The Columbus Blue Jackets hosting the Buffalo Sabres. Robin Lehner and Sergei Bobrovsky man the nets. Buffalo led off in the first period with an Evan Rodrigues goal, his third of the season, coming off of Nicolas Deslauriers. Columbus tied it on a David Savard goal, his fourth of the year, via Brandon Dubinsky. The Blue Jackets took the lead with a Nick Foligno power play goal, his twenty-third of the season, powered by Alexander Wennberg and Zach Werenski. The Sabres tied it in the second period with a Josh Gorges goal, courtesy of Matt Moulson and Sam Reinhart. Columbus regained the lead with a Sam Gagner power play goal, his seventeenth of the year, with assists provided by Seth Jones and Jack Johnson. Buffalo retied it on a Rasmus Ristolainen goal, his fifth of the season, made possible by Jake McCabe and Marcus Foligno. The Blue Jackets took the lead with a Boone Jenner goal, his fourteenth of the year, with a lone assist by Cam Atkinson. The final stood at 4-3 with the three stars being Jenner, Gagner, and Nick Foligno.
Up in Detroit, the Red Wings welcome the Chicago Blackhawks. Corey Crawford and Jimmy Howard guard the cages. Chicago began in the first period with an Artemi Panarin goal, his twenty-first of the season, assisted by Patrick Kane and Artem Anisimov. Detroit tied it on a Xavier Ouellet goal, his third of the year, via Gustav Nyquist and Dylan Larkin. The Red Wings took the lead with an Andreas Athanasiou goal, his fifteenth of the season, courtesy of Nick Jensen and Tomas Tatar. Detroit added on in the second period with a Tatar goal, his sixteenth of the year, passed from Henrik Zetterberg and Nyquist. The Blackhawks got one back with a Trevor van Riemsdyk his fourth of the season, guided in by Marian Hossa. The Red Wings replied with a Tatar goal, his second of the game and seventeenth of the year, fueled by Zetterberg and Nyquist, the latter earning a sock trick. The final stood at 4-2, with the three stars going to Tatar, Nyquist, and Zetterberg.
Down in Florida, the Panthers bring in the Minnesota Wild. Darcy Kuemper and James Reimer are the backups in goal. Minnesota opened in the first period with a Jason Zucker goal, his twenty-first of the season, coming off of Jonas Brodin and Mikael Granlund. Florida tied it on a Jonathan Marchessault power play goal, his twentieth of the year, powered by Keith Yandle and Aleksander Barkov. The Panthers took the lead with a Mark Pysyk goal, his third of the season, passed from Vincent Trocheck and Colton Sceviour. The Wild tied it in the second period with an Eric Staal goal, his twentieth of the year, assisted by Nino Niederreiter. Minnesota took the lead with a Jason Pominville goal, his eleventh of the season, fueled by Martin Hanzal and Zach Parise. Florida retied it on a Jaromir Jagr goal, his thirteenth of the year, guided in by Trocheck and Jonathan Huberdeau. Devan Dubnyk replaced Kuemper for the third period. The Panthers pulled ahead in the third period on a Barkov goal, his seventeenth of the season, with a lone helper from Pysyk. The Wild retied it on a Staal goal, his second of the game and twenty-first of the year, helped along by Marco Scandella and Charlie Coyle. Minnesota added on with a Parise goal, his sixteenth of the season, dished from Pominville and Brodin. The Wild extended the lead as Granlund scored his twenty-second of the year into an empty net, with the help of Zucker and Matt Dumba. Minnesota iced it at 7-4 with a Coyle empty net goal, his fifteenth of the campaign, set up by Staal. The three stars were Staal, Pominville, and Parise, while Granlund, Coyle, Zucker, Brodin, Barkov, Trocheck, and Pysyk get the honorable mentions.
Northwest to St. Louis, where the Blues host the Anaheim Ducks. John Gibson and Jake Allen are the masked men. St. Louis started in the first period with a Vladimir Tarasenko goal, his thirtieth of the season, passed from Jaden Schwartz and Jay Bouwmeester. Anaheim tied it on a Rickard Rakell goal, his twenty-eighth of the year, via Ryan Getzlaf and Sami Vatanen. The Ducks took the lead with a Chris Wagner goal, his fourth of the season, assisted by Jared Boll and Cam Fowler. The Blues tied it on a Ryan Reaves goal, his fourth of the year, coming off of Schwartz and Paul Stastny in the second period. St. Louis took the lead in the third period with a Stastny goal, his eighteenth of the season, fueled by Tarasenko and Alex Pietrangelo. Anaheim tied it again with a Jakob Silfverberg power play goal, his nineteenth of the year, powered by Rakell and Kevin Bieksa. The Blues won it 4-3 with a Joel Edmundson goal, his second of the campaign, with a lone assist by Robert Bortuzzo. The three stars belonged to Stastny, Tarasenko, and Rakell, while Schwartz gets an honorable mention.
Finally, the Edmonton Oilers host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury and Cam Talbot draw the starts in goal. Pittsburgh struck first in the first period with a Nick Bonino goal, his thirteenth of the season, assisted by Scott Wilson and Justin Schultz. The Penguins added on with an Evgeni Malkin goal, his thirty-second of the year, going in unassisted. Edmonton got on the board in the second period with a David Desharnais goal, his fifth of the season, made possible by Zack Kassian and Kris Russell. The Oilers tied it in the third period with a Connor McDavid power play goal, his twenty-third of the year, with helpers from Milan Lucic and Leon Draisaitl. The tie went to a shootout, where Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel topped McDavid for a 3-2 Penguins win. The three stars were Malkin, Bonino, and McDavid.
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