NHL Day 68 2011-2012

There was just one game on tonight, as the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the New Jersey Devils. Johan Hedberg and Dwayne Roloson got the starting nods, but Mathieu Garon was called on for relief of Roloson in the early second period. New Jersey led off with Petr Sykora recording his sixth of the season, courtesy of Bryce Salvador and Patrik Elias. The Devils added on when the ninth of the year by Dainius Zubrus went down, a power play goal set up by Matt Taormina and Adam Henrique. Tampa Bay got on the board when Steve Downie deposited his fourth of the season, thanks to Matt Gilroy and Steven Stamkos. The Lightning tied it when Blair Jones scored, assisted by Dana Tyrell and Gilroy. New Jersey took the lead again in the second period when Zach Parise potted his ninth of the year, coming off of Henrique and Henrik Tallinder. Ilya Kovalchuk extended the Devils lead with his ninth of the season, made possible by Parise. Henrique kept New Jersey going with his seventh of the year, a shorthanded goal with helpers provided by Parise and Mark Fayne. Tampa Bay pulled closer with two third period Stamkos goals, his seventeenth and eighteenth of the campaign, and assists on the power play goal went to Dominic Moore and Vincent Lecavalier, while the even strength goal came from Pavel Kubina and Lecavalier again. This made it 5-4, and was finalized when the Lightning failed to get the equalizer. The three stars were Parise, Henrique, and Stamkos, while Gilroy and Lecavalier earn honorable mentions.