Wednesday NHL games

Another smaller set of games, with only five being played on Wednesday. We start off in...

Toronto, where the Maple Leafs hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and James Reimer took to the nets. Matt Niskanen scored first for Pittsburgh, his first of the season finding help from Ben Lovejoy and Pascal Dupuis. Toronto replied with Nikolai Kulemin potting his 23rd of the year with assists provided by Clarke MacArthur and Mikhail Grabovski. The Penguins reclaimed the lead in the second period on a Chris Conner goal, his seventh of the campaign coming off of Niskanen. Phil Kessel provided another equalizer for the Maple Leafs with his 27th of the season, courtesy of Carl Gunnarsson and Tyler Bozak. The tie lasted into overtime, where Toronto defeated Pittsburgh on Grabovski's 25th of the year, thanks to Kessel and Gunnarsson. Grabovski, Niskanen, and Kessel wrangled in the three stars.

Moving along to New York, where the Islanders hosted the Minnesota Wild. Niklas Backstrom and Al Montoya got the starting nods. New York opened the scoring with Blake Comeau potting his 16th of the season on the power play from Frans Nielsen and Josh Bailey. The Islanders made it 2-0 with Kyle Okposo netting his fourth of the year, thanks to Michael Grabner and Nielsen. New York chased Backstrom away with Comeau scoring again, with his second of the night and 17th of the campaign, assisted by Matt Martin and Bruno Gervais, allowing Jose Theodore to come on in relief. The Islanders rolled with Andrew MacDoanld scoring his second of the season, a power play goal from Okposo and the sock tricker Nielsen. Minnesota managed to find twine with John Madden sinking his tenth of the year, with help from Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Martin Havlat. The final stood at 4-1 with the three stars going to Comeau, Nielsen, and Montoya (33 for 34 saves).

Staying in the same general area, the New Jersey Devils hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson and Martin Brodeur were in the nets. The scoring was quiet until the second period, where Dominic Moore netted his eleventh of the season for Tampa Bay, a power play goal made possible by Pavel Kubina and Victor Hedman. New Jersey tied it on a Henrik Tallinder goal with assists by Ilya Kovalchuk and Vladimir Zharkov, good as his fourth of the campaign. The Devils took the lead on Kovalchuk's 22nd of the year in the third period, with help from Travis Zajac. This was the final, giving the three stars to Kovalchuk, Tallinder, and Roloson (25 for 27 saves).

Moving west to the Windy City, with the Chicago Blackhawks hosting the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Corey Crawford were given the starting nods. Chicago opened the scoring on a Jonathan Toews goal, his 24th of the season, with helpers by Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane. Calgary tied it on the power play when Alex Tanguay netted his 18th of the year, with the help of Jarome Iginla and Mark Giordano. The Blackhawks retook the lead with Michael Frolik potting his ninth of the season, courtesy of Jake Dowell. Chicago extended the lead in the second period with Brian Campbell putting away his fourth of the year, a power play goal made possible by Dave Bolland and Duncan Keith. The Blackhawks made it 4-1 with another Toews goal, his second of the game and 25th of the season, fueled by Frolik and Campbell. Kiprusoff played out the rest of the second period, but Henrik Karlsson came in to play the final frame of regulation. The Flames got a goal back with Rene Bourque netting his 20th of the year, with guidance from Matt Stajan and Anton Babchuk. Iginla cut the deficit further for Calgary with his 28th of the season, powered by Tanguay and Steve Staios. Chicago cut in to make it 5-3 with a Bolland tally, his 14th of the year coming off of Bryan Bickell and Marian Hossa. Bourque struck again to make it a one-goal game for the Flames with his second of the night and 21st of the season being a product of efforts by Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester. The Blackhawks secured a 6-4 victory with Hossa potting his 17th of the year into the empty cage, via Frolik and Brent Seabrook. The three stars went to Toews, Frolik, and Bourque.

Finally, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard stood in the crease opposite Dan Ellis. Detroit was the first on the board when Pavel Datsyuk struck in the second period with his 20th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Nicklas Lidstrom and Tomas Holmstrom. Anaheim replied to tie it in the third period with a Jason Blake tally, his 12th of the campaign, assisted by Teemu Selanne and Lubomir Visnovsky. The tie lasted into overtime, where Ruslan Salei was called for hooking on an attempted shot by Bobby Ryan. The ensuing penalty shot was converted as Ryan's 30th of the year, giving the Ducks a 2-1 victory. Ryan, Ellis (28 for 29 saves), and Howard (26 for 28 saves) earned the three stars.

I'm currently having some internet problems on my own computer, so these next posts until further notice may be at less than expected times. Thank you for your patience.