There were a total of eleven games played in hockey on Halfway Day. There was also a little extension in the works for Jack Johnson of the Los Angeles Kings, who will be staying in California for the next seven years, receiving a $30.5 million extension. As for the games...
The Philadelphia Flyers led off by hosting the New Jersey Devils. Johan Hedberg and Brian Boucher played in net. Philadelphia opened the scoring with a goal by James van Riemsdyk, his tenth of the season, assisted by Jeff Carter. The Flyers made it 2-0 with Danny Briere notching his 21st of the year, a power play goal with help from Claude Giroux and Kimmo Timmonen. This got New Jersey starter Johan Hedberg pulled in favor of the unfavorable Martin Brodeur. The Devils got on the board in the second period with Andy Greene netting his third of the year, unassisted, but it wouldn't go to any good, as the Devils lacked any more offensive production in the game, losing 2-1 to Philadelphia. Van Riemsdyk, Brodeur (19 for 19 saves in relief), and Boucher (34 for 35 saves) got the three stars in the matinee game.
Heading out west for an afternoon game with the Colorado Avalanche hosting the New York Islanders. Kevin Poulin and Craig Anderson were obligated to block the puck. Milan Hejduk got Colorado on the board forty-five seconds into the game, his 12th of the year a product of T.J. Galiardi and Adam Foote. David Koci added his first of the year for the Avalanche rather quickly afterward, making it 2-0 with assists coming from Ryan O'Byrne and Philippe Dupuis. Jeremy Colliton got New York on the board with his first of the season, a power play goal from Jon Sim and Andrew MacDonald. Blake Comeau tied the game for the Islanders with his tenth of the year, also a power play goal, with helpers from Milan Jurcina and Jack Hillen. Colliton gave New York a 3-2 lead in the second period with his second of the season and of the game, another power play goal, assisted by Josh Bailey and Comeau. With four seconds left in regulation, Colorado avoided defeat on Hejduk's second of the night and 13th of the year, tying the game at 3 thanks to Tomas Fleischmann and Kevin Shattenkirk. This, however, was just a postponement of the inevitable, as the Islanders won in overtime via John Tavares scoring his 14th of the year, helped along by Hillen and Matt Moulson, for a 4-3 victory. Tavares, Hejduk, and Poulin (34 for 37 saves) were given the three stars.
Opening the regularly timed games were the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Boston Bruins. Tim Thomas and Carey Price were in between the pipes. The only action in the first period featured Boston's Adam McQuaid squaring off with Montreal's Travis Moen late in the period. The scoring started in the second period for the Bruins, who took a 2-0 lead with the ninth and tenth of the season by Patrice Bergeron, with Blake Wheeler and Brad Marchand assisting on the first goal and Mark Recchi and Zdeno Chara getting helpers on the second one. Montreal got on the board late in the third period thanks to Scott Gomez netting his sixth of the season, a power play goal with help from Mathieu Darche. Brian Gionta put the Canadiens into a tie with his 15th of the year, from James Wisniewski and Max Pacioretty. The tie lasted into overtime, where Pacioretty completed the comeback by Montreal with his third of the year, with P.K. Subban and Hal Gill getting the assists. The goal did spark a brawl between Chara and Gill, with both getting misconducts. The three stars went to Pacioretty, Tim Thomas (39 for 42 saves in a loss) and Bergeron.
Heading back stateside, where the Pittsburgh Penguins played host to the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Marc-Andre Fleury played in front of the cages. Minnesota opened the scoring first with Chuck Kobasew potting his seventh of the year, with help from Mikko Koivu and Andrew Brunette. Martin Havlat extended the Wild lead to 2-0 with his tenth of the year, assisted by Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Kyle Brodziak. There was nothing happening in the second period, and the Wild regained their touch when shooting at the same net as in the first period with Cal Clutterbuck notching his 13th of the season, helped along by Patrick O'Sullivan and Matt Cullen. Brodziak finished it off with his ninth of the year, an empty net goal coming from Havlat. The final put the Wild up 4-0 over the Penguins. Theodore (26 save shutout), Havlat, and Koivu received the three stars honors.
Back up to Canada, where the Ottawa Senators hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning in the last game of the first half of the 2010-2011 NHL season. Dwayne Roloson and Brian Elliott were the designated netminders. The game was scoreless through the first period and well into the second period before Ottawa got on the board thanks to Zack Smith netting his third of the season, from Jesse Winchester and Ryan Shannon. Tampa Bay took little time in the third period to tie the game, with Adam Hall registering his sixth of the year, with help from Dominic Moore. The Lightning took the lead on the 18th of the year by Martin St. Louis, from Steven Stamkos and Ryan Malone. The final ended up being 2-1 favoring the Lightning over the Senators, with St. Louis, Roloson (31 for 32 saves), and Winchester earning the three stars.
Making another border crossing to head to the American capital, with the Washington Capitals hosting their rival Florida Panthers. Scott Clemmensen and Semyon Varlamov were the men in the creases. Florida struck first with Mike Santorelli potting his eleventh of the season, assisted by Dmitry Kulikov and David Booth. Washington answered in the second period with Eric Fehr scoring his eighth of the season, with help from Mike Green and Mathieu Perreault. Green gave the Capitals the lead in the third period with his eighth of the year, a power play goal made possible by Fehr and Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin extended the lead to 3-1 Capitals with his 15th of the season, helped along by Mike Knuble and Nicklas Backstrom. The Panthers attempted a late rally starting with Evgeny Dadonov scoring his third of the season, from Booth and Stephen Weiss to make it 3-2, but this would be the last scoring in the game, and Washington would hold on for the win. Earning the three stars were Green, Fehr, and Varlamov (25 for 27 saves).
Heading a bit west to St. Louis, where the Blues hosted the New York Rangers. Martin Biron and Jaroslav Halak were given the starting nods. All scoring occurred in the second period, led off by Brad Winchester for St. Louis, netting his seventh of the year thanks to Eric Brewer and Brad Boyes. Derek Stepan evened the score for New York with his 12th of the season, assisted by Mats Zuccarello and Brandon Dubinsky. The Rangers took the lead on the second of the season by Sean Avery, with his goal being helped along by Marian Gaborik and Dubinsky. This would later be the final score, with New York toppling the Blues 2-1. Biron (24 for 25 saves), Gaborik, and Winchester were given the three stars.
Heading to the desert for the next game, where the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Buffalo Sabres, despite the earlier violence in Tuscon during the day. Take a moment to give out thoughts and prayers to the families of those involved in that traumatic incident. The goalies were Ryan Miller and Jason LaBarbera. The first period went by quietly here, until Buffalo got on the board in the second period thanks to Jordan Leopold notching his tenth of the year, a power play goal made possible by Tyler Myers and Thomas Vanek. Scottie Upshall answered for Phoenix in the same period with his 12th of the year, assisted by Adrian Aucoin and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The tie at 1 lasted throughout the third period and into overtime, where Drew Stafford saves the day for the Sabres, scoring his 14th of the year with help from Leopold to win it 2-1 for Buffalo. Winning goalie Miller (33 for 34 saves), losing goalie LaBarbera (30 for 32 saves), and Stafford were the three stars in the game.
Heading even farther west, into California, where the San Jose Sharks hosted the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Antti Niemi were given the starting duties. Nashville struck first in the first period with David Legwand scoring his third of the year, an unassisted goal. San Jose answered in the second period with Logan Couture potting his 19th of the year, leading all rookies in that regard, with the assist coming from Ryane Clowe. The Predators took the lead back in the third period on the eleventh of the year by Sergei Kostitsyn, with Patric Hornqvist and Marcel Goc picking up the helpers. Nashville would hold on to take the Sharks down 2-1. Rinne (42 for 43 saves), Kostitsyn, and Clowe received three stars status.
Heading up north, where the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Roberto Luongo were the goaltenders. The game was scoreless in the first period, and Vancouver had the only second period goal, a product of Daniel Sedin, his 25th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Ryan Kesler and Henrik Sedin. Detroit provided an answer in the third period with their own power play goal, the 18th of the year by Johan Franzen, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Brian Rafalski just forty-two seconds into the final frame. The tie was preserved until Jiri Hudler saved the day for the Red Wings in the shootout, giving them a 2-1 victory over the Canucks. Winning goalie Howard (34 for 35 saves), Keith Ballard (nothing much), and losing goalie Luongo (32 for 33 saves) picked up the three stars.
Finally, back into California, with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Mathieu Garon and Jonathan Quick played in between the pipes in the finale for Saturday. Dustin Brown opened the scoring for Los Angeles with his 17th of the season, assisted by Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. The Kings took a 2-0 lead on the Alec Martinez power play goal, his third of the season, with Jack Johnson and Marco Sturm grabbing the assists. Jarret Stoll put together two goals in a row for Los Angeles to make it 4-0 in the second period, with his earlier tenth of the year being helped along by Doughty and Ryan Smyth and his latter eleventh of the campaign getting assistance from Sturm and Johnson shorthanded. Matt Calvert stopped the bleeding by Columbus with his first of the season, assisted by absolutely no one. Rick Nash continued the scoring for the Blue Jackets, cutting the deficit down to 4-2 with his 19th of the year, helped along by Jakub Voracek and Anton Stralman. Fedor Tyutin chipped farther away at the Kings lead, cutting it back to 4-3 with his third of the season, with help from Antoine Vermette and R.J. Umberger. Ryan Smyth put Los Angeles back into firm control with his 17th of the season, assisted by Justin Williams and Michal Handzus. Nash answered back for Columbus just fifty-eight seconds later with his second of the night and 20th of the year, thanks to Voracek and Kris Russell. The Kings managed to hold them off and bolstered their lead on the empty net goal by Williams, his 16th tally of the season, with help from Johnson, who finished up a sock trick, and Handzus. The final was 6-4 in favor of the Kings over the Blue Jackets. Stoll, Nash, and Johnson ended up getting the three stars.
That's all the hockey world had for us on Saturday. For today, keep watch for a sandwich post directly following this post's publication, and a wild card weekend coverage post for football that will be completely emotionless and unbiased (you wish). Also, if I so choose, today's hockey action will get proper coverage tonight.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Friday NHL Action
First of all, plenty of news to cover in this one. Two little nuggets from the baseball world, as the union reports Adrian Beltre's deal with the Rangers as 5 years and $80 million. Second, the Tampa Bay Rays offloaded some more salary and dealt away stud pitcher Matt Garza and spare parts Fernando Perez and an unnamed pitcher in the minor leagues were sent to the Chicago Cubs for five prospects: RHP Chris Archer, shortstop Hak-Ju Lee, infielder Robinson Chirinos and outfielders Sam Fuld and Brandon Guyer. Another trade, but this time in hockey, was conducted between the New Jersey Devils, sending their captain Jamie Langenbrunner to the Dallas Stars for what is reported as a conditional third round pick in 2011, with possibilities of it being a second round pick if Dallas wins a first round playoff series or resigns Langenbrunner. As for the high scoring slate of games today, we start with the big one in...
Atlanta, where the Thrashers hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Ondrej Pavelec got the starts, but Chris Mason also saw time in front of the Atlanta net. Atlanta opened the scoring on Tobias Enstrom netting his eighth of the season, from Ben Eager. Toronto answered the call with Kris Versteeg potting his 12th of the year, with help from Colby Armstrong and Carl Gunnarsson. Mikhail Grabovski gave the Maple Leafs the lead with his 16th of the year, a power play goal from Phil Kessel and Tomas Kaberle. Armstrong kept the Leafs going in the second period with his fifth of the season, from Versteeg and Francois Beauchemin. Nikolai Kulemin added on with his 14th of the season, courtesy of Grabovski and Mike Komisarek. Grabovski added another, his 17th of the year and second of the night, with help from Clarke MacArthur and Kulemin. Kulemin, obviously in a friendly battle with his teammate, potted a power play goal for his 15th of the season, assisted by Tomas Kaberle, on the ten minute match penalty being served by Ben Eager for a sucker punch. MacArthur added two in a row thirty-five second apart on the power play, his eleventh and 12th of the season, with Kaberle getting secondary assists on both, putting him in the position of a sock trick with a bonus assist, and the primary assists went to Kulemin and Versteeg in that order. Kessel made it 9-1 (trust me on this, it's 9-1) with his 17th of the year, the fourth goal on the match penalty, with Beauchemin and Tyler Bozak picking up the helpers. Toronto let the Thrasher off the hook in the third period, with Patrice Cormier scoring his first of the season (obviously Ben Eager's accomplice, as noted for his previous dirty hit in the minors) which was unassisted. Andrew Ladd chipped in his 14th of the year for the Thrashers, with Bryan Little and Niclas Bergfors getting the assists. The final ended up being in Toronto's favor, 9-3 over the host Atlanta team, with Grabovski, Kaberle, and Kulemin grabbing the three stars and getting out of town before Eager sucker punched anyone else (end bad jokes here). Final interesting note here, as the Maple Leafs went 5 for 3 on the power play, due in part to the major penalty style application of the match penalty.
Heading down to Florida, where the Panthers hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Justin Peters and Tomas Vokoun were sent out to block the puck. Florida opened the scoring on a David Booth goal, his eleventh of the season, coming from Mike Santorelli and Rostislav Olesz. Marty Reasoner gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead with his seventh of the year, assisted by Dennis Wideman and Bryan Allen. Into the second period, where Jeff Skinner single-handedly tied the game for Carolina, notching his 12th and 13th of the year, with Tuomo Ruutu assisting on both goals, and the rest of the assists going to Jamie McBain and Pat Dwyer in that order. Eric Staal gave the Hurricanes a lead of 3-2 with his 20th of the campaign, assisted on by Zach Boychuk. Carolina got out to a 5-2 lead on two consecutive goals by Erik Cole, his ninth and tenth of the season, with the first coming from Skinner and Ruutu, the latter completing a sock trick, and the second going into an empty net unassisted. Reasoner made a late attempt to get the Panthers back into the game with his second of the night and eighth of the year, with help from Mike Weaver and Radek Dvorak, but it was too late, mitigating the damage to a 5-3 loss. Skinner, Staal, and Wideman picked up the three stars.
Down to Dallas, where the Stars welcomed back in a chorus of boos Sean Avery and the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Kari Lethonen were in front of the cages for the game. Dallas opened the scoring with Brian Sutherby potting his second of the season, with help from Brandon Segal and Krys Barch. In the second period, Ruslan Fedotenko evened the score for New York with his eighth of the year, a shorthanded and unassisted goal. Mike Ribeiro took the lead back for the Stars with his ninth of the season, assisted by Loui Eriksson and Jeff Woywitka, on the power play. The Rangers tied it again in the third period with Artem Anisimov netting his tenth of the year, a power play goal from Marc Staal and the goalie Henrik Lundqvist. The tie was preserved into the shootout, where Mats Zuccarello scored the lone goal and giving the Rangers a 3-2 win. Anisimov, Lundqvist (28 for 30 saves) and losing goalie Lethonen (29 for 31 saves) earned the three stars.
Back north a bit into Chicago, where the Blackhawks hosted the Ottawa Senators. Brian Elliott and Corey Crawford got the starts. The first period went scoreless, and Ottawa took only forty-nine seconds in the second period to get on the board with Daniel Alfredsson potting his 13th of the season, with help from Erik Karlsson and Sergei Gonchar on the power play. Patrick Sharp evened the score for Chicago with his 24th of the season, helped along by Brian Campbell and Marian Hossa. Patrick Kane gave the Blackhawks the lead in the third period with his 12th of the season, an unassisted goal. Milan Michalek tied it late for the Senators with his eighth of the year, courtesy of Chris Campoli and Alfredsson. The tied lasted into a shootout, where Chicago won on goals by Jonathan Toews and Kane. Kane, Alfredsson, and Sharp were the three stars in the game.
Next up were the Calgary Flames hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Miikka Kiprusoff played in goal for the game. Calgary got up first with Curtis Glencross netting his eighth of the season, with help from Matt Stajan and Anton Babchuk. Darren Helm answered for Detroit with his fourth of the year, assisted by Johan Franzen. Jarome Iginla gave the Flames the lead back with ten seconds left in the first period on his 17th of the season, helped along by Glencross and Jay Bouwmeester. Brian Rafalski retied it quickly in the second period with his first of the season, thanks to Jonathan Ericsson. Glencross answered back to make it 3-2 Flames only twenty-eight seconds later, his second of the night and ninth of the year coming from Babchuk and Niklas Hagman. Babchuk made it 4-2 for Calgary with his sixth of the season, a power play goal courtesy of Mark Giordano and Iginla. Patrick Eaves cut the lead back down for the Red Wings with his 12th of the year, a power play goal coming from Jiri Hudler and Todd Bertuzzi. Tying it in the third period for the Red Wings was Rafalski, with his second of the year and the night, with Henrik Zetterberg and Helm picking up the helpers. The tie was broken in the shootout by Bertuzzi's lone goal, giving Detroit a 5-4 win over Calgary. Glencross, Rafalski, and Babchuk were the game's three stars.
To British Columbia, where the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Cory Schneider were in between the pipes. The game was scoreless until thirty seconds into the second period, with Daniel Sedin potting his 23rd of the season, with help from Henrik Sedin and Kevin Bieksa. Ryan Kesler extended the Vanocuver lead with his 21st of the year, assisted by Andrew Alberts. Daniel Sedin made it 3-0 for the Canucks with his second of the night and 24th of the season, getting help from Henrik Sedin and Alexandre Burrows. Ales Hemsky got Edmonton on the board with a second left in the second period, his ninth of the year coming from Taylor Hall and Ladislav Smid. Kesler answered to make it 5-1 in the third period with two in a row, completing a hat trick with his 22nd and 23rd of the year, from Dan Hamhuis and Raffi Torres first and Christian Ehrhoff on the power play later. Alexander Edler wrapped it up for Vancouver, making it 6-1, a score later to be the final, with his fourth of the year, a power play goal from the Sedin twins, with Henrik finishing up a sock trick. Kesler, Daniel Sedin, and Henrik Sedin got the three stars.
Lastly, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Jonas Hiller were given the starting nods. Anaheim struck first with Teemu Selanne scoring back to back in the first and second periods, his eleventh and 12th of the season, both coming on the power play, with assists going to Saku Koivu and Lubomir Visnovsky first, and Cam Fowler and Visnovsky again. Matt Beleskey made it 3-0 for the Ducks with his second of the season, assisted by Maxim Lapierre and Toni Lydman. Making it 5-0 was Bobby Ryan in the third period, his 16th and 17th goals of the year being scored consecutively, with Corey Perry and Fowler getting the assists on the earlier goal, and Fowler wrapping a sock trick alongside Joffery Lupul on the latter power play tally. Brandon McMillan added on to make it 6-0 for Anaheim with his third of the season, a shorthanded goal from Beleskey and Luca Sbisa. This would be the final, with Selanne, Ryan, and Hiller (27 shutout) getting the three stars. In the fighting column, it was a fight night, with Jared Boll of Columbus taking on George Parros in the first period, before coming back for more against the Ducks' local expert, Andy Sutton, in the third period.
That's all the Friday hockey we've got. Check back here tomorrow for the Saturday coverage, and also watch for a sandwich post and football tomorrow.
Atlanta, where the Thrashers hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Ondrej Pavelec got the starts, but Chris Mason also saw time in front of the Atlanta net. Atlanta opened the scoring on Tobias Enstrom netting his eighth of the season, from Ben Eager. Toronto answered the call with Kris Versteeg potting his 12th of the year, with help from Colby Armstrong and Carl Gunnarsson. Mikhail Grabovski gave the Maple Leafs the lead with his 16th of the year, a power play goal from Phil Kessel and Tomas Kaberle. Armstrong kept the Leafs going in the second period with his fifth of the season, from Versteeg and Francois Beauchemin. Nikolai Kulemin added on with his 14th of the season, courtesy of Grabovski and Mike Komisarek. Grabovski added another, his 17th of the year and second of the night, with help from Clarke MacArthur and Kulemin. Kulemin, obviously in a friendly battle with his teammate, potted a power play goal for his 15th of the season, assisted by Tomas Kaberle, on the ten minute match penalty being served by Ben Eager for a sucker punch. MacArthur added two in a row thirty-five second apart on the power play, his eleventh and 12th of the season, with Kaberle getting secondary assists on both, putting him in the position of a sock trick with a bonus assist, and the primary assists went to Kulemin and Versteeg in that order. Kessel made it 9-1 (trust me on this, it's 9-1) with his 17th of the year, the fourth goal on the match penalty, with Beauchemin and Tyler Bozak picking up the helpers. Toronto let the Thrasher off the hook in the third period, with Patrice Cormier scoring his first of the season (obviously Ben Eager's accomplice, as noted for his previous dirty hit in the minors) which was unassisted. Andrew Ladd chipped in his 14th of the year for the Thrashers, with Bryan Little and Niclas Bergfors getting the assists. The final ended up being in Toronto's favor, 9-3 over the host Atlanta team, with Grabovski, Kaberle, and Kulemin grabbing the three stars and getting out of town before Eager sucker punched anyone else (end bad jokes here). Final interesting note here, as the Maple Leafs went 5 for 3 on the power play, due in part to the major penalty style application of the match penalty.
Heading down to Florida, where the Panthers hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Justin Peters and Tomas Vokoun were sent out to block the puck. Florida opened the scoring on a David Booth goal, his eleventh of the season, coming from Mike Santorelli and Rostislav Olesz. Marty Reasoner gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead with his seventh of the year, assisted by Dennis Wideman and Bryan Allen. Into the second period, where Jeff Skinner single-handedly tied the game for Carolina, notching his 12th and 13th of the year, with Tuomo Ruutu assisting on both goals, and the rest of the assists going to Jamie McBain and Pat Dwyer in that order. Eric Staal gave the Hurricanes a lead of 3-2 with his 20th of the campaign, assisted on by Zach Boychuk. Carolina got out to a 5-2 lead on two consecutive goals by Erik Cole, his ninth and tenth of the season, with the first coming from Skinner and Ruutu, the latter completing a sock trick, and the second going into an empty net unassisted. Reasoner made a late attempt to get the Panthers back into the game with his second of the night and eighth of the year, with help from Mike Weaver and Radek Dvorak, but it was too late, mitigating the damage to a 5-3 loss. Skinner, Staal, and Wideman picked up the three stars.
Down to Dallas, where the Stars welcomed back in a chorus of boos Sean Avery and the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Kari Lethonen were in front of the cages for the game. Dallas opened the scoring with Brian Sutherby potting his second of the season, with help from Brandon Segal and Krys Barch. In the second period, Ruslan Fedotenko evened the score for New York with his eighth of the year, a shorthanded and unassisted goal. Mike Ribeiro took the lead back for the Stars with his ninth of the season, assisted by Loui Eriksson and Jeff Woywitka, on the power play. The Rangers tied it again in the third period with Artem Anisimov netting his tenth of the year, a power play goal from Marc Staal and the goalie Henrik Lundqvist. The tie was preserved into the shootout, where Mats Zuccarello scored the lone goal and giving the Rangers a 3-2 win. Anisimov, Lundqvist (28 for 30 saves) and losing goalie Lethonen (29 for 31 saves) earned the three stars.
Back north a bit into Chicago, where the Blackhawks hosted the Ottawa Senators. Brian Elliott and Corey Crawford got the starts. The first period went scoreless, and Ottawa took only forty-nine seconds in the second period to get on the board with Daniel Alfredsson potting his 13th of the season, with help from Erik Karlsson and Sergei Gonchar on the power play. Patrick Sharp evened the score for Chicago with his 24th of the season, helped along by Brian Campbell and Marian Hossa. Patrick Kane gave the Blackhawks the lead in the third period with his 12th of the season, an unassisted goal. Milan Michalek tied it late for the Senators with his eighth of the year, courtesy of Chris Campoli and Alfredsson. The tied lasted into a shootout, where Chicago won on goals by Jonathan Toews and Kane. Kane, Alfredsson, and Sharp were the three stars in the game.
Next up were the Calgary Flames hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Miikka Kiprusoff played in goal for the game. Calgary got up first with Curtis Glencross netting his eighth of the season, with help from Matt Stajan and Anton Babchuk. Darren Helm answered for Detroit with his fourth of the year, assisted by Johan Franzen. Jarome Iginla gave the Flames the lead back with ten seconds left in the first period on his 17th of the season, helped along by Glencross and Jay Bouwmeester. Brian Rafalski retied it quickly in the second period with his first of the season, thanks to Jonathan Ericsson. Glencross answered back to make it 3-2 Flames only twenty-eight seconds later, his second of the night and ninth of the year coming from Babchuk and Niklas Hagman. Babchuk made it 4-2 for Calgary with his sixth of the season, a power play goal courtesy of Mark Giordano and Iginla. Patrick Eaves cut the lead back down for the Red Wings with his 12th of the year, a power play goal coming from Jiri Hudler and Todd Bertuzzi. Tying it in the third period for the Red Wings was Rafalski, with his second of the year and the night, with Henrik Zetterberg and Helm picking up the helpers. The tie was broken in the shootout by Bertuzzi's lone goal, giving Detroit a 5-4 win over Calgary. Glencross, Rafalski, and Babchuk were the game's three stars.
To British Columbia, where the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Cory Schneider were in between the pipes. The game was scoreless until thirty seconds into the second period, with Daniel Sedin potting his 23rd of the season, with help from Henrik Sedin and Kevin Bieksa. Ryan Kesler extended the Vanocuver lead with his 21st of the year, assisted by Andrew Alberts. Daniel Sedin made it 3-0 for the Canucks with his second of the night and 24th of the season, getting help from Henrik Sedin and Alexandre Burrows. Ales Hemsky got Edmonton on the board with a second left in the second period, his ninth of the year coming from Taylor Hall and Ladislav Smid. Kesler answered to make it 5-1 in the third period with two in a row, completing a hat trick with his 22nd and 23rd of the year, from Dan Hamhuis and Raffi Torres first and Christian Ehrhoff on the power play later. Alexander Edler wrapped it up for Vancouver, making it 6-1, a score later to be the final, with his fourth of the year, a power play goal from the Sedin twins, with Henrik finishing up a sock trick. Kesler, Daniel Sedin, and Henrik Sedin got the three stars.
Lastly, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Jonas Hiller were given the starting nods. Anaheim struck first with Teemu Selanne scoring back to back in the first and second periods, his eleventh and 12th of the season, both coming on the power play, with assists going to Saku Koivu and Lubomir Visnovsky first, and Cam Fowler and Visnovsky again. Matt Beleskey made it 3-0 for the Ducks with his second of the season, assisted by Maxim Lapierre and Toni Lydman. Making it 5-0 was Bobby Ryan in the third period, his 16th and 17th goals of the year being scored consecutively, with Corey Perry and Fowler getting the assists on the earlier goal, and Fowler wrapping a sock trick alongside Joffery Lupul on the latter power play tally. Brandon McMillan added on to make it 6-0 for Anaheim with his third of the season, a shorthanded goal from Beleskey and Luca Sbisa. This would be the final, with Selanne, Ryan, and Hiller (27 shutout) getting the three stars. In the fighting column, it was a fight night, with Jared Boll of Columbus taking on George Parros in the first period, before coming back for more against the Ducks' local expert, Andy Sutton, in the third period.
That's all the Friday hockey we've got. Check back here tomorrow for the Saturday coverage, and also watch for a sandwich post and football tomorrow.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Thursday NHL recap
There were eight games played in the NHL on Thursday. We will head right into them by starting in...
Boston, where the Bruins hosted the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Tuukka Rask were given the starting nods. The game went scoreless into the second period, where Minnesota got up first with Martin Havlat potting his ninth of the season, a power play goal from Patrick O'Sullivan. Steve Kampfer tied it for Boston with his third of the year, with Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron picking up the helpers. The Wild retook the lead on the 12th of the season by hard hitter Cal Clutterbuck, an unassisted goal. Mikko Koivu put it away for Minnesota with his tenth of the campaign, an empty net goal made possible by John Madden and Clutterbuck. The Wild would take the Bruins down 3-1, and the three stars were handed out to Havlat, Bergeron, and Theodore (35 of 36 saves).
Staying east to cover the New Jersey Devils hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Johan Hedberg were in the battle of backup goaltenders. New Jersey struck first with Dainius Zubrus netting his fifth of the year, courtesy of Anton Volchenkov and Patrik Elias. Philadelphia evened the score in the second period on the eleventh of the year from Scott Hartnell, with assists coming from Ville Leino and Matt Carle. The Devils retook the lead with David Clarkson posting his fifth of the year, thanks to Andy Greene. The Flyers responded again with Hartnell's second of the night and 12th of the season, from Leino and Kimmo Timmonen. Philadelphia got their first lead on Danny Briere putting away his 19th of the year, from Leino, who completed a sock trick, and Carle. Briere potted another one later in the same period, his second of the night and 20th on the campaign, which was unassisted, and eventually produced the final score of 4-2 Philadelphia over New Jersey. Briere, Hartnell, and Leino were the three stars.
Crossing the border, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Jonas Gustavsson were in the creases. Toronto struck first with a Colby Armstrong goal fifteen seconds in the game, his fourth of the season being guided by Kris Versteeg and Darryl Boyce. Alex Steen answered for St. Louis later in the first period with his 14th of the year, from David Backes only. Backes gave the Blues the lead with his eleventh of the year, which got assistance from Matt D'Agostini. The Maple Leafs tied it at 2 in the second period with the 15th of the year by Mikhail Grabovski, assisted by Clarke MacArthur and Nikolai Kulemin. Versteeg gave Toronto the lead with his eleventh of the season, helped along by Armstrong and Francois Beauchemin. Phil Kessel made it 4-2 for the Maple Leafs with his 15th of the year, which required no help going to the net. Kessel added his second of the night and 16th of the campaign in the third period to make it 5-2 for Toronto, with Mike Komisarek and Beauchemin picking up the helpers. Brad Winchester helped to right the ship for St. Louis with his sixth of the season, helped along by Jay McClement and Brad Boyes. Eric Brewer got it closer for the Blues, making it 5-4 with his sixth of the year, assisted by Boyes and McClement. D'Agostini tied the game at 5 with his ninth of the season, thanks to Vladimir Sobotka. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Steen was one-upped by a beautiful Grabovski tally, answered by Boyes and re-answered by Versteeg, and then Toronto won it on Tyler Bozak's marker and the subsequent miss by Patrik Berglund. Earning the three stars from the Canadian Pressure Cooker were Bozak, Kessel, and D'Agostini.
Going over to Quebec, where the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brent Johnson and Carey Price were sent out to block the puck. Pittsburgh got on the board first with Aaron Asham netting his fifth of the year, thanks to Ben Lovejoy and Alex Goligoski. Montreal tied the game at 1 with Benoit Pouliot scoring his eighth of the season, with help from Mathieu Darche and David Desharnais. The tie would last throughout the third period and into a shootout, where the only goal came from the Canadiens, taking down the Penguins on Pouliot's marker, for a 2-1 final. Pouliot, Price (31 for 32 saves), and Desharnais were the three stars.
Heading out west, with the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera and Craig Anderson were in front of the cages. Taylor Pyatt got Phoenix on the board first with his eighth of the year, courtesy of Vernon Fiddler and Lee Stempniak. Pyatt waited over two more periods to ice the game off, potting his second of the night and ninth of the season into an empty net, with help from Shane Doan. The final had the Coyotes over the Avalanche 2-0. LaBarbera (34 save shutout), Pyatt, and losing goalie Anderson (31 for 32 saves) were the three stars in the defensively sound game.
Popping back north of the border, with the Edmonton Oilers hosting the New York Islanders. Nathan Lawson and Devan Dubnyk were starting in net for a battle of no-name goaltenders. Edmonton opened the scoring on Gilbert Brule potting his sixth of the year, assisted by Andrew Cogliano and Dustin Penner. Penner added his 12th of the year for the Oilers slightly later, a shorthanded goal from Cogliano that chased away Lawson in favor of an even lesser-known goalie, Kevin Poulin. New York got it back together in the second period, with Blake Comeau netting his ninth of the season, courtesy of Rob Schremp and Josh Bailey. However, the Islanders failed to produce any extra offense and suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of Edmonton. Dubnyk (30 for 31 saves), Cogliano, and Poulin (19 saves, 0 goals allowed in relief) were the three stars.
Heading to California, where the San Jose Sharks host the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Antero Niittymaki were in between the pipes. Luke Adam put Buffalo on the board first with his third of the season, assisted by Cody McCormick and Rob Niedermayer. Jochen Hecht made it 2-0 for the Sabres with his sixth of the season, made possible by Tyler Ennis. Thomas Vanek extended the lead for Buffalo in the third period with his 16th of the year, a power play goal courtesy of Drew Stafford and Jordan Leopold. (second intermission)
Lastly, the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Nashville Predators. In net were Anders Lindback and Jonathan Bernier, in another backup battle. The first period was scoreless, but the tie was broken as Los Angeles took the lead on the third of the year from Kyle Clifford, with help from Marco Sturm and Anze Kopitar. Jarret Stoll made it 2-0 for the Kings with his ninth of the season, assisted by Ryan Smyth and Kopitar on the power play. Nashville cut the lead down a bit in response with Colin Wilson notching his tenth of the season, made possible by Ryan Suter and Sergei Kostitsyn on the power play. Marek Svatos tied the game with his first goal since returning from Russia, obviously his first of the season, helped along by Wilson and Shea Weber. Patric Hornqvist gave the Predators a 3-2 lead with his 12th of the campaign, a power play goal from Wilson and Suter. (second intermission)
Boston, where the Bruins hosted the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Tuukka Rask were given the starting nods. The game went scoreless into the second period, where Minnesota got up first with Martin Havlat potting his ninth of the season, a power play goal from Patrick O'Sullivan. Steve Kampfer tied it for Boston with his third of the year, with Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron picking up the helpers. The Wild retook the lead on the 12th of the season by hard hitter Cal Clutterbuck, an unassisted goal. Mikko Koivu put it away for Minnesota with his tenth of the campaign, an empty net goal made possible by John Madden and Clutterbuck. The Wild would take the Bruins down 3-1, and the three stars were handed out to Havlat, Bergeron, and Theodore (35 of 36 saves).
Staying east to cover the New Jersey Devils hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Johan Hedberg were in the battle of backup goaltenders. New Jersey struck first with Dainius Zubrus netting his fifth of the year, courtesy of Anton Volchenkov and Patrik Elias. Philadelphia evened the score in the second period on the eleventh of the year from Scott Hartnell, with assists coming from Ville Leino and Matt Carle. The Devils retook the lead with David Clarkson posting his fifth of the year, thanks to Andy Greene. The Flyers responded again with Hartnell's second of the night and 12th of the season, from Leino and Kimmo Timmonen. Philadelphia got their first lead on Danny Briere putting away his 19th of the year, from Leino, who completed a sock trick, and Carle. Briere potted another one later in the same period, his second of the night and 20th on the campaign, which was unassisted, and eventually produced the final score of 4-2 Philadelphia over New Jersey. Briere, Hartnell, and Leino were the three stars.
Crossing the border, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Jonas Gustavsson were in the creases. Toronto struck first with a Colby Armstrong goal fifteen seconds in the game, his fourth of the season being guided by Kris Versteeg and Darryl Boyce. Alex Steen answered for St. Louis later in the first period with his 14th of the year, from David Backes only. Backes gave the Blues the lead with his eleventh of the year, which got assistance from Matt D'Agostini. The Maple Leafs tied it at 2 in the second period with the 15th of the year by Mikhail Grabovski, assisted by Clarke MacArthur and Nikolai Kulemin. Versteeg gave Toronto the lead with his eleventh of the season, helped along by Armstrong and Francois Beauchemin. Phil Kessel made it 4-2 for the Maple Leafs with his 15th of the year, which required no help going to the net. Kessel added his second of the night and 16th of the campaign in the third period to make it 5-2 for Toronto, with Mike Komisarek and Beauchemin picking up the helpers. Brad Winchester helped to right the ship for St. Louis with his sixth of the season, helped along by Jay McClement and Brad Boyes. Eric Brewer got it closer for the Blues, making it 5-4 with his sixth of the year, assisted by Boyes and McClement. D'Agostini tied the game at 5 with his ninth of the season, thanks to Vladimir Sobotka. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Steen was one-upped by a beautiful Grabovski tally, answered by Boyes and re-answered by Versteeg, and then Toronto won it on Tyler Bozak's marker and the subsequent miss by Patrik Berglund. Earning the three stars from the Canadian Pressure Cooker were Bozak, Kessel, and D'Agostini.
Going over to Quebec, where the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. Brent Johnson and Carey Price were sent out to block the puck. Pittsburgh got on the board first with Aaron Asham netting his fifth of the year, thanks to Ben Lovejoy and Alex Goligoski. Montreal tied the game at 1 with Benoit Pouliot scoring his eighth of the season, with help from Mathieu Darche and David Desharnais. The tie would last throughout the third period and into a shootout, where the only goal came from the Canadiens, taking down the Penguins on Pouliot's marker, for a 2-1 final. Pouliot, Price (31 for 32 saves), and Desharnais were the three stars.
Heading out west, with the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera and Craig Anderson were in front of the cages. Taylor Pyatt got Phoenix on the board first with his eighth of the year, courtesy of Vernon Fiddler and Lee Stempniak. Pyatt waited over two more periods to ice the game off, potting his second of the night and ninth of the season into an empty net, with help from Shane Doan. The final had the Coyotes over the Avalanche 2-0. LaBarbera (34 save shutout), Pyatt, and losing goalie Anderson (31 for 32 saves) were the three stars in the defensively sound game.
Popping back north of the border, with the Edmonton Oilers hosting the New York Islanders. Nathan Lawson and Devan Dubnyk were starting in net for a battle of no-name goaltenders. Edmonton opened the scoring on Gilbert Brule potting his sixth of the year, assisted by Andrew Cogliano and Dustin Penner. Penner added his 12th of the year for the Oilers slightly later, a shorthanded goal from Cogliano that chased away Lawson in favor of an even lesser-known goalie, Kevin Poulin. New York got it back together in the second period, with Blake Comeau netting his ninth of the season, courtesy of Rob Schremp and Josh Bailey. However, the Islanders failed to produce any extra offense and suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of Edmonton. Dubnyk (30 for 31 saves), Cogliano, and Poulin (19 saves, 0 goals allowed in relief) were the three stars.
Heading to California, where the San Jose Sharks host the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Antero Niittymaki were in between the pipes. Luke Adam put Buffalo on the board first with his third of the season, assisted by Cody McCormick and Rob Niedermayer. Jochen Hecht made it 2-0 for the Sabres with his sixth of the season, made possible by Tyler Ennis. Thomas Vanek extended the lead for Buffalo in the third period with his 16th of the year, a power play goal courtesy of Drew Stafford and Jordan Leopold. (second intermission)
Lastly, the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Nashville Predators. In net were Anders Lindback and Jonathan Bernier, in another backup battle. The first period was scoreless, but the tie was broken as Los Angeles took the lead on the third of the year from Kyle Clifford, with help from Marco Sturm and Anze Kopitar. Jarret Stoll made it 2-0 for the Kings with his ninth of the season, assisted by Ryan Smyth and Kopitar on the power play. Nashville cut the lead down a bit in response with Colin Wilson notching his tenth of the season, made possible by Ryan Suter and Sergei Kostitsyn on the power play. Marek Svatos tied the game with his first goal since returning from Russia, obviously his first of the season, helped along by Wilson and Shea Weber. Patric Hornqvist gave the Predators a 3-2 lead with his 12th of the campaign, a power play goal from Wilson and Suter. (second intermission)
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Wednesday NHL action
Today in the NHL (Wednesday), there were six games being played. SPOILER: One game was very high scoring as of 6:43 PM Pacific. As for the games, we start in...
The Big Apple, with the New York Rangers hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Henrik Lundqvist were the designated puckstoppers. The game was scoreless through the first two periods, until Matt Gilroy got New York on the board with his third of the season, from Mats Zuccarello and Brandon Dubinsky. Carolina tied it on a goal by Eric Staal, his 19th of the year a byproduct of Joe Corvo and Tim Gleason. The tie lasted into overtime, where Zuccarello notched his first of the season to win the game for the Rangers 2-1 over the Hurricanes. Dubinsky and the goalie Lundqvist picked up the assists, and Lundqvist also led the three stars with 31 of 32 saves, followed by teammates Gilroy and Zuccarello.
After that, the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson and Dan Ellis saw action for Tampa Bay, with Marc-Andre Fleury being across the ice from either of them. Pittsburgh opened the scoring seven seconds in with a goal by Evgeni Malkin, his 15th of the season, an unassisted goal. Chris Conner extended the lead for the Penguins with his fifth of the year, assisted by Ben Lovejoy and Matt Cooke. Making it 3-0 was Tyler Kennedy, with his sixth of the year being helped by Kris Letang. Chris Kunitz took the lead farther for Pittsburgh, scoring back to back his eleventh and 12th of the year, the first from Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis and the second a power play marker that had Alex Goligoski and Letang picking up the helpers. The Penguins kept the scoring going in the second period, with Mark Letestu notching his ninth of the campaign, with Kennedy and Goligoski picking up the assists. Kunitz made it 7-0, wrapping up his hat trick with his 13th of the season, a power play goal that saw both Goligoski and Letang finish off both of their sock tricks for the night. The Lightning made a whimper of life in the third period with Adam Hall registering his fifth of the year, assisted by Nate Thompson and Dana Tyrell. Goligoski made it 8-1 Penguins with his seventh of the year later in that period, with Conner and Lovejoy picking up the helpers on the eventual last goal of the game. Kunitz, Goligoski, and Letang picked up the three stars, all with tricks of some sort.
Going to a lower-scoring environment, we have the Florida Panthers hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Tomas Vokoun got the starting designations. Niclas Bergfors put Atlanta on the board first with his eighth of the season, assisted on by Andrew Ladd. Stephen Weiss tied it for Florida with his 13th of the year, helped along by Chris Higgins and Michael Frolik. Rich Peverley took the lead back for the Thrashers with thirty-one seconds left in the first period, his tenth of the year coming from Nik Antropov and Tobias Enstrom on the power play. Peverley chased away Vokoun in the second period with his second of the night and eleventh of the season, which came off of Ladd and Zach Bogosian. Scott Clemmensen came in to tend the Panthers net. The Panthers got a goal back in the third period with Higgins netting his eighth of the season, thanks to Mike Weaver and Jason Garrison, but failed to produce more offense after that and lost 3-2 to Atlanta. Peverley, Higgins, and Bergfors were the three stars.
Heading to the Windy City, where the Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Dallas Stars. Kari Lethonen and Corey Crawford were in between the pipes. Dallas scored first in the game, with Brenden Morrow potting his 17th of the season, with help from Loui Eriksson and Matt Niskanen. Mike Ribeiro extended the lead to 2-0 for the Stars on his seventh of the season, also a power play goal, with Brad Richards and Morrow picking up the helpers. Chicago got on the board in the second period with Fernando Pisani scoring his sixth of the year, helped along by Bryan Bickell and Niklas Hjalmarsson. Tomas Kopecky tied the game with his seventh of the campaign, assisted by Patrick Kane and Jassen Cullimore. Ribeiro gave Dallas the lead back with his second of the night and eighth of the year, another power play goal coming from Richards and Trevor Daley. Steve Ott iced the cake for the Stars, making it 4-2 with his ninth of the year, helped along by Eriksson to find the empty net to defeat the Blackhawks. Ribeiro, Pisani, and Morrow picked up the three stars.
To the west coast, where the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Jonas Hiller played in net. Jerred Smithson opened the scoring for Nashville with his fourth goal of the year, with Nick Spaling picking up the lone assist. There was a fight between Nashville's Wade Belak and Anaheim's George Parros in the middle of the first period. The Predators made it 2-0 with the eleventh of the year by Patric Hornqvist, with help coming from Sergei Kostitsyn and Ryan Suter. Saku Koivu got the Ducks going in the third period with his own eleventh of the season, helped along by Dan Sexton and Teemu Selanne. Nashville, unwilling to lose, potted back to back empty netters to make it 4-1, with the first from Kostitsyn as his ninth of the season, assisted by Hornqvist and Marcel Goc, and the second going down as the seventh of the season from Shea Weber, unassisted. Pekka Rinne (40 for 41 saves), Saku Koivu, and Maxim Lapierre (Ducks debut) earned the three stars in the 4-1 Predators win.
Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Roberto Luongo were given the starting nods. Vancouver struck first with a goal by Ryan Kesler, his 20th of the year coming off of the sticks of teammates Mason Raymond and Alexandre Burrows. Kevin Bieksa extended the Canucks lead with his fifth of the season, with Raffi Torres and Dam Hamhuis picking up the helpers. Daniel Sedin extended the lead to 3-0 with his 22nd of the year, helped along by Bieksa and Burrows. Tim Jackman got Calgary on the board with eleven seconds left in the third period, far too late to save the Flames from anything but the humiliation of a shutout, with Mikael Backlund grabbing the assist on his sixth of the season. Luongo (43 for 44 saves), Bieksa, and Burrows earned the three stars.
That's all for Wednesday hockey. Tomorrow will bring Thursday's recap.
The Big Apple, with the New York Rangers hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Henrik Lundqvist were the designated puckstoppers. The game was scoreless through the first two periods, until Matt Gilroy got New York on the board with his third of the season, from Mats Zuccarello and Brandon Dubinsky. Carolina tied it on a goal by Eric Staal, his 19th of the year a byproduct of Joe Corvo and Tim Gleason. The tie lasted into overtime, where Zuccarello notched his first of the season to win the game for the Rangers 2-1 over the Hurricanes. Dubinsky and the goalie Lundqvist picked up the assists, and Lundqvist also led the three stars with 31 of 32 saves, followed by teammates Gilroy and Zuccarello.
After that, the Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson and Dan Ellis saw action for Tampa Bay, with Marc-Andre Fleury being across the ice from either of them. Pittsburgh opened the scoring seven seconds in with a goal by Evgeni Malkin, his 15th of the season, an unassisted goal. Chris Conner extended the lead for the Penguins with his fifth of the year, assisted by Ben Lovejoy and Matt Cooke. Making it 3-0 was Tyler Kennedy, with his sixth of the year being helped by Kris Letang. Chris Kunitz took the lead farther for Pittsburgh, scoring back to back his eleventh and 12th of the year, the first from Sidney Crosby and Pascal Dupuis and the second a power play marker that had Alex Goligoski and Letang picking up the helpers. The Penguins kept the scoring going in the second period, with Mark Letestu notching his ninth of the campaign, with Kennedy and Goligoski picking up the assists. Kunitz made it 7-0, wrapping up his hat trick with his 13th of the season, a power play goal that saw both Goligoski and Letang finish off both of their sock tricks for the night. The Lightning made a whimper of life in the third period with Adam Hall registering his fifth of the year, assisted by Nate Thompson and Dana Tyrell. Goligoski made it 8-1 Penguins with his seventh of the year later in that period, with Conner and Lovejoy picking up the helpers on the eventual last goal of the game. Kunitz, Goligoski, and Letang picked up the three stars, all with tricks of some sort.
Going to a lower-scoring environment, we have the Florida Panthers hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Tomas Vokoun got the starting designations. Niclas Bergfors put Atlanta on the board first with his eighth of the season, assisted on by Andrew Ladd. Stephen Weiss tied it for Florida with his 13th of the year, helped along by Chris Higgins and Michael Frolik. Rich Peverley took the lead back for the Thrashers with thirty-one seconds left in the first period, his tenth of the year coming from Nik Antropov and Tobias Enstrom on the power play. Peverley chased away Vokoun in the second period with his second of the night and eleventh of the season, which came off of Ladd and Zach Bogosian. Scott Clemmensen came in to tend the Panthers net. The Panthers got a goal back in the third period with Higgins netting his eighth of the season, thanks to Mike Weaver and Jason Garrison, but failed to produce more offense after that and lost 3-2 to Atlanta. Peverley, Higgins, and Bergfors were the three stars.
Heading to the Windy City, where the Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Dallas Stars. Kari Lethonen and Corey Crawford were in between the pipes. Dallas scored first in the game, with Brenden Morrow potting his 17th of the season, with help from Loui Eriksson and Matt Niskanen. Mike Ribeiro extended the lead to 2-0 for the Stars on his seventh of the season, also a power play goal, with Brad Richards and Morrow picking up the helpers. Chicago got on the board in the second period with Fernando Pisani scoring his sixth of the year, helped along by Bryan Bickell and Niklas Hjalmarsson. Tomas Kopecky tied the game with his seventh of the campaign, assisted by Patrick Kane and Jassen Cullimore. Ribeiro gave Dallas the lead back with his second of the night and eighth of the year, another power play goal coming from Richards and Trevor Daley. Steve Ott iced the cake for the Stars, making it 4-2 with his ninth of the year, helped along by Eriksson to find the empty net to defeat the Blackhawks. Ribeiro, Pisani, and Morrow picked up the three stars.
To the west coast, where the Anaheim Ducks hosted the Nashville Predators. Pekka Rinne and Jonas Hiller played in net. Jerred Smithson opened the scoring for Nashville with his fourth goal of the year, with Nick Spaling picking up the lone assist. There was a fight between Nashville's Wade Belak and Anaheim's George Parros in the middle of the first period. The Predators made it 2-0 with the eleventh of the year by Patric Hornqvist, with help coming from Sergei Kostitsyn and Ryan Suter. Saku Koivu got the Ducks going in the third period with his own eleventh of the season, helped along by Dan Sexton and Teemu Selanne. Nashville, unwilling to lose, potted back to back empty netters to make it 4-1, with the first from Kostitsyn as his ninth of the season, assisted by Hornqvist and Marcel Goc, and the second going down as the seventh of the season from Shea Weber, unassisted. Pekka Rinne (40 for 41 saves), Saku Koivu, and Maxim Lapierre (Ducks debut) earned the three stars in the 4-1 Predators win.
Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Roberto Luongo were given the starting nods. Vancouver struck first with a goal by Ryan Kesler, his 20th of the year coming off of the sticks of teammates Mason Raymond and Alexandre Burrows. Kevin Bieksa extended the Canucks lead with his fifth of the season, with Raffi Torres and Dam Hamhuis picking up the helpers. Daniel Sedin extended the lead to 3-0 with his 22nd of the year, helped along by Bieksa and Burrows. Tim Jackman got Calgary on the board with eleven seconds left in the third period, far too late to save the Flames from anything but the humiliation of a shutout, with Mikael Backlund grabbing the assist on his sixth of the season. Luongo (43 for 44 saves), Bieksa, and Burrows earned the three stars.
That's all for Wednesday hockey. Tomorrow will bring Thursday's recap.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Tuesday NHL recap
There were five games of hockey again Tuesday. However, in baseball, Adrian Beltre signs with the Texas Rangers for 6 years and 96 million dollars. In hockey, we start with...
The New Jersey Devils hosting the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Johan Hedberg played in net as a battle of the backups. Cal Clutterbuck opened the scoring for Minnesota with his eleventh of the season, an unassisted goal. Ilya Kovalchuk tied it for New Jersey in the second period with his tenth of the year, helped along by Travis Zajac and Nick Palmieri. The Wild answered back with the first of the season by Clayton Stoner, with help coming from Martin Havlat and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. This goal would hold up for the Wild, who took the Devils down 2-1. Clutterbuck, Havlat, and Stoner picked up the three stars.
Up next, the Washington Capitals hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson made his Lightning debut, opposing Semyon Varlamov. The game was scoreless throughout regulation, and the tie was broken in overtime by Martin St. Louis of Tampa Bay potting his 17th of the year, from Vincent Lecavalier and Pavel Kubina, producing a 1-0 win over the Capitals. Roloson (34 save shutout), St. Louis, and Varlamov (37 for 38 saves) were the three stars.
Heading out west, with the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Chris Osgood and Nikolai Khabibulin guarded the cages. Detroit drew first blood with Henrik Zetterberg netting his 15th of the year, assisted by Nicklas Lidstrom and Drew Miller. Edmonton tied on Gilbert Brule's fifth of the season, helped along by Liam Reddox and Linus Omark. Todd Bertuzzi gave the Red Wings the lead back in the second period with his sixth of the season, courtesy of Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula. Kris Draper added on his third of the year to extend the Detroit lead, with help coming from Darren Helm and Brian Rafalski. Theo Peckham got the Oilers going again in the third period with his second of the year, assisted on by Sam Gagner and Ales Hemsky. They tied the game with Gagner's tenth of the campaign, from Hemsky only. Bertuzzi once again took the lead back for the Red Wings, netting his second of the night and seventh of the season, with help from Niklas Kronwall and Filppula. Forty-four seconds later, Helm iced the cake and made it 5-3 for Detroit with his third of the season, courtesy of Justin Abdelkader and Lidstrom. This ended up being the final, with Helm, Gagner, and Bertuzzi picking up the three stars.
Following that was the Phoenix Coyotes hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. In front of the nets were Mathieu Garon and Ilya Bryzgalov. The first period went scoreless, and Scottie Upshall got Phoenix to strike first with his eleventh of the year in the second period, assisted by Eric Belanger and Shane Doan. Sami Lepisto made it 2-0 for the Coyotes with his third of the season, with Martin Hanzal and Radim Vrbata picking up the helpers. R.J. Umberger got Columbus on the board with his 14th of the campaign, helped along by Rick Nash and Derick Brassard. The Blue Jackets tied it on Jakub Voracek's power play goal in the third period, his eighth goal of any sorts on the season, which got assistance from Brassard and Fedor Tyutin. Doan took the lead back for Phoenix with his tenth of the year, with Keith Yandle and Belanger getting the assists. Vernon Fiddler made it 4-2 Coyotes with his fourth of the season, assisted by Adrian Aucoin and Taylor Pyatt. This would later become the final, with Doan, Bryzgalov (26 of 28 saves), and Belanger earning the three stars awards.
Lastly, the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Peter Budaj got the starting nods for the game. Colorado struck first with Daniel Winnik notching his seventh of the year, from T.J. Galiardi and the goalie Peter Budaj. Thirty-three seconds later, Buffalo tied it on the 15th of the year by Thomas Vanek, a power play goal assisted by Drew Stafford and Tim Connolly. Shortly thereafter, the Avalanche had the lead again on a shorthanded goal by Ryan O'Reilly, his fifth tally of the season, from Winnik. Both teams took the second period off from scoring, and the Sabres regained the trick with Jochen Hecht netting his fifth of the season in the third period as a tying goal, from Jason Pominville and Vanek. Steve Montador gave Buffalo the lead with his fourth of the campaign, with Stafford and Paul Gaustad picking up the helpers. Matt Duchene came in the clutch to retie the game at 3 only thirty-one seconds later, his 16th of the year coming off of Tomas Fleischmann and Milan Hejduk. The tie lasted into overtime until the Avalanche won it on the 13th of the year by David Jones, a power play tally made possible by Fleischmann and Ryan Wilson. Earning the stars in the 4-3 Avalanche win were Jones, Winnik, and Budaj (37 for 40 saves).
That's all the Tuesday hockey we've got. Wednesday hockey will be completed tomorrow.
The New Jersey Devils hosting the Minnesota Wild. Jose Theodore and Johan Hedberg played in net as a battle of the backups. Cal Clutterbuck opened the scoring for Minnesota with his eleventh of the season, an unassisted goal. Ilya Kovalchuk tied it for New Jersey in the second period with his tenth of the year, helped along by Travis Zajac and Nick Palmieri. The Wild answered back with the first of the season by Clayton Stoner, with help coming from Martin Havlat and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. This goal would hold up for the Wild, who took the Devils down 2-1. Clutterbuck, Havlat, and Stoner picked up the three stars.
Up next, the Washington Capitals hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dwayne Roloson made his Lightning debut, opposing Semyon Varlamov. The game was scoreless throughout regulation, and the tie was broken in overtime by Martin St. Louis of Tampa Bay potting his 17th of the year, from Vincent Lecavalier and Pavel Kubina, producing a 1-0 win over the Capitals. Roloson (34 save shutout), St. Louis, and Varlamov (37 for 38 saves) were the three stars.
Heading out west, with the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Chris Osgood and Nikolai Khabibulin guarded the cages. Detroit drew first blood with Henrik Zetterberg netting his 15th of the year, assisted by Nicklas Lidstrom and Drew Miller. Edmonton tied on Gilbert Brule's fifth of the season, helped along by Liam Reddox and Linus Omark. Todd Bertuzzi gave the Red Wings the lead back in the second period with his sixth of the season, courtesy of Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula. Kris Draper added on his third of the year to extend the Detroit lead, with help coming from Darren Helm and Brian Rafalski. Theo Peckham got the Oilers going again in the third period with his second of the year, assisted on by Sam Gagner and Ales Hemsky. They tied the game with Gagner's tenth of the campaign, from Hemsky only. Bertuzzi once again took the lead back for the Red Wings, netting his second of the night and seventh of the season, with help from Niklas Kronwall and Filppula. Forty-four seconds later, Helm iced the cake and made it 5-3 for Detroit with his third of the season, courtesy of Justin Abdelkader and Lidstrom. This ended up being the final, with Helm, Gagner, and Bertuzzi picking up the three stars.
Following that was the Phoenix Coyotes hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. In front of the nets were Mathieu Garon and Ilya Bryzgalov. The first period went scoreless, and Scottie Upshall got Phoenix to strike first with his eleventh of the year in the second period, assisted by Eric Belanger and Shane Doan. Sami Lepisto made it 2-0 for the Coyotes with his third of the season, with Martin Hanzal and Radim Vrbata picking up the helpers. R.J. Umberger got Columbus on the board with his 14th of the campaign, helped along by Rick Nash and Derick Brassard. The Blue Jackets tied it on Jakub Voracek's power play goal in the third period, his eighth goal of any sorts on the season, which got assistance from Brassard and Fedor Tyutin. Doan took the lead back for Phoenix with his tenth of the year, with Keith Yandle and Belanger getting the assists. Vernon Fiddler made it 4-2 Coyotes with his fourth of the season, assisted by Adrian Aucoin and Taylor Pyatt. This would later become the final, with Doan, Bryzgalov (26 of 28 saves), and Belanger earning the three stars awards.
Lastly, the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Peter Budaj got the starting nods for the game. Colorado struck first with Daniel Winnik notching his seventh of the year, from T.J. Galiardi and the goalie Peter Budaj. Thirty-three seconds later, Buffalo tied it on the 15th of the year by Thomas Vanek, a power play goal assisted by Drew Stafford and Tim Connolly. Shortly thereafter, the Avalanche had the lead again on a shorthanded goal by Ryan O'Reilly, his fifth tally of the season, from Winnik. Both teams took the second period off from scoring, and the Sabres regained the trick with Jochen Hecht netting his fifth of the season in the third period as a tying goal, from Jason Pominville and Vanek. Steve Montador gave Buffalo the lead with his fourth of the campaign, with Stafford and Paul Gaustad picking up the helpers. Matt Duchene came in the clutch to retie the game at 3 only thirty-one seconds later, his 16th of the year coming off of Tomas Fleischmann and Milan Hejduk. The tie lasted into overtime until the Avalanche won it on the 13th of the year by David Jones, a power play tally made possible by Fleischmann and Ryan Wilson. Earning the stars in the 4-3 Avalanche win were Jones, Winnik, and Budaj (37 for 40 saves).
That's all the Tuesday hockey we've got. Wednesday hockey will be completed tomorrow.
Monday in the NHL
There were five games played in hockey for Monday. We start with bitter rivals...
As the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Boston Bruins. Tuukka Rask and James Reimer were the goalkeepers. Mikhail Grabovski put Toronto ahead first with his 14th of the season, assisted by Luke Schenn. Boston answered in the second period with Nathan Horton potting his 12th of the year, thanks to Dennis Seidenberg. The Bruins took the lead on Marc Savard's second of the season, which was helped along by Horton and Milan Lucic. The score lasted through a scoreless third period, giving the Bruins a 2-1 win over the Maple Leafs. Rask (36 of 37 saves), losing goalie Reimer (31 for 33 saves), and Horton earned the three stars.
Next on the slate were the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Florida Panthers. Scott Clemmensen and Cam Ward picked up the starts. Zac Dalpe got Carolina up first with his second of the season, helped along by Troy Bodie. Florida evened the score with the third of the year from the stick of Dennis Wideman, which was assisted by Cory Stillman and Radek Dvorak. The Panthers took the lead in the second period on the seventh of the campaign from Chris Higgins. Dmitry Kulikov and Michael Frolik picked up the helpers. Extending the lead to 3-1 was Stillman with his fourth of the season, courtesy of Mike Santorelli and Evgeny Dadonov. Zach Boychuk started a rally back for the Hurricanes with his third of the year, from Erik Cole and Eric Staal. Jay Harrison tied the game at 3 with his first of the season, assisted by Cole and Jamie McBain. The tie would last into overtime until Florida's Bryan Allen netted his third of the year thanks to Shawn Matthias and Frolik to win the game for the Panthers. He earned the first star, with Stillman and Cole following the rest of the honors.
Heading to the opposite coast for the next game, with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Jonathan Quick were between the pipes. Michal Handzus opened the scoring for Los Angeles with his fifth of the year, assisted by Jack Johnson and Alec Martinez. Marian Hossa tied the game for Chicago with his ninth of the year, a power play goal helped along by Tomas Kopecky and Patrick Sharp. Sharp took the lead for the Blackhawks in the second period by registering his 22nd of the year, a power play goal courtesy of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the latter returning from a minor injury. Ryan Smyth tied things at 2 for the Kings with his 15th of the year, made possible by Justin Williams. Sharp took the lead back in the third period for Chicago with his second of the night and 23rd of the season, which was helped along this time by Kopecky. Smyth tied it again for Los Angeles with his second of the night and 16th of the season, assisted by Johnson and Anze Kopitar on the power play. Toews came in to make it 4-3 for the Blackhawks with his 16th of the campaign, an unassisted goal that would eventually be the game-winner. Sharp, Johnson, and Toews earned the three stars.
Up into Canada, where the Calgary Flames hosted the New York Islanders. Rick DiPietro and Henrik Karlsson were given the starting nods. John Tavares opened things up for New York in the first period with his 12th goal of the season, with assists provided by P.A. Parenteau and Andrew MacDonald on the power play. Matt Moulson made it 2-0 for the Islanders with his 13th of the year, helped along by Parenteau and Tavares. Calgary cut the lead back a bit with David Moss potting his fifth of the year, from Adam Pardy and Anton Babchuk. Tavares answered to make it 3-1 for New York with his second of the night and period and 13th of the year, with MacDonald and Frans Nielsen picking up the power play helpers. Islanders starter Rick DiPietro suffered an injury in the second period early on, and he was replaced by Nathan Lawson. Moulson made it 4-1 in the second period with his second of the night and 14th of the season, which was helped along by Travis Hamonic and Zenon Konopka. Moss added another goal to reduce the Flames' deficit, his sixth of the season and second of the night made possible by Tim Jackman. Michael Grabner iced the cake for the Islanders in the third period with his ninth of the year, an empty net goal from Mark Eaton. Tavares, Moss, and Lawson (28 for 29 saves in relief) picked up the three stars. A notable first period fight was between Tom Kostopoulos of Calgary and Zenon Konopka of New York.
Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks traveled south to visit the San Jose Sharks. Cory Schneider and Antti Niemi received the starting nods. Vancouver opened the scoring with the 21st goal of the season by Daniel Sedin, with assists provided by Henrik Sedin and Alexandre Burrows. San Jose evened the score in the second period early with Ryane Clowe scoring his eleventh of the year, with help from Jason Demers and Benn Ferriero. Alexander Edler retook the lead for the Canucks with his third of the season, made possible by Christian Ehrhoff and Daniel Sedin on the power play. Patrick Marleau tied the game again for the Sharks with a power play goal, his 15th marker of the season, assisted by Dany Heatley and Dan Boyle. Jamal Mayers gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead with his second of the campaign, from Heatley and Kent Huskins. Jannik Hansen retied the game for the Canucks late in the second, his fifth of the year made possible by Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond. Burrows gave Vancouver a lead in the third period with his eighth of the year, assisted on by Ehrhoff and Keith Ballard. Vancouver would go on to beat San Jose 4-3, with Daniel Sedin, losing goalie Niemi (43 for 47 saves), and Ehrhoff picking up the three stars.
That's all for Monday's hockey games. Tuesday hockey will be covered tonight and tomorrow.
As the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Boston Bruins. Tuukka Rask and James Reimer were the goalkeepers. Mikhail Grabovski put Toronto ahead first with his 14th of the season, assisted by Luke Schenn. Boston answered in the second period with Nathan Horton potting his 12th of the year, thanks to Dennis Seidenberg. The Bruins took the lead on Marc Savard's second of the season, which was helped along by Horton and Milan Lucic. The score lasted through a scoreless third period, giving the Bruins a 2-1 win over the Maple Leafs. Rask (36 of 37 saves), losing goalie Reimer (31 for 33 saves), and Horton earned the three stars.
Next on the slate were the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Florida Panthers. Scott Clemmensen and Cam Ward picked up the starts. Zac Dalpe got Carolina up first with his second of the season, helped along by Troy Bodie. Florida evened the score with the third of the year from the stick of Dennis Wideman, which was assisted by Cory Stillman and Radek Dvorak. The Panthers took the lead in the second period on the seventh of the campaign from Chris Higgins. Dmitry Kulikov and Michael Frolik picked up the helpers. Extending the lead to 3-1 was Stillman with his fourth of the season, courtesy of Mike Santorelli and Evgeny Dadonov. Zach Boychuk started a rally back for the Hurricanes with his third of the year, from Erik Cole and Eric Staal. Jay Harrison tied the game at 3 with his first of the season, assisted by Cole and Jamie McBain. The tie would last into overtime until Florida's Bryan Allen netted his third of the year thanks to Shawn Matthias and Frolik to win the game for the Panthers. He earned the first star, with Stillman and Cole following the rest of the honors.
Heading to the opposite coast for the next game, with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Jonathan Quick were between the pipes. Michal Handzus opened the scoring for Los Angeles with his fifth of the year, assisted by Jack Johnson and Alec Martinez. Marian Hossa tied the game for Chicago with his ninth of the year, a power play goal helped along by Tomas Kopecky and Patrick Sharp. Sharp took the lead for the Blackhawks in the second period by registering his 22nd of the year, a power play goal courtesy of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the latter returning from a minor injury. Ryan Smyth tied things at 2 for the Kings with his 15th of the year, made possible by Justin Williams. Sharp took the lead back in the third period for Chicago with his second of the night and 23rd of the season, which was helped along this time by Kopecky. Smyth tied it again for Los Angeles with his second of the night and 16th of the season, assisted by Johnson and Anze Kopitar on the power play. Toews came in to make it 4-3 for the Blackhawks with his 16th of the campaign, an unassisted goal that would eventually be the game-winner. Sharp, Johnson, and Toews earned the three stars.
Up into Canada, where the Calgary Flames hosted the New York Islanders. Rick DiPietro and Henrik Karlsson were given the starting nods. John Tavares opened things up for New York in the first period with his 12th goal of the season, with assists provided by P.A. Parenteau and Andrew MacDonald on the power play. Matt Moulson made it 2-0 for the Islanders with his 13th of the year, helped along by Parenteau and Tavares. Calgary cut the lead back a bit with David Moss potting his fifth of the year, from Adam Pardy and Anton Babchuk. Tavares answered to make it 3-1 for New York with his second of the night and period and 13th of the year, with MacDonald and Frans Nielsen picking up the power play helpers. Islanders starter Rick DiPietro suffered an injury in the second period early on, and he was replaced by Nathan Lawson. Moulson made it 4-1 in the second period with his second of the night and 14th of the season, which was helped along by Travis Hamonic and Zenon Konopka. Moss added another goal to reduce the Flames' deficit, his sixth of the season and second of the night made possible by Tim Jackman. Michael Grabner iced the cake for the Islanders in the third period with his ninth of the year, an empty net goal from Mark Eaton. Tavares, Moss, and Lawson (28 for 29 saves in relief) picked up the three stars. A notable first period fight was between Tom Kostopoulos of Calgary and Zenon Konopka of New York.
Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks traveled south to visit the San Jose Sharks. Cory Schneider and Antti Niemi received the starting nods. Vancouver opened the scoring with the 21st goal of the season by Daniel Sedin, with assists provided by Henrik Sedin and Alexandre Burrows. San Jose evened the score in the second period early with Ryane Clowe scoring his eleventh of the year, with help from Jason Demers and Benn Ferriero. Alexander Edler retook the lead for the Canucks with his third of the season, made possible by Christian Ehrhoff and Daniel Sedin on the power play. Patrick Marleau tied the game again for the Sharks with a power play goal, his 15th marker of the season, assisted by Dany Heatley and Dan Boyle. Jamal Mayers gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead with his second of the campaign, from Heatley and Kent Huskins. Jannik Hansen retied the game for the Canucks late in the second, his fifth of the year made possible by Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond. Burrows gave Vancouver a lead in the third period with his eighth of the year, assisted on by Ehrhoff and Keith Ballard. Vancouver would go on to beat San Jose 4-3, with Daniel Sedin, losing goalie Niemi (43 for 47 saves), and Ehrhoff picking up the three stars.
That's all for Monday's hockey games. Tuesday hockey will be covered tonight and tomorrow.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Sunday NHL coverage
This post comes a tad late, as the return of work into my not-so-busy life has complicated matters a bit. I'll try to keep on pace with this now. The games for Sunday started in...
Montreal, with the Canadiens hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Carey Price guarded the cages. Rich Peverley got Atlanta scoring first with his ninth of the season, from Tobias Enstrom and Zach Bogosian. Montreal evened the score with a goal by Tomas Plekanec, his 12th of the year, a power play goal assisted by James wisniewski and Yannick Weber. The Thrashers retook the lead with Evander Kane potting his 13th of the year, with help from Patrice Cormier and Chris Thorburn. The Canadiens retied it on P.K. Subban's third of the season, a power play tally made possible by Roman Hamrlik and Scott Gomez. Atlanta retook the lead at 3-2 again with Andew Ladd netting his 13th of the season, from Enstrom and Niclas Bergfors. Brian Gionta tied the game again for Montreal in the third period, registering his 14th of the year with help from Max Pacioretty and Wisniewski. The tie was preserved until Dustin Byfuglien won it for the Thrashers in overtime on his 16th of the season, a power play goal from Enstrom, who completed a sock trick with that assist, and Kane. The three stars honors went to Byfuglien, Pavelec (47 for 50 saves), and Plekanec.
Next up was the Florida Panthers hosting the New York Rangers. Martin Biron and Tomas Vokoun were in net for the game. The game's first half went scoreless, and David Booth opened the scoring in the mid second period for Florida with his tenth of the season, a power play goal from Mike Santorelli and Dennis Wideman. Chris Higgins extended the Panthers lead in the third period with his sixth of the year, an unassisted goal. Stephen Weiss topped it off at 3-0 with his 12th of the season, into the empty net with no assistance. Higgins, Vokoun (32 save shutout), and Booth earned the three stars.
Heading up to Detroit, where the Red Wings hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Jimmy Howard earned the starts from their coaches. The game was scoreless through the first period into the second until James van Riemsdyk opened the scoring for Philadelphia with his ninth of the campaign, from Andreas Nodl and Mike Richards. Dan Carcillo made it 2-0 for the Flyers with his second of the season, assisted by Andrej Meszaros and Matt Carle. Scott Hartnell extended the lead with his tenth of the year, with Sean O'Donnell and Danny Briere picking up the helpers. Jimmy Howard was replaced by Chris Osgood in the third period. Valtteri Filppula sparked Detroit into life with his tenth of the season, assisted by Johan Franzen. Henrik Zetterberg also scored for the Red Wings, cutting the Flyers lead to one goal with his 14th of the season, which was helped along by Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom on the power play. However, Detroit managed no further offense, and fell 3-2 to visiting Philadelphia. Boucher (25 for 27 saves), Filppula, and Hartnell were the three stars.
Staying in the west, with the Minnesota Wild hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera opposed Jose Theodore in the crease. Phoenix struck first with Ray Whitney potting his seventh of the year, from Radim Vrbata and Martin Hanzal. Minnesota answered late in the first period with Andrew Brunette, his eighth of the year coming from Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen. Brunette scored his ninth of the season and second of the game in the second period, a power play goal courtesy of Brent Burns and Koivu. Nick Schultz made it 3-1 for the Wild with his third of the year, from John Madden and Eric Nystrom. Scottie Upshall got the Coyotes going again in the third period with his tenth of the year, assisted by Shane Doan and Eric Belanger. Thirteen seconds later, Keith Yandle tied the game at 3 with his sixth of the season, from Vernon Fiddler and Lee Stempniak. Minnesota reclaimed the lead with Burns scoring his 12th of the year, with help from Koivu. Ed Jovanovski tied it up again for Phoenix with his fifth of the season, from Yandle and Doan. The Coyotes took the lead on the second of the night and eighth of the year from Whitney, assisted by Kyle Turris and Vrbata. The Wild tied the gmae at 5 with a Pierre-Marc Bouchard goal, his second of the year, with Brunette and Burns grabbing the helpers. Minnesota won it in the ensuing overtime on Cam Barker's first of the year, from Bouchard and Koivu, who wrapped up a four assist night. Earning the stars were Brunette, Burns, and Whitney.
Following that was the Nashville Predators hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Pekka Rinne played in goal. R.J. Umberger got Columbus on the board first with his 13th of the season, assisted by Marc Methot and Derick Brassard. Shea Weber tied it for Nashville in the second period with his sixth of the year, from Colin Wilson and Patric Hornqvist. The Predators took the lead on Nick Spaling's second of the season, with help from Weber and Joel Ward. Hornqvist made it 3-1 for Nashville with his tenth of the campaign, a power play goal made possible by Weber and Ryan Suter. Sergei Kostitsyn brought it up to 4-1 with his eighth of the year, courtesy of Wilson and David Legwand. This was the final score, with Weber, Hornqvist, and Rinne (19 of 20 stops) getting the three stars.
Into St. Louis, with the Blues hosting the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Jaroslav Halak played in between the pipes. The game opened with a pair of fights, involving St. Louis' Cam Janssen squaring off against Dallas' Krys Barch and later B.J. Crombeen dancing with Brandon Segal. David Backes opened the scoring for the Blues, notching his tenth of the year from Matt D'Agostini. Brenden Morrow evened the score for the Stars with his 15th of the season, a power play goal assisted by Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson. Alex Steen retook the lead for St. Louis with his 13th of the season, helped along by Eric Brewer and D'Agostini. The second period was scoreless, and Morrow retied the game in the third period for Dallas with his second of the night and 16th of the campaign, from Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro. Brad Richards gave the Stars the lead with his 18th of the season, assisted on by Trevor Daley. Extending the Dallas lead to 4-2 was James Neal, his 14th of the season coming from Toby Petersen and Richards. This would later be the final, with Morrow, Richards, and Eriksson picking up the three stars.
To the west coast, with the Anaheim Ducks playing host to the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford returned from injury to make a start, opposing Jonas Hiller in net. Andreas Lilja got Anaheim on the board first with his first of the year, assisted by Joffery Lupul and Brandon McMillan. Bryan Bickell later evened it for Chicago with his eleventh of the season, with help coming from Brian Campbell and Dave Bolland. Corey Perry retook the lead for the Ducks early in the second period on his 21st of the campaign, with the helpers accredited to Matt Beleskey and Toni Lydman. The 2-1 margin ended up being the final, with Hiller (39 for 40 saves), Lydman, and Bickell earning the three stars.
Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Featured in net were Craig Anderson and Roberto Luongo. Vancouver got on the board first late in the first period with the first of the year (lots of firsts, eh?) by Alexandre Bolduc, with assists from Tanner Glass and the goalie Roberto Luongo. The score was unchanged in the second period, and the Canucks extended their lead in the third period on the eighth of the year by Mason Raymond, making a return from injury and receiving help from Bolduc and Kevin Bieksa. Colorado tried to rally back on Paul Stastny's 15th of the year, assisted by Matt Duchene and John-Michael Liles, but the Avalanche mustered no further offense and lost 2-1 in Vancouver. The three stars were Luongo (31 for 32 saves), Dan Hamhuis (unknown contributions), and Bolduc.
That's all for Sunday. Sorry for the delays, my laziness has returned. Officially in Ketchup mode.
Montreal, with the Canadiens hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Ondrej Pavelec and Carey Price guarded the cages. Rich Peverley got Atlanta scoring first with his ninth of the season, from Tobias Enstrom and Zach Bogosian. Montreal evened the score with a goal by Tomas Plekanec, his 12th of the year, a power play goal assisted by James wisniewski and Yannick Weber. The Thrashers retook the lead with Evander Kane potting his 13th of the year, with help from Patrice Cormier and Chris Thorburn. The Canadiens retied it on P.K. Subban's third of the season, a power play tally made possible by Roman Hamrlik and Scott Gomez. Atlanta retook the lead at 3-2 again with Andew Ladd netting his 13th of the season, from Enstrom and Niclas Bergfors. Brian Gionta tied the game again for Montreal in the third period, registering his 14th of the year with help from Max Pacioretty and Wisniewski. The tie was preserved until Dustin Byfuglien won it for the Thrashers in overtime on his 16th of the season, a power play goal from Enstrom, who completed a sock trick with that assist, and Kane. The three stars honors went to Byfuglien, Pavelec (47 for 50 saves), and Plekanec.
Next up was the Florida Panthers hosting the New York Rangers. Martin Biron and Tomas Vokoun were in net for the game. The game's first half went scoreless, and David Booth opened the scoring in the mid second period for Florida with his tenth of the season, a power play goal from Mike Santorelli and Dennis Wideman. Chris Higgins extended the Panthers lead in the third period with his sixth of the year, an unassisted goal. Stephen Weiss topped it off at 3-0 with his 12th of the season, into the empty net with no assistance. Higgins, Vokoun (32 save shutout), and Booth earned the three stars.
Heading up to Detroit, where the Red Wings hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Jimmy Howard earned the starts from their coaches. The game was scoreless through the first period into the second until James van Riemsdyk opened the scoring for Philadelphia with his ninth of the campaign, from Andreas Nodl and Mike Richards. Dan Carcillo made it 2-0 for the Flyers with his second of the season, assisted by Andrej Meszaros and Matt Carle. Scott Hartnell extended the lead with his tenth of the year, with Sean O'Donnell and Danny Briere picking up the helpers. Jimmy Howard was replaced by Chris Osgood in the third period. Valtteri Filppula sparked Detroit into life with his tenth of the season, assisted by Johan Franzen. Henrik Zetterberg also scored for the Red Wings, cutting the Flyers lead to one goal with his 14th of the season, which was helped along by Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom on the power play. However, Detroit managed no further offense, and fell 3-2 to visiting Philadelphia. Boucher (25 for 27 saves), Filppula, and Hartnell were the three stars.
Staying in the west, with the Minnesota Wild hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera opposed Jose Theodore in the crease. Phoenix struck first with Ray Whitney potting his seventh of the year, from Radim Vrbata and Martin Hanzal. Minnesota answered late in the first period with Andrew Brunette, his eighth of the year coming from Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen. Brunette scored his ninth of the season and second of the game in the second period, a power play goal courtesy of Brent Burns and Koivu. Nick Schultz made it 3-1 for the Wild with his third of the year, from John Madden and Eric Nystrom. Scottie Upshall got the Coyotes going again in the third period with his tenth of the year, assisted by Shane Doan and Eric Belanger. Thirteen seconds later, Keith Yandle tied the game at 3 with his sixth of the season, from Vernon Fiddler and Lee Stempniak. Minnesota reclaimed the lead with Burns scoring his 12th of the year, with help from Koivu. Ed Jovanovski tied it up again for Phoenix with his fifth of the season, from Yandle and Doan. The Coyotes took the lead on the second of the night and eighth of the year from Whitney, assisted by Kyle Turris and Vrbata. The Wild tied the gmae at 5 with a Pierre-Marc Bouchard goal, his second of the year, with Brunette and Burns grabbing the helpers. Minnesota won it in the ensuing overtime on Cam Barker's first of the year, from Bouchard and Koivu, who wrapped up a four assist night. Earning the stars were Brunette, Burns, and Whitney.
Following that was the Nashville Predators hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Pekka Rinne played in goal. R.J. Umberger got Columbus on the board first with his 13th of the season, assisted by Marc Methot and Derick Brassard. Shea Weber tied it for Nashville in the second period with his sixth of the year, from Colin Wilson and Patric Hornqvist. The Predators took the lead on Nick Spaling's second of the season, with help from Weber and Joel Ward. Hornqvist made it 3-1 for Nashville with his tenth of the campaign, a power play goal made possible by Weber and Ryan Suter. Sergei Kostitsyn brought it up to 4-1 with his eighth of the year, courtesy of Wilson and David Legwand. This was the final score, with Weber, Hornqvist, and Rinne (19 of 20 stops) getting the three stars.
Into St. Louis, with the Blues hosting the Dallas Stars. Kari Lehtonen and Jaroslav Halak played in between the pipes. The game opened with a pair of fights, involving St. Louis' Cam Janssen squaring off against Dallas' Krys Barch and later B.J. Crombeen dancing with Brandon Segal. David Backes opened the scoring for the Blues, notching his tenth of the year from Matt D'Agostini. Brenden Morrow evened the score for the Stars with his 15th of the season, a power play goal assisted by Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson. Alex Steen retook the lead for St. Louis with his 13th of the season, helped along by Eric Brewer and D'Agostini. The second period was scoreless, and Morrow retied the game in the third period for Dallas with his second of the night and 16th of the campaign, from Jamie Benn and Mike Ribeiro. Brad Richards gave the Stars the lead with his 18th of the season, assisted on by Trevor Daley. Extending the Dallas lead to 4-2 was James Neal, his 14th of the season coming from Toby Petersen and Richards. This would later be the final, with Morrow, Richards, and Eriksson picking up the three stars.
To the west coast, with the Anaheim Ducks playing host to the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford returned from injury to make a start, opposing Jonas Hiller in net. Andreas Lilja got Anaheim on the board first with his first of the year, assisted by Joffery Lupul and Brandon McMillan. Bryan Bickell later evened it for Chicago with his eleventh of the season, with help coming from Brian Campbell and Dave Bolland. Corey Perry retook the lead for the Ducks early in the second period on his 21st of the campaign, with the helpers accredited to Matt Beleskey and Toni Lydman. The 2-1 margin ended up being the final, with Hiller (39 for 40 saves), Lydman, and Bickell earning the three stars.
Lastly, the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Featured in net were Craig Anderson and Roberto Luongo. Vancouver got on the board first late in the first period with the first of the year (lots of firsts, eh?) by Alexandre Bolduc, with assists from Tanner Glass and the goalie Roberto Luongo. The score was unchanged in the second period, and the Canucks extended their lead in the third period on the eighth of the year by Mason Raymond, making a return from injury and receiving help from Bolduc and Kevin Bieksa. Colorado tried to rally back on Paul Stastny's 15th of the year, assisted by Matt Duchene and John-Michael Liles, but the Avalanche mustered no further offense and lost 2-1 in Vancouver. The three stars were Luongo (31 for 32 saves), Dan Hamhuis (unknown contributions), and Bolduc.
That's all for Sunday. Sorry for the delays, my laziness has returned. Officially in Ketchup mode.
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