Thursday, January 4, 2018

NHL 2017-18 Day 89

Only eleven games on tonight after the Boston Bruins game with the Florida Panthers was postponed due to a blizzard in the northeast. We begin in...

Philadelphia, as the Flyers host the New York Islanders. Thomas Greiss and Brian Elliott are in goal. Philadelphia opened in the first period with a Sean Couturier power play goal, his nineteenth of the season, powered by Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux. New York tied it on a Cal Clutterbuck goal, his fifth of the year, via Nick Leddy and Dennis Seidenberg. The Flyers took the lead in the second period with a Michael Raffl goal, his seventh of the season, guided in by Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere. Philadelphia added on with a Wayne Simmonds goal, his thirteenth of the year, assisted by Robert Hagg and Jordan Weal. The Flyers extended the lead as Provorov scored a power play goal, his sixth of the season, thanks to Nolan Patrick and Brandon Manning. The Islanders got one back with a Clutterbuck goal, his second of the game and sixth of the year, fueled by Shane Prince and Seidenberg. Philadelphia replied with a Travis Konecny goal, his fifth of the season, helped along by Couturier. New York got one back with a John Tavares power play goal, his twenty-second of the year, passed from Leddy and Mathew Barzal. The Islanders got closer with an unassisted Ryan Pulock goal, his third of the season. The Flyers iced it at 6-4 with another Provorov goal, an empty netter for his second of the game and seventh of the year, set up by Giroux and Voracek. The three stars belonged to Provorov, Clutterbuck, and Couturier, while the honorable mentions go to Voracek, Giroux, Leddy, and Seidenberg.

Across Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Penguins welcome the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Matt Murray draw the starts in goal. Carolina got going in the second period with an unassisted Jeff Skinner goal, his thirteenth of the season. The Hurricanes added on with a Teuvo Teravainen goal, his eleventh of the year, passed from Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin. Carolina extended the lead in the third period as Aho scored his twelfth of the season, thanks to Jordan Staal and Brett Pesce. The Hurricanes padded the lead with an Aho goal, his second of the game and thirteenth of the year, via Teravainen and Pesce. The three stars of the 4-0 game were Aho, Teravainen, and Ward (21 save shutout), while Pesce gets an honorable mention.

Up in Toronto, the Maple Leafs bring in the San Jose Sharks. Martin Jones and Frederik Andersen are the masked men. Toronto started in the first period with an Auston Matthews goal, his eighteenth of the season, assisted by Connor Carrick and William Nylander. San Jose tied it on a Brenden Dillon goal, passed from Brent Burns and Timo Meier and The Maple Leafs took the lead back in the second period with a Nazem Kadri power play goal, his fourteenth of the year, powered by Mitchell Marner and Morgan Rielly. The Sharks retied it on a Chris Tierney goal, his ninth of the season, going in unassisted. Toronto won 3-2 with tallies by Matthews and Tyler Bozak topping Kevin Labanc in the shootout. The three stars were Matthews, Kadri, and Andersen (33 for 35 in saves).

In Quebec, the Montreal Canadiens host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Carey Price tend the twines. Montreal dented the scoreboard in the second period with a Max Pacioretty goal, his ninth of the season, going in unassisted. Tampa Bay tied it on a Nikita Kucherov goal, his twenty-sixth of the year, via Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman. The Canadiens won 2-1 in the shootout with a lone tally by Paul Byron. The three stars were given to Price (44 for 45 in saves), Vasilevskiy (37 for 38 in saves), and Pacioretty.

Stateside, the St. Louis Blues welcome the Vegas Golden Knights. Marc-Andre Fleury and Carter Hutton are in the blue paint. St. Louis led off in the first period with an Alexander Steen goal, his fifth of the season, assisted by Brayden Schenn and Colton Parayko. Vegas tied it on an Erik Haula goal, his fifteenth of the year, passed from James Neal and David Perron in the second period. The Blues took the lead back in the third period with a Paul Stastny goal, his eighth of the season, via Vladimir Sobotka and Parayko. This made it 2-1, the final, with the three stars given to Parayko, Hutton (32 for 33 in saves), and Fleury (37 for 39 in saves).

North to Minnesota, as the Wild bring in the Buffalo Sabres. Robin Lehner and Devan Dubnyk are in the creases. Minnesota began in the first period with a Nino Niederreiter goal, his eleventh of the season, made possible by Mikael Granlund and Mikko Koivu. The Wild added on with a Daniel Winnik goal, his fourth of the year, guided in by Nate Prosser and Marcus Foligno. Minnesota extended the lead as Niederreiter scored his second of the game and twelfth of the season on the power play, thanks to Charlie Coyle and Jared Spurgeon. The Wild padded the lead with a Niederreiter goal in the second period, his thirteenth of the year, fueled by Granlund and Koivu for the hat trick. Minnesota struck again with a Koivu goal, his sixth of the season, helped along by Granlund, who got a sock trick, and Jonas Brodin. The Wild continued with a Coyle goal, his fourth of the year, coming off of Zach Parise and Joel Eriksson Ek. Chad Johnson replaced Lehner in goal. Buffalo got on the board in the third period with a Sam Reinhart goal, his seventh of the season, courtesy of Zach Bogosian and Jake McCabe. The Sabres got closer with an Evander Kane goal, his sixteenth of the year, with helpers from Marco Scandella and Jason Pominville. The three stars of the 6-2 game were Niederreiter, Granlund, and Koivu, while Coyle gets an honorable mention.

Way south to Dallas, as the Stars host the New Jersey Devils. Cory Schneider and Ben Bishop are between the pipes. New Jersey struck first in the first period with a Brian Boyle power play goal, his eleventh of the season, powered by Taylor Hall and Travis Zajac. Dallas tied it in the second period with an unassisted Alexander Radulov goal, his fifteenth of the year. The Stars took the lead with a Brett Ritchie power play goal, his fourth of the season, with assists provided by John Klingberg and Radulov. Dallas added on with a Tyler Seguin shorthanded goal, his twentieth of the year, set up by Jamie Benn. The Devils got one back with a Hall goal, his fourteenth of the season, made possible by Nico Hischier and Andy Greene. The Stars answered with a Mattias Janmark goal in the third period, his ninth of the year, helped along by Martin Hanzal and Radulov. New Jersey answered on a Kyle Palmieri power play goal, his sixth of the campaign, made possible by Jesper Bratt and Hall. This only made it 4-3, the final, with the three stars given to Radulov, Hall, and Janmark.

Up in Alberta, the Calgary Flames welcome the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Mike Smith have the green light to play in goal. Los Angeles was first to score in the first period with a Derek Forbort goal, guided in by Anze Kopitar and Tanner Pearson. The Kings added on with a Pearson goal, his seventh of the year, made possible by Dustin Brown. Calgary got on the board in the second period with a Micheal Ferland goal, his sixteenth of the season, coming off of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. The Flames tied it on a Troy Brouwer goal, his third of the year, passed from Mark Giordano and Matthew Tkachuk. Calgary took the lead on an unassisted Mark Jankowski goal, his seventh of the season. The Flames extended the lead as Monahan scored his nineteenth of the year, thanks to Gaudreau and Ferland. Los Angeles pulled one back on a Pearson goal, his eighth of the campaign, courtesy of Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin. They couldn't tie it, falling 4-3, with the three stars being Monahan, Ferland, and Pearson, while Gaudreau gets an honorable mention.

Staying in the province, the Edmonton Oilers bring in the Anaheim Ducks. John Gibson and Cam Talbot guard the cages. Edmonton cracked the scoresheet in the second period with a Kris Russell goal, his third of the season, passed from Connor McDavid and Milan Lucic. Anaheim tied it on a Ryan Kesler power play goal, powered by Jakob Silfverberg and Cam Fowler. The tie was broken in the shootout, with Michael Cammalleri and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins besting Rickard Rakell for a 2-1 Oilers win. The three stars went to Talbot (33 for 34 in saves), Gibson (33 for 34 in saves), and Russell.

South to Denver, as the Colorado Avalanche host the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sergei Bobrovsky and Jonathan Bernier play goal. Colorado kicked off the scoring the second period on a Mikko Rantanen power play goal, his fourteenth of the season, powered by Tyson Jost and Samuel Girard. The Avalanche added on with a Matt Nieto goal, his seventh of the year, passed from Nathan MacKinnon and Rantanen in the third period. The three stars of the 2-0 win were Rantanen, Bernier (34 save shutout), and Nieto.

Finally, the Arizona Coyotes host the Nashville Predators. Juuse Saros and Antti Raanta are the Finnish goalies. Arizona drew first blood in the second period with an Anthony Duclair goal, his eighth of the season, helped along by Jordan Martinook. Nashville tied it on a Ryan Ellis goal, via Scott Hartnell and Colton Sissons. The Predators retook the lead in the third period on a Craig Smith goal, his fourteenth of the year, going in unassisted. The Coyotes retied it on a Nick Cousins power play goal, his fifth of the season, powered by Jason Demers and Alex Goligoski. Arizona won 3-2 in overtime with a Christian Fischer goal, his eleventh of the year, assists by Jakob Chychrun and Derek Stepan. The three stars went to Fischer, Cousins, and Duclair.

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