NHL March 13th 2013

Three games tonight on a sparse Wednesday. The first comes from...

Montreal, with the Canadiens hosting the Ottawa Senators. Robin Lehner and Carey Price are in the creases. Montreal struck first in the first period as Lars Eller scored his fourth of the season, assisted by Gabriel Dumont. Ottawa tied it with a Mika Zibanejad goal, his sixth of the year coming on the power play from Jakob Silfverberg and Chris Neil. The Canadiens took the lead back in the second period as Brendan Gallagher scored his eighth of the season, a power play goal powered by Max Pacioretty and P.K. Subban. Montreal added on as Subban netted his seventh of the year, a power play goal set up by Andrei Markov and Tomas Plekanec. The Senators got one back as Daniel Alfredsson put away his sixth of the season, a power play goal passed from Kyle Turris and Sergei Gonchar. Ottawa tied it in the third period as Patrick Wiercioch scored his third of the year, thanks to Andre Benoit and Zack Smith. The Canadiens won 4-3 in the shootout with tallies by Alex Galchenyuk and Eller, topping a lone Silfverberg goal for the Senators. Eller, Subban and Gallagher got the three stars.

Down in New Jersey, the Devils host the Philadelphia Flyers. Ilya Bryzgalov and Johan Hedberg play between the pipes. New Jersey was first to score in the first period as Patrik Elias scored his ninth of the season, thanks to Adam Henrique and Steve Bernier. Philadelphia tied it as Jakub Voracek scored his thirteenth of the year, a power play goal powered by Wayne Simmonds and Scott Hartnell. The Devils took the lead back with a Henrique goal, his eighth of the season, made possible by Elias and the goalie Hedberg. New Jersey added on with an Ilya Kovalchuk shorthanded goal, his tenth of the year, via Stephen Gionta. The Devils extended the lead in the second period as Andrei Loktionov scored his fourth of the season, with a lone assist from Alexei Ponikarovsky. New Jersey padded the lead in the third period on another Henrique goal, his second of the game and ninth of the year coming on the power play with the help of Loktionov and Marek Zidlicky. The Flyers got one back as Hartnell notched his second of the season, with an assist provided by Voracek. This only made it 5-2, a final, with the three stars going to Henrique, Hedberg (23 for 25 in saves), and Loktionov, while Elias, Hartnell, and Voracek get the honorable mentions.

Finally, we end in Calgary, as the Flames host the Detroit Red Wings. Jonas Gustavsson and Miikka Kiprusoff receive the starting nods. Detroit opened in the first period with a Niklas Kronwall goal, his fourth of the season, with a lone assist from Pavel Datsyuk. Calgary tied it with an Alex Tanguay goal, his eighth of the year, a power play goal powered by Michael Cammalleri and Dennis Wideman. The Flames took the lead with a Jay Bouwmeester goal, his fifth of the season, coming off of Lee Stempniak and Matt Stajan. The Red Wings tied it in the second period with a Valtteri Filppula power play goal, his fifth of the year, made possible by Kyle Quincey and Gustav Nyquist. Calgary took the lead back in the third period as Stempniak scored his seventh of the season, fueled by Curtis Glencross and Stajan. The Flames extended the lead as Glencross scored his ninth of the year, an unassisted goal. Calgary padded the lead on a Blake Comeau goal, his second of the season, helped along by Mikael Backlund. This made it 5-2, a final, with the three stars being Kiprusoff (36 for 38 in saves), Bouwmeester, and Glencross, while Stajan and Stempniak get honorable mentions.

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