Thursday, January 12, 2012

NHL Day 99 2011-2012

We roll with eleven games tonight, beginning as...

The New York Islanders host the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Evgeni Nabokov will be in front of the mesh. Philadelphia opened with a Scott Hartnell goal, his nineteenth of the season, a power play goal powered by Jaromir Jagr and Claude Giroux. The Flyers added on in the second period when Wayne Simmonds scored his eleventh of the year, and Kimmo Timonen had the lone assist. New York got on the board in the third period with Kyle Okposo registering his tenth of the season, thanks to Andrew MacDonald and John Tavares. Philadelphia shot back with Sean Couturier netting his eighth of the year, with a lone assist by Max Talbot. With sixteen seconds left in the game, Tavares made it 3-2 on his fifteenth of the campaign, coming off of P.A. Parenteau and MacDonald. They never got the equalizer, and the three stars went to Bobrovsky (33 for 35 in saves), Hartnell, and Okposo, while MacDonald and Tavares had the honorable mentions.

Into Massachusetts, as the Boston Bruins welcome the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price and Tim Thomas tend the twines. Jordan Caron got things started with his second of the season for Boston, made possible by Johnny Boychuk and Zdeno Chara. The Bruins extended the lead in the third period with a Milan Lucic goal, his fifteenth of the year, courtesy of Nathan Horton and David Krejci. Montreal got on the board as Yannick Weber potted his fourth of the campaign, a power play goal powered by Tomas Kaberle and David Desharnais. This was it in the scoring, leaving the final at 2-1, with the three stars being Thomas (31 for 32 in saves), Lucic, and Tyler Seguin. Note to Boston: Seguin is not a boss in every game, and therefore is not designated for automatic incorporation every game. Please learn from your errors and correct them.

Backtracking to New York again, as the Rangers bring in the Ottawa Senators. Craig Anderson and Henrik Lundqvist received the starting nods. Ottawa drew first blood in the second period when Jason Spezza recorded his seventeenth of the season, with a lone helper by Chris Phillips. The Senators added on in the third period with Milan Michalek putting his twenty-third of the year away, thanks to Erik Karlsson and Colin Greening. Ottawa made it 3-0 with another Spezza goal, his second of the game and eighteenth of the campaign, pushed through by Karlsson on the power play. The final was 3-0, and the three stars were Anderson (34 save shutout), Spezza, and Michalek, while Karlsson gets the honorable mention.

Southward to Tampa Bay, with the Lightning hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Mathieu Garon began the game, but Garon was pulled in favor of Dwayne Roloson in the first period. Carolina struck first on a Tuomo Ruutu goal, his fifteenth of the season, coming off of Eric Staal and Jiri Tlusty. The Hurricanes extended the lead when Tlusty deposited his eighth of the year, thanks to Staal. Tampa Bay got on the board with an unassisted Nate Thompson goal, his fourth of the season. Carolina quickly shot back on a Jay Harrison goal, his sixth of the year, made possible by Ruutu and Justin Faulk. Tlusty added on again for the Hurricanes with his second of the game and ninth of the season, allowing Staal a sock trick and Ruutu picked up the secondary assist. Harrison then dropped the gloves with Ryan Malone. The Lightning crawled back a bit with a second period Teddy Purcell goal, his eighth of the year, assisted by Bruno Gervais and Steven Stamkos. Carolina made it 5-2 in the third period on a Tim Brent goal his fifth of the season, courtesy of Anthony Stewart and Harrison, the latter getting the third Gordie Howe Hat Trick in three days. The final was 5-2, and the three stars went to Tlusty, Ruutu, and Staal, while Harrison earns honorable mention.

Northwest of here, the Detroit Red Wings bring in the Phoenix Coyotes. Mike Smith and Jimmy Howard guard the cages. Phoenix was first to score as Radim Vrbata made his twenty-first of the season, fueled by David Rundblad. Detroit answered as Valtteri Filppula notched his fifteenth of the year, with a little assistance from Ian White.  The Coyotes took the lead in the third period on a Taylor Pyatt goal, his sixth of the season, coming from Kyle Chipchura. The Red Wings got an equalizer with a Johan Franzen goal, his seventeenth of the year, assisted by Pavel Datsyuk and Danny Cleary. Detroit toppled Phoenix in the shootout with Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg outweighing Vrbata for a 3-2 win. The three stars were Zetterberg, Datsyuk, and Smith (40 for 42 in saves).

A little south again, as the Nashville Predators welcome the Colorado Avalanche. Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Pekka Rinne will have the task of stopping the puck. Colorado was first on the scoreboard with a Ryan O'Reilly goal, his twelfth of the season going in unassisted. The Avalanche added on with a Gabriel Landeskog goal, his ninth of the year, courtesy of O'Reilly and Milan Hejduk. Nashville got on the board in the second period as David Legwand sank his eleventh of the season, with helpers provided by Matt Halischuk and Francis Bouillon. The Predators tied it in the third period on a Sergei Kostitsyn goal, his ninth of the year, assisted by Mike Fisher and Roman Josi. Nashville won it 3-2 in overtime on Legwand's twelfth of the campaign and second of the game, guided in by Shea Weber. The three stars were Legwand, Kostitsyn, and O'Reilly.

Out west a tad to St. Louis, with the Blues bringing in the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo and Brian Elliott will wear the pads. Vancouver struck first when Alexandre Burrows netted his seventeenth of the season, and Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin picked up the assists. St. Louis tied it up with Jason Arnott's eleventh of the year, thanks to Jamie Langenbrunner and Ian Cole. The Blues took the lead in the second period with another Arnott goal, his twelfth of the season and second of the game, coming off of Alex Pietrangelo. Burrows helped the Canucks tie it with his second of the game and eighteenth of the year, fueled by Alexander Edler and Manny Malhotra. Vancouver completed the comeback by winning 3-2 in overtime on a Daniel Sedin power play goal, his nineteenth of the campaign, powered by Henrik and Edler. The three stars went to Burrows, Arnott, and Henrik, while Daniel and Edler earn honorable mentions.

Way north to Winnipeg, as the Jets host the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Ondrej Pavelec have the green lights to start. San Jose struck first in the second period as Logan Couture put away his eighteenth of the season, thanks to Brent Burns. The Sharks extended their lead with a third period Brad Winchester goal, his fifth of the year, courtesy of Andrew Desjardins and Andrew Murray. The final sat at 2-0, and the three stars went to Couture, Niemi (24 save shutout), and Dan Boyle, although other point earners should have a mention.

Back south to Chicago, as the Blackhawks host the Minnesota Wild. Josh Harding and Ray Emery do battle as the backups own the creases. Minnesota struck first when Devin Setoguchi made his ninth of the season, with the help of Marek Zidlicky and Dany Heatley. Chicago tied it with the second of the year for Andrew Shaw, via Sean O'Donnell and Michael Frolik. The Blackhawks took the lead with a second period goal by Jimmy Hayes, his third of the season, a power play goal powered by Dave Bolland and Andrew Brunette. Chicago extended their lead on a Viktor Stalberg goal, his thirteenth of the year, assisted by Jonathan Toews and Steve Montador. The Blackhawks kept going with a Bolland power play goal, his eleventh of the season, thanks to Montador and Hayes. Matt Hackett relieved Harding at this time. The Wild got one back with a third period Kyle Brodziak goal, his twelfth of the year, made possible by Darroll Powe. Chicago iced it at 5-2 with another Bolland goal, his second of the game and twelfth of the campaign going into the empty net via Frolik and Marian Hossa. The three stars were awarded to Bolland, Hayes, and Shaw, while Frolik and Montador earn the honorable mentions. 

North and west to Calgary, where the Flames will welcome the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Miikka Kiprusoff are between the pipes. The game's scoring started and ended in overtime as Blair Jones potted his third of the season, with assists from Mark Giordano and Lee Stempniak. Kiprusoff (23 save shutout), Hiller (18 for 19 in saves), and T.J. Brodie earned the three stars, while Jones gets serious props for his goal.

Finally, in Los Angeles, the Kings host the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Jonathan Quick have control of the blue paint. Dallas did the first scoring, with a Loui Eriksson goal, his fifteenth of the season, assisted by Tom Wandell and Brenden Morrow. The Stars added on with the thirteenth of the year by Eric Nystrom, courtesy of Radek Dvorak. Los Angeles got on the board in the second period as Anze Kopitar potted his thirteenth of the season on the power play via Jack Johnson and Justin Williams. Dallas answered as Alex Goligoski sank his fifth of the year, thanks to Michael Ryder and Morrow. The Kings pulled back on a Trevor Lewis goal, fed to him by Brad Richardson. Los Angeles tied it in the third period with Johnson scoring a power play goal off of Drew Doughty and Kopitar, his seventh of the campaign. The Kings took the lead on a Brown power play goal, his eleventh of the season, powered by Kopitar and Williams. Eriksson retied it for the Stars on his second of the game and sixteenth of the year, another power play goal, guided in by Ryder and Goligoski. The game went to the shootout, where Eriksson had the lone tally to propel Dallas to a 5-4 victory over Los Angeles. Johnson, Eriksson, and Kopitar claimed the three stars, while Goligoski, Morrow, Williams, and Ryder take honorable mentions.

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