Wednesday NHL action

Wednesday only had four games of hockey on the schedule. They began in...

Detroit, where the Red Wings hosted the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo and Jimmy Howard played in front of the nets. Vancouver opened the scoring with Daniel Sedin, his 39th of the season coming in the second period off of Henrik Sedin and Dan Hamhuis. The Canucks extended their lead with another Daniel tally, his second of the game and 40th of the campaign, coming on the power play thanks to Henrik and Ryan Kesler. Detroit pulled within one goal at a 2-1 score with Jiri Hudler on the power play, his ninth of the year powered by Danny Cleary and Nicklas Lidstrom. This would be the final, with Daniel, Luongo (39 for 40 saves), and Howard (31 for 33 saves) getting the three stars.

To Dallas, where the Stars hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Ray Emery and Kari Lehtonen played goaltender. Anaheim opened the scoring in the second period with Lubomir Visnovsky notching his 15th of the season on the power play, with help from Ryan Getzlaf and Cam Fowler. Dallas answered with Alex Goligoski potting his 12th of the year, also a power play goal, powered by Mike Ribeiro and Brad Richards. The Stars took the lead in the third period with a Loui Eriksson tally, his 24th of the season, helped along by Jamie Langenbrunner and Richards. Eleven seconds later, Corey Perry found twine for the Ducks with his 40th of the year, assisted by Bobby Ryan. Dallas retook the lead with Trevor Daley registering his eighth of the season, courtesy of Ribeiro and Steve Ott. With seven seconds left in regulation, Teemu Selanne struck to tie for Anaheim, his timely 23rd of the year made possible by Saku Koivu and Visnovsky. The Ducks defeated the Stars 4-3 in overtime with Fowler recording his eighth of the campaign, helped in by Ryan and Getzlaf. Fowler, Selanne, and Daley gathered the three stars.

Moving into Chicago, where the Blackhawks hosted the Florida Panthers. Tomas Vokoun and Corey Crawford played in the blue paint. Chicago opened the scoring in the second period with Brent Seabrook's fifth of the season on the power play from Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews. The Blackhawks extended the lead with Viktor Stalberg notching his 12th of the year, with help from Toews and Patrick Kane. Kane kept Chicago going with his 25th of the season, assisted by Keith and Seabrook. The Blackhawks wrapped it up 4-0 with Tomas Kopecky recording his 14th of the year, helped in by Michael Frolik and Marian Hossa. Seabrook, Toews, and Crawford (23 save shutout) were the three stars.

Lastly, the San Jose Sharks hosted the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Antti Niemi tended the twines. San Jose opened the scoring with the eighth of the season by Torrey Mitchell, helped in by Jamal Mayers and Joe Thornton. Calgary evened the score with Jarome Iginla notching his 34th of the year, thanks to Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay on the power play. The Sharks retook the lead with Andrew Desjardins' first of the season, coming off of Ben Eager and Dan Boyle. The Flames tied it again with Cory Sarich potting his fourth of the year, with the help of Ales Kotalik and Robyn Regehr. San Jose made it 4-2 with a pair of Patrick Marleau goals, his 30th and 31st of the season, with Douglas Murray collecting the lone assist on the first and Devin Setoguchi and Joe Pavelski earning the helpers on the latter power play tally. Rene Bourque cut the deficit to a goal for Calgary with his 26th of the year, aided by Tom Kostopolous. Mitchell restored the goal for the Sharks with his second of the game and ninth of the season, made possible by Pavelski. San Jose wrapped it up at 6-3 with Logan Couture notching his 28th of the year, fueled by Ryane Clowe and Justin Braun. The three stars went to Mitchell, Marleau, and Pavelski.