Six games coming one every half an hour from 4:30 to 7:00 Pacific tonight. We begin in...
Buffalo, where the Sabres host the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Jhonas Enroth are the starting goaltenders. Detroit opened with Jakub Kindl scoring, assisted by Tomas Holmstrom and Justin Abdelkader. The Red Wings added on with a Johan Franzen goal, his eleventh of the season, a power play goal powered by Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk. Detroit extended the lead with a Valtteri Filppula goal, his eighth of the year, guided in by Henrik Zetterberg. Buffalo got on the board in the third period with Jochen Hecht recording his third of the season, via Jason Pominville and Ville Leino. The Red Wings wrapped it up 4-1 with Datsyuk scoring his eighth of the year into an empty net with no assistance. The three stars were Franzen, Howard (27 for 28 in saves), and Filppula, while Datsyuk earns honorable mention.
Across the way, the Minnesota Wild host the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Niklas Backstrom will make the starts. New Jersey opened with a Zach Parise goal, his seventh of the season, made possible by Andy Greene and Adam Henrique. Minnesota quickly replied with the seventh of the year for Dany Heatley, coming off of Jared Spurgeon and the goalie Backstrom. The Wild took the lead with an unassisted Kyle Brodziak goal, his seventh of the season. Casey Wellman chased Brodeur away with a goal, coming first from Matt Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Johan Hedberg took over in the Devils net. The Devils got one back as Ilya Kovalchuk deposited his sixth of the year, and Parise had the lone assist. Josh Harding played goal for the Wild in the second period onward. The Wild gained separation in the third period with Brodziak's second of the game and eighth of the campaign, and Nick Johnson and Marco Scandella helped to make it happen. The final was 4-2, and Brodziak, Harding (22 for 22 relieving Backstrom in saves), and Wellman earned the three stars.
Down to Chicago, where the Blackhawks host the New York Islanders. Al Montoya and Corey Crawford earned the starting nods. New York was first to score with the third of the season by Kyle Okposo, a power play goal powered by Travis Hamonic and Milan Jurcina. Chicago tied it on an Andrew Brunette goal, his sixth of the year, coming about thanks to Sean O'Donnell and Dan Carcillo. The Islanders retook the lead with the ninth of the season by Matt Moulson, helped along by P.A. Parenteau and John Tavares. The Blackhawks tied it in the second period on a Ben Smith goal, pushed through by Patrick Kane and Michael Frolik. Chicago took the lead with Jonathan Toews registering his fourteenth of the year, a shorthanded goal passed through Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith. New York retied it in the third period on Parenteau's power play goal, putting his fourth of the season between the pipes with the help of Moulson and Tavares. The Blackhawks regained the lead on a Patrick Sharp power play goal, his twelfth of the year, guided in by Kane and Toews. The Islanders tied it up again with a Nino Niederreiter goal, via Matt Martin and Marty Reasoner. The game lasted to a shootout, where Chicago took it 5-4 on a lone tally from Toews. This earned him the top star, alongside Moulson and Sharp, while Kane, Tavares, and Parenteau take the honorable mentions.
Westward again, this time stopping in Denver, as the Colorado Avalanche host the St. Louis Blues. Guarding the cages are Jaroslav Halak and Semyon Varlamov. St. Louis led off with a Kevin Shattenkirk power play goal, his third of the season, set up by Jason Arnott and Alex Steen. Colorado tied it with Milan Hejduk notching his ninth of the year, thanks to Ryan O'Reilly and Ryan Wilson. Patrik Berglund took the lead back for the Blues in the second period with his fifth of the season, assisted by Chris Stewart and Ian Cole. The Avalnche tied it in the third period on an O'Reilly goal, his fourth of the year, fueled by Ryan O'Bynre and Jan Hejda. The game went into the shootout, where Colorado beat St. Louis on a tally by none other than O'Reilly. The three stars were awarded to O'Reilly, Varlamov (35 for 37 in saves), and Shattenkirk.
North into Alberta, where the Edmonton Oilers play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Curtis Sanford and Devan Dubnyk put on the goalie masks. Edmonton got the game started with a power play goal by Jordan Eberle, his tenth of the season, made possible by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Tom Gilbert. Columbus tied it on the fourth of the year for Mark Letestu, also a power play goal, guided in by Rick Nash and James Wisniewski. The Blue Jackets got the lead in the second period with the fourth of the season by Derek Dorsett, a shorthanded and unassisted goal. The Oilers tied it in the third period on a Ryan Jones goal, his seventh of the year, with Ryan Smyth and Ryan Whitney getting credited with the helpers. Edmonton took the lead on a Ladislav Smid goal, his second of the season, via Gilbert and Smyth. The Oilers surged onward with Jones' second goal of the game and eighth of the year, assisted by Eric Belanger and Magnus Paajarvi. Dorsett got Columbus back within striking distance with his second of the game and fifth of the season, coming off of Marc Methot and Derek MacKenzie. Edmonton made it 5-3 with Ales Hemsky scoring his third of the year, thanks to Shawn Horcoff and Sam Gagner. Jones added on with an empty net goal to make it 6-3, giving him a hat trick, with assists provided by Horcoff and Hemsky. This was a final, and the three stars were Jones, Smyth, and Dorsett, while Hemsky, Horcoff, and Gilbert earn the honorable mentions.
Finally, the Anaheim Ducks host the Philadelphia Flyers. Ilya Bryzgalov hopes to get one of his old teams med, while Jonas Hiller opposes him in goal. Anaheim struck first with a power play goal by Andrew Cogliano, his sixth of the season, powered by Devante Smith-Pelly and Saku Koivu. Teemu Selanne extended the lead for the Ducks with his ninth of the year, assisted by Koivu and Matt Beleskey. Anaheim added on again in the second period with Andrew Gordon scoring, helped along by Ben Maxwell and Maxime Macenauer. Philadelphia got on the board when Jaromir Jagr netted his seventh of the season, a power play goal made possible by Kimmo Timonen and Claude Giroux. The Flyers pulled closer with a third period goal from Jagr, another power play goal, his eighth of the year, set up by Timonen and Danny Briere. Philadelphia tied it up with Scott Hartnell notching his tenth of the season, and it was from Timonen, who gets a sock trick and Jagr. The Flyers completed the unlikely comeback with an overtime goal from Giroux, his fourteenth of the year, on the power play from Briere and Hartnell. The three stars were Giroux, Koivu, and Jagr, while Briere, Hartnell, and Timonen get the honorable mentions.
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