It's a seven-game slate on Thursday, beginning with...
The Boston Bruins hosting the Vancouver Canucks. Thatcher Demko and Linus Ullmark tend the twines. Boston opened in the first period with a shorthanded Brad Marchand goal, his twenty-fifth of the season, set up by Charlie Coyle. The Bruins added on with a Danton Heinen shorthanded goal, his tenth of the year, coming off of Coyle. Boston extended the lead in the second period as Morgan Geekie scored his ninth of the season, thanks to David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha. The Bruins padded the lead on a Zacha goal, his twelfth of the year, courtesy of James van Riemsdyk and Pastrnak. The final stood at 4-0, with the three stars handed to Ullmark (17 save shutout), Coyle, and Zacha, while Pastrnak gets an honorable mention.
Down in Raleigh, the Carolina Hurricanes welcome the Colorado Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev and Pyotr Kochetkov are the goalies. Carolina started in the first period with a Martin Necas goal, his fourteenth of the season, made possible by Brady Skjei and Jordan Staal. The Hurricanes added on with a Necas goal, his second of the game and fifteenth of the year, courtesy of Brent Burns and Teuvo Teravainen. Carolina extended the lead as Necas completed his hat trick on his sixteenth of the season, thanks to Teravainen and Jaccob Slavin. Colorado got on the board with a Zach Parise goal, passed from Logan O'Connor and Samuel Girard on the power play. The Avalanche got closer with a Girard goal, his third of the year, via Andrew Cogliano. Antti Raanta replaced Kochetkov in goal in the second period. The Hurricanes replied with a Michael Bunting power play goal, his eleventh of the season, powered by Teravainen and Burns. Carolina iced it at 5-2 with a Seth Jarvis empty net goal, his sixteenth of the year, set up by Teravainen and Sebastian Aho. The three stars belonged to Necas, Teravainen, and Burns, while Girard gets an honorable mention.
Further south, the Florida Panthers bring in the Washington Capitals. Darcy Kuemper and Sergei Bobrovsky are the veterans in goal. Washington began in the first period with an Alex Ovechkin goal, his eleventh of the season, assisted by Rasmus Sandin and Connor McMichael on the power play. Florida tied it in the second period with a Matthew Tkachuk goal, his seventeenth of the year, coming off of Gustav Forsling. The Capitals took the lead with an Anthony Mantha goal, his sixteenth of the season, courtesy of Michael Sgarbossa and Aliaksei Protas. The Panthers tied it on a Sam Reinhart power play goal, his thirty-eighth of the year, powered by Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. Florida pulled ahead in the third period with a Ryan Lomberg goal, his third of the season, guided in by Dmitry Kulikov. The Panthers iced it at 4-2 with an empty net goal by Eetu Luostarinen, his ninth of the year, set up by Tkachuk. The three stars were Tkachuk, Lomberg, and Reinhart.
Back north, the New Jersey Devils host the Calgary Flames. Jacob Markstrom and Vitek Vanecek are in the blue paint. New Jersey struck first in the first period with an Ondrej Palat goal, his seventh of the season, via Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier. Calgary tied it on a Mikael Backlund goal, his eleventh of the year, coming off of Andrew Mangiapane and Blake Coleman. The Flames took the lead in the second period with a Connor Zary goal, his twelfth of the season, made possible by courtesy of Nazem Kadri and Martin Pospisil. Calgary added on in the third period with a Kevin Rooney goal, assisted by Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev. The Devils got one back with a Hischier shorthanded goal, his fourteenth of the year, set up by Bratt. The Flames answered with an Andrei Kuzmenko goal, his tenth of the season, helped along by Hanifin and Zary. New Jersey got one back with a Palat goal, his second of the game and eighth of the year, passed from Colin Miller and Bratt. Calgary iced it at 5-3 with an empty net goal by Mangiapane, his tenth of the campaign, going in unassisted. The three stars were Zary, Hanifin, and Bratt, while Palat, Hischier, and Mangiapane get the honorable mentions.
Over in Philadelphia, the Flyers welcome the Winnipeg Jets. Laurent Brossoit and Samuel Ersson are between the pipes. Philadelphia led off in the first period with a Tyson Foerster goal, his tenth of the season, made possible by Ryan Poehling and Noah Cates. The Flyers added on with a Travis Konecny goal, his twenty-fourth of the year, fueled by Morgan Frost and Sean Walker. Philadelphia extended the lead as Frost scored his eighth of the season, thanks to Owen Tippett and Konecny. The Flyers padded the lead on a Poehling shorthanded goal, his sixth of the year, going in unassisted. Winnipeg got on the board in the third period with a Kyle Connor goal, his nineteenth of the season, assisted by Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey. The final stood from here at 4-1, with the three stars going to Konecny, Poehling, and Frost.
Along to New York, as the Islanders bring in the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jonas Johansson is mismatched with Ilya Sorokin in goal. New York kicked off the scoring in the first period with a Noah Dobson goal, his seventh of the season, made possible by Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Tampa Bay tied it on a Nikita Kucherov goal, his thirty-third of the year, fueled by Darren Raddysh. The Islanders retook the lead with a Mathew Barzal goal, his fifteenth of the season, coming off of Bo Horvat. New York added on with a Kyle Palmieri goal, his fourteenth of the year, passed from Mike Reilly and Brock Nelson. The Lightning got one back with a Brandon Hagel power play goal in the second period, his eighteenth of the season, powered by Anthony Cirelli and Victor Hedman. The Islanders shot back with a Ryan Pulock power play goal, his third of the year, with an assist provided by Pierre Engvall. New York extended the lead as Horvat scored his twenty-first of the season, thanks to Barzal and Adam Pelech. The Islanders padded the lead on a Casey Cizikas goal, his sixth of the year, going in unassisted. This stood for a 6-2 final score, with the three stars going to Barzal, Horvat, and Palmieri.
Finally, the Arizona Coyotes host the Vegas Golden Knights. Adin Hill and Connor Ingram guard the cages. Vegas was first to score in the first period with a Jonathan Marchessault goal, his twenty-sixth of the season, courtesy of Ivan Barbashev and Nicolas Roy. The Golden Knights added on with a Nicolas Hague goal, his second of the year, assisted by Brendan Brisson and William Karlsson. Arizona got on the board with a Jason Zucker goal, his eighth of the season, helped along by Juuso Valimaki and Matias Maccelli. Vegas replied with a Chandler Stephenson goal, his tenth of the year, coming off of Mark Stone and Paul Cotter. The Coyotes got one back in the third period with a Clayton Keller goal, his twenty-first of the season, via Nick Schmaltz. The final held at 3-2, with the three stars being Stephenson, Hague, and Marchessault.
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