Tuesday Hockey recap

On Tuesday, there were nine games of hockey being played. We start off with an inter-conference match between...

The host Philadelphia Flyers and visiting Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Sergei Bobrovsky were called on for the starts. Philadelphia was the first to score with Danny Briere notching his 29th of the season, with help from Matt Carle and Ville Leino. Jeff Carter made it 3-0 Flyers with his 29th and 30th of the year, the first a power play goal powered by Briere and Claude Giroux andthe second coming off of Kimmo Timonen and James van Riemsdyk in the second period. Edmonton got on the board with Jean-Francois Jacques netting his fourth of the season, with Ladislav Smid picking up the lone assist. Blair Betts made it 4-1 for Philadelphia with his fifth of the year, an empty net goal made possible by Giroux. This was the final, and the three stars went to Carter, Briere, and Timonen.

Moving along to New Jersey, where the Devils hosted the Ottawa Senators. Craig Anderson and Martin Brodeur played between the pipes. The scoring was opened by Ottawa in the second period with Erik Condra scoring his third of the season, thanks to Ryan Shannon and Colin Greening. New Jersey answered in the third period with Patrik Elias' 15th of the campaign, assisted by Brian Rolston and Dainius Zubrus. Condra put the Senators back in front with his second of the game and fourth of the year, helped along by Jason Spezza and Chris Phillips. The final was 2-1, with Condra, Elias, and Anderson (31 for 32 saves) getting the three stars.

Back into Pennsylvania, where the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Marc-Andre Fleury tended the twines. Buffalo opened the scoring with Rob Niedermayer netting his second of the season, with the lone assist from Tyler Myers. Pittsburgh tied the game in the second period with James Neal's 22nd of the year, fueled by Deryk Engelland and Jordan Staal. The Penguins took a lead with Zbynek Michalek netting his first of the season, with the help of Neal and Mark Letestu being required. Pittsburgh made it 3-1 in the third period with Letestu notching his 12th of the year, assisted by Michalek. This was the final, with the three stars going to Michalek, Neal, and Fleury (29 for 30 saves).

Moving onto Long Island, where the New York Islanders hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Al Montoya got the starting nods. The scoring was opened by New York's Zenon Konopka in the second period, with his second of the season, assisted on by Milan Jurcina and Justin DiBenedetto. Thirty-four seconds later, Toronto notched a reply with Keith Aulie potting his first of the year, courtesy of Tim Brent and Mike Brown. The Islanders retook the lead with Frans Nielsen getting his ninth of the season, thanks to Kyle Okposo and Andrew MacDonald. The Maple Leafs replied again, with Brent registering his eighth of the year thanks to Colby Armstrong. New York took a lead again in the third period with Michael Grabner scoring his 27th of the season, with helpers credited to Blake Comeau and Josh Bailey. Toronto found yet another equalizer with Nikolai Kulemin sinking his 25th of the year, guided in by Mikhail Grabovski and Phil Kessel. The tie went into overtime, where the Islanders finally shook the Maple Leafs as Comeau sank his 19th of the campaign to win it 4-3, with assistance from Radek Martinek and Nielsen. Comeau, Brent, and Grabner picked up the three stars.

Heading to the middle game in Montreal, with the Canadiens hosting the Bruins for the first time since their lesser-known bloodbath overshadowed by the Penguins-Islanders one later in that week. Tuukka Rask and Carey Price played in the creases. Montreal found a 2-0 lead with Lars Eller potting his sixth and seventh of the season in the first period, assisted by Travis Moen primarily both times, and the secondaries going to Paul Mara and Andrei Kostitsyn in that order. The Canadiens built on the lead with a power play goal in the second period by Brian Gionta, with help from Scott Gomez and Tomas Plekanec to convert his 24th of the year. Montreal kept going with James Wisniewski sinking his eighth of the season on the power play from Michael Cammalleri and David Desharnais, showcasing the versatility and compatibility of people with ten-letter last names. Nearing the end of the middle period, there was a questionable Zdeno Chara hit on Max Pacioretty, knocking the latter out with a severe concussion and broken vertebra, and the former being issued a game misconduct and an interference major, but receiving no latter supplemental discipline. Boston would get on the board in the third period with Milan Lucic scoring his 29th of the year with the help of David Krejci, bringing the eventual final to 4-1. Eller, Price (30 for 31 saves), and Pacioretty receiving the three stars.

Heading down to Florida, where the Panthers hosted their GM's former team, the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Tomas Vokoun were given the green light to play. Florida opened the scoring with David Booth netting his 20th of the season, thanks to Michal Repik. The Panthers struck again with Clay Wilson potting his first of the year off of Niclas Bergfors and Sergei Samsonov. With seven seconds left in the opening frame, Marty Reasoner notched his 14th of the campaign with help from Booth and Keaton Ellerby to put Florida up 3-0, and allowing Marty Turco to relieve Crawford. Chicago got on the board about midway through the second period with Patrick Kane registering his 22nd of the season, fueled by Brian Campbell and Ryan Johnson. The Blackhawks got within a goal with Marian Hossa's 19th of the year, assisted by Dave Bolland and Bryan Bickell. The scoring ceased after this, securing a 3-2 victory for the Panthers, and giving the three stars to Vokoun (37 for 39 saves), Booth, and Kane.

Moving north to Minnesota, where the Wild hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Peter Budaj and Niklas Backstrom were guarding the cages. Martin Havlat opened the scoring for Minnesota with his 21st of the season, assisted by Kyle Brodziak and Brent Burns. Colorado answered in the second period with the 12th of the year for Kevin Porter, guided along by Ryan Wilson and Paul Stastny. Stastny put the Avalanche ahead with his 20th of the campaign, a power play goal powered by Milan Hejduk and Matt Duchene. The Wild evened it with Andrew Brunette sinking his 16th of the season, also a power play goal, with help from Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Jared Spurgeon. Minnesota took the lead with John Madden notching his eleventh of the year, courtesy of Matt Cullen and Chuck Kobasew. Spurgeon extended the Wild lead with his second of the season, made possible by Havlat and Eric Nystrom. Brodziak secured a 5-2 victory with his 15th of the year, an empty net goal coming off of Greg Zanon and the goalie Backstrom. Burns, Havlat, and Spurgeon were given the three stars.

Zig-Zagging again to Phoenix, where the Coyotes hosted Vancouver Canucks. Stud goaltenders Roberto Luongo and Ilya Bryzgalov took to the nets. Phoenix was the first on the board with Eric Belanger netting his tenth of the season unassisted. The Coyotes made it 2-0 with Shane Doan's power play goal from Belanger and David Schlemko, good for his 15th of the year. Seventeen seconds later, Vancouver got on the board with the fifth of the season by Dan Hamhuis, courtesy of Mikael Samuelsson and Daniel Sedin. The Canucks tied it with Henrik Sedin registering his 16th of the year in the second period, a power play goal gathering steam off of Ryan Kesler and Christian Ehrhoff. Vancouver took the lead with Sami Salo's second of the season, assisted by Henrik and Daniel. Phoenix retied it with Lauri Korpikoski potting his 15th of the year, with the help of Belanger and Michal Rozsival. The third period went silent, and the tie was broken in overtime with Hamhuis' second of the game and sixth of the campaign to give the Canucks the victory over the Coyotes by a 4-3 margin, with the helpers given to Henrik and Daniel, the latter of which completing a sock trick. The three stars went to Bryzgalov (35 for 39 saves), Belanger, and Hamhuis.

Finally, the San Jose Sharks hosted the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Antti Niemi started in front of the cages. The scoring was opened by Ryane Clowe of San Jose, with his 19th of the season being guided in by Dany Heatley and Jason Demers. Nashville replied with a Joel Ward power play goal fueled by Martin Erat and Shea Weber, his eighth of the year. The Sharks reclaimed the lead with Justin Braun sinking his second of the season, also a power play goal, with the help of Heatley and Clowe. Weber found another equalizer for the Predators, nailing his 14th of the year with the man advantage via David Legwand and Erat. The tie lasted throughout the third period into overtime where San Jose defeated Nashville 3-2 on the 27th of the campaign by Patrick Marleau, aided by Ian White. Marleau, Clowe, and Niemi (23 for 25 saves) got the three stars for the game.

Another day, same routine, whenever I can get them out.