Thursday Hockey Games

On Thursday, we had seven games to be played. We started off with...

The Boston Bruins hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Tim Thomas took their places in front of the nets. The first game action was a fight between Cody McCormick and Gregory Campbell. Boston opened the scoring with a Nathan Horton goal, his 19th of the season coming off of Milan Lucic and David Krejci. The Bruins extended their lead in the second period with the 12th of the year by Mark Recchi. Buffalo got on the board twenty-seven seconds later with the 15th of the season from Tyler Ennis, coming via Steve Montador and Drew Stafford. Thomas Vanek struck for the Sabres to tie the game with his 24th of the year, a power play goal made possible by Ennis and Tyler Myers. The second period closed with a pair of fights, as Paul Gaustad danced with Adam McQuaid before McCormick came around for round two, going with Lucic this time. Campbell put Boston back in front in the third period with his tenth of the season, helped along by Zdeno Chara and Shawn Thornton. Buffalo retied it with a power play goal from Tim Connolly, powered by Vanek and Brad Boyes, good as his ninth of the year. The Sabres took the Bruins down in the resulting overtime, with Boyes sinking his 15th of the campaign off Nathan Gerbe to secure victory at 4-3. Boyes, Ennis, and Horton got the three stars.

Heading north to Toronto, where the Maple Leafs hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and James Reimer played in the creases. Philadelphia opened the scoring with Andrej Meszaros sinking his sixth of the season on the power play with the help of Claude Giroux and Danny Briere. The Flyers extended the lead with Darroll Powe notching his sixth of the year, with Matt Carle picking up the lone assist. Toronto got on the board with a power play goal from Mikhail Grabovski, his 26th of the campaign seeing the sticks of Dion Phaneuf and Clarke MacArthur previously. Giroux restored the two-goal lead for Philadelphia on his 22nd of the season, helped along by James van Riemsdyk and Jeff Carter. The Maple Leafs attempted a rally with Joffrey Lupul netting his ninth of the year, with Mike Brown and Tim Brent being credited with the assists. This would not be enough, as the final stood at 3-2, with the three stars belonging to Giroux, Grabovski, and Boucher (27 for 29 saves).

Moving south to Florida, where the Panthers hosted the Ottawa Senators. Craig Anderson and Tomas Vokoun were called on for the starts. Ottawa took a 2-0 lead in the third period with two Erik Karlsson goals, his tenth and eleventh of the season, with helpers being given out to Filip Kuba and Nick Foligno on the earlier goal at even strength and Bobby Butler and Sergei Gonchar on the latter power play goal. Florida got one goal back with the second of the year by Clan Wilson, assisted by Niclas Bergfors and Michal Repik. The final stood at 2-1 with the three stars given to Anderson (33 for 34 saves), Karlsson, and Wilson got the three stars.

Westward to St. Louis with the Blues hosting the Montreal Canadiens. Former teammates Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak tended the twines. Montreal opened the scoring with Jeff Halpern sinking his eleventh of the season, with helpers credited to Alexandre Picard and Paul Mara. St. Louis tied it with David Backes registering his 24th of the year, fueled by Andy McDonald. McDonald gave the Blues the lead with his 17th of the campaign, assisted by Matt D'Agostini. D'Agostini extended the lead with his 14th of the season, allowing McDonald to return the favor of assistance. The Blues secured a 4-1 win with T.J. Oshie potting his eighth of the year into an empty net thanks to Patrik Berglund. The three stars went to Halak (27 for 28 saves), McDonald, and D'Agostini.

Into Tennessee, with the Nashville Predators hosting the Minnesota Wild. Niklas Backstrom and Pekka Rinne were in between the pipes. Nashville busted open the scoring with Joel Ward potting his ninth of the season, courtesy of David Legwand and Martin Erat. Nick Spaling made it 2-0 Predators with his sixth of the year, helped along the way by Jerred Smithson and Matt Halischuk. Erat continued the scoring for Nashville by tacking on his 12th of the season, guided in by Ward and Legwand. After a silent second period, the Predators gained a 4-0 lead in the third period with the second goal of the game and seventh of the year by Spaling, finding twine with help from Shea Weber and Sergei Kostitsyn. This was the final, and the three stars went to Spaling, Rinne (19 save shutout), and Ward.

West again to Phoenix, where the Coyotes hosted the Calgary Flames. Henrik Karlsson and Ilya Bryzgalov put on the masks. The game went scoreless until the second period, when Phoenix's Brett MacLean put away his second of the season, with the help of Mikkel Boedker and Kyle Turris being required. The Coyotes extended the lead with Eric Belanger netting his eleventh of the campaign, fueled by Derek Morris and Keith Yandle. Shane Doan secured a 3-0 victory for Phoenix with his 16th of the year into an empty net unassisted. The three stars were given to Bryzgalov (39 save shutout), Boedker and Belanger.

Lastly, the San Jose Sharks hosted the Vancouver Canucks. Cory Schneider and Antti Niemi started in front of the cages. Alexandre Burrows put Vancouver on the board first with his 19th of the season, with helpers from the Sedin twins Daniel and Henrik. The Canucks extended their lead with the third of the year by Sami Salo, a power play goal powered by Dan Hamhuis and Manny Malhotra. San Jose started scoring in the second period with a Devin Setoguchi goal, his 19th of the season coming with the help of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. The Sharks tied it with the 20th of the year by Ryane Clowe, assisted by Logan Couture and Ian White. Vancouver reclaimed the lead with Mason Raymond's 12th lamplighter of the season, made possible by Mikael Samuelsson and Ryan Kesler. San Jose tied it again with the fifth of the year by Torrey Mitchell, with the helpers credited to Kyle Wellwood and White. Twenty-four seconds later, the Canucks took the lead again with Daniel sinking his 35th of the season on the power play, seeing the sticks of Henrik and Christian Ehrhoff before finding the twine. The Sharks recovered with another equalizer to tie the game at 4, as Clowe sank his second of the game and 21st of the year on the power play, guided by Thornton and Dany Heatley. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Vancouver defeated San Jose on the lone tally by Burrows. The three stars were given to Clowe, Mitchell, and Schneider (44 for 48 saves).