NHL 2021 - Day 88

Another Saturday slate is on with ten games. First up...

The Philadelphia Flyers host the Boston Bruins. Jeremy Swayman and Brian Elliott are the goalies. Boston led off in the first period with a Patrice Bergeron goal, his sixteenth of the season, via Craig Smith and Brad Marchand. Philadelphia tied it on a Travis Konecny goal, his ninth of the year, assisted by Robert Hagg and Travis Sanheim. The Flyers took the lead with a Shayne Gostisbehere power play goal, his seventh of the season, powered by Konecny and James van Riemsdyk. The Bruins tied it in the second period with a Jake DeBrusk goal, his fourth of the year, guided in by Smith and Charlie Coyle. Philadelphia reclaimed the lead in the third period with a Sean Couturier goal, his twelfth of the campaign, helped along by Joel Farabee and van Riemsdyk. This stood for a 3-2 win, with the three stars going to Konecny, van Riemsdyk, and Smith. 

Down in Dallas, the Stars welcome the Florida Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Anton Khudobin man the nets. Dallas began in the first period with a Jason Robertson goal, his tenth of the season, fueled by Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski. The Stars added on with a Joel L'Esperance goal, his second of the year, guided in by Justin Dowling. Dallas extended the lead as Jamie Benn scored his eighth of the season on the power play, thanks to Pavelski and Hintz. Florida got on the board in the second period with an Aleksander Barkov power play goal, his seventeenth of the year, powered by Patric Hornqvist. The Stars replied in the third period with an unassisted Robertson goal, his second of the game and eleventh of the campaign. This produced the 4-1 final score, with the three stars being Robertson, Hintz, and Pavelski. 

Back north, the Columbus Blue Jackets bring in the Chicago Blackhawks. Kevin Lankinen and Elvis Merzlikins are in the blue paint. Columbus opened in the first period with a Michael Del Zotto goal, his fourth of the season, via Alexandre Texier and Zac Dalpe. The Blue Jackets added on with a Cam Atkinson goal, his fourteenth of the year, courtesy of Jack Roslovic. Chicago got on the board with an Alex DeBrincat power play goal, his twenty-first of the season, powered by Calvin de Haan and Patrick Kane. The Blackhawks tied it on a Carl Soderberg goal, his seventh of the year, guided in by David Kampf and Ryan Carpenter. Chicago took the lead in the second period with a Wyatt Kalynuk goal, passed from Pius Suter and Calvin de Haan. The Blackhawks added on with a Dylan Strome goal, his eighth of the season, made possible by Kirby Dach and DeBrincat. Columbus got one back in the third period with a Patrik Laine shorthanded goal, his tenth of the year, set up by Max Domi. This only made it 4-3, the final, with the three stars being DeBrincat, de Haan, and Strome.

Up in Canada, the Montreal Canadiens host the Winnipeg Jets. Connor Hellebuyck and Jake Allen protect the nets. Winnipeg got going in the second period with a Paul Stastny goal, his twelfth of the season, going in unassisted. The Jets added on with a Nikolaj Ehlers power play goal, his seventeenth of the season, powered by Neal Pionk and Andrew Copp. Winnipeg extended the lead as Derek Forbort scored his second of the year, thanks to Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey. The Jets padded the lead in the third period with a Copp power play goal, his fourteenth of the season, with assists provided by Mathieu Perreault and Ehlers. Winnipeg continued with a Perreault goal, his eighth of the year, going in unassisted. This stood for a 5-0 win, with the three stars awarded to Hellebuyck (19 save shutout), Ehlers, and Copp, while Perreault gets an honorable mention.

Stateside to Raleigh, as the Carolina Hurricanes welcome the Detroit Red Wings. Thomas Greiss is mismatched with Petr Mrazek in goal. Carolina started in the first period with a Martin Necas goal, his eleventh of the season, courtesy of Vincent Trocheck and Dougie Hamilton. Detroit tied it on a Dylan Larkin goal, his eighth of the year, passed from Filip Zadina and Troy Stecher. The Red Wings took the lead on an Anthony Mantha goal, his eleventh of the season, assisted by Alex Biega. The Hurricanes tied it with a Jordan Staal goal, his thirteenth of the year, via Jordan Martinook and Jaccob Slavin. Carolina took the lead with a Hamilton goal, his sixth of the season, going in unassisted. Detroit tied it again with a Valtteri Filppula goal, his fourth of the year, an unassisted goal. The Red Wings pulled ahead with an Adam Erne goal, his tenth of the season, going in unassisted. The Hurricanes tied it on a Sebastian Aho goal, his seventeenth of the year, helped along by Necas and Nino Niederreiter. The tie lasted to a shootout, where Larkin and Erne lifted the Red Wings 5-4 over Andrei Svechnikov and the Hurricanes. The three stars were Larkin, Erne, and Hamilton, while Necas gets an honorable mention.

North again to Toronto, as the Maple Leafs bring in the provincial rival Ottawa Senators. Anton Forsberg and Jack Campbell are between the pipes. Toronto struck first in the first period with an Auston Matthews goal, his twenty-ninth of the season, coming off of Mitchell Marner. The Maple Leafs added on with another Matthews goal, his second of the game and thirtieth of the year, assisted by Marner and Morgan Rielly. Ottawa got on the board with a Drake Batherson goal, his thirteenth of the season, helped along by Tim Stutzle and Erik Brannstrom. The Senators tied it on an Alex Formenton shorthanded goal, his third of the year, going in unassisted. Ottawa took the lead with a Stutzle goal, his seventh of the season, passed from Michael Amadio. Toronto retied it on a Marner goal, his fourteenth of the year, with helpers from Matthews and Galchenyuk. The Maple Leafs pulled ahead with a Matthews goal to complete his hat trick on his thirty-first of the season, fueled by Marner and Galchenyuk. Toronto added on with an Ilya Mikheyev goal, his sixth of the year, guided in by Zach Hyman and Travis Dermott. The Senators responded with a Connor Brown goal, his thirteenth of the season, with assists provided by Chris Tierney and Evgenii Dadonov. The Maple Leafs countered with a Hyman empty net goal, his fourteenth of the year, set up by Mikheyev and John Tavares. Ottawa grabbed one for the road on a Josh Norris goal, his eleventh of the campaign, dished from Brown and Batherson. This only made it 6-5, the final, with the three stars given to Matthews, Marner, and Galchenyuk, while Hyman, Mikheyev, Batherson, Brown, and Stutzle get the honorable mentions.

South to St. Louis, as the Blues host the Minnesota Wild. Cam Talbot faces a lesser foe in Ville Husso in goal. Minnesota drew first blood in the first period with a Nico Sturm goal, his fifth of the season, guided in by Joseph Cramarossa. St. Louis tied it in the second period with a Mike Hoffman power play goal, his tenth of the year, powered by Vince Dunn and Tyler Bozak. The Wild took the lead with a Matt Dumba power play goal, his sixth of the season, with assists provided by Ryan Suter and Marcus Johansson. The Blues tied it in the third period with Hoffman's second goal of the game and eleventh of the year, helped along by Dunn and David Perron. St. Louis won 3-2 in overtime with a Ryan O'Reilly goal, his seventeenth of the campaign, set up by Brayden Schenn and Dunn. The three stars were Hoffman, Dunn, and O'Reilly.

Further along, the Nashville Predators welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Pekka Rinne are the veterans in goal. Tampa Bay kicked off the scoring in the first period with a Ross Colton goal, his seventh of the season, assisted by Yanni Gourde and Mikhail Sergachev. The Lightning added on with an Erik Cernak goal in the second period, his second of the year, via Ondrej Palat and Brayden Point. Tampa Bay iced it at 3-0 with a Gourde empty net goal in the third period, his fourteenth of the campaign, going in unassisted. The three stars were Vasilevskiy (36 save shutout), Gourde, and Colton.

Way northwest to Calgary, as the Flames bring in the Edmonton Oilers. Mike Smith and Jacob Markstrom guard the cages. Calgary dented the scoreboard in the second period with a Sean Monahan goal, his eighth of the season, made possible by Andrew Mangiapane. The Flames added on with a Johnny Gaudreau goal, his fourteenth of the year, via Noah Hanifin and Mikael Backlund. Calgary extended the lead as Elias Lindholm scored his tenth of the season on the power play, thanks to Gaudreau and Giordano. The Flames padded the lead on a Giordano goal, his seventh of the year, coming off of Backlund and Sam Bennett. Calgary continued with a Brett Ritchie goal, his second of the season, fueled by Bennett and Juuso Valimaki. This made it 5-0, the final, with the three stars given to Gaudreau, Giordano and Markstrom (17 save shutout), while Backlund and Bennett get the honorable mentions.

Finally, the San Jose Sharks host the Los Angeles Kings. Jonathan Quick and Martin Jones receive the starting nods in goal. Los Angeles was first to score in the first period with a Jeff Carter goal, his eighth of the season, via Andreas Athanasiou and Mikey Anderson. San Jose tied it with a Dylan Gambrell goal, his fifth of the year, courtesy of John Leonard and Christian Jaros. The Kings took the lead in the second period with an Athanasiou goal, his ninth of the season, assisted by Carter and Olli Maatta. Los Angeles added on with an Alex Iafallo goal, his eleventh of the year, helped along by Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown. The Kings extended the lead as Brown scored his sixteenth of the season on the power play, going in unassisted. Josef Korenar replaced Jones in goal to start the third period. The Sharks got one back in the third period with a Timo Meier power play goal, his eighth of the year, powered by Tomas Hertl and Ryan Donato. This made it 4-2, the final, with the three stars being Carter, Brown, and Athanasiou. 

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