Sunday, December 31, 2017

NHL 2017-18 Day 85

Eight games on the last day of 2017, beginning in the afternoon with...

The Vegas Golden Knights hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. Frederik Andersen and Malcolm Subban play in goal. Vegas opened in the first period with a Pierre-Edouard Bellemare goal, his fourth of the season, made possible by Alex Tuch. The Golden Knights added on with a William Karlsson goal, his eighteenth of the year, via Reilly Smith and Deryk Engelland. Vegas extended the lead as Erik Haula scored his fourteenth of the season, thanks to David Perron and Colin Miller. Toronto got on the board in the second period with a Patrick Marleau goal, his fifteenth of the year, assisted by Connor Brown and Leo Komarov. The Golden Knights shot back with a Karlsson goal, his second of the game and nineteenth of the season, guided in by Jonathan Marchessault. The Maple Leafs replied with an Auston Matthews goal, his sixteenth of the year, fueled by Zach Hyman. Toronto got closer in the third period with another Matthews goal, his second of the game and seventeenth of the season, passed from Morgan Rielly and William Nylander. Vegas countered with a Marchessault goal, his fourteenth of the year, helped along by Karlsson and Shea Theodore. The Golden Knights iced it at 6-3 with a Karlsson empty net goal, completing his hat trick on his twentieth of the campaign, set up by Smith and Brayden McNabb. The three stars went to Karlsson, Matthews, and Marchessault, while Smith gets an honorable mention.

West to Anaheim, where the Ducks welcome the Arizona Coyotes. Antti Raanta and John Gibson draw the starts in goal. Anaheim started with a Rickard Rakell goal, his thirteenth of the season, coming off of Antoine Vermette and Ryan Getzlaf. Arizona tied it with a Brendan Perlini power play goal, his tenth of the year, powered by Alex Goligoski. The Ducks took the lead back on another Rakell goal, his second of the game and fourteenth of the season, assisted by Getzlaf and Vermette. The Coyotes retied it on a Clayton Keller power play goal in the third period, his fourteenth of the year, with a lone assist by Derek Stepan. Anaheim regained the lead with a Cam Fowler goal, his sixth of the season, fueled by Jakob Silfverberg and Ryan Kesler. The Ducks added on with a Silfverberg goal, his tenth of the year, guided in by Fowler and the goalie Gibson. Anaheim capped it at 5-2 with a Vermette empty net goal, his seventh of the campaign, set up by Kesler and Kevin Bieksa. The three stars were given to Rakell, Fowler, and Vermette, while Getzlaf, Silfverberg, and Kesler get the honorable mentions.

To the east, the Columbus Blue Jackets host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy faces a lesser foe in Joonas Korpisalo in goal. Tampa Bay got going in the second period with a Tyler Johnson goal, his eleventh of the season, passed from Brayden Point and Mikhail Sergachev. The Lightning added on with another Johnson goal, his second of the game and twelfth of the year, courtesy of Point and Sergachev. Tampa Bay extended the lead as Nikita Kucherov scored his twenty-fifth of the season, with the help of Vladislav Namestnikov. The Lightning padded the lead on a Cory Conacher goal, his third of the year, via Yanni Gourde and Victor Hedman. Tampa Bay iced it at 5-0 with a Steven Stamkos power play goal, his seventeenth of the campaign, powered by Hedman and Kucherov. The three stars went to Johnson, Kucherov, and Vasilevskiy (21 save shutout), while Point, Sergachev, and Hedman get the honorable mentions.

Up in Detroit, the Red Wings bring in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Matt Murray and Jimmy Howard are in the creases. Detroit began in the first period with a Gustav Nyquist goal, his eleventh of the season, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Tyler Bertuzzi. The Red Wings added on in the second period with a Dylan Larkin goal, his sixth of the year, via Tomas Tatar and Trevor Daley. Pittsburgh got on the board with an Evgeni Malkin power play goal, his fourteenth of the season, powered by Phil Kessel and Olli Maatta. Detroit answered with a Frans Nielsen goal, his tenth of the year, coming off of Darren Helm and Mike Green. The Red Wings extended the lead as Nyquist scored his second of the game in the third period, his twelfth of the campaign helped along by Bertuzzi and Zetterberg. The final held from here at 4-1, with the three stars belonging to Nyquist, Howard (37 for 38 in saves), and Zetterberg, while Bertuzzi gets an honorable mention.

West again to Edmonton, where the Oilers host the Winnipeg Jets. Connor Hellebuyck and Cam Talbot are the masked men. Winnipeg struck first in the first period with a Marko Dano goal, via Matt Hendricks and Ben Chiarot. The Jets added on with a Blake Wheeler goal, his eleventh of the season, with a lone assist by Kyle Connor. Winnipeg extended the lead in the second period as Connor scored his thirteenth of the year, on the power play, with the help of Patrik Laine and Adam Lowry. The Jets padded the lead on a Bryan Little goal, his seventh of the season, courtesy of Josh Morrissey. Winnipeg finished it at 5-0 with a Mathieu Perreault power play goal in the third period, his tenth of the year, powered by Joel Armia and Little. The three stars were Connor, Little, and Hellebuyck (35 save shutout.

Southeast to Dallas, where the Stars welcome the San Jose Sharks. Martin Jones and Ben Bishop protect the nets. Dallas led off in the first period with a John Klingberg goal, his fifth of the season, made possible by Mattias Janmark and Alexander Radulov. The Stars added on with a Tyler Pitlick goal, his sixth of the year, via Radek Faksa. Dallas extended the lead in the second period as Stephen Johns scored his fourth of the season, thanks to Janmark and Faksa. The Stars padded the lead on a Tyler Seguin power play goal, his nineteenth of the year, powered by Klingberg and Jamie Benn. Dallas kept going in the third period with a Devin Shore goal, his fourth of the season, assisted by Benn and Dam Hamhuis. The Stars capped it at 6-0 with a Pitlick goal, his second of the game and seventh of the year, with helpers from Faksa, who got a sock trick, and Antoine Roussel. The three stars belonged to Pitlick, Faksa, and Bishop (26 save shutout), while Klingberg, Janmark, and Benn get honorable mentions.

Backtracking to Colorado, as the Avalanche host the New York Islanders. Jaroslav Halak and Jonathan Bernier are between the pipes. Colorado was first to score in the first period with a Patrik Nemeth goal, his second of the season, helped along by Alexander Kerfoot and Sven Andrighetto. The Avalanche added on in the second period with a Matt Nieto goal, his sixth of the year, via Carl Soderberg and Blake Comeau. Colorado extended the lead as Soderberg scored his seventh of the season, thanks to Colin Wilson and Erik Johnson. The Avalanche padded the lead on a Gabriel Landeskog power play goal, his fifteenth of the year, powered by Nathan MacKinnon and Samuel Girard. Colorado kept going on another Landeskog power play goal, his second of the game and sixteenth of the season, made possible by MacKinnon and Girard. Thomas Greiss replaced Halak in goal for the third period. New York got on the board with a Josh Bailey goal, his twelfth of the year, assisted by Brock Nelson and Scott Mayfield. The Avalanche countered with a Johnson goal, his fifth of the campaign, coming off of Landeskog and MacKinnon, the latter earning a sock trick. This stood for a 6-1 win, with the three stars going to Landeskog, Soderberg, and MacKinnon, while Johnson and Girard get the honorable mentions.

Finally, the Calgary Flames bring in the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff Glass and Mike Smith are the goalies. Calgary kicked off the scoring in the first period with a Matthew Tkachuk power play goal, his ninth of the season, powered by Sean Monahan and Mark Giordano. The Flames added on with another Tkachuk power play goal in the second period, his tenth of the year, with helpers from Johnny Gaudreau and Mikael Backlund. Calgary extended the lead as Monahan scored his eighteenth of the season, thanks to Gaudreau and T.J. Brodie. Chicago got on the board with a Jordan Oesterle goal, his second of the year, helped along by Brandon Saad and Vinnie Hinostroza. The Blackhawks got closer with a Jonathan Toews goal, his tenth of the season, made possible by Oesterle. Chicago tied it in the third period on a Saad goal, his twelfth of the year, courtesy of Toews. The Flames won 4-3 in overtime with a Giordano goal, his seventh of the campaign, with a lone helper from Backlund. The three stars were awarded to Tkachuk, Giordano, and Monahan, while Gaudreau, Backlund, Saad, Toews, and Oesterle all get honorable mentions.

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