NHL 2021 - Day 69

We've got nine games today, beginning with...

The Philadelphia Flyers hosting the New York Islanders. Ilya Sorokin and Brian Elliott are in goal. Philadelphia got going in the second period with an Oskar Lindblom goal, his fifth of the season, assisted by Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek. New York tied it on an Oliver Wahlstrom goal, his eighth of the year, courtesy of Adam Pelech and Jean-Gabriel Pageau in the third period. The Islanders won 2-1 in overtime with an Anthony Beauvillier goal, his fourth of the campaign, coming off of Pageau. The three stars were Sorokin (36 for 37 in saves), Beauvillier, and Pageau. 

Over in Columbus, the Blue Jackets welcome the Carolina Hurricanes. Alex Nedeljkovic and Joonas Korpisalo man the nets. Carolina opened in the first period with a Brady Skjei goal, fueled by Sebastian Aho and Jesper Fast. The Hurricanes added on with a Fast goal in the second period, his fourth of the season, passed from Brett Pesce and Jordan Staal. Carolina extended the lead as Martin Necas scored his sixth of the year, thanks to Aho and Dougie Hamilton. This made it 3-0, the final, with the three stars being Nedeljkovic (19 save shutout), Fast, and Aho. 

Back east, the New York Rangers bring in the Buffalo Sabres. Carter Hutton and Keith Kinkaid are the veterans in goal, but Hutton left with an injury and was replaced by Dustin Tokarski. Buffalo dented the scoreboard in the second period with a Rasmus Asplund goal, his second of the season, guided in by Riley Sheahan and Victor Olofsson. New York tied it on a Kaapo Kakko goal, his third of the year, via Artemi Panarin. The Rangers took the lead with a Chris Kreider power play goal, his fifteenth of the season, powered by Panarin and Adam Fox. New York added on with a Fox goal, his third of the year, courtesy of Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich. The Sabres got one back in the third period with a Dylan Cozens goal, his fourth of the season, assisted by Sam Reinhart. Buffalo tied it as Jeff Skinner scored his third of the year, thanks to Brandon Montour. The Rangers regained the lead on another Kreider power play goal, his second of the game and sixteenth of the season, with assists provided by Ryan Strome and Fox. New York iced it at 5-3 with a Kakko empty net goal, his second of the game and fourth of the year, set up by Panarin and Strome. The three stars belonged to Kreider, Panarin, and Fox, while Kakko and Strome get the honorable mentions. 

In Canada, the Ottawa Senators host the Calgary Flames. Jacob Markstrom faces a lesser foe in Filip Gustavsson in goal. Ottawa started in the first period with a Ryan Dzingel goal, his seventh of the season, coming off of Austin Watson and Mike Reilly. Calgary tied it on a Johnny Gaudreau goal, his thirteenth of the year, via Milan Lucic and Nikita Nesterov in the third period. The Senators retook the lead with a Chris Tierney goal, his fourth of the campaign, assisted by Reilly and Drake Batherson. This held for a 2-1 win, with the three stars given to Gustavsson (35 for 36 in saves), Tierney, and Reilly. 

Back stateside, the Minnesota Wild welcome the Anaheim Ducks. Ryan Miller and Cam Talbot are the veterans in goal. Anaheim cracked the scoresheet in the second period with a Troy Terry goal, his sixth of the season, going in unassisted. Minnesota tied it on a Ryan Suter power play goal, powered by Ryan Hartman and Jared Spurgeon. The Wild took the lead with a Nick Bjugstad goal in the third period, his fifth of the year, helped along by Carson Soucy and Nico Sturm. This stood for a 2-1 win, with the three stars given to Talbot (24 for 25 in saves), Bjugstad, and Suter. 

Way southwest to Arizona, as the Coyotes bring in the Colorado Avalanche. Philipp Grubauer and Antti Raanta protect the nets. Colorado led off in the first period with a Pierre-Edouard Bellemare goal, his third of the season, coming off of Matt Calvert and J.T. Compher. The Avalanche added on with a Mikko Rantanen goal, his eighteenth of the year, guided in by Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. Colorado extended the lead in the second period as Nazem Kadri scored his tenth of the season, thanks to Andre Burakovsky and Jacob MacDonald. Arizona got on the board in the third period with an Oliver Ekman-Larsson power play goal, powered by Phil Kessel and Tyler Pitlick. The Avalanche replied with a Joonas Donskoi empty net goal, his ninth of the year, set up by Tyson Jost and Valeri Nichushkin. Colorado iced it at 5-1 with another Donskoi goal, his second of the game and tenth of the campaign, made possible by Jost and Nichushkin. The three stars went to Donskoi, Jost, and Nichushkin.

Up in Vegas, the Golden Knights host the St. Louis Blues. Jordan Binnington and Robin Lehner guard the cages. Vegas began in the first period with a Jonathan Marchessault goal, his ninth of the season, helped along by William Karlsson. St. Louis tied it in the second period on a Vince Dunn goal, his fifth of the year, passed from Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz. The Golden Knights took the lead back in the third period with a Mark Stone goal, his eleventh of the season, assisted by Nick Holden and Chandler Stephenson. Vegas added on with a Keegan Kolesar goal, via Nicolas Hague. The Golden Knights extended the lead as Karlsson scored his eighth of the year on the power play, powered by Stone and Marchessault. Vegas padded the lead on a Stone power play goal, his second of the game and twelfth of the season, with assists provided by Shea Theodore and Karlsson. This made it 5-1, the final, with the three stars being Stone, Karlsson, and Marchessault.

North to Vancouver, where the Canucks welcome the Winnipeg Jets. Connor Hellebuyck and Thatcher Demko are the masked men. Winnipeg kicked off the scoring in the first period with an unassisted Blake Wheeler goal, his ninth of the season. The Jets added on in the third period with an Adam Lowry goal, his sixth of the year, guided in by Mason Appleton. Winnipeg extended the lead as Lowry scored his second of the game and seventh of the season, thanks to Andrew Copp and Josh Morrissey. The Jets padded the lead on a Paul Stastny goal, his tenth of the year, passed from Mark Scheifele. The three stars belonged to Hellebuyck (22 save shutout), Lowry, and Wheeler.

Finally, the San Jose Sharks bring in the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Martin Jones are the experienced goalies. San Jose struck first in the first period with a Logan Couture goal, his fourteenth of the season, made possible by Kevin Labanc and Evander Kane. Los Angeles tied it in the second period with a Matt Roy goal, via Austin Wagner and Gabriel Vilardi. The Sharks took the lead back in the third period with a Ryan Donato goal, his fifth of the year, courtesy of John Leonard and Nikolai Knyzhov. The three stars of the 2-1 game were Jones (41 for 42 in saves), Donato, and Couture. 

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