NHL 2021 - Day 87

Seven games on a relatively busy Friday, beginning with...

The New York Islanders hosting the New York Rangers. Alexandar Georgiev and Semyon Varlamov are in goal. The Rangers got going in the second period with an Alexis Lafreniere goal, his seventh of the season, via Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil. The Rangers added on with a Colin Blackwell goal, his twelfth of the year, courtesy of Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome. The Islanders got on the board with an Andy Greene goal, coming off of Mathew Barzal. The Rangers shot back in the third period with a K'Andre Miller goal, his fourth of the season, assisted by Jacob Trouba and Panarin. The Rangers iced it at 4-1 with a Mika Zibanejad empty net goal, his fourteenth of the year, going in unassisted. The three stars were Panarin, Georgiev (31 for 32 in saves), and Blackwell. 

Over in Buffalo, the Sabres welcome the Washington Capitals. Vitek Vanecek and Dustin Tokarski are in the creases. Washington led off in the first period with a Brenden Dillon goal, his second of the season, passed from Justin Schultz and T.J. Oshie. The Capitals added on with an Alex Ovechkin goal, his twenty-first of the year, assisted by Dillon and John Carlson. Buffalo got on the board with a Henri Jokiharju goal, his third of the season, coming off of Rasmus Dahlin. Washington replied in the second period with a Schultz goal, his third of the year, helped along by Lars Eller. The Sabres pulled back on a Casey Mittelstadt goal, his fifth of the season, guided in by Rasmus Asplund and Rasmus Ristolainen. The Capitals fired back in the third period with a Jakub Vrana goal, his eleventh of the year, courtesy of Schultz and Eller. Buffalo got one back with a Tage Thompson goal, his fourth of the campaign, with a lone helper from Ristolainen. This only made it 4-3, the final, with the three stars being Schultz, Dillon, and Eller, while Ristolainen gets an honorable mention. 

Along to New Jersey, as the Devils bring in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Casey DeSmith and MacKenzie Blackwood are the young goalies. New Jersey began in the first period with a Miles Wood goal, his twelfth of the season, coming off of Jesper Bratt and Pavel Zacha. Pittsburgh tied it on a Jared McCann power play goal, his eleventh of the year, powered by Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust. The Penguins took the lead on a Brian Dumoulin goal, his second of the season, fueled by Cody Ceci and Sam Lafferty. The Devils tied it in the second period with a Jack Hughes goal, his ninth of the year, courtesy of Janne Kuokkanen and Yegor Sharangovich. Pittsburgh retook the lead with a Colton Sceviour goal, his third of the season, helped along by Kris Letang and Mark Jankowski. The Penguins added on in the third period with a Rust power play goal, his fifteenth of the year, with assists provided by McCann and Crosby. Pittsburgh extended the lead as Crosby scored his sixteenth of the season, thanks to Jake Guentzel and John Marino. New Jersey got one back with an unassisted Jesper Boqvist goal, his second of the year. The Devils pulled closer with a Wood goal, his second of the game and thirteenth of the season, going in unassisted. The Penguins iced it at 6-4 with a Rust empty net goal, his sixteenth of the year, set up by Guentzel and Letang. The three stars went to Rust, Crosby, and McCann, while Wood, Letang, and Guentzel get the honorable mentions. 

Westward to St. Louis, as the Blues host the Minnesota Wild. Kaapo Kahkonen and Jordan Binnington are the masked men. St. Louis opened in the first period with a Zach Sanford goal, his ninth of the season, assisted by Robert Thomas and Tyler Bozak. The Blues added on with a Jaden Schwartz goal, his third of the year, guided in by Vladimir Tarasenko and Vince Dunn. Minnesota got on the board with a Zach Parise goal, his fourth of the season, made possible by Carson Soucy. St. Louis replied with a Schwartz goal, his second of the game and fourth of the year, fueled by Brayden Schenn and Torey Krug. The Blues extended the lead as Sammy Blais scored his fifth of the season, thanks to Justin Faulk and David Perron. St. Louis padded the lead in the second period on a Ryan O'Reilly goal, his fourteenth of the year, with helpers from Blais and Faulk. The Blues continued with a shorthanded O'Reilly goal, his second of the game and fifteenth of the season, going in unassisted. St. Louis struck again with a Faulk goal, his sixth of the year, helped along by Thomas and Bozak. The Blues kept going in the third period when O'Reilly completed his hat trick on his sixteenth of the season, with the help of Jake Walman and Blais. St. Louis piled on with an Ivan Barbashev power play goal, his third of the year, powered by Krug and O'Reilly. This stood for a 9-1 win, with the three stars handed to O'Reilly, Blais, and Faulk, while Schwartz, Bozak, Thomas, and Krug get the honorable mentions. 

Along to Vegas, as the Golden Knights welcome the Arizona Coyotes. Adin Hill and Robin Lehner are set to start in goal. Vegas started in the first period with a Jonathan Marchessault power play goal, his eleventh of the season, powered by Max Pacioretty and Shea Theodore. The Golden Knights added on with a William Carrier goal, his fourth of the year, via Nicolas Roy and Ryan Reaves. Vegas extended the lead on an unassisted Keegan Kolesar goal, his second of the season. The Golden Knights padded the lead with a Reilly Smith shorthanded goal, his eighth of the year, set up by William Karlsson. Vegas continued in the second period with a Chandler Stephenson goal, his eighth of the season, coming off of Mark Stone and Brayden McNabb. Arizona got on the board with a Nick Schmaltz power play goal, his tenth of the year, with assists provided by Alex Goligoski and Conor Garland. Ivan Prosvetov replaced Hill in goal. The Coyotes got closer in the third period with a Dryden Hunt goal, his third of the season, with helpers from Phil Kessel and Johan Larsson. Arizona chipped closer with a Clayton Keller goal, his twelfth of the year, guided in by Kessel and Christian Dvorak. The Golden Knights responded with a Smith goal, his second of the game and ninth of the season, assisted by Karlsson and Marchessault. The Coyotes fired back on a Michael Bunting goal, his fifth of the year, fueled by Kessel and Schmaltz. Vegas iced it at 7-4 with a Pacioretty empty net goal, his nineteenth of the campaign, dished from Stephenson and Alex Pietrangelo. The three stars were Smith, Marchessault, and Stephenson, while Pacioretty, Karlsson, Schmaltz, and Kessel get the honorable mentions.

Further west to Anaheim, as the Ducks bring in the Colorado Avalanche. Jonas Johansson and John Gibson man the nets. Colorado dented the scoreboard in the second period with a Valeri Nichushkin goal, his ninth of the season, courtesy of Ryan Graves and Tyson Jost. The Avalanche iced it at 2-0 in the third period with a Mikko Rantanen empty net goal, his twenty-third of the year, set up by Nathan MacKinnon. The three stars were Johansson (28 save shutout), Nichushkin, and Gibson (33 for 34 in saves).

Finally, the San Jose Sharks host the Los Angeles Kings. Calvin Petersen and Martin Jones patrol the creases. Los Angeles struck first in the first period with an Alex Iafallo goal, his tenth of the season, assisted by Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar. San Jose tied it on a Kevin Labanc goal, his tenth of the year, via Brent Burns and Mario Ferraro. The Sharks took the lead on a Patrick Marleau goal, his fourth of the season, helped along by Burns and Marcus Sorensen. San Jose added on with a Rudolfs Balcers goal, his sixth of the year, passed from Timo Meier and Erik Karlsson. The Kings got on the board in the third period with a Jaret Anderson-Dolan goal, his sixth of the season, going in unassisted. The Sharks answered with a shorthanded Dylan Gambrell goal, his fourth of the year, set up by Evander Kane and Burns. San Jose iced it at 5-2 with a Tomas Hertl empty net goal, his twelfth of the campaign, coming off of Kane and Logan Couture. The three stars were Burns, Kane, and Balcers. 

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