Tuesday, March 31, 2015

NHL March 31st, 2015

Seven games on for tonight, beginning in...

Boston, as the Bruins host the Florida Panthers. Roberto Luongo and Tuukka Rask guard the cages. Boston opened in the first period on a Loui Eriksson goal, his twentieth of the season, via Carl Soderberg. Florida tied it on a second period goal by Brandon Pirri, his twenty-first of the year, a power play goal powered by Brian Campbell and Jimmy Hayes. The Panthers took the lead on a Brad Boyes goal, his thirteenth of the season, going in unassisted. The Bruins tied it in the third period on a David Pastrnak goal, his eleventh of the year, assisted by Ryan Spooner and Milan Lucic. Boston won 3-2 with a Lucic goal, his eighteenth of the campaign, made possible by Pastrnak and Spooner. The three stars went to Lucic, Pastrnak, and Spooner.

Down in DC, the Washington Capitals welcome the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Braden Holtby are in the blue paint. Washington struck first in the first period on Mike Green's eighth of the season, courtesy of Tom Wilson and Curtis Glencross. The Capitals added on with an Alex Ovechkin goal, his fiftieth of the year, assisted by Evgeny Kuznetsov and Matt Niskanen. Carolina got on the board in the second period as Nathan Gerbe scored his ninth of the season, thanks to and Alexander Semin. The Hurricanes tied it with an Eric Staal goal, his twenty-second of the year, via Chris Terry and John-Michael Liles. Washington regained the lead with a Brooks Laich goal, his seventh of the season, coming off of Jason Chimera and Green. The Capitals extended the lead with a Joel Ward goal, his seventeenth of the year, with assists provided by Ovechkin and Kuznetsov. This held up for a 4-2 win, with the three stars being Ovechkin, Green, and Kuznetsov.

Over in Columbus, the Blue Jackets bring in the New Jersey Devils. Sergei Bobrovsky and Cory Schneider tend the twines. New Jersey started in the first period on a Michael Cammalleri power play goal, his twenty-sixth of the season, powered by Eric Gelinas and Adam Henrique. Columbus tied it on a Nick Foligno power play goal in the second period, his twenty-seventh of the year, assisted by Alexander Wennberg and Ryan Johansen. The Blue Jackets took the lead with a Brandon Dubinsky penalty shot goal for his tenth of the season. The Devils retied it in the third period on a Cammalleri shorthanded goal, his second of the game and twenty-seventh of the year, set up by Dainius Zubrus and Adam Larsson. Columbus won 3-2 in overtime on a Jack Johnson goal, his seventh of the campaign, passed from David Savard and Johansen. The three stars went to Cammalleri, Johnson, and Johansen.

Up in Detroit, the Red Wings host the Ottawa Senators. Andrew Hammond and Petr Mrazek draw the starts. Detroit got going in the second period with a Gustav Nyquist goal, his twenty-fifth of the season, with a lone assist by Justin Abdelkader. Ottawa tied it in the third period with a Clarke MacArthur goal, his fourteenth of the year, passed from Mark Stone and Kyle Turris. The tie went to a shootout, where Mika Zibanejad, Turris, and Stone scored for Senators to top the Red Wings' Nyquist and Tatar. The three stars of the 2-1 Senators win were Stone, Turris, and Nyquist.

Into Ontario, where the Toronto Maple Leafs bring in the Tampa Bay Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy and James Reimer are set to start in goal. Toronto began in the first period on a Nazem Kadri power play goal, his seventeenth of the season, powered by Joakim Lindstrom and T.J. Brennan. The Maple Leafs added on with a David Booth goal, his seventh of the year, going in unassisted. Tampa Bay got on the board with a Ryan Callahan power play goal, his twenty-third of the season, with helpers provided by Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov. Toronto shot back with a Morgan Rielly goal in the third period, his eighth of the year, made possible by Kadri and Jake Gardiner. This made it 3-1, the final, with the three stars being Kadri, Reimer (40 for 41 in saves), Booth.

South to Nashville, as the Predators welcome the Vancouver Canucks. Eddie Lack and Pekka Rinne are the masked men. Nashville was first to score in the first period on a Cody Franson power play goal, his seventh of the season, powered by Mike Fisher. The Predators added on with Taylor Beck's eighth of the year, with a lone assist by Paul Gaustad. Vancouver got on the board in the second period with a Linden Vey goal, his tenth of the season, made possible by Derek Dorsett and Dan Hamhuis. The Canucks tied it as Jannik Hansen scored his fifteenth of the year, with the help of Nick Bonino and Hamhuis. Nashville pulled ahead on a Viktor Stalberg goal, his second of the season, coming off of Anton Volchenkov. Vancouver tied it in the third period on an Alexandre Burrows shorthanded goal, his sixteenth of the year, going in unassisted. The Canucks took the lead with a power play goal by Chris Higgins, his twelfth of the season, passed from Burrows and Bonino. The Predators tied it with a Fisher power play goal, his nineteenth of the year, an unassisted goal. In the shootout, Bonino and Radim Vrbata scored for a 5-4 Canucks victory. The three stars went to Burrows, Bonino, and Fisher, while Hamhuis gets an honorable mention.

Finally, the Winnipeg Jets host the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist opposes a lesser foe in Ondrej Pavelec in goal. Winnipeg led off in the first period with a Jim Slater goal, his fourth of the season, passed from Chris Thorburn and Jiri Tlusty. New York tied it on a Mats Zuccarello goal, his fifteenth of the year, assisted by Rick Nash and Derick Brassard. The Jets took the lead with a second period goal by Lee Stempniak, his twelfth of the season, coming off of Mathieu Perreault and Adam Lowry. The Rangers tied it again with a Brassard power play goal, his seventeenth of the year, powered by Ryan McDonagh and Keith Yandle. New York took the lead on a Chris Kreider goal in the third period, his twenty-first of the season, made possible by J.T. Miller and Derek Stepan. The final was 3-2, with the three stars going to Brassard, Kreider, and Lundqvist (32 for 34 in saves).

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