Wednesday Hockey recap

Wednesday featured only four games of hockey to be played. The first started off in...

Raleigh, where the Carolina Hurricanes hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Cam Ward were playing the nets. Carolina got on the board first with a power play goal by Chad LaRose, his 13th of the season getting help from Brandon Sutter and Tim Gleason. Toronto answered with the sixth of the year from Dion Phaneuf, also a power play goal, powered by Tim Brent and Clarke MacArthur. Phaneuf gave the Maple Leafs the lead in the second period with his second of the game and seventh of the season, another power play tally, guided in by Phil Kessel. Twelve seconds later, Toronto took the lead 3-1 with Tyler Bozak recording his 12th of the year, assisted by Darryl Boyce and Phaneuf. After a silent third period, this proved to be the final, with Phaneuf, Reimer (36 for 37 saves), and LaRose earning the three stars.

Up to Detroit, where the Red Wings hosted the Washington Capitals. Michal Neuvirth and Jimmy Howard guarded the cages. Detroit got on the scoreboard first with Henrik Zetterberg notching his 19th of the season off of Brian Rafalski and Todd Bertuzzi. John Carlson tied it for Washington with his sixth of the year, courtesy of Jason Chimera and D.J. King. The Red Wings regained the lead with a Valtteri Filppula tally, his 14th of the season coming off of Rafalski and Mike Modano. The Capitals tied it again in the second period with the 29th of the year by Alex Ovechkin, assisted by Alexander Semin and Scott Hannan. Zetterberg put Detroit up 3-2 with his second of the game and 20th of the campaign, a power play goal made possible by Pavel Datsyuk and Rafalski, the latter of which completing a sock trick. This would be the final, with the three stars belonging to Zetterberg, Rafalski, and Ovechkin.

Out west, the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Brian Elliott and Cory Schneider were called on for the starts. Colorado opened the scoring with a power play goal by Erik Johnson, his eighth of the season, coming off of John-Michael Liles and David Jones. Matt Duchene extended the lead for the Avalanche with his 22nd of the year, with helpers by Mark Olver and Ryan O'Byrne. Vancouver got on the board in the second period with the sixth of the season by Maxim Lapierre, fueled by Chris Higgins and Keith Ballard. Alexandre Burrows tied it in the third period for the Canucks. with his 21st of the year, with help coming from Daniel Sedin and Dan Hamhuis. Vancouver made it 4-2, the eventual final, with a pair of Henrik Sedin goals, his 17th and 18th of the campaign, with Daniel and Burrows picking up the first pair of assists, and the latter goal going into the empty net unassisted. Henrik, Johnson, and Lapierre picked up the three stars.

Lastly, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Ray Emery got the job between the pipes. The scoring was quiet until Nathan Oystrick potted his first of the season for St. Louis, with the assistance of Matt D'Agostini and Carlo Colaiacovo on the power play. Anaheim got the lead 2-1 with Jason Blake notching a second period and third period goal, his 13th and 14th of the year, with assists credited to Cam Fowler and Teemu Selanne on the first tally and Lubomir Visnovsky and Saku Koivu on the latter. This was the final, with the three stars going to Blake, Emery (30 for 31 saves), and Koivu.

Thursday has eleven games that I will try to take care of live if possible, so keep watch.