Tuesday Hockey games

There were a total of ten games of hockey for Tuesday. The first of these games was in...

Raleigh, North Carolina, where the Hurricanes hosted the Ottawa Senators. Curtis McElhinney and Cam Ward took to the nets. Ottawa opened the scoring with Colin Greening notching his third of the season, courtesy of Jason Spezza and Bobby Butler. The Senators extended their lead with the second of the year by Marek Svatos, guided in by Erik Condra and David Hale. Twenty-seven seconds later, Carolina answered with a Tuomo Ruutu goal, his 18th of the season getting help from Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Skinner. Twenty-five seconds after that, the game was tied, as Chad LaRose netted his 14th of the year for the Hurricanes, with the lone assist by Joni Pitkanen. LaRose put Carolina ahead in the second period on his 15th of the campaign and second of the game, with helpers provided by Brandon Sutter and Tim Gleason. The Hurricanes extended their lead with Cory Stillman notching his tenth of the season, fueled by Eric Staal and Erik Cole. Ottawa pulled back within a goal at 4-3 with Erik Karlsson potting his 13th of the year, thanks to Spezza and Nick Foligno. This would be the final, with LaRose, Ward (36 for 39 saves), and Cole getting the three stars.

Moving into New York, where the Rangers hosted the Florida Panthers. Tomas Vokoun and Henrik Lundqvist took their spots in front of the cages. New York tallied the game's only goal with the 22nd of the season by Brandon Dubinsky, assisted by Ryan Callahan and Artem Anisimov. Dubinsky, Lundqvist (22 save shutout), and Vokoun (32 for 33 saves) earned the three stars.

Heading to Boston, where the Bruins welcomed the New Jersey Devils to the TD Garden. Martin Brodeur and Tim Thomas stood between the pipes. New Jersey opened the scoring with Ilya Kovalchuk netting his 27th of the year on the power play with help from Mattias Tedenby and Jacob Josefson. Boston replied with Shawn Thornton nailing his ninth of the season courtesy of Dennis Seidenberg and Tomas Kaberle. Zdeno Chara gave the Bruins the lead in the second period with his 13th of the year, a power play goal powered by Milan Lucic and Kaberle. Lucic also tallied his 30th of the season for Boston, with guidance from Patrice Bergeron and Chara. Mark Recchi gave the Bruins a 4-1 victory with his 13th of the year, an empty net goal coming off of Bergeron and Chara. Lucic, Chara, and Thomas (30 for 31 saves) earned the three stars for the game.

Nest up, the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Washington Capitals. Michal Neuvirth and Sergei Bobrovsky picked up the starts. Nicklas Backstrom put Washington up first with his 18th of the season, assisted by Brooks Laich. Mike Knuble extended the lead for the Capitals with his 20th of the year, with help from Jason Chimera and Marcus Johansson. Washington continued on the power play with Dennis Wideman sinking his tenth of the season, powered by Backstrom and Knuble, prompting Sergei Bobrovsky to be pulled in favor of Brian Boucher. Kris Versteeg got Philadelphia on the board with his 19th of the year, helped along by Matt Carle and Andrej Meszaros. The Flyers pulled within a goal on Claude Giroux's 24th of the season, guided in by Andreas Nodl and Braydon Coburn. Philadelphia tied it on Nodl potting his eleventh of the year, courtesy of Giroux. Danny Briere put the Flyers out in front with his 32nd of the season, made possible by Kimmo Timonen and Ville Leino. Johansson retied it for the Capitals with his 12th of the year, thanks to Knuble and Scott Hannan. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Leino and Matt Hendricks exchanged goals, Backstrom and Briere had offsetting tallies, but Washington clinched victory with Alexander Semin's marker, making it 5-4 Washington over Philadelphia. The three stars went to Semin, Backstrom, and Nodl.

Tampa Bay followed with the Lightning hosting the New York Islanders. Al Montoya and Dwayne Roloson took charge of the creases. Tampa Bay opened with the ninth of the campaign by Nate Thompson, assisted by Teddy Purcell and Vincent Lecavalier. New York replied on the power play with Josh Bailey netting his eleventh of the season, with help from Milan Jurcina. The Islanders took the lead with Kyle Okposo notching his fifth of the year, courtesy of Jurcina and Michael Grabner. New York extended their lead with the fifth of the season by Matt Martin, fueled by Jack Hillen and Zenon Konopka. The Islanders rolled on with Frans Nielsen sinking his eleventh of the year shorthanded and unassisted. The Lightning got a goal back on the power play, with the 14th of the season from Dominic Moore being a product of Sean Bergenheim and Thompson. Grabner ended the scoring with his 31st of the year, an empty net goal going unassisted to bring a 5-2 final. Jurcina, Thompson, and Nielsen got the three stars.

Going to Montreal, where the Canadiens hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Carey Price tended the twines. Buffalo opened the scoring with Nathan Gerbe in the second period, his 12th of the season coming off of Tyler Myers and Andrej Sekera. Gerbe wrapped it up 2-0 for the Sabres with his 13th of the year and second of the game into the empty net unassisted. Miller (31 save shutout), Price (22 for 23 saves), and Gerbe picked up the three stars.

Over to Minnesota, where the Wild hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Niklas Backstrom were in the creases. Joffrey Lupul put Toronto out front with his tenth of the season, with help from Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel. The Maple Leafs extended their lead with the 28th of the campaign by Mikhail Grabovski, assisted by Clarke MacArthur and Nikolai Kulemin. Toronto wrapped it up 3-0 with the fourth of the year by Carl Gunnarsson, a power play goal powered by Grabovski and Kulemin. The three stars were awarded to Grabovski, Reimer (29 save shutout), and Kulemin.

Nashville was next on the slate, as the Predators hosted the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Pekka Rinne put on the goalie masks. Nashville opened the scoring with Martin Erat notching his 15th of the season from Joel Ward and David Legwand. The Predators kept going with Patric Hornqvist on the power play, his 19th of the year gathering steam off of Sergei Kostitsyn and Ryan Suter. Nashville rolled on with Legwand recording his 14th of the season, with help from Suter and Shea Weber. Edmonton got a goal to make it 3-1 with Jordan Eberle on the power play, his 17th of the year powered by Andrew Cogliano and Jim Vandermeer. Legwand, Suter, and Hornqvist earned the three star honors.

Going to Colorado, where the Avalanche hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Brian Elliott played the nets. Columbus opened the scoring with the 32nd of the season for Rick Nash, with helpers provided by Derick Brassard and Kris Russell. Colorado tied it with Ryan O'Reilly sinking his ninth of the year, thanks to Kevin Porter and Matt Hunwick. The Blue Jackets retook the lead with Derek MacKenzie sinking his ninth of the season, a shorthanded goal via Derek Dorsett. R.J. Umberger kept Columbus going with his 22nd of the year, a shorthanded goal as well, with help from Jan Hejda and MacKenzie. The Avalanche tied it with a pair of Matt Duchene goals, his 24th and 25th of the campaign, with Mark Olver and Daniel Winnik getting the first pair of assists and the second pair going to Hunwick and Olver. Umberger gave the lead back to the Blue Jackets with his second of the game and 23rd of the season, guided along by Scottie Upshall and Hejda. With four seconds left in the game, Winnik tied it for Colorado with a power play goal powered by Erik Johnson and Paul Stastny, good as his tenth of the year. The Avalanche took the game in the shootout by a 5-4 margin, on the lone tally from Milan Hejduk. The three stars were given to Duchene, Umberger, and Winnik.

Finally, the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Ilya Bryzgalov tended twine. Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Reaves dropped the gloves first, opening the game with some fighting energy. St. Louis replied with Kevin Shattenkirk opening the scoring with his eighth of the season, thanks to Chris Stewart and Ian Cole. Bissonnette had not had enough, taking on Tyson Strachan in the early second period. Phoenix tied the game with with Ray Whitney notching his 15th of the campaign, courtesy of Lauri Korpikoski and Radim Vrbata. Korpikoski gave the Coyotes a 2-1 lead on his 18th of the year, with help from David Schlemko and Vrbata. This was enough for Phoenix to win the game, giving Korpikoski, Bryzgalov (29 for 30 saves), and Vernon Fiddler the three stars.