Thursday, February 20, 2020

NHL 2019-20 - Day 135

Eight games on for Thursday, beginning with...

The Washington Capitals hosting the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price and Braden Holtby tend the twines. Washington led off in the first period with an Alex Ovechkin goal, his forty-first of the season, made possible by Nicklas Backstrom. Montreal tied it on a Shea Weber goal, his fourteenth of the year, courtesy of Phillip Danault. The Capitals retook the lead in the second period on a Lars Eller goal, his fifteenth of the season, fueled by Carl Hagelin and Richard Panik. The Canadiens evened it with an unassisted Brendan Gallagher goal, his twentieth of the year. Montreal pulled ahead with a Ben Chiarot goal, his eighth of the season, via Tomas Tatar in the third period. Washington tied it on a Tom Wilson goal, his eighteenth of the year, with helpers from Evgeny Kuznetsov and Backstrom. The Canadiens won 4-3 in overtime with a Chiarot goal, his second of the game and ninth of the campaign, helped along by Max Domi and Jeff Petry. The three stars were Chiarot, Backstrom, and Gallagher.

Over in Columbus, the Blue Jackets welcome the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Elliott and Elvis Merzlikins are the goalies. Columbus opened in the first period with an Oliver Bjorkstrand goal, his twenty-first of the season, assisted by Nick Foligno and Vladislav Gavrikov. The Blue Jackets added on with a Foligno goal, his seventh of the year, made possible by Bjorkstrand and Markus Nutivaara. Philadelphia got on the board with a Travis Konecny goal, his twenty-first of the season, helped along by Travis Sanheim and Kevin Hayes. Columbus answered in the second period with a Stefan Matteau goal, via Boone Jenner and Nutivaara. The Flyers shot back on a Nicolas Aube-Kubel goal, his fifth of the year, courtesy of Michael Raffl and Matt Niskanen. Philadelphia tied it with a Claude Giroux power play goal, his seventeenth of the season, powered by Sean Couturier and Konecny. The Flyers won 4-3 in overtime with a Hayes goal, his nineteenth of the year, passed from Konecny and Philippe Myers. The three stars went to Hayes, Konecny, and Bjorkstrand, while Foligno and Nutivaara get the honorable mentions.

Next up, the New Jersey Devils host the San Jose Sharks. Martin Jones and MacKenzie Blackwood are in the creases. San Jose started in the first period with a Tim Heed goal, via Jacob Middleton and Alexander True. New Jersey tied it on a second period Jesper Bratt goal, his twelfth of the season, assisted by Pavel Zacha and Nikita Gusev. The Devils took the lead in the third period with a P.K. Subban power play goal, his seventh of the year, powered by Gusev. This stood for a 2-1 win, with the three stars awarded to Blackwood (36 for 37 in saves), Gusev, and Subban.

North to Toronto, where the Maple Leafs bring in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Matt Murray and Frederik Andersen guard the cages. Toronto got going in the second period with a Jake Muzzin goal, his fifth of the season, coming off of Justin Holl and John Tavares. The Maple Leafs added on with a William Nylander power play goal, his twenty-seventh of the year, powered by Auston Matthews and Tavares. Toronto extended the lead as Kasperi Kapanen scored his twelfth of the season, thanks to Alexander Kerfoot and Muzzin. The Maple Leafs padded the lead in the third period on a Zach Hyman goal, his nineteenth of the year, passed from Mitchell Marner and Muzzin. The final stood at 4-0, with the three stars given to Andersen (24 save shutout), Muzzin, and Tavares.

Also in Ontario, the Ottawa Senators host the Winnipeg Jets. Laurent Brossoit and Marcus Hogberg are the unknown goalies. Ottawa began in the first period with a Nick Paul goal, his eighth of the season, going in unassisted. Winnipeg tied it on a Mark Scheifele power play goal, his twenty-fourth of the year, powered by Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine. The Jets took the lead with a Scheifele power play goal, his second of the game and twenty-fifth of the season, with assists provided by Neal Pionk and Laine. Winnipeg added on in the second period with a Connor goal, his thirtieth of the year, passed from Pionk and Andrew Copp. The Jets extended the lead as Nikolaj Ehlers scored his twenty-second of the season, thanks to Blake Wheeler and Scheifele. Winnipeg padded the lead in the third period on a Scheifele power play goal, his twenty-sixth of the year completing his hat trick, with the help of Logan Shaw and Josh Morrissey. This stood for a 5-1 win, with the three stars awarded to Scheifele, Connor, and Laine, while Pionk gets an honorable mention.

Stateside, the St. Louis Blues welcome the Arizona Coyotes. Antti Raanta and Jordan Binnington are between the pipes. St. Louis dented the scoreboard in the third period with a Ryan O'Reilly goal, his eleventh of the season, assisted by Brayden Schenn and Colton Parayko. This stood for the 1-0 win, with the three stars being Binnington (14 save shutout), Raanta (45 for 46 in saves), and O'Reilly.

Southwest to Nevada, where the Vegas Golden Knights host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Marc-Andre Fleury protect the nets. Tampa Bay kicked off the scoring in the first period with a Kevin Shattenkirk goal, his eighth of the season, coming off of Alex Killorn and Ondrej Palat. Vegas tied it on an Alec Martinez goal, his second of the year, via Cody Eakin and Nicolas Roy. The Golden Knights took the lead in the second period with a Paul Stastny goal, his seventeenth of the season, made possible by Reilly Smith and Nate Schmidt. The Lightning retied it on a Steven Stamkos power play goal, his twenty-eighth of the year, powered by Victor Hedman and Anthony Cirelli. Vegas retook the lead with a Mark Stone goal, his twenty-first of the season, guided in by Max Pacioretty and Martinez. The Golden Knights added on in the third period with an unassisted Ryan Reaves goal, his seventh of the year. Vegas extended the lead as Pacioretty scored his twenty-eighth of the season on the power play, with the help of Stone and Shea Theodore. Tampa Bay got one back with a Stamkos power play goal, his second of the game and twenty-ninth of the year, with assists provided by Nikita Kucherov and Hedman. The final remained at 5-3, with the three stars being Pacioretty, Stone, and Stamkos, while Martinez and Hedman get the honorable mentions.

Finally, the Los Angeles Kings bring in the Florida Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Jonathan Quick are the veterans in goal. Los Angeles struck first in the first period with a Gabriel Vilardi goal, via Kurtis MacDermid. Florida tied it on an Aleksander Barkov goal, his nineteenth of the season, assisted by Jonathan Huberdeau. The Panthers took the lead on a Barkov goal, his second of the game and twentieth of the year, courtesy of Huberdeau and Noel Acciari. The Kings tied it with a Drew Doughty power play goal, his seventh of the season, powered by Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar. Florida retook the lead in the second period with a Huberdeau goal, his twenty-second of the year, with assists provided by Evgenii Dadonov and Aaron Ekblad. Los Angeles pulled even on a Trevor Moore goal, his fifth of the season, coming off of Doughty and Blake Lizotte. The Kings took the lead with a Martin Frk goal, his fifth of the year, fueled by Vilardi and Matt Roy. The Panthers tied it again with a Mike Hoffman power play goal, his twenty-third of the season, guided in by Huberdeau and Ekblad in the third period. Los Angeles reclaimed the lead on a Ben Hutton goal, his fourth of the year, passed from Alex Iafallo and Kopitar. This held up as a 5-4 win, with the three stars given to Huberdeau, Vilardi, and Doughty, while Kopitar, Barkov, and Ekblad get the honorable mentions.

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