Wednesday Hockey games

There were seven games on for Wednesday, starting with...

The Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Cam Ward got the starts. Atlanta opened the scoring with his eleventh of the season, courtesy of Evander Kane and Blake Wheeler on the power play. The Thrashers extended their lead with the ninth of the year by Tobias Enstrom, assisted by Nik Antropov and Zach Bogosian. Carolina got on the board in the second period with the first of the campaign for Troy Bodie, guided in by Bryan Allen and Pat Dwyer. The Hurricanes tied it in the third period with Erik Cole's 19th of the season, helped along by Cory Stillman. The tie lasted into overtime, where Atlanta took Carolina down 3-2 with the second of the year by Tim Stapleton, thanks to Ron Hainsey. Pavelec (35 for 37 saves), Stapleton and Cole earned the three stars.

Moving north into Washington, D.C., where the Capitals hosted the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Braden Holtby made the starts. The scoring was silent through the first period before Washington struck with an Alex Ovechkin goal, his 26th of the season coming off of Jason Arnott and Alexander Semin on the power play. The Capitals extended the lead with Eric Fehr sinking his ninth of the year, also a power play goal from John Carlson and Ovechkin. Ovechkin added his second of the night and 27th of the season in the third period, with the help of Marcus Johansson. Fehr also notched his second of the game, and tenth of the year, with helpers credited to Jason Chimera and Brooks Laich. The Capitals made it 5-0, the eventual final, with the 25th of the campaign by Semin, courtesy of Marco Sturm and Dennis Wideman. The three stars went to Ovechkin, Holtby (22 save shutout), and Fehr.

Continuing along to Columbus, where the Blue Jackets hosted the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Mathieu Garon played in the creases. Columbus struck first in the second period, with Jakub Voracek's 14th of the season going down thanks to Derick Brassard and Rick Nash. The Blue Jackets scored again with R.J. Umberger's 21st of the year on the power play, powered by Grant Clitsome and Antoine Vermette. Columbus made it 3-0 with Derek MacKenzie netting his sixth of the season, thanks to Jared Boll and Ethan Moreau. St. Louis got on the board with Alex Pietrangelo netting his ninth of the season off of Alex Steen. Ian Cole pulled the Blues within a goal on his first of the year, assisted by Adam Cracknell. Chris Stewart tied it for St. Louis on his 21st of the year, via David Backes and Cole. The tie lasted into overtime, where Stewart broke it for the Blues, securing a 4-3 victory over the Blue Jackets with his second of the game and 22nd of the campaign, fueled by Carlo Colaiacovo and Kevin Shattenkirk. The three stars went to Stewart, Cole, and MacKenzie.

Heading along to Detroit, with the Red Wings hosting the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Jimmy Howard were between the pipes. Detroit opened the scoring with a Darren Helm goal, his tenth of the season, with the help of Justin Abdelkader and Kris Draper being required. Los Angeles tied it in the second period with Anze Kopitar notching his 21st of the campaign, assisted by Dustin Penner and Justin Williams. The Kings took a 2-1 lead with the power play goal by Dustin Brown, with Alexei Ponikarovsky and Alec Martinez making his 22nd of the year possible. This score would last through the rest of the game, giving the three stars to Quick (28 for 29 saves), Brown, and Helm.

Back to the south, where the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Dwayne Roloson put on the masks. Tampa Bay was the first on the board as Steven Stamkos broke his goal drought with his 42nd of the season, assisted by Martin St. Louis and Brett Clark. Chicago tied it with Patrick Kane sinking his 23rd of the year off of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp. St. Louis gave the Lightning the lead back by notching his 25th of the season, courtesy of Stamkos and Adam Hall. Tampa Bay went up 3-1 with Teddy Purcell registering his 16th of the year, thanks to Victor Hedman and Simon Gagne. The Blackhawks pulled back within a goal with Sharp netting his 34th of the season, with the help of Toews and Kane giving ample support. Toews provided the equalizer for Chicago in the third period by potting his 28th of the year, guided in by Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Seabrook. The tie lasted into a shootout, where the Lightning dispatched the Blackhawks on St. Louis' lone tally, for a 4-3 victory margin. The three stars went to Stamkos, Toews, and St. Louis.

Heading west to Dallas, where the Stars hosted the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Kari Lehtonen tended the twines. Calgary was first on the board with Rene Bourque notching his 23rd of the season with the help of Curtis Glencross and Steve Staios. Tom Kostopolous extended the Flames lead with his sixth of the year, thanks to Tim Jackman and Mikael Backlund. Anton Babchuk made it 3-0 Calgary with his eleventh of the season, an unassisted goal. Dallas finally got on the board after this barrage with Jamie Benn's 18th of the year, a power play goal made possible by Steve Ott and Alex Goligoski. The Stars pulled within a goal on Mike Ribeiro's sinking of his 14th of the season, with the lone assist going to Jeff Woywitka. Dallas found the equalizer with Tomas Vincour netting his first of the year, helped along by Toby Petersen and Woywitka. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Alex Tanguay exchanged a tally with Ribeiro before Glencross propelled the Flames to a 4-3 victory over the Stars. The three stars went to Glencross, Vincour, and Benn.

Continuing west to Anaheim, where the Ducks hosted the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Dan Ellis stood in front of the cages. New York struck first with Brandon Dubinsky netting his 20th of the season, courtesy of Ryan Callahan and Artem Anisimov. Anaheim tied it with Corey Perry's 32nd of the year, assisted by Bobby Ryan and Lubomir Visnovsky. Visnovsky went on to make it 3-1 Ducks with two goals in a row, his 13th and 14th of the season, with helpers credited to Toni Lydman and Ryan on the first tally and Finns Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu on the second goal. The scoring was silenced through the second period, but Anaheim extended their lead again in the third frame with Ryan sinking his 31st of the year, powered by Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. The Rangers got a goal back on the power play as Marian Gaborik sank his 18th of the season off of Vinny Prospal and Derek Stepan. Perry solidified the game at 5-2 Ducks with his second of the night and 33rd of the year, with the lone assist giving Ryan a sock trick. The three stars of the game were Visnovsky, Ryan, and Perry.

Seven more games come out on Thursday, and will be recapped on Friday.