Another four games of football were played, determining who will face off for the rights to play in Super Bowl XLV. It starts with the AFC Divisional...
Between the host Pittsburgh Steelers and visiting Baltimore Ravens. Pittsburgh was the first team to visit the end zone on a Rashard Mendenhall run of 1 yard for a touchdown, followed by a Shaun Suisham extra point. Baltimore answered back with a Ray Rice 14 yard touchdown run, after which Billy Cundiff tied the game with the extra point. Ben Roethlisberger then was pressured and lost control of the ball, and after a spell, Cory Redding of the Ravens took it to the house, and Cundiff made it 14-7. Baltimore extended the lead in the second quarter as Joe Flacco connected with Todd Heap for 4 yards, allowing another Cundiff extra point to produce the halftime score of 21-7 Baltimore. Roethlisberger tied the game with touchdown passes of 9 and 8 yards to Heath Miller and Hines Ward, and the tying point coming from Suisham's foot. Suisham and Cundiff exchanged field goals in the fourth quarter, with Suisham good from 35 yards and Cundiff from 24 yards away. With the score tied at 24 with under 2 minutes in the game, Mendenhall runs a 2 yard touchdown in, and Suisham supplies the extra point to make it 31-24 Steelers. The Ravens failed to recover, and were eliminated by that score from the playoffs, with Pittsburgh waiting to see if they will host the New York Jets or travel to New England next weekend.
Hopping to the NFC Divisional game between the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta dented the scoreboard first with a Michael Turner touchdown run of 12 yards, and Matt Bryant provided the extra point. Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay answered in the second quarter with a 6 yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson, followed by a Mason Crosby extra point. However, the ensuing kickoff was fateful, as Eric Weems returned the ball 102 yards for the Falcons, and Bryant put them up 14-7 with the extra point. John Kuhn got the Packers back together and ran a touchdown in for 1 yard, allowing a tying extra point by Crosby. Rodgers gave Green Bay the lead with a 20 yard touchdown connection with James Jones, followed by yet another Crosby extra point. Hoping to take momentum into the locker room, Matt Ryan threw one up for Atlanta, and Tramon Williams picked it off and ran it in 70 yards to give the Packers some push, putting them up 28-14 at half with Crosby making his extra point. Rodgers took to the ground to extend the lead for Green Bay, running 7 yards to crack the goal line, with Crosby adding another extra point. Rodgers found Kuhn for 7 yards as well, and after a Crosby extra point, it was all but certain the the Packers had strong control over the game at 42-14. Ryan passed to Roddy White for a 6 yard touchdown as a last whimper for the Falcons, with Bryant's extra point making the score 42-21. Crosby put the Falcons out of their misery after two more field goals, from 43 and 32 yards to bring the final to 48-21, with Green Bay either traveling to Chicago or Seattle depending on who wins the match today.
Into day 2 of the divisional weekend, with the Chicago Bears hosting the Seattle Seahawks. Jay Cutler put Chicago out front early when connecting with Greg Olsen for 58 yards and a touchdown, followed by a Robbie Gould extra point. Chester Taylor extended the Bears lead with a 1 yard touchdown run, with Gould adding another extra point. Cutler took matters in his own hands for the third touchdown, running in 6 yards for the score, allowing another Gould extra point. The score going into halftime was 21-0, and the Bears extended the lead once more on the legs of Cutler, with his second touchdown rush, this time of 9 yards, and Gould was true on the extra point to make it 28-0. Seattle decided it would be good to actually score some points and Olindo Mare blasted a 30 yard field goal through the uprights. Matt Hasselbeck continued the scoring for the Seahawks, finding Mike Williams in the end zone for a 2 yard touchdown, with Mare making the extra point. Cutler's pass to Kellen Davis for 39 yards was good enough to be a dagger for Seattle's comeback hopes, with that touchdown and the subsequent extra point making it 35-10. Hasselbeck added two more touchdown passes, of 3 and 9 yards to Williams and Brandon Stokley, and after Mare's two extra points, the score stood at its eventual final of 35-24 Bears over Seahawks. Chicago advanced to the NFC Championship, staying at home to host their fierce rivals, the Green Bay Packers. Seattle, after a surprising season and playoff run will return home.
Lastly, the most hyped and trash-talked match between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots. Shayne Graham opened the scoring by booting a 34 yard field goal in for New England. Mark Sanchez and New York answered in the second quarter with two touchdown passes, one of 7 yards to LaDainian Tomlinson and the other for Braylon "Banana Feet... err... Hands" Edwards for 15 yards. Footsmith Nick Folk came on for both extra points. The Patriots came back in the third quarter as Tom Brady connected with Alge Crumpler for 2 yards and a touchdown, and the two point conversion by the quick-footed Sammy Morris was successful. Sanchez answered back for the Jets with a touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes for 7 yards and a touchdown, allowing Folk to nail another extra point in. Graham came back out for another field goal, this time of 35 yards, putting New England down only 21-14. Shonn Greene however turned New York's fortunes around and put them up by a more comfortable lead by running with flying feet 16 yards to find the end zone, with Folk kicking in another extra point. Brady attempted to get the Patriots back into the game, allowing Deion Branch to catch a 13 yard touchdown pass and plant his feet for the score, before Graham knocked in the extra point. The onside kick was no good, and the Jets held on to win by a toe, or a touchdown (whatever Rex Ryan thinks) by the 28-21 score. The Patriots started to book tee times, while Rex Ryan and the Jets could go home and kick their feet up on the foot stools. Final count on bad foot puns aimed at Rex Ryan: 8, so I lose to Wes Welker.
Next week will feature two games to determine who plays in the Super Bowl. I, as a fan, no longer care that much, but because you readers do, I'll grudgingly cover the games.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Saturday Hockey, partially live
Once again, we have partial live coverage of hockey. Tomorrow will also bring a football post dealing with the divisional weekend, recapped whenever I can get around to it. Sandwiches will also be covered, just as a heads-up. As for today, we start with a matinee in...
Boston, where the Bruins hosted the Penguins. In goal were Marc-Andre Fleury and Tuukka Rask. Pittsburgh got on the board first with a Chris Kunitz goal, his 15th of the season a product of Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke. Pascal Dupuis made it 2-0 Penguins early in the second period with his ninth of the year, assisted by Zbynek Michalek and Evgeni Malkin. Dennis Seidenberg got Boston on the board with his third of the season, thanks to Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell. The Bruins tied it only thirteen seconds later with Michael Ryder notching his 13th of the year, made possible by Marc Savard and Seidenberg. Staal scored his second of the season in the third period for Pittsburgh, giving them a 3-2 lead with help from Cooke and Tyler Kennedy, and this score would stand to defeat Boston. Staal, Ryder, and Seidenberg earned the three stars.
Heading out west to the Motor City, with the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Joey MacDonald are guarding the cages. Thirty-three seconds into the game, Derick Brassard scored to give Columbus an early lead, with Rick Nash assisting on his tenth. The Blue Jackets made it 2-0 with the second of the season by Grant Clitsome, with Jakub Voracek and Nash picking up the helpers. Valtteri Filppula got Detroit on the board with his eleventh of the season, thanks to Todd Bertuzzi and Jiri Hudler. Drew Miller tied it for the Red Wings with his third of the year, helped along by Darren Helm and Kris Draper. Columbus took the lead back in the second period on a Matt Calvert goal, his second of the year coming from Voracek and Jan Hejda. Detroit tied it again with the third of the season by Jonathan Ericsson, made possible by Helm. Brian Rafalski gave the Red Wings a 4-3 lead with his fourth of the campaign, assisted by Miller and Ericsson. The Blue Jackets tied it again in the third period with the 15th of the year by R.J. Umberger, thanks to Fedor Tyutin and Brassard on the power play. Draper gave Detroit the lead back with his fourth of the season, with Miller and Nicklas Lidstrom picking up the assists. Columbus would not go away however, and Nash tied it with his 21st of the year, with help from Clitsome and Antoine Vermette. The Red Wings put the game out of reach once and for all in overtime, winning 6-5 on Johan Franzen's 19th of the year forty-five seconds into the extra frame, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall. Earning the three stars were Draper, Nash, and Ericsson.
Next up, the Florida Panthers hosted the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Scott Clemmensen picked up the starting honors. New Jersey drew the first blood with Nick Palmieri netting his second of the year with help from Travis Zajac and Anssi Salmela. Florida answered back with an Evgeny Dadonov goal, his fourth of the year getting help from Stephen Weiss and Dennis Wideman on the power play. Wideman gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead in the second period with his own power play goal, his fifth of the season getting a boost from Mike Santorelli and Dmitry Kulikov. David Clarkson tied it in the third period for the Devils with his eighth of the year, with help coming from Tim Sestito. The 2-2 tie lasted until it was broken in overtime by Florida's Kulikov, who notched his fourth of the season with help from Weiss and Cory Stillman to win the game 3-2. Kulikov, Wideman, and Dadonov earned the three stars.
Into Canada, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting cross-country rivals in the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Jean-Sebastien Giguere got the starts, with Kiprusoff coming out of the doghouse and Giguere returning from injury. The game was quiet until Calgary scored in the third period with Matt Stajan nailing his third of the season, thanks to Niklas Hagman and Curtis Glencross. With only thirteen seconds in regulation, sweet victory was stolen from Calgary as Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski notched his 18th of the season, with help from Clarke MacArthur and Nikolai Kulemin on the power play. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Tyler Bozak and Alex Tanguay exchanged barbs, followed by another washing out pair by Colby Armstrong and Ales Kotalik, and then Calgary got the decisive goal off the stick of Olli Jokinen, the first star, with the other two being Grabovski and Stajan.
Moving over a province, with the Montreal Canadiens hosting the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Carey Price guarded the nets. New York got out to the early lead with Brian Boyle scoring his 15th of the season with help from Brandon Prust and Dan Girardi. Roman Hamrlik tied it for Montreal with his fourth of the year, a power play goal helped along by James Wisniewski and Michael Cammalleri. Tomas Plekanec made it 2-1 for the Canadiens with his 14th of the season, a power play goal as well, with helpers credited to P.K. Subban and Wisniewski. Andrei Kostitsyn extended the Montreal lead further with his eleventh of the year, assisted by Jeff Halpern. The Rangers waited until the third period to score again, cutting the lead down with Mats Zuccarello and his second of the year, with help from Derek Stepan and Girardi. Montreal managed to hold on and defeat New York 3-2, with Wisniewski, losing goalie Lundqvist (38 for 41 stops), and Kostitsyn (the Montreal version, of course) getting the three stars.
Speaking of New York, the Islanders hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Rick DiPietro were blocking the pucks, with the latter returning from yet another injury. The first period was quiet, but Thomas Vanek and Buffalo opened the scoring up in the second period just seventeen seconds in, with his 17th of the year, a power play goal with help from Tyler Ennis and Jason Pominville. John Tavares turned the game around for New York by going natural for a hat trick in a 5:46 span, being his 16-18th goals of the year. Matt Moulson picked up a sock trick in the process, P.A. Parenteau had two assists himself, and Andrew MacDonald earned one assist of his own. The middle goal came on the power play. Tavares surrendered full offensive rights for the Islanders when Blake Comeau notched his 13th of the season, thanks to Josh Bailey and Bruno Gervais. Ennis tried to rally the stunned Sabres troops with his tenth of the year, a power play goal made possible by Jordan Leopold and Pominville. New York made it 5-2 on a shorthanded goal by Michael Grabner, his tenth of the season, with assists credited to Matt Martin and Milan Jurcina. Buffalo gave one last gasp of breath with a goal by Jochen Hecht, his seventh of the year getting help from Pominville, who capped off a sock trick, and Vanek. The 5-3 final favored the Islanders over the Sabres, with Tavares, Parenteau, and MacDonald getting the three stars.
Going down the coast a bit to Carolina, with the Hurricanes hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the creases we had Dwayne Roloson and Cam Ward. Tampa Bay took an early lead on the 33rd of the season by Steven Stamkos, with assists provided by Steve Downie and Pavel Kubina. Chad LaRose tied the game for Carolina with his eighth of the season, helped along by Joe Corvo and Erik Cole on the power play. Jeff Skinner gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with his 16th of the year, thanks to Tuomo Ruutu and Ian White. Vincent Lecavalier tied the game back up for the Lightning with his eighth of the year, with helpers accredited to Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone. Tampa Bay took the lead back in the second period on a Simon Gagne goal, his fifth of the season made possible by Stamkos and Victor Hedman. Carolina would have none of it, tying the game on a power play goal by Jamie McBain, his second tally of the year getting helping from Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal. Jokinen gave the lead back to the Hurricanes with his own power play goal, good for his ninth of the season, with Sergei Samsonov and Skinner getting the helpers. Eric Staal scored his 22nd of the year to make it 5-3 on a shorthanded play, getting help from Cole. Gagne added his second of the night and sixth of the year to make it 5-4, with the goal going unassisted. Carolina, however, wasn't going to lose, and Jokinen's tenth of the year solidfied this fact, his second of the game making it 6-4 with Cole picking up his third assist to clinch the sock trick. Staal, Cole, and Jokinen picked up the honors as three stars.
Out to Texas, with the Dallas Stars hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Chris Mason and Kari Lethonen picked up the starting honors, but Mason faced only three shots before exiting the game, with Ondrej Pavelec covering for him. Trevor Daley opened the scoring for Dallas with his fourth of the season, helped along by Jamie Benn and Brad Richards on the power play. Atlanta answered in the second period with Andrew Ladd nailing his 16th of the year home with Tobias Enstrom and Nik Antropov picking up helpers. Adam Burish made it 2-1 Stars with his fifth of the season, assisted by Stephane Robidas and Nicklas Grossman. Daley extended the Dallas lead farther with his second of the night and fifth of the year, another power play goal, with help coming from Mike Ribeiro and the goalie Kari Lethonen. James Neal made it 5-1 Stars with his 17th and 18th of the campaign, thanks to Loui Eriksson and Richards the first time and Robidas and Benn the on the latter power play goal. Jeff Woywitka added on his first of the season for good measure, making it 6-1 Dallas on the power play goal that was helped by Brenden Morrow and Ribeiro. Daley, Lehtonen (29 for 30 saves + assist), and Neal earned the three stars.
In a Pacific division matchup, the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Ilya Bryzgalov were in between the pipes. Phoenix struck first with Ray Whitney scoring his ninth of the year with the help of Radim Vrbata. Matt Beleskey added his third of the year to tie the game for Anaheim, with assists given to Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry. Adrian Aucoin gave the Coyotes a lead early in the second period with his second of the year, made possible by Lee Stempniak and Vernon Fiddler. Taylor Pyatt made it 3-1 for Phoenix with his 12th of the season, assisted by Keith Yandle and Stempniak. Sami Lepisto extended the lead to 4-1 Coyotes with his fourth of the year, thanks to Whitney and Martin Hanzal, chasing Jonas Hiller out of the Anaheim net at the end of the second period, with Curtis McElhinney playing the final frame. Whitney added his second of the night and tenth of the season for Phoenix in the third period, getting help along the way from Vrbata and Lepisto. The Ducks gave a whimper of life with a Perry power play goal, his 23rd of the year getting help from Lubomir Visnowsky and Jason Blake. Stempniak put Anaheim out of their misery and made it 6-2 Coyotes, the eventual final, with his tenth of the season, helped along by Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Lauri Korpikoski. Whitney, Lepisto, and Vrbata earned the three stars.
Backing up a bit with the Nashville Predators hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Pekka Rinne were given the starting nods. Tomas Kopecky got Chicago on the board first with his eighth of the year, a power play goal from Dave Bolland and Brian Campbell. Viktor Stalberg extended the Blackhawks lead in the second period with his seventh of the year, from Jake Dowell and Jack Skille. Jerred Smithson put Nashville on the board in the third period with his fifth of the season, thanks to Nick Spaling and Joel Ward. Shea Weber tied it for the Predators with his eighth of the season, helped along by Ryan Suter and Ward. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Nashville took Chicago down by a final of 3-2 on a Marcel Goc tally. The three stars were handed out to Smithson, Weber, and Kopecky.
Hitting the west coast in Los Angeles, with the Kings hosting the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Jonathan Bernier get the starts tonight. Edmonton strikes first with Dustin Penner scoring his 14th of the year off of Ales Hemsky and Taylor Hall. Marco Sturm evens the score at 1 for Los Angeles with his fourth of the year, assisted by Drew Doughty and Wayne Simmonds. The Kings take a 2-1 lead on the 16th of the year by Anze Kopitar, thanks to Justin Williams. The Oilers, however, tie the game on Andrew Cogliano's sixth of the season, made possible by Ryan Jones and Liam Reddox. Jarret Stoll got Los Angeles a 3-2 lead with his 12th of the season, helped along by Dustin Brown and Sturm. The Kings extended the lead to 4-2 in the third period with a goal by Doughty, his third of the year, an unassisted goal. Stoll helped Los Angeles finish off the Oilers with his second of the night and 13th of the season, with Brown and Rob Scuderi picking up the helpers on the final tally of the game. Doughty, Stoll, and Hall earned the three stars.
To the Bay Area, with the San Jose Sharks hosting the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Antti Niemi are guarding the cages. B.J. Crombeen puts St. Louis on the board first with his fifth of the season, assisted by Brad Winchester and Roman Polak. Dany Heatley ties the game for San Jose with his 16th of the year, a power play goal from Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Erik Johnson tied the game for the Blues with his fourth of the season, assisted by Patrik Berglund. San Jose took a 3-2 lead in the third period on Heatley's second of the night and 17th of the year, with help provided by Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Jason Demers. Jamie McGinn finished the Blues off with his first of the season, with the lone assist coming from Scott Nichol to present us with the final score of 4-2 Sharks over Blues. Heatley, Nichol, and McGinn earned the three stars.
That's all for Saturday's hockey games. Sunday has 5 games of hockey and 2 games of football. Football will also be covered from Saturday at the conclusion and publishing of this post.
Boston, where the Bruins hosted the Penguins. In goal were Marc-Andre Fleury and Tuukka Rask. Pittsburgh got on the board first with a Chris Kunitz goal, his 15th of the season a product of Jordan Staal and Matt Cooke. Pascal Dupuis made it 2-0 Penguins early in the second period with his ninth of the year, assisted by Zbynek Michalek and Evgeni Malkin. Dennis Seidenberg got Boston on the board with his third of the season, thanks to Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell. The Bruins tied it only thirteen seconds later with Michael Ryder notching his 13th of the year, made possible by Marc Savard and Seidenberg. Staal scored his second of the season in the third period for Pittsburgh, giving them a 3-2 lead with help from Cooke and Tyler Kennedy, and this score would stand to defeat Boston. Staal, Ryder, and Seidenberg earned the three stars.
Heading out west to the Motor City, with the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets. Steve Mason and Joey MacDonald are guarding the cages. Thirty-three seconds into the game, Derick Brassard scored to give Columbus an early lead, with Rick Nash assisting on his tenth. The Blue Jackets made it 2-0 with the second of the season by Grant Clitsome, with Jakub Voracek and Nash picking up the helpers. Valtteri Filppula got Detroit on the board with his eleventh of the season, thanks to Todd Bertuzzi and Jiri Hudler. Drew Miller tied it for the Red Wings with his third of the year, helped along by Darren Helm and Kris Draper. Columbus took the lead back in the second period on a Matt Calvert goal, his second of the year coming from Voracek and Jan Hejda. Detroit tied it again with the third of the season by Jonathan Ericsson, made possible by Helm. Brian Rafalski gave the Red Wings a 4-3 lead with his fourth of the campaign, assisted by Miller and Ericsson. The Blue Jackets tied it again in the third period with the 15th of the year by R.J. Umberger, thanks to Fedor Tyutin and Brassard on the power play. Draper gave Detroit the lead back with his fourth of the season, with Miller and Nicklas Lidstrom picking up the assists. Columbus would not go away however, and Nash tied it with his 21st of the year, with help from Clitsome and Antoine Vermette. The Red Wings put the game out of reach once and for all in overtime, winning 6-5 on Johan Franzen's 19th of the year forty-five seconds into the extra frame, assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall. Earning the three stars were Draper, Nash, and Ericsson.
Next up, the Florida Panthers hosted the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Scott Clemmensen picked up the starting honors. New Jersey drew the first blood with Nick Palmieri netting his second of the year with help from Travis Zajac and Anssi Salmela. Florida answered back with an Evgeny Dadonov goal, his fourth of the year getting help from Stephen Weiss and Dennis Wideman on the power play. Wideman gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead in the second period with his own power play goal, his fifth of the season getting a boost from Mike Santorelli and Dmitry Kulikov. David Clarkson tied it in the third period for the Devils with his eighth of the year, with help coming from Tim Sestito. The 2-2 tie lasted until it was broken in overtime by Florida's Kulikov, who notched his fourth of the season with help from Weiss and Cory Stillman to win the game 3-2. Kulikov, Wideman, and Dadonov earned the three stars.
Into Canada, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting cross-country rivals in the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Jean-Sebastien Giguere got the starts, with Kiprusoff coming out of the doghouse and Giguere returning from injury. The game was quiet until Calgary scored in the third period with Matt Stajan nailing his third of the season, thanks to Niklas Hagman and Curtis Glencross. With only thirteen seconds in regulation, sweet victory was stolen from Calgary as Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski notched his 18th of the season, with help from Clarke MacArthur and Nikolai Kulemin on the power play. The tie lasted into the shootout, where Tyler Bozak and Alex Tanguay exchanged barbs, followed by another washing out pair by Colby Armstrong and Ales Kotalik, and then Calgary got the decisive goal off the stick of Olli Jokinen, the first star, with the other two being Grabovski and Stajan.
Moving over a province, with the Montreal Canadiens hosting the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist and Carey Price guarded the nets. New York got out to the early lead with Brian Boyle scoring his 15th of the season with help from Brandon Prust and Dan Girardi. Roman Hamrlik tied it for Montreal with his fourth of the year, a power play goal helped along by James Wisniewski and Michael Cammalleri. Tomas Plekanec made it 2-1 for the Canadiens with his 14th of the season, a power play goal as well, with helpers credited to P.K. Subban and Wisniewski. Andrei Kostitsyn extended the Montreal lead further with his eleventh of the year, assisted by Jeff Halpern. The Rangers waited until the third period to score again, cutting the lead down with Mats Zuccarello and his second of the year, with help from Derek Stepan and Girardi. Montreal managed to hold on and defeat New York 3-2, with Wisniewski, losing goalie Lundqvist (38 for 41 stops), and Kostitsyn (the Montreal version, of course) getting the three stars.
Speaking of New York, the Islanders hosted the Buffalo Sabres. Ryan Miller and Rick DiPietro were blocking the pucks, with the latter returning from yet another injury. The first period was quiet, but Thomas Vanek and Buffalo opened the scoring up in the second period just seventeen seconds in, with his 17th of the year, a power play goal with help from Tyler Ennis and Jason Pominville. John Tavares turned the game around for New York by going natural for a hat trick in a 5:46 span, being his 16-18th goals of the year. Matt Moulson picked up a sock trick in the process, P.A. Parenteau had two assists himself, and Andrew MacDonald earned one assist of his own. The middle goal came on the power play. Tavares surrendered full offensive rights for the Islanders when Blake Comeau notched his 13th of the season, thanks to Josh Bailey and Bruno Gervais. Ennis tried to rally the stunned Sabres troops with his tenth of the year, a power play goal made possible by Jordan Leopold and Pominville. New York made it 5-2 on a shorthanded goal by Michael Grabner, his tenth of the season, with assists credited to Matt Martin and Milan Jurcina. Buffalo gave one last gasp of breath with a goal by Jochen Hecht, his seventh of the year getting help from Pominville, who capped off a sock trick, and Vanek. The 5-3 final favored the Islanders over the Sabres, with Tavares, Parenteau, and MacDonald getting the three stars.
Going down the coast a bit to Carolina, with the Hurricanes hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the creases we had Dwayne Roloson and Cam Ward. Tampa Bay took an early lead on the 33rd of the season by Steven Stamkos, with assists provided by Steve Downie and Pavel Kubina. Chad LaRose tied the game for Carolina with his eighth of the season, helped along by Joe Corvo and Erik Cole on the power play. Jeff Skinner gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with his 16th of the year, thanks to Tuomo Ruutu and Ian White. Vincent Lecavalier tied the game back up for the Lightning with his eighth of the year, with helpers accredited to Martin St. Louis and Ryan Malone. Tampa Bay took the lead back in the second period on a Simon Gagne goal, his fifth of the season made possible by Stamkos and Victor Hedman. Carolina would have none of it, tying the game on a power play goal by Jamie McBain, his second tally of the year getting helping from Jussi Jokinen and Eric Staal. Jokinen gave the lead back to the Hurricanes with his own power play goal, good for his ninth of the season, with Sergei Samsonov and Skinner getting the helpers. Eric Staal scored his 22nd of the year to make it 5-3 on a shorthanded play, getting help from Cole. Gagne added his second of the night and sixth of the year to make it 5-4, with the goal going unassisted. Carolina, however, wasn't going to lose, and Jokinen's tenth of the year solidfied this fact, his second of the game making it 6-4 with Cole picking up his third assist to clinch the sock trick. Staal, Cole, and Jokinen picked up the honors as three stars.
Out to Texas, with the Dallas Stars hosting the Atlanta Thrashers. Chris Mason and Kari Lethonen picked up the starting honors, but Mason faced only three shots before exiting the game, with Ondrej Pavelec covering for him. Trevor Daley opened the scoring for Dallas with his fourth of the season, helped along by Jamie Benn and Brad Richards on the power play. Atlanta answered in the second period with Andrew Ladd nailing his 16th of the year home with Tobias Enstrom and Nik Antropov picking up helpers. Adam Burish made it 2-1 Stars with his fifth of the season, assisted by Stephane Robidas and Nicklas Grossman. Daley extended the Dallas lead farther with his second of the night and fifth of the year, another power play goal, with help coming from Mike Ribeiro and the goalie Kari Lethonen. James Neal made it 5-1 Stars with his 17th and 18th of the campaign, thanks to Loui Eriksson and Richards the first time and Robidas and Benn the on the latter power play goal. Jeff Woywitka added on his first of the season for good measure, making it 6-1 Dallas on the power play goal that was helped by Brenden Morrow and Ribeiro. Daley, Lehtonen (29 for 30 saves + assist), and Neal earned the three stars.
In a Pacific division matchup, the Phoenix Coyotes hosted the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller and Ilya Bryzgalov were in between the pipes. Phoenix struck first with Ray Whitney scoring his ninth of the year with the help of Radim Vrbata. Matt Beleskey added his third of the year to tie the game for Anaheim, with assists given to Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry. Adrian Aucoin gave the Coyotes a lead early in the second period with his second of the year, made possible by Lee Stempniak and Vernon Fiddler. Taylor Pyatt made it 3-1 for Phoenix with his 12th of the season, assisted by Keith Yandle and Stempniak. Sami Lepisto extended the lead to 4-1 Coyotes with his fourth of the year, thanks to Whitney and Martin Hanzal, chasing Jonas Hiller out of the Anaheim net at the end of the second period, with Curtis McElhinney playing the final frame. Whitney added his second of the night and tenth of the season for Phoenix in the third period, getting help along the way from Vrbata and Lepisto. The Ducks gave a whimper of life with a Perry power play goal, his 23rd of the year getting help from Lubomir Visnowsky and Jason Blake. Stempniak put Anaheim out of their misery and made it 6-2 Coyotes, the eventual final, with his tenth of the season, helped along by Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Lauri Korpikoski. Whitney, Lepisto, and Vrbata earned the three stars.
Backing up a bit with the Nashville Predators hosting the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Pekka Rinne were given the starting nods. Tomas Kopecky got Chicago on the board first with his eighth of the year, a power play goal from Dave Bolland and Brian Campbell. Viktor Stalberg extended the Blackhawks lead in the second period with his seventh of the year, from Jake Dowell and Jack Skille. Jerred Smithson put Nashville on the board in the third period with his fifth of the season, thanks to Nick Spaling and Joel Ward. Shea Weber tied it for the Predators with his eighth of the season, helped along by Ryan Suter and Ward. The tie lasted into a shootout, where Nashville took Chicago down by a final of 3-2 on a Marcel Goc tally. The three stars were handed out to Smithson, Weber, and Kopecky.
Hitting the west coast in Los Angeles, with the Kings hosting the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Jonathan Bernier get the starts tonight. Edmonton strikes first with Dustin Penner scoring his 14th of the year off of Ales Hemsky and Taylor Hall. Marco Sturm evens the score at 1 for Los Angeles with his fourth of the year, assisted by Drew Doughty and Wayne Simmonds. The Kings take a 2-1 lead on the 16th of the year by Anze Kopitar, thanks to Justin Williams. The Oilers, however, tie the game on Andrew Cogliano's sixth of the season, made possible by Ryan Jones and Liam Reddox. Jarret Stoll got Los Angeles a 3-2 lead with his 12th of the season, helped along by Dustin Brown and Sturm. The Kings extended the lead to 4-2 in the third period with a goal by Doughty, his third of the year, an unassisted goal. Stoll helped Los Angeles finish off the Oilers with his second of the night and 13th of the season, with Brown and Rob Scuderi picking up the helpers on the final tally of the game. Doughty, Stoll, and Hall earned the three stars.
To the Bay Area, with the San Jose Sharks hosting the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Antti Niemi are guarding the cages. B.J. Crombeen puts St. Louis on the board first with his fifth of the season, assisted by Brad Winchester and Roman Polak. Dany Heatley ties the game for San Jose with his 16th of the year, a power play goal from Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Erik Johnson tied the game for the Blues with his fourth of the season, assisted by Patrik Berglund. San Jose took a 3-2 lead in the third period on Heatley's second of the night and 17th of the year, with help provided by Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Jason Demers. Jamie McGinn finished the Blues off with his first of the season, with the lone assist coming from Scott Nichol to present us with the final score of 4-2 Sharks over Blues. Heatley, Nichol, and McGinn earned the three stars.
That's all for Saturday's hockey games. Sunday has 5 games of hockey and 2 games of football. Football will also be covered from Saturday at the conclusion and publishing of this post.
Friday NHL coverage
There were six games on in the NHL on Friday, which I have slacked on again. Here goes, starting in...
D.C., where the Washington Capitals host the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo, proud father and Semyon Varlamov made the starts. Matt Hendricks put Washington on the board first with his fifth of the season, assisted by Boyd Gordon and John Carlson. Alexander Edler tied the game for Vancouver with his own fifth of the year, thanks to Jannik Hansen and Christian Ehrhoff. Ehrhoff gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead with his seventh of the season, a power play goal from Ryan Kesler and Edler. Daniel Sedin extended the lead for Vancouver to 3-1 with his 26th of the year, from Hansen only. Marcus Johansson cut the deficit down for the Capitals with his sixth of the year, from Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich. Daniel Sedin iced the game off with his second of the night and 27th of the year, courtesy of Alexandre Burrows and Kevin Bieksa on the empty net goal. Ehrhoff, Edler, and Backstrom got the three stars in the 4-2 Canucks victory.
Next up and a bit west, the Columbus Blue Jackets hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Steve Mason got the goaltending duties. Columbus struck first on a Jakub Voracek goal, his ninth of the season coming from Rick Nash and Derick Brassard. Grant Clitsome made it 2-0 for the Blue Jackets with his first of the year, thanks to Fedor Tyutin and Kristian Huselius on the power play. Jimmy Howard left at some point after the second goal due to injury, being replaced by Joey MacDonald. Drew Miller got Detroit going in the second period with a shorthanded goal, his second tally of the season, made possible by Justin Abdelkader. Jiri Hudler tied the game at 2 for the Red Wings with his fourth of the year, assisted on by Valtteri Filppula. The tie lasted through the third period and overtime into a shootout, where Columbus got the victory because of Antoine Vermette. The three stars went to Steve Mason (26 for 28 saves), Vermette, and Clitsome.
Following that, the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Dwayne Roloson picked up starting duties. Tampa Bay drew first blood, with Steven Stamkos putting himself in a tie for the league-lead in goals at 32, with help from Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier on the power play. Ilya Kovalchuk tied the game for New Jersey with his eleventh of the season, with helpers coming from Travis Zajac and Andy Greene. Brian Rolston put the Devils up 2-1 with his third of the year, thanks to Dainius Zubrus. Patrik Elias extended the lead again with his tenth of the season, from Greene and Rolston. Zajac made it 4-1 for New Jersey with a shorthanded goal going down as his seventh of the year, assisted by Colin White, and simultaneously scaring off Dwayne Roloson in favor of Dan Ellis. The Lightning answered in the second period with a St. Louis goal, his 19th of the campaign made possible by Stamkos and Victor Hedman. Kovalchuk put the game pretty much out of reach in the third period with his second of the night and 12th of the year, helped along by no one at all. The final favored the Devils 5-2, with Zajac, Kovalchuk, and Greene getting the three stars.
Into Georgia, where the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Ondrej Pavelec were in front of the cages. The first period went scoreless, but Atlanta struck first in the second period, on Andrew Ladd's 15th of the season, helped by Niclas Bergfors. Philadelphia answered with the second of the year by Jody Shelley, an unassisted goal. Twenty-one seconds later, the Flyers took the lead 2-1 with a Kimmo Timmonen goal, his second of the season, with help from Claude Giroux. With three seconds left in the period, Rich Peverley tied the game for the Thrashers, his 12th of the year coming off of Bergfors and Tobias Enstrom's sticks on the power play. Danny Briere gave Philadelphia the lead back in the third period with his 24th of the season, from Ville Leino and Scott Hartnell. The Flyers made it 4-2 on the 17th of the campaign by Giroux, with helpers credited to Matt Carle and Jeff Carter. Carter made it 5-2 for Philadelphia, putting his 18th in the empty net all alone and dispatching the Atlanta Thrashers. Briere, Bergfors, and Giroux got the three stars.
Heading north, with the Ottawa Senators hosting the Calgary Flames in the Scotiabank special, as both teams' arenas are sponsored by the Canadian bank. Henrik Karlsson and Brian Elliott were in between the pipes. The first period went scoreless, but Calgary found a way to ride David Moss to a 2-0 lead, as he scored his seventh and eighth of the year, thanks to Rene Bourque and Anton Babchuk the first time, and Tim Jackman and Babchuk again on the latter tally. The Flames took a 3-0 lead with Ales Kotalik scoring his second of the year, a power play goal made possible by Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen. Nick Foligno led a rally for the Senators with his unassisted seventh goal of the season. The Senators cut the score to 3-2 with a Milan Michalek goal, his tenth of the season, with help from Foligno and Erik Karlsson with only fifty-eight seconds left. The time was not enough for Ottawa, who fell 3-2 to Calgary, with the three stars doled out to Moss, Michalek, and Henrik Karlsson (33 for 35 saves).
Lastly, the Minnesota Wild hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Craig Anderson and Anton Khudobin were in the creases. Kevin Porter got on the board for Colorado first with his ninth of the season, assisted by Philippe Dupuis. Milan Hejduk made it 2-0 for the Avalanche with his 14th of the year, helped along by Paul Stastny and Matt Hunwick on the power play. Colorado made it 3-0 in the second period on a Tomas Fleischmann goal, his 12th of the season coming from John-Michael Liles and Ryan O'Byrne. Andrew Brunette put Minnesota on the board with his tenth of the year, thanks to Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen. Ryan Wilson put the Wild out of the game with his empty net goal, good for his third as an unassisted tally, giving the Avalanche a 4-1 win. Anderson (32 for 33 saves), Hejduk, and Brunette got the three stars.
Keep watch at some point for Saturday's hockey, all twelve games of it.
D.C., where the Washington Capitals host the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo, proud father and Semyon Varlamov made the starts. Matt Hendricks put Washington on the board first with his fifth of the season, assisted by Boyd Gordon and John Carlson. Alexander Edler tied the game for Vancouver with his own fifth of the year, thanks to Jannik Hansen and Christian Ehrhoff. Ehrhoff gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead with his seventh of the season, a power play goal from Ryan Kesler and Edler. Daniel Sedin extended the lead for Vancouver to 3-1 with his 26th of the year, from Hansen only. Marcus Johansson cut the deficit down for the Capitals with his sixth of the year, from Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich. Daniel Sedin iced the game off with his second of the night and 27th of the year, courtesy of Alexandre Burrows and Kevin Bieksa on the empty net goal. Ehrhoff, Edler, and Backstrom got the three stars in the 4-2 Canucks victory.
Next up and a bit west, the Columbus Blue Jackets hosted the Detroit Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Steve Mason got the goaltending duties. Columbus struck first on a Jakub Voracek goal, his ninth of the season coming from Rick Nash and Derick Brassard. Grant Clitsome made it 2-0 for the Blue Jackets with his first of the year, thanks to Fedor Tyutin and Kristian Huselius on the power play. Jimmy Howard left at some point after the second goal due to injury, being replaced by Joey MacDonald. Drew Miller got Detroit going in the second period with a shorthanded goal, his second tally of the season, made possible by Justin Abdelkader. Jiri Hudler tied the game at 2 for the Red Wings with his fourth of the year, assisted on by Valtteri Filppula. The tie lasted through the third period and overtime into a shootout, where Columbus got the victory because of Antoine Vermette. The three stars went to Steve Mason (26 for 28 saves), Vermette, and Clitsome.
Following that, the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted the New Jersey Devils. Martin Brodeur and Dwayne Roloson picked up starting duties. Tampa Bay drew first blood, with Steven Stamkos putting himself in a tie for the league-lead in goals at 32, with help from Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier on the power play. Ilya Kovalchuk tied the game for New Jersey with his eleventh of the season, with helpers coming from Travis Zajac and Andy Greene. Brian Rolston put the Devils up 2-1 with his third of the year, thanks to Dainius Zubrus. Patrik Elias extended the lead again with his tenth of the season, from Greene and Rolston. Zajac made it 4-1 for New Jersey with a shorthanded goal going down as his seventh of the year, assisted by Colin White, and simultaneously scaring off Dwayne Roloson in favor of Dan Ellis. The Lightning answered in the second period with a St. Louis goal, his 19th of the campaign made possible by Stamkos and Victor Hedman. Kovalchuk put the game pretty much out of reach in the third period with his second of the night and 12th of the year, helped along by no one at all. The final favored the Devils 5-2, with Zajac, Kovalchuk, and Greene getting the three stars.
Into Georgia, where the Atlanta Thrashers hosted the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Ondrej Pavelec were in front of the cages. The first period went scoreless, but Atlanta struck first in the second period, on Andrew Ladd's 15th of the season, helped by Niclas Bergfors. Philadelphia answered with the second of the year by Jody Shelley, an unassisted goal. Twenty-one seconds later, the Flyers took the lead 2-1 with a Kimmo Timmonen goal, his second of the season, with help from Claude Giroux. With three seconds left in the period, Rich Peverley tied the game for the Thrashers, his 12th of the year coming off of Bergfors and Tobias Enstrom's sticks on the power play. Danny Briere gave Philadelphia the lead back in the third period with his 24th of the season, from Ville Leino and Scott Hartnell. The Flyers made it 4-2 on the 17th of the campaign by Giroux, with helpers credited to Matt Carle and Jeff Carter. Carter made it 5-2 for Philadelphia, putting his 18th in the empty net all alone and dispatching the Atlanta Thrashers. Briere, Bergfors, and Giroux got the three stars.
Heading north, with the Ottawa Senators hosting the Calgary Flames in the Scotiabank special, as both teams' arenas are sponsored by the Canadian bank. Henrik Karlsson and Brian Elliott were in between the pipes. The first period went scoreless, but Calgary found a way to ride David Moss to a 2-0 lead, as he scored his seventh and eighth of the year, thanks to Rene Bourque and Anton Babchuk the first time, and Tim Jackman and Babchuk again on the latter tally. The Flames took a 3-0 lead with Ales Kotalik scoring his second of the year, a power play goal made possible by Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen. Nick Foligno led a rally for the Senators with his unassisted seventh goal of the season. The Senators cut the score to 3-2 with a Milan Michalek goal, his tenth of the season, with help from Foligno and Erik Karlsson with only fifty-eight seconds left. The time was not enough for Ottawa, who fell 3-2 to Calgary, with the three stars doled out to Moss, Michalek, and Henrik Karlsson (33 for 35 saves).
Lastly, the Minnesota Wild hosted the Colorado Avalanche. Craig Anderson and Anton Khudobin were in the creases. Kevin Porter got on the board for Colorado first with his ninth of the season, assisted by Philippe Dupuis. Milan Hejduk made it 2-0 for the Avalanche with his 14th of the year, helped along by Paul Stastny and Matt Hunwick on the power play. Colorado made it 3-0 in the second period on a Tomas Fleischmann goal, his 12th of the season coming from John-Michael Liles and Ryan O'Byrne. Andrew Brunette put Minnesota on the board with his tenth of the year, thanks to Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen. Ryan Wilson put the Wild out of the game with his empty net goal, good for his third as an unassisted tally, giving the Avalanche a 4-1 win. Anderson (32 for 33 saves), Hejduk, and Brunette got the three stars.
Keep watch at some point for Saturday's hockey, all twelve games of it.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Thursday NHL partially live coverage
Here's the action for today, as I get blessed with another empty evening schedule. We start in...
Boston, for an Eastern Conference Finals rematch with the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Tim Thomas are in net. First action in the game involves Mr.-Two-Feminine-First-Names, Jody Shelley fighting with Shawn Thornton. Philadelphia strikes first in the scoring game with Scott Hartnell registering his 15th of the season with help from Ville Leino and Danny Briere. Zdeno Chara evens the game at 1 for Boston with his seventh of the season, a power play goal from Marc Savard and David Krejci. Patrice Bergeron makes it 2-1 Bruins forty-five seconds into the second period with his 14th of the year, thanks to Steve Kampfer and Mark Recchi. The Flyers even it with Nikolay Zherdev scoring his 14th of the season, assisted by Andreas Nodl. Jeff Carter gives Philadelphia a 3-2 lead with his 17th of the year, with help from James van Riemsdyk and Kimmo Timmonen. Boston ties the game at 3 just thirty-eight seconds into the third period on a Recchi goal, his ninth of the year getting help from Chara. Michael Ryder gives the Bruins a 4-3 lead with his 12th of the season, from Adam McQuaid and Nathan Horton. The Flyers come back and tie the game with Briere getting his 23rd of the year, thanks to Braydon Coburn and Leino. Philadelphia makes it 5-4 on Sean O'Donnell's first of the season, assisted by Mike Richards and Zherdev. Boston ties the game again on a Brad Marchand goal, his ninth of the year getting help from Gregory Campbell and Blake Wheeler. The Bruins take the lead back, 6-5, with a Kampfer goal, his fourth of the year, unassisted. Campbell assured the victory in potting his fifth of the season, an empty net goal made possible by Wheeler and Bergeron. Kampfer, Recchi, and Briere are given the three stars for their performances.
Next on the slate is the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Ryan Miller are out in front of the cages. Cody McCormick of Buffalo and Troy Bodie of Carolina open up the action with a fight. Nathan Gerbe puts Buffalo up first with his second of the season, from Thomas Vanek and Paul Gaustad. Tuomo Ruutu evens it for Carolina in the second period with his 12th of the year, a power play goal from Eric Staal and Joe Corvo. The Sabres retake the lead on McCormick's sixth of the season, assisted by Jordan Leopold and Steve Montador. Buffalo makes it 3-1 in the early third period with Drew Stafford netting his 15th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Vanek and Tim Connolly. Jeff Skinner cuts the deficit down for the Hurricanes with his 15th of the year, a goal assisted by Jamie McBain and Jussi Jokinen. The Sabres hold on to defeat Carolina 3-2, with Vanek, McCormick, and Stafford earning the three stars.
Staying in the same state with the New York Islanders hosting the Ottawa Senators. Robin Lehner makes his first NHL start opposite of Kevin Poulin. Daniel Alfredsson strikes early for Ottawa, notching his 14th of the year, assisted by Mike Fisher. Trevor Gillies ties the game at 1 with his first of the year for New York, assisted by Zenon Konopka. Jesse Winchester scares off Kevin Poulin with his fourth of the season, with help from Chris Neil and Zack Smith. Nathan Lawson comes in to defend the New York net, but only slows the bleeding to postpone the inevitable 3-1 Senators lead to the second period on Milan Michalek's ninth of the year. The goal was shorthanded, and helped along by Chris Kelly and Matt Carkner. The Islanders answer back with Blake Comeau putting away his 12th of the year, courtesy of Travis Hamonic and Andrew MacDonald. Kelly responds, making it 4-2 Ottawa with his ninth of the campaign, assisted on by Michalek. Nick Foligno extends the Senators lead to 5-2 with his sixth of the season, from Corey Locke. Smith makes it 6-2 on his fourth of the year, with helpers coming from Winchester and Brian Lee. New York makes it 6-3 early in the third period as P.A. Parenteau sinks his tenth of the season, from Milan Jurcina and Matt Moulson. Jurcina cuts the deficit to 6-4 for the Islanders with his third of the season, assisted by John Tavares and Michael Grabner. The Islanders fail to mount any further comeback, and lose 6-4 to the Senators, with Winchester, Michalek, and Jurcina earning the three stars.
Crossing the city to bring us to Madison Square Garden, where the New York Rangers host the Vancouver Canucks as they travel along in the Eastern Conference. Cory Schneider and Henrik Lundqvist are tending the twine. The goals are fully protected until New York strikes with its newest weapon, Wojtek Wolski, who sinks his first goal as a Ranger, and his seventh of the year with help from Marian Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky on the power play. This would be the only goal, as the Rangers beat the Canucks 1-0. Lundqvist (31 save shutout), Wolski, and losing goalie Schneider (34 for 35 saves) get the three stars in a defensively sound game.
Heading down south, for the Florida Panthers hosting the Nashville Predators at BankAtlantic Center. Pekka Rinne and Scott Clemmensen are between the pipes. Florida draws first blood on Radek Dvorak scoring his sixth of the season, thanks to Marty Reasoner and Cory Stillman. Nashville answers with Colin Wilson potting his eleventh of the year, with help from David Legwand and Marek Svatos. Legwand puts the Predators up 2-1 after a scoreless second period with his fifth of the season, from Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Rostislav Olesz answers for the Panthers with his third of the season, courtesy of Mike Santorelli and Bryan McCabe. Florida takes the lead 3-2 with a David Booth goal, his 13th of the year coming from Olesz and Mike Weaver. Olesz, Booth, and Legwand got the three stars in the 3-2 Panthers victory.
Out west into the desert for the Phoenix Coyotes hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs as they touch base with the West. In goal will be James Reimer and Ilya Bryzgalov. Radim Vrbata puts Phoenix up first with his ninth of the season, a power play goal made possible by Ray Whitney and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The Coyotes, after a period of scoreless play, extend their lead to 2-0 with Shane Doan scoring his eleventh of the year while on the man advantage, with help from Keith Yandle and Whitney. Taylor Pyatt helps to make it 3-0, notching his eleventh of the season thanks to Yandle and Lauri Korpikoski. Korpikoski keeps the elevens theme going with his own, assisted by Mikkel Boedker and Kyle Turris. Toronto enters the scoring game on a Colby Armstrong goal, cutting the score down to 4-1 with his sixth of the year, courtesy of Darryl Boyce and Dion Phaneuf. Phoenix answers to make it 5-1 on a Yandle goal, his seventh of the season, assisted by Scottie Upshall before it went into the empty net. Bryzgalov (28 for 29 saves), Korpikoski, and Yandle are the three stars.
Into California with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Jonathan Quick will be in between the pipes. B.J. Crombeen opens the scoring for St. Louis with his fourth of the season, from Alex Pietrangelo and Patrik Berglund. Michal Handzus evens the score for Los Angeles, netting his seventh of the season with help from Alec Martinez and Jack Johnson. Ryan Reaves gives the Blues a 2-1 lead, with assists by Philip McRae and Chris Porter. Alex Steen extends the lead to 3-1 for St. Louis with his 15th of the year, helped along by Brad Boyes and Erik Johnson. The third period was scoreless, and Johnson, Pietrangelo, and Martinez get the three stars.
Staying in the same state, the San Jose Sharks host the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Antero Niittymaki are in front of the cages. Theo Peckham and Ryane Clowe opened the action with a fight. Edmonton strikes first with the fifth of the year by Andrew Cogliano, with the assist going to Liam Reddox. The Oilers extend their lead to 2-0 on a Dustin Penner goal, his 13th of the year, with helpers going to Ales Hemsky and Taylor Hall. Edmonton makes it 3-0 on the 13th of the season for Hall, with help from Hemsky and Tom Gilbert. San Jose gets on the board in the third period with a power play goal by Joe Thornton, with helpers from Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau on his eleventh of the season. The Oilers return the lead to three goals with Spin-o-Rama Linus Omark scoring his second of the year, thanks to sock trick Hemsky and Magnus Paajarvi. Clowe cuts the lead back again for the Sharks with a power play goal, assisted by Thornton and Heatley. Hall finished off the scoring for Edmonton, making it 5-2 with his empty net goal that goes as his 14th of the year, with Hemsky getting the assist for a four-pack. Hemsky, Dubnyk (41 for 43 saves), and Hall get the three stars.
That's all for the hockey world. Friday's games will be covered on Saturday most likely.
Boston, for an Eastern Conference Finals rematch with the Philadelphia Flyers. Brian Boucher and Tim Thomas are in net. First action in the game involves Mr.-Two-Feminine-First-Names, Jody Shelley fighting with Shawn Thornton. Philadelphia strikes first in the scoring game with Scott Hartnell registering his 15th of the season with help from Ville Leino and Danny Briere. Zdeno Chara evens the game at 1 for Boston with his seventh of the season, a power play goal from Marc Savard and David Krejci. Patrice Bergeron makes it 2-1 Bruins forty-five seconds into the second period with his 14th of the year, thanks to Steve Kampfer and Mark Recchi. The Flyers even it with Nikolay Zherdev scoring his 14th of the season, assisted by Andreas Nodl. Jeff Carter gives Philadelphia a 3-2 lead with his 17th of the year, with help from James van Riemsdyk and Kimmo Timmonen. Boston ties the game at 3 just thirty-eight seconds into the third period on a Recchi goal, his ninth of the year getting help from Chara. Michael Ryder gives the Bruins a 4-3 lead with his 12th of the season, from Adam McQuaid and Nathan Horton. The Flyers come back and tie the game with Briere getting his 23rd of the year, thanks to Braydon Coburn and Leino. Philadelphia makes it 5-4 on Sean O'Donnell's first of the season, assisted by Mike Richards and Zherdev. Boston ties the game again on a Brad Marchand goal, his ninth of the year getting help from Gregory Campbell and Blake Wheeler. The Bruins take the lead back, 6-5, with a Kampfer goal, his fourth of the year, unassisted. Campbell assured the victory in potting his fifth of the season, an empty net goal made possible by Wheeler and Bergeron. Kampfer, Recchi, and Briere are given the three stars for their performances.
Next on the slate is the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Carolina Hurricanes. Cam Ward and Ryan Miller are out in front of the cages. Cody McCormick of Buffalo and Troy Bodie of Carolina open up the action with a fight. Nathan Gerbe puts Buffalo up first with his second of the season, from Thomas Vanek and Paul Gaustad. Tuomo Ruutu evens it for Carolina in the second period with his 12th of the year, a power play goal from Eric Staal and Joe Corvo. The Sabres retake the lead on McCormick's sixth of the season, assisted by Jordan Leopold and Steve Montador. Buffalo makes it 3-1 in the early third period with Drew Stafford netting his 15th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Vanek and Tim Connolly. Jeff Skinner cuts the deficit down for the Hurricanes with his 15th of the year, a goal assisted by Jamie McBain and Jussi Jokinen. The Sabres hold on to defeat Carolina 3-2, with Vanek, McCormick, and Stafford earning the three stars.
Staying in the same state with the New York Islanders hosting the Ottawa Senators. Robin Lehner makes his first NHL start opposite of Kevin Poulin. Daniel Alfredsson strikes early for Ottawa, notching his 14th of the year, assisted by Mike Fisher. Trevor Gillies ties the game at 1 with his first of the year for New York, assisted by Zenon Konopka. Jesse Winchester scares off Kevin Poulin with his fourth of the season, with help from Chris Neil and Zack Smith. Nathan Lawson comes in to defend the New York net, but only slows the bleeding to postpone the inevitable 3-1 Senators lead to the second period on Milan Michalek's ninth of the year. The goal was shorthanded, and helped along by Chris Kelly and Matt Carkner. The Islanders answer back with Blake Comeau putting away his 12th of the year, courtesy of Travis Hamonic and Andrew MacDonald. Kelly responds, making it 4-2 Ottawa with his ninth of the campaign, assisted on by Michalek. Nick Foligno extends the Senators lead to 5-2 with his sixth of the season, from Corey Locke. Smith makes it 6-2 on his fourth of the year, with helpers coming from Winchester and Brian Lee. New York makes it 6-3 early in the third period as P.A. Parenteau sinks his tenth of the season, from Milan Jurcina and Matt Moulson. Jurcina cuts the deficit to 6-4 for the Islanders with his third of the season, assisted by John Tavares and Michael Grabner. The Islanders fail to mount any further comeback, and lose 6-4 to the Senators, with Winchester, Michalek, and Jurcina earning the three stars.
Crossing the city to bring us to Madison Square Garden, where the New York Rangers host the Vancouver Canucks as they travel along in the Eastern Conference. Cory Schneider and Henrik Lundqvist are tending the twine. The goals are fully protected until New York strikes with its newest weapon, Wojtek Wolski, who sinks his first goal as a Ranger, and his seventh of the year with help from Marian Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky on the power play. This would be the only goal, as the Rangers beat the Canucks 1-0. Lundqvist (31 save shutout), Wolski, and losing goalie Schneider (34 for 35 saves) get the three stars in a defensively sound game.
Heading down south, for the Florida Panthers hosting the Nashville Predators at BankAtlantic Center. Pekka Rinne and Scott Clemmensen are between the pipes. Florida draws first blood on Radek Dvorak scoring his sixth of the season, thanks to Marty Reasoner and Cory Stillman. Nashville answers with Colin Wilson potting his eleventh of the year, with help from David Legwand and Marek Svatos. Legwand puts the Predators up 2-1 after a scoreless second period with his fifth of the season, from Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Rostislav Olesz answers for the Panthers with his third of the season, courtesy of Mike Santorelli and Bryan McCabe. Florida takes the lead 3-2 with a David Booth goal, his 13th of the year coming from Olesz and Mike Weaver. Olesz, Booth, and Legwand got the three stars in the 3-2 Panthers victory.
Out west into the desert for the Phoenix Coyotes hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs as they touch base with the West. In goal will be James Reimer and Ilya Bryzgalov. Radim Vrbata puts Phoenix up first with his ninth of the season, a power play goal made possible by Ray Whitney and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The Coyotes, after a period of scoreless play, extend their lead to 2-0 with Shane Doan scoring his eleventh of the year while on the man advantage, with help from Keith Yandle and Whitney. Taylor Pyatt helps to make it 3-0, notching his eleventh of the season thanks to Yandle and Lauri Korpikoski. Korpikoski keeps the elevens theme going with his own, assisted by Mikkel Boedker and Kyle Turris. Toronto enters the scoring game on a Colby Armstrong goal, cutting the score down to 4-1 with his sixth of the year, courtesy of Darryl Boyce and Dion Phaneuf. Phoenix answers to make it 5-1 on a Yandle goal, his seventh of the season, assisted by Scottie Upshall before it went into the empty net. Bryzgalov (28 for 29 saves), Korpikoski, and Yandle are the three stars.
Into California with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the St. Louis Blues. Jaroslav Halak and Jonathan Quick will be in between the pipes. B.J. Crombeen opens the scoring for St. Louis with his fourth of the season, from Alex Pietrangelo and Patrik Berglund. Michal Handzus evens the score for Los Angeles, netting his seventh of the season with help from Alec Martinez and Jack Johnson. Ryan Reaves gives the Blues a 2-1 lead, with assists by Philip McRae and Chris Porter. Alex Steen extends the lead to 3-1 for St. Louis with his 15th of the year, helped along by Brad Boyes and Erik Johnson. The third period was scoreless, and Johnson, Pietrangelo, and Martinez get the three stars.
Staying in the same state, the San Jose Sharks host the Edmonton Oilers. Devan Dubnyk and Antero Niittymaki are in front of the cages. Theo Peckham and Ryane Clowe opened the action with a fight. Edmonton strikes first with the fifth of the year by Andrew Cogliano, with the assist going to Liam Reddox. The Oilers extend their lead to 2-0 on a Dustin Penner goal, his 13th of the year, with helpers going to Ales Hemsky and Taylor Hall. Edmonton makes it 3-0 on the 13th of the season for Hall, with help from Hemsky and Tom Gilbert. San Jose gets on the board in the third period with a power play goal by Joe Thornton, with helpers from Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau on his eleventh of the season. The Oilers return the lead to three goals with Spin-o-Rama Linus Omark scoring his second of the year, thanks to sock trick Hemsky and Magnus Paajarvi. Clowe cuts the lead back again for the Sharks with a power play goal, assisted by Thornton and Heatley. Hall finished off the scoring for Edmonton, making it 5-2 with his empty net goal that goes as his 14th of the year, with Hemsky getting the assist for a four-pack. Hemsky, Dubnyk (41 for 43 saves), and Hall get the three stars.
That's all for the hockey world. Friday's games will be covered on Saturday most likely.
Wednesday in the NHL
There were four games on Wednesday as I digressed back into procrastination. We start off with...
The Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Washington Capitals. Semyon Varlamov and Dwayne Roloson were the goalies. Tampa Bay opened the scoring with Dominic Moore potting his eighth of the season, assisted by Nate Thompson and the goalie Dwayne Roloson. The Lightning made it 2-0 on the eighth of the year from Sean Bergenheim, with helpers coming from Victor Hedman and Steve Downie. Simon Gagne made it 3-0 in the late second period with his fourth of the season, assisted by Bergenheim and Vincent Lecavalier. This score would remain unchanged in the third period, giving Tampa Bay a 3-0 win over Washington. Mattias Ohlund (?), Dwayne Roloson (23 save shutout), and Nate Thompson were the designated and controversial three stars.
Heading to Quebec, with the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Carey Price were given the starting nods. Pittsburgh got out to the early lead with Alex Goligoski notching his eighth of the season, with assistance from Chris Kunitz and Mark Letestu. Montreal answered back with the 13th of the year by Tomas Plekanec, made possible by Mathieu Darche and Benoit Pouliot. The Canadiens took the lead on the first of the year by David Desharnais, assisted by P.K. Subban and Tom Pyatt. The Penguins answered back in a rally of four straight power play goals. Tying the game was Tyler Kennedy with his seventh of the year, courtesy of Kris Letang and Jordan Staal. Staal scored his first of the year since returning from injury to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead, and it went down unassisted. Goligoski added his second of the night and ninth of the season, with help from Staal and Letang. Making it 5-2 Pittsburgh, the eventual final score, was Kunitz, who supplied his 14th of the year thanks to Letang, who finished off a sock trick, and Goligoski. Staal, Desharnais, and Letang were the recipients of the three stars.
Heading out west again, with the Chicago Blackhawks hosting the Colorado Avalanche. Peter Budaj and Corey Crawford were sent out as the primary puckstoppers. Chicago got on the board in the first period with Troy Brouwer scoring his eleventh of the season, with assists by Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane. Dave Bolland made it 2-0 Blackhawks with his seventh of the season, assisted by Fernando Pisani and Brent Seabrook. Chicago extended the lead with Pisani's seventh of the year, helped along by Bolland in the second period. Bringing the score to its eventual final in the third period was Jack Skille with his seventh of the campaign, with the lone assist coming from Seabrook. Gaining the three stars status in the 4-0 Chicago victory over Colorado were Crawford (24 save shutout), Bolland, and Pisani.
Lastly, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the St. Louis Blues. Ty Conklin and Jonas Hiller were in the creases. Bobby Ryan opened the scoring for Anaheim with his 19th of the season, assisted by Joffery Lupul and Lubomir Visnovsky on the power play. Jason Blake made it 2-0 for the Ducks with his ninth of the year, thanks to Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne. Ryan added his second of the night and 20th on the year to make it 3-0 Anaheim before the end of the first period, with Corey Perry and Visnovsky picking up the helpers. David Backes cut the deficit down for St. Louis with two goals in a row, his 13th and 14th of the season to make it a 3-2 margin for the Blues, with Vladimir Sobotka picking up both primary assists, and Alex Pietrangelo and Erik Johnson picking up the secondaries in that order. Ryan finished off his hat trick in the third period with his 21st of the season, assisted by Andreas Lilja and Cam Fowler. Perry made it 5-2 for the Ducks with his 22nd of the season, from Matt Beleskey and Ryan. Visnovsky made it 6-2 with his eighth of the year, a power play goal helped along by Fowler and Selanne. Then, there was warfare. Barret Jackman and George Parros started the fighting at 13:47. Three hockey seconds later, B.J. Crombeen and Maxim Lapierre dropped the gloves and threw punches. Fifteen seconds after that, Eric Brewer and Luca Sbisa exchanged some hits. After the carnage, Brandon McMillan added on his fourth of the year for Anaheim, making it 7-2, with assists credited to Andy Sutton and Todd Marchant on the power play goal. St. Louis, now physically and officially beaten up, got back to scoring with Ryan Reaves' first goal of the year, assisted by Matt D'Agostini. Obviously an unacceptable move, as Vladimir Sobotka took a dance with Matt Beleskey afterward. Brad Boyes lessened the pain for the black-and-Blues with his tenth goal of the season, a power play tally coming from D'Agostini and Alex Steen. The final favored the Ducks 7-4, with Ryan, Perry, and Visnovsky earning the three stars for the game.
In last minute hockey news, the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs created a low key trade, with Dallas trading away once-famed prospect Fabian Brunnstrom for the Maple Leafs prospect Mikhail Stefanovich. No huge implications for that trade, but a nugget meant to be known nonetheless. Thursday's hockey will be mostly live-blogged, so keep watch for the post later.
The Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Washington Capitals. Semyon Varlamov and Dwayne Roloson were the goalies. Tampa Bay opened the scoring with Dominic Moore potting his eighth of the season, assisted by Nate Thompson and the goalie Dwayne Roloson. The Lightning made it 2-0 on the eighth of the year from Sean Bergenheim, with helpers coming from Victor Hedman and Steve Downie. Simon Gagne made it 3-0 in the late second period with his fourth of the season, assisted by Bergenheim and Vincent Lecavalier. This score would remain unchanged in the third period, giving Tampa Bay a 3-0 win over Washington. Mattias Ohlund (?), Dwayne Roloson (23 save shutout), and Nate Thompson were the designated and controversial three stars.
Heading to Quebec, with the Montreal Canadiens hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Carey Price were given the starting nods. Pittsburgh got out to the early lead with Alex Goligoski notching his eighth of the season, with assistance from Chris Kunitz and Mark Letestu. Montreal answered back with the 13th of the year by Tomas Plekanec, made possible by Mathieu Darche and Benoit Pouliot. The Canadiens took the lead on the first of the year by David Desharnais, assisted by P.K. Subban and Tom Pyatt. The Penguins answered back in a rally of four straight power play goals. Tying the game was Tyler Kennedy with his seventh of the year, courtesy of Kris Letang and Jordan Staal. Staal scored his first of the year since returning from injury to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead, and it went down unassisted. Goligoski added his second of the night and ninth of the season, with help from Staal and Letang. Making it 5-2 Pittsburgh, the eventual final score, was Kunitz, who supplied his 14th of the year thanks to Letang, who finished off a sock trick, and Goligoski. Staal, Desharnais, and Letang were the recipients of the three stars.
Heading out west again, with the Chicago Blackhawks hosting the Colorado Avalanche. Peter Budaj and Corey Crawford were sent out as the primary puckstoppers. Chicago got on the board in the first period with Troy Brouwer scoring his eleventh of the season, with assists by Duncan Keith and Patrick Kane. Dave Bolland made it 2-0 Blackhawks with his seventh of the season, assisted by Fernando Pisani and Brent Seabrook. Chicago extended the lead with Pisani's seventh of the year, helped along by Bolland in the second period. Bringing the score to its eventual final in the third period was Jack Skille with his seventh of the campaign, with the lone assist coming from Seabrook. Gaining the three stars status in the 4-0 Chicago victory over Colorado were Crawford (24 save shutout), Bolland, and Pisani.
Lastly, the Anaheim Ducks hosted the St. Louis Blues. Ty Conklin and Jonas Hiller were in the creases. Bobby Ryan opened the scoring for Anaheim with his 19th of the season, assisted by Joffery Lupul and Lubomir Visnovsky on the power play. Jason Blake made it 2-0 for the Ducks with his ninth of the year, thanks to Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne. Ryan added his second of the night and 20th on the year to make it 3-0 Anaheim before the end of the first period, with Corey Perry and Visnovsky picking up the helpers. David Backes cut the deficit down for St. Louis with two goals in a row, his 13th and 14th of the season to make it a 3-2 margin for the Blues, with Vladimir Sobotka picking up both primary assists, and Alex Pietrangelo and Erik Johnson picking up the secondaries in that order. Ryan finished off his hat trick in the third period with his 21st of the season, assisted by Andreas Lilja and Cam Fowler. Perry made it 5-2 for the Ducks with his 22nd of the season, from Matt Beleskey and Ryan. Visnovsky made it 6-2 with his eighth of the year, a power play goal helped along by Fowler and Selanne. Then, there was warfare. Barret Jackman and George Parros started the fighting at 13:47. Three hockey seconds later, B.J. Crombeen and Maxim Lapierre dropped the gloves and threw punches. Fifteen seconds after that, Eric Brewer and Luca Sbisa exchanged some hits. After the carnage, Brandon McMillan added on his fourth of the year for Anaheim, making it 7-2, with assists credited to Andy Sutton and Todd Marchant on the power play goal. St. Louis, now physically and officially beaten up, got back to scoring with Ryan Reaves' first goal of the year, assisted by Matt D'Agostini. Obviously an unacceptable move, as Vladimir Sobotka took a dance with Matt Beleskey afterward. Brad Boyes lessened the pain for the black-and-Blues with his tenth goal of the season, a power play tally coming from D'Agostini and Alex Steen. The final favored the Ducks 7-4, with Ryan, Perry, and Visnovsky earning the three stars for the game.
In last minute hockey news, the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs created a low key trade, with Dallas trading away once-famed prospect Fabian Brunnstrom for the Maple Leafs prospect Mikhail Stefanovich. No huge implications for that trade, but a nugget meant to be known nonetheless. Thursday's hockey will be mostly live-blogged, so keep watch for the post later.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Tuesday NHL coverage (100% live)
Once again, there is hockey on, and with ten games today, my non-procrastinating butt is gonna open these all up as the games are played for that authentic live feeling. There are ten games today, starting with...
The Columbus Blue Jackets hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Mathieu Garon and Ilya Bryzgalov are the masked men. Columbus strikes early in the first period with Jared Boll getting his fourth of the season thanks to Marc Methot. Rostislav Klesla puts the Blue Jackets up 2-0 with his third of the year, from Fedor Tyutin and Rick Nash. Vernon Fiddler puts Phoenix on the board with his fifth of the campaign, thanks to Lauri Korpikoski, shorthanded. Kristian Huselius answered back for Columbus with his ninth of the season, making it 3-1 courtesy of Tyutin on the power play. The Coyotes cut the lead back down with Eric Belanger netting his fifth of the year, assisted by Shane Doan and Keith Yandle. Phoenix ties the game early in the third period with Radim Vrbata scoring his eighth of the season, a power play goal made possible by Ray Whitney and Martin Hanzal. The Coyotes take the lead on a Derek Morris goal, his third of the year coming from Scottie Upshall and Hanzal. Hanzal, Morris, and Klesla get the three stars in the 4-3 Phoenix victory.
Moving along to the Boston Bruins hosting the Ottawa Senators. Brian Elliott and Tim Thomas get the starts. Boston gets first blood with Patrice Bergeron netting his eleventh of the season, unassisted. The Bruins extend their lead to 2-0 with Blake Wheeler netting his tenth of the year, with Tyler Seguin and David Krejci picking up the helpers. Boston makes it 3-0 with Bergeron scoring his second of the night and 12th of the season, another unassisted tally. Extending the lead further is Brad Marchand with his eighth of the season, from Dennis Seidenberg. Seguin adds his seventh of the year to make it 5-0 with helpers going to Krejci and Zdeno Chara, and successfully scaring off Brian Elliott, who was replaced by Mike Brodeur at the end of the second. Bergeron finishes the hat trick in the third period, making it 6-0 for the Bruins with his 13th of the year, thanks to Marchand. Bergeron, Marchand, and Tim Thomas (31 save shutout) are the three stars.
Next up, the New York Rangers host the Montreal Canadiens. Alex Auld and Henrik Lundqvist are in between the pipes. New York takes the early lead with Brandon Dubinsky scoring his 17th of the season, assisted by Matt Gilroy and the goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Montreal answers late in the second period on Jaroslav Spacek's second of the season, assisted by Tomas Plekanec and Yannick Weber. The Canadiens take a 2-1 lead on Benoit Pouliot scoring his ninth of the season, with help from James Wisniewski. Pouliot, Auld (25 for 26 saves), and losing goalie Lundqvist (36 for 38 saves) earn the three stars.
Heading south with the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Cam Ward are the designated starters. Calgary is on the board first with Jay Bouwmeester notching his fourth of the season, helped along by Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen. Carolina evens the score with Tuomo Ruutu notching his eleventh of the year, with help from Chad LaRose and Jeff Skinner. Iginla answers back for the Flames with his 18th of the season, assisted by Alex Tanguay and Jokinen. Jussi Jokinen put the Hurricanes back into a tie at 2 with his seventh of the year, from Brandon Sutter. Erik Cole gave Carolina the lead with his 12th of the season, from Jussi Jokinen and Sergei Samsonov. Eric Staal extends the Hurricane lead to 4-2 with his 21st of the year, courtesy of Ian White and the goalie Cam Ward, scaring away the opposing goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who is replaced by Henrik Karlsson. Jussi Jokinen adds on his second of the night and eighth of the season to make it 5-2, with help from Tim Gleason and Pat Dwyer. Niklas Hagman answers for the Flames with his ninth of the year, unassisted. Curtis Glencross puts Calgary back within a goal with his tenth of the year, thanks to Hagman and Robyn Regehr. The Flames tie the game as Rene Bourque returns to the scoresheet for his 14th of the season, helped along by Brendan Morrison and Tim Jackman. Skinner scores the only goal in the shootout, giving Carolina a 6-5 win. Jussi Jokinen, Iginla, and Skinner are the three stars.
Back to New York for the Islanders hosting the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo and Kevin Poulin get the starting nods. Vancouver is on the board first with Alexandre Burrows putting his ninth of the season away, with help from Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. New York answers in the second period with Jack Hillen netting his first of the year, thanks to Blake Comeau and Milan Jurcina. The Canucks respond with Ryan Kesler notching his 24th of the year, with help from Mikael Samuelsson and Raffi Torres. The Islanders tie the game again with John Tavares on the power play, his 15th of the year coming from Rob Schremp. Comeau gives New York a lead with his eleventh of the season, from Dylan Reese and Schremp, but Vancouver ties it on the sixth of the year by Kevin Bieksa, an unassisted goal. Shremp and Mason Raymond exchange shootout barbs, and Kesler secures the victory for the Canucks in the shootout. Comeau, Kesler, and Schremp earn the three stars.
Staying in the state, with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Ryan Miller are destined to stop the pucks. Paul Gaustad puts Buffalo up first with his fourth of the season, from Cody McCormick and Tyler Myers. McCormick makes it 2-0 for the Sabres with his fifth of the year, assisted on by Nathan Gerbe. Philadelphia answers with Scott Hartnell notching his 13th of the campaign, a power play goal made possible by Kimmo Timmonen and Danny Briere. Briere ties the game with his own goal, the 22nd of the season for him, from Timmonen. The Flyers take a 3-2 lead on Ville Leino scoring his tenth of the season, assisted by Briere. Mike Richards extends the lead to 4-2 Philadelphia with his 14th of the season, an unassisted goal. The Flyers ice the game at 5-2 with the 14th of the season and second of the night by Hartnell, assisted on by Briere into the empty net, giving Danny the coveted sock trick. Briere, McCormick, and Timmonen get the three stars.
Into a Southeast division match between the Washington Capitals and their hosts, the Florida Panthers. Michal Neuvirth and Tomas Vokoun are in the creases. Florida opens the scoring on a power play goal by Mike Santorelli, his 12th of the year a product of Stephen Weiss and Dennis Wideman. Marty Reasoner extends the Panthers lead to 2-0 with his ninth of the season, from Bryan McCabe and Radek Dvorak. David Booth makes it 3-0 for Florida with his 12th of the season, a power play goal from Weiss and Cory Stillman. Washington gets on the board with Marcus Johansson scoring his fourth of the season, assisted by Brooks Laich and Brian Willsie. The Capitals cut the lead back farther as Mike Knuble nets his tenth of the year, thanks to Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Johansson ties the game for Washington with his second of the night and fifth of the year, with help from Matt Hendricks and Mike Green. Dennis Wideman snagged the game for the Panthers, taking the Capitals down 4-3 with his fourth of the year, a power play goal from Weiss, who completes a sock trick, and Stillman. Wideman, Johansson, and Weiss grab the three stars.
Back out west a bit with the Nashville Predators hosting the Minnesota Wild. In goal we have Jose Theodore and Pekka Rinne. David Legwand gives Nashville the early lead with his fourth of the year, thanks to Marek Svatos and Francis Bouillon. Mikko Koivu ties it for Minnesota with his eleventh of the season, courtesy of John Madden. The Predators retake the lead on the fifth of the year by Joel Ward, from Kevin Klein and Marcel Goc. Nick Spaling makes the Nashville lead 3-1, with his third of the season, an unassisted goal. The Predators keep rolling with Spaling getting a second consecutive goal, and his fourth of the year, with help from Shea Weber and Ward, scaring off Jose Theodore in favor of Anton Khudobin. Goc adds on his eighth of the year, an unassisted goal making it 5-1 Nashville. Spaling, Ward, and Rinne (25 for 26 saves) get the three stars in the aforementioned Nashville victory.
Into Texas for the Dallas Stars hosting the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Kari Lethonen are given the netminding duties. Dallas opens the scoring with Brenden Morrow notching his 18th of the season, assisted by Mike Ribeiro and Philip Larsen. The Stars extend their lead to 2-0 with Jamie Benn netting his 12th of the year, from Steve Ott and Adam Burish. Edmonton finally gets on the board with Jean-Francois Jacques scoring his second of the season, thanks to Steve MacIntyre and Ladislav Smid. The Oilers tie it on Ryan Jones tenth of the year, a goal assisted on by Liam Reddox. Dallas takes the lead back on James Neal's goal, his 16th of the season, with help from Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson. Lethonen (39 for 41 saves), Neal, and Jones are the three stars.
Lastly, the San Jose Sharks host the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Antti Niemi are in front of the cages. Patrick Marleau puts San Jose on the board first with his 16th of the year, assisted on by Joe Thornton and Jason Demers. Toronto finally evens the score with Phil Kessel netting his 19th of the year, from Tyler Bozak and Joey Crabb. The Maple Leafs take the lead on Clarke MacArthur's 13th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Tomas Kaberle and Nikolai Kulemin. Marleau ties it for the Sharks with his seocnd of the night and 17th of the season, from Joe Thornton. Toronto takes the lead back on the second of the year by Carl Gunnarsson, with assists from Dion Phaneuf and Colby Armstrong. MacArthur ices it off for the Maple Leafs, making it 4-2 with his second of the night and 14th of the year, an empty net goal from Mikhail Grabovski and Kulemin. Reimer (40 for 42 saves), Marleau, and Kessel get the three stars.
That's all there was tonight. I had a lot of fun doing it live, with all the free time I had.
The Columbus Blue Jackets hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Mathieu Garon and Ilya Bryzgalov are the masked men. Columbus strikes early in the first period with Jared Boll getting his fourth of the season thanks to Marc Methot. Rostislav Klesla puts the Blue Jackets up 2-0 with his third of the year, from Fedor Tyutin and Rick Nash. Vernon Fiddler puts Phoenix on the board with his fifth of the campaign, thanks to Lauri Korpikoski, shorthanded. Kristian Huselius answered back for Columbus with his ninth of the season, making it 3-1 courtesy of Tyutin on the power play. The Coyotes cut the lead back down with Eric Belanger netting his fifth of the year, assisted by Shane Doan and Keith Yandle. Phoenix ties the game early in the third period with Radim Vrbata scoring his eighth of the season, a power play goal made possible by Ray Whitney and Martin Hanzal. The Coyotes take the lead on a Derek Morris goal, his third of the year coming from Scottie Upshall and Hanzal. Hanzal, Morris, and Klesla get the three stars in the 4-3 Phoenix victory.
Moving along to the Boston Bruins hosting the Ottawa Senators. Brian Elliott and Tim Thomas get the starts. Boston gets first blood with Patrice Bergeron netting his eleventh of the season, unassisted. The Bruins extend their lead to 2-0 with Blake Wheeler netting his tenth of the year, with Tyler Seguin and David Krejci picking up the helpers. Boston makes it 3-0 with Bergeron scoring his second of the night and 12th of the season, another unassisted tally. Extending the lead further is Brad Marchand with his eighth of the season, from Dennis Seidenberg. Seguin adds his seventh of the year to make it 5-0 with helpers going to Krejci and Zdeno Chara, and successfully scaring off Brian Elliott, who was replaced by Mike Brodeur at the end of the second. Bergeron finishes the hat trick in the third period, making it 6-0 for the Bruins with his 13th of the year, thanks to Marchand. Bergeron, Marchand, and Tim Thomas (31 save shutout) are the three stars.
Next up, the New York Rangers host the Montreal Canadiens. Alex Auld and Henrik Lundqvist are in between the pipes. New York takes the early lead with Brandon Dubinsky scoring his 17th of the season, assisted by Matt Gilroy and the goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Montreal answers late in the second period on Jaroslav Spacek's second of the season, assisted by Tomas Plekanec and Yannick Weber. The Canadiens take a 2-1 lead on Benoit Pouliot scoring his ninth of the season, with help from James Wisniewski. Pouliot, Auld (25 for 26 saves), and losing goalie Lundqvist (36 for 38 saves) earn the three stars.
Heading south with the Carolina Hurricanes hosting the Calgary Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff and Cam Ward are the designated starters. Calgary is on the board first with Jay Bouwmeester notching his fourth of the season, helped along by Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen. Carolina evens the score with Tuomo Ruutu notching his eleventh of the year, with help from Chad LaRose and Jeff Skinner. Iginla answers back for the Flames with his 18th of the season, assisted by Alex Tanguay and Jokinen. Jussi Jokinen put the Hurricanes back into a tie at 2 with his seventh of the year, from Brandon Sutter. Erik Cole gave Carolina the lead with his 12th of the season, from Jussi Jokinen and Sergei Samsonov. Eric Staal extends the Hurricane lead to 4-2 with his 21st of the year, courtesy of Ian White and the goalie Cam Ward, scaring away the opposing goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who is replaced by Henrik Karlsson. Jussi Jokinen adds on his second of the night and eighth of the season to make it 5-2, with help from Tim Gleason and Pat Dwyer. Niklas Hagman answers for the Flames with his ninth of the year, unassisted. Curtis Glencross puts Calgary back within a goal with his tenth of the year, thanks to Hagman and Robyn Regehr. The Flames tie the game as Rene Bourque returns to the scoresheet for his 14th of the season, helped along by Brendan Morrison and Tim Jackman. Skinner scores the only goal in the shootout, giving Carolina a 6-5 win. Jussi Jokinen, Iginla, and Skinner are the three stars.
Back to New York for the Islanders hosting the Vancouver Canucks. Roberto Luongo and Kevin Poulin get the starting nods. Vancouver is on the board first with Alexandre Burrows putting his ninth of the season away, with help from Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. New York answers in the second period with Jack Hillen netting his first of the year, thanks to Blake Comeau and Milan Jurcina. The Canucks respond with Ryan Kesler notching his 24th of the year, with help from Mikael Samuelsson and Raffi Torres. The Islanders tie the game again with John Tavares on the power play, his 15th of the year coming from Rob Schremp. Comeau gives New York a lead with his eleventh of the season, from Dylan Reese and Schremp, but Vancouver ties it on the sixth of the year by Kevin Bieksa, an unassisted goal. Shremp and Mason Raymond exchange shootout barbs, and Kesler secures the victory for the Canucks in the shootout. Comeau, Kesler, and Schremp earn the three stars.
Staying in the state, with the Buffalo Sabres hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Ryan Miller are destined to stop the pucks. Paul Gaustad puts Buffalo up first with his fourth of the season, from Cody McCormick and Tyler Myers. McCormick makes it 2-0 for the Sabres with his fifth of the year, assisted on by Nathan Gerbe. Philadelphia answers with Scott Hartnell notching his 13th of the campaign, a power play goal made possible by Kimmo Timmonen and Danny Briere. Briere ties the game with his own goal, the 22nd of the season for him, from Timmonen. The Flyers take a 3-2 lead on Ville Leino scoring his tenth of the season, assisted by Briere. Mike Richards extends the lead to 4-2 Philadelphia with his 14th of the season, an unassisted goal. The Flyers ice the game at 5-2 with the 14th of the season and second of the night by Hartnell, assisted on by Briere into the empty net, giving Danny the coveted sock trick. Briere, McCormick, and Timmonen get the three stars.
Into a Southeast division match between the Washington Capitals and their hosts, the Florida Panthers. Michal Neuvirth and Tomas Vokoun are in the creases. Florida opens the scoring on a power play goal by Mike Santorelli, his 12th of the year a product of Stephen Weiss and Dennis Wideman. Marty Reasoner extends the Panthers lead to 2-0 with his ninth of the season, from Bryan McCabe and Radek Dvorak. David Booth makes it 3-0 for Florida with his 12th of the season, a power play goal from Weiss and Cory Stillman. Washington gets on the board with Marcus Johansson scoring his fourth of the season, assisted by Brooks Laich and Brian Willsie. The Capitals cut the lead back farther as Mike Knuble nets his tenth of the year, thanks to Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Johansson ties the game for Washington with his second of the night and fifth of the year, with help from Matt Hendricks and Mike Green. Dennis Wideman snagged the game for the Panthers, taking the Capitals down 4-3 with his fourth of the year, a power play goal from Weiss, who completes a sock trick, and Stillman. Wideman, Johansson, and Weiss grab the three stars.
Back out west a bit with the Nashville Predators hosting the Minnesota Wild. In goal we have Jose Theodore and Pekka Rinne. David Legwand gives Nashville the early lead with his fourth of the year, thanks to Marek Svatos and Francis Bouillon. Mikko Koivu ties it for Minnesota with his eleventh of the season, courtesy of John Madden. The Predators retake the lead on the fifth of the year by Joel Ward, from Kevin Klein and Marcel Goc. Nick Spaling makes the Nashville lead 3-1, with his third of the season, an unassisted goal. The Predators keep rolling with Spaling getting a second consecutive goal, and his fourth of the year, with help from Shea Weber and Ward, scaring off Jose Theodore in favor of Anton Khudobin. Goc adds on his eighth of the year, an unassisted goal making it 5-1 Nashville. Spaling, Ward, and Rinne (25 for 26 saves) get the three stars in the aforementioned Nashville victory.
Into Texas for the Dallas Stars hosting the Edmonton Oilers. Nikolai Khabibulin and Kari Lethonen are given the netminding duties. Dallas opens the scoring with Brenden Morrow notching his 18th of the season, assisted by Mike Ribeiro and Philip Larsen. The Stars extend their lead to 2-0 with Jamie Benn netting his 12th of the year, from Steve Ott and Adam Burish. Edmonton finally gets on the board with Jean-Francois Jacques scoring his second of the season, thanks to Steve MacIntyre and Ladislav Smid. The Oilers tie it on Ryan Jones tenth of the year, a goal assisted on by Liam Reddox. Dallas takes the lead back on James Neal's goal, his 16th of the season, with help from Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson. Lethonen (39 for 41 saves), Neal, and Jones are the three stars.
Lastly, the San Jose Sharks host the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Antti Niemi are in front of the cages. Patrick Marleau puts San Jose on the board first with his 16th of the year, assisted on by Joe Thornton and Jason Demers. Toronto finally evens the score with Phil Kessel netting his 19th of the year, from Tyler Bozak and Joey Crabb. The Maple Leafs take the lead on Clarke MacArthur's 13th of the season, a power play goal made possible by Tomas Kaberle and Nikolai Kulemin. Marleau ties it for the Sharks with his seocnd of the night and 17th of the season, from Joe Thornton. Toronto takes the lead back on the second of the year by Carl Gunnarsson, with assists from Dion Phaneuf and Colby Armstrong. MacArthur ices it off for the Maple Leafs, making it 4-2 with his second of the night and 14th of the year, an empty net goal from Mikhail Grabovski and Kulemin. Reimer (40 for 42 saves), Marleau, and Kessel get the three stars.
That's all there was tonight. I had a lot of fun doing it live, with all the free time I had.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Monday NHL recap
Tonight, we had four games being played. We start in a game with a storyline, but far from being a revenge game for the...
Boston Bruins, who would potentially be avenging the concussion of their center, Marc Savard, against their hosts, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tuukka Rask and Marc-Andre Fleury played in the creases. After going scoreless in the first period, Michael Rupp opened the scoring with his fourth of the season for Pittsburgh, thanks to Deryk Engelland. The Penguins took it one step farther with Kris Letang netting his seventh of the year with a man advantage, assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Paul Martin. Zdeno Chara got Boston going later in the third period with his sixth of the season, a power play goal from Dennis Seidenberg and Gregory Campbell. Twelve seconds later, the game was tied up by the Bruins with Brad Marchand recording his seventh of the campaign, with help from Patrice Bergeron and Campbell. Boston took a lead on a Mark Recchi goal, his eighth of the year, a power play goal helped along by Michael Ryder and Seidenberg. Forty-two seconds later, Campbell iced the game off with an empty netter for the Bruins, making it 4-2 with the help of Blake Wheeler and Bergeron on his fourth of the year. Recchi, Marchand, and Letang earned the three stars.
Heading west for the St. Louis Blues hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera and Jaroslav Halak were the designated as starters. The first major happening in the game was actually a fight, with Phoenix's Paul Bissonette getting out of the press box to fight Cam Janssen of St. Louis. St. Louis opened the scoring later in the first period with David Backes netting his 12th of the season, assisted by Matt D'Agostini and Alex Steen. Phoenix answered in the second period with Lauri Korpikoski notching his tenth of the year, with help coming from Ed Jovanovski and Adrian Aucoin. Lee Stempniak gave the Coyotes a lead with his ninth of the season, an unassisted goal. D'Agostini answered for the Blues in the third period with his tenth of the year, also unassisted. Twenty seconds later, St. Louis had obtained a 3-2 lead with Brad Winchester notching his eighth of the campaign, with help from Jay McClement and Brad Boyes. Phoenix retied the game again with the seventh of the season by Kyle Turris, with Sami Lepisto and Taylor Pyatt picking up the helpers. Pyatt gave the Coyotes a 4-3 lead later in that period with his tenth of the year, assisted by Turris and Korpikoski, and good enough to secure a win for Phoenix over the Blues. Turris, D'Agostini, and Jovanovski picked up the three stars.
Heading farther west on our travels to Colorado, with the Avalanche hosting bitter rivals from Detroit, the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Peter Budaj got the starts. Paul Stastny put Colorado on the board first with his 16th of the season, assisted by Milan Hejduk and Kevin Porter. The lead was short-lived, with Detroit tying it just fifty-four seconds later on the first of the season by Jan Mursak, with help from Drew Miller and Justin Abdelkader. Matt Duchene put the Avalanche back on top with his 17th of the year, helped along by Tomas Fleischmann. Porter made it 3-1 for the Avalanche with his eighth of the year, with assists coming from David Jones and Brandon Yip. Duchene added another goal for Colorado, his second of the night and 18th of the year, helped along by Fleischmann and Jones. Brian Rafalski put a band-aid on for the Red Wings, cutting the lead back down to 4-2 for Colorado with his third of the season, from Darren Helm. Detroit starter Jimmy Howard was pulled in favor of Joey MacDonald before Jones answered back for the Avalanche in the second period with his 14th of the campaign, assisted by Duchene. Henrik Zetterberg replied back for Detroit with his 16th of the year, a power play goal with assistance from Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom. Holmstrom added his own power play goal in the third period, cutting the lead down to 5-4 with his eleventh of the season, assisted by Zetterberg and Lidstrom. Duchene, Jones, and Zetterberg earned the three stars in the aforementioned final score.
Finally, the western finale, with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Jonathan Quick are the goaltenders. Los Angeles opened the scoring in the first period with Wayne Simmonds potting his ninth of the season, from Rob Scuderi and Jarret Stoll. Toronto answered in the second period with Darryl Boyce netting his second of the season, from Colby Armstrong and Kris Versteeg. Thirty-four seconds later, the Maple Leafs had a lead of 2-1 with Phil Kessel putting away his 18th of the year, thanks to help from Joey Crabb and Tyler Bozak. The Kings tied it with Michal Handzus' sixth of the year, assisted by Alec Martinez and Ryan Smyth. Toronto took the lead back in the third period, with Nikolai Kulemin making it 3-2 with his 16th of the year, assisted by Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur. This would be the final for the game, with Grabovski, Simmonds, and Kessel earning the three stars.
That's all for the games. Little late news bit coming in, as the Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers swapped underwhelming players, with New York offlloading Michal Rozsival and picking up Phoenix's trash that came in the form of Wojtek Wolski (no offense Wojtek).
Boston Bruins, who would potentially be avenging the concussion of their center, Marc Savard, against their hosts, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tuukka Rask and Marc-Andre Fleury played in the creases. After going scoreless in the first period, Michael Rupp opened the scoring with his fourth of the season for Pittsburgh, thanks to Deryk Engelland. The Penguins took it one step farther with Kris Letang netting his seventh of the year with a man advantage, assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Paul Martin. Zdeno Chara got Boston going later in the third period with his sixth of the season, a power play goal from Dennis Seidenberg and Gregory Campbell. Twelve seconds later, the game was tied up by the Bruins with Brad Marchand recording his seventh of the campaign, with help from Patrice Bergeron and Campbell. Boston took a lead on a Mark Recchi goal, his eighth of the year, a power play goal helped along by Michael Ryder and Seidenberg. Forty-two seconds later, Campbell iced the game off with an empty netter for the Bruins, making it 4-2 with the help of Blake Wheeler and Bergeron on his fourth of the year. Recchi, Marchand, and Letang earned the three stars.
Heading west for the St. Louis Blues hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. Jason LaBarbera and Jaroslav Halak were the designated as starters. The first major happening in the game was actually a fight, with Phoenix's Paul Bissonette getting out of the press box to fight Cam Janssen of St. Louis. St. Louis opened the scoring later in the first period with David Backes netting his 12th of the season, assisted by Matt D'Agostini and Alex Steen. Phoenix answered in the second period with Lauri Korpikoski notching his tenth of the year, with help coming from Ed Jovanovski and Adrian Aucoin. Lee Stempniak gave the Coyotes a lead with his ninth of the season, an unassisted goal. D'Agostini answered for the Blues in the third period with his tenth of the year, also unassisted. Twenty seconds later, St. Louis had obtained a 3-2 lead with Brad Winchester notching his eighth of the campaign, with help from Jay McClement and Brad Boyes. Phoenix retied the game again with the seventh of the season by Kyle Turris, with Sami Lepisto and Taylor Pyatt picking up the helpers. Pyatt gave the Coyotes a 4-3 lead later in that period with his tenth of the year, assisted by Turris and Korpikoski, and good enough to secure a win for Phoenix over the Blues. Turris, D'Agostini, and Jovanovski picked up the three stars.
Heading farther west on our travels to Colorado, with the Avalanche hosting bitter rivals from Detroit, the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard and Peter Budaj got the starts. Paul Stastny put Colorado on the board first with his 16th of the season, assisted by Milan Hejduk and Kevin Porter. The lead was short-lived, with Detroit tying it just fifty-four seconds later on the first of the season by Jan Mursak, with help from Drew Miller and Justin Abdelkader. Matt Duchene put the Avalanche back on top with his 17th of the year, helped along by Tomas Fleischmann. Porter made it 3-1 for the Avalanche with his eighth of the year, with assists coming from David Jones and Brandon Yip. Duchene added another goal for Colorado, his second of the night and 18th of the year, helped along by Fleischmann and Jones. Brian Rafalski put a band-aid on for the Red Wings, cutting the lead back down to 4-2 for Colorado with his third of the season, from Darren Helm. Detroit starter Jimmy Howard was pulled in favor of Joey MacDonald before Jones answered back for the Avalanche in the second period with his 14th of the campaign, assisted by Duchene. Henrik Zetterberg replied back for Detroit with his 16th of the year, a power play goal with assistance from Tomas Holmstrom and Nicklas Lidstrom. Holmstrom added his own power play goal in the third period, cutting the lead down to 5-4 with his eleventh of the season, assisted by Zetterberg and Lidstrom. Duchene, Jones, and Zetterberg earned the three stars in the aforementioned final score.
Finally, the western finale, with the Los Angeles Kings hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs. James Reimer and Jonathan Quick are the goaltenders. Los Angeles opened the scoring in the first period with Wayne Simmonds potting his ninth of the season, from Rob Scuderi and Jarret Stoll. Toronto answered in the second period with Darryl Boyce netting his second of the season, from Colby Armstrong and Kris Versteeg. Thirty-four seconds later, the Maple Leafs had a lead of 2-1 with Phil Kessel putting away his 18th of the year, thanks to help from Joey Crabb and Tyler Bozak. The Kings tied it with Michal Handzus' sixth of the year, assisted by Alec Martinez and Ryan Smyth. Toronto took the lead back in the third period, with Nikolai Kulemin making it 3-2 with his 16th of the year, assisted by Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur. This would be the final for the game, with Grabovski, Simmonds, and Kessel earning the three stars.
That's all for the games. Little late news bit coming in, as the Phoenix Coyotes and New York Rangers swapped underwhelming players, with New York offlloading Michal Rozsival and picking up Phoenix's trash that came in the form of Wojtek Wolski (no offense Wojtek).
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