Tuesday Hockey coverage

Today we bring to you a total of eleven games. The first of these is in the...

Nation's capital, Washington, D.C., where the Capitals host the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Semyon Varlamov took to the blue paint. Carolina opened the scoring with Jussi Jokinen on the power play, his 17th of the season, fueled by Joe Corvo and Tuomo Ruutu. Washington tied it with the 27th of the year from Alexander Semin, guided in by Brooks Laich. The Capitals took the lead with the 13th of the season for Marcus Johansson, assisted by Semin and John Carlson. The Hurricanes retied it with Jeff Skinner potting his 27th of the year via Bryan Allen. This tie lasted into a shootout, where the two Carolina tallies from Skinner and Ruutu took Washington down 3-2. The three stars went to Ward (38 for 40 saves), Skinner, and Semin.

North a bit to Toronto, where the Maple Leafs hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and James Reimer were between the pipes. Toronto opened the scoring with the eighth of the season by Dion Phaneuf, powered by Clarke MacArthur and Nikolai Kulemin. The Maple Leafs extended their lead with a Darryl Boyce tally, his fifth of the year, courtesy of Nazem Kadri and Joey Crabb. Buffalo got on the board with the 27th of the campaign by Thomas Vanek, assisted by Jochen Hecht and Drew Stafford. Toronto got the goal back with MacArthur notching his 21st of the season, with help from Kadri and Carl Gunnarsson. The Sabres replied with a Jason Pominville tally, his 20th of the year, made possible by Tim Connolly and Andrej Sekera. Thirty seconds later, the game was tied with Buffalo getting a Rob Niedermayer goal, his fifth of the season, helped along by Steve Montador and Cody McCormick. The Maple Leafs took a 4-3 lead with the 29th of the year from Mikhail Grabovski, finding twine thanks to Phil Kessel and MacArthur. After the third period was scoreless, the three stars were given to MacArthur, Kadri, and Vanek.

To the battle of Pennsylvania, this time in Pittsburgh, with the Penguins hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Marc-Andre Fleury played in front of the cages. Pittsburgh took the early lead with Alex Kovalev notching his 16th of the season, with helpers provided by Kris Letang and Mark Letestu. Philadelphia replied with Jeff Carter potting his 35th of the year, courtesy of Braydon Coburn and Matt Carle. The Penguins reclaimed the lead with Tyler Kennedy sinking his 19th of the season via Brooks Orpik and Chris Kunitz. The Flyers replied again with a power play goal from Scott Hartnell, powered by Ville Leino and Kimmo Timonen, good as his 21st of the year. Philadelphia took the lead with Claude Giroux netting his 25th of the season, coming forty-seven seconds later from Sean O'Donnell and Andrej Meszaros. In the third period, the Flyers clinched a 5-2 win with a pair of Leino goals, his 18th and 19th of the year with Hartnell, Danny Briere (twice), and O'Donnell all picking up assists. The three stars went to Leino, Hartnell, and Briere.

Westward a bit to Columbus, with the Blue Jackets hosting the Florida Panthers. Scott Clemmensen and Steve Mason were given the starting nods. Columbus first found twine with Scottie Upshall's 21st of the season, coming off of Derek Dorsett and Samuel Pahlsson. Florida answered in the second period with a power play goal from David Booth, his 22nd of the year powered by Sergei Samsonov and Mike Santorelli. The Blue Jackets retook the lead with an Antoine Vermette marker, his 18th of the season made possible by R.J. Umberger and Matt Calvert. Evgeny Dadonov used his eighth of the year for the Panthers to tie the game again, with guidance from Jason Garrison and Steve Bernier. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Columbus toppled Florida on the lone tally by Maksim Mayorov to win 3-2. The three stars went to Mason (29 for 31 saves), Mayorov, and Clemmensen (30 for 32 saves).

Down to Tampa Bay, with the Lightning hosting the Ottawa Senators. Curtis McElhinney and Dwayne Roloson guarded the goals. The first period was silent, but Tampa Bay opened the scoring in the second frame, with a Martin St. Louis tally, his 28th of the season coming off of Vincent Lecavalier and Simon Gagne. The Lightning tacked on the 16th of the year for Dominic Moore as well, with helpers provided by Marc-Andre Bergeron and Dana Tyrell. St. Louis extended the lead for Tampa Bay with his second of the game and 29th of the campaign in the third period, gathering steam off of Gagne and Steven Stamkos. Ottawa got on the board with a Jason Spezza marker, his 17th of the season, with help from Colin Greening and Daivd Hale. Moore answered for the Lightning with his second of the night and 17th of the year, thanks to Tyrell and Brett Clark. The Senators got the goal back again with Milan Michalek registering his 17th of the season, a shorthanded goal coming from Filip Kuba and Spezza. Tampa Bay secured a 5-2 victory with Stamkos netting his 44th of the year into the empty cage with assistance from Adam Hall and Moore. St. Louis, Moore, and Gagne got the three stars.

North to Quebec, where the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Carey Price tended the twines. Montreal started the scoring with a Roman Hamrlik goal, his fifth of the season, with assists provided by Jeff Halpern and Michael Cammalleri. The Canadiens extended their lead eleven seconds later with the tenth of the year by Mathieu Darche, made possible by Scott Gomez. Atlanta got on the board in the third period with Nik Antropov recording his 14th of the season thanks to Eric Boulton. Montreal secured a 3-1 victory with Andrei Kostitsyn notching his 20th of the year into the empty net from Paul Mara. The three stars went to Price (27 for 28 saves), Darche, and Hamrlik.

Moving back south to Boston, with the Bruins hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Tim Thomas played in the blue paint. Boston opened the scoring in the second period with Zdeno Chara potting his 14th of the season, coming from Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. The Bruins extended their lead with the third of the campaign by Johnny Boychuk, made possible by Mark Recchi and Milan Lucic. Nathan Horton sank his 24th of the year for Boston to solidify a 3-0 victory, with assists coming from Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell. Thomas (32 save shutout), Bergeron, and Chara earned the three stars.

Out west, the St. Louis Blues hosted the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Jaroslav Halak stood in front of the nets. Eric Nystrom put Minnesota up first with his fourth of the season, guided in by Martin Havlat and Clayton Stoner. St. Louis replied with Chris Stewart notching his 25th of the year on the power play, powered by Patrik Berglund and Andy McDonald. The scoring resumed with the Blues taking the lead in the third period on another Stewart goal, his second of the game and 26th of the season, assisted by Kevin Shattenkirk and Carlo Colaiacovo. The Wild found an equalizer with Pierre-Marc Bouchard sinking his tenth of the year, with help from Stoner. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Minnesota got tallies from Bouchard and Mikko Koivu, enough to beat the St. Louis marker from McDonald, winning the game 3-2. The three stars went to Koivu, Stewart, and Bouchard.

To Nashville, where the Predators hosted the Vancouver Canucks. Stud goalies Roberto Luongo and Pekka Rinne put on the masks to play. The scoring was opened by Nashville in the second period, with Mike Fisher registering his 18th of the season, thanks to Jonathon Blum and Sergei Kostitsyn. Vancouver got on the board with a pair of Alexandre Burrows markers, his 23rd and 24th of the campaign, with both Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel, picking up a primary and a secondary assist each. The Canucks secured a 3-1 victory with an empty net goal by Aaron Rome, his first of the year, with guidance from Jannik Hansen. Burrows, Rinne (29 for 31 saves), and Luongo (16 for 17 saves) gathered up the three stars.

Up north to Edmonton, with the Oilers hosting the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Bernier and Nikolai Khabibulin were the goalies. Los Angeles got a 2-0 lead in the second period with Dustin Brown recording his 26th and 27th of the year, with Trevor Lewis taking two assists and Ryan Smyth grabbing one. This would go on to be the final score of the game, with the three stars going to Brown, Lewis, and Bernier (32 save shutout).

Lastly, we stop in Phoenix, where the Coyotes hosted the Dallas Stars. Kari Lethonen and Ilya Bryzgalov played in front of the twines. The scoring was started by Phoenix in the second period with a David Schlemko goal, his fourth of the season gathering steam off of Michal Rozsival and Eric Belanger. Dallas tied it with Jamie Benn notching his 22nd of the year on the power play with the help of Stephane Robidas and Jamie Langenbrunner. The tie would last into a shootout, where the Coyotes toppled the Stars after Benn and Radim Vrbata exchanged tallies, followed by the decisive marker from Ray Whitney for a 2-1 victory. The three stars went to Bryzgalov (44 for 45 saves), Schlemko, and Whitney.