NHL March 10th 2013

Ten more games to end the weekend, beginning in...

Washington, D.C., as the Capitals host the New York Rangers. Martin Biron and Braden Holtby receive the starting nods. Washington opened with a Steve Oleksy goal, fueled by Jason Chimera and Marcus Johansson. New York tied it as Derek Stepan scored his sixth of the season, assisted by Marian Gaborik and Ryan McDonagh. The Rangers took the lead as Brian Boyle scored, via McDonagh and Carl Hagelin. New York padded the lead on a Ryan Callahan goal, his eighth of the year, coming on the power play from Rick Nash and Michael Del Zotto. Michal Neuvirth relieved Holtby at this time. The Rangers iced it at 4-1 with a Brad Richards goal, his fourth of the campaign, set up by Hagelin and Nash. The three stars went to Biron (28 for 29 in saves), McDonagh, and Oleksy, while Nash and Hagelin get the honorable mentions.

Over in Detroit, the Red Wings host the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sergei Bobrovsky and Jimmy Howard are in the blue paint. Columbus got going in the second period as Derick Brassard scored his fourth of the season, assisted by Fedor Tyutin and Cam Atkinson. Detroit tied it with a Jakub Kindl goal, his third of the year, passed from Pavel Datsyuk. The Blue Jackets got the lead back on an R.J. Umberger goal, his fifth of the season, fueled by Ryan Johansen and Nick Foligno. The Red Wings tied it again in the third period as Johan Franzen scored his fifth of the year, a power play goal, powered by Damien Brunner and Henrik Zetterberg. Columbus won 3-2 in the shootout, with tallies by Johansen and Matt Calvert toppling Datsyuk's lone goal. Umberger, Datsyuk, and Jack Johnson got the three stars, while Johansen gets the honorable mention.

Down in Florida, the Panthers bring in the Montreal Canadiens. Peter Budaj and Jacob Markstrom are set to start. Montreal began with a David Desharnais goal, his eighth of the season, fueled by Brendan Gallagher and Alexei Emelin. The Canadiens added on as Michael Ryder scored a power play goal, his seventh of the year, powered by P.K. Subban and Tomas Plekanec. Montreal extended the lead in the second period as Brian Gionta scored his ninth of the season, guided in by Subban and Plekanec. The Canadiens padded the lead with a Francis Bouillon goal, coming off of Ryder and Gionta. Florida got on the board in the third period when Tomas Kopecky scored his tenth of the year, an unassisted goal. The Panthers pulled closer as Shawn Matthias netted his seventh of the season, with a lone assist from Jack Skille. Montreal shot back as Ryder scored his second of the game and eighth of the year, another power play goal, set up by Subban, who got a sock trick, and Andrei Markov. This produced a 5-2 final score, with the three stars belonging to

Northwest to Chicago, where the Blackhawks host the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Ray Emery are called on to start. Edmonton led off with a first period Mike Brown goal, with a lone assist from Nick Schultz. The Oilers added on as Sam Gagner scored his eighth of the season, guided in by Magnus Paajarvi and Nail Yakupov. Edmonton padded the lead as Ryan Whitney scored his third of the year, courtesy of Taylor Hall and Ales Hemsky. Corey Crawford relieved Emery at this time. The Oilers struck again with another Gagner goal, his second of the game and ninth of the season, coming on the power play from Whitney and Jordan Eberle. Chicago got on the board in the second period when Patrick Kane scored his thirteenth of the year, via Dave Bolland. The Blackhawks chipped away as Marian Hossa potted his eleventh of the season, thanks to Jonathan Toews and Nick Leddy. Yann Danis had to relieve Dubnyk due to injury shortly after this goal. Edmonton shot back on a Shawn Horcoff power play goal, his second of the year, powered by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Justin Schultz. Chicago chipped back on a Sheldon Brookbank shorthanded goal, with an assist from Hossa. The Oilers answered on a Hall power play goal, his fifth of the season, made possible by Nugent-Hopkins and Justin Schultz. The Blackhawks swiftly replied again with a Brent Seabrook goal, his fourth of the year, coming off of Kane and Duncan Keith. Chicago pulled closer in the third period on Kane's second of the night and fourteenth of the season, helped along by Bolland and Brandon Saad on the power play. They failed to complete the comeback, losing 6-5, with the three stars going to Gagner, Kane, and Hall, while Justin Schultz, Nugent-Hopkins, Whitney, Hossa, and Bolland receive the honorable mentions.

Back east, the Pittsburgh Penguins welcome the New York Islanders. Evgeni Nabokov and Tomas Vokoun are the veteran goalies. Pittsburgh started with a Pascal Dupuis goal, his tenth of the season, coming off of Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby. The Penguins added on as Kunitz scored his fifteenth of the year, a power play goal, passed from James Neal and Crosby. Pittsburgh struck again with another Kunitz power play gol, his second of the game and sixteenth of the season, powered by Neal and Crosby, the latter getting a sock trick. New York got on the board in the second period with a Brad Boyes goal, his sixth of the year, courtesy of Casey Cizikas and Matt Moulson. The Penguins replied as Kunitz finished his hat trick with his seventeenth of the season, pushed through by Kris Letang and Crosby. Pittsburgh padded the lead on a Neal goal, his seventeenth of the year, with a lone helper from Letang. Kevin Poulin took over in net for Nabokov in the third period. The Penguins extended the lead as Dupuis scored his second of the game and eleventh of the season, passed from Crosby and Kunitz. This was all for the scoring, resulting in a 6-1 final, with the three stars awarded to Kunitz, Crosby, and Dupuis, while Neal and Letang get the honorable mentions.

Further east, the New Jersey Devils host the Winnipeg Jets. Ondrej Pavelec and Johan Hedberg are between the pipes. New Jersey was first to score in the first period as Ryan Carter scored his third of the season, made possible by Travis Zajac and Anton Volchenkov. The Devils added on with the third of the year by Stephen Gionta, passed from Ilya Kovalchuk and Adam Larsson. Winnipeg got on the board as Mark Stuart potted his second of the season, courtesy of Nik Antropov and Antti Miettinen. The Jets tied it in the second period with Evander Kane scoring his tenth of the year, with a lone assist from Stuart. New Jersey won 3-2 in the shootout as Patrik Elias scored the only goal. Kane, Carter, and Stuart get the three stars.

Crossing into Pennsylvania, where the Philadelphia Flyers host the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Ilya Bryzgalov guard the cages. Philadelphia struck first in the first period with a Simon Gagne power play goal, his second of the season, powered by Kimmo Timonen and the goalie Bryzgalov. The Flyers added on with the second of the year by Max Talbot, a shorthanded goal coming off of Ruslan Fedotenko. Buffalo got on the board as Matt Flynn scored his second of the season, assisted by Kevin Porter and Andrej Sekera. Philadelphia extended the lead on a Claude Giroux goal, his eighth of the year, made possible by Timonen. The Sabres got one back in the third period on a Jochen Hecht shorthanded goal, his second of the season, set up by Steve Ott. They failed to get the equalizer, falling 3-2, with the three stars being handed to Giroux, Talbot, and Porter, while Timonen gets an honorable mention.

Way west to Colorado, as the Avalanche host the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Semyon Varlamov protect the nets. Colorado opened with a first period Matt Duchene power play goal, his tenth of the season, powered by P.A. Parenteau and Gabriel Landeskog. The Avalanche added on in the second period as Ryan O'Reilly scored his second of the year, with the help of Aaron Palushaj and John Mitchell. San Jose got on the board with a Patrick Marleau goal, his thirteenth of the season, assisted by Justin Braun and Ryane Clowe. The Sharks tied it in the third period as Logan Couture netted his tenth of the year, courtesy of Joe Thornton. Colorado won 3-2 in overtime as Duchene scored his second of the game and eleventh of the campaign, with helpers provided by Parenteau and Jan Hejda. Duchene, Varlamov (36 for 38 in saves), and Niemi (39 for 42 in saves) were named the three stars, and Parenteau gets an honorable mention.

Into California, where the Anaheim Ducks welcome the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Jonas Hiller are the masked men. St. Louis began with a Ryan Reaves goal, fueled by Wade Redden and Adam Cracknell. Anaheim tied it in the second period on a shorthanded goal by Andrew Cogliano, his ninth of the season, passed from Emerson Etem and Ben Lovejoy. The Blues took the lead back in the third period on a Patrik Berglund power play goal, his thirteenth of the year, powered by Kris Russell and T.J. Oshie. The Ducks tied it on a Bobby Ryan goal, his eighth of the season, assisted by Ryan Getzlaf and Francois Beauchemin. Anaheim gained the lead as Corey Perry scored his eighth of the year, a power play goal set up by Getzlaf and Beauchemin. The Ducks iced it at 4-2 with Perry scoring his second of the game and ninth of the campaign in the empty net, with assists provided by Beauchemin, who got a sock trick, and Sheldon Souray. Getzlaf, Perry, and Beauchemin received the three stars.

Finally, we end in Minnesota, as the Wild bring in the Vancouver Canucks. Cory Schneider and Niklas Backstrom occupy the creases. Minnesota quickly started in the first period with Zach Parise's tenth of the season, assisted by Mikko Koivu and Jared Spurgeon. The Wild added on as Jason Zucker scored his fourth of the year, fueled by Matt Cullen and Clayton Stoner. Minnesota padded the lead in the second period on a Spurgeon power play goal, his third of the season, powered by Ryan Suter and Parise. Vancouver got on the board as Chris Higgins notched his seventh of the year, via Andrew Alberts. The Canucks pulled closer in the third period on a Henrik Sedin goal, his sixth of the season, made possible by Jason Garrison and David Booth. The Wild extended the lead on another Parise goal, his second of the game and eleventh of the year, courtesy of Suter and Charlie Coyle. This was good for a 4-2 final, with the three stars being Parise, Suter, and Coyle, while Spurgeon got the honorable mention.

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