Originally, there were eleven games on the schedule today, but the East Coast Blizzard has taken the New York Islanders game against the Philadelphia Flyers off the schedule, leaving us with ten. We begin with a pair of matinees, the first in...
Pittsburgh, where the Penguins host the Vancouver Canucks. Ryan Miller and Marc-Andre Fleury are the veteran goalies. Vancouver began quickly in the first period on a Jannik Hansen goal, his thirteenth of the season, with a lone assist by Alexander Edler. The Canucks added on with Hansen's second of the game and fourteenth of the year, a shorthanded goal set up by Derek Dorsett and Christopher Tanev. Pittsburgh got on the board in the second period with an Evgeni Malkin power play goal, his twenty-first of the campaign, powered by Kris Letang. Vancouver shot back in the third period on a Bo Horvat goal, his ninth of the season, made possible by Ben Hutton and Luca Sbisa. The Penguins got it back with a goal credited to Malkin as his second of the game and twenty-second of the year, but it really looked like an own goal from Linden Vey. Pittsburgh tied it as Malkin scored in the more traditional fashion to finish his hat trick on his twenty-third of the campaign, assisted by Phil Kessel and Trevor Daley. The Penguins took the lead on a Bryan Rust goal, his second of the season, helped along by Tom Kuhnhackl. Pittsburgh extended the lead as Sidney Crosby scored an empty net goal, his sixteenth of the year, with the help of Carl Hagelin and Letang. The Canucks pulled back with a Hansen goal, his fifteenth of the campaign securing him a hat trick, with helpers from Mike Zalewski and Hutton. The three stars in the 5-4 game went to Malkin, Hansen, and Letang, while Hutton gets an honorable mention.
Out west, the San Jose Sharks welcome the Minnesota Wild. Darcy Kuemper and Martin Jones are in the blue paint. San Jose struck first in the first period on a Tomas Hertl goal, his ninth of the season, passed from Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton. Minnesota tied it on a Chris Porter goal, his third of the year, courtesy of Marco Scandella and Erik Haula. The Wild took the lead on a Charlie Coyle power play goal, his twelfth of the season, powered by Nino Niederreiter and Jared Spurgeon. The Sharks tied it on a Joonas Donskoi power play goal, his seventh of the year, assisted by Joel Ward and Pavelski. San Jose took the lead on a Ward goal, his fourteenth of the season, coming off of Logan Couture and Donskoi. Minnesota tied it in the third period as Jarret Stoll scored his third of the year, with the help of Jonas Brodin and Scandella. The Sharks retook the lead with a Pavelski goal, his twenty-third of the campaign, with a lone helper by Thornton. The final held at 4-3, with the three stars going to Pavelski, Donskoi, and Ward, while Thornton and Scandella get the honorable mentions.
Back east, the Boston Bruins bring in the Columbus Blue Jackets. Joonas Korpisalo and Jonas Gustavsson are the backups in goal. Boston got going in the second period with a Brad Marchand goal, his ninth of the season, fueled by Ryan Spooner and Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins added on with a David Pastrnak goal, his fifth of the year, via David Krejci and Loui Eriksson. Columbus got on the board with a Dalton Prout goal, passed from Kerby Rychel and William Karlsson. The Blue Jackets tied it with a Rychel goal, his second of the campaign, assisted by Justin Falk. The tie went to a shootout, where Spooner and Torey Krug sealed a 3-2 Bruins win. The three stars were Spooner, Rychel, and Pastrnak.
Backtracking to Detroit, where the Red Wings host the Anaheim Ducks. John Gibson and Jimmy Howard are given the starting nods in goal. Detroit led off in the first period with a Darren Helm goal, his fourth of the season, fueled by Brendan Smith and Mike Green. Anaheim tied it on a Ryan Kesler goal, his ninth of the year, courtesy of Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano. The Ducks took the lead on a Corey Perry goal, his eighteenth of the season, assisted by Rickard Rakell and David Perron. The Red Wings retied it in the second period on a Tomas Jurco goal, his second of the year, guided in by Gustav Nyquist and Smith. Anaheim regained the lead with a Perry third period goal, his second of the game and nineteenth of the season, passed from Rakell and Patrick Maroon. The Ducks added on with a Kesler goal, his second of the game and tenth of the year, via Ryan Getzlaf and Silfverberg. Detroit replied with a Danny DeKeyser goal, his fifth of the campaign, coming off of Teemu Pulkkinen and Tomas Tatar. This only made it 4-3, the final, with the three stars handed to Kesler, Perry, and Silfverberg, while Rakell and Smith get the honorable mentions.
In Ontario, the Toronto Maple Leafs welcome the Montreal Canadiens. Mike Condon and James Reimer are in the blue paint. Montreal was first to score in the first period with a David Desharnais goal, his ninth of the season, coming off of Dale Weise and Nathan Beaulieu. The Canadiens added on with a Tomas Fleischmann goal, his ninth of the year, made possible by Lars Eller and Daniel Carr. Toronto got on the board in the second period with a Nazem Kadri goal, his ninth of the season, with helpers from Morgan Rielly and Leo Komarov. The Maple Leafs tied it on a Joffrey Lupul goal in the third period, his eleventh of the year, set up by Peter Holland and Rielly. The tie went to a shootout, where Holland got topped by Max Pacioretty and Eller for a 3-2 Canadiens win. The three stars belonged to Eller, Rielly, and Holland.
Way to the south, the Florida Panthers bring in the Tampa Bay Lightning for a Battle of Florida. Ben Bishop and Roberto Luongo tend the twines. Florida dented the scoreboard in the second period on a Jonathan Huberdeau goal, his eighth of the season, fueled by Aleksander Barkov and Aaron Ekblad. The Panthers added on with a Nick Bjugstad power play goal, his ninth of the year, powered by Huberdeau. Florida extended the lead on an unassisted Reilly Smith goal, his fifteenth of the season. The Panthers padded the lead as Vincent Trocheck scored his thirteenth of the year, thanks to Logan Shaw and Jussi Jokinen. Andrei Vasilevskiy took over for Bishop in the third period. Tampa Bay got on the board with a Victor Hedman goal in the third period, his fourth of the season, made possible by Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov. Florida shot back on a Brian Campbell empty net goal, his fourth of the year, set up by Bjugstad and Jaromir Jagr. The Lightning chipped back on a J.T. Brown goal, his fourth of the campaign, with a lone assist from Brian Boyle. The three stars were handed to Huberdeau, Bjugstad, and Luongo (38 for 40 in saves).
Back north, the Winnipeg Jets host the New Jersey Devils. Cory Schneider and Connor Hellebuyck protect the nets. New Jersey opened in the first period with a Lee Stempniak goal, his thirteenth of the season, assisted by Michael Cammalleri. The Devils added on with a Jacob Josefson goal, his second of the year, via David Schlemko and Joseph Blandisi on the power play in the second period. New Jersey extended the lead as Stempniak scored his second of the game and fourteenth of the season in the third period, with the help of Eric Gelinas and Cammalleri. Winnipeg got on the board with a Dustin Byfuglien power play goal, his twelfth of the year, powered by Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers. This only made it 3-1, the final, with the three stars going to Stempniak, Schneider (22 for 23 in saves), and Cammalleri.
South again to Dallas, with the Stars welcoming the Colorado Avalanche. Semyon Varlamov and Antti Niemi are the masked men. Colorado started with a shorthanded and unassisted Carl Soderberg goal in the first period, his tenth of the season. Dallas tied it on a Jason Demers power play goal in the second period, his fifth of the year, powered by Antoine Roussel and Ales Hemsky. The Avalanche retook the lead on a Gabriel Landeskog shorthanded goal, his eleventh of the season, set up by Tyson Barrie. Colorado added on with a third period goal by Mikhail Grigorenko, his third of the year, with a lone assist by Matt Duchene. This stood for a 3-1 win, with the three stars awarded to Varlamov (42 for 43 in saves), Landeskog, and Soderberg.
A bit to the west, the Arizona Coyotes bring in the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Louis Domingue occupy the creases. Arizona led off in the first period with a Shane Doan goal, his seventeenth of the season, courtesy of Michael Stone and Tobias Rieder. Los Angeles tied it in the second period with a Nick Shore goal, his third of the year, going in unassisted. The Coyotes retook the lead with an Oliver Ekman-Larsson power play goal, his fourteenth of the season, powered by Max Domi and Mikkel Boedker. The Kings fired back with a Dustin Brown goal, his fifth of the year, via Jeff Carter and Luke Schenn. Arizona retook the lead again with a third period Jordan Martinook goal, his fifth of the campaign, coming off of Doan and Brad Richardson. The three stars of the 3-2 game were Doan, Martinook, and Ekman-Larsson.
Finally, the Edmonton Oilers host the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Cam Talbot are the overrated goalies. Edmonton began in the first period with a Leon Draisaitl goal, his twelfth of the season, helped along by Taylor Hall and Griffin Reinhart. Nashville tied it on an unassisted Mattias Ekholm goal, his sixth of the year. The Predators took the lead in the second period with Ekholm's second of the game and seventh of the season, made possible by Ryan Ellis and Filip Forsberg on the power play. Nashville added on with a Mike Fisher third period goal, his sixth of the year, via Shea Weber and Roman Josi. The Predators iced it at 4-1 with an empty net goal by Forsberg, his fourteenth of the campaign, going in unassisted. The three stars were handed to Ekholm, Rinne (23 for 24 in saves), and Forsberg.
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