Thursday Hockey recap

There were a total of nine games available for Thursday.

The New York Rangers opened things at home against the Ottawa Senators. Craig Anderson and Henrik Lundqvist played goal. Ottawa opened the scoring with Ryan Shannon in the second period, his tenth of the season coming off Bobby Butler and Nick Foligno. New York tied it in the third period with the 12th of the year by Brandon Prust, assisted by Marc Staal and Ruslan Fedotenko. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Erik Karlsson won it for the Senators with his lone fifth round tally. Anderson (29 for 30 saves), Karlsson, and Lundqvist (29 for 30 saves) picked up the three stars.

To the Battle of Pennsylvania, with the Philadelphia Flyers hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Sergei Bobrovsky took to the creases. Philadelphia opened the scoring with Mike Richards netting his 21st of the season, with help from James van Riemsdyk and Matt Carle. Pittsburgh answered in the second period with a power play goal by Tyler Kennedy, his 18th of the year powered by Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Alex Kovalev traded a barb with Danny Briere before Kunitz propelled the Penguins over the Flyers. Bobrovsky (30 for 31 saves), Kennedy, and Kunitz got the three stars.

To New York again, with the Islanders hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Chris Mason and Al Montoya made the starts. Atlanta opened the scoring with the 27th of the season by Andrew Ladd, fueled by Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little. New York replied with the 27th of the campaign for John Tavares, with P.A. Parenteau and Travis Hamonic picking up the assists. The Thrashers retook the lead at 2-1 with a power play goal by Rob Schremp, his 12th of the year getting aided by Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien. This eventually would be the final, with the three stars given out to Wheeler, Schremp, and Tavares.

To a hostile Boston, with the Bruins hosting the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price and Tim Thomas put on the masks. Boston opened the scoring on a Johnny Boychuk tally, his second of the season, assisted by Zdeno Chara and David Krejci. Gregory Campbell extended the Bruins lead with his eleventh of the year, with Chara helping out alongside Boychuk. Nathan Horton had the next two goals for Boston, coming in the first and third periods, his 21st and 22nd of the season, with the early power play goal made possible by Milan Lucic and Krejci, and the latter reversing that order, allowing Krejci to earn a sock trick of three assists. Twenty-six seconds later in the third frame, Adam McQuaid tallied his third of the year, with both Chara and Lucic picking up sock-trick-clinching assists, bringing in Alex Auld in relief of Carey Price. In essence, the Bruins had a trick of sock tricks, or a hat full of socks, which I'll leave for the readers here to determine. Boston rolled on with Tomas Kaberle notching his fourth of the season, thanks to Mark Recchi and Brad Marchand. Campbell closed the scoring with his second of the game and 12th of the year, a shorthanded and unassisted goal to finish up at 7-0. The three stars went to Chara, Krejci, and Horton in a "statement game."

To St. Louis for the Blues hosting the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Jaroslav Halak tended the twines. The first period was scoreless, but scarred by three fights, with Jim Vandermeer dancing with Cam Janssen, followed a second later by Theo Peckham and Ryan Reaves showing off their fists, and much later in the frame, Jean-Francois Jacques and B.J. Crombeen dropping the mitts. T.J. Oshie put St. Louis on the board in the second period with his tenth of the season, an unassisted goal. Matt D'Agostini extended the lead with his 18th of the year for the Blues, a power play goal from T.J. Hensick. St. Louis kept going with a Chris Stewart power play goal, his 23rd of the season, helped along by Oshie and Andy McDonald. Adam Cracknell secured a 4-0 Blues victory with his second of the year, thanks to Kevin Shattenkirk. The three stars were handed to Oshie, Chris Porter, and Crombeen.

To Nashville, where the Predators hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller returned from vertigo to oppose Pekka Rinne. Nashville led off with a Sergei Kostitsyn goal, his 18th of the season made possible by Patric Hornqvist and Cody Franson. The Predators extended the lead with a Nick Spaling goal, his eighth of the year, coming via Jonathon Blum and Jordin Tootoo. Nineteen seconds later, Kostitsyn struck again for Nashville, adding on his second of the game and 19th of the season, with help from Hornqvist and Kevin Klein. Anaheim got on the board with the 41st of the year by Corey Perry, courtesy of Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf. Tootoo got the goal back for the Predators in the second period, his fifth of the season, thanks to Shane O'Brien and Spaling. Nashville rolled on with a shorthanded goal by David Legwand, his 15th of the year getting some help from Joel Ward and Klein. Teemu Selanne potted a pair of goals, to follow this, pulling within two with his 24th and 25th of the season, both on the power play, with Getzlaf and Perry producing the first, and Getzlaf finishing his sock trick on the second alongside Lubomir Visnovsky, with Ryan Suter lending a hand. With twenty-seven seconds left in the game, Perry added his second of the night and 42nd of the year, officially unassisted, but with a "distinct kicking motion" by Suter once again, his second deflection past the now-appalled Pekka Rinne (it was later said that Rinne said Suter should take Chad Ochocinco's place in the MLS). Despite help from the enemy, Anaheim still lost 5-4 to Nashville, with the three stars awarded to Kostitsyn, Spaling, and Perry.

Colorado was the next stop, with the Avalanche hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Brian Elliott started, with Peter Budaj also seeing time in the Colorado crease. Colorado opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal by Daniel Winnik, assisted by Jay McClement and Erik Johnson as his eleventh of the season. Toronto took the lead with a pair of Nikolai Kulemin goals, his 27th and 28th of the year, with help from Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur on the first, and MacArthur again with Dion Phaneuf on the second. The Maple Leafs extended their lead with a Tyler Bozak tally, his 13th of the season, guided in by Luke Schenn and Carl Gunnarsson. The Avalanche replied with a Ryan O'Reilly power play goal, his tenth of the year, powered by Ryan Stoa and Johnson. Toronto restored the two-goal lead on the power play with Phil Kessel, his 29th of the season gathering steam off of Joffrey Lupul and Phaneuf. Colorado pulled back within one at 4-3 with Matt Duchene registering his 26th of the year, coming off of Johnson and O'Reilly, the former securing a sock trick. Colorado found no more twine, so the score was final, and the three stars were awarded to Kulemin, Johnson, and Phaneuf.

Into Phoenix, where the Coyotes hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets. Mathieu Garon and Ilya bryzgalov took control of the cages. Paul Bissonnette and Jared Boll provided the first period entertainment with a nice dance. Phoenix started the scoring with Michal Rozsival on the power play in the second period, his sixth of the season made possible by Vernon Fiddler and David Schlemko. The Coyotes extended their lead with Derek Morris netting his fifth of the campaign via Shane Doan and Taylor Pyatt. Phoenix secured a 3-0 victory in the third period with Mikkel Boedker's third of the year, fueled by Keith Yandle and Lee Stempniak. Bryzgalov (28 svae shutout), Rozsival, and Rostislav Klesla earned the three stars.

Finally, a California battle between the hosting Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Jonathan Quick took control of the goalmouths. The scoring began with San Jose in the second period, a power play goal by Joe Pavelski, his 17th of the season, assisted by Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton. Los Angeles replied with Dustin Brown, also on the power play, his 24th of the year powered by Alexei Ponikarovsky and Alec Martinez. Willie Mitchell put the Kings ahead on his fourth of the season, with help from Oscar Moller and Ryan Smyth. The Sharks retied it in the third period with Marleau, his 32nd of the year coming off of Jason Demers. Brown struck again on the power play for Los Angeles, his second of the night and 25th of the season, with helpers provided by Michal Handzus and Martinez. With five seconds left in regulation, Marleau tallied his second of the game and 33rd of the year, with timely assistance from Ryane Clowe and Logan Couture, to tie the game again for San Jose. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Dan Boyle and Jarret Stoll swapped tallies before the Kings toppled the Sharks with Brown. The three stars went to Brown, Marleau, and Quick (25 for 28 saves).