It's Hockey Day in America this Sunday, which means we've got games all day long. We begin with three early games...
The first of which is the Chicago Blackhawks hosting the St. Louis Blues. Brian Elliott and Corey Crawford were rewarded for recent strong performances with the chance to start. St. Louis scored late in the first to take the lead on an Andy McDonald goal, his third of the season, assisted by Jamie Langenbrunner and Patrik Berglund. Chicago got going with a third period Duncan Keith goal, his fourth of the year, courtesy of Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane. The Blackhawks took the lead on a Dave Bolland goal, his seventeenth of the season, made possible by Keith and Bryan Bickell. Chicago iced it at 3-1 as Marian Hossa netted his twenty-third of the year, an unassisted empty net goal. The three stars belonged to Crawford (29 for 30 in saves), Bolland, and Elliott (24 for 26 in saves), while Keith earns an honorable mention.
Also, the Buffalo Sabres host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brent Johnson and Ryan Miller will play goal. Buffalo opened the scoring quickly with a Jason Pominville goal, his twenty-third of the season, coming just fifty-two seconds in from Tyler Myers and Derek Roy. The Sabres added on with a Roy goal, his twelfth of the year, thanks to Pominville and Christian Ehrhoff. Buffalo extended the lead in the second period with Paul Gaustad putting his seventh of the season away, with the help of Nathan Gerbe and Jordan Leopold. This prompted Marc-Andre Fleury to relieve Johnson. Pittsburgh responded quickly to this call for action as Deryk Engelland scored his third of the year, and Evgeni Malkin had the lone assist. The Penguins kept coming with a third period goal from the tape of Jordan Staal, his nineteenth of the season, a power play goal powered by James Neal and Steve Sullivan. The Sabres answered with Drew Stafford scoring his tenth of the year, guided in by Ehrhoff and Thomas Vanek. Buffalo extended the lead again with Roy's second of the game and thirteenth of the season, a shorthanded goal set up by Pominville and Ehrhoff, the latter earning a sock trick. The Sabres iced it at 6-2 with Tyler Ennis registering his sixth of the year, fueled by Zack Kassian and Ville Leino. The three stars were awarded to Roy, Pominville, and Ehrhoff.
Wrapping up the first wave of matinees, the Detroit Red Wings host the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Joey MacDonald received the starting nods. Detroit began with Henrik Zetterberg recording his thirteenth of the season, with the help of Jonathan Ericsson and Valtteri Filppula. The Red Wings added on in the second period with a Drew Miller goal, his twelfth of the year, courtesy of Justin Abdelkader. San Jose got one back as Logan Couture put his twenty-fifth of the season away, a power play goal powered by Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Darren Helm got it back for Detroit in the third period with his sixth of the year, and the lone assist went to Miller. The Sharks got as close as 3-2 before time expired with a Patrick Marleau goal, his twenty-third of the campaign, set up by Brent Burns. The three stars went to MacDonald (31 for 33 in saves), Miller, and Helm.
Later on, the Minnesota Wild welcome the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Niklas Backstrom are between the pipes. Minnesota got things started in the second period with a Chad Rau goal, his second of the season, made possible by Dany Healtey and Cal Clutterbuck. The Wild added on with a Matt Cullen power play goal, his twelfth of the year, powered by Devin Setoguchi and Jared Spurgeon. This was it for the scoring, with Minnesota taking the game 2-0. Backstrom (48 save shutout), Rau, and Cullen had the three stars.
Heading into the west coast afternoon, the Montreal Canadiens bring in the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Carey Price will guard the cages. New Jersey started off with Zach Parise recording his twenty-second of the season, coming off of Ilya Kovalchuk and Adam Henrique. The Devils added on in the second period as David Clarkson put his twenty-second of the year in the twine, courtesy of Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora. Montreal got one back in the third period as Max Pacioretty sank his twenty-fifth of the season, a power play goal powered by Tomas Kaberle and David Desharnais. New Jersey took it back on a Matt Taormina goal, made possible by Mark Fayne. This was it for scoring, leaving the final at 3-1, and the three stars were Brodeur (21 for 22 in saves), Parise, and Pacioretty.
At the same time, the Florida Panthers host the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Jose Theodore will wear the masks. Anaheim opened with a Teemu Selanne goal, his twentieth of the season, assisted by Bobby Ryan and Saku Koivu. The Ducks iced it at 2-0 in the third period with a Niklas Hagman empty net goal, his ninth of the year, with helpers provided by Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. The three stars went to Hiller (31 save shutout), Selanne, and Theodore (25 for 26 in saves).
Out west, the Dallas Stars host the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Kari Lehtonen protect the goals. Dallas began the scoring as Michael Ryder netted his twenty-third of the season, with the help of Mike Ribeiro and Loui Eriksson. Nashville tied it as Gabriel Bourque made his third of the year, thanks to David Legwand and Matt Halischuk. The Predators took the lead with one second left in the first period as Shea Weber scored his twelfth of the season, a power play goal powered by Ryan Suter and Sergei Kostitsyn. Colin Wilson kept Nashville going with his twelfth of the year in the second period, coming off of Jordin Tootoo and the goalie Rinne. The Stars got one back as Alex Goligoski deposited his eighth of the campaign, an unassisted goal making the score 3-2, which was a final after they failed to tie. The three stars ended up as Weber, Ryder, and Rinne (22 for 24 in saves).
Back northeast, the New York Rangers are hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Henrik Lundqvist guard the goalmouths. New York struck first as Brad Richards scored his eighteenth of the season, courtesy of Carl Hagelin and Michael Del Zotto. Columbus tied it as Derick Brassard netted his eleventh of the year, thanks to Antoine Vermette on the power play in the second period. The Rangers got the lead back with an Artem Anisimov goal, his eleventh of the season, set up by Dan Girardi and John Mitchell. The Blue Jackets got an equalizer with Rick Nash scoring his nineteenth of the year in the third period, and the assists came from Jeff Carter and R.J. Umberger. New York ended up winning in overtime by a 3-2 score when Derek Stepan recorded his twelfth of the campaign, guided in by Del Zotto and Marian Gaborik. Ryan Callahan, Anisimov, and Stepan had the three stars, while Del Zotto earns an honorable mention.
Northwest to Winnipeg, where the Jets welcome the Colorado Avalanche. Semyon Varlamov and Ondrej Pavelec are in the blue paint. Winnipeg got going in the second period with an Evander Kane goal, his twenty-second of the season, fueled by Alex Burmistrov and Kyle Wellwood. The Jets added on with a Bryan Little, his seventeenth of the year, courtesy of Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler. Colorado got one back with Gabriel Landeskog potting his fifteenth of the season, a power play goal powered by Erik Johnson. Winnipeg took it back quickly with a Wellwood goal, his twelfth of the year, made possible by Kane and Wheeler. The Jets extended the lead with a third period Ladd goal, his seventeenth of the season, set up by Wheeler, for a sock trick, and Dustin Byfuglien. Winnipeg iced it at 5-1 with a Little power play goal, his second of the game and eighteenth of the year, assisted by Wheeler and Byfuglien. The three stars went to Wheeler, Pavelec (31 for 32 in saves), and Ladd, while Byfuglien, Wellwood, Kane, and Little get the honorable mentions.
Finally, we go a little west to Edmonton, where the Oilers take on the Vancouver Canucks. Cory Schneider and Nikolai Khabibulin will be between the pipes. Vancouver struck early with the thirteenth of the season for Henrik Sedin, assisted by Daniel Sedin and Alexandre Burrows. The Canucks added on with a Sami Salo power play goal, his eighth of the year, powered by Henrik and Ryan Kesler. Devan Dubnyk relieved Khabibulin for the second and third periods. Edmonton got on the board in the second period as Shawn Horcoff scored his eleventh of the season, thanks to Ryan Smyth and Tom Gilbert. Vancouver took it back as Kevin Bieksa put away his seventh of the year, made possible by Dale Weise and Manny Malhotra. The Canucks extended their lead as Chris Higgins notched his eleventh of the season, via Jannik Hansen.The Oilers got one back with Magnus Paajarvi registering his second of the year, coming off of Ales Hemsky and Ladislav Smid. Daniel kept Vancouver strong with his twenty-sixth of the season in the third period, and Burrows had the lone assist. The final was 5-2, and Daniel, Henrik, and Paajarvi had the three stars while Burrows gets the honorable mention.
Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.
No comments :
Post a Comment