Saturday, November 26, 2011

NHL Day 52 2011-2012

There were eleven games on yesterday, beginning over in the Tri-State area, with the New Jersey Devils hosting the New York Islanders. Al Montoya and Martin Brodeur were playing goal. New York was first to sore with a Matt Moulson goal, his seventh of the season, assisted by P.A. Parenteau and Milan Jurcina. New Jersey tied it in the second period with an Adam Larsson goal, his second of the year, made possible by Ilya Kovalchuk and Adam Henrique. The Islanders took the lead back on a Josh Bailey goal, his second of the campaign, and the lone assist was provided by Brian Rolston. The Devils tied it again in the third period with Henrique potting his fifth of the season, courtesy of Zach Parise and Kovalchuk. New York made it 3-2 with a shorthanded and unassisted Michael Grabner goal, his seventh of the year, and the eventual game winner. The score was a final, and Grabner, Montoya (24 for 26 in saves), and Brodeur (23 for 26 in saves) got the three stars, while honorable mentions go to Henrique and Kovalchuk.

Staying in the same area, the New York Rangers went at it with the Philadelphia Flyers in the Big Apple at Madison Square Garden. Sergei Bobrovsky and Henrik Lundqvist see time between the pipes. New York busted it open in the second period with the eighth of the season by Brad Richards, assisted by Dan Girardi and Michael Del Zotto on the power play. The Rangers made it 2-0 with Carl Hagelin's goal, with help from Ryan McDonagh and John Mitchell. This was a final, and the three stars were Lundqvist (29 save shutout), Richards, and Brandon "two-fights" Prust, while Hagelin earns honorable mention.

Over to Boston, where the Bruins host the Winnipeg Jets. Ondrej Pavelec was in the blue paint, along with Tim Thomas. Winnipeg was first to score with an Evander Kane goal, his tenth of the season, made possible by Dustin Byfuglien and Blake Wheeler. The Jets extended the lead on a Byfuglien goal in rapid succession of the previous, his fifth of the year, coming off of Jim Slater and Jason Jaffray. Boston got on the board with a power play goal by Zdeno Chara, his fourth of the season, thanks to David Krejci and Dennis Seidenberg. The Bruins took the lead with a pair of second period Chris Kelly goals, his eighth and ninth of the campaign, and the first was shorthanded. In this spree, Rich Peverley tallied two assists while Benoit Pouliot had the other recorded helper. Boston put it away in the third period with an unassisted empty net goal by Brad Marchand, his eighth of the year. The final was 4-2 and the three stars were Kelly, Thomas (40 for 42 in saves), and Peverley, while Byfuglien gets an honorable mention.

Out west, the Colorado Avalanche host the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Semyon Varlamov made the starts. Edmonton drew first blood with a Ladislav Smid goal, with help from Sam Gagner and Ryan Jones. Colorado answered with the third of the season for Jay McClement, assisted by Chuck Kobasew and Matt Duchene. The Oilers took the lead back in the second period on a Jones goal, his sixth of the year, fueled by Eric Belanger and Gagner. The Avalanche retied it on a Shane O'Brien power play goal, powered by Ryan O'Reilly and Milan Hejduk. Colorado grabbed the lead with Stefan Elliott scoring, and O'Reilly had the lone assist. The Avalanche extended the lead on a Jan Hejda goal, his second of the season, made possible by Kobasew and David Jones. Paul Stastny iced it for Colorado, making it 5-2 with an empty net goal off of Hejduk, his seventh of the year. The three stars went to Elliott, O'Brien, and O'Reilly, while the honorable mentions include Ryan Jones, Gagner, Hejduk, and Kobasew.

Back down to Florida for the second game in a row in the Battle of Florida, this time in Tampa Bay. The Florida Panthers roll out Jacob Markstrom against Tampa Bay's Mathieu Garon. Tampa Bay struck first with Martin St. Louis potting his sixth of the season, thanks to Bretts Connolly and Clark. The Lightning kept it going in the second period with a Tom Pyatt goal, assisted by Marc-Andre Bergeron. Tampa Bay was relentless with the thirteenth of the campaign by Steven Stamkos, set up by Teddy Purcell and Dana Tyrell. The Lightning continued the assault with Ryan Malone sinking his fifth of the year, with the help of Stamkos. Florida got on the board late in the third period when Shawn Matthias stuck his third of the season in the cage, guided in by Jack Skille. Tampa Bay wrapped it up 5-1 with Stamkos notching his second of the game and fourteenth of the year, an unassisted goal. The three stars were Stamkos, Nate Thompson, and St. Louis. Honorable mention to Garon (24 for 25 in saves).

Up to Montreal, with the Canadiens hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury put on the mask, as did Carey Price. Pittsburgh struck early with Evgeni Malkin netting his eighth of the season, with assists provided by Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby. Montreal answered with the eighth of the year by Travis Moen, going down without help. The Canadiens took the lead with a Max Pacioretty goal, his tenth of the season, courtesy of David Desharnais and Erik Cole. Montreal extended the lead in the second period with Cole notching his seventh of the year, thanks to Pacioretty and P.K. Subban. The Penguins started a comeback attempt with Pascal Dupuis registering his sixth of the campaign, made possible by Paul Martin and Matt Cooke. Jordan Staal tied it in the third period for Pittsburgh with his twelfth of the season, guided in by Malkin. The tie lasted into overtime, where the stick-shredding, crooked-nosed Kris Letang scored the winner, his third of the year, via James Neal and Deryk Engelland. Letang, Cole, and Price (38 for 42 in saves) got the three stars, while Malkin and Pacioretty had the honorable mention performances.

Crossing back stateside, with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Washington Capitals. Tomas Vokoun and Jhonas Enroth guard the cages. Buffalo was first to score with a Luke Adam goal, his seventh of the season, courtesy of Paul Szczechura. The Sabres extended the lead on a Jason Pominville goal, his ninth of the year, via Thomas Vanek and Christian Ehrhoff. Washington got on the board with a penalty shot conversion by Jason Chimera in the second period, his ninth of the season. Buffalo got back on track with Zack Kassian scoring thanks to Andrej Sekera and Derek Roy. The Sabres added on again in the third period with Adam striking again, his second of the game and the eighth of the year for him, made possible by Szczechura and Ville Leino. Buffalo wrapped it 5-1 when Jochen Hecht scored shorthanded with the help of Nathan Gerbe amd Ehrhoff. Adam, Szczechura, and Ehrhoff received the three stars.

Westward to Detroit, where the Red Wings played host to the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Jimmy Howard were sent out to stop the puck. Detroit opened the game up with Valtteri Filppula sinking his sixth of the season on the power play, powered by Todd Bertuzzi and Henrik Zetterberg. Zetterberg kept the Red Wings going in the second period with his fifth of the year, thanks to Jiri Hudler and Filppula. Detroit extended the lead again with Filppula's second of the game and seventh of the season, coming off of Hudler and Jakub Kindl. The Red Wings were relentless in the third period with Danny Cleary potting his fourth of the year, via Darren Helm. Nashville cut it to 4-1, the eventual final, on Jack Hillen's goal, made possible by Colin Wilson and Martin Erat. Filppula, Zetterberg, and Brad Stuart earned the three stars, while Howard (18 for 19 in saves) and Hudler get honorable mention.

Into the desert, where the Phoenix Coyotes host the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen started off against Mike Smith, but suffered an early groin injury and was replaced by Andrew Raycroft. Phoenix got going against the Rayzor with Mikkel Boedker sinking his fourth of the season, thanks to Keith Yandle and Daymond Langkow. The Coyotes added on in the second period with a Ray Whitney goal, his seventh of the campaign, assisted by Radim Vrbata and Yandle. Phoenix finished it at 3-0 with a Taylor Pyatt goal, his third of the year, with helpers provided by Langkow and Lauri Korpikoski. The three stars were awarded to Smith (26 save shutout), Langkow, and Yandle.

Up to Northern California, with the San Jose Sharks hosting the Vancouver Canucks. Cory Schneider again got the start, going up against Antti Niemi. Vancouver dented the scoreboard first with Manny Malhotra scoring his second of the season, thanks to Jannik Hansen and Keith Ballard. San Jose answered with an Andrew Murray goal, set up by Andrew Desjardins and Jim Vandermeer. The Canucks took the lead again in the second period with Henrik Sedin notching his eight of the year, a power play goal powered by Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa. Vancouver added an insurance goal by Andrew Alberts, with helpers from Ryan Kesler and Chris Higgins. The Sharks attempted a late comeback, but could not complete it and fell 3-2, after a Patrick Marleau goal, his tenth of the campaign, guided in by Joes Thornton and Pavelski. The three stars would go to Schneider (43 for 45 in saves), Pavelski, and Marleau.

Down to Southern California, where we end with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Jonathan Quick took their places in front of the twines. Chicago led off with an Andrew Brunette goal, his fifth of the season, assisted by Marcus Kruger and Duncan Keith. Los Angeles answered on a Jarret Stoll goal, his second of the year going in unassisted. The Blackhawks made it 2-1 in the second period with a Jonathan Toews goal, made possible by Viktor Stalberg and Keith, his thirteenth of the campaign. After this goal, the scoring stopped, and this was a final. The three stars were Keith, Toews, and Stoll.

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