Thursday games

Thursday held a total of eleven games. The first of which was in...

Columbus, with the Blue Jackets hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Joey MacDonald and Steve Mason were in front of the nets. Thirty-three seconds into the first period, Drew Miller put Detroit ahead with his eighth of the season, coming off of Darren Helm. The Red Wings made it 2-0 with a power play goal by Valtteri Filppula, his 15th of the year, powered by Johan Franzen and Mike Modano. The scoring ceased after this point, clinching a victory, with MacDonald (37 save shutout), Mason (25 for 27 saves), and Miller getting the three stars.

East to Atlanta, with the Thrashers hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Ondrej Pavelec played in the blue paint. Tim Stapleton opened the scoring for Atlanta with his fourth of the season, assisted by Evander Kane. Philaedlphia replied with the 23rd of the year from Claude Giroux, with help from Matt Carle and Danny Briere. The Thrashers retook the lead with the 15th of the season for Bryan Little, guided in by Ron Hainsey and Blake Wheeler. Briere tied it again for the Flyers by netting his 30th of the year, thanks to Jeff Carter. Atlanta took the lead again with Nik Antropov notching his 13th of the season, with the help of Chris Thorburn and Hainsey required. Briere provided another equalizer for Philadelphia with his second of the game and 31st of the year, courtesy of Ville Leino and Kimmo Timonen. The tie lasted into a shootout, where the Thrashers beat the Flyers on tallies by Rob Schremp and Wheeler. The three stars went to Hainsey, Schremp, and Briere.

Moving along to Ottawa, where the Senators hosted the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Curtis McElhinney were called on for the starts. Ottawa was the first on the board with a Ryan Shannon power play goal, his eighth of the season coming off of Jason Spezza and Nick Foligno. The scoring was silent until Chris Neil netted his fourth of the year for the Senators in the third period, with helpers provided by Erik Karlsson and Zack Smith. New Jersey got on the board with Brian Rolston's 13th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Jacob Josefson and Patrik Elias. Neil iced the game off 3-1 for Ottawa with his second of the game and fifth of the year, an empty net goal produced by Spezza and Colin Greening. This was the final, with McElhinney (33 for 34 saves), Neil, and Shannon gathering in the three stars.

Staying in Canada, with the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson and Carey Price earned the starts. Tampa Bay opened the scoring in the early second period with Teddy Purcell scoring his 17th of the season on the power play from Martin St. Louis and Simon Gagne. Montreal tied it with a Andrei Kostitsyn tally, his 18th of the year gathering steam off of David Desharnais and Ryan White. The Canadiens took the lead with a shorthanded and unassisted goal by Brian Gionta, his 25th of the season. The Lightning tied it back up with Gagne notching his 12th of the year on the power play via St. Louis and Brett Clark. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Nigel Dawes and Gagne exchanged goals before Michael Cammalleri put the game away 3-2 for Montreal over Tampa Bay. Cammalleri, Price (35 for 37 saves), and Gionta grabbed the three stars.

Switching sides, the Florida Panthers hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Scott Clemmensen took to guarding the cages. Florida got on the board in the second period with a Sergei Samsonov goal, his 12th of the season, helped along by Jason Garrison and Niclas Bergfors. The Panthers extended their lead with a Stephen Weiss tally, his 20th of the year coming on the power play via Dmitry Kulikov and Michal Repik. Mike Santorelli added on for Florida with his 18th of the season, assisted by Samsonov and Weiss on the power play. The Panthers completed the 4-0 victory with Keaton Ellerby knocking his second of the year into the empty net, thanks to Ryan Carter. Samsonov, Clemmensen (24 save shutout), and Weiss got the three stars.

Heading to Nashville, where the Predators hosted the Boston Bruins. Tuukka Rask and Pekka Rinne were given control of the nets. Boston was the first to score with Tyler Seguin notching his eleventh of the season off of Rich Peverley and Tomas Kaberle. Sergei Kostitsyn replied with his 17th of the year, courtesy of Colin Wilson and Ryan Suter. Wilson put the Predators ahead in the second period with his 15th of the season, with help from Jonathon Blum and Kevin Klein. David Krejci tied it back up for the Bruins with his 12th of the year, assisted by Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic. Boston retook the lead with a Patrice Bergeron goal, his 22nd of the season fueled by Mark Recchi and Michael Ryder. David Legwand found another equalizer for Nashville by sinking his 12th of the year, thanks to Kostitsyn and Martin Erat. The tie lasted into overtime, where Shea Weber's 16th of the campaign on the power play via Suter and Legwand was enough to propel the Predators past the Bruins. Weber, Wilson, and Bergeron got the three stars.

Moving along to Dallas, with the Stars hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Kari Lethonen were given starting honors. Steve Ott put Dallas up first with his eleventh of the season, helped along by Brad Richards and the goalie Kari Lehtonen. Jamie Benn extended the lead for the Stars with his 21st of the year, assisted by Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow. Morrow tacked on another goal for Dallas with his 27th of the campaign, courtesy of Benn and Ribeiro, causing Crawford to be replaced by Marty Turco. The Stars rolled on with the second of the season by Jason Williams, an unassisted goal. Dallas solidified the 5-0 win with Brandon Segal netting his fifth of the year, with the help of Richards and Tomas Vincour. This was the final, with Lehtonen (23 save shutout), Benn, and Morrow collecting the three stars.

Up to Calgary, where the Flames hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Peter Budaj and Miikka Kiprusoff played between the pipes. Calgary opened the scoring with a Jarome Iginla goal, his 31st of the season, with helpers provided by Alex Tanguay and Rene Bourque on the power play. The Flames rolled on with a Mark Giordano power play goal, his seventh of the year powered by Jay Bouwmeester and Ales Kotalik. Mark Olver put Colorado on the board with his first of the season, courtesy of Matt Duchene and Ryan Wilson. Bourque made it 3-1 Calgary with his 24th of the year, made possible by Tom Kostopolous and Mikael Backlund. The scoring was silent until Kotalik tallied for the Flames in the third period, his fourth of the season gathering steam off of Niklas Hagman and Matt Stajan. Iginla extended the Calgary lead again with his second of the game and 32nd of the campaign, with the help of Curtis Glencross and Bouwmeester. The Avalanche sent one final message with Cody McLeod making it 5-2 on the power play with his fifth of the year off of Duchene. This was the final, with Iginla, Bourque, and Kotalik gathering the three stars.

Staying in west Canada, the Edmonton Oilers hosted the Phoenix Coyotes. Ilya Bryzgalov and Nikolai Khabibulin played in front of the goals. Phoenix got on the board first with Lee Stempniak notching his 16th of the season via Lauri Korpikoski and Eric Belanger. Ray Whitney extended the Coyotes lead in the second period on his 14th of the year, courtesy of Radim Vrbata and Andrew Ebbett. Edmonton struck on the power play in the third period with the eleventh of the season by Magnus Paajarvi, powered by Linus Omark and Teemu Hartikainen. Vrbata sealed a 3-1 Phoenix victory with his own power play goal made possible by Shane Doan and Whitney, his 17th of the year. Bryzgalov (35 for 36 saves), Whitney, and Liam Reddox made the three stars list.

Moving south to Los Angeles, where the Kings hosted the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Jonathan Quick were called on to guard the cages. Matt D'Agostini opened the scoring for St. Louis on his 16th of the season, assisted by Adam Cracknell and Roman Polak. D'Agostini struck again for the Blues with his second of the game and 17th of the year late in the second period, with help coming from Andy McDonald and David Backes. Alex Pietrangelo kept St. Louis going, even from mid-ice, where he sank his tenth of the season unassisted. T.J. Oshie wrapped up the game at 4-0 Blues with his ninth of the year off of Chris Porter and Pietrangelo. The three stars went to D'Agostini, Polak, and Halak (17 save shutout).

Lastly, the San Jose Sharks welcomed the Minnesota Wild to the HP Pavilion. Niklas Backstrom and Antti Niemi were given the starting nods. San Jose was first on the board with Jamal Mayers netting his third of the season, assisted by Joe Pavelski and Torrey Mitchell. Minnesota replied with John Madden shorthanded, his 12th of the year going down unassisted. The Sharks retook the lead in the second period with Logan Couture notching his 27th of the season, coming off of Douglas Murray and Jason Demers. The Wild tied it again with a Kyle Brodziak goal, his 16th of the year made possible by Martin Havlat and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. San Jose made it 3-2 in the third period with Patrick Marleau on the power play, his 28th of the campaign going in thanks to Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi. This was the final, with the three stars going to Pavelski, Backstrom (47 for 50 saves), and Marleau.

That's all for Thursday. Friday has only four games, should be much more reasonable to work with.