After a mid-afternoon trade to shake things up, especially for Steve Downie and Kyle Quincey, we roll with eleven games tonight. The first cluster is led by...
The Columbus Blue Jackets hosting the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Steve Mason guard the goals. Columbus led off with an R.J. Umberger goal, his tenth of the season, assisted by Grant Clitsome and Derick Brassard. The Blue Jackets added on with the thirteenth of the year for Jeff Carter, a power play goal set up by Vinny Prospal and Mark Letestu. Columbus kept going with a Rick Nash sinking his twentieth of the season, via Brassard and Umberger. Niemi was pulled in favor of Thomas Greiss at this time. This did little to stop the Blue Jackets, who got another goal on the power play from Carter, his second of the game and fourteenth of the year, powered by Prospal and David Savard. San Jose got going in the second period as Joe Thornton netted his thirteenth of the season, with the help of Colin White and Andrew Desjardins. The Sharks pulled closer as Logan Couture scored his twenty-sixth of the year, thanks to Michal Handzus and Justin Braun. Columbus answered with Savard potting his second of the season, helped along by Nikita Nikitin and Antoine Vermette, a power play goal. The Blue Jackets remained in control in the third period with a Carter goal, icing his hat trick with his fifteenth of the year, courtesy of Nash and Prospal, the latter getting a sock trick as well. San Jose got one back with Couture's second of the game and twenty-seventh of the season coming off of Joe Pavelski and Dan Boyle. The final stuck at 6-3, with Carter, Umberger, and Mason (38 for 41 in saves), getting the three stars, while Couture, Nash, Prospal, Savard, and Brassard get the honorable mentions.
Also, the Winnipeg Jets host the Philadelphia Flyers (says prayers no repeats of earlier this season). Ilya Bryzgalov and Ondrej Pavelec were the masked men. Winnipeg led off with a Dustin Byfuglien power play goal, his ninth of the season, set up by Tim Stapleton and Bryan Little. Philadelphia tied it up with a Claude Giroux goal, his twenty-third of the year, courtesy of Scott Hartnell and Matt Carle. The Flyers took the lead in the second period with Hartnell recording his twenty-eighth of the season, a power play goal powered by Wayne Simmonds and Kimmo Timonen. The Jets retied it with Andrew Ladd's eighteenth of the year, a power play goal coming off of Blake Wheeler and Stapleton. Winnipeg took the lead with another Ladd goal, his second of the game and nineteenth of the season, fueled by Little and Byfuglien. Philadelphia tied it back up with a Max Talbot goal, his seventeenth of the year, guided in by Andrej Meszaros and Nicklas Grossman. Evander Kane gave the Jets the lead again in the third period by registering his twenty-third of the season, a power play goal with a helper provided by Stapleton, who got a sock trick. The Flyers saved their game late with Simmonds netting his twenty-second of the year, via James van Riemsdyk and Giroux. Philadelphia completed the comeback in overtime as Jaromir Jagr put down his sixteenth of the campaign for a 5-4 win over Winnipeg, and the assist was from the tape of Danny Briere. The three stars were given to Pavelec (50 for 55 in saves, holy cow that's a lot of saves ain't it?), Ladd, and Hartnell, while Stapleton, Giroux, Simmonds, Little, and Byfuglien get the honorable mentions.
A little to the east, the Toronto Maple Leafs welcome the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Jonas Gustavsson received the starting nods. New Jersey opened on a Petr Sykora goal, his fourteenth of the season, fueled by Adam Henrique and Matt Taormina. The Devils added on with the twenty-third of the year by David Clarkson, guided in by Patrik Elias and Sykora. Toronto shot back with a Tim Connolly goal, his ninth of the season, courtesy of Cody Franson and Joey Crabb. The Maple Leafs tied it in the second period with a Clarke MacArthur goal, his eighteenth of the year, via Nikolai Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski. New Jersey regained the lead with Alexei Ponikarovsky goal, his eleventh of the season, made possible by Dainius Zubrus and Anton Volchenkov. Toronto tied it late in the third period on Phil Kessel's thirty-first of the year, assisted by Tyler Bozak and Joffrey Lupul. The Devils toppled the Maple Leafs in the overtime frame with Mark Fayne scoring his fourth of the campaign for a 4-3 victory, and the assists were credited to Henrique and Ilya Kovalchuk. The three stars were awarded to Fayne, Kessel, and Sykora, while Henrique gets the honorable mention.
Crossing into the U.S., the Buffalo Sabres host the New York Islanders. Kevin Poulin and Ryan Miller are in the blue paint. Buffalo started the scoring with a Tyler Myers goal, his sixth of the season, assisted by Derek Roy Jason Pominville. The Sabres added on in the second period as Thomas Vanek recorded his twenty-second of the year, via Roy and Pominville. New York got as close as 2-1 with Frans Nielsen recording his thirteenth of the campaign, thanks to P.A. Parenteau and the goalie Poulin. The three stars of the game were Myers, Christian Ehrhoff, and Miller (30 for 31 in saves), while Roy and Pominville earn the honorable mentions.
Finishing off the first major wave, the Pittsburgh Penguins bring in the New York Rangers. Stud goalies Henrik Lundqvist and Marc-Andre Fleury tend the twines. Pittsburgh opened with a second period Evgeni Malkin goal, his thirty-third of the season, coming off of Kris Letang and Pascal Dupuis. The Penguins added on with a Steve Sullivan goal, his eleventh of the year, a power play goal made possible by Malkin and Matt Cooke. This made it 2-0, a final score after a scoreless third period, with the three stars being selected as Fleury (27 save shutout), Malkin, and Sullivan.
Down in Tampa Bay, the Lightning welcome the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Mathieu Garon played between the pipes. Tampa Bay struck just twenty-eight seconds in with Steven Stamkos netting his forty-first of the season on the power play from Ryan Malone and Teddy Purcell. Stamkos helped extend the Lightning lead with his second of the game and forty-second of the year, courtesy of Brett Clark and Purcell. Anaheim got on the board with a Saku Koivu goal in the second period, his eleventh of the season, helped along by Bobby Ryan and Cam Fowler. Tampa Bay took it back with Purcell netting his fifteenth of the year, thanks to Stamkos and Matt Gilroy. The Ducks replied with Ryan notching his twenty-second of the season, with a lone helper by Koivu. The Lightning held on from here to win 3-2, with the three stars being Garon (28 for 30 in saves), Purcell, and Stamkos.
Back north in Canada, the Montreal Canadiens host the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Carey Price have control of the nets. Dallas opened with a Ryan Garbutt goal, fueled by Jake Dowell and Toby Petersen. The Stars added on in the third period with a Mike Ribeiro goal, his thirteenth of the season, coming off of Trevor Daley and Mark Fistric. Dallas extended the lead with Tom Wandell recording his fourth of the year, courtesy of Tomas Vincour. This was all for the scoring, ending the game at 3-0, and the three stars belonged to Ribeiro, Lehtonen (31 save shutout), and Garbutt.
Continuing on, the Nashville Predators welcome the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo and Pekka Rinne were in the creases. Mike Fisher got Nashville on the board first with his eighteenth of the season in the second period, a power play goal powered by Ryan Suter and Martin Erat. The Predators added on with a shorthanded Sergei Kostitsyn goal, his fifteenth of the year, thanks to Fisher and Hal Gill. Vancouver got one back as Dale Weise netted his fourth of the season, with the help of Manny Malhotra and Maxim Lapierre. Nashville iced it in the third period at 3-1 with a David Legwand goal, his fourteenth of the year, made possible by Erat and Fisher. Fisher, Rinne (32 for 33 in saves), and Erat got the three stars.
A little northwest of there, the Chicago Blackhawks host their fiercest rivals, the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard returns from injury to oppose Corey Crawford in net. Detroit wasted little time in opening the scoring as Valtteri Filppula netted his seventeenth of the season, with assists from Jakub Kindl and Jiri Hudler on the power play. Chicago tied it up on a Jimmy Hayes goal, his fifth of the year, fueled by Bryan Bickell and Duncan Keith. The Blackhawks took a lead in the third period with Marcus Kruger scoring his seventh of the season, helped along by Hayes and Andrew Brunette. This was all it took for Chicago to win 2-1, and the three stars went to Hayes, Kruger, and Howard (27 for 29 in saves).
Southwest of that, the Phoenix Coyotes host the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Mike Smith attempted to stop the puck. Los Angeles opened with a Drew Doughty goal, his sixth of the season, coming off of Dustin Brown and Dwight King. The Kings extended the lead as Andrei Loktionov registered his third of the year, thanks to Alec Martinez and Matt Greene. Los Angeles kept going with Brown putting his fourteenth of the season into the twine, with the help of Willie Mitchell and Mike Richards. Phoenix got one back with Radim Vrbata recording his twenty-ninth of the year in the second period, a power play goal assisted by Martin Hanzal and Ray Whitney. The Coyotes pulled closer with Shane Doan notching his seventeenth of the season, also a power play goal, powered by Hanzal and Vrbata. The Kings slowed their bleeding with a power play goal off the tape of Justin Williams, his twelfth of the year, courtesy of Anze Kopitar and Richards. Phoenix answered with a Doan goal, his second of the game and eighteenth of the season, with Hanzal and Lauri Korpikoski getting the helpers, the former earning a sock trick. Vrbata tied it for the Coyotes in the third period with his second of the game and thirtieth of the year, a power play goal going down unassisted. The game lasted to a shootout, where Whitney and Mikkel Boedker lifted Phoenix to a 5-4 win over Los Angeles, whose only tally came from Brown. The three stars were Vrbata, Doan, and Hanzal, while Whitney, Brown, and Richards also played well.
Finally, we have the battle of Alberta, with the Calgary Flames hosting their northern neighbors, the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Miikka Kiprusoff will be in front of the goalmouths. Calgary started off with Scott Hannan sinking his second of the season, with assists from Paul Byron and Krystofer Kolanos. Edmonton tied it with a Jordan Eberle goal, his twenty-sixth of the year, guided in by Sam Gagner and Corey Potter. The Oilers took the lead in the second period as the fifth of the season by Ales Hemsky went across the goal line, thanks to Taylor Hall and Shawn Horcoff. Edmonton extended the lead with an Eric Belanger goal, his third of the year, made possible by Ben Eager. The Oilers added on with Gagner netting his fourteenth of the season, via Eberle and Ryan Smyth. Smyth kept it going for Edmonton with his seventeenth of the year, fueled by Gagner and Jeff Petry. Henrik Karlsson relieved Kiprusoff for the third period. The Oilers iced it at 6-1 with a Hall goal, his twenty-first of the campaign coming on the power play, powered by Eberle and Ryan Whitney. The three stars were given to Eberle, Gagner, and Smyth, while Hall gets an honorable mention.
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