It's a big day of games with eleven to play, including four matinees, beginning with...
The Buffalo Sabres hosting the Minnesota Wild. Devan Dubnyk and Robin Lehner are the goalies. Minnesota led off in the first period with a David Jones goal, his tenth of the season, helped along by Ryan Carter and Marco Scandella. Buffalo tied it on a Johan Larsson power play goal in the second period, his fifth of the year, powered by Rasmus Ristolainen and Jack Eichel. The Sabres took the lead with an Eichel power play goal, his nineteenth of the season, with assists provided by Sam Reinhart and Cal O'Reilly. The Wild tied it in the third period with a Mikko Koivu power play goal, his fifteenth of the year, with assists provided by Matt Dumba and Ryan Suter. In the shootout, Eichel was topped by Charlie Coyle and Jason Pominville as the Wild won 3-2. The three stars were Eichel, Koivu, and Dubnyk (30 for 32 in saves).
Over in Pittsburgh, the Penguins welcome the Calgary Flames. Joni Ortio and Marc-Andre Fleury are set to start. Pittsburgh started with a Sidney Crosby goal, his twenty-seventh of the season, helped along by Patric Hornqvist and Carl Hagelin. Calgary tied it on a Joe Colborne goal, his eleventh of the year, via Sam Bennett and Jyrki Jokipakka. The Penguins took the lead with a second period Crosby goal, his twenty-eighth of the season and second of the game, Hornqvist and Brian Dumoulin. The Flames tied it as Mark Giordano scored his sixteenth of the year, thanks to Mikael Backlund and Josh Jooris. Calgary took the lead with a Backlund goal, his thirteenth of the season, made possible by Dougie Hamilton. The Flames iced it at 4-2 with a Lance Bouma goal, his second of the year, coming off of Colborne and Deryk Engelland. The three stars went to Backlund, Colborne, and Crosby, while Hornqvist gets an honorable mention.
Out west, the Colorado Avalanche bring in the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne faces a lesser foe in Calvin Pickard in goal. Colorado began in the first period with a Blake Comeau goal, his tenth of the season, assisted by Carl Soderberg and Shawn Matthias. Nashville tied it with a Filip Forsberg goal in the second period, his twenty-eighth of the year, via Craig Smith and Mike Ribeiro. The Avalanche retook the lead on a Gabriel Landeskog goal, his seventeenth of the season, passed from Nathan MacKinnon and Francois Beauchemin. The Predators tied it on a James Neal goal, his twenty-third of the year, with a lone assist by Ryan Johansen. Nashville took the lead with a Mike Fisher goal, his ninth of the season, going in unassisted. The Predators added on with a Shea Weber empty net goal, his seventeenth of the year, set up by Forsberg and Austin Watson. Nashville capped it at 5-2 with an empty net goal by Miikka Salomaki, his fifth of the campaign, with helpers from Calle Jarnkrok and Mattias Ekholm. The three stars were Forsberg, Fisher, and Rinne (34 for 36 in saves).
The last matinee is the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Anaheim Ducks. Frederik Andersen and Jonathan Quick protect the nets. Anaheim got going in the second period with a Ryan Kesler goal, his fourteenth of the season, coming off of Jakob Silfverberg. Los Angeles tied it on a Milan Lucic power play goal, his fifteenth of the year, powered by Vincent Lecavalier and the goalie Quick. The Ducks took the lead back with a David Perron power play goal, his twelfth of the season, assisted by Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen. Anaheim added on in the third period with a Silfverberg power play goal, his ninth of the year, helped along by Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm. The Kings got one back with a Drew Doughty power play goal, his twelfth of the campaign, fueled by Lucic and Anze Kopitar. This made it 3-2, the final, with the three stars handed to Silfverberg, Lucic, and Andersen (32 for 34 in saves).
At the usual times, the Boston Bruins welcome the Washington Capitals. Philipp Grubauer is mismatched with Tuukka Rask in goal. Boston opened in the first period with a Patrice Bergeron goal, his twenty-sixth of the season, made possible by Brad Marchand and Lee Stempniak. Washington tied it in the second period with a Karl Alzner goal, his fourth of the year, coming off of Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin. The Capitals won 2-1 in overtime with a Matt Niskanen goal, his fifth of the campaign, via Andre Burakovsky and Marcus Johansson. The three stars went to Niskanen, Alzner, and Grubauer (33 for 34 in saves).
Along to Philadelphia, where the Flyers bring in the Columbus Blue Jackets. Curtis McElhinney and Steve Mason are the uninspiring goalies. Philadelphia struck first in the first period with a Michael Raffl goal, his ninth of the season, via Radko Gudas and Sean Couturier. The Flyers added on with a Gudas goal, coming off of Brandon Manning and Chris VandeVelde. Philadelphia extended the lead as Sam Gagner scored his sixth of the year in the second period, thanks to Andrew MacDonald and Gudas. The Flyers padded the lead with a Claude Giroux goal, his eighteenth of the season, assisted by Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn. Philadelphia kept going in the third period on a Nick Cousins goal, his fourth of the year, passed from Matt Read. The Flyers iced it at 6-0 with a Gudas goal, his second of the game, made possible by Manning and Raffl. The three stars were awarded to Gudas, Raffl, and Manning.
South to Tampa Bay, where the Lightning host the Carolina Hurricanes. Eddie Lack and Ben Bishop are in the blue paint. Tampa Bay was first to score in the first period with an Ondrej Palat goal, his ninth of the season, helped along by Tyler Johnson. Carolina tied it in the second period with a Victor Rask goal, his fifteenth of the year, via Phillip Di Giuseppe and Jeff Skinner. The Lightning retook the lead with a Palat goal, his second of the game and tenth of the season, coming off of Nikita Kucherov. The Hurricanes tied it on a power play goal by Jordan Staal, his seventeenth of the year, powered by Elias Lindholm and Rask. Carolina took the lead on a Skinner goal, his twenty-third of the season, assisted by Di Giuseppe and Ryan Murphy. Tampa Bay tied it again with a Johnson goal, his twelfth of the year, guided in by Kucherov and Vladislav Namestnikov. The Lightning won 4-3 in overtime on an Alex Killorn goal, his thirteenth of the campaign, with a lone helper by Valtteri Filppula. The three stars were Johnson, Palat, and Skinner, while Kucherov, Di Giuseppe, and Rask receive the honorable mentions.
Up north, the Toronto Maple Leafs welcome the Ottawa Senators in a Battle of Ontario. Andrew Hammond and Jonathan Bernier are the overrated goalies. Ottawa drew first blood in the first period on an unassisted Bobby Ryan goal, his twenty-second of the season. Toronto tied it with a William Nylander goal, with a lone assist by Brooks Laich. The Maple Leafs took the lead in the second period on a Nikita Soshnikov power play goal, his second of the year, powered by Brendan Leipsic. The Senators tied it in the third period on a Marc Methot goal, his fourth of the season, fueled by Alex Chiasson and Ryan Dzingel. Ottawa took the lead again with a Zack Smith goal, his seventeenth of the year, with a lone helper from Mark Stone. This made it a 3-2 game, with the three stars going to Smith, Methot, and Ryan.
Over in Manitoba, the Winnipeg Jets bring in the Montreal Canadiens. Mike Condon and Ondrej Pavelec are the mediocre goalies. Winnipeg dented the scoreboard in the second period with a Mark Scheifele goal, his eighteenth of the season, going in unassisted. Montreal tied it with a goal from Alex Galchenyuk, his twentieth of the year, passed from Max Pacioretty and Mark Barberio. The Jets took the lead again with an Andrew Copp goal, his third of the campaign, helped along by Ben Chiarot and J.C. Lipon. The Canadiens tied it again with another Galchenyuk goal, his second of the game and twenty-first of the season, via Greg Pateryn and Pacioretty. Winnipeg took the lead again with Scheifele's second of the game and nineteenth of the year, assisted by Drew Stafford and Toby Enstrom. The Jets iced it at 4-2 with a Scheifele empty net goal, completing his hat trick on his twentieth of the campaign, set up by Dustin Byfuglien. The three stars belonged to Scheifele, Galchenyuk, and Pacioretty.
Way to the southwest, the Arizona Coyotes host the Florida Panthers. Al Montoya and Louis Domingue are the lesser-known goalies. Arizona got going in the second period with a Jordan Martinook shorthanded goal, his ninth of the season, going in unassisted. The Coyotes added on with an Alex Tanguay goal, his fifth of the year, helped along by Antoine Vermette. Florida got on the board with an Aaron Ekblad goal, his thirteenth of the season, via Jussi Jokinen and Aleksander Barkov. Arizona replied in the third period with a Shane Doan power play goal, his twenty-fourth of the year, powered by Vermette and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The Coyotes extended the lead as Tanguay scored his second of the game and sixth of the season, thanks to Vermette, who got a sock trick, and Anthony Duclair. Arizona iced it at 5-1 with a Vermette goal, his eleventh of the year, fueled by Tanguay and Duclair. The three stars went to Tanguay, Vermette, and Domingue (29 for 30 in saves), while Duclair gets an honorable mention.
Finally, the San Jose Sharks host the Vancouver Canucks. Jacob Markstrom and James Reimer are the backups in goal. San Jose opened in the first period with an unassisted Micheal Haley goal. Vancouver tied it on a Linden Vey power play goal, his fourth of the season, powered by Sven Baertschi and Ben Hutton. The Canucks took the lead with a Daniel Sedin power play goal, his twenty-fifth of the year, with assists provided by Baertschi and Hutton. The Sharks tied it in the third period with a Brent Burns goal, his twenty-third of the season, guided in by Joe Thornton and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Vancouver regained the lead with a Dan Hamhuis power play goal, assisted by Bo Horvat and Jared McCann. The Canucks iced it at 4-2 with an empty net goal by Alexandre Burrows, his eighth of the year, set up by Luca Sbisa and Horvat. The three stars were handed to Baertschi, Horvat, and Hutton.
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