NHL 2023-24 - Day 136

It's a 13-game Saturday, beginning with...

The Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Winnipeg Jets. Connor Hellebuyck and Pyotr Kochetkov are the masked men. Carolina got going in the second period with a Martin Necas goal, his nineteenth of the season, via Stefan Noesen and Jalen Chatfield. The Hurricanes added on with a Teuvo Teravainen goal, his nineteenth of the year, coming off of Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov. Carolina extended the lead as Aho scored his twenty-fourth of the season on the power play, powered by Svechnikov and Michael Bunting. Winnipeg got on the board in the third period with a Kyle Connor goal, his twenty-fifth of the year, assisted by Nikolaj Ehlers and Josh Morrissey. The Jets got closer with a Nino Niederreiter goal, his fifteenth of the season, passed from Nate Schmidt and Adam Lowry. Winnipeg tied it on a Mark Scheifele power play goal, his eighteenth of the year, with a lone assist by Morrissey. The Jets gained the lead with an unassisted Sean Monahan goal, his twentieth of the season. Winnipeg iced it at 5-3 with a Niederreiter empty net goal, his second of the game and sixteenth of the year, set up by Alex Iafallo and Morrissey. The three stars were Morrissey, Niederreiter, and Aho, while Svechnikov gets an honorable mention. 

Along to Detroit, as the Red Wings welcome the Florida Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Alex Lyon are the former teammates in goal. Florida dented the scoreboard in the second period with a Brandon Montour goal, his sixth of the season, via Evan Rodrigues and Anton Lundell. The Panthers added on with a Sam Reinhart power play goal, his forty-second of the year, powered by Aleksander Barkov and Montour. Florida extended the lead in the third period as Rodrigues scored his ninth of the season, thanks to Eetu Luostarinen and Lundell. The Panthers padded the lead on a Carter Verhaeghe power play goal, his thirty-first of the year, assisted by Montour and Brandon Tkachuk. This made it 4-0, the final, with the three stars going to Bobrovsky (21 save shutout), Montour, and Rodrigues, while Lundell gets an honorable mention. 

Out west, the Seattle Kraken bring in the Edmonton Oilers. Stuart Skinner and Philipp Grubauer occupy the creases. Edmonton cracked the scoresheet in the second period with a Leon Draisaitl goal, his thirtieth of the season, coming off of Connor McDavid. The Oilers added on with a Brett Kulak goal, his third of the year, via Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Draisaitl. Seattle got on the board with an Eeli Tolvanen power play goal, his fifteenth of the season, powered by Jared McCann and Vince Dunn. The final stood at 2-1, with the three stars being Draisaitl, Skinner (23 for 24 in saves), and Kulak.

To the midwest, as the Nashville Predators host the Colorado Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev and Juuse Saros guard the cages. Nashville started in the first period with a Cody Glass goal, his third of the season, guided in by Colton Sissons and Ryan McDonagh. Colorado tied it with a Nathan MacKinnon goal, his thirty-seventh of the year, assisted by Mikko Rantanen and Devon Toews. The Predators took the lead back in the second period with a Glass goal, his second of the game and fourth of the season, fueled by Tommy Novak and Alexandre Carrier. Nashville added on in the third period with a Ryan O'Reilly power play goal, his twenty-second of the year, powered by Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg. The Predators extended the lead on a Novak goal, his thirteenth of the season, coming off of the goalie Saros on the power play. Nashville iced it at 5-1 with a Glass empty net goal to complete his hat trick on his fifth of the year, set up by McDonagh and Michael McCarron. The three stars were Glass, Novak, and McDonagh.

Over in St. Louis, the Blues welcome the Minnesota Wild. Marc-Andre Fleury and Jordan Binnington are the veterans in goal. St. Louis opened in the first period with an Alexey Toropchenko goal, his tenth of the season, assisted by Scott Perunovich and Brandon Saad. Minnesota tied it in the second period with a Jon Merrill goal, his third of the year, going in unassisted. The Blues retook the lead with a Jake Neighbours power play goal, his twentieth of the season, powered by Robert Thomas and Torey Krug. St. Louis iced it at 3-1 with a Krug empty net goal, his third of the year, set up by Faulk. The three stars were Binnington (21 for 22 in saves), Krug, and Neighbours.

East to Buffalo, where the Sabres bring in the Vegas Golden Knights. Logan Thompson and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen are set to start in goal. Buffalo led off in the first period with a Jeff Skinner goal, his twentieth of the season, going in unassisted. The Sabres added on with a Dylan Cozens unassisted shorthanded goal, his thirteenth of the year. Vegas got on the board with a Brendan Brisson power play goal, his second of the season, powered by Nicolas Roy and Paul Cotter. The Golden Knights tied it on a William Karlsson goal, his twenty-first of the year, via Jonathan Marchessault and Cotter. Buffalo retook the lead with a Zemgus Girgensons goal, his seventh of the season, passed from Eric Robinson. The Sabres extended the lead in the third period as Kyle Okposo scored his twelfth of the year, thanks to Skinner and Casey Mittelstadt. Buffalo padded the lead on an Owen Power goal, his fourth of the season, coming off of Jacob Bryson and Robinson. The Sabres continued with a Mittelstadt power play goal, his fourteenth of the year, helped along by Power and Skinner. Buffalo kept going with a shorthanded Cozens goal, his second of the game and fourteenth of the season, set up by Power and Henri Jokiharju. The final held at 7-2, with the three stars being Skinner, Cozens, and Power, while Mittelstadt, Robinson, and Cotter get the honorable mentions.

In Philadelphia, the Flyers host the Ottawa Senators. Mads Sogaard and Felix Sandstrom are the backups in goal. Philadelphia began in the first period with a Joel Farabee goal, his eighteenth of the season, guided in by Nick Seeler. Ottawa tied it on a Vladimir Tarasenko goal in the second period, his seventeenth of the year, via Shane Pinto and Mathieu Joseph. The Flyers took the lead back with a Tyson Foerster goal, his fifteenth of the season, courtesy of Scott Laughton. Philadelphia added on with a Foerster penalty shot goal, his second of the game and sixteenth of the year. The Senators got one back in the third period with a Thomas Chabot goal, his sixth of the season, made possible by Dominik Kubalik and Claude Giroux. The Flyers iced it at 4-2 with a Cam York empty net goal, his ninth of the year, going in unassisted. The three stars were Foerster, Farabee, and Sandstrom (26 for 28 in saves).

Down in Tampa Bay, the Lightning welcome the Montreal Canadiens. Cayden Primeau is mismatched with Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal. Montreal struck first in the first period with a Joel Armia goal, his eleventh of the season, made possible by Kaiden Guhle and Alex Newhook. The Canadiens added on with a Jake Evans goal, his fifth of the year, via Brendan Gallagher. Tampa Bay got on the board with a Brayden Point goal in the second period, his thirty-second of the season, guided in by Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. The Lightning tied it on an Anthony Cirelli goal, his thirteenth of the year, passed from Brandon Hagel and Hadyn Fleury. Montreal took the lead in the third period with a Josh Anderson goal, his eighth of the season, coming off of Cole Caufield and Arber Xhekaj. Tampa Bay tied it again with a Tyler Motte shorthanded goal, his sixth of the year, going in unassisted. The tie went to a shootout, where Stamkos and Victor Hedman gave the Lightning a 4-3 win over Caufield and the Canadiens. The three stars were Motte, Cirelli, and Point.

Way north to Toronto, as the Maple Leafs bring in the New York Rangers. Igor Shesterkin and Ilya Samsonov protect the nets. New York was first to score in the first period with an Alexis Lafreniere goal, his eighteenth of the season, coming off of Adam Fox. Toronto tied it in the second period with a Mitchell Marner goal, his twenty-fourth of the year, fueled by Auston Matthews. The Rangers retook the lead with a Vincent Trocheck goal, his twenty-first of the season, assisted by Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin. The Maple Leafs retied it on a William Nylander goal, his thirty-third of the year, passed from Max Domi and Jake McCabe. Toronto took the lead with a John Tavares goal, his eighteenth of the season, made possible by Calle Jarnkrok and Morgan Rielly. New York retied it on another Trocheck goal, his second of the game and twenty-second of the year, guided in by Lafreniere. The tie went to a shootout, where Marner and Domi lifted the Maple Leafs to a 4-3 win over the Mika Zibanejad and the Rangers. The three stars were Lafreniere, Trocheck, and Panarin.

Back stateside, the New York Islanders host the Boston Bruins. Linus Ullmark and Ilya Sorokin are the masked men. New York drew first blood in the first period with a Kyle Palmieri goal, his sixteenth of the season, assisted by Noah Dobson and Anders Lee. The Islanders added on with a Palmieri power play goal, his second of the game and seventeenth of the year, powered by Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal. New York extended the lead as Palmieri completed his hat trick with his eighteenth of the season, thanks to Ryan Pulock and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. The Islanders padded the lead in the second period on a Lee goal, his sixteenth of the year, made possible by Pageau and Palmieri. New York continued on a Brock Nelson goal, his twenty-eighth of the season, fueled by Horvat and Mike Reilly. Boston got on the board with a Marc McLaughlin goal, guided in by Charlie McAvoy and James van Riemsdyk. The three stars of the 5-1 game were Palmieri, Lee, and Horvat, while Pageau gets an honorable mention.

South to Dallas, as the Stars welcome the San Jose Sharks. Magnus Chrona and Jake Oettinger are in the blue paint. San Jose got the first goal in the first period on a William Eklund goal, his tenth of the season, guided in by Luke Kunin and Jan Rutta. Dallas tied it in the second period with a Radek Faksa goal, his fourth of the year, via Craig Smith and Sam Steel. The Sharks retook the lead with a Filip Zadina goal, his ninth of the season, assisted by Kunin. The Stars tied it in the third period with a Jason Robertson power play goal, his twenty-first of the year, powered by Miro Heiskanen and Jamie Benn. The tie went to a shootout, where Matt Duchene and Benn lifted the Stars to a 3-2 win over Anthony Duclair and the Sharks. The three stars were Benn, Kunin, and Robertson.

Up in Chicago, the Blackhawks bring in the Columbus Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins and Arvid Soderblom are the goalies. Columbus kicked off the scoring in the first period with an Alexandre Texier goal, his ninth of the season, going in unassisted. The Blue Jackets added on with a Boone Jenner goal, his nineteenth of the year, coming off of Zach Werenski and Jack Roslovic. Chicago got on the board with a Philipp Kurashev goal, his tenth of the season, via Connor Bedard and Ryan Donato. Columbus replied with a Mathieu Olivier goal, his second of the year, courtesy of Werenski. The Blue Jackets extended the lead as Cole Sillinger scored his eleventh of the season, thanks to Alex Nylander and Adam Boqvist. The Blackhawks got one back in the third period with a Donato goal, his seventh of the year, with helpers from Kurashev and Alex Vlasic. Columbus iced it at 5-2 with a Johnny Gaudreau empty net goal, his ninth of the campaign, set up by Roslovic. The three stars belonged to Roslovic, Werenski, and Kurashev, while Donato gets an honorable mention.

Finally, the Calgary Flames host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tristan Jarry and Jacob Markstrom tend the twines. Pittsburgh got going in the first period with a Jonathan Gruden goal, going in unassisted. The Penguins added on with a Lars Eller power play goal, his twelfth of the season, powered by Valtteri Puustinen and Sidney Crosby. Calgary got on the board in the second period with a Yegor Sharangovich goal, his twenty-second of the year, an unassisted goal. Pittsburgh fired back in the third period with a Jeff Carter goal, his seventh of the season, made possible by Ryan Graves and Noel Acciari. The Flames got one back with a Nazem Kadri power play goal, his twenty-second of the year, with assists provided by MacKenzie Weegar and Noah Hanifin. Calgary tied it on a Blake Coleman goal, his twenty-fifth of the season, passed from Andrew Mangiapane and Mikael Backlund. The Flames pulled ahead on a Sharangovich goal, his second of the game and twenty-third of the year, helped along by Backlund. This held for a 4-3 win, with the three stars going to Sharangovich, Backlund, and Coleman. 

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