Saturday Hockey, partially live

Once again, we have partial live coverage of hockey. Tomorrow will also bring a football post dealing with the divisional weekend, recapped whenever I can get around to it. Sandwiches will also be covered, just as a heads-up. As for today, we start with a matinee in...

Boston, where the Bruins hosted the Penguins. In goal were Marc-Andre Fleury and Tuukka Rask. Pittsburgh got on the board first with a Chris Kunitz goal, his 15th of the season a product of Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke. Pascal Dupuis made it 2-0 Penguins early in the second period with his ninth of the year, assisted by Zbynek Michalek and Evgeni Malkin. Dennis Seidenberg got Boston on the board with his third of the season, thanks to Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell. The Bruins tied it only thirteen seconds later with Michael Ryder notching his 13th of the year, made possible by Marc Savard and Seidenberg. Staal scored his second of the season in the third period for Pittsburgh, giving them a 3-2 lead with help from Cooke and Tyler Kennedy, and this score would stand to defeat Boston. Staal, Ryder, and Seidenberg earned the three stars.

Heading out west to the Motor City, with the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Joey MacDonald are guarding the cages. Thirty-three seconds into the game, Derick Brassard scored to give Columbus an early lead, with Rick Nash assisting on his tenth. The Blue Jackets made it 2-0 with the second of the season by Grant Clitsome, with Jakub Voracek and Nash picking up the helpers. Valtteri Filppula got Detroit on the board with his eleventh of the season, thanks to Todd Bertuzzi and Jiri Hudler. Drew Miller tied it for the Red Wings with his third of the year, helped along by Darren Helm and Kris Draper. Columbus took the lead back in the second period on a Matt Calvert goal, his second of the year coming from Voracek and Jan Hejda. Detroit tied it again with the third of the season by Jonathan Ericsson, made possible by Helm. Brian Rafalski gave the Red Wings a 4-3 lead with his fourth of the campaign, assisted by Miller and Ericsson. The Blue Jackets tied it again in the third period with the 15th of the year by R.J. Umberger, thanks to Fedor Tyutin and Brassard on the power play. Draper gave Detroit the lead back with his fourth of the season, with Miller and Nicklas Lidstrom picking up the assists. Columbus would not go away however, and Nash tied it with his 21st of the year, with help from Clitsome and Antoine Vermette. The Red Wings put the game out of reach once and for all in overtime, winning 6-5 on Johan Franzen's 19th of the year forty-five seconds into the extra frame, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall. Earning the three stars were Draper, Nash, and Ericsson.

Next up, the Florida Panthers hosted the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Scott Clemmensen picked up the starting honors. New Jersey drew the first blood with Nick Palmieri netting his second of the year with help from Travis Zajac and Anssi Salmela. Florida answered back with an Evgeny Dadonov goal, his fourth of the year getting help from Stephen Weiss and Dennis Wideman on the power play. Wideman gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead in the second period with his own power play goal, his fifth of the season getting a boost from Mike Santorelli and Dmitry Kulikov. David Clarkson tied it in the third period for the Devils with his eighth of the year, with help coming from Tim Sestito. The 2-2 tie lasted until it was broken in overtime by Florida's Kulikov, who notched his fourth of the season with help from Weiss and Cory Stillman to win the game 3-2. Kulikov, Wideman, and Dadonov earned the three stars.

Into Canada, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting cross-country rivals in the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Jean-Sebastien Giguere got the starts, with Kiprusoff coming out of the doghouse and Giguere returning from injury. The game was quiet until Calgary scored in the third period with Matt Stajan nailing his third of the season, thanks to Niklas Hagman and Curtis Glencross. With only thirteen seconds in regulation, sweet victory was stolen from Calgary as Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski notched his 18th of the season, with help from Clarke MacArthur and Nikolai Kulemin on the power play. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Tyler Bozak and Alex Tanguay exchanged barbs, followed by another washing out pair by Colby Armstrong and Ales Kotalik, and then Calgary got the decisive goal off the stick of Olli Jokinen, the first star, with the other two being Grabovski and Stajan.

Moving over a province, with the Montreal Canadiens hosting the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Carey Price guarded the nets. New York got out to the early lead with Brian Boyle scoring his 15th of the season with help from Brandon Prust and Dan Girardi. Roman Hamrlik tied it for Montreal with his fourth of the year, a power play goal helped along by James Wisniewski and Michael Cammalleri. Tomas Plekanec made it 2-1 for the Canadiens with his 14th of the season, a power play goal as well, with helpers credited to P.K. Subban and Wisniewski. Andrei Kostitsyn extended the Montreal lead further with his eleventh of the year, assisted by Jeff Halpern. The Rangers waited until the third period to score again, cutting the lead down with Mats Zuccarello and his second of the year, with help from Derek Stepan and Girardi. Montreal managed to hold on and defeat New York 3-2, with Wisniewski, losing goalie Lundqvist (38 for 41 stops), and Kostitsyn (the Montreal version, of course) getting the three stars.

Speaking of New York, the Islanders hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Rick DiPietro were blocking the pucks, with the latter returning from yet another injury. The first period was quiet, but Thomas Vanek and Buffalo opened the scoring up in the second period just seventeen seconds in, with his 17th of the year, a power play goal with help from Tyler Ennis and Jason Pominville. John Tavares turned the game around for New York by going natural for a hat trick in a 5:46 span, being his 16-18th goals of the year. Matt Moulson picked up a sock trick in the process, P.A. Parenteau had two assists himself, and Andrew MacDonald earned one assist of his own. The middle goal came on the power play. Tavares surrendered full offensive rights for the Islanders when Blake Comeau notched his 13th of the season, thanks to Josh Bailey and Bruno Gervais. Ennis tried to rally the stunned Sabres troops with his tenth of the year, a power play goal made possible by Jordan Leopold and Pominville. New York made it 5-2 on a shorthanded goal by Michael Grabner, his tenth of the season, with assists credited to Matt Martin and Milan Jurcina. Buffalo gave one last gasp of breath with a goal by Jochen Hecht, his seventh of the year getting help from Pominville, who capped off a sock trick, and Vanek. The 5-3 final favored the Islanders over the Sabres, with Tavares, Parenteau, and MacDonald getting the three stars.

Going down the coast a bit to Carolina, with the Hurricanes hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the creases we had Dwayne Roloson and Cam Ward. Tampa Bay took an early lead on the 33rd of the season by Steven Stamkos, with assists provided by Steve Downie and Pavel Kubina. Chad LaRose tied the game for Carolina with his eighth of the season, helped along by Joe Corvo and Erik Cole on the power play. Jeff Skinner gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with his 16th of the year, thanks to Tuomo Ruutu and Ian White. Vincent Lecavalier tied the game back up for the Lightning with his eighth of the year, with helpers accredited to Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone. Tampa Bay took the lead back in the second period on a Simon Gagne goal, his fifth of the season made possible by Stamkos and Victor Hedman. Carolina would have none of it, tying the game on a power play goal by Jamie McBain, his second tally of the year getting helping from Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal. Jokinen gave the lead back to the Hurricanes with his own power play goal, good for his ninth of the season, with Sergei Samsonov and Skinner getting the helpers. Eric Staal scored his 22nd of the year to make it 5-3 on a shorthanded play, getting help from Cole. Gagne added his second of the night and sixth of the year to make it 5-4, with the goal going unassisted. Carolina, however, wasn't going to lose, and Jokinen's tenth of the year solidfied this fact, his second of the game making it 6-4 with Cole picking up his third assist to clinch the sock trick. Staal, Cole, and Jokinen picked up the honors as three stars.

Out to Texas, with the Dallas Stars hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Chris Mason and Kari Lethonen picked up the starting honors, but Mason faced only three shots before exiting the game, with Ondrej Pavelec covering for him. Trevor Daley opened the scoring for Dallas with his fourth of the season, helped along by Jamie Benn and Brad Richards on the power play. Atlanta answered in the second period with Andrew Ladd nailing his 16th of the year home with Tobias Enstrom and Nik Antropov picking up helpers. Adam Burish made it 2-1 Stars with his fifth of the season, assisted by Stephane Robidas and Nicklas Grossman. Daley extended the Dallas lead farther with his second of the night and fifth of the year, another power play goal, with help coming from Mike Ribeiro and the goalie Kari Lethonen. James Neal made it 5-1 Stars with his 17th and 18th of the campaign, thanks to Loui Eriksson and Richards the first time and Robidas and Benn the on the latter power play goal. Jeff Woywitka added on his first of the season for good measure, making it 6-1 Dallas on the power play goal that was helped by Brenden Morrow and Ribeiro. Daley, Lehtonen (29 for 30 saves + assist), and Neal earned the three stars.

In a Pacific division matchup, the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Ilya Bryzgalov were in between the pipes. Phoenix struck first with Ray Whitney scoring his ninth of the year with the help of Radim Vrbata. Matt Beleskey added his third of the year to tie the game for Anaheim, with assists given to Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry. Adrian Aucoin gave the Coyotes a lead early in the second period with his second of the year, made possible by Lee Stempniak and Vernon Fiddler. Taylor Pyatt made it 3-1 for Phoenix with his 12th of the season, assisted by Keith Yandle and Stempniak. Sami Lepisto extended the lead to 4-1 Coyotes with his fourth of the year, thanks to Whitney and Martin Hanzal, chasing Jonas Hiller out of the Anaheim net at the end of the second period, with Curtis McElhinney playing the final frame. Whitney added his second of the night and tenth of the season for Phoenix in the third period, getting help along the way from Vrbata and Lepisto. The Ducks gave a whimper of life with a Perry power play goal, his 23rd of the year getting help from Lubomir Visnowsky and Jason Blake. Stempniak put Anaheim out of their misery and made it 6-2 Coyotes, the eventual final, with his tenth of the season, helped along by Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Lauri Korpikoski. Whitney, Lepisto, and Vrbata earned the three stars.

Backing up a bit with the Nashville Predators hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Pekka Rinne were given the starting nods. Tomas Kopecky got Chicago on the board first with his eighth of the year, a power play goal from Dave Bolland and Brian Campbell. Viktor Stalberg extended the Blackhawks lead in the second period with his seventh of the year, from Jake Dowell and Jack Skille. Jerred Smithson put Nashville on the board in the third period with his fifth of the season, thanks to Nick Spaling and Joel Ward. Shea Weber tied it for the Predators with his eighth of the season, helped along by Ryan Suter and Ward. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Nashville took Chicago down by a final of 3-2 on a Marcel Goc tally. The three stars were handed out to Smithson, Weber, and Kopecky.

Hitting the west coast in Los Angeles, with the Kings hosting the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Jonathan Bernier get the starts tonight. Edmonton strikes first with Dustin Penner scoring his 14th of the year off of Ales Hemsky and Taylor Hall. Marco Sturm evens the score at 1 for Los Angeles with his fourth of the year, assisted by Drew Doughty and Wayne Simmonds. The Kings take a 2-1 lead on the 16th of the year by Anze Kopitar, thanks to Justin Williams. The Oilers, however, tie the game on Andrew Cogliano's sixth of the season, made possible by Ryan Jones and Liam Reddox. Jarret Stoll got Los Angeles a 3-2 lead with his 12th of the season, helped along by Dustin Brown and Sturm. The Kings extended the lead to 4-2 in the third period with a goal by Doughty, his third of the year, an unassisted goal. Stoll helped Los Angeles finish off the Oilers with his second of the night and 13th of the season, with Brown and Rob Scuderi picking up the helpers on the final tally of the game. Doughty, Stoll, and Hall earned the three stars.

To the Bay Area, with the San Jose Sharks hosting the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Antti Niemi are guarding the cages. B.J. Crombeen puts St. Louis on the board first with his fifth of the season, assisted by Brad Winchester and Roman Polak. Dany Heatley ties the game for San Jose with his 16th of the year, a power play goal from Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Erik Johnson tied the game for the Blues with his fourth of the season, assisted by Patrik Berglund. San Jose took a 3-2 lead in the third period on Heatley's second of the night and 17th of the year, with help provided by Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Jason Demers. Jamie McGinn finished the Blues off with his first of the season, with the lone assist coming from Scott Nichol to present us with the final score of 4-2 Sharks over Blues. Heatley, Nichol, and McGinn earned the three stars.

That's all for Saturday's hockey games. Sunday has 5 games of hockey and 2 games of football. Football will also be covered from Saturday at the conclusion and publishing of this post.

Friday NHL coverage

There were six games on in the NHL on Friday, which I have slacked on again. Here goes, starting in...

D.C., where the Washington Capitals host the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo, proud father and Semyon Varlamov made the starts. Matt Hendricks put Washington on the board first with his fifth of the season, assisted by Boyd Gordon and John Carlson. Alexander Edler tied the game for Vancouver with his own fifth of the year, thanks to Jannik Hansen and Christian Ehrhoff. Ehrhoff gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead with his seventh of the season, a power play goal from Ryan Kesler and Edler. Daniel Sedin extended the lead for Vancouver to 3-1 with his 26th of the year, from Hansen only. Marcus Johansson cut the deficit down for the Capitals with his sixth of the year, from Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich. Daniel Sedin iced the game off with his second of the night and 27th of the year, courtesy of Alexandre Burrows and Kevin Bieksa on the empty net goal. Ehrhoff, Edler, and Backstrom got the three stars in the 4-2 Canucks victory.

Next up and a bit west, the Columbus Blue Jackets hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Steve Mason got the goaltending duties. Columbus struck first on a Jakub Voracek goal, his ninth of the season coming from Rick Nash and Derick Brassard. Grant Clitsome made it 2-0 for the Blue Jackets with his first of the year, thanks to Fedor Tyutin and Kristian Huselius on the power play. Jimmy Howard left at some point after the second goal due to injury, being replaced by Joey MacDonald. Drew Miller got Detroit going in the second period with a shorthanded goal, his second tally of the season, made possible by Justin Abdelkader. Jiri Hudler tied the game at 2 for the Red Wings with his fourth of the year, assisted on by Valtteri Filppula. The tie lasted through the third period and overtime into a shootout, where Columbus got the victory because of Antoine Vermette. The three stars went to Steve Mason (26 for 28 saves), Vermette, and Clitsome.

Following that, the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Dwayne Roloson picked up starting duties. Tampa Bay drew first blood, with Steven Stamkos putting himself in a tie for the league-lead in goals at 32, with help from Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier on the power play. Ilya Kovalchuk tied the game for New Jersey with his eleventh of the season, with helpers coming from Travis Zajac and Andy Greene. Brian Rolston put the Devils up 2-1 with his third of the year, thanks to Dainius Zubrus. Patrik Elias extended the lead again with his tenth of the season, from Greene and Rolston. Zajac made it 4-1 for New Jersey with a shorthanded goal going down as his seventh of the year, assisted by Colin White, and simultaneously scaring off Dwayne Roloson in favor of Dan Ellis. The Lightning answered in the second period with a St. Louis goal, his 19th of the campaign made possible by Stamkos and Victor Hedman. Kovalchuk put the game pretty much out of reach in the third period with his second of the night and 12th of the year, helped along by no one at all. The final favored the Devils 5-2, with Zajac, Kovalchuk, and Greene getting the three stars.

Into Georgia, where the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Ondrej Pavelec were in front of the cages. The first period went scoreless, but Atlanta struck first in the second period, on Andrew Ladd's 15th of the season, helped by Niclas Bergfors. Philadelphia answered with the second of the year by Jody Shelley, an unassisted goal. Twenty-one seconds later, the Flyers took the lead 2-1 with a Kimmo Timmonen goal, his second of the season, with help from Claude Giroux. With three seconds left in the period, Rich Peverley tied the game for the Thrashers, his 12th of the year coming off of Bergfors and Tobias Enstrom's sticks on the power play. Danny Briere gave Philadelphia the lead back in the third period with his 24th of the season, from Ville Leino and Scott Hartnell. The Flyers made it 4-2 on the 17th of the campaign by Giroux, with helpers credited to Matt Carle and Jeff Carter. Carter made it 5-2 for Philadelphia, putting his 18th in the empty net all alone and dispatching the Atlanta Thrashers. Briere, Bergfors, and Giroux got the three stars.

Heading north, with the Ottawa Senators hosting the Calgary Flames in the Scotiabank special, as both teams' arenas are sponsored by the Canadian bank. Henrik Karlsson and Brian Elliott were in between the pipes. The first period went scoreless, but Calgary found a way to ride David Moss to a 2-0 lead, as he scored his seventh and eighth of the year, thanks to Rene Bourque and Anton Babchuk the first time, and Tim Jackman and Babchuk again on the latter tally. The Flames took a 3-0 lead with Ales Kotalik scoring his second of the year, a power play goal made possible by Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen. Nick Foligno led a rally for the Senators with his unassisted seventh goal of the season. The Senators cut the score to 3-2 with a Milan Michalek goal, his tenth of the season, with help from Foligno and Erik Karlsson with only fifty-eight seconds left. The time was not enough for Ottawa, who fell 3-2 to Calgary, with the three stars doled out to Moss, Michalek, and Henrik Karlsson (33 for 35 saves).

Lastly, the Minnesota Wild hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Craig Anderson and Anton Khudobin were in the creases. Kevin Porter got on the board for Colorado first with his ninth of the season, assisted by Philippe Dupuis. Milan Hejduk made it 2-0 for the Avalanche with his 14th of the year, helped along by Paul Stastny and Matt Hunwick on the power play. Colorado made it 3-0 in the second period on a Tomas Fleischmann goal, his 12th of the season coming from John-Michael Liles and Ryan O'Byrne. Andrew Brunette put Minnesota on the board with his tenth of the year, thanks to Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen. Ryan Wilson put the Wild out of the game with his empty net goal, good for his third as an unassisted tally, giving the Avalanche a 4-1 win. Anderson (32 for 33 saves), Hejduk, and Brunette got the three stars.

Keep watch at some point for Saturday's hockey, all twelve games of it.

Thursday NHL partially live coverage

Here's the action for today, as I get blessed with another empty evening schedule. We start in...

Boston, for an Eastern Conference Finals rematch with the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Tim Thomas are in net. First action in the game involves Mr.-Two-Feminine-First-Names, Jody Shelley fighting with Shawn Thornton. Philadelphia strikes first in the scoring game with Scott Hartnell registering his 15th of the season with help from Ville Leino and Danny Briere. Zdeno Chara evens the game at 1 for Boston with his seventh of the season, a power play goal from Marc Savard and David Krejci. Patrice Bergeron makes it 2-1 Bruins forty-five seconds into the second period with his 14th of the year, thanks to Steve Kampfer and Mark Recchi. The Flyers even it with Nikolay Zherdev scoring his 14th of the season, assisted by Andreas Nodl. Jeff Carter gives Philadelphia a 3-2 lead with his 17th of the year, with help from James van Riemsdyk and Kimmo Timmonen. Boston ties the game at 3 just thirty-eight seconds into the third period on a Recchi goal, his ninth of the year getting help from Chara. Michael Ryder gives the Bruins a 4-3 lead with his 12th of the season, from Adam McQuaid and Nathan Horton. The Flyers come back and tie the game with Briere getting his 23rd of the year, thanks to Braydon Coburn and Leino. Philadelphia makes it 5-4 on Sean O'Donnell's first of the season, assisted by Mike Richards and Zherdev. Boston ties the game again on a Brad Marchand goal, his ninth of the year getting help from Gregory Campbell and Blake Wheeler. The Bruins take the lead back, 6-5, with a Kampfer goal, his fourth of the year, unassisted. Campbell assured the victory in potting his fifth of the season, an empty net goal made possible by Wheeler and Bergeron. Kampfer, Recchi, and Briere are given the three stars for their performances.

Next on the slate is the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Ryan Miller are out in front of the cages. Cody McCormick of Buffalo and Troy Bodie of Carolina open up the action with a fight. Nathan Gerbe puts Buffalo up first with his second of the season, from Thomas Vanek and Paul Gaustad. Tuomo Ruutu evens it for Carolina in the second period with his 12th of the year, a power play goal from Eric Staal and Joe Corvo. The Sabres retake the lead on McCormick's sixth of the season, assisted by Jordan Leopold and Steve Montador. Buffalo makes it 3-1 in the early third period with Drew Stafford netting his 15th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Vanek and Tim Connolly. Jeff Skinner cuts the deficit down for the Hurricanes with his 15th of the year, a goal assisted by Jamie McBain and Jussi Jokinen. The Sabres hold on to defeat Carolina 3-2, with Vanek, McCormick, and Stafford earning the three stars.

Staying in the same state with the New York Islanders hosting the Ottawa Senators. Robin Lehner makes his first NHL start opposite of Kevin Poulin. Daniel Alfredsson strikes early for Ottawa, notching his 14th of the year, assisted by Mike Fisher. Trevor Gillies ties the game at 1 with his first of the year for New York, assisted by Zenon Konopka. Jesse Winchester scares off Kevin Poulin with his fourth of the season, with help from Chris Neil and Zack Smith. Nathan Lawson comes in to defend the New York net, but only slows the bleeding to postpone the inevitable 3-1 Senators lead to the second period on Milan Michalek's ninth of the year. The goal was shorthanded, and helped along by Chris Kelly and Matt Carkner. The Islanders answer back with Blake Comeau putting away his 12th of the year, courtesy of Travis Hamonic and Andrew MacDonald. Kelly responds, making it 4-2 Ottawa with his ninth of the campaign, assisted on by Michalek. Nick Foligno extends the Senators lead to 5-2 with his sixth of the season, from Corey Locke. Smith makes it 6-2 on his fourth of the year, with helpers coming from Winchester and Brian Lee. New York makes it 6-3 early in the third period as P.A. Parenteau sinks his tenth of the season, from Milan Jurcina and Matt Moulson. Jurcina cuts the deficit to 6-4 for the Islanders with his third of the season, assisted by John Tavares and Michael Grabner. The Islanders fail to mount any further comeback, and lose 6-4 to the Senators, with Winchester, Michalek, and Jurcina earning the three stars.

Crossing the city to bring us to Madison Square Garden, where the New York Rangers host the Vancouver Canucks as they travel along in the Eastern Conference. Cory Schneider and Henrik Lundqvist are tending the twine. The goals are fully protected until New York strikes with its newest weapon, Wojtek Wolski, who sinks his first goal as a Ranger, and his seventh of the year with help from Marian Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky on the power play. This would be the only goal, as the Rangers beat the Canucks 1-0. Lundqvist (31 save shutout), Wolski, and losing goalie Schneider (34 for 35 saves) get the three stars in a defensively sound game.

Heading down south, for the Florida Panthers hosting the Nashville Predators at BankAtlantic Center. Pekka Rinne and Scott Clemmensen are between the pipes. Florida draws first blood on Radek Dvorak scoring his sixth of the season, thanks to Marty Reasoner and Cory Stillman. Nashville answers with Colin Wilson potting his eleventh of the year, with help from David Legwand and Marek Svatos. Legwand puts the Predators up 2-1 after a scoreless second period with his fifth of the season, from Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Rostislav Olesz answers for the Panthers with his third of the season, courtesy of Mike Santorelli and Bryan McCabe. Florida takes the lead 3-2 with a David Booth goal, his 13th of the year coming from Olesz and Mike Weaver. Olesz, Booth, and Legwand got the three stars in the 3-2 Panthers victory.

Out west into the desert for the Phoenix Coyotes hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs as they touch base with the West. In goal will be James Reimer and Ilya Bryzgalov. Radim Vrbata puts Phoenix up first with his ninth of the season, a power play goal made possible by Ray Whitney and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The Coyotes, after a period of scoreless play, extend their lead to 2-0 with Shane Doan scoring his eleventh of the year while on the man advantage, with help from Keith Yandle and Whitney. Taylor Pyatt helps to make it 3-0, notching his eleventh of the season thanks to Yandle and Lauri Korpikoski. Korpikoski keeps the elevens theme going with his own, assisted by Mikkel Boedker and Kyle Turris. Toronto enters the scoring game on a Colby Armstrong goal, cutting the score down to 4-1 with his sixth of the year, courtesy of Darryl Boyce and Dion Phaneuf. Phoenix answers to make it 5-1 on a Yandle goal, his seventh of the season, assisted by Scottie Upshall before it went into the empty net. Bryzgalov (28 for 29 saves), Korpikoski, and Yandle are the three stars.

Into California with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Jonathan Quick will be in between the pipes. B.J. Crombeen opens the scoring for St. Louis with his fourth of the season, from Alex Pietrangelo and Patrik Berglund. Michal Handzus evens the score for Los Angeles, netting his seventh of the season with help from Alec Martinez and Jack Johnson. Ryan Reaves gives the Blues a 2-1 lead, with assists by Philip McRae and Chris Porter. Alex Steen extends the lead to 3-1 for St. Louis with his 15th of the year, helped along by Brad Boyes and Erik Johnson. The third period was scoreless, and Johnson, Pietrangelo, and Martinez get the three stars.

Staying in the same state, the San Jose Sharks host the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Antero Niittymaki are in front of the cages. Theo Peckham and Ryane Clowe opened the action with a fight. Edmonton strikes first with the fifth of the year by Andrew Cogliano, with the assist going to Liam Reddox. The Oilers extend their lead to 2-0 on a Dustin Penner goal, his 13th of the year, with helpers going to Ales Hemsky and Taylor Hall. Edmonton makes it 3-0 on the 13th of the season for Hall, with help from Hemsky and Tom Gilbert. San Jose gets on the board in the third period with a power play goal by Joe Thornton, with helpers from Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau on his eleventh of the season. The Oilers return the lead to three goals with Spin-o-Rama Linus Omark scoring his second of the year, thanks to sock trick Hemsky and Magnus Paajarvi. Clowe cuts the lead back again for the Sharks with a power play goal, assisted by Thornton and Heatley. Hall finished off the scoring for Edmonton, making it 5-2 with his empty net goal that goes as his 14th of the year, with Hemsky getting the assist for a four-pack. Hemsky, Dubnyk (41 for 43 saves), and Hall get the three stars.

That's all for the hockey world. Friday's games will be covered on Saturday most likely.

Wednesday in the NHL

There were four games on Wednesday as I digressed back into procrastination. We start off with...

The Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Washington Capitals. Semyon Varlamov and Dwayne Roloson were the goalies. Tampa Bay opened the scoring with Dominic Moore potting his eighth of the season, assisted by Nate Thompson and the goalie Dwayne Roloson. The Lightning made it 2-0 on the eighth of the year from Sean Bergenheim, with helpers coming from Victor Hedman and Steve Downie. Simon Gagne made it 3-0 in the late second period with his fourth of the season, assisted by Bergenheim and Vincent Lecavalier. This score would remain unchanged in the third period, giving Tampa Bay a 3-0 win over Washington. Mattias Ohlund (?), Dwayne Roloson (23 save shutout), and Nate Thompson were the designated and controversial three stars.

Heading to Quebec, with the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Carey Price were given the starting nods. Pittsburgh got out to the early lead with Alex Goligoski notching his eighth of the season, with assistance from Chris Kunitz and Mark Letestu. Montreal answered back with the 13th of the year by Tomas Plekanec, made possible by Mathieu Darche and Benoit Pouliot. The Canadiens took the lead on the first of the year by David Desharnais, assisted by P.K. Subban and Tom Pyatt. The Penguins answered back in a rally of four straight power play goals. Tying the game was Tyler Kennedy with his seventh of the year, courtesy of Kris Letang and Jordan Staal. Staal scored his first of the year since returning from injury to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead, and it went down unassisted. Goligoski added his second of the night and ninth of the season, with help from Staal and Letang. Making it 5-2 Pittsburgh, the eventual final score, was Kunitz, who supplied his 14th of the year thanks to Letang, who finished off a sock trick, and Goligoski. Staal, Desharnais, and Letang were the recipients of the three stars.

Heading out west again, with the Chicago Blackhawks hosting the Colorado Avalanche. Peter Budaj and Corey Crawford were sent out as the primary puckstoppers. Chicago got on the board in the first period with Troy Brouwer scoring his eleventh of the season, with assists by Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane. Dave Bolland made it 2-0 Blackhawks with his seventh of the season, assisted by Fernando Pisani and Brent Seabrook. Chicago extended the lead with Pisani's seventh of the year, helped along by Bolland in the second period. Bringing the score to its eventual final in the third period was Jack Skille with his seventh of the campaign, with the lone assist coming from Seabrook. Gaining the three stars status in the 4-0 Chicago victory over Colorado were Crawford (24 save shutout), Bolland, and Pisani.

Lastly, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the St. Louis Blues. Ty Conklin and Jonas Hiller were in the creases. Bobby Ryan opened the scoring for Anaheim with his 19th of the season, assisted by Joffery Lupul and Lubomir Visnovsky on the power play. Jason Blake made it 2-0 for the Ducks with his ninth of the year, thanks to Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne. Ryan added his second of the night and 20th on the year to make it 3-0 Anaheim before the end of the first period, with Corey Perry and Visnovsky picking up the helpers. David Backes cut the deficit down for St. Louis with two goals in a row, his 13th and 14th of the season to make it a 3-2 margin for the Blues, with Vladimir Sobotka picking up both primary assists, and Alex Pietrangelo and Erik Johnson picking up the secondaries in that order. Ryan finished off his hat trick in the third period with his 21st of the season, assisted by Andreas Lilja and Cam Fowler. Perry made it 5-2 for the Ducks with his 22nd of the season, from Matt Beleskey and Ryan. Visnovsky made it 6-2 with his eighth of the year, a power play goal helped along by Fowler and Selanne. Then, there was warfare. Barret Jackman and George Parros started the fighting at 13:47. Three hockey seconds later, B.J. Crombeen and Maxim Lapierre dropped the gloves and threw punches. Fifteen seconds after that, Eric Brewer and Luca Sbisa exchanged some hits. After the carnage, Brandon McMillan added on his fourth of the year for Anaheim, making it 7-2, with assists credited to Andy Sutton and Todd Marchant on the power play goal. St. Louis, now physically and officially beaten up, got back to scoring with Ryan Reaves' first goal of the year, assisted by Matt D'Agostini. Obviously an unacceptable move, as Vladimir Sobotka took a dance with Matt Beleskey afterward. Brad Boyes lessened the pain for the black-and-Blues with his tenth goal of the season, a power play tally coming from D'Agostini and Alex Steen. The final favored the Ducks 7-4, with Ryan, Perry, and Visnovsky earning the three stars for the game.

In last minute hockey news, the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs created a low key trade, with Dallas trading away once-famed prospect Fabian Brunnstrom for the Maple Leafs prospect Mikhail Stefanovich. No huge implications for that trade, but a nugget meant to be known nonetheless. Thursday's hockey will be mostly live-blogged, so keep watch for the post later.

Tuesday NHL coverage (100% live)

Once again, there is hockey on, and with ten games today, my non-procrastinating butt is gonna open these all up as the games are played for that authentic live feeling. There are ten games today, starting with...

The Columbus Blue Jackets hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Mathieu Garon and Ilya Bryzgalov are the masked men. Columbus strikes early in the first period with Jared Boll getting his fourth of the season thanks to Marc Methot. Rostislav Klesla puts the Blue Jackets up 2-0 with his third of the year, from Fedor Tyutin and Rick Nash. Vernon Fiddler puts Phoenix on the board with his fifth of the campaign, thanks to Lauri Korpikoski, shorthanded. Kristian Huselius answered back for Columbus with his ninth of the season, making it 3-1 courtesy of Tyutin on the power play. The Coyotes cut the lead back down with Eric Belanger netting his fifth of the year, assisted by Shane Doan and Keith Yandle. Phoenix ties the game early in the third period with Radim Vrbata scoring his eighth of the season, a power play goal made possible by Ray Whitney and Martin Hanzal. The Coyotes take the lead on a Derek Morris goal, his third of the year coming from Scottie Upshall and Hanzal. Hanzal, Morris, and Klesla get the three stars in the 4-3 Phoenix victory.

Moving along to the Boston Bruins hosting the Ottawa Senators. Brian Elliott and Tim Thomas get the starts. Boston gets first blood with Patrice Bergeron netting his eleventh of the season, unassisted. The Bruins extend their lead to 2-0 with Blake Wheeler netting his tenth of the year, with Tyler Seguin and David Krejci picking up the helpers. Boston makes it 3-0 with Bergeron scoring his second of the night and 12th of the season, another unassisted tally. Extending the lead further is Brad Marchand with his eighth of the season, from Dennis Seidenberg. Seguin adds his seventh of the year to make it 5-0 with helpers going to Krejci and Zdeno Chara, and successfully scaring off Brian Elliott, who was replaced by Mike Brodeur at the end of the second. Bergeron finishes the hat trick in the third period, making it 6-0 for the Bruins with his 13th of the year, thanks to Marchand. Bergeron, Marchand, and Tim Thomas (31 save shutout) are the three stars.

Next up, the New York Rangers host the Montreal Canadiens. Alex Auld and Henrik Lundqvist are in between the pipes. New York takes the early lead with Brandon Dubinsky scoring his 17th of the season, assisted by Matt Gilroy and the goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Montreal answers late in the second period on Jaroslav Spacek's second of the season, assisted by Tomas Plekanec and Yannick Weber. The Canadiens take a 2-1 lead on Benoit Pouliot scoring his ninth of the season, with help from James Wisniewski. Pouliot, Auld (25 for 26 saves), and losing goalie Lundqvist (36 for 38 saves) earn the three stars.

Heading south with the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Cam Ward are the designated starters. Calgary is on the board first with Jay Bouwmeester notching his fourth of the season, helped along by Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen. Carolina evens the score with Tuomo Ruutu notching his eleventh of the year, with help from Chad LaRose and Jeff Skinner. Iginla answers back for the Flames with his 18th of the season, assisted by Alex Tanguay and Jokinen. Jussi Jokinen put the Hurricanes back into a tie at 2 with his seventh of the year, from Brandon Sutter. Erik Cole gave Carolina the lead with his 12th of the season, from Jussi Jokinen and Sergei Samsonov. Eric Staal extends the Hurricane lead to 4-2 with his 21st of the year, courtesy of Ian White and the goalie Cam Ward, scaring away the opposing goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who is replaced by Henrik Karlsson. Jussi Jokinen adds on his second of the night and eighth of the season to make it 5-2, with help from Tim Gleason and Pat Dwyer. Niklas Hagman answers for the Flames with his ninth of the year, unassisted. Curtis Glencross puts Calgary back within a goal with his tenth of the year, thanks to Hagman and Robyn Regehr. The Flames tie the game as Rene Bourque returns to the scoresheet for his 14th of the season, helped along by Brendan Morrison and Tim Jackman. Skinner scores the only goal in the shootout, giving Carolina a 6-5 win. Jussi Jokinen, Iginla, and Skinner are the three stars.

Back to New York for the Islanders hosting the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo and Kevin Poulin get the starting nods. Vancouver is on the board first with Alexandre Burrows putting his ninth of the season away, with help from Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. New York answers in the second period with Jack Hillen netting his first of the year, thanks to Blake Comeau and Milan Jurcina. The Canucks respond with Ryan Kesler notching his 24th of the year, with help from Mikael Samuelsson and Raffi Torres. The Islanders tie the game again with John Tavares on the power play, his 15th of the year coming from Rob Schremp. Comeau gives New York a lead with his eleventh of the season, from Dylan Reese and Schremp, but Vancouver ties it on the sixth of the year by Kevin Bieksa, an unassisted goal. Shremp and Mason Raymond exchange shootout barbs, and Kesler secures the victory for the Canucks in the shootout. Comeau, Kesler, and Schremp earn the three stars.

Staying in the state, with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Ryan Miller are destined to stop the pucks. Paul Gaustad puts Buffalo up first with his fourth of the season, from Cody McCormick and Tyler Myers. McCormick makes it 2-0 for the Sabres with his fifth of the year, assisted on by Nathan Gerbe. Philadelphia answers with Scott Hartnell notching his 13th of the campaign, a power play goal made possible by Kimmo Timmonen and Danny Briere. Briere ties the game with his own goal, the 22nd of the season for him, from Timmonen. The Flyers take a 3-2 lead on Ville Leino scoring his tenth of the season, assisted by Briere. Mike Richards extends the lead to 4-2 Philadelphia with his 14th of the season, an unassisted goal. The Flyers ice the game at 5-2 with the 14th of the season and second of the night by Hartnell, assisted on by Briere into the empty net, giving Danny the coveted sock trick. Briere, McCormick, and Timmonen get the three stars.

Into a Southeast division match between the Washington Capitals and their hosts, the Florida Panthers. Michal Neuvirth and Tomas Vokoun are in the creases. Florida opens the scoring on a power play goal by Mike Santorelli, his 12th of the year a product of Stephen Weiss and Dennis Wideman. Marty Reasoner extends the Panthers lead to 2-0 with his ninth of the season, from Bryan McCabe and Radek Dvorak. David Booth makes it 3-0 for Florida with his 12th of the season, a power play goal from Weiss and Cory Stillman. Washington gets on the board with Marcus Johansson scoring his fourth of the season, assisted by Brooks Laich and Brian Willsie. The Capitals cut the lead back farther as Mike Knuble nets his tenth of the year, thanks to Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Johansson ties the game for Washington with his second of the night and fifth of the year, with help from Matt Hendricks and Mike Green. Dennis Wideman snagged the game for the Panthers, taking the Capitals down 4-3 with his fourth of the year, a power play goal from Weiss, who completes a sock trick, and Stillman. Wideman, Johansson, and Weiss grab the three stars.

Back out west a bit with the Nashville Predators hosting the Minnesota Wild. In goal we have Jose Theodore and Pekka Rinne. David Legwand gives Nashville the early lead with his fourth of the year, thanks to Marek Svatos and Francis Bouillon. Mikko Koivu ties it for Minnesota with his eleventh of the season, courtesy of John Madden. The Predators retake the lead on the fifth of the year by Joel Ward, from Kevin Klein and Marcel Goc. Nick Spaling makes the Nashville lead 3-1, with his third of the season, an unassisted goal. The Predators keep rolling with Spaling getting a second consecutive goal, and his fourth of the year, with help from Shea Weber and Ward, scaring off Jose Theodore in favor of Anton Khudobin. Goc adds on his eighth of the year, an unassisted goal making it 5-1 Nashville. Spaling, Ward, and Rinne (25 for 26 saves) get the three stars in the aforementioned Nashville victory.

Into Texas for the Dallas Stars hosting the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Kari Lethonen are given the netminding duties. Dallas opens the scoring with Brenden Morrow notching his 18th of the season, assisted by Mike Ribeiro and Philip Larsen. The Stars extend their lead to 2-0 with Jamie Benn netting his 12th of the year, from Steve Ott and Adam Burish. Edmonton finally gets on the board with Jean-Francois Jacques scoring his second of the season, thanks to Steve MacIntyre and Ladislav Smid. The Oilers tie it on Ryan Jones tenth of the year, a goal assisted on by Liam Reddox. Dallas takes the lead back on James Neal's goal, his 16th of the season, with help from Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson. Lethonen (39 for 41 saves), Neal, and Jones are the three stars.

Lastly, the San Jose Sharks host the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Antti Niemi are in front of the cages. Patrick Marleau puts San Jose on the board first with his 16th of the year, assisted on by Joe Thornton and Jason Demers. Toronto finally evens the score with Phil Kessel netting his 19th of the year, from Tyler Bozak and Joey Crabb. The Maple Leafs take the lead on Clarke MacArthur's 13th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Tomas Kaberle and Nikolai Kulemin. Marleau ties it for the Sharks with his seocnd of the night and 17th of the season, from Joe Thornton. Toronto takes the lead back on the second of the year by Carl Gunnarsson, with assists from Dion Phaneuf and Colby Armstrong. MacArthur ices it off for the Maple Leafs, making it 4-2 with his second of the night and 14th of the year, an empty net goal from Mikhail Grabovski and Kulemin. Reimer (40 for 42 saves), Marleau, and Kessel get the three stars.

That's all there was tonight. I had a lot of fun doing it live, with all the free time I had.

Monday NHL recap

Tonight, we had four games being played. We start in a game with a storyline, but far from being a revenge game for the...

Boston Bruins, who would potentially be avenging the concussion of their center, Marc Savard, against their hosts, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tuukka Rask and Marc-Andre Fleury played in the creases. After going scoreless in the first period, Michael Rupp opened the scoring with his fourth of the season for Pittsburgh, thanks to Deryk Engelland. The Penguins took it one step farther with Kris Letang netting his seventh of the year with a man advantage, assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Paul Martin. Zdeno Chara got Boston going later in the third period with his sixth of the season, a power play goal from Dennis Seidenberg and Gregory Campbell. Twelve seconds later, the game was tied up by the Bruins with Brad Marchand recording his seventh of the campaign, with help from Patrice Bergeron and Campbell. Boston took a lead on a Mark Recchi goal, his eighth of the year, a power play goal helped along by Michael Ryder and Seidenberg. Forty-two seconds later, Campbell iced the game off with an empty netter for the Bruins, making it 4-2 with the help of Blake Wheeler and Bergeron on his fourth of the year. Recchi, Marchand, and Letang earned the three stars.

Heading west for the St. Louis Blues hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera and Jaroslav Halak were the designated as starters. The first major happening in the game was actually a fight, with Phoenix's Paul Bissonette getting out of the press box to fight Cam Janssen of St. Louis. St. Louis opened the scoring later in the first period with David Backes netting his 12th of the season, assisted by Matt D'Agostini and Alex Steen. Phoenix answered in the second period with Lauri Korpikoski notching his tenth of the year, with help coming from Ed Jovanovski and Adrian Aucoin. Lee Stempniak gave the Coyotes a lead with his ninth of the season, an unassisted goal. D'Agostini answered for the Blues in the third period with his tenth of the year, also unassisted. Twenty seconds later, St. Louis had obtained a 3-2 lead with Brad Winchester notching his eighth of the campaign, with help from Jay McClement and Brad Boyes. Phoenix retied the game again with the seventh of the season by Kyle Turris, with Sami Lepisto and Taylor Pyatt picking up the helpers. Pyatt gave the Coyotes a 4-3 lead later in that period with his tenth of the year, assisted by Turris and Korpikoski, and good enough to secure a win for Phoenix over the Blues. Turris, D'Agostini, and Jovanovski picked up the three stars.

Heading farther west on our travels to Colorado, with the Avalanche hosting bitter rivals from Detroit, the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Peter Budaj got the starts. Paul Stastny put Colorado on the board first with his 16th of the season, assisted by Milan Hejduk and Kevin Porter. The lead was short-lived, with Detroit tying it just fifty-four seconds later on the first of the season by Jan Mursak, with help from Drew Miller and Justin Abdelkader. Matt Duchene put the Avalanche back on top with his 17th of the year, helped along by Tomas Fleischmann. Porter made it 3-1 for the Avalanche with his eighth of the year, with assists coming from David Jones and Brandon Yip. Duchene added another goal for Colorado, his second of the night and 18th of the year, helped along by Fleischmann and Jones. Brian Rafalski put a band-aid on for the Red Wings, cutting the lead back down to 4-2 for Colorado with his third of the season, from Darren Helm. Detroit starter Jimmy Howard was pulled in favor of Joey MacDonald before Jones answered back for the Avalanche in the second period with his 14th of the campaign, assisted by Duchene. Henrik Zetterberg replied back for Detroit with his 16th of the year, a power play goal with assistance from Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom. Holmstrom added his own power play goal in the third period, cutting the lead down to 5-4 with his eleventh of the season, assisted by Zetterberg and Lidstrom. Duchene, Jones, and Zetterberg earned the three stars in the aforementioned final score.

Finally, the western finale, with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Jonathan Quick are the goaltenders. Los Angeles opened the scoring in the first period with Wayne Simmonds potting his ninth of the season, from Rob Scuderi and Jarret Stoll. Toronto answered in the second period with Darryl Boyce netting his second of the season, from Colby Armstrong and Kris Versteeg. Thirty-four seconds later, the Maple Leafs had a lead of 2-1 with Phil Kessel putting away his 18th of the year, thanks to help from Joey Crabb and Tyler Bozak. The Kings tied it with Michal Handzus' sixth of the year, assisted by Alec Martinez and Ryan Smyth. Toronto took the lead back in the third period, with Nikolai Kulemin making it 3-2 with his 16th of the year, assisted by Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur. This would be the final for the game, with Grabovski, Simmonds, and Kessel earning the three stars.

That's all for the games. Little late news bit coming in, as the Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers swapped underwhelming players, with New York offlloading Michal Rozsival and picking up Phoenix's trash that came in the form of Wojtek Wolski (no offense Wojtek).

Fantasy Hockey All-Stars, week 13

This week's numbers for the best players are likely to look a bit skewed, with two teams this week reaching considerably high goal totals. Other than that, the same deal as always, here's whose the best for you this week.

Center: Ryan Kesler, 4 goals, 2 assists, +4, 0 penalty minutes, 2 power play points, 15 shots on goal
Left Wing: Daniel Sedin, 5 goals, 2 assists, +4, 2 penalty minutes, 3 power play points, 17 shots on goal
Right Wing: Patric Hornqvist, 3 goals, 2 assists, +4, 2 penalty minutes, 1 power play point, 13 shots on goal
Defenseman: Alex Goligoski, 1 goal, 4 assists, +3, 2 penalty minutes, 2 power play points, 7 shots on goal
Goaltender: Jonas Hiller, 2 wins, 0.67 goals against average, 84 saves, .977 save percentage, 2 shutouts

And to avoid any hate mail from puckheads globally, the utility special would be Patrick Sharp, who is officially listed as a left wing on NHL.com but has dual position eligibility on Yahoo! Sports, listed as both center and left wing. His line this week was 4 goals, 2 assists, +3, 4 penalty minutes, 3 power play points, and 14 shots on goal. That's all for this week. Catch this segment again next week.

Song of the Week II

This week's edition of Song of the Week stays in the same genre as last week, but switching over to Finger Eleven, whose second track off The Greyest of Blue Skies is on the slate for analysis this week. The song, entitled Drag You Down, has a fairly consistent rhythm and catchy tune as well. It also applies directly to life, as some people occasionally feel like a weight on other people. This song would be a hit in my book, due completely to the consistency and the sound, with the hard hitting qualities a second track can have packed into a small amount of time, as frequently done around the metal genre. Check this feature back here next week, and directly following this post will be a Fantasy Hockey All-Stars.

NHL Sunday same-day recaps

Today in the NHL (look who's back on same-day games for like a whole day) there are five games. As of this post, some games are still in action and others have been completed already. We start in...

Carolina, where the Hurricanes host the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Justin Peters were in goal. Tuomo Ruutu opened the scoring for Carolina with his tenth of the season, assisted by Joe Corvo on the power play. Bryan Little answered for Atlanta, scoring his eleventh of the season, with Nik Antropov and Tobias Enstrom picking up the helpers on the power play tally. The Hurricanes retook the lead in the second period with Zac Dalpe netting his third of the year, assisted by Pat Dwyer and Ruutu. Jeff Skinner made it 3-1 for Carolina with his 14th of the year, a power play goal made possible by Corvo and Jamie McBain. The Thrashers started a comeback later in the second period with Niclas Bergfors potting his ninth of the year while they were a man up, with assistance from Andrew Ladd and Enstrom. Little tied it with his second of the night and 12th of the season, with help coming in the form of Anthony Stewart and Johnny Oduya. This tie at 3 was preserved until overtime, where Erik Cole and his eleventh of the year gave Carolina a 4-3 victory over Atlanta, with help from Ian White and Eric Staal. Earning the three stars in the contest were Ruutu, Staal, and Corvo.

Keeping with the afternoon theme, the New Jersey Devils hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dan Ellis and Martin Brodeur were given the starting nods (hesitant as they may have been). Teddy Purcell put Tampa Bay up first with his seventh of the season, assisted on by Mattias Ritola and Steve Downie, who registered his first point since returning from injury. David Clarkson answered for New Jersey with his sixth of the year, helped along by Tim Sestito and Rod Pelley. Ryan Malone took the lead back for the Lightning on the power play, notching his eleventh of the year thanks to Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. Both teams had to return to their original shooting nets to produce any offense, going scoreless in the second period before Clarkson struck again for the Devils in the third period, his second of the night and seventh of the year, a power play goal from Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias. Jason Arnott gave New Jersey their first lead of the game with his tenth of the year, from Henrik Tallinder and Vladimir Zharkov. Dainius Zubrus kept up the scoring for the Devils, making it 4-2 with his sixth of the season, assisted by Brian Rolston and Elias. Elias late added his own, an empty net goal good for his ninth of the year, courtesy of Rolston. Twenty-three seconds later, the Lightning decided to wake up too little too late, with Dominic Moore netting his seventh of the year, thanks to Adam Hall and Mattias Ohlund. Thirty-eight more seconds later, and the Devils produced what would be the final score of 6-3 with another empty net goal, this time in the shape of Nick Palmieri's first of the season, with help from Kovalchuk and the goalie Martin Brodeur. The three stars for this offense-fest were Clarkson, Brodeur (33 for 36 saves and a donut. Just kidding Marty, no donut.), and Elias.

Heading west and a bit north, with the Minnesota Wild hosting the Dallas Stars. Andrew Raycroft and Jose Theodore tended the twines. Trevor Daley opened the scoring for Dallas with his third of the season, assisted by Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson. Jamie Benn added on for the Stars late in the first period with his tenth of the season, from Nicklas Grossman and Brenden Morrow. Dallas waited to strike again until the third period, where James Neal sank his 15th of the year, with help from Richards and Daley. Benn added on again for the Stars with his second of the night and eleventh of the campaign, helped along by Mike Ribeiro and Morrow. The final score would favor Dallas over Minnesota by a 4-0 margin, with Daley, Benn, and Clutterbuck (who didn't do much in the game besides his usual hitting, but had an awesome beard nonetheless) getting the three stars. Blogger Objection rights on this one, as I think Andrew Raycroft's 26 save shutout is far better than Cal Clutterbuck's beard, but I'm no official, I just write what it says and make it sound witty.

Getting into the live action games I promised you all four paragraphs ago, as the Chicago Blackhawks host the New York Islanders. Nathan Lawson and Corey Crawford are the designated puckstoppers. Patrick Sharp put Chicago up first with his 25th of the season, assisted by Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook on the power play. Marian Hossa made it 2-0 in the second period with his tenth of the year, from Tomas Kopecky and Sharp. Kane kept it going for the Blackhawks with his 13th of the campaign, helped along by Jonathan Toews and Niklas "the Hammer" Hjalmarsson. Dave Bolland made it 4-0 for Chicago with his sixth of the season, courtesy of Hossa and Bryan Bickell. Hjalmarsson tacked on his second of the year late in the second period, with the helpers being provided by Hossa and Brian Campbell, making it 5-0 Blackhawks. After a scoreless third period, this would be the final, with Crawford (29 save shutout), Hossa, and Hjalmarsson getting the three stars.

Lastly, we have the Anaheim Ducks hosting the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Jonas Hiller are the goalies for the game. Anaheim got on the board first, albeit over halfway through the game in the second period, with a Bobby Ryan goal, his 18th of the year, assisted by Toni Lydman. This goal would hold up as the only one for the game, with Hiller (37 save shutout), Saku Koivu, and Bobby Ryan got the three stars in the Ducks' 1-0 over the Sharks.

That's all the hockey for tonight. Tomorrow, two posts guaranteed, as Song of the Week returns and Fantasy Hockey All-Stars will also be covered. There's a chance for Monday's games to be recapped alongside that.

Wild Card Weekend in the NFL

The playoffs are upon us here in the National Football League. There are four games the first two weekends, and this weekend started off with a nice little storyline between...

The first ever team with a losing record to make the playoffs, the Seattle Seahawks, going against LAST YEAR'S world champs, the New Orleans Saints. The Saints did get out to the lead first with Garrett Hartley kicking a 26 yard field goal. He also added the extra point on Drew Brees' 1 yard touchdown pass to Heath Evans. Seattle regained themselves nearing the end of the first quarter, with Matt Hasselbeck providing a response to the New Orleans scoring by finding John Carlson for 11 yards and the touchdown, with Olindo Mare adding the extra point. New Orleans got back out to a 10-point lead with Julius Jones running 5 yards for a touchdown, and Hartley adding an extra point. Hasselbeck didn't let it get to the Seahawks, finding Carlson again for 7 yards, allowing Mare to add an extra point, and later a field goal of 29 yards to tie the game at 17. It didn't stop there, as Seattle took the lead on Hasselbeck's 45 yard touchdown pass to Brandon Stokley, with Mare adding another extra point. Making it only 24-20 for the Seahawks at halftime, Hartley responded for the Saints with a 22 yard field goal. Seattle came out roaring in the third quarter, showing a burst of power with Hasselbeck's 38 yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams, who was double covered on the play. Mare made the extra point, and then put the Seahawks up 34-20 with his 39 yard field goal. New Orleans was not about to let this little peon team from the NFC West just walk all over them, and came back with 10 straight points, on a 4 yard Julius Jones touchdown run and Hartley's subsequent extra point and later 21 yard field goal. The Seahawks, showing signs of drain, got a spark of life when Marshawn Lynch decided to go Afghanistan on the New Orleans defense, breaking anywhere between 5 and 7 tackles and getting numerous blocks on a 67 yard tank style run for a touchdown to make it 41-30 for the Seahawks after Mare added the extra point. The Saints weren't done yet, however, and Brees found Devery Henderson for 6 yards and a touchdown, but failed to convert the two point attempt on the DeShawn Wynn run. Down 41-36, the Saints attempted an onside kick, but it was drilled to John Carlson, and Seattle held onto the win. At the conclusion of the Green Bay-Philadelphia game tonight, the Seahawks will know their new opponents for the second round, and Saints will be sent home packing away from Qwest Field.

The latter game for Saturday had the Indianapolis Colts hosting the New York Jets. The first quarter was scoreless, and the second quarter had only slightly more scoring, with Indianapolis taking a 7-0 lead into halftime thanks to Peyton Manning connecting with Pierre Garcon for 57 yards and a touchdown, with Adam Vinatieri supplying the extra point. New York came out and tied it in the third quarter on a 1 yard touchdown run by LaDainian Tomlinson, followed by a Nick Folk extra point. Vinatieri allowed the Colts to retake the lead before the start of the fourth quarter with his 47 yard field goal. Tomlinson and the Jets were put ahead 14-10 with another 1 yard touchdown run and subsequent Folk extra point. Indianapolis rallied back on the foot of Vinatieri, taking a 16-14 lead after field goals from 32 and 50 yards. However, the football gods had different plans for Indianapolis this January, and allowed Folk to win the game as the clock ran down in the fourth quarter with a 32 yard field goal, sending the Colts to the golf course and allowing the Jets to make travel plans to Foxborough, Massachusetts to take on the New England Patriots next week in the second round. PSA: Please cover your ears if you hear Rex Ryan this week, as he will probably be running his mouth as usual, unless of course you are one of those two Jets fans out there, and then as such, just carry on with your lives.

Heading to the other AFC wild card game, between the host Kansas City Chiefs and visiting Baltimore Ravens, the winner heading off to Pittsburgh next week to play the Steelers. Billy Cundiff led off the scoring for Baltimore with his 19 yard field goal. Kansas City thought this was unacceptable and did take a brief lead thanks to a 41 yard Jamaal Charles touchdown run, with Ryan Succop making the extra point. The Ravens had other plans however, and took a 10-7 lead into the locker rooms thanks to Joe Flacco connecting with Ray Rice for 9 yards and a touchdown, with Cundiff supplying the extra point. Cundiff extended the Baltimore lead to 16-7 with two 29 yard field goals, and added the extra point to make it 23-7 when Flacco found Anquan Boldin for 4 yards and the touchdown. Consider the cake iced in the fourth quarter with Willis McGahee running 25 yards for the touchdown, and Cundiff adding another extra point to bring the game to its final score of 30-7 Ravens over Chiefs, with Kansas City moving to the offseason and Baltimore heading to AFC North rivals Pittsburgh for the second round.

Lastly for this weekend, we have the NFC wild card match between the host Philadelphia Eagles and visiting Green Bay Packers. Green Bay got on the board first thanks to an Aaron Rodgers touchdown pass to Tom Crabtree for 7 yards, followed by a Mason Crosby extra point. Rodgers kept the Packers going with his 9 yard touchdown pass to James Jones, with Crosby adding the extra point to make it 14-0. Philadelphia got on the board before the end of the first half with a David Akers field goal of 29 yards, making it 14-3. Michael Vick helped the Eagles cut the lead down further in the third quarter with a touchdown pass of 24 yards to Jason Avant, followed by an Akers extra point to put the Eagles within 4. Rodgers put the Packers a little farther ahead with a 16 yard touchdown pass to Brandon Jackson, and with the Crosby extra point, Green Bay had a 21-10 lead. Vick cut the lead down to 21-16 with his 1 yard touchdown run, but his two point attempt to LeSean McCoy failed. However, the Eagles did recover the ball on the onside kick, in a similar situation, but not identical, to yesterday's NFC wild card game. They, like the Saints before them, failed to put the ball in the end zone in any way, and Green Bay punched their ticket to Atlanta, sending Seattle to Chicago.

That's all the football we've got this weekend. Same deal next week.

Sandwich Showdown II 2011

This weekend we pitted a Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki on Italian against a Subway Club on Roasted Garlic, toasted. Both sandwiches ended up being quite the mess, with barbecue sauce dripping everywhere as the sandwiches failed to get a grip. They were delicious as well, with the Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki getting jsut the right amount of sweet onion sauce to not overpower the taste, but give it a new dimension. The toasted factor was an advantage for the Club, with the three meats joyously converging in a great flavor package. I would give the slight advantage to Saturday's sandwich however, as it hit the spot just slightly better. Also, on an unrelated note, this is the 100th post for this blog, and I am proud to announce that alongside the strong American following, there has been readership in Canada, Mexico, Germany, Denmark, Slovenia, and Malaysia. I would like to thank everyone who takes the time to read this blog at any point profusely, and it's good to see an international crowd get involved. Also, feel free to comment on any post, as I haven't had any comments posted, although I have received some via word of mouth. To comment, just click on the post's title, and scroll to the bottom of the next page, where there should be a box to post a comment in. Thanks for the readership, and this feature will return next week.

NHL from Saturday

There were a total of eleven games played in hockey on Halfway Day. There was also a little extension in the works for Jack Johnson of the Los Angeles Kings, who will be staying in California for the next seven years, receiving a $30.5 million extension. As for the games...

The Philadelphia Flyers led off by hosting the New Jersey Devils. Johan Hedberg and Brian Boucher played in net. Philadelphia opened the scoring with a goal by James van Riemsdyk, his tenth of the season, assisted by Jeff Carter. The Flyers made it 2-0 with Danny Briere notching his 21st of the year, a power play goal with help from Claude Giroux and Kimmo Timmonen. This got New Jersey starter Johan Hedberg pulled in favor of the unfavorable Martin Brodeur. The Devils got on the board in the second period with Andy Greene netting his third of the year, unassisted, but it wouldn't go to any good, as the Devils lacked any more offensive production in the game, losing 2-1 to Philadelphia. Van Riemsdyk, Brodeur (19 for 19 saves in relief), and Boucher (34 for 35 saves) got the three stars in the matinee game.

Heading out west for an afternoon game with the Colorado Avalanche hosting the New York Islanders. Kevin Poulin and Craig Anderson were obligated to block the puck. Milan Hejduk got Colorado on the board forty-five seconds into the game, his 12th of the year a product of T.J. Galiardi and Adam Foote. David Koci added his first of the year for the Avalanche rather quickly afterward, making it 2-0 with assists coming from Ryan O'Byrne and Philippe Dupuis. Jeremy Colliton got New York on the board with his first of the season, a power play goal from Jon Sim and Andrew MacDonald. Blake Comeau tied the game for the Islanders with his tenth of the year, also a power play goal, with helpers from Milan Jurcina and Jack Hillen. Colliton gave New York a 3-2 lead in the second period with his second of the season and of the game, another power play goal, assisted by Josh Bailey and Comeau. With four seconds left in regulation, Colorado avoided defeat on Hejduk's second of the night and 13th of the year, tying the game at 3 thanks to Tomas Fleischmann and Kevin Shattenkirk. This, however, was just a postponement of the inevitable, as the Islanders won in overtime via John Tavares scoring his 14th of the year, helped along by Hillen and Matt Moulson, for a 4-3 victory. Tavares, Hejduk, and Poulin (34 for 37 saves) were given the three stars.

Opening the regularly timed games were the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Carey Price were in between the pipes. The only action in the first period featured Boston's Adam McQuaid squaring off with Montreal's Travis Moen late in the period. The scoring started in the second period for the Bruins, who took a 2-0 lead with the ninth and tenth of the season by Patrice Bergeron, with Blake Wheeler and Brad Marchand assisting on the first goal and Mark Recchi and Zdeno Chara getting helpers on the second one. Montreal got on the board late in the third period thanks to Scott Gomez netting his sixth of the season, a power play goal with help from Mathieu Darche. Brian Gionta put the Canadiens into a tie with his 15th of the year, from James Wisniewski and Max Pacioretty. The tie lasted into overtime, where Pacioretty completed the comeback by Montreal with his third of the year, with P.K. Subban and Hal Gill getting the assists. The goal did spark a brawl between Chara and Gill, with both getting misconducts. The three stars went to Pacioretty, Tim Thomas (39 for 42 saves in a loss) and Bergeron.

Heading back stateside, where the Pittsburgh Penguins played host to the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Marc-Andre Fleury played in front of the cages. Minnesota opened the scoring first with Chuck Kobasew potting his seventh of the year, with help from Mikko Koivu and Andrew Brunette. Martin Havlat extended the Wild lead to 2-0 with his tenth of the year, assisted by Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Kyle Brodziak. There was nothing happening in the second period, and the Wild regained their touch when shooting at the same net as in the first period with Cal Clutterbuck notching his 13th of the season, helped along by Patrick O'Sullivan and Matt Cullen. Brodziak finished it off with his ninth of the year, an empty net goal coming from Havlat. The final put the Wild up 4-0 over the Penguins. Theodore (26 save shutout), Havlat, and Koivu received the three stars honors.

Back up to Canada, where the Ottawa Senators hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning in the last game of the first half of the 2010-2011 NHL season. Dwayne Roloson and Brian Elliott were the designated netminders. The game was scoreless through the first period and well into the second period before Ottawa got on the board thanks to Zack Smith netting his third of the season, from Jesse Winchester and Ryan Shannon. Tampa Bay took little time in the third period to tie the game, with Adam Hall registering his sixth of the year, with help from Dominic Moore. The Lightning took the lead on the 18th of the year by Martin St. Louis, from Steven Stamkos and Ryan Malone. The final ended up being 2-1 favoring the Lightning over the Senators, with St. Louis, Roloson (31 for 32 saves), and Winchester earning the three stars.

Making another border crossing to head to the American capital, with the Washington Capitals hosting their rival Florida Panthers. Scott Clemmensen and Semyon Varlamov were the men in the creases. Florida struck first with Mike Santorelli potting his eleventh of the season, assisted by Dmitry Kulikov and David Booth. Washington answered in the second period with Eric Fehr scoring his eighth of the season, with help from Mike Green and Mathieu Perreault. Green gave the Capitals the lead in the third period with his eighth of the year, a power play goal made possible by Fehr and Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin extended the lead to 3-1 Capitals with his 15th of the season, helped along by Mike Knuble and Nicklas Backstrom. The Panthers attempted a late rally starting with Evgeny Dadonov scoring his third of the season, from Booth and Stephen Weiss to make it 3-2, but this would be the last scoring in the game, and Washington would hold on for the win. Earning the three stars were Green, Fehr, and Varlamov (25 for 27 saves).

Heading a bit west to St. Louis, where the Blues hosted the New York Rangers. Martin Biron and Jaroslav Halak were given the starting nods. All scoring occurred in the second period, led off by Brad Winchester for St. Louis, netting his seventh of the year thanks to Eric Brewer and Brad Boyes. Derek Stepan evened the score for New York with his 12th of the season, assisted by Mats Zuccarello and Brandon Dubinsky. The Rangers took the lead on the second of the season by Sean Avery, with his goal being helped along by Marian Gaborik and Dubinsky. This would later be the final score, with New York toppling the Blues 2-1. Biron (24 for 25 saves), Gaborik, and Winchester were given the three stars.

Heading to the desert for the next game, where the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Buffalo Sabres, despite the earlier violence in Tuscon during the day. Take a moment to give out thoughts and prayers to the families of those involved in that traumatic incident. The goalies were Ryan Miller and Jason LaBarbera. The first period went by quietly here, until Buffalo got on the board in the second period thanks to Jordan Leopold notching his tenth of the year, a power play goal made possible by Tyler Myers and Thomas Vanek. Scottie Upshall answered for Phoenix in the same period with his 12th of the year, assisted by Adrian Aucoin and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The tie at 1 lasted throughout the third period and into overtime, where Drew Stafford saves the day for the Sabres, scoring his 14th of the year with help from Leopold to win it 2-1 for Buffalo. Winning goalie Miller (33 for 34 saves), losing goalie LaBarbera (30 for 32 saves), and Stafford were the three stars in the game.

Heading even farther west, into California, where the San Jose Sharks hosted the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Antti Niemi were given the starting duties. Nashville struck first in the first period with David Legwand scoring his third of the year, an unassisted goal. San Jose answered in the second period with Logan Couture potting his 19th of the year, leading all rookies in that regard, with the assist coming from Ryane Clowe. The Predators took the lead back in the third period on the eleventh of the year by Sergei Kostitsyn, with Patric Hornqvist and Marcel Goc picking up the helpers. Nashville would hold on to take the Sharks down 2-1. Rinne (42 for 43 saves), Kostitsyn, and Clowe received three stars status.

Heading up north, where the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Roberto Luongo were the goaltenders. The game was scoreless in the first period, and Vancouver had the only second period goal, a product of Daniel Sedin, his 25th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Ryan Kesler and Henrik Sedin. Detroit provided an answer in the third period with their own power play goal, the 18th of the year by Johan Franzen, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Brian Rafalski just forty-two seconds into the final frame. The tie was preserved until Jiri Hudler saved the day for the Red Wings in the shootout, giving them a 2-1 victory over the Canucks. Winning goalie Howard (34 for 35 saves), Keith Ballard (nothing much), and losing goalie Luongo (32 for 33 saves) picked up the three stars.

Finally, back into California, with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Mathieu Garon and Jonathan Quick played in between the pipes in the finale for Saturday. Dustin Brown opened the scoring for Los Angeles with his 17th of the season, assisted by Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. The Kings took a 2-0 lead on the Alec Martinez power play goal, his third of the season, with Jack Johnson and Marco Sturm grabbing the assists. Jarret Stoll put together two goals in a row for Los Angeles to make it 4-0 in the second period, with his earlier tenth of the year being helped along by Doughty and Ryan Smyth and his latter eleventh of the campaign getting assistance from Sturm and Johnson shorthanded. Matt Calvert stopped the bleeding by Columbus with his first of the season, assisted by absolutely no one. Rick Nash continued the scoring for the Blue Jackets, cutting the deficit down to 4-2 with his 19th of the year, helped along by Jakub Voracek and Anton Stralman. Fedor Tyutin chipped farther away at the Kings lead, cutting it back to 4-3 with his third of the season, with help from Antoine Vermette and R.J. Umberger. Ryan Smyth put Los Angeles back into firm control with his 17th of the season, assisted by Justin Williams and Michal Handzus. Nash answered back for Columbus just fifty-eight seconds later with his second of the night and 20th of the year, thanks to Voracek and Kris Russell. The Kings managed to hold them off and bolstered their lead on the empty net goal by Williams, his 16th tally of the season, with help from Johnson, who finished up a sock trick, and Handzus. The final was 6-4 in favor of the Kings over the Blue Jackets. Stoll, Nash, and Johnson ended up getting the three stars.

That's all the hockey world had for us on Saturday. For today, keep watch for a sandwich post directly following this post's publication, and a wild card weekend coverage post for football that will be completely emotionless and unbiased (you wish). Also, if I so choose, today's hockey action will get proper coverage tonight.