Big set of games on the Saturday schedule, as usual. We start with three matinees, the first of which is in Pittsburgh...
With the Penguins hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson and Marc-Andre Fleury play in goal. Pittsburgh opened on a Chris Kunitz goal, his seventeenth of the season, assisted by Evgeni Malkin and James Neal. The Penguins added on with a Matt Cooke goal, his twelfth of the year, guided in by Joe Vitale and Zbynek Michalek. Pittsburgh kept going with a Jordan Staal shorthanded and unassisted goal, his twentieth of the season. Staal kept the Penguins strong in the second period with his second of the game and twenty-first of the year, a power play goal powered by Steve Sullivan and Neal. Pittsburgh extended the lead with Evgeni Malkin netting his thirty-fourth of the season, with the help of Kunitz and Deryk Engelland. Tampa Bay got on the board with Teddy Purcell scoring on the power play, with Ryan Malone and Brett Clark helping out on his seventeenth of the year. Malkin took it back for the Penguins in the third period with his second of the game and thirty-fifth of the season, thanks to Matt Niskanen. Malkin finished his hat trick on a power play goal, his thirty-sixth of the year, set up by Neal, who got a sock trick, and Sullivan. The Penguins iced it at 8-1 with a Pascal Dupuis goal, his fourteenth of the campaign, coming off of Staal and Sullivan, the latter getting a sock trick. The three stars went to Malkin, Staal, and Fleury (34 for 35 in saves), while the honorable mentions include Sullivan, Neal, and Kunitz.
Up in central Canada, the Winnipeg Jets welcome the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Chris Mason got the starting nods. St. Louis opened with a David Backes goal, his eighteenth of the season, fueled by T.J. Oshie and Andy McDonald. David Perron extended the Blues lead with his twelfth of the year, thanks to Patrik Berglund and Oshie. Winnipeg got on the board in the second period with a Blake Wheeler goal, his twelfth of the season, made possible by Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien. The Jets tied it with another Wheeler goal, his second of the game and thirteenth of the year, a power play goal powered by Andrew Ladd and Byfuglien. The game was decided in the shootout, with St. Louis winning as McDonald answered Wheeler to allow Perron the game winner. The three stars were given to Wheeler, Halak (39 for 41 in saves), and Byfuglien, while Perron, Oshie, and McDonald also played well.
A little to the west, we end the matinee period with the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Mike Smith and Devan Dubnyk are padded up. Phoenix started off with an Oliver Ekman-Larsson goal, his eighth of the season, with a lone Martian Hanzal assist. The Coyotes added on with Ray Whitney potting his eighteenth of the year, courtesy of Radim Vrbata and Hanzal. Edmonton got one back in the third period when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins put away his fourteenth of the season, with the help of Ales Hemsky and Taylor Hall. Phoenix iced it at 3-1 with a Shane Doan goal, his twentieth of the year, guided in by Keith Yandle and Adrian Aucoin. The three stars went to Whitney, Hanzal, and Hall.
At the regularly scheduled time, we had a wave of five games to lead us off. The first had the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Florida Panthers. Jose Theodore and Justin Peters played in the blue paint. Carolina opened with a Justin Faulk power play goal, his seventh of the season, powered by Eric Staal and Jerome Samson. The Hurricanes added on in the second period with Jussi Jokinen recording his ninth of the year, thanks to Jeff Skinner. Florida got on the board in the third period with a Tomas Fleischmann goal, his twentieth of the season, coming off of Kris Versteeg and Keaton Ellerby. The Panthers tied it with a Wojtek Wolski goal, fueled by Shawn Matthias and Jason Garrison. Florida took the game 3-2 in the shootout with Mikael Samuelsson and Stephen Weiss overpowering Carolina's only tally by Skinner. The three stars were given out to Staal, Wolski, and Faulk.
Up in Canada again, the Ottawa Senators hosted the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Alex Auld would be between the pipes. Ottawa began the scoring as Erik Karlsson notched his fourteenth of the season, with help from Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek. Boston answered with Patrice Bergeron netting his eighteenth of the year, courtesy of Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin. The Bruins added on with a Brad Marchand tally, his twenty-second of the season, made possible by Bergeron and Chara. Boston kept going in the second period when Chris Camper scored, assisted by Adam McQuaid. The Bruins extended the lead in the third period as David Krejci put his thirteenth of the year away, a power play goal powered by Dennis Seidenberg and Joe Corvo. The Senators pulled back with a Daniel Alfredsson goal, his twenty-first of the season, fueled by Spezza and Karlsson. Ottawa got even closer when Alfredsson scored again, his second of the game and twenty-second of the year, guided in by Karlsson and Spezza, the latter earning a sock trick. Boston iced it with another Bergeron goal, his nineteenth of the campaign and second of the night finding empty twine to make it 5-3, and in went in unassisted. The three stars of the game went to Bergeron, Alfredsson, and Chris Neil, while Chara, Karlsson, and Spezza get the honorable mentions
Stateside, the New York Rangers hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Stud goalies Ryan Miller and Henrik Lundqvist tended the twines. Buffalo led off with a Drew Stafford goal, his eleventh of the season, with the help of Tyler Ennis and Andrej Sekera. New York replied in the second period on a Carl Hagelin goal, his tenth of the year, made possible by Marc Staal and Brad Richards. The Sabres took the lead again with a Stafford third period goal, his second of the game and twelfth of the season coming on the power play from Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy. The Rangers retied it with a Marian Gaborik goal, his twenty-ninth of the year, thanks to Michael Del Zotto and Hagelin. New York won it 3-2 in the overtime period, with Ryan Callahan sinking his twenty-fourth of the campaign with a lone Ryan McDonagh assist. The three stars were awarded to Callahan, Stafford, and Hagelin.
North again to Toronto, where the Maple Leafs host the Washington Capitals. Michal Neuvirth and James Reimer get a chance to stop the puck. Washington started off with a Marcus Johansson goal thirty-two seconds into the game, his twelfth of the season, assisted by Alex Ovechkin and Keith Aucoin. Alexander Semin added on for the Capitals with his seventeenth of the year, an unassisted goal. Washington extended the lead in the second period as Jeff Halpern registered his fourth of the season, thanks to Joel Ward and Dmitry Orlov. The Capitals kept it up with Aucoin's goal, made possible by Johansson and Ovechkin. Toronto got on the board in the third period as Colby Armstrong scored an unassisted goal. The Maple Leafs cut further into the deficit with a Tim Connolly goal, his tenth of the year, pushed through by Matthew Lombardi and Nikolai Kulemin. This made it a 4-2 final score, and the three stars were given to Johansson, Aucoin, and Semin, with an honorable mention for Ovechkin.
Back to the U.S., with the Detroit Red Wings welcoming the Colorado Avalanche. Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Jimmy Howard were in front of the goals. Colorado struck first with a Gabriel Landeskog goal, his seventeenth of the season, assisted by Steve Downie and Ryan O'Reilly. The Avalanche added on with a shorthanded and unassisted David Jones goal, his fifteenth of the year. Colorado extended the lead in the second period with another Landeskog goal, his second of the game and eighteenth of the season, fueled by O'Reilly and Downie. Detroit got on the board in the third period when Jiri Hudler notched his nineteenth of the year, a power play goal powered by Valtteri Filppula and Henrik Zetterberg. The Avalanche took it back when Downie netted his fourteenth of the season, thanks to Ryan Wilson and O'Reilly, the latter getting a sock trick. The Red Wings answered with another Hudler goal, his second of the game and twentieth of the year, coming off of Zetterberg and Brad Stuart. Detroit got as close as 4-3 but couldn't score again after Filppula made his eighteenth of the campaign, with the helpers provided by Hudler and Zetterberg, the latter getting a sock trick. Landeskog, Downie, and Hudler took home the three stars, while honorable mentions are in place for Zetterberg, O'Reilly, and Filppula.
Out west, the Los Angeles Kings host the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Jonathan Quick played in the creases. Los Angeles started off with a Dustin Brown goal, his fifteenth of the season coming on the power play from Jarret Stoll. The Kings added on with another Brown goal, his second of the game and sixteenth of the year, also on the power play, powered by Alec Martinez and Stoll. Los Angeled extended the lead in the second period with a shorthanded Brown goal, finishing off his natural hat trick with his seventeenth of the season, thanks to Willie Mitchell. The Kings kept going with Mitchell potting his fourth of the year, helped along by Brown and Stoll, the latter getting a sock trick. Ray Emery relieved Crawford at this time. There was no more scoring here, resulting a 4-0 final. The three stars were awarded to Brown, Stoll, and Mitchell, while Quick (19 save shutout) gets the only honorable mention.
Back east, the Nashville Predators brought in the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Pekka Rinne started as the Finnish goalies. Nashville led off with a Colin Wilson goal, his fourteenth of the season, thanks to Jordin Tootoo. The Predators kept going with a Shea Weber goal, his thirteenth of the year, guided in by Martin Erat and Sergei Kostitsyn. Patrick Marleau answered for San Jose on his twenty-sixth of the season, fueled by Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton. Nashville chased Niemi when Kevin Kelin registered his fourth of the year, with the help of Roman Josi and Mike Fisher. Thomas Greiss relieved Niemi. The Sharks got one back in the second period with a Pavelski goal, his twenty-third of the season, made possible by Marleau and Thornton. Weber shot back for the Predators with his second of the game and fourteenth of the year, a power play goal powered by David Legwand and Ryan Suter. Erat added on for Nashville with his fourteenth of the season going into the empty net after touching the tape of Gabriel Bourque and Josi. The final was 6-2 when the Predators got a Nick Spaling goal late, his tenth of the year, helped along by Tootoo and Wilson. The three stars were handed out to Weber, Marleau, and Wilson, while Pavelski, Thornton, Erat, Josi, and Tootoo get the honorable mentions.
Wrapping up the day, we are in Calgary, where the Flames welcome the Philadelphia Flyers. Ilya Bryzgalov and Miikka Kiprusoff guard the cages. Calgary started off with a Mark Giordano power play goal, his fifth of the season, going in unassisted. The Flames added on when Matt Stajan recorded his third of the year, thanks to Lance Bouma. Calgary kept going in the second period with a Tom Kostopoulos goal, a shorthanded goal, his fourth of the season, with a lone assist by Alex Tanguay. Philadelphia got on the board with Jakub Voracek netting his eleventh of the year, via Andrej Meszaros and Nicklas Grossman. The Flyers pulled closer with a Braydon Coburn goal, his third of the season, made possible by Matt Carle and Matt Read. Philadelphia tied it in the third period with a Kimmo Timonen power play goal, his third of the year, powered by Claude Giroux and Jaromir Jagr. The Flames retook the lead when Alex Tanguay converted a penalty shot for his ninth of the season, which was the result of a Pavel Kubina slash on breakaway. The Flyers retied it with a Grossman goal, set up by Giroux and Scott Hartnell. The game lasted to a shootout, where Michael Cammalleri and Giroux traded tallies before Read put the game away at 5-4 for good for Philadelphia. The three stars went out to Tanguay, Giroux, and Kostopoulos, while Hartnell and Grossman got the honorable mentions.
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