Tuesday, December 22, 2015

2015-16 NHL Season - Day 76

Ten games on tonight, and that will have to hold everyone over until Saturday, as the NHL takes its holiday break. The first is in...

Boston, as the Bruins host the St. Louis Blues. Jake Allen and Tuukka Rask guard the cages. St. Louis got going in the second period on a Vladimir Tarasenko goal, his twenty-second of the season, assisted by Magnus Paajarvi and David Backes. The Blues added on with a Robby Fabbri goal, his seventh of the year, courtesy of Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester. This made it 2-0, the final, with the three stars being Allen (32 save shutout), Tarasenko, and Fabbri.

Over in New York, the Rangers welcome the Anaheim Ducks. John Gibson and Henrik Lundqvist draw the starts. Anaheim led off in the first period on a Corey Perry goal, his eleventh of the season, coming off of Rickard Rakell. New York tied it on a Derick Brassard goal, his twelfth of the year, going in unassisted. The Rangers took the lead in the third period on a Brassard goal, his second of the game and thirteenth of the season, via Mats Zuccarello. The Ducks tied it on a Rakell goal, his seventh of the year, passed from Ryan Getzlaf and Cam Fowler. New York won 3-2 on a Zuccarello power play goal in overtime, his fifteenth of the campaign, powered by Dan Boyle and Brassard. The three stars went to Brassard, Zuccarello, and Rakell.

Up in Detroit, the Red Wings bring in the New Jersey Devils. Cory Schneider and Jimmy Howard protect the nets. New Jersey opened in the first period on a Kyle Palmieri power play goal, his fourteenth of the season, powered by Jon Merrill. The Devils added on with a Jordin Tootoo goal, his third of the year, coming off of Andy Greene. New Jersey extended the lead as David Schlemko scored his third of the season, thanks to Palmieri. Petr Mrazek replaced Howard in goal. Detroit got on the board with a Dylan Larkin power play goal, his thirteenth of the year, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall. The Red Wings got closer on a second period Mike Green goal, his second of the season, coming on the power play from Brad Richards and Pavel Datsyuk. The Devils answered in the third period with a Sergey Kalinin goal, his fifth of the year, guided in by Jacob Josefson. Detroit pulled back on a Riley Sheahan goal, his fourth of the campaign, with a lone assist by Tomas Jurco. This only made it 4-3, the final, with the three stars handed to Palmieri, Kalinin, and Schlemko.

South to Tampa Bay, as the Lightning host the Vancouver Canucks. Jacob Markstrom is mismatched with Ben Bishop in goal. Vancouver began in the first period on a Sven Baertschi goal, his fifth of the season, fueled by Radim Vrbata and Alex Biega. Tampa Bay tied it on a Jonathan Marchessault power play goal in the second period, his fifth of the year, powered by Nikita Kucherov and Anton Stralman. The Canucks took the lead in the third period on a Daniel Sedin goal, his sixteenth of the campaign, with a lone helper by Henrik Sedin. This held for a 2-1 win, with the three stars given to Markstrom (26 for 27 in saves), Daniel Sedin, and Baertschi.

Staying in the state, the Florida Panthers welcome the Ottawa Senators. Craig Anderson and Roberto Luongo are the experienced goalies. Florida dented the scoreboard in the second period on a Corban Knight goal, passed from Quinton Howden and Jaromir Jagr. Ottawa tied it on a Mark Stone power play goal, his eighth of the campaign, powered by Erik Karlsson and Mika Zibanejad in the third period. The tie went to a shootout, where Brandon Pirri and Aleksander Barkov sealed the 2-1 win for the Panthers. The three stars belonged to Anderson (39 for 40 in saves), Barkov, and Luongo (15 for 16 in saves).

Way to the north, the Minnesota Wild bring in the Montreal Canadiens. Mike Condon and Darcy Kuemper are the unimpressive goalies. Minnesota struck first in the first period on a Jason Pominville goal, his fifth of the season, guided in by Mikael Granlund. The Wild added on in the third period on a Charlie Coyle goal, his eighth of the year, made possible by Nino Niederreiter. Montreal got on the board with a Daniel Carr goal, his third of the campaign, coming off of Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk. This only made it 2-1, the final, with the three stars given to Kuemper (24 for 25 in saves), Coyle, and Pominville.

South again to Dallas, with the Stars hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and former Blackhawks Antti Niemi protect the nets. Dallas drew first blood in the second period on a Jason Spezza power play goal, his thirteenth of the season, powered by Patrick Sharp and John Klingberg. The Stars added on with a Sharp goal, his twelfth of the year, coming off of Jamie Benn and Jason Demers in the third period. Dallas extended the lead as Colton Sceviour scored his second of the season, assisted by Jordie Benn and Antoine Roussel. The Stars padded the lead with a Mattias Janmark goal, his eighth of the year, via Demers and Johnny Oduya. This made it 4-0, with the three stars handed to Niemi (20 save shutout), Sharp, and Demers.

Back in Canada, the Calgary Flames welcome the Winnipeg Jets. Michael Hutchinson and Karri Ramo are the mediocre goalies. Calgary started in the first period on a Johnny Gaudreau power play goal, his thirteenth of the season, powered by Sean Monahan and T.J. Brodie. The Flames added on with a Joe Colborne goal, his fifth of the year, guided in by Mark Giordano and Micheal Ferland. Winnipeg got on the board with a Tyler Myers goal, his fourth of the season, via Blake Wheeler and Andrew Ladd. Calgary replied in the third period on a Gaudreau goal, his fourteenth of the year and second of the game, assisted by Brodie and Jiri Hudler. The Flames iced it as Gaudreau finished his hat trick with an empty net goal, his fifteenth of the campaign, set up by Mikael Backlund and Giordano. The final was 4-1, and the three stars were Gaudreau, Brodie, and Giordano.

Down in Arizona, the Coyotes bring in the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jonathan Bernier faces a lesser foe in Louis Domingue in goal. Toronto was first to score in the first period on a James van Riemsdyk power play goal, his twelfth of the season, powered by Dion Phaneuf and P.A. Parenteau. Arizona tied it on a Shane Doan goal, his seventh of the year, guided in by Stefan Elliott and Brad Richardson. The Coyotes took the lead with a Doan goal, his second of the game and eighth of the season, via Kyle Chipchura. The Maple Leafs tied it in the second period on a Nazem Kadri goal, his sixth of the year, passed from Tyler Bozak and Morgan Rielly. Arizona regained the lead in the third period on a Connor Murphy goal, his third of the campaign, made possible by Richardson and Doan. This stood for a 3-2 win, with the three stars handed to Doan, Richardson, and Domingue (37 for 39 in saves).

Finally, the Los Angeles Kings host the San Jose Sharks. Martin Jones faces former mentor Jonathan Quick in goal. Los Angeles got started in the first period on a Tyler Toffoli goal, his thirteenth of the season, made possible by Tanner Pearson and Jeff Carter. The Kings added on with a Trevor Lewis goal, his third of the year, fueled by Dustin Brown and Alec Martinez. San Jose got on the board with a Joe Thornton goal, his sixth of the season, assisted by Joe Pavelski and Brenden Dillon. Los Angeles answered on a Toffoli goal in the second period, his second of the game and fourteenth of the year, passed from Pearson. The Sharks pulled back on a Brent Burns goal, his thirteenth of the season, helped along by Thornton and Joonas Donskoi. San Jose tied it on a Pavelski power play goal in the third period, his seventeenth of the year, powered by Burns. The Sharks took the lead on another Pavelski power play goal, his second of the game and eighteenth of the season, with a lone helper by Thornton. San Jose iced it at 5-3 on a Burns empty net goal, his second of the game and fourteenth of the year, going in unassisted. The three stars were Pavelski, Burns, and Thornton, while Toffoli and Pearson get the honorable mentions.

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