NHL 2021 - Day 95

Eleven games grace the schedule today, with four matinees. First up...

The Philadelphia Flyers host the Washington Capitals. Ilya Samsonov and Alex Lyon are set to start in goal. Washington led off in the first period with an Alex Ovechkin power play goal, his twenty-third of the season, powered by John Carlson and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Philadelphia tied it on an Ivan Provorov goal, his seventh of the year, guided in by Claude Giroux and Joel Farabee. The Capitals took the lead back in the second period with a Dmitry Orlov goal, his seventh of the season, made possible by Carlson and Ovechkin. The Flyers tied it again with a James van Riemsdyk goal, his fourteenth of the year, fueled by Nicolas Aube-Kubel. Washington retook the lead with an Ovechkin power play goal, his second of the game and twenty-fourth of the season, with assists provided by Carlson and Kuznetsov. The Capitals added on with a Kuznetsov goal, his eighth of the year, courtesy of Tom Wilson and Carlson. Philadelphia got one back in the third period with a Wade Allison power play goal, with helpers from Kevin Hayes and Giroux. Washington answered on a Conor Sheary goal, his twelfth of the season, fueled by Justin Schultz and Lars Eller. The Capitals capped it at 6-3 with an Anthony Mantha empty net goal, his fourteenth of the year, going in unassisted. The three stars were Ovechkin, Carlson, and Kuznetsov, while Giroux gets an honorable mention.

Over in New York, the Rangers welcome the New Jersey Devils. Aaron Dell is mismatched with Igor Shesterkin in goal. New York began in the first period with a Pavel Buchnevich goal, his seventeenth of the season, assisted by Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin. The Rangers added on with a Ryan Strome power play goal, his thirteenth of the year, powered by Zibanejad and Panarin. New York extended the lead as Buchnevich scored his second of the game and eighteenth of the season on the power play, thanks to Colin Blackwell and K'Andre Miller. The Rangers padded the lead in the second period with a Panarin goal, his sixteenth of the year, coming off of Strome and Ryan Lindgren. New Jersey got on the board with a Michael McLeod goal, his seventh of the season, helped along by Nathan Bastian and P.K. Subban. The Devils got closer in the third period with a Subban goal, his fifth of the year, helped along by Jack Hughes and Yegor Sharangovich. New Jersey pulled closer on a Sharangovich goal, his tenth of the season, via Hughes. New York replied with a Buchnevich empty net goal to complete his hat trick on his nineteenth of the year, set up by Zibanejad and Panarin. The Rangers iced it at 6-3 with a Chris Kreider empty net goal, his eighteenth of the campaign, passed from Strome and Lindgren. The three stars were Buchnevich, Panarin, and Strome, while Zibanejad, Lindgren, Subban, Sharangovich, and Hughes get the honorable mentions. 

Along to Buffalo, as the Sabres bring in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tristan Jarry and Dustin Tokarski are in the blue paint. Pittsburgh opened in the first period with a Jared McCann goal, his twelfth of the season, assisted by Mike Matheson and Cody Ceci. The Penguins added on in the second period with an Evan Rodrigues goal, his sixth of the year, fueled by Teddy Blueger. Buffalo got on the board with a Tage Thompson goal, his sixth of the season, going in unassisted. Pittsburgh replied with a Bryan Rust power play goal, his seventeenth of the year, powered by Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel. The Sabres got one back in the third period with a Casey Mittelstadt power play goal, his eighth of the campaign, with assists provided by Rasmus Ristolainen and Sam Reinhart. This only made it 3-2, the final, with the three stars being Rust, Rodrigues, and McCann. 

In Canada, the Montreal Canadiens host the Ottawa Senators. Matt Murray and Carey Price are the masked men. Ottawa started in the first period with an Artem Zub goal, his third of the season, coming off of Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle. The Senators added on with a Batherson goal in the second period, his fourteenth of the year, via Brady Tkachuk and Josh Norris. Ottawa extended the lead in the third period as Batherson scored his second of the game and fifteenth of the season on the power play, thanks to Tkachuk and Norris. The Senators padded the lead on a Nikita Zaitsev empty net goal, his second of the year, set up by Shane Pinto. The final held at 4-0, with the three stars going to Batherson, Murray (23 save shutout), and Tkachuk, while Norris gets an honorable mention. 

Southwest to Arizona, as the Coyotes welcome the St. Louis Blues. Jordan Binnington and Darcy Kuemper guard the cages. St. Louis struck first in the first period with a Sammy Blais goal, his sixth of the season, assisted by David Perron and Colton Parayko. The Blues added on with a Tyler Bozak power play goal, his third of the year, powered by Mike Hoffman and Vince Dunn. Arizona got on the board with a second period goal by Alex Goligoski goal, his second of the season, fueled by Nick Schmaltz and Conor Garland. The Coyotes tied it on a Clayton Keller power play goal, his thirteenth of the year, with assists provided by Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Christian Dvorak. Arizona took the lead in the third period on a Michael Bunting goal, his seventh of the season, made possible by Jakob Chychrun and Christian Fischer.  The final held at 3-2, with the three stars going to Bunting, Keller, and Goligoski.

Back north to Winnipeg, as the Jets bring in the Edmonton Oilers. Mike Smith and Connor Hellebuyck tend the twines. Edmonton got going in the second period with a Tyson Barrie power play goal, his sixth of the season, powered by Connor McDavid and Kailer Yamamoto. The Oilers added on with a Jesse Puljujarvi goal in the third period, his tenth of the year, guided in by McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Edmonton extended the lead as Alex Chiasson scored his seventh of the season on the power play, with assists provided Barrie and Draisaitl. The final remained at 3-0, with the three stars handed to Smith (26 save shutout), Barrie, and McDavid, while Draisaitl gets an honorable mention.

Down in Tampa Bay, the Lightning host their in-state rivals, the Florida Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Andrei Vasilevskiy are the Russian goalies. Florida kicked off the scoring in the first period with a Brandon Montour goal, his sixth of the season, courtesy of Sam Bennett. The Panthers added on with an Aleksander Barkov power play goal, his nineteenth of the year, powered by Patric Hornqvist and  Nikita Gusev. Tampa Bay got on the board with a Brayden Point goal, his eighteenth of the season, passed from Mikhail Sergachev and Ondrej Palat. Florida replied with a Jonathan Huberdeau goal, his fifteenth of the year, with helpers from Markus Nutivaara and Bennett. The Panthers extended the lead as Frank Vatrano scored his fifteenth of the season, going in unassisted. The Lightning got one back with an Erik Cernak goal, his third of the year, with helpers from Blake Coleman and Victor Hedman. Tampa Bay got closer in the third period with a Mathieu Joseph goal, his eleventh of the season, guided in by Hedman and Point. Florida iced it at 5-3 with an Anthony Duclair empty net goal, his sixth of the year, set up by Radko Gudas. The three stars belonged to Point, Bennett, and Hedman.

Up to Carolina, as the Hurricanes welcome the Nashville Predators. Juuse Saros and Alex Nedeljkovic are between the pipes. Carolina was first to score in the first period with a Jaccob Slavin goal, his second of the season, helped along by Morgan Geekie and Steven Lorentz. Nashville tied it on a Roman Josi goal in the second period, his sixth of the year, going in unassisted. The Hurricanes took the lead in the third period with a Jani Hakanpaa goal, courtesy of Vincent Trocheck. Carolina added on with an Andrei Svechnikov empty net goal, his twelfth of the season, set up by Sebastian Aho and Dougie Hamilton. This made it 3-1, the final, with the three stars going to Nedeljkovic (27 for 28 in saves), Hakanpaa, and Slavin.

Further along to Detroit, as the Red Wings bring in the Chicago Blackhawks. Malcolm Subban and Jonathan Bernier draw the starts in goal. Chicago drew first blood in the first period with a Patrick Kane goal, his fifteenth of the season, via Vinnie Hinostroza. The Blackhawks added on in the second period with an Alex DeBrincat goal, his twenty-second of the year, passed from Connor Murphy and Brandon Hagel. Chicago extended the lead in the third period as Wyatt Kalynuk scored his second of the season, thanks to Hinostroza and Kane. The Blackhawks padded the lead on a Pius Suter empty net goal, his twelfth of the year, going in unassisted. This made it 4-0, the final, with the three stars being Kane, Hinostroza, and Subban (29 save shutout).

West to Minnesota, as the Wild host the San Jose Sharks. Martin Jones and Kaapo Kahkonen are the goalies. San Jose dented the scoreboard in the second period with a Brent Burns goal, his sixth of the season, via Rudolfs Balcers and Tomas Hertl. Minnesota tied it on a Mats Zuccarello power play goal, his tenth of the year, powered by Marcus Johansson and Ryan Hartman. The Wild took the lead with a Joel Eriksson Ek goal, his fourteenth of the season, assisted by Jordan Greenway and Marcus Foligno. Minnesota added on with a Zach Parise goal, his seventh of the year, helped along by Jonas Brodin and Nick Bonino. The Wild extended the lead in the second period as Kirill Kaprizov scored his seventeenth of the season, thanks to Zuccarello. Minnesota padded the lead with a Nico Sturm goal, his sixth of the year, helped along by Carson Soucy. Josef Korenar replaced Jones in goal in the third period. The Sharks got one back with a Joel Kellman goal, guided in by Kevin Labanc and Ryan Donato. The final stayed at 5-2, with the three stars handed to Zuccarello, Parise, and Talbot (26 for 28 in saves).

Finally, the Dallas Stars host the Columbus Blue Jackets. Joonas Korpisalo and Jake Oettinger are given the starting nods in goal. Columbus cracked the scoresheet in the first period with a Vladislav Gavrikov goal, his second of the season, assisted by Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cam Atkinson. Dallas tied it on a Jamie Benn goal, his ninth of the year, coming off of John Klingberg and Denis Gurianov. The Stars took the lead in the second period with a Gurianov goal, his ninth of the season, via Benn. Dallas added on with a Joe Pavelski goal, his eighteenth of the year, courtesy of Jason Robertson and Esa Lindell. The Stars extended the lead as Klingberg scored his seventh of the season, with the help of Robertson and Roope Hintz. Elvis Merzlikins replaced Korpisalo in goal. Dallas padded the lead with a Lindell goal, his fifth of the year, made possible by Hintz and Pavelski. This held up as the eventual 5-1 final score, with the three stars going to Gurianov, Benn, and Klingberg, while Pavelski, Lindell, Hintz, and Robertson get the honorable mentions. 

Follow me on Twitter @OutsiderSports0.