NHL March 31st 2013

Easter Sunday for the Christian world, and hockey brings us five games today. The first is a rivalry game from...

Detroit, as the Red Wings welcome the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Jimmy Howard tend the twines. Chicago opened with a first period Jeremy Morin goal, going in unassisted. The Blackhawks added on as Brandon Saad scored his fifth of the season, courtesy of Michael Frolik and Jonathan Toews. Chicago extended the lead as Dave Bolland scored his sixth of the year, an unassisted goal. The Blackhawks padded the lead in the second period as Toews scored his seventeenth of the season, passed from Saad. Jonas Gustavsson relieved Howard at this time. Chicago kept going as Saad scored his second of the game and sixth of the year, via Hjalmarrson and Toews. The Blackhawks struck again in the third period as Bolland scored his second of the game and seventh of the season, with assists from Jimmy Hayes and Michal Rozsival. Chicago got another with an unassisted Nick Leddy goal, his sixth of the year, going down unassisted. Detroit got on the board late as Cory Emmerton scored his third of the campaign, with the help of Brian Lashoff and Brendan Smith. This produced a 7-1 final, with the three stars going to Saad, Bolland, and Toews.

Down in Dallas, the Stars bring in the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Bernier and Kari Lehtonen are given the starting nods. Los Angeles led off twenty-five seconds in as Jeff Carter scored his twentieth of the season, courtesy of Mike Richards and Dustin Penner. Dallas tied it in the second period on a Jamie Benn goal, his eighth of the year, set up by Alex Goligoski. The Kings took the lead in the third period as Brad Richardson scored, thanks to Kyle Clifford. Los Angeles extended the lead with a Justin Williams goal, his seventh of the season, passed from Dustin Brown and Slava Voynov. The Stars got one back as Ray Whitney scored his seventh of the year, a power play goal powered by Goligoski and Derek Roy. They couldn't get an equalizer, falling 3-2, with the three stars belonging to Richardson, Lehtonen (37 for 40 in saves), and Anze Kopitar, while Goligoski could take the third slot.

Back north, the Columbus Blue Jackets host the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Sergei Bobrovsky guard the cages. Columbus got going in the second period with a Derick Brassard goal, his seventh of the season, assisted by Mark Letestu and Vinny Prospal. Anaheim tied it in the third period on an Emerson Etem goal, his third of the year, made possible by Andrew Cogliano and Bryan Allen. The Blue Jackets won 2-1 on an overtime goal by Letestu, his ninth of the campaign, guided in by Nikita Nikitin and Dalton Prout. The three stars were awarded to Letestu, Bobrovsky (29 for 30 in saves), and Brassard.

East to Philadelphia, as the Flyers host the Washington Capitals. Braden Holtby and Ilya Bryzgalov are the masked men. Washington started in the first period on a Nicklas Backstrom goal, his sixth of the season, via Jack Hillen and Marcus Johansson. Philadelphia tied it with a Max Talbot goal, his fifth of the year, coming off of Zac Rinaldo and Kimmo Timonen. The Flyers took the lead on a Matt Read goal, his ninth of the season, with a lone assist from Claude Giroux. The Capitals tied it with a second period Mike Green goal, his fifth of the year, assisted by Brooks Laich. Washington took the lead in the third period on a Johansson power play goal, his fifth of the season, an unassisted goal. The Capitals extended the lead as Alex Ovechkin potted his eighteenth of the year, a power play goal powered by John Carlson and Troy Brouwer. Philadelphia got one back as Giroux scored his eleventh of the season, courtesy of Timonen and Brayden Schenn. The Flyers tied it with Timonen scoring his fourth of the year, a shorthanded goal, set up by Giroux and Wayne Simmond. Philadelphia won it 5-4 in overtime on a Ruslan Fedotenko goal, his third of the campaign, coming shorthanded from Timonen and Sean Couturier. The three stars of the game were Fedotenko, Timonen, and Giroux, while Johansson gets an honorable mention.

Finally, in Buffalo, the Sabres welcome the Boston Bruins. Anton Khudobin and Ryan Miller are the goalies. Boston began in the third period on a David Krejci goal, his eighth of the season, assisted by Nathan Horton and Matt Bartkowski. The Bruins padded the lead as Horton netted his eleventh of the year, with helpers provided by Krejci and Milan Lucic. This produced a 2-0 final, with the three stars being given to Khudobin (26 save shutout), Krejci, and Miller (29 for 31 in saves), while Horton gets an honorable mention.

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