NHL 2021-22 - Day 168

There's twelve games on today, beginning with...

The Dallas Stars hosting the New Jersey Devils. Jake Oettinger and Nico Daws are the young goalies. Dallas got going in the second period with a Ryan Suter power play goal, his seventh of the season, powered by Vladislav Namestnikov and Jamie Benn. New Jersey tied it in the third period with a Ty Smith goal, his fifth of the year, coming off of Nico Hischier and Fabian Zetterlund. The Devils took the lead with a Hischier goal, his twentieth of the season, passed from Kevin Bahl and Zetterlund. New Jersey finished it at 3-1 with a Pavel Zacha goal, his fourteenth of the year, courtesy of Jesper Boqvist. The three stars were Hischier, Zetterlund, and Daws (28 for 29 in saves). 

Up in Pittsburgh, the Penguins welcome the Washington Capitals. Ilya Samsonov and Tristan Jarry are the masked men. Pittsburgh opened in the first period with a Bryan Rust goal, his twenty-fourth of the season, coming off of Jake Guentzel and Evgeni Malkin. Washington tied it on a Marcus Johansson goal, his seventh of the year, going in unassisted. The Capitals took the lead with a Dmitry Orlov goal, his eleventh of the season, assisted by Johan Larsson and Nic Dowd. The Penguins retied it on a Jeff Carter goal, his seventeenth of the year, via Evan Rodrigues. Pittsburgh took the lead on a Brian Boyle goal, his tenth of the season, helped along by Kris Letang and Teddy Blueger. Washington retied it in the second period with an Alex Ovechkin power play goal, his forty-fourth of the year, powered by John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom. The Capitals pulled ahead in the third period with a Tom Wilson goal, his twenty-second of the season, made possible by Justin Schultz. Washington added on with an empty net goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov, his twenty-third of the year, going in unassisted. The Capitals finished it at 6-3 with an empty net goal by Martin Fehervary, his seventh of the campaign, set up by Wilson and Carlson. The three stars were Wilson, Carlson, and Kuznetsov.

Along to Nashville, as the Predators bring in the Florida Panthers. Spencer Knight and Juuse Saros protect the nets. Florida started in the first period with a Carter Verhaeghe goal, his twenty-second of the season, courtesy of Brandon Montour and Gustav Forsling. Nashville tied it on a Ryan Johansen goal, his twenty-second of the year, via Filip Forsberg and Alexandre Carrier. The Panthers retook the lead in the second period with an Anton Lundell goal, his sixteenth of the season, made possible by Sam Reinhart and Mason Marchment. Florida added on with an empty net goal by Jonathan Huberdeau, his twenty-seventh of the year, set up by Aleksander Barkov and Reinhart. The Panthers iced it at 4-1 with a Forsling empty net goal, his sixth of the campaign, going in unassisted. The three stars were Forsling, Knight (24 for 25 in saves), and Reinhart.

North to Toronto, as the Maple Leafs host the Montreal Canadiens. Jake Allen and Erik Kallgren are set to start in goal. Toronto kicked off the scoring in the first period with an Auston Matthews goal, his fifty-seventh of the season, courtesy of Mark Giordano and Mitchell Marner. Samuel Montembeault entered the contest. The Maple Leafs added on with another Matthews goal, his second of the game and fifty-eighth of the year, via Michael Bunting and Justin Holl. Montreal got on the board in the second period with a Joel Edmundson goal, his second of the season, coming off of Nick Suzuki and Jeff Petry. Toronto replied with a John Tavares goal, his twenty-sixth of the year, with helpers from Ilya Mikheyev and Alexander Kerfoot. The Canadiens got one back with a Cole Caufield goal, his eighteenth of the season, guided in by Brendan Gallagher and Christian Dvorak. The final held at 3-2, with the three stars being Matthews, Tavares, and Kallgren (24 for 26 in saves).

In Detroit, the Red Wings welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins and Alex Nedeljkovic are in the creases. Columbus struck first in the first period with a Jack Roslovic goal, his thirteenth of the season, via Zach Werenski. Detroit tied it in the second period with a Jakub Vrana goal, his ninth of the year, going in unassisted. The Red Wings took the lead with a Sam Gagner goal, his twelfth of the season, guided in by Marc Staal and Mitchell Stephens. The Blue Jackets tied it on a Cole Sillinger goal, his twelfth of the year, fueled by Werenski and Jakub Voracek. Columbus pulled ahead in the third period with another Roslovic goal, his second of the game and fourteenth of the season, made possible by Patrik Laine and The Blue Jackets added on with a Justin Danforth goal, his ninth of the year, helped along by Roslovic and Gustav Nyquist. Detroit got one back on a Dylan Larkin goal, his thirty-first of the season, assisted by Lucas Raymond and Jordan Oesterle. The Red Wings tied it on a Vrana goal, his second of the game and tenth of the year, with a helper from Pius Suter. Columbus won 5-4 in overtime with a Roslovic goal, completing his hat trick on his fifteenth of the campaign, passed from Nyquist and Werenski. The three stars were Roslovic, Vrana, and Werenski, while Nyquist gets an honorable mention.

Over in New York, the Rangers bring in the Ottawa Senators. Anton Forsberg and Igor Shesterkin guard the cages. Ottawa led off in the first period with an Austin Watson goal, his seventh of the season, via Mark Kastelic and Parker Kelly. New York tied it on an Artemi Panarin goal, his twenty-first of the year, going in unassisted. The Rangers took the lead in the second period with an Andrew Copp goal, his seventeenth of the season, fueled by Panarin and K'Andre Miller. New York added on with a Chris Kreider goal, his forty-eighth of the year, passed from Ryan Lindgren and Mika Zibanejad. The Rangers extended the lead as Ryan Strome scored his seventeenth of the season, made possible by Panarin and Lindgren. New York padded the lead in the third period with another Kreider goal, his second of the game and forty-ninth of the year, with helpers from Frank Vatrano and Justin Braun. This made it 5-1, the final, with the three stars going to Kreider, Panarin, and Lindgren.

Way out west, the Seattle Kraken host the Calgary Flames. Jacob Markstrom and Philipp Grubauer tend the twines. Calgary began in the first period with a Blake Coleman goal, his fourteenth of the season, assisted by Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson. Seattle tied it on a Karson Kuhlman goal, his third of the year, passed from Morgan Geekie and Jared McCann. The Flames took the lead with a Trevor Lewis goal, his sixth of the season, coming off of Hanifin and Dillon Dube. Calgary added on in the second period with a Michael Stone power play goal, his second of the year, made possible by Hanifin and Andrew Mangiapane. The Flames iced it at 4-1 in the third period on a Tyler Toffoli empty net goal, his twentieth of the campaign, set up by Dube and Hanifin. The three stars were Hanifin, Dube, and Markstrom (27 for 28 in saves).

Back east, the Philadelphia Flyers welcome the Anaheim Ducks. Anthony Stolarz and Martin Jones draw the starts in goal. Philadelphia drew first blood in the first period with a Travis Sanheim goal, his seventh of the season, coming off of Morgan Frost and Travis Konecny. The Flyers added on with a Ronnie Attard goal, via Hayden Hodgson and Scott Laughton. Anaheim got on the board in the second period with a Sonny Milano goal, his thirteenth of the year, courtesy of Jamie Drysdale and Cam Fowler. The Ducks tied it on a Zach Aston-Reese goal, his fourth of the season, assisted by Adam Henrique and Andrej Sustr. Anaheim took the lead with a Trevor Zegras power play goal, his nineteenth of the year, powered by Urho Vaakanainen and Drysdale. Philadelphia tied it in the third period with an Ivan Provorov goal, his eighth of the season, made possible by Nate Thompson and Cam York. The Ducks gained the lead with a Zegras goal, his second of the game and twentieth of the year, helped along by Derek Grant. Anaheim extended the lead as Grant scored his thirteenth of the season, thanks to Sustr and Dominik Simon. The final held at 5-3, with the three stars going to Zegras, Grant, and Drysdale, while Sustr gets an honorable mention.

Backtracking to St. Louis, where the Blues bring in the New York Islanders. Semyon Varlamov and Jordan Binnington are the veteran goalies. St. Louis was first to score in the first period with a Nick Leddy goal, his third of the season, guided in by Robert Thomas and Vladimir Tarasenko. The Blues added on with a Tarasenko goal, his twenty-sixth of the year, assisted by Colton Parayko and Thomas. St. Louis extended the lead as Justin Faulk scored his twelfth of the season, thanks to Brandon Saad and David Perron. The Blues padded the lead on another Faulk goal, his second of the game and thirteenth of the year, made possible by Jordan Kyrou and Ivan Barbashev. St. Louis continued with a Barbashev goal, his twenty-third of the season, fueled by Kyrou and Faulk. New York got on the board with a Brant Hutton goal, with a lone helper by Brock Nelson. The Blues shot back with a Thomas goal, his eighteenth of the year, passed from Tarasenko and Pavel Buchnevich. This made it 6-1, the final, with the three stars being Faulk, Thomas, and Tarasenko, while Barbashev and Kyrou get the honorable mentions.

Northwest to Edmonton, as the Oilers host the Colorado Avalanche. Darcy Kuemper and Mikko Koskinen are between the pipes. Edmonton dented the scoreboard in the second period with a Warren Foegele goal, his eleventh of the season, coming off of Darnell Nurse. Colorado tied it on a Nathan MacKinnon goal, his twenty-sixth of the year, via Valeri Nichushkin and Devon Toews. The tie went to a shootout, where MacKinnon's lone tally stood for a 2-1 win. The three stars were Kuemper (49 for 50 in saves), MacKinnon, and Koskinen (33 for 34 in saves).

Next up, the Vancouver Canucks welcome the San Jose Sharks. Kaapo Kahkonen and Thatcher Demko are in the creases. Vancouver opened in the first period with a Jason Dickinson goal, his fourth of the season, going in unassisted. San Jose tied it on a Tomas Hertl power play goal, his twenty-eighth of the year, powered by Timo Meier and Erik Karlsson. The Canucks took the lead back in the second period with a Conor Garland goal, his fifteenth of the season, passed from Alex Chiasson. The Sharks tied it on a Nick Bonino goal, his eleventh of the year, via Brent Burns and Noah Gregor. Vancouver took the lead with a Chiasson goal, his tenth of the season, courtesy of Bo Horvat and Tyler Myers. The Canucks iced it at 4-2 with a Luke Schenn empty net goal, his fourth of the year, going in unassisted. The three stars were Chiasson, Demko (35 for 37 in saves), and Dickinson.

Finally, the Vegas Golden Knights bring in the Arizona Coyotes. Karel Vejmelka and Robin Lehner are in the blue paint. Vegas started in the first period with a Zach Whitecloud goal, his seventh of the season, made possible by Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson. The Golden Knights added on with a Max Pacioretty goal, his sixteenth of the year, via Chandler Stephenson and Brayden McNabb. Arizona got on the board with a Barrett Hayton goal, his eighth of the season, coming off of Michael Carcone and Phil Kessel. Vegas replied in the second period with an Evgenii Dadonov goal, his eighteenth of the year, passed from Shea Theodore and McNabb. The Golden Knights extended the lead in the third period as McNabb scored his third of the season, thanks to Stephenson and Mattias Janmark. Vegas padded the lead on a Jake Leschyshyn goal, his second of the year, courtesy of Jonas Rondbjerg. The Golden Knights kept going on a Jack Eichel goal, his eleventh of the campaign, guided in by Dadonov. The final was 6-1, with the three stars being McNabb, Dadonov, and Stephenson. 

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