There's 12 games on for today's action, including three matinees. First up...
The Dallas Stars host the New York Rangers. Igor Shesterkin and Jake Oettinger tend the twines. Dallas led off in the first period with a Mason Marchment goal, his fourth of the season, guided in by Tyler Seguin. New York tied it on a Chris Kreider goal, his third of the year, fueled by Kaapo Kakko and Braden Schneider. The Rangers pulled ahead in the second period with a Vincent Trocheck power play goal, his third of the season, powered by Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox. The Stars retied it on a Roope Hintz goal, his third of the year, helped along by Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson. Oettinger left the game hurt and was replaced by Scott Wedgewood in goal. New York reclaimed the lead with a Zibanejad power play goal, his fifth of the season, with assists provided by Artemi Panarin and Kreider. Dallas tied it again with a Robertson goal, his fourth of the year, going in unassisted. The Rangers retook the lead in the third period with a Zac Jones goal, assisted by Trocheck and Julien Gauthier. New York added on with a Gauthier goal, made possible by Sammy Blais and Jones. The Rangers finished it at 6-3 with a Trocheck goal, his second of the game and fourth of the campaign, with helpers from Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere. The three stars were Trocheck, Zibanejad, and Robertson, while Kreider, Jones, and Gauthier get the honorable mentions.
East to Florida, as the Panthers welcome the Ottawa Senators. Anton Forsberg and Spencer Knight man the nets. Florida began in the first period with a Carter Verhaeghe goal, his third of the season, assisted by Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Montour. The Panthers added on with an Aleksander Barkov power play goal, powered by Matthew Tkachuk. Ottawa got on the board in the second period with a Shane Pinto power play goal, his sixth of the year, passed from Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson. The Senators tied it on a Brady Tkachuk goal, his sixth of the season, helped along by Drake Batherson. Florida regained the lead with a Verhaeghe goal, his second of the game and fourth of the year, via Montour and Barkov. Ottawa tied it in the third period on a Nick Holden goal, with a lone assist by Tyler Motte. The Panthers pulled ahead again with a Montour goal, his third of the season, made possible by Barkov. Florida iced it at 5-3 with a Matthew Tkachuk empty net goal, his fifth of the year, set up by Anton Lundell. The three stars were given to Montour, Verhaeghe, and Barkov, while Matthew Tkachuk gets an honorable mention.
Way out west, the San Jose Sharks bring in the Tampa Bay Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy and James Reimer are between the pipes. Tampa Bay opened in the first period with a Victor Hedman goal, courtesy of Brayden Point. San Jose tied it on an Erik Karlsson goal, his fifth of the season, via Tomas Hertl. The Lightning retook the lead with a Ross Colton goal, his second of the year, assisted by Alex Killorn and Brandon Hagel. The Sharks tied it again in the second period on a Nico Sturm goal, his fifth of the season, guided in by Luke Kunin and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. The Lightning regained the lead with a Killorn goal, his second of the year, coming off of Nick Paul and Erik Cernak. San Jose tied it once more with a Karlsson power play goal, his second of the game and sixth of the season, powered by Timo Meier and Hertl. The Lightning gained the lead with a Nikita Kucherov goal, his third of the year, with helpers from Hagel and Point. This made it 4-3, the final, with the three stars handed to Karlsson, Killorn, and Hagel, while Point and Hertl get the honorable mentions.
Eastward again to Buffalo, as the Sabres host the Chicago Blackhawks. Arvid Soderblom and Craig Anderson draw the starts in goal. Buffalo kicked off the scoring in the first period with a Victor Olofsson power play goal, his fifth of the season, powered by Casey Mittelstadt. Chicago tied it on a power play goal by Jason Dickinson, his third of the year, with assists provided by MacKenzie Entwistle and Caleb Jones. The Blackhawks pulled ahead in the second period on a Sam Lafferty goal, his his third of the year, helped along by Jake McCabe and Seth Jones. Chicago added on with a Taylor Raddysh goal, his third of the season, coming off of Philipp Kurashev and Jonathan Toews. The Sabres got one back in the third period with a Tage Thompson goal, his second of the year, passed from Kyle Okposo and Jeff Skinner. Buffalo tied it on a Thompson goal, his second of the game and third of the season, made possible by Skinner and Okposo. The Sabres won 4-3 in overtime with an Olofsson power play goal, his second of the game and sixth of the year, with helpers from Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin. The three stars were Thompson, Olofsson, and Okposo, while Skinner gets an honorable mention.
Backtracking to Detroit, where the Red Wings welcome the Minnesota Wild. Filip Gustavsson and Ville Husso are in the blue paint. Minnesota started in the first period with a Kirill Kaprizov goal, his sixth of the season, made possible by Mats Zuccarello and Frederick Gaudreau. Detroit tied it on a Lucas Raymond goal, via Adam Erne and Dylan Larkin. The Red Wings pulled ahead in the second period with a Raymond goal, his second of the game, passed from Dominik Kubalik and Larkin on the power play. The final held from here at 2-1, with the three stars going to Raymond, Husso (30 for 31 in saves), and Larkin.
Over in Philadelphia, the Flyers bring in the Carolina Hurricanes. Antti Raanta and Carter Hart are the masked men. Carolina struck first in the first period with a Jordan Staal goal, via Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei. The Hurricanes added on with a Jordan Martinook goal, his second of the season, passed from Jesper Fast and Staal. Philadelphia got on the board with a Nicolas Deslauriers goal, coming off of Lukas Sedlak and Wade Allison in the second period. The Flyers tied it on an Owen Tippett power play goal, powered by Travis Konecny and Tony DeAngelo. Philadelphia took the lead in the third period with an Allison goal, his second of the year, assisted by Sedlak and Deslauriers. Carolina tied it on a Martin Necas goal, his fifth of the season, going in unassisted. The Hurricanes won 4-3 in overtime with a Brent Burns goal, his second of the year, with helpers from Sebastian Aho and Necas. The three stars were Necas, Staal, and Allison, while Deslauriers and Sedlak get the honorable mentions.
Southwest to St. Louis, as the Blues host the Montreal Canadiens. Jake Allen and Jordan Binnington are the former teammates in goal. St. Louis drew first blood in the first period with a Jordan Kyrou goal, his second of the season, via Brayden Schenn and Justin Faulk. Montreal tied it with a Nick Suzuki goal, his fourth of the year, made possible by Jordan Harris and Cole Caufield. The Blues took the lead in the second period with a Noel Acciari goal, passed from Tyler Pitlick and Torey Krug. St. Louis added on with another Kyrou goal, his second of the game and third of the season, assisted by Faulk and Schenn on the power play. The Canadiens got one back on a Caufield goal, his sixth of the year, coming off of Suzuki and Kirby Dach. Montreal tied it on a Juraj Slafkovsky power play goal, his second of the season, powered by Chris Wideman and Brendan Gallagher. The Canadiens gained the lead on a Caufield power play goal, his second of the game and seventh of the year, with assists provided by Suzuki and Dach. Montreal extended the lead as Christian Dvorak scored, going in unassisted. The Canadiens padded the lead as Dvorak scored again, thanks to Josh Anderson and Harris. The Blues pulled one back with a Vladimir Tarasenko goal, his third of the season, fueled by Robert Thomas. Montreal iced it at 7-4 with a Dvorak empty net goal to finish his hat trick, set up by Sean Monahan and Allen. The three stars were Dvorak, Caufield, and Suzuki, while Dach, Harris, Kyrou, Schenn, and Faulk get the honorable mentions.
To California again, as the Los Angeles Kings welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ilya Samsonov and Cal Petersen are the veteran goalies. Toronto was first to score in the first period with a John Tavares power play goal, his fourth of the season, powered by William Nylander and Mitchell Marner. Los Angeles tied it in the second period with an Adrian Kempe power play goal, his sixth of the year, with assists provided by Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar. The Kings took the lead with a power play goal by Viktor Arvidsson, his second of the season, helped along by Phillip Danault. Los Angeles added on with a Gabriel Vilardi goal, his seventh of the year, made possible by Kopitar and Sean Durzi. The Maple Leafs got one back with a Pierre Engvall goal, fueled by David Kampf and Mark Giordano. The Kings fired back in the third period with a Fiala goal, his second of the season, going in unassisted. The final stood from here at 4-2, with the three stars being Fiala, Kopitar, and Petersen (26 for 28 in saves).
Cross-country to New York, as the Islanders bring in the Colorado Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev and Semyon Varlamov are in the blue paint. Colorado got going in the second period with an Evan Rodrigues power play goal, his third of the season, powered by Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen. The Avalanche added on with a Rantanen goal, his fourth of the year, guided in by Josh Manson. Colorado extended the lead as Rodrigues scored his second of the game and fourth of the season, thanks to Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews. New York got on the board with a Noah Dobson goal, his third of the year, made possible by Alexander Romanov and Oliver Wahlstrom. The Islanders got closer in the third period with a Zach Parise goal, his third of the season, fueled by Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Ryan Pulock. New York tied it on a Scott Mayfield goal, his third of the year, passed from Mathew Barzal and Casey Cizikas. The Islanders pulled ahead as Anthony Beauvillier scored his third of the season, with the help of Anders Lee. New York continued with a Brock Nelson empty net goal, his third of the year, going in unassisted. The Avalanche got one back with an Alex Newhook goal, helped along by Rodrigues and Cale Makar. The three stars were of the 5-4 game were Rodrigues, Rantanen, and Nelson.
Down in Nashville, the Predators host the Washington Capitals. Darcy Kuemper and Juuse Saros guard the cages. Washington dented the scoreboard in the second period with a Beck Malenstyn goal, courtesy of Nic Dowd. The Capitals added on in the third period with an Aliaksei Protas goal, his second of the season, via Conor Sheary and Nick Jensen. Washington iced it at 3-0 with an Alex Ovechkin empty net goal, his fourth of the year, set up by Dmitry Orlov. The three stars belonged to Kuemper (34 save shutout), Malenstyn, and Protas.
Out in Calgary, the Flames welcome the Edmonton Oilers. Stuart Skinner is mismatched with Jacob Markstrom in goal. Calgary cracked the scoresheet in the second period with a Mikael Backlund shorthanded goal, his third of the season, set up by Elias Lindholm. Edmonton tied it on a Zach Hyman power play goal, his fifth of the year, powered by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Flames pulled ahead with a Brett Ritchie goal, his third of the season, via Trevor Lewis and Milan Lucic. The Oilers tied it in the third period with a McDavid goal, his ninth of the year, guided in by Cody Ceci and Dylan Holloway. Edmonton took the lead with another Hyman goal, his second of the game and sixth of the season, made possible by McDavid. The final held from here at 3-2, with the three stars going to McDavid, Hyman, and Skinner (40 for 42 in saves).
Finally, the Seattle Kraken bring in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Casey DeSmith and Martin Jones will handle the goaltending duties. Pittsburgh tallied first in the second period on a Jake Guentzel goal, his fourth of the season, going in unassisted. Seattle tied it on a Jordan Eberle goal, coming off of Matty Beniers and Jaden Schwartz. The Kraken pulled ahead with a Morgan Geekie goal, his second of the year, assisted by Daniel Sprong and Vince Dunn. Seattle iced it at 3-1 with a Schwartz empty net goal, his fifth of the campaign, set up by Brandon Tanev and Dunn. The three stars were Jones (31 for 32 in saves), Schwartz, and Dunn.
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