Friday Sports

Pretty heavy slate of games to be played on Friday. We begin with...

The New York Islanders meeting up with their wartime enemies, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Al Montoya made the starts. Pittsburgh opened the scoring with Michael Rupp notching his eighth of the season, courtesy of Eric Godard and Craig Adams. Two fights followed, reminiscent of the previous bloodbath between these two teams, with Godard dropping gloves with Trevor Gillies, possibly to send a message from Eric Tangradi, and then Zenon Konopka and Aaron Asham took a dance later in the period. Both instances were heavily punished on the ice, and it curtailed the violence for the rest of the game. The scoring restarted in the second period with Zbynek Michalek scoring his fifth of the year for the Penguins on the power play from Kris Letang and Tyler Kennedy. New York found twine with the stick of Blake Comeau sinking his 23rd of the season, via Matt Moulson and Jesse Joensuu. Comeau would strike again for the Islanders to tie it in the third period on his second of the game and 24th of the year, a power play goal powered by Michael Grabner and Travis Hamonic. Mark Letestu put Pittsburgh back in front with his 13th of the season, assisted by Rupp and Asham. Hamonic found another equalizer for New York with his fourth of the year, made possible by Kyle Okposo. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Chris Kunitz put the Penguins up 4-3 over the Islanders. Letestu, Comeau, and Rupp were the three stars.

Into the battle of Florida, where the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the Florida Panthers. Scott Clemmensen and Dwayne Roloson took care of the twines. Vincent Lecavalier put Tampa Bay out front first with his power play goal, the 23rd of his season, made possible by Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos. Florida tied it with Jason Garrison notching his fifth of the year, with assists from Mike Santorelli and Evgeny Dadonov. The Lightning retook the lead with Ryan Malone's 14th of the season, an unassisted goal. Tampa Bay extended their lead on the second goal of the game and 24th of the year for Lecavalier, a penalty shot for the crime by Keaton Ellerby. The Lightning added on some more distance with Pavel Kubina netting his fourth of the season on the power play, thanks to Malone and Steve Downie. Santorelli made it a 4-2 deficit, and eventual loss, for the Panthers with his 20th of the year, assisted by Joe Callahan and Dadonov. Lecavalier, Malone, and Mike Lundin got the three stars.

Back north into Buffalo, with the Sabres hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Jhonas Enroth were called on to start. Philadelphia opened the scoring on Scott Hartnell's 22nd of the season, coming off of Danny Briere and Sean O'Donnell. Buffalo tied it in the second period with Nathan Gerbe sinking his 15th of the year, thanks to Paul Gaustad and Mark Mancari. Jason Pominville put the Sabres in front with his 21st of the season, with helpers provided by Thomas Vanek and Tim Connolly. The Flyers retied it with Kris Versteeg, his 21st of the year finding twine shorthanded via Claude Giroux. Thirty-nine seconds later, Briere's 33rd of the season had Philadelphia back in front, and Hartnell and Matt Carle picked up assists. Ryan Miller played the third period in relief of Enroth. Buffalo retied it in the third period with Gerbe's second of the game and 16th of the year, guided in by Vanek and Steve Montador. Vanek secured a 4-3 victory in the ensuing overtime as his 32nd of campaign went in unassisted. Gerbe, Vanek, and Briere were the three stars.

Back south to Atlanta, where the Thrashers hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Ondrej Pavelec were sent to block pucks. Carolina opened with a Jeff Skinner goal, his 31st of the season, helped along by Tuomo Ruutu. The Hurricanes added on with Erik Cole netting his 26th of the year, via Cory Stillman. Carolina struck in the second period with Joni Pitkanen on the power play, his fifth of the season powered by Jamie McBain. Keeping with the one assist theme, The Hurricanes got a third period tally from Brandon Sutter, his 14th of the year, with Chad LaRose getting the helper. Carolina kept going with Jussi Jokinen's 19th of the season, fueled by Ruutu and Skinner. The Hurricanes added some more with Ruutu on the power play, his 19th of the year finding twine thanks to Jokinen and Skinner. With thirty-nine seconds remaining in the regulation time, Bryan Little put his 18th of the campaign in the net, courtesy of Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler. With the 6-1 score, the three stars were awarded to Skinner, Ward (18 for 19 saves), and Ruutu.

Heading over to Detroit, where the Red Wings hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Jimmy Howard had control in the creases. Chicago opened with a Brent Seabrook goal, his eighth of the season, made possible by Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa. The Blackhawks also got a Ben Smith goal, his first of the year, thanks to Patrick Kane. Chicago rolled on with a Brian Campbell tally, his fifth of the season, assisted by Michael Frolik and Kane. The Blackhawks added on with Hossa's 25th of the year in the second period, a power play tally powered by Seabrook and the goalie Crawford. Detroit finally got on the board as Drew Miller netted his ninth of the season, with help from Johan Franzen and Justin Abdelkader. The Red Wings ended up losing 4-2 after Tomas Holmstrom netted his 17th of the year, courtesy of Jonathan Ericsson and Brad Stuart. Kane, Hossa, and Seabrook were the three stars.

Down to Nashville, where the Predators hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Pekka Rinne played goal. Nashville opened with a Patric Hornqvist marker, his 20th of the season, assisted by Mike Fisher and Shea Weber. The Predators added on in the second period with Matt Halischuk netting his fourth of the year, via Jerred Smithson and Jordin Tootoo. Hornqvist tallied again for Nashville with his 21st of the season and second of the game, this time needing no assistance. Columbus got on the board as R.J. Umberger guided in the 17th of the campaign for Derick Brassard. The Predators made it 4-1 with Sergei Kostitsyn notching his 23rd of the year, with helpers provided by Hornqvist and Kevin Klein. This final score cemented a three stars of Rinne (44 for 45 saves), Hornqvist, and Halischuk.

Heading north to Edmonton, where the Oilers hosted the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Devan Dubnyk played between the pipes. Minnesota got lead as Brent Burns netted his 17th of the season on the power play, powered by Mikko Koivu and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. The Wild extended the lead in the second period with Jared Spurgeon notching his third of the year, thanks to Bouchard and Koivu. Edmonton got on the board with a Teemu Hartikainen goal, his second of the season, assisted by Jordan Eberle and Chris VandeVelde. Minnesota secured a 3-1 win with an empty netter by Andrew Brunette, his 18th of the year providing sock tricks for Bouchard and Koivu. Koivu, Hartikainen, and Bouchard took the three stars.

Into Colorado, with the Avalanche hosting the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Peter Budaj opposed each other. Dallas led off with Mike Ribeiro scoring his 19th of the season, thanks to Karlis Skrastins. The Stars extended the lead in the second period on a Loui Eriksson goal, his 27th of the year, guided in by Brad Richards and Jamie Benn. Brandon Yip put Colorado on the board with a shorthanded goal, his eleventh of the campaign, fueled by Philippe Dupuis and Jonas Holos. Dallas got the goal back in the third period with Brenden Morrow netting his 32nd of the season, courtesy of Steve Ott and Ribeiro. Yip made it 3-2 for the Avalanche, with his second of the game and 12th of the year made possible by Jay McClement and Holos. This was the final, with Ribeiro, Morrow, and Yip taking the three stars.

Into the desert, where the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Ilya Bryzgalov took care of the goals. Andrew Ebbett used his second of the season to put Phoenix on the board, with help from Kyle Turris. San Jose replied with Ian White sinking his third of the year, courtesy of Niclas Wallin and Torrey Mitchell. The Coyotes took the lead back with Ray Whitney potting his 17th of the campaign, helped in by Shane Doan and Eric Belanger. Radim Vrbata also tallied for Phoenix with his 19th of the season, with Belanger gathering the assist. The Coyotes extended the lead in the third period on the power play from Doan, whose 20th of the year was powered by Vrbata and Lauri Korpikoski. Joe Thornton got the Sharks a little closer with his 21st of the season, assisted by Logan Couture and Douglas Murray. San Jose made it 4-3 with a Dany Heatley goal, his 26th of the year, made possible by Patrick Marleau and Jason Demers. This would be the final, and the three stars went to Doan, Vrbata, and Michal Rozsival.

Finishing up in Anaheim, the Ducks hosted their northerly neighbors, the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Dan Ellis had the puckblocking duties. Los Angeles opened with a Ryan Smyth goal, his 22nd of the season, helped in by Dustin Brown and Jarret Stoll. Anaheim had the next two goals, in the second and third periods, come off Teemu Selanne's tape, his 30th and 31st of the year. Luca Sbisa and Jason Blake fueled the first one, while Saku Koivu and Blake did the honors on the decisive tally. The three stars were Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, and Toni Lydman.

As for baseball, seeing as it wasn't an earth-shattering day, I will post a link here, and hopefully have more time in the near future to actually cover the games. Here's the scores.