NHL March 20th 2013

Five games on today, starting in...

Toronto, as the Maple Leafs host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Mathieu Garon and James Reimer are given the starting nods. Toronto began as Joffrey Lupul scored his third of the season in the first period, assisted by Nazem Kadri and Carl Gunnarsson. The Maple Leafs added on in the second period as Dion Phaneuf scored his fifth of the year, courtesy of Gunnarsson and Kadri. Toronto extended the lead as Tyler Bozak netted his eighth of the season, via Phil Kessel and Mark Fraser. Anders Lindback relieved Garon at this time. The Maple Leafs padded the lead with a Nikolai Kulemin goal, his fourth of the year, passed from Kadri, who got a sock trick, and Lupul. Tampa Bay got on the board in the third period as Radko Gudas scored, with assists provided by Pierre-Cedric Labrie and B.J. Crombeen. The Lightning got another back as Cory Conacher netted his eighth of the season, coming off of Tyler Johnson and Martin St. Louis. This only made it 4-2, a final, with the three stars being given to Kadri, Lupul, and Gunnarsson.

Over in Detroit, the Red Wings host the Minnesota Wild. Niklas Backstrom and Jimmy Howard tend the twines. Minnesota was first to score in the first period with a Devin Setoguchi goal, his tenth of the season, assisted by Matt Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. The Wild added on in the second period with a Kyle Brodziak power play goal, his fifth of the year, powered by Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter. Detroit got on the board as Gustav Nyquist scored, an unassisted goal. Minnesota shot back as Mikko Koivu scored his seventh of the season, with the help of Charlie Coyle and Zach Parise. The Wild padded the lead as Setoguchi scored his second of the game and eleventh of the year, a power play goal set up by Dany Heatley and Bouchard. The Red Wings took one back late in the third period as Drew Miller scored a power play goal, his third of the campaign, coming off of Jordin Tootoo and Cory Emmerton. This only made it 4-2, the final, with Setoguchi, Nyquist, and Backstrom (36 for 38 in saves) receiving the three stars, while Bouchard gets an honorable mention.

Southwest to Colorado, where the Avalanche bring in the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen guard the cages. Dallas led off in the first period with a Jaromir Jagr goal, his eleventh of the season, assisted by Vernon Fiddler. The Stars added on as Trevor Daley scored his third of the year, passed from Jagr and Alex Goligoski. Colorado got on the board in the second period as Mark Olver netted his third of the season, thanks to Patrick Bordeleau and Chuck Kobasew. The Avalanche tied it as Gabriel Landeskog scored his sixth of the year, a shorthanded and unassisted goal. Dallas took the lead back as Ray Whitney scored his fourth of the season, with the help of Jagr and Cody Eakin. Colorado retied it in the third period as Ryan O'Reilly notched his third of the year, with assists provided by Olver and Jan Hejda. The Avalanche took the lead on a Kobasew goal, his fourth of the season, via Matt Hunwick and Olver. This was good for a 4-3 win, with the three stars belonging to Kobasew, Jagr, and O'Reilly, while Olver gets an honorable mention.

Up in Edmonton, the Oilers welcome the San Jose Sharks. Antti Niemi and Devan Dubnyk are the masked men. Edmonton got going in the first period with a Sam Gagner power play goal, his twelfth of the season, powered by Nail Yakupov and Ryan Whitney. San Jose tied it with a Logan Couture, his thirteenth of the year, courtesy of Martin Havlat. The Oilers took the lead back in the second period on a Shawn Horcoff goal, his fourth of the season, coming off of Nick Schultz and Lennart Petrell. Edmonton extended the lead as Ryan Jones scored, an unassisted goal. The Sharks got one back as Couture scored his second of the game and fourteenth of the year, a power play goal with a lone assist from Joe Thornton. San Jose tied it on a Tommy Wingels goal, his second of the season, guided in by T.J. Galiardi. The Sharks won 4-3 in the shootout with goals by Couture and Boyle to upend a lone tally from Jordan Eberle. Horcoff, Couture, and Jones received the three stars, while Boyle gets an honorable mention.

Finally, we end in Anaheim, where the Ducks host the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Jonas Hiller protect the nets. Anaheim struck first in the first period with a Peter Holland goal, his third of the season, made possible by Luca Sbisa and Daniel Winnik. Chicago tied it on a Jonathan Toews goal, his fifteenth of the year, going in shorthanded and unassisted. The Blackhawks took the lead in the second period as Nick Leddy scored his fourth of the season, a power play goal powered by Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad. The Ducks pulled even with a Bobby Ryan goal in the third period, his ninth of the year, guided in by Ryan Getzlaf and Kyle Palmieri. Anaheim took the lead as Teemu Selanne scored his seventh of the campaign, assisted by Getzlaf. The Ducks iced it at 4-2 with a Sheldon Souray empty net goal, his sixth of the year, set up by the goalie Hiller. The three stars belonged to Getzlaf, Cam Fowler, and Toews, while any other point-earner could take the second slot.

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