Six games on today as we begin to hurtle toward the Winter Classic on Friday. The day starts with...
The Buffalo Sabres hosting the Washington Capitals. Braden Holtby and Linus Ullmark are the goalies. Washington got going in the second period with an Alex Ovechkin goal, his eighteenth of the season, assisted by Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie. The Capitals added on with a Jay Beagle goal, his sixth of the year, courtesy of Tom Wilson. This made it 2-0, the eventual final, with the three stars going to Holtby (31 save shutout), Ovechkin, and Beagle.
South to Tampa Bay, where the Lightning welcome the Montreal Canadiens. Mike Condon and Ben Bishop draw the starts in goal. Montreal led off in the first period on a Tomas Plekanec goal, his eighth of the season, passed from P.K. Subban and Sven Andrighetto. Tampa Bay tied it on a Nikita Kucherov power play goal in the second period, his thirteenth of the year, powered by Valtteri Filppula and Anton Stralman. The Canadiens took the lead back on an Alex Galchenyuk goal, his ninth of the season, courtesy of Andrei Markov and Jeff Petry. The Lightning tied it again in the third period on a Jason Garrison goal, his fourth of the year, via Alex Killorn. Tampa Bay took the lead on a Ryan Callahan goal, his fifth of the season, made possible by Filppula and Andrej Sustr. Montreal tied it again with a Dale Weise goal, his eleventh of the year, coming off of David Desharnais and Max Pacioretty. In the shootout, Filppula was topped by Brian Flynn and Pacioretty as the Canadiens won 4-3. The three stars were Filppula, Pacioretty, and Weise.
Backtracking to Nashville, where the Predators bring in the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Pekka Rinne tend the twines. Nashville began in the first period on a Filip Forsberg goal, his tenth of the season, assisted by Roman Josi on the power play. New York tied it on a Jesper Fast goal, his sixth of the year, coming in the second period via Dan Girardi and Chris Kreider. The Predators took the lead back on a James Neal goal, his fourteenth of the season, made possible by Mike Ribeiro and Colin Wilson. Nashville added on in the third period with a Craig Smith goal, his eighth of the year, passed from Josi and Ribeiro. The Predators extended the lead on a Ryan Ellis power play goal, his fourth of the season, powered by Seth Jones and Ribeiro, the latter getting a sock trick. Nashville padded the lead on another Neal goal, his second of the game and fifteenth of the year, courtesy of Calle Jarnkrok and Miikka Salomaki. The Rangers got one back with a Rick Nash goal, his eleventh of the season, going in unassisted. New York pulled closer on a J.T. Miller goal, his eighth of the year, with a lone assist by Derek Stepan. This only made it 5-3, the final, with the three stars being Neal, Ribeiro, and Josi.
Up in Minnesota, the Wild host the Detroit Red Wings. Petr Mrazek and Devan Dubnyk are the solid goalies. Minnesota struck first in the first period on a Charlie Coyle goal, his ninth of the season, assisted by Nino Niederreiter. The Wild added on with a third period Mikko Koivu power play goal, his ninth of the year, powered by Matt Dumba and Zach Parise. Detroit got on the board with a Pavel Datsyuk goal, his fourth of the season, courtesy of Justin Abdelkader and Brendan Smith. Minnesota iced it at 3-1 with a Koivu empty net goal, his second of the game and tenth of the year, set up by Parise. The three stars belonged to Koivu, Dubnyk (28 for 29 in saves), and Parise.
Westward to Vancouver, where the Canucks welcome the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick faces a lesser foe in Jacob Markstrom in goal. Los Angeles was first to score in the first period on a Tyler Toffoli goal, his fifteenth of the season, coming off of Anze Kopitar and Milan Lucic. The Kings added on with a Derek Forbort goal in the second period, via Trevor Lewis. Los Angeles extended the lead as Brayden McNabb scored his second of the year, thanks to Kopitar. The Kings padded the lead in the third period on a Toffoli goal, his second of the game and sixteenth of the season, passed from Kopitar, who got a sock trick, and Alec Martinez. Los Angeles iced it at 5-0 with a Toffoli power play goal, his seventeenth of the year completing his hat trick, powered by Drew Doughty and Kopitar. The three stars were awarded to Toffoli, Kopitar, and Quick (27 save shutout).
Finally, the San Jose Sharks bring in the Colorado Avalanche. Calvin Pickard is mismatched with Martin Jones in goal. Colorado dented the scoreboard in the first period on a Nathan MacKinnon power play goal, his eleventh of the season, powered by Carl Soderberg and Jarome Iginla. San Jose tied it on a Patrick Marleau goal, his fourteenth of the year, via Joel Ward. The Avalanche took the lead back on a Soderberg power play goal, his sixth of the campaign, with assists provided by Francois Beauchemin and Alex Tanguay. Colorado added on in the second period on a Matt Duchene goal, his seventeenth of the season, assisted by John Mitchell and Andreas Martinsen. The Sharks replied on a Melker Karlsson goal, his fourth of the year, passed from Joe Thornton and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The Avalanche replied in the third period on a Blake Comeau power play goal, his sixth of the campaign, helped along by Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie. San Jose shot back on a Tomas Hertl goal, his fourth of the season, coming off of Mike Brown and Brent Burns. Colorado countered on a MacKinnon power play goal, his second of the game and twelfth of the year, guided in by Soderberg and Tanguay. The Avalanche finished it at 6-3 with a MacKinnon empty net goal, his thirteenth of the campaign, going in unassisted. The three stars went to MacKinnon, Soderberg, and Tanguay.
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