NHL April 4th 2013

Ten games on tonight as the traded players settle into new cities. We begin with...

The Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ben Bishop and Dan Ellis will make the starts. Tampa Bay got going in the second period with a Teddy Purcell goal, his eighth of the season, fueled by Matt Carle. The Lightning added on as Tom Pyatt scored his eighth of the year, via Alex Killorn and Eric Brewer. Tampa Bay extended the lead as Keith Aulie scored his second of the season, thanks to Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis. The Lightning padded the lead in the third period with a St. Louis goal, his ninth of the year, assisted by Benoir Pouliot and Carle. Tampa Bay kept going with a Pouliot goal, his seventh of the campaign, coming off of Stamkos and St. Louis. This made it 5-0, the final, with the three stars going to Bishop (45 save shutout), St. Louis, and Pouliot, while Carle and Stamkos got the honorable mentions.

Up in Boston, the Bruins host the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Tuukka Rask guard the cages. Boston opened in the second period with a Jaromir Jagr goal, his fifteenth of the season, courtesy of Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara. This was the game's only goal, resulting in a 1-0 final. Rask (40 save shutout), Jagr, and Brodeur (25 for 26 in saves) were awarded the three stars.

Over in DC, the Washington Capitals welcome the New York Islanders. Evgeni Nabokov and Braden Holtby are in the creases. New York started in the first period as Mike Green scored his eighth of the season, via Marcus Johansson and Nicklas Backstrom. New York tied it in the third period with a Kyle Okposo goal, his fourth of the year, made possible by Frans Nielsen and Josh Bailey. The game went into a shootout, where a lone tally by Alex Ovechkin lifted the Capitals to a 2-1 win. The three stars were Holtby (35 for 36 in saves), Green, and Nabokov (21 for 22 in saves).

Crossing into Canada, as the Toronto Maple Leafs bring in the Philadelphia Flyers. Ilya Bryzgalov and James Reimer received the starting nods. Philadelphia led off in the first period on a Simon Gagne goal, his fourth of the season, fueled by Erik Gustafsson and Ruslan Fedotenko. Toronto tied it with a Nikolai Kulemin goal, his seventh of the year, coming off of Joffrey Lupul and Dion Phaneuf. The Maple Leafs gained the lead as John-Michael Liles scored his second of the season, via Mikhail Grabovski and Frazer McLaren. The Flyers pulled even as Jakub Voracek scored his sixteenth of the year, assisted by Sean Couturier and Matt Read. Philadelphia took the lead in the second period as Brayden Schenn scored his seventh of the campaign, an unassisted goal. The Flyers extended the lead with a Jay Rosehill goal, with a lone assists by Couturier. Toronto got one back in the third period as James van Riemsdyk notched his fifteenth of the season, helped along by Phaneuf and Cody Franson. Philadelphia iced it at 5-3 as Luke Schenn scored his third of the year, an empty net goal set up by Gustafsson and Claude Giroux. The three stars went to Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds, and Nazem Kadri, while Gustafsson, Phaneuf, or Couturier could take the bottom two slots.

Staying in Canada, the Montreal Canadiens host the Winnipeg Jets. Ondrej Pavelec and Peter Budaj are between the pipes. Winnipeg struck first in the first period on an Alex Burmistrov goal, his fourth of the season, assisted by Grant Clitsome and Andrew Ladd. Montreal tied it on a Michael Ryder power play goal, his fourteenth of the year, powered by Brian Gionta and Lars Eller. The Canadiens took the lead in the second period when Ryder scored his second of the game and fifteenth of the season, via P.K.Subban. Montreal added on with a power play goal by Gionta, his eleventh of the year, made possible by Eller and Subban. The Canadiens padded the lead in the third period when Alex Galchenyuk registered his fourth of the campaign, with the help of Travis Moen and Ryder. This held up for a 4-1 win, with the three stars being Ryder, Budaj (33 for 34 in saves), and Subban, while Gionta and Eller receive the honorable mentions.

South to Nashville, where the Predators bring in the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sergei Bobrovsky and Pekka Rinne are the masked men. Columbus was first to score in the second period on a James Wisniewski power play goal, his fourth of the season, powered by Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik. Nashville tied it on a Kevin Klein goal, his third of the year, with assists provided by Patric Hornqvist and David Legwand. The Blue Jackets took the lead in the third period as Gaborik scored his tenth of the season, thanks to Dubinsky and Matt Calvert. Columbus added on as Calvert scored his seventh of the year, with a lone assist by Fedor Tyutin. This made it 3-1, the final, with the three stars belonging to Gaborik, Bobrovsky (38 for 39 in saves), and Calvert, while Dubinsky gets an honorable mention.

A little north to Chicago, as the Blackhawks host the St. Louis Blues. Brian Elliott and Corey Crawford are called on to start. St. Louis began with a first period Adam Cracknell goal, made possible by Chris Porter and Ryan Reaves. Chicago tied it in the second period when Jonathan Toews scored his eighteenth of the season, fueled by Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane. The Blackhawks took the lead on a Brandon Saad goal, his eighth of the year, via Toews. The Blues tied it in the third period with another Cracknell goal, his second of the game, coming from Porter. St. Louis took the lead as David Backes notched his fourth of the season, courtesy of Jay Bouwmeester and Alexander Steen. Chicago retied the game as Viktor Stalberg scored his seventh of the year, assisted by Michal Rozsival and Bryan Bickell. The game went to a shootout, where Toews was matched by Chris Stewart, Kane was canceled out by Andy McDonald, and Marian Hossa was paced by Steen before the Blues broke through for a 4-3 win on a Kevin Shattenkirk tally. Cracknell, Toews, and Backes received the three stars while Porter gets an honorable mention.

Southwest to Phoenix, as the Coyotes host the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard faces a lesser foe in Chad Johnson in goal. Detroit started in the first period with a Valtteri Filppula goal, his seventh of the season coming on the power play from Gustav Nyquist and Brendan Smith. Phoenix tied it in the second period as Michael Stone scored his fourth of the year, courtesy of Keith Yandle and Mikkel Boedker. The Coyotes took the lead on a Chris Conner goal, fueled by Boedker and Antoine Vermette. Phoenix added on with a Shane Doan goal, his twelfth of the season, made possible by Martin Hanzal and Yandle. The Red Wings got one back in the third period as Daniel Cleary scored his ninth of the year, a power play goal powered by Johan Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg. The Coyotes iced it at 4-2 with an empty net goal by Hanzal, his tenth of the campaign, set up by Stone. The three stars were Johnson (34 for 36 in saves), Boedker, and Conner, while Hanzal, Stone, and Yandle got the honorable mentions.

West to Los Angeles, where the Kings welcome the Minnesota Wild. Niklas Backstrom and Jonathan Bernier have the green light to start. Los Angeles opened with a first period goal by Justin Williams, his ninth of the season, going in unassisted. The Kings added on as Jeff Carter scored his twenty-first of the year, assisted by Mike Richards and Drew Doughty. Darcy Kuemper relieved Backstrom at this time. Los Angeles extended the lead in the second period on another Williams goal, his second of the game and tenth of the season, fueled by Anze Kopitar and Robyn Regehr. This was it for the scoring, with the final being 3-0, and the three stars went to Williams, Bernier (23 save shutout), and Regehr.

Finally, we end in Vancouver, as the Canucks host the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Cory Schneider will man the blue paint. Vancouver led off in the first period on a Kevin Bieksa power play goal, his sixth of the season, powered by Henrik Sedin and Jason Garrison. The Canucks added on in the second period as Henrik Sedin scored his tenth of the year, via Daniel Sedin and Dan Hamhuis. Vancouver extended the lead in the third period with the tenth of the season by Chris Higgins, fueled by Derek Roy and Jannik Hansen. The Canucks padded the lead on a Zack Kassian goal, his sixth of the year, thanks to Maxim Lapierre and Garrison. This was good for a 4-0 win, with Schneider (23 save shutout), Henrik Sedin, and Roy getting the three stars while Garrison gets an honorable mention.

Follow me on Twitter @KipperScorpion.