NHL April 5th 2013

Six games on a slightly busy Friday, beginning in...

Pittsburgh, with the Penguins hosting the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Marc-Andre Fleury tend the twines. Pittsburgh got going in the third period with a Jussi Jokinen goal, his seventh of the season, assisted by Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis. New York tied it with a Rick Nash goal, his fourteenth of the year, coming from Derek Stepan. The game went to a shootout, where a lone tally by Jokinen lifted the Penguins to a 2-1 win. Fleury (34 for 35 in saves), Jokinen, and Lundqvist (26 for 27 in saves) received the three stars.

Over in Buffalo, the Sabres host the Ottawa Senators. Robin Lehner and Ryan Miller are the masked men. Buffalo began in the first period with a Luke Adam goal, fueled by Adam Pardy and Mike Weber. Ottawa tied it as Marc Methot scored his second of the season, thanks to Jakob Silfverberg and Mika Zibanejad. The Senators took the lead in the third period on an Eric Gryba goal, his second of the year, coming off of Zibanejad and Chris Neil. The Sabres tied it as Steve Ott scored his seventh of the season, courtesy of Mark Pysyk and Pardy. Buffalo took the lead on a Brian Flynn goal, his fourth of the year, made possible by Jochen Hecht and Weber. The Sabres added on with a Hecht goal, his third of the season, with assists provided by Tyler Myers and Kevin Porter. This made it 4-2, the final, with the three stars going to Weber, Miller (35 for 37 in saves), and Ott, while Hecht, Zibanejad, and Pardy receive the honorable mentions.

West to St. Louis, as the Blues host the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sergei Bobrovsky and Jake Allen are the young goalies. St. Louis started in the second period on a Chris Stewart power play goal, his sixteenth of the season, powered by Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. Columbus tied it as Artem Anisimov scored his tenth of the year, via Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal. The Blues took the lead back with a David Backes goal, his fifth of the season, with a lone assist by Alexander Steen. St. Louis finished it at 3-1 with an empty net goal by Patrik Berglund, his fifteenth of the year, set up by Bouwmeester. The three stars went to Backes, Allen (26 for 27 in saves), and Bobrovsky (16 for 18 in saves), while Bouwmeester could take the third slot.

Further to the west, the Colorado Avalanche welcome the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Jean-Sebastien Giguere are in the creases. Detroit opened in the first period with a Pavel Datsyuk power play goal, his twelfth of the season, powered by Johan Franzen and Henrik Zetterberg. Colorado tied it with a Mark Olver goal, his fourth of the year, made possible by David van der Gulik and Aaron Palushaj. The Red Wings took the lead back with a Gustav Nyquist goal, his second of the season, going in unassisted. The Avalanche tied it in the third period as P.A. Parenteau scored his fifteenth of the year, via Jamie McGinn and Matt Duchene. Detroit won 3-2 in overtime as Datsyuk scored his second of the game and thirteenth of the campaign, with a lone helper from Zetterberg. The three stars were awarded to Datsyuk, Parenteau, and Olver, while Zetterberg gets an honorable mention.

Southwest to Anaheim, as the Ducks host the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Viktor Fasth protect the nets.
Dallas led off in the first period with a Lane MacDermid goal, his second of the season, coming off of Antoine Roussel and Ryan Garbutt. Anaheim tied it on an Andrew Cogliano goal, his twelfth of the year, via Dave Steckel and Bryan Allen. The Stars took the lead back on a shorthanded goal by Eric Nystrom, his fifth of the season, set up by Vernon Fiddler and Trevor Daley. Dallas added on with an Alex Chiasson goal, assisted by Fiddler and Brenden Dillon. This was all they needed to win 3-1, with the three stars belonging to Lehtonen (27 for 28 in saves), Corey Perry, and Stephane Robidas, while Fiddler and Chiasson could take the second and third slots.

Finally, in San Jose, the Sharks bring in the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Antti Niemi are the Finnish goalies. Calgary was first to score in the first period as Mikael Backlund potted his sixth of the season, a power play goal powered by Michael Cammalleri. San Jose tied it on a third period Dan Boyle goal, his seventh of the year, fueled by Logan Couture and Matt Tennyson. The Sharks gained the lead with the twelfth of the campaign by Joe Pavelski, assisted by Brent Burns and T.J. Galiardi. This made it 2-1, the final, with Pavelski, Kiprusoff (39 for 41 in saves), and Niemi (23 for 24 in saves) getting the three stars.

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