Thursday, March 12, 2015

NHL March 12th, 2015

Eleven games as the NHL enters its final month of the regular season. We begin with...

The Boston Bruins hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ben Bishop and Tuukka Rask guard the cages. Boston began in the first period on a David Pastrnak goal, his ninth of the season, via Ryan Spooner and Milan Lucic. Tampa Bay tied it on a Steven Stamkos goal, his thirty-seventh of the year, going in unassisted. The Bruins retook the lead in the third period with a Patrice Bergeron goal, his nineteenth of the season, courtesy of Dennis Seidenberg. The Lightning tied it on a Vladislav Nemestnikov goal, his fifth of the year, with assists provided by Mark Barberio and Andrej Suster. The game went to a shootout, where Bergeron and Brad Marchand scored to give the Bruins a 3-2 win. The three stars were Bergeron, Rask (35 for 37 in saves), and Pastrnak.

Down in Raleigh, the Carolina Hurricanes welcome the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Anton Khudobin make the starts. Carolina led off in the first period on a Victor Rask goal, his tenth of the season, courtesy of Brett Bellemore and Michal Jordan. Dallas tied it on a Curtis McKenzie goal, his fourth of the year, made possible by Shawn Horcoff and Brett Ritchie. The Stars took the lead with an Alex Goligoski goal, his fourth of the season, coming off of Cody Eakin and Patrick Eaves. Dallas added on with an unassisted goal by Jason Demers, his fourth of the year. The Stars extended the lead in the third period on Eakin's sixteenth of the season, via Goligoski and Jamie Benn. The Hurricanes got one back with an Andrej Nestrasil goal, his sixth of the year, assisted by Chris Terry and Rask. Carolina pulled closer on a Terry goal, his eighth of the season, helped along by Bellemore and Rask. Dallas finished it at 5-3 on an Eaves empty net goal, his eighth of the year, going in unassisted. The three stars were Eakin, Goligoski, and Rask, while Terry, Bellemore, and Eaves get the honorable mentions.

Back north, the Pittsburgh Penguins bring in the Edmonton Oilers. Ben Scrivens is mismatched with Marc-Andre Fleury in goal. Pittsburgh opened with a shorthanded Brandon Sutter goal, his fourteenth of the season, set up by Daniel Winnik and Ben Lovejoy. The Penguins added on with another Sutter goal, his second of the game and fifteenth of the year, assisted by Steve Downie and Winnik. Pittsburgh extended the lead as David Perron scored his sixteenth of the season, with the help of Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist. The Penguins padded the lead in the second period on a Crosby power play goal, his twenty-third of the year, guided in by Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin. Edmonton got on the board with an Anton Lander power play goal, his fifth of the season, powered by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle. The Oilers pulled closer on an Eberle goal, his seventeenth of the year, passed from Nugent-Hopkins and Mark Fayne. Edmonton chipped closer in the third period as Benoit Pouliot scored his fourteenth of the season, a power play goal made possible by Derek Roy and Oscar Klefbom. The Oilers tied it on a Roy goal, his eighth of the year, with a lone helper from Nail Yakupov. Pittsburgh regained the lead as Downie scored his twelfth of the season, thanks to Maxim Lapierre and Nick Spaling. The Penguins wrapped it up at 6-4 on a Hornqvist goal, his twenty-third of the year, with helpers provided by Crosby and Perron. The three stars were handed to Downie, Crosby, and Sutter, while Winnik, Perron, Hornqvist, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, and Roy all get honorable mentions.

West to Detroit, as the Red Wings host the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sergei Bobrovsky and Jimmy Howard protect the nets. Detroit was first to score in the first period on a Justin Abdelkader power play goal, his eighteenth of the season, powered by Marek Zidlicky and Gustav Nyquist. Columbus tied it on a Fedor Tyutin goal, his third of the year, fueled by Nick Foligno and Corey Tropp. The Blue Jackets took the lead with a Scott Hartnell goal, his nineteenth of the season, coming off of Artem Anisimov and Marko Dano. Columbus added on in the second period on a Cam Atkinson power play goal, his fourteenth of the year, powered by David Savard. This held up for a 3-1 win, with the three stars given to Hartnell, Bobrovsky (41 for 42 in saves), and Tyutin.

Into Canada, with the Montreal Canadiens welcoming the Ottawa Senators. Andrew Hammond and Carey Price play between the pipes. Montreal struck first in the first period on a Max Pacioretty power play goal, his thirty-second of the year, powered by P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov. The Canadiens added on with a shorthanded goal by Pacioretty, his second of the game and thirty-third of the season, set up by Lars Eller. Ottawa got on the board in the second period with an Erik Karlsson goal, his seventeenth of the year, via David Legwand and Marc Methot. The Senators tied it on an Erik Condra goal, his ninth of the season, passed from Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Mark Borowiecki. Ottawa took the lead in the third period as Mark Stone scored a power play goal, his seventeenth of the year, made possible by Patrick Wiercioch and Karlsson. The Senators extended the lead on a Karlsson goal, his second of the game and eighteenth of the season, driven in by Milan Michalek. Ottawa iced it at 5-2 on a Methot goal, with assists provided by Alex Chiasson and Michalek. The three stars belonged to Karlsson, Pacioretty, and Methot, while Michalek gets an honorable mention.

Way to the south, the Florida Panthers bring in the Winnipeg Jets. Michael Hutchinson and Dan Ellis are in the creases. Florida started in the first period on a Derek MacKenzie goal, his fifth of the season, via Dave Bolland and Shawn Thornton. Winnipeg tied it on a Mark Scheifele goal in the second period, his eleventh of the year, passed from Blake Wheeler and Adam Pardy. The Panthers retook the lead as Brad Boyes scored his twelfth of the season, a power play goal from Jonathan Huberdeau and Jaromir Jagr. The Jets tied it again in the third period with a Drew Stafford goal, his thirteenth of the year, assisted by Michael Frolik and Jiri Tlusty. Florida gained the lead on an Aleksander Barkov goal, his eleventh of the season, guided in by Huberdeau and Jagr. The Panthers iced it at 4-2 with a Nick Bjugstad empty net goal, his twenty-fourth of the year, set up by Jussi Jokinen. The three stars were given to Barkov, Huberdeau, and Jagr.

Northwest to St. Louis, as the Blues host the Philadelphia Flyers. Steve Mason and Brian Elliott are the average goalies. The goalies played perfectly, and the game was decided on shootout goals by T.J. Oshie and Vladimir Tarasenko. The 1-0 Blues win saw the three stars awarded to Elliott (28 save shutout), Mason (35 save "shutout"), and Oshie.

Westward to Colorado, with the Avalanche welcoming the New Jersey Devils. Cory Schneider and Semyon Varlamov are the masked men. Colorado got going in the second period on a Jarome Iginla goal, his twenty-second of the season, assisted by Matt Duchene and John Mitchell. New Jersey tied it on an Andy Greene goal, his third of the year, made possible by Adam Henrique and Adam Larsson. The tie lasted to a shootout, where Ryan O'Reilly and Iginla combined to top Jacob Josefson for a 2-1 Avalanche win. The three stars went to Iginla, Varlamov (23 for 24 in saves), and Schneider (28 for 29 in saves).

Up in Vancouver, the Canucks bring in the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Eddie Lack occupy the blue paint. Los Angeles began in the first period on a Tyler Toffoli power play goal, his twentieth of the season, powered by Justin Williams and Jake Muzzin. The Kings added on in the second period as Williams scored his seventeenth of the year, thanks to Brayden McNabb and Nick Shore. Los Angeles extended the lead with an unassisted Anze Kopitar goal in the third period, his fourteenth of the season. The Kings finished it at 4-0 on a Marian Gaborik empty net goal, his twenty-first of the year, set up by Kopitar and Trevor Lewis. The three stars were handed to Quick (19 save shutout), Williams, and Kopitar.

To the south, the Arizona Coyotes host the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Mike Smith receive the starting nods. Arizona led off in the first period on a Tobias Rieder goal, his eleventh of the season, via Mark Arcobello and Sam Gagner. Chicago tied it on an Andrew Shaw power play goal, his tenth of the year, powered by Duncan Keith and Marian Hossa. The Blackhawks took the lead in the third period on a Brad Richards power play goal, his tenth of the campaign, assisted by Kris Versteeg and Teuvo Teravainen. This made it 2-1, the final, with the three stars being Richards, Crawford (17 for 18 in saves), and Smith (42 for 44 in saves).

Finally, the San Jose Sharks host the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Antti Niemi tend the twines. San Jose dented the scoreboard in the second period on a Tomas Hertl power play goal, his eleventh of the season, powered by Justin Braun and Chris Tierney. The Sharks added on in the third period as Tommy Wingels scored an empty net power play goal, his fourteenth of the year, set up by Tierney and Hertl. The final stood at 2-0, with the three stars given to Niemi (35 save shutout), Hertl, and Tierney.

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