period was the McCormick-Clayton Stoner bout around the middle of the frame. The tie itself lasted into overtime, where Buffalo made quick work of Minnesota on the 26th of the season by Drew Stafford, with Sekera providing the lone assist. The three stars went to Stafford, Zidlicky, and Vanek.

Out to the west, where the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Vancouver Canucks. Cory Schneider and Dan Ellis played in the blue paint patches. Two early period goals in the first and second frames put Vancouver up 2-0, with Manny Malhotra recording his tenth and eleventh of the season. Jannik Hansen and Raffi Torres assisted on the first period goal that came forty-two seconds in, and Hansen was the lone assistant on the second period goal just seventeen seconds after the opening faceoff. The Canucks secured a 3-0 victory in the third period with Daniel Sedin potting his 34th of the year on the power play with helpers provided by Mikael Samuelsson and Henrik Sedin. Schneider (26 save shutout), Malhotra, and Ryan Getzlaf (officially, but personally Hansen or Daniel Sedin would fit well here) got the three stars.

Finally, the Calgary Flames brought the Nashville Predators to the Scotiabank Saddledome. Pekka Rinne and Miikka Kiprusoff were the Finnish goaltenders. Nashville opened the scoring with a Martin Erat goal, his eleventh of the season, with assists by Jonathon Blum and David Legwand. Calgary tied it with a Mark Giordano power play goal via Olli Jokinen, going as his sixth of the year. The Predators reclaimed the lead with Ryan Suter potting his third of the season thanks to Erat and Legwand. The Flames found an interesting equalizer with Jarome Iginla converting a penalty shot after a Sergei Kostitsyn hook, for his 30th of the campaign, marking a milestone for his resilience and scoring, as he has done this for ten season straight. Calgary took a 3-2 lead in the third period with Curtis Glencross notching his 22nd of the year, helped along by Jokinen and Jay Bouwmeester. This was the final, and the three stars went out to Iginla, Giordano, and Erat.