Monday, December 4, 2017

NHL 2017-18 Day 61

A new week of hockey is off and running with four games tonight. We begin with...

The Washington Capitals hosting the San Jose Sharks. Martin Jones faces a lesser foe in Philipp Grubauer in goal. Washington began in the first period with a Devante Smith-Pelly goal, his fourth of the season, guided in by John Carlson and Jay Beagle. The Capitals added on in the second period with an unassisted Alex Ovechkin goal, his twentieth of the year. San Jose got on the board with a Timo Meier goal, his third of the season, passed from Justin Braun. Washington replied with a Brett Connolly power play goal, his fourth of the year, powered by Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Capitals extended the lead in the third period as Jakub Vrana scored his eighth of the season on the power play, thanks to Tom Wilson and Dmitry Orlov. This made it 4-1, the final, with three stars given to Ovechkin, Grubauer (24 for 25 in saves), and Connolly.

Down in Florida, the Panthers welcome the New York Islanders. Jaroslav Halak and Roberto Luongo are the veteran goalies. Florida led off in the first period with a Nick Bjugstad goal, his seventh of the season, with a lone assist by Keith Yandle. New York tied it on an Anders Lee goal, his sixteenth of the year, via Calvin de Haan and Adam Pelech. James Reimer replaced an injured Luongo early in the second period. The Islanders took the lead in the second period with a Thomas Hickey goal, fueled by Joshua Ho-Sang. The Panthers retied it on an Aaron Ekblad power play goal, his fourth of the season, powered by Yandle and Vincent Trocheck. Florida took the lead with an Aleksander Barkov power play goal, his tenth of the year, with assists provided by Yandle, who got a sock trick, and Trocheck. New York pulled even on a Brock Nelson goal, his seventh of the season, helped along by Ho-Sang and Jason Chimera. The Islanders regained the lead on a John Tavares goal, his seventeenth of the year, guided in by Josh Bailey and Nick Leddy. The Panthers tied it again with a Denis Malgin goal, his second of the campaign, with helpers from Trocheck, who got a sock trick, and Jamie McGinn. In the shootout, Mathew Barzal had the lone tally to win it 5-4 for the Islanders. The three stars were Trocheck, Yandle, and Ho-Sang.

Northwest to Nashville, where the Predators bring in the Boston Bruins. Anton Khudobin and Pekka Rinne draw the starts in goal. Nashville opened in the first period with a Craig Smith goal, his tenth of the season, assisted by Alexei Emelin and Kyle Turris. The Predators added on with another Smith goal, his second of the game and eleventh of the year, made possible by Mattias Ekholm and Kevin Fiala. Nashville extended the lead as Nick Bonino scored his fifth of the season, thanks to Colton Sissons and Viktor Arvidsson. The Predators padded the lead on a Fiala goal, his fourth of the year, fueled by Turris and Smith. Boston got on the board with a Charlie McAvoy power play goal, his fourth of the season, powered by Danton Heinen and David Krejci. The Bruins got closer in the third period with a Zdeno Chara goal, his third of the year, coming off of David Backes and Riley Nash. Boston got closer with a David Pastrnak goal, his fourteenth of the season, helped along by Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. Nashville replied on a Filip Forsberg goal, his fourteenth of the year, passed from Roman Josi. This stood for a 5-3 win, with the three stars given to Smith, Fiala, and Turris.

Finally, the Calgary Flames host the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Elliott faces his old team and Mike Smith in goal. Calgary started in the first period with a Troy Brouwer goal, via Curtis Lazar and Mark Giordano. Philadelphia tied it on a Valtteri Filppula goal, his seventh of the season, assisted by Jakub Voracek and Andrew MacDonald. The Flyers took the lead with a Scott Laughton goal in the second period, his third of the year, courtesy of Shayne Gostisbehere and Michael Raffl. Philadelphia added on with a Raffl goal, his third of the season, made possible by Voracek and Filppula. The Flyers extended the lead as Wayne Simmonds scored a power play goal, his eighth of the year, with the help of Sean Couturier and Voracek, who got a sock trick. The Flames got one back with a Sean Monahan goal, his fifteenth of the season, guided in by Garnet Hathaway and Sam Bennett. Philadelphia answered in the third period with a Laughton goal, his second of the game and fourth of the year, helped along by Jordan Weal and Taylor Leier. The final held at 5-2, with the three stars going to Laughton, Voracek, and Raffl, while Filppula gets an honorable mention.

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