Saturday, March 17, 2018

NHL 2017-18 Day 158

Ten games on a Saturday slate, including three matinees. We begin with...

The Buffalo Sabres hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Jean-Francois Berube and Chad Johnson are the backups in goal. Buffalo began in the first period with a Benoit Pouliot goal, his thirteenth of the season, made possible by Rasmus Ristolainen and Sam Reinhart. Chicago tied it on a Jordan Oesterle goal, his fifth of the year, via Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. The Sabres retook the lead with a Ryan O'Reilly power play goal, his twentieth of the season, powered by Reinhart and Jack Eichel. The Blackhawks tied it again with a Tomas Jurco goal, his fourth of the year, going in unassisted. Chicago took the lead in the third period on a Toews goal, his twentieth of the season, coming off of Brandon Saad and Kane. Buffalo tied it on a Nicholas Baptiste goal, his third of the year, courtesy of Nathan Beaulieu and Victor Antipin. The Sabres took the lead on a Baptiste goal, his second of the game and fourth of the season, assisted by Marco Scandella and Johan Larsson. Buffalo iced it at 5-3 with a Reinhart empty net goal, his nineteenth of the year, set up by O'Reilly. The three stars were Baptiste, Reinhart, and O'Reilly, while Toews and Kane get the honorable mentions.

Down in Florida, the Panthers welcome the Edmonton Oilers. Cam Talbot and Roberto Luongo man the nets. Florida got going in the second period with a Frank Vatrano goal, his fourth of the season, going in unassisted. Edmonton tied it on a shorthanded Ryan Nugent-Hopkins goal, his twentieth of the year, set up by Leon Draisaitl. The Panthers took the lead back with a Vincent Trocheck goal, his twenty-eighth of the season, passed from Derek MacKenzie and Aaron Ekblad. The Oilers tied it in the third period on a Connor McDavid goal, his thirty-fourth of the year, via Ty Rattie and Nugent-Hopkins. Edmonton gained the lead on an Adam Larsson goal, his fourth of the season, coming off of Darnell Nurse and McDavid. The Oilers iced it at 4-2 with a Rattie empty net goal, with a lone assist by McDavid. The three stars were McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins, and Talbot (40 for 42 in saves), while Rattie gets an honorable mention.

Way to the west, the Los Angeles Kings bring in the New Jersey Devils. Keith Kinkaid and Jonathan Quick are the goalies. New Jersey led off in the first period with a shorthanded and unassisted Michael Grabner goal, his twenty-seventh of the season. The Devils added on with a Nico Hischier goal, his sixteenth of the year, via Damon Severson and Brian Gibbons. New Jersey extended the lead in the third period as Miles Wood scored his seventeenth of the campaign, thanks to Brian Boyle. This made it 3-0, the final, with the three stars going to Kinkaid (38 save shutout), Grabner, and Hischier.

At the regular time, the Carolina Hurricanes host the Philadelphia Flyers. Alex Lyon and Cam Ward are set to start in goal. Carolina started in the first period with a Jordan Staal goal, his sixteenth of the season, made possible by Jaccob Slavin and Teuvo Teravainen. Philadelphia tied it in the third period with a Travis Konecny goal, his nineteenth of the year, helped along by Travis Sanheim and Wayne Simmonds. The Hurricanes reclaimed the lead on a Slavin goal, his seventh of the season, guided in by Sebastian Aho and Staal. The Flyers tied it again with a Jakub Voracek goal, his seventeenth of the year, passed from Oskar Lindblom and Nolan Patrick. Philadelphia took the lead with a Valtteri Filppula goal, his eleventh of the season, with a lone assist by Simmonds. The Flyers iced it at 4-2 with a Michael Raffl empty net goal, his eleventh of the year, set up by Sean Couturier. The three stars were given to Simmonds, Filppula, and Staal.

Down in Tampa Bay, the Lightning welcome the Boston Bruins. Tuukka Rask and Andrei Vasilevskiy tend the twines. Boston opened in the first period with a David Pastrnak goal, his twenty-eighth of the season, via Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid. The Bruins added on with a David Backes power play goal, his twelfth of the year, powered by Krug and Brad Marchand. Boston extended the lead as Riley Nash scored a power play goal in the second period, his fourteenth of the season, with the help of Rick Nash and Krug, the latter earning a sock trick. This stood for a 3-0 win, with the three stars being Krug, Rask (23 save shutout), and Pastrnak.

In Canada, the Toronto Maple Leafs bring in the Montreal Canadiens. Charlie Lindgren and Curtis McElhinney are the sub-par goalies. Toronto struck first in the first period with a William Nylander power play goal, his fifteenth of the season, powered by Jake Gardiner. The Maple Leafs added on with a Kasperi Kapanen goal, his sixth of the year, guided in by Travis Dermott and McElhinney in the second period. Toronto extended the lead as Nazem Kadri scored his twenty-eighth of the season on the power play, thanks to Mitchell Marner and Morgan Rielly. The Maple Leafs padded the lead with an Andreas Johnsson goal in the third period, made possible by Zach Hyman and Connor Carrick. The final stood at 4-0, with the three stars given to McElhinney (33 save shutout), Nylander, and Johnsson.

Back stateside, the Columbus Blue Jackets host the Ottawa Senators. Mike Condon and Sergei Bobrovsky are in the creases. Columbus was first to score in the first period with an Alexandre Burrows goal, his fifth of the season, with a lone assist by Jim O'Brien. Columbus tied it on a Boone Jenner goal, his tenth of the year, fueled by Thomas Vanek. The Blue Jackets took the lead in the second period on a Markus Nutivaara power play goal, his fourth of the season, powered by Oliver Bjorkstrand and Nick Foligno. This made it 2-1, the eventual final, with the three stars going to Bobrovsky (23 for 24 in saves), Nutivaara, and Jenner.

West to St. Louis, as the Blues welcome the New York Rangers. Alexandar Georgiev and Jake Allen are between the pipes. St. Louis kicked off the scoring in the first period with an Alex Pietrangelo goal, his thirteenth of the season, made possible by Tage Thompson and Vladimir Sobotka. New York tied it in the second period with a Mika Zibanejad goal, his twenty-third of the year, coming off of Jesper Fast and Chris Kreider. The Blues took the lead back on a Nikita Soshnikov goal, passed from Chris Thorburn and Carl Gunnarsson. The Rangers tied it again with a Mats Zuccarello goal, his fifteenth of the season, assisted by Neal Pionk and Kevin Hayes. New York took the lead with another Zibanejad goal, his second of the game and twenty-fourth of the year, powered by Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich on the power play. St. Louis tied it in the third period on a Pietrangelo power play goal, his second of the game and fourteenth of the season, with assists provided by Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz. The Blues won 4-3 in overtime with a Brayden Schenn goal, his twenty-fifth of the year, helped along by Pietrangelo and Sobotka. The three stars were given to Pietrangelo, Zibanejad, and Sobotka, while Kreider gets an honorable mention.

Southwest to Arizona, where the Coyotes bring in the Minnesota Wild. Devan Dubnyk and Antti Raanta are the underrated goalies. Minnesota drew first blood in the first period with a Nino Niederreiter power play goal, his seventeenth of the season, powered by Matt Dumba and Ryan Suter. Arizona tied it on a second period Clayton Keller goal, his twentieth of the year, via Richard Panik. The Wild took the lead back in the third period with a Marcus Foligno goal, his eighth of the season, helped along by Daniel Winnik and Joel Eriksson Ek. Minnesota iced it at 3-1 with an Eric Staal empty net goal, his thirty-eighth of the year, set up by Charlie Coyle. The three stars went to Dubnyk (30 for 31 in saves), Foligno, and Niederreiter.

Finally, the Vancouver Canucks host the San Jose Sharks. Aaron Dell and Jacob Markstrom man the nets. Vancouver dented the scoreboard in the first period with a Nikolay Goldobin power play goal, his fifth of the season, powered by Derrick Pouliot and Reid Boucher. San Jose tied it on a Kevin Labanc power play goal, his eleventh of the year, assisted by Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture. The Sharks took the lead with a Couture goal, his twenty-ninth of the season, coming off of Tomas Hertl and Brenden Dillon. San Jose added on with a Timo Meier goal in the second period, his nineteenth of the year, passed from Dylan DeMelo and Chris Tierney. The Canucks got one back with a Bo Horvat power play goal, his nineteenth of the season, with assists provided by Sam Gagner and Alexander Edler. Vancouver tied it on an Edler power play goal, his third of the year, guided in by Gagner and Daniel Sedin. The Sharks retook the lead in the third period with a Meier goal, his second of the game and twentieth of the season, via Labanc and Justin Braun. San Jose iced it at 5-3 with an unassisted empty net goal by Hertl, his twentieth of the year. The three stars went to Meier, Couture, and Labanc, while Hertl, Edler, and Gagner get the honorable mentions.

Follow me on Twitter @OutsiderSports0.

No comments :

Post a Comment