There's nine games on this Thursday, beginning with...
The Montreal Canadiens hosting the Detroit Red Wings. Ville Husso and Jake Allen are the goalies. Detroit led off in the first period with a Michael Rasmussen goal, his ninth of the season, going in unassisted. Montreal tied it on a Michael Pezzetta goal, his third of the year, guided in by Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Alex Belzile. The Red Wings took the lead in the second period with a Jonatan Berggren power play goal, his eighth of the season, powered by Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider. The Canadiens tied it again with a Harvey-Pinard shorthanded goal, his second of the year, set up by Kirby Dach and David Savard. Detroit took the lead on an Oskar Sundqvist goal, his seventh of the season, assisted by Dominik Kubalik and Seider. Montreal tied it again with a Harvey-Pinard goal, his second of the game and third of the year, helped along by Pezzetta and Belzile. The Red Wings won 4-3 in overtime with a Robby Fabbri goal, his fourth of the campaign, with helpers from Rasmussen and Seider. The three stars were Seider, Rasmussen, and Harvey-Pinard, while Pezzetta and Belzile get the honorable mentions.
Stateside, the Washington Capitals welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins. Casey DeSmith is mismatched with Darcy Kuemper in goal. Washington began in the first period with an Alex Ovechkin power play goal, his thirty-second of the season, powered by Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov. Pittsburgh tied it in the second period with a Danton Heinen goal, his fifth of the year, via Drew O'Connor and Brian Dumoulin. The Capitals took the lead with a Marcus Johansson goal in the third period, his thirteenth of the season, assisted by Nicklas Backstrom and Sonny Milano. The Penguins tied it on a Bryan Rust goal, his eleventh of the year, courtesy of Jake Guentzel and Sidney Crosby. The tie went to a shootout, where Kuznetsov and Backstrom lifted the Capitals to a 3-2 win over Rickard Rakell and the Penguins. The three stars belonged to Kuznetsov, Backstrom, and Rust.
Further south, the Tampa Bay Lightning bring in the Boston Bruins. Linus Ullmark and Andrei Vasielvskiy tend the twines. Tampa Bay opened in the first period with a Brandon Hagel power play goal, his nineteenth of the season, powered by Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point. Boston tied it on a Brad Marchand goal in the second period, his sixteenth of the year, courtesy of Connor Clifton and Hampus Lindholm. The Lightning took the lead back with a Point goal in the third period, his twenty-eighth of the season, via Kucherov and Steven Stamkos. The Bruins tied it on a Pavel Zacha goal, his ninth of the year, coming off of David Krejci and David Pastrnak. Tampa Bay took the lead with a Victor Hedman goal, his third of the season, helped along by Point and Kucherov. This made it 3-2, the final, with the three stars going to Kucherov, Point, and Hedman.
Up in Nashville, the Predators host the New Jersey Devils. MacKenzie Blackwood and Juuse Saros are set to start in goal. New Jersey struck first in the first period with a Jesper Bratt goal, his nineteenth of the season, guided in by Dougie Hamilton. Nashville tied it with a Cody Glass power play goal, his seventh of the year, powered by Thomas Novak and Juuso Parssinen. The Devils retook the lead with a Yegor Sharangovich goal, his eleventh of the season, via Jack Hughes. The Predators tied it again with a Cole Smith goal, his second of the year, courtesy of Parssinen and Colton Sissons. New Jersey pulled ahead in the second period with a Hughes goal, his thirty-first of the season, passed from Fabian Zetterlund and Hamilton. Nashville tied it again with a Mikael Granlund goal, his sixth of the year, fueled by Ryan Johansen. The Predators took the lead with a Matt Duchene goal in the third period, his fourteenth of the season, assisted by Roman Josi. Nashville added on with a Filip Forsberg goal, his nineteenth of the year, helped along by Duchene. The Devils got one back on a Dawson Mercer goal, his eleventh of the season, made possible by Ondrej Palat and Hamilton. The Predators responded with a Tanner Jeannot empty net goal, his fifth of the year, set up by Sissons. This made it 6-4, the final, with the three stars going to Duchene, Hamilton, and Sissons, while Parssinen and Hughes get the honorable mentions.
North to Winnipeg, where the Jets welcome the Buffalo Sabres. Eric Comrie and Connor Hellebuyck are the former teammates in goal. Buffalo got going in the second period with an Owen Power goal, his third of the season, via Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson. The Sabres added on with a Thompson goal, his thirty-fourth of the year, assisted by Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner. Buffalo extended the lead in the third period as Victor Olofsson scored his twenty-third of the season, thanks to Skinner and Dahlin on the power play. Winnipeg got on the board with a Nate Schmidt power play goal, his fifth of the year, powered by Adam Lowry and Blake Wheeler. The Jets got one back with a Pierre-Luc Dubois goal, his twenty-second of the campaign, with helpers from Mark Scheifele and Wheeler. This only made it 3-2, the final, with the three stars given to Thompson, Dahlin, and Skinner, while Wheeler gets an honorable mention.
Backtracking to Minnesota, as the Wild bring in the Philadelphia Flyers. Carter Hart and Marc-Andre Fleury are the masked men. Philadelphia started in the first period with a Noah Cates goal, his seventh of the season, via Rasmus Ristolainen. Minnesota tied it in the second period with a Matt Boldy goal, his fifteenth of the year, courtesy of Marcus Foligno and Jared Spurgeon. The Wild took the lead with a Boldy power play goal, his second of the game and sixteenth of the season, powered by Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello. The Flyers tied it on a Tony DeAngelo goal, his eighth of the year, made possible by Kevin Hayes and Ivan Provorov. Minnesota won 3-2 in overtime with a Zuccarello goal, his nineteenth of the campaign, helped along by Calen Addison and Boldy. The three stars went to Boldy, Zuccarello, and Fleury (28 for 30 in saves).
Along to Colorado, where the Avalanche host the Anaheim Ducks. John Gibson and Pavel Francouz are in the creases. Colorado kicked off the scoring in the first period with a Mikko Rantanen goal, his thirty-third of the season, via Devon Toews and Cale Makar. Anaheim tied it on a Frank Vatrano goal, his ninth of the year, assisted by Cam Fowler. The Avalanche took the lead with a Samuel Girard goal, his fourth of the season, courtesy of Nathan MacKinnon and Evan Rodrigues. Colorado added on with a Rantanen power play goal, his second of the game and thirty-fourth of the year, powered by Girard and Denis Malgin. The Ducks got one back with a Vatrano goal, his second of the game and tenth of the season, going in unassisted. Anaheim tied it on an Adam Henrique goal, his eighteenth of the year, passed from Troy Terry and Simon Benoit. The Ducks pulled ahead on a Mason McTavish goal, his tenth of the season, guided in by Jakob Silfverberg and Dmitry Kulikov. Anaheim iced it at 5-3 with a Vatrano empty net goal to complete his hat trick on his eleventh of the year, set up by Fowler. The three stars were Vatrano, Rantanen, and Girard, while Fowler gets an honorable mention.
In Canada again, the Calgary Flames welcome the Chicago Blackhawks. Jaxson Stauber and Jacob Markstrom are in the blue paint. Chicago was first to score in the first period with a Taylor Raddysh goal, his thirteenth of the season, made possible by Max Domi and Philipp Kurashev. Calgary tied it on a Jonathan Huberdeau goal, his tenth of the year, via Nazem Kadri and MacKenzie Weegar. The Blackhawks took the lead in the second period with a Boris Katchouk goal, his second of the season, assisted by Luke Philp and Ian Mitchell. Chicago added on with a Jason Dickinson goal, his sixth of the year, helped along by Patrick Kane and Andreas Athanasiou. The Blackhawks extended the lead as Sam Lafferty scored his eighth of the season, thanks to Colin Blackwell and MacKenzie Entwistle. Chicago iced it at 5-1 with a Connor Murphy empty net goal, his fifth of the year, going in unassisted. The three stars were Stauber (34 for 35 in saves), Katchouk, and Dickinson.
Finally, the Arizona Coyotes bring in the St. Louis Blues. Thomas Greiss and Karel Vejmelka man the nets. Arizona dented the scoreboard in the second period with a Nick Schmaltz goal, his ninth of the season, via Lawson Crouse and Troy Stecher. The Coyotes added on with a Schmaltz goal, his second of the game and tenth of the year, going in unassisted. Arizona extended the lead in the third period as Schmaltz completed his hat trick on his eleventh of the season, thanks to Barrett Hayton and Clayton Keller. The Coyotes padded the lead with a Travis Boyd goal, his sixth of the year, coming off of Christian Fischer and Nick Ritchie. Arizona continued with a Barrett Hayton power play goal, his seventh of the season, powered by Ritchie and Schmaltz. This made it 5-0, with the three stars awarded to Schmaltz, Vejmelka (33 save shutout), and Hayton, while Ritchie gets an honorable mention.
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