NHL 2021-22 - Day 88

We've got thirteen games on today's schedule, beginning with three matinees. First up...

The Carolina Hurricanes host the Vancouver Canucks. Thatcher Demko and Frederik Andersen guard the cages. Carolina led off in the first period with a Sebastian Aho power play goal, his sixteenth of the season, powered by Teuvo Teravainen and Tony DeAngelo. Vancouver tied it on a Bo Horvat goal, his twelfth of the year, guided in by Luke Schenn. The Hurricanes retook the lead in the second period with a Vincent Trocheck goal, his eighth of the season, coming off of Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas. Carolina added on with a Necas goal, his eighth of the year, passed from Svechnikov and Trocheck. The Hurricanes capped it at 4-1 with a Steven Lorentz goal in the third period, his sixth of the campaign, assisted by Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce. The three stars were Trocheck, Necas, and Andersen (30 for 31 in saves), while Svechnikov gets an honorable mention. 

Up in Boston, the Bruins welcome the Nashville Predators. Juuse Saros and Linus Ullmark man the nets. Boston began in the first period with a Craig Smith goal, his fifth of the season, courtesy of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. The Bruins added on with a Mike Reilly goal, his fourth of the year, assisted by Erik Haula and Taylor Hall. Nashville got on the board with a Colton Sissons goal, his fifth of the season, with a lone helper by Dante Fabbro. The Predators tied it in the second period with a Luke Kunin goal, his eighth of the year, helped along by Nick Cousins and Mark Borowiecki. Boston retook the lead in the third period with a Marchand power play goal, his twentieth of the season, powered by Charlie McAvoy and Bergeron. Nashville tied it again on a Roman Josi goal, his thirteenth of the year, passed from Philip Tomasino. The Bruins won 4-3 in overtime with a Hall goal, his eighth of the campaign, guided in by David Pastrnak and Urho Vaakanainen. The three stars were Hall, Marchand, and Bergeron. 

Along to New York, as the Islanders bring in the Washington Capitals. Vitek Vanecek and Semyon Varlamov are in the creases. Washington opened in the first period with a Tom Wilson goal, his tenth of the season, via Aliaksei Protas. The Capitals iced it at 2-0 with an Alex Ovechkin empty net goal, his twenty-fifth of the year, set up by Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom in the third period. The three stars were Vanecek (23 save shutout), Wilson, and Ovechkin. 

Down in Florida, the Panthers host the Columbus Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins and Sergei Bobrovsky are in the blue paint. Florida started in the first period with a Carter Verhaeghe goal, his twelfth of the season, via MacKenzie Weegar and Aleksander Barkov. The Panthers added on with an Anthony Duclair power play goal, his sixteenth of the year, powered by Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad. Florida extended the lead on a Weegar shorthanded goal, his third of the season, set up by Sam Reinhart and Ekblad. The Panthers padded the lead on another Verhaeghe goal, his second of the game and thirteenth of the year, passed from Reinhart and Weegar. Joonas Korpisalo replaced Merzlikins in goal. Florida continued in the second period with a Huberdeau goal, his fifteenth of the season, made possible by Sam Bennett. The Panthers struck again with an Anton Lundell goal, his eighth of the year, helped along by Ryan Lomberg and Patric Hornqvist. Columbus got on the board with a Gustav Nyquist power play goal, his ninth of the season, with helpers from Max Domi and Jake Bean. Florida replied with a Bennett goal, his fifteenth of the year, fueled by Duclair. The Panthers kept going with another Lundell goal, his second of the game and ninth of the season, dished from Weegar and Ekblad. Florida pushed on with a Hornqvist goal, his eighth of the year, with assists provided by Lomberg and Eetu Luostarinen. The Blue Jackets got one back with a Boone Jenner goal, his fifteenth of the season, coming off of Nyquist and Andrew Peeke. This made it 9-2, the final, with the three stars being Weegar, Verhaeghe, and Lundell, while Ekblad, Huberdeau, Bennett, Duclair, Hornqvist, Reinhart, Lomberg, and Nyquist get the honorable mentions.

Along to Detroit, the Red Wings welcome the Buffalo Sabres. Aaron Dell and Alex Nedeljkovic receive the starting nods in goal. Detroit was first to score in the first period with a Tyler Bertuzzi power play goal, his eighteenth of the season, powered by Dylan Larkin and Filip Zadina. The Red Wings added on with a Robby Fabbri power play goal, his tenth of the year, with assists provided by Bertuzzi and Lucas Raymond. Detroit extended the lead in the third period as Raymond scored his eleventh of the season, thanks to Larkin and Vladislav Namestnikov. The Red Wings padded the lead on a Michael Rasmussen goal, his fourth of the year, passed from Bertuzzi and Filip Hronek. The final held at 4-0, with the three stars going to Bertuzzi, Raymond, and Nedeljkovic (22 save shutout), while Larkin gets an honorable mention.

Back south, the Tampa Bay Lightning bring in the Dallas Stars. Anton Khudobin and Andrei Vasilevskiy are between the pipes. Dallas drew first blood in the first period with an Esa Lindell goal, his second of the season, fueled by Joe Pavelski. Tampa Bay tied it on a Brayden Point goal, his fifteenth of the year, powered by Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman. The Lightning took the lead in the third period with a Ross Colton goal, his fifth of the season, assisted by Kucherov and Cal Foote. Tampa Bay iced it at 3-1 with an Alex Killorn empty net goal, his twelfth of the year, set up by Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli. The three stars belonged to Kucherov, Vasilevskiy (19 for 20 in saves), and Colton.

North again to Philadelphia, as the Flyers host the New York Rangers. Igor Shesterkin and Carter Hart protect the nets. New York struck first in the first period with a Mika Zibanejad power play goal, his fourteenth of the season, powered by Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin. Philadelphia tied it on an Oskar Lindblom goal, his fifth of the year, guided in by Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton. The Flyers took the lead in the third period with a Cam York goal, going in unassisted. The Rangers tied it on a Filip Chytil goal, his fourth of the season, helped along by Panarin and Ryan Strome. New York pulled ahead with a Chris Kreider goal, his twenty-fourth of the year, assisted by Fox and Kaapo Kakko. This made it 3-2, the final, with the three stars being Fox, Panarin, and Kreider.

Out west, the St. Louis Blues welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jack Campbell and Jordan Binnington tend the twines. St. Louis kicked off the scoring in the first period with a Ryan O'Reilly goal, his seventh of the season, coming off of Ivan Barbashev and Oskar Sundqvist. Toronto tied it with a Michael Bunting goal, his eighth of the year, via Auston Matthews. The Maple Leafs took the lead with a Mitchell Marner goal, his seventh of the season, going in unassisted. Toronto added on with a John Tavares goal, his fifteenth of the year, passed from Alexander Kerfoot and Morgan Rielly. The Blues got one back in the second period with an O'Reilly goal, his second of the game and eighth of the season, fueled by Niko Mikkola. St. Louis tied it on a Brandon Saad goal, his thirteenth of the year, guided in by Robert Thomas. The Maple Leafs took the lead back with a Timothy Liljegren goal, made possible by Travis Dermott and Pierre Engvall. The Blues tied it again with a Thomas goal, his fifth of the season, helped along by Jordan Kyrou and Saad. St. Louis gained the lead in the third period with a Mikkola goal, his third of the year, guided by Kyrou and Justin Faulk. Toronto tied it once more with a Matthews power play goal, his twenty-fifth of the season, powered by Marner and Rielly. The Maple Leafs gained the lead on an Ilya Mikheyev goal, his fifth of the year, with a lone helper by Engvall. The final held at 6-5, with the three stars being Matthews, Marner, and O'Reilly, while Thomas, Saad, Mikkola, Rielly and Kyrou get the honorable mentions.

Up in Chicago, the Blackhawks bring in the Anaheim Ducks. Lukas Dostal is mismatched with Marc-Andre Fleury in goal. Chicago got going in the second period with a Brandon Hagel goal, his ninth of the season, via Erik Gustafsson and Riley Stillman. The Blackhawks added on in the third period with a Patrick Kane power play goal, his ninth of the year, powered by Alex DeBrincat and Jonathan Toews. Chicago iced it at 3-0 with a Dominik Kubalik empty net goal, his eighth of the season, set up by DeBrincat and Calvin de Haan. The three stars were Fleury (38 save shutout), DeBrincat, and Hagel.

Along to Arizona, as the Coyotes host the Colorado Avalanche. Darcy Kuemper and Karel Vejmelka are the masked men. Colorado opened in the first period with a Nathan MacKinnon power play goal, his seventh of the season, powered by Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar. The Avalanche added on in the second period with a Rantanen goal, his eighteenth of the year, via MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. Colorado extended the lead as Nazem Kadri scored his fourteenth of the season, thanks to Andre Burakovsky. The Avalanche padded the lead on a Rantanen goal, his second of the game and nineteenth of the year, going in unassisted. Colorado iced it at 5-0 with a MacKinnon goal, his second of the game and eighth of the campaign, an unassisted goal. The three stars were Kuemper (20 save shutout), MacKinnon, and Rantanen.

In Seattle, the Kraken welcome the Los Angeles Kings. Cal Petersen and Chris Driedger are the backups in goal. Los Angeles started in the first period with an Adrian Kempe goal, his seventeenth of the season, fueled by Alex Iafallo and Anze Kopitar. The Kings added on in the second period with a Phillip Danault goal, his eighth of the year, coming off of Mikey Anderson and Trevor Moore. Seattle got on the board with a Marcus Johansson power play goal, his fourth of the season, powered by Mark Giordano and Yanni Gourde. Los Angeles replied in the third period with an empty net goal by Danault, his second of the game and ninth of the year, set up by Moore and Viktor Arvidsson. The three stars were Danault, Petersen (17 for 18 in saves), and Moore.

Across the border, the Edmonton Oilers bring in the Ottawa Senators. Matt Murray and Stuart Skinner are the alliterative goalies. Ottawa led off in the first period with a Josh Norris power play goal, his fifteenth of the season, powered by Brady Tkachuk. Edmonton tied it on a power play goal by Zack Kassian, his fifth of the year, helped along by Leon Draisaitl and Jesse Puljujarvi. The Oilers took the lead in the second period on a Kailer Yamamoto goal, his eighth of the season, via Warren Foegele and William Lagesson. Edmonton added on with a Brendan Perlini goal, his third of the year, with helpers from Duncan Keith and Colton Sceviour. The Senators got one back with an Adam Gaudette goal, his third of the season, made possible by Alex Formenton and Chris Tierney. Ottawa tied it on a Formenton goal, his seventh of the year, courtesy of Gaudette and Tierney. The Senators pulled ahead on an Artem Zub goal, his third of the season, assisted by Josh Brown and Drake Batherson. The Oilers tied it with a Darnell Nurse goal, his third of the year, with assists provided by Zach Hyman and Puljujarvi. Ottawa gained the lead with a Norris power play goal, his second of the game and sixteenth of the season, courtesy of Tim Stutzle and Thomas Chabot. The Oilers iced it at 6-4 with a Zach Sanford empty net goal, his sixth of the year, going in unassisted. The three stars were Norris, Formenton, and Gaudette, while Tierney and Puljujarvi get the honorable mentions.

Finally, the San Jose Sharks host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Louis Domingue and Adin Hill draw the starts in goal. Pittsburgh began in the first period with a Rudolfs Balcers goal, his third of the season, coming off of Erik Karlsson and Timo Meier. Pittsburgh tied it on a Kris Letang goal, his third of the year, courtesy of Kris Letang and Teddy Blueger. The Penguins won 2-1 in overtime with a Guentzel goal, his nineteenth of the campaign, via Sidney Crosby and Letang. The three stars were Guentzel, Letang, and Domingue (40 for 41 in saves). 

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