Saturday, December 26, 2015

2015-16 NHL Season - Day 77

Nine games tonight as the NHL returns from the holiday. The first is in...

Boston, as the Bruins host the Buffalo Sabres. Chad Johnson and Jonas Gustavsson are the goalies. Buffalo dented the scoreboard in the second period on an Evander Kane goal, his eighth of the season, courtesy of Tyler Ennis and Jack Eichel. Boston tied it on a Matt Beleskey goal, his fifth of the year, via Kevan Miller and Loui Eriksson. The Bruins took the lead with a Patrice Bergeron goal, his twelfth of the campaign, assisted by Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara. Boston added on with a David Krejci goal in the third period, his tenth of the season, with a lone assist from Eriksson. The Sabres got one back on a Ryan O'Reilly goal, his thirteenth of the year, passed from Mike Weber and Cody Franson. Buffalo tied it on an Eichel goal, his tenth of the campaign, fueled by Jake McCabe. The Sabres took the lead as Jamie McGinn scored his eighth of the season, thanks to O'Reilly and Zach Bogosian. Buffalo extended the lead as Eichel scored his second of the game and eleventh of the year, an unassisted empty net goal. The Sabres finished it at 6-3 on an O'Reilly empty net goal, his second of the game and fourteenth of the campaign, set up by Eichel and McGinn. The three stars were Eichel, O'Reilly, and McGinn, while Eriksson gets an honorable mention.

Down in Carolina, the Hurricanes welcome the New Jersey Devils. Cory Schneider and Cam Ward receive the starting nods. Carolina got going in the second period on a Brett Pesce goal, his third of the season, fueled by John-Michael Liles and Joakim Nordstrom. New Jersey tied it in the third period on a Kyle Palmieri goal, his fifteenth of the year, coming off of Mike Cammalleri and Adam Henrique. The Hurricanes retook the lead with a Justin Faulk goal, his thirteenth of the season, assisted by Eric Staal and Kris Versteeg. Carolina added on with a Nordstrom goal, his second of the year, made possible by Faulk. This held for a 3-1 win, with the three stars going to Faulk, Nordstrom, and Ward (19 for 20 in saves).

Further south, the Tampa Bay Lightning bring in the Columbus Blue Jackets. Joonas Korpisalo is mismatched with Ben Bishop in goal. Tampa Bay led off in the first period on a Mike Blunden goal, his second of the season, via Andrej Sustr and Erik Condra. Columbus tied it on a Rene Bourque goal, coming off of Boone Jenner and Ryan Johansen. The Blue Jackets took the lead in the second period with a Scott Hartnell goal, his fourteenth of the year, guided in by Alexander Wennberg and Dalton Prout. The Lightning tied it again on a Steven Stamkos power play goal, his fifteenth of the campaign, powered by Nikita Kucherov and Jonathan Marchessault. Tampa Bay took the lead as Stamkos scored his second of the game and sixteenth of the season on the power play, with assists provided by Marchessault and Kucherov. The Lightning added on with a Nikita Nesterov power play goal, his second of the year, assisted by Ryan Callahan and Stamkos. Tampa Bay extended the lead in the third period as Jason Garrison scored his third of the campaign, with the help of Blunden. This stood for a 5-2 win, with the three stars handed to Stamkos, Blunded, and Marchessault, while Kucherov gets an honorable mention.

North to DC, with the Washington Capitals hosting the Montreal Canadiens. Mike Condon and Braden Holtby are the in the blue paint. Washington opened in the first period on an Evgeny Kuznetsov goal, his eleventh of the season, courtesy of Nate Schmidt and Marcus Johansson. The Capitals added on with a Jay Beagle goal in the second period, his fifth of the year, fueled by Tom Wilson and Jason Chimera. Montreal got on the board with a Daniel Carr goal, his fourth of the season, guided in by Andrei Markov and Alex Galchenyuk. Washington won 3-1 with a third period goal by Chimera, his tenth of the year, passed from Wilson and Schmidt. The three stars were Chimera, Wilson, and Schmidt, while Holtby (29 for 30 in saves) gets an honorable mention.

West to St. Louis, with the Blues welcoming the Dallas Stars. Antti Niemi and Jake Allen protect the nets. St. Louis drew first blood in the second period on an Alexander Steen power play goal, his twelfth of the season, powered by Kevin Shattenkirk and Vladimir Tarasenko. Dallas tied it on a Colton Sceviour goal, his third of the year, passed from Cody Eakin and Jamie Benn. The Stars took the lead with a Tyler Seguin goal, his twentieth of the season, via Patrick Sharp and Alex Goligoski. The Blues tied it in the third period as Robby Fabbri scored his eighth of the year, helped along by Jay Bouwmeester and David Backes. The tie went to a long shootout, where Tarasenko and Steen got matched by Benn and Sharp in the early going, and then Jori Lehtera, Dmitrij Jaskin, and Backes scored, with the first two matched by Jason Spezza and Patrick Eaves before the Blues could claim the 3-2 win. The three stars are Backes, Tarasenko, and Steen, while Benn and Sharp get the honorable mentions.

East a little to Nashville, where the Predators bring in the Detroit Red Wings. Petr Mrazek and Pekka Rinne guard the cages. Detroit started in the first period on a Brendan Smith goal, his second of the season, passed from Alexey Marchenko and Pavel Datsyuk. Nashville tied it on a Filip Forsberg goal, his eighth of the year, courtesy of Mike Ribeiro. The Red Wings took the lead back in the second period as Riley Sheahan scored his fifth of the season, a power play goal powered by Brad Richards and Tomas Tatar. The Predators tied it with a Forsberg goal, his second of the game and ninth of the year, via Craig Smith and Ribeiro. Detroit took the lead again in the third period on a Luke Glendening goal, his second of the campaign, made possible by Smith and Darren Helm. This held for a 3-2 win, with the three stars being Smith, Forsberg, and Ribeiro.

Up in Minnesota, the Wild host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Matthew Murray and Devan Dubnyk are the goalies with alliterative names. Pittsburgh was first to score in the second period on a Sidney Crosby goal, his seventh of the season, assisted by David Perron and Kris Letang. The Penguins added on with an Eric Fehr goal, his fourth of the year, coming off of Kevin Porter and Matt Cullen. Minnesota got on the board with a Jason Zucker goal, his ninth of the season, guided in by Thomas Vanek and Marco Scandella. Pittsburgh replied on a Patric Hornqvist power play goal, his sixth of the year, powered by Crosby and Letang. This stood for a 3-1 final, with the three stars going to Crosby, Murray (25 for 26 in saves), and Letang.

Southwest to Arizona, where the Coyotes welcome the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick faces a lesser foe in Louis Domingue in goal. Arizona began in the first period on an Oliver Ekman-Larsson power play goal, his eighth of the season, powered by Mikkel Boedker and Antoine Vermette. Los Angeles tied it in the third period on a Drew Doughty power play goal, his sixth of the year, courtesy of Alec Martinez and Anze Kopitar. The Kings took the lead with a Tanner Pearson goal, his fifth of the season, assisted by Marian Gaborik. Los Angeles added on with a Dustin Brown power play goal, his third of the year, with helpers from Nick Shore and Jamie McBain. The Coyotes got one back on a Vermette power play goal, his fifth of the season, made possible by Michael Stone and Boedker. Arizona tied it on a power play goal by Ekman-Larsson, his second of the game and ninth of the year, coming off of Max Domi and Boedker, the latter getting a sock trick. The Kings won 4-3 in overtime on a Kopitar shorthanded and unassisted goal, his tenth of the campaign. The three stars went to Ekman-Larsson, Kopitar, and Boedker, while Vermette gets an honorable mention.

Finally, the Vancouver Canucks bring in the Edmonton Oilers. Cam Talbot and Jacob Markstrom are set to start in goal. Edmonton struck first in the first period on a Mark Letestu goal, his fourth of the season, fueled by Lauri Korpikoski and Matt Hendricks. Vancouver tied it in the second period on a Jannik Hansen goal, his eleventh of the year, via Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin. The Canucks won 2-1 in overtime with a Hansen goal, his second of the game and twelfth of the campaign, set up by Matt Bartkowski and the goalie Markstrom. The three stars belonged to Hansen, Markstrom (32 for 33 in saves), and Letestu.

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