NHL April 3rd 2013

Only five games on tonight, beginning in...

New York City, as the Rangers host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Henrik Lundqvist tend the twines. New York was first to score in the first period with a Brian Boyle potting his second of the season, a power play goal powered by Brad Richards and Derick Brassard. The Rangers added on as Ryan McDonagh scored his third of the year, with the help of Richards and Ryane Clowe. New York padded the lead as Clowe scored, courtesy of Derek Stepan. The Rangers struck again in the second period as Brassard scored a power play goal, set up by Boyle and Dan Girardi. Pittsburgh got on the board as Pascal Dupuis potted his eighteenth of the season, with assists provided by Robert Bortuzzo and Brenden Morrow. New York shot back with another Clowe goal, coming on the power play via Brassard and Boyle. The Rangers iced it at 6-1 with a third period John Moore goal, made possible by Boyle and Brassard, both of whom got a sock trick. The three stars went to Clowe, Brassard, and Richards, while Boyle gets an honorable mention.

Over in Philadelphia, the Flyers bring in the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price and Ilya Bryzgalov guard the cages. Montreal struck first in the first period as Alexei Emelin scored his third of the season, thanks to Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais. Philadelphia tied it in the second period on a Sean Couturier goal, his third of the year, passed from Ruslan Fedotenko and Simon Gagne. The Flyers took the lead as Gagne scored his third of the season, fueled by Oliver Lauridsen and Luke Schenn. The Canadiens retied it on a Brandon Prust goal, his fifth of the year, coming off of Jeff Halpern and Alex Galchenyuk. Twenty seconds later, Montreal had the lead when Desharnais scored his ninth of the season, assisted by Emelin and Pacioretty. Philadelphia tied it in the third period on a Wayne Simmonds goal, his twelfth of the year, guided in by Bruno Gervais and Kimmo Timonen. The Flyers gained the lead with an Erik Gustafsson goal, made possible by Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek. Philadelphia iced it at 5-3 on a Voracek goal, his fifteenth of the yer finding the empty net with a lone assist by Read. The three stars were awarded to Read, Simmonds, and Couturier, while Voracek, Gagne, Desharnais, Emelin, and Pacioretty picked up the honorable mentions.

Way southwest to Anaheim, as the Ducks host the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Viktor Fasth draw the starts. Anaheim led off in the first period on a Radek Dvorak goal, fueled by Ryan Getzlaf and Daniel Winnik. The Ducks added on in the second period with a Teemu Selanne power play goal, his tenth of the season, powered by Getzlaf and Cam Fowler. Anaheim extended the lead as Kyle Palmieri scored his eighth of the year, thanks to Peter Holland and Matt Beleskey. Dallas got on the board in the third period on an Erik Cole goal, his seventh of the season, via Vernon Fiddler and Alex Goligoski. The Ducks answered with a Getzlaf goal, his thirteenth of the year, coming off of Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan. The Stars shot back on a Lane MacDermid goal, with a lone assist from Ryan Garbutt. Anaheim iced it at 5-2 with an empty net goal by Andrew Cogliano, his eleventh of the campaign, set up by Saku Koivu and Sheldon Souray. Getzlaf, Fowler, and Palmieri received the three stars.

Up in Calgary, the Flames host the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Joey MacDonald are in the creases. Calgary began with a first period Matt Stajan goal, his fourth of the season, with a lone assist by Dennis Wideman. The Flames added on with another Stajan goal, his second of the game and fifth of the year, coming off of Curtis Glencross and Lee Stempniak. Edmonton got on the board as Sam Gagner scored his fourteenth of the season, assisted by Jeff Petry and Lennart Petrell. The Oilers tied it as Ryan Whitney scored his fourth of the year, courtesy of Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Edmonton took the lead in the second period as Nail Yakupov scored his eighth of the season, a power play goal powered by Gagner and Whitney. The Oilers added on with a Hall power play goal, his thirteenth of the year, set up by Nugent-Hopkins and Justin Schultz. Edmonton padded the lead with a power play goal by Nugent-Hopkins, his third of the season, made possible by Hall and Ales Hemsky. The Oilers struck again on a Jordan Eberle goal in the third period, his eleventh of the year, via Hall and Nugent-Hopkins, both of whom got sock tricks. Edmonton extended the lead with another Eberle goal, his second of the game and twelfth of the season, with a lone helper by Hall. The Oilers finished it at 8-2 with Yakupov's second of the game and ninth of the year, pushed through by Ryan Smyth. The three stars were awarded to Hall, Stajan, and Nugent-Hopkins, while Yakupov, Eberle, Gagner and Whitney receive the honorable mentions.

Finally, we end in San Jose, where the Sharks welcome the Minnesota Wild. Niklas Backstrom and Antti Niemi are the Finnish goalies. San Jose opened with a first period Martin Havlat goal, his fifth of the season, courtesy of Joe Thornton and Brent Burns. The Sharks added on as Dan Boyle scored his sixth of the year, an unassisted power play goal. Minnesota got on the board in the second period with a Charlie Coyle goal, his fifth of the season, via Zach Parise and Jonas Brodin. The Wild tied it as Dany Heatley scored his eleventh of the year, thanks to Justin Falk. San Jose took the lead back on a Thornton goal, his seventh of the season, made possible by Burns. The Sharks iced it at 4-2 with a third period T.J. Galiardi goal, his second of the year, powered by Havlat and Scott Gomez. The three stars went to Joe Pavelski, Burns, and Galiardi, while Thornton and Havlat could take the first slot.

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