Tuesday games

Tuesday brought us all a heavy slate of games, featuring ten matches for the league. We start with the...

New York Rangers hosting the New York Islanders. Al Montoya and Henrik Lundqvist started in front of the cages. The Rangers opened the scoring on a shorthanded goal by Brandon Prust, his eleventh of the season going down thanks to Ryan McDonagh and Brandon Dubinsky. The Rangers extended their lead with Erik Christensen tallying on the power play with his eleventh of the year, courtesy of Mats Zuccarello and Dan Girardi. The Islanders got on the board in the second period with a Matt Moulson goal, his 30th of the season, helped along by Jack Hillen and John Tavares. The Islanders tied it with P.A. Pareanteau notching his 17th of the year, guided in by Tavares and Moulson. The Rangers retook the lead with Ryan Callahan sinking his 21st of the season, with assistance from Artem Anisimov and Marc Staal. The Rangers extended the lead with Marian Gaborik on the power play, his 19th of the year gathering steam off of Bryan McCabe. McCabe continued the Rangers surge with his sixth of the season, also a power play goal, assisted by Vinny Prospal and Callahan. Nathan Lawson replaced Montoya in the Islander net for the third period. Gaborik extended the Rangers lead once more with his second of the game and 20th of the campaign, fueled by Christensen and Mike Sauer. The Islanders dealt one final blow in their 6-3 loss with Tavares sinking his 26th of the year on the power play from Moulson and Parenteau. Gaborik, Callahan, and Christensen gained the three stars.

Over to Columbus, where the Blue Jackets hosted the Boston Bruins. Tuukka Rask and Steve Mason made the starts. Columbus opened the scoring with Grant Clitsome notching his fourth of the season off of Jakub Voracek and Rick Nash. Boston answered in the second period with David Krejci scoring his eleventh of the year, guided in by Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk. The Blue Jackets reclaimed the lead in the third period with the 20th of the season from Scottie Upshall, assisted by R.J. Umberger and Antoine Vermette. Rich Peverley retied it for the Bruins with his 16th of the year coming shorthanded and unassisted. The tie lasted into the shootout, where the lone tally by Tyler Seguin put Boston on top of Columbus 3-2. The three stars went to Rask (34 for 36 saves), Peverley, and Mason (27 for 29 saves).

To New Jersey, where the Devils host the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Martin Brodeur played in between the pipes. Tim Stapleton opened the scoring for Atlanta with his third of the season, made possible by Evander Kane and Anthony Stewart. The Thrashers made it 2-0 with Chris Thorburn sinking his eighth of the year, with the help of Radek Dvorak and Alex Burmistrov being required. New Jersey got on the board with the 13th of the season by Travis Zajac, coming off of Mark Fayne and Henrik Tallinder. The Devils tied it in the second period when Patrik Elias netted his 16th of the year, with the lone assist going to Brian Rolston. New Jersey took the lead when Jacob Josefson potted his second of the season, helped along by Mattias Tedenby and Colin White. Ilya Kovalchuk secured a 4-2 Devils victory on his 26th of the year, coming from Dainius Zubrus and into the empty net. The three stars were Josefson, Elias, and Zajac.

Up to Montreal, where the Canadiens hosted the Washington Capitals. Braden Holtby and Carey Price played in the creases. Washington opened the scoring with Marcus Johansson on the power play, his tenth of the season produced by Dennis Wideman and the goalie Holtby. Twenty seconds later, Montreal tied it with Travis Moen sinking his fifth of the year unassisted. The Capitals retook the lead on a Brooks Laich goal, his 16th of the season made possible by Karl Alzner and John Carlson. The Canadiens tied it again with Andrei Kostitsyn notching his 17th of the year, courtesy of Lars Eller and P.K. Subban. Washington retook the lead with another Johansson goal, his second of the game and eleventh of the season, with the lone assist by Alex Ovechkin. The Capitals made it 4-2, the eventual final, with Mike Knuble notching his 17th of the year on the power play from Marco Sturm. The three stars went to Johansson, Price (37 for 41 saves), and Kostitsyn.

Down to Florida, for the Panthers hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Tomas Vokoun were called on for the starts. Philadelphia opened the scoring with Scott Hartnell potting his 20th of the season from Mike Richards and Ville Leino. Florida replied with Stephen Weiss netting his 19th of the year, helped along by Sergei Samsonov and Keaton Ellerby. The Panthers took the lead with Dmitry Kulikov recording his sixth of the season, with the lone assist going to Samsonov. The Flyers took the lead 3-2 with two Jeff Carter goals, his 31st and 32nd of the year getting help along the way from Claude Giroux on the first and Danny Briere on the second. The third period was silent, so the score was final, and the three stars went to Carter, Briere, and Samsonov.

Following that, the Buffalo Sabres hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Ryan Miller were tending the twines. Brandon Sutter put Carolina on the board first with his 13th of the season, coming off of Derek Joslin and Chad LaRose. The remaining two periods were silent, giving the Hurricanes a 1-0 victory. The three stars went to Ward (40 save shutout), Jeff Skinner, and Miller (32 for 33 saves).

Moving along to Ottawa, where the Senators hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brent Johnson and Craig Anderson played in the goalmouth. Tyler Kennedy notched his 16th of the season to put Pittsburgh up first, with assists from Paul Martin and Chris Kunitz. Jordan Staal kept the Penguins going with his ninth of the year, coming off of Kennedy and Kunitz. Forty-seven seconds later, Ottawa got on the board with Ryan Shannon on the power play, his seventh of the season, powered by Nick Foligno. Pittsburgh reclaimed the goal fifty-seven seconds later with a Ben Lobejoy goal, his second of the year made possible by Staal and the sock trick completing Kunitz. Matt Cooke tallied on his 12th of the season for the Penguins, with the helpers provided by Dustin Jeffrey and Martin. Pittsburgh sealed a 5-1 victory with the third of the year by Zbynek Michalek, guided in by Jeffrey and Alex Kovalev. The three stars were awarded to Kennedy, Kunitz, and Staal.

Into Nashville, where the Predators hosted the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Bernier and Pekka Rinne stood in the blue paint. Los Angeles opened the scoring with Anze Kopitar netting his 25th of the season off of Dustin Penner. Nashville replied with Jonathon Blum potting his second of the year, an unassisted goal. The Kings retook the lead with the fifth of the season by Alec Martinez, assisted by Dustin Brown and Ryan Smyth. Los Angeles extended their lead with the 13th of the year from Wayne Simmonds, coming from Kopitar and Alexei Ponikarovsky. The Predators pulled back within one with J.P. Dumont registering his tenth of the season, with the help of Cody Franson. The Kings sealed victory at 4-2 with an empty netter from Brown, his 22nd of the year going unassisted. The three stars were given to Brown, Kopitar, and Blum.

To Texas, where the Dallas Stars hosted the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Kari Lethonen collected the starts. Mike Ribeiro opened the scoring for Dallas in the second period with his 16th of the season, helped along by Jamie Benn. The Stars made it 2-0 with the second of the year by Toby Petersen, a shorthanded goal made possible by Benn and Karlis Skrastins. Joe Thornton got San Jose on the board with his 18th of the season, helped along by Dan Boyle and Patrick Marleau. The Sharks tied it on the power play when the 23rd of the year by Dany Heatley sank, thanks to Marleau and Joe Pavelski. San Jose took the lead in the third period when Ryane Clowe potted his 23rd of the season, with Pavelski grabbing the lone assist. Torrey Mitchell also tallied for the Sharks, his sixth of the year allowing Pavelski to complete his sock trick, with the other assist given to Jamal Mayers. Benn pulled Dallas back within a goal on his 20th of the campaign, a power play goal fueled by Steve Ott and Jamie Langenbrunner. San Jose tallied on the empty net as Thornton sank the second of the game and 19th of the season, an unassisted goal. Heatley sealed it at 6-3 with another empty netter, his 24th of the year, helped in by Pavelski. Pavelski, Benn, and Thornton earned the three stars.

Lastly, the Calgary Flames hosted the Phoenix Coyotes. Ilya Bryzgalov and Miikka Kiprusoff guarded the cages. Phoenix entered the scoring first with Lee Stempniak notching his 15th of the season, assisted by Vernon Fiddler and Taylor Pyatt. Calgary replied with the 15th of the year by Olli Jokinen, with helpers by Rene Bourque and the goalie Kiprusoff. The Coyotes regained the lead with the 12th of the campaign in the second period by Eric Belanger, courtesy of Lauri Korpikoski and Shane Doan. Phoenix kept going with the eleventh of the season by Keith Yandle, with assistance by Radim Vrbata and Andrew Ebbett. Nineteen seconds later, the Coyotes struck again with Michal Rozsival's fifth of the year, guided in by Fiddler. Fifty-seven seconds after that, the Flames answered back with Mikael Backlund's ninth of the season on the power play, powered by Mark Giordano and Jarome Iginla. Calgary pulled within a goal on the 19th of the year by Alex Tanguay, thanks to Bourque and Jay Bouwmeester. This wouldn't be enough, giving Phoenix the 4-3 victory with the three stars going to Yandle, Jokinen, and Tanguay.