NHL 2021 - Day 67

Thirteen games play today, including four matinees. First up...

The New Jersey Devils host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Casey DeSmith and Scott Wedgewood are in goal. New Jersey opened in the first period with a Kyle Palmieri goal, his fifth of the season, made possible by Sami Vatanen and Jesper Bratt. Pittsburgh got on the board in the second period with a Zach Aston-Reese goal, his sixth of the year, coming off of Sam Lafferty and Marcus Pettersson. The Penguins took the lead with a Bryan Rust power play goal, his eleventh of the season, powered by Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby. Pittsburgh added on in the third period with a Guentzel goal, his thirteenth of the year, via Crosby. The final held at 3-1, with the three stars going to Rust, Guentzel, and Crosby.

Down in Florida, the Panthers welcome the Nashville Predators. Juuse Saros and Chris Driedger are the backups in goal. Florida got going in the second period with an Aleksander Barkov goal, his thirteenth of the season, via Anthony Duclair and MacKenzie Weegar. The Panthers added on in the third period with a Duclair empty net goal, his third of the year, set up by Carter Verhaeghe. The three stars of the 2-0 game were Driedger (21 save shutout), Duclair, and Saros (47 for 48 in saves).

Out in Colorado, the Avalanche bring in the Minnesota Wild. Kaapo Kahkonen and Philipp Grubauer man the nets. Colorado started in the first period with a Cale Makar power play goal, his second of the season, powered by Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon. The Avalanche added on with a Landeskog goal, his ninth of the year, via MacKinnon and Makar. Colorado extended the lead as Mikko Rantanen scored in the second period, his seventeenth of the season, with the help of Landeskog and the goalie Grubauer. The Avalanche padded the lead on a Tyson Jost goal, his second of the year, assisted by Joonas Donskoi and Ryan Graves. Colorado continued on a Devon Toews goal, his fifth of the season, with helpers from MacKinnon and Brandon Saad. The Avalanche kept going in the third period with a Valeri Nichushkin goal, his sixth of the year, passed from Graves and Donskoi. The final stood at 6-0, with the three stars being Grubauer (31 save shutout), Landeskog, and MacKinnon, while Makar, Donskoi, and Graves get the honorable mentions.

Back to Florida, as the Tampa Bay Lightning host the Chicago Blackhawks. Malcolm Subban is mismatched with Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal. Tampa Bay led off in the first period with a Brayden Point goal, his twelfth of the season, courtesy of Alex Killorn and Steven Stamkos. The Lightning added on in the second period with an Anthony Cirelli goal, his ninth of the year, passed from Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev. Tampa Bay extended the lead as Yanni Gourde scored his tenth of the season, thanks to Blake Coleman and Hedman. The Lightning padded the lead on a Stamkos power play goal, his fifteenth of the year, powered by Killorn and Hedman. Chicago got on the board in the third period with an Alex DeBrincat goal, his sixteenth of the season, made possible by Dominik Kubalik and Philipp Kurashev. The final stayed at 4-1, with the three stars being Hedman, Stamkos, and Vasilevskiy (30 for 31 in saves), while Killorn gets an honorable mention.

At the regular time, the Toronto Maple Leafs welcome the Calgary Flames. David Rittich and Jack Campbell are the backups in goal. Toronto kicked off the scoring in the first period with a Jason Spezza goal, his seventh of the season, made possible by Jake Muzzin. The Maple Leafs added on in the second period with a Zach Hyman goal, his eleventh of the year, passed from John Tavares and Alex Galchenyuk. The final held at 2-0, with the three stars awarded to Campbell (31 save shutout), Spezza, and Hyman.

Down in DC, the Washington Capitals bring in the New York Rangers. Keith Kinkaid and Ilya Samsonov are in the creases. New York struck first in the first period with a Pavel Buchnevich goal, his eleventh of the season, via Adam Fox and Mika Zibanejad. Washington tied it in the third period with a John Carlson goal, his seventh of the year, coming off of Tom Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom. The Rangers took the lead with a Zibanejad goal, his seventh of the season, going in unassisted. New York added on with a Brett Howden empty net goal, set up by Ryan Strome and Buchnevich. This made it 3-1, the final, with the three stars handed to Zibanejad, Buchnevich, and Kinkaid (28 for 29 in saves).

Over to Detroit, as the Red Wings host the Dallas Stars. Anton Khudobin and Thomas Greiss are in the blue paint. Dallas cracked the scoresheet in the second period with a Tanner Kero goal, made possible by Jamie Oleksiak. The Stars added on in the third period with an Andrej Sekera goal, his second of the season, coming off of Radek Faksa. Dallas extended the lead on a power play goal by Ty Dellandrea, his second of the year, powered by Roope Hintz and Esa Lindell. The final stood at 3-0, with the three stars being Khudobin (21 save shutout), Kero, and Sekera.

South to Carolina, as the Hurricanes welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins and James Reimer get the starting nods in goal. Carolina dented the scoreboard in the second period with an Andrei Svechnikov goal, his ninth of the season, coming off of Brett Pesce and Jesper Fast. Columbus tied it in the third period with an Oliver Bjorkstrand goal, his eleventh of the year, guided in by Kevin Stenlund. The Hurricanes retook the lead with a Warren Foegele goal, his sixth of the season, made possible by Brock McGinn and Dougie Hamilton. The Blue Jackets retied it with a Seth Jones goal, his fourth of the year, via Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic. In the shootout, Laine and Bjorkstrand carried the Blues Jackets to a 3-2 win over Hamilton and the Hurricanes. The three stars were Bjorkstrand, Laine, and Hamilton.

In Canada again, the Montreal Canadiens bring in the Vancouver Canucks. Braden Holtby and Carey Price man the nets. Montreal was first to score in the first period with a Nick Suzuki power play goal, his seventh of the season, powered by Jonathan Drouin and Shea Weber. Vancouver tied it in the second period with a Jake Virtanen goal, his fourth of the year, guided in by J.T. Miller. The Canucks took the lead on a Brock Boeser power play goal, his sixteenth of the season, with assists provided by Quinn Hughes and Bo Horvat. The Canadiens tied it on a Tomas Tatar goal, his sixth of the year, fueled by Phillip Danault and Victor Mete. Montreal took the lead on a Joel Edmundson goal, his second of the season, helped along by Weber and Tatar. Vancouver tied it again in the third period with a Horvat goal, his fourteenth of the year, courtesy of Hughes and Nils Hoglander. The Canucks took the lead back with a Tyler Motte goal, his sixth of the season, assisted by Jayce Hawryluk and Jordie Benn. The Canadiens tied it again with a Brendan Gallagher goal, his twelfth of the year, via Danault. The tie lasted to a shootout where Corey Perry and Tatar gave the Canadiens a 5-4 win over Boeser and the Canucks. The three stars belonged to Tatar, Danault, and Weber, while Horvat and Hughes get the honorable mentions.

Stateside, the New York Islanders host the Philadelphia Flyers. Carter Hart and Ilya Sorokin man the nets. New York began in the first period with a Jean-Gabriel Pageau power play goal, his tenth of the season, powered by Oliver Wahlstrom and Josh Bailey. The Islanders added on with a Jordan Eberle goal, his tenth of the year, via Mathew Barzal and Thomas Hickey. New York extended the lead as Casey Cizikas scored his fifth of the season, going in unassisted. The Islanders padded the lead on another Cizikas goal, his second of the game and sixth of the year, made possible by Hickey and Wahlstrom. Philadelphia got on the board with a Joel Farabee goal, his thirteenth of the season, coming off of Scott Laughton. New York replied in the third period with an Anthony Beauvillier goal, his third of the year, courtesy of Brock Nelson. The Islanders continued with a Josh Bailey goal, his fourth of the season, an unassisted goal. The final held at 6-1, with the three stars going to Cizikas, Hickey, and Bailey, while Wahlstrom gets an honorable mention.

Out west, the Anaheim Ducks welcome the Arizona Coyotes. Antti Raanta and Ryan Miller patrol the creases. Arizona drew first blood in the first period with a Derick Brassard goal, his fifth of the season, assisted by Jakob Chychrun. The Coyotes added on with a Chychrun goal, his eighth of the year, going in unassisted Arizona extended the lead as Brassard scored his second of the game and sixth of the season, thanks to Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Phil Kessel on the power play. Anthony Stolarz replaced Miller in goal to start the second period. The Coyotes padded the lead in the second period with a Brassard goal to complete his hat trick on his seventh of the year, fueled by Tyler Pitlick. Arizona kept going in the third period with a Clayton Keller goal, his tenth of the season, guided in by Conor Garland and Nick Schmaltz. Anaheim got on the board with an Adam Henrique goal, his ninth of the year, passed from Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras. The final held from here at 5-1, with the three stars going to Brassard, Chychrun, and Raanta (27 for 28 in saves).

Up in San Jose, the Sharks bring in the St. Louis Blues. Ville Husso and Devan Dubnyk receive the starting nods in goal. San Jose opened in the first period with a Dylan Gambrell goal, his second of the season, via Brent Burns and Ryan Donato. St. Louis tied it on a Vince Dunn goal, his fourth of the year, coming off of Jordan Kyrou and Ryan O'Reilly. The Blues took the lead on a Kyrou goal, his ninth of the season, assisted by O'Reilly and David Perron. The Sharks tied it in the second period with a Tomas Hertl goal, his eighth of the year, passed from Timo Meier and Nikolai Knyzhov. St. Louis took the lead in the third period with an O'Reilly power play goal, his tenth of the season, powered by Dunn and Perron. The Blues added on with a Kyrou goal, his second of the game and tenth of the year, guided in by Torey Krug and Perron. St. Louis iced it at 5-2 with a Perron empty net goal, his twelfth of the campaign, set up by Jaden Schwartz and O'Reilly. The three stars were O'Reilly, Perron, and Kyrou, while Dunn gets an honorable mention.

Finally, the Edmonton Oilers host the Winnipeg Jets. Connor Hellebuyck and Mike Smith protect the nets. Winnipeg started in the first period with an Andrew Copp power play goal, his sixth of the season, powered by Nikolaj Ehlers and Pierre-Luc Dubois. The Jets added on with a Dubois goal, his sixth of the year, assisted by Ehlers and Josh Morrissey. Edmonton got on the board with a Connor McDavid goal, his twenty-first of the season, going in unassisted. The Oilers tied it in the third period with a Darnell Nurse goal, his tenth of the year, via Jesse Puljujarvi. Edmonton took the lead on a Leon Draisaitl goal, his eighteenth of the season, coming off of McDavid and Puljujarvi. The Oilers iced it at 4-2 with a Devin Shore empty net goal, his second of the year, set up by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The three stars were McDavid, Nurse, and Dubois, while Ehlers gets an honorable mentions. 

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