There's 13 games on for a big Saturday. First up...
The St. Louis Blues host the Colorado Avalanche. Justus Annunen and Jordan Binnington man the nets. Colorado led off in the first period with a Mikko Rantanen goal, his thirty-fifth of the season, coming off of Nathan MacKinnon and J.T. Compher. The Avalanche added on in the second period with a Bowen Byram goal, his third of the year, via Rantanen and Samuel Girard. St. Louis got on the board with a Sammy Blais goal, his second of the season, assisted by Jordan Kyrou and Logan Brown. Colorado replied in the third period with a Valeri Nichushkin power play goal, his ninth of the year, powered by Artturi Lehkonen and MacKinnon. The Avalanche extended the lead as Byram scored his second of the game and fourth of the season on the power play, with the help of Girard and Compher. The final held at 4-1, with the three stars going to Byram, Rantanen, and MacKinnon, while Girard and Compher get the honorable mentions.
Along to Nashville, where the Predators welcome the Florida Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Kevin Lankinen are in goal. Nashville began in the first period with an unassisted Thomas Novak goal, his fifth of the season. Florida tied it on a Nick Cousins goal, his sixth of the year, going in unassisted. The Panthers took the lead with a Matthew Tkachuk goal, his twenty-eighth of the season, via Brandon Montour. The Predators tied it on a Matt Duchene goal, his seventeenth of the year, guided in by Ryan McDonagh and Mikael Granlund. Nashville took the lead with a Ryan Johansen power play goal, his twelfth of the season, powered by Roman Josi. The Predators added on in the second period with a Colton Sissons goal, his ninth of the year, coming off of Josi and McDonagh. Spencer Knight replaced Bobrovsky in goal. Nashville extended the lead as Josi scored his fourteenth of the season, thanks to McDonagh and Johansen. The Predators padded the lead in the third period on a Novak power play goal, his second of the game and sixth of the year, helped along by Philip Tomasino. Florida got one back with a Sam Reinhart power play goal, his twenty-first of the season, with assists provided by Aleksander Barkov and Montour. Nashville iced it at 7-3 with a Yakov Trenin empty net goal, his seventh of the year, going in unassisted. The three stars were Novak, Josi, and McDonagh, while Johansen and Montour get the honorable mentions.
Up in Boston, the Bruins bring in the New York Islanders. Semyon Varlamov and Linus Ullmark are the masked men. Boston opened in the first period with a Jake DeBrusk power play goal, his seventeenth of the season, powered by Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. The Bruins added on with a Nick Foligno goal, his ninth of the year, courtesy of Derek Forbort and A.J. Greer. Boston extended the lead as Trent Frederic scored his twelfth of the season, thanks to Charlie McAvoy and Foligno. New York got on the board in the second period with a Kyle Palmieri goal, his ninth of the year, via Anders Lee and Noah Dobson. The Bruins answered with a Patrice Bergeron goal, his twentieth of the season, coming off of DeBrusk and McAvoy. Boston padded the lead on another Frederic goal, his second of the game and thirteenth of the year, going in unassisted. The Bruins continued with a Pavel Zacha goal, his thirteenth of the season, made possible by Charlie Coyle. The Islanders got one back in the third period with a Matt Martin goal, his seventh of the year, with helpers from Ryan Pulock and Andy Andreoff. The final held at 6-2, with the three stars going to Frederic, DeBrusk, and Foligno, while McAvoy gets an honorable mention.
Next up, the Pittsburgh Penguins host the New Jersey Devils. Vitek Vanecek faces a lesser foe in Dustin Tokarski in goal. Pittsburgh started in the first period with an Evgeni Malkin power play goal, his twentieth of the season, powered by Rickard Rakell and Kris Letang. New Jersey tied it on a Dawson Mercer goal, his thirteenth of the year, via Nico Hischier and Tomas Tatar. The Devils took the lead in the second period with a Dougie Hamilton power play goal, his sixteenth of the season, with assists provided by Hischier and Jack Hughes. New Jersey added on with a shorthanded Hischier goal, his twenty-second of the year, set up by Yegor Sharangovich. The Devils extended the lead in the third period as Jesper Bratt scored his twenty-second of the season, thanks to Hughes and Sharangovich. The Penguins got one back with a Malkin goal, his second of the game and twenty-first of the year, helped along by Jeff Petry. New Jersey iced it at 5-2 with a Hischier empty net goal, his second of the game and twenty-third of the campaign, fueled by Mercer. The three stars were Hischier, Malkin, and Mercer, while Hughes and Sharangovich get the honorable mentions.
Southwest to Dallas, where the Stars welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets. Joonas Korpisalo and Scott Wedgewood are in the blue paint. Columbus struck first in the first period with a Liam Foudy goal, assisted by Jack Roslovic and Emil Bemstrom. Dallas tied it in the second period on a Ty Dellandrea goal, his eighth of the season, going in unassisted. The Blue Jackets gained the lead on an Adam Boqvist goal, his second of the year, coming off of Sean Kuraly and Mathieu Olivier. Columbus added on with an Olivier goal, his fourth of the season, helped along by Eric Robinson and Kuraly. The Blue Jackets finished it at 4-1 with a Robinson empty net goal, his fifth of the year, set up by Olivier. The three stars were Olivier, Robinson and Kuraly.
Up in Toronto, the Maple Leafs bring in the Montreal Canadiens. Jake Allen and Joseph Woll receive the starts in goal. Montreal got going in the second period with a Josh Anderson goal, his sixteenth of the season, assisted by Mike Matheson and Jordan Harris. Toronto tied it on a Michael Bunting power play goal, his seventeenth of the year, powered by Auston Matthews and Rasmus Sandin. The Maple Leafs took the lead on a Pierre Engvall goal, his twelfth of the season, going in unassisted. Toronto added on with another Bunting goal, his second of the game and eighteenth of the year, guided in by Calle Jarnkrok and Ryan O'Reilly. The Maple Leafs extended the lead in the third period as William Nylander scored his thirty-first of the season, thanks to Matthews and Mark Giordano. Toronto padded the lead on a David Kampf goal, his fifth of the year, via Engvall and Sandin. The final held at 5-1, with the three stars going to Bunting, Engvall, and Matthews, while Sandin gets an honorable mention.
Outdoors, the Carolina Hurricanes host the Washington Capitals. Darcy Kuemper and Frederik Andersen tend the twines. Washington kicked off the scoring in the first period with a Jesperi Kotkaniemi goal, his tenth of the season, assisted by Teuvo Teravainen and Martin Necas. The Hurricanes added on in the second period with a Paul Stastny goal, his seventh of the year, coming off of Jalen Chatfield and Jordan Martinook. Carolina extended the lead on a Necas power play goal, his twenty-second of the season, powered by Brent Burns and Kotkaniemi. The Hurricanes padded the lead on a Teravainen goal, his seventh of the year, guided in by Necas and the goalie Andersen. Washington got on the board in the third period with a Tom Wilson goal, his third of the season, passed from Sonny Milano. The final held at 4-1, with the three stars being given to Necas, Kotkaniemi, and Teravainen.
Westward to Calgary, where the Flames welcome the New York Rangers. Jaroslav Halak and Jacob Markstrom are the veteran goalies. Calgary was first to score in the first period with an Andrew Mangiapane goal, his twelfth of the season, via Mikael Backlund. The Flames added on with a Nazem Kadri goal, his twenty-first of the year, coming off of Jonathan Huberdeau and Jakob Pelletier. New York got on the board in the second period with a Vladimir Tarasenko goal, his twelfth of the season, assisted by Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin. The Rangers tied it in the third period with an Alexis Lafreniere power play goal, his tenth of the year, powered by Trocheck and Filip Chytil. Calgary won 3-2 in overtime with a Backlund power play goal, his eleventh of the campaign, with assists provided by Jonathan Huberdeau and Rasmus Andersson. The three stars were Backlund, Huberdeau, and Trocheck.
Over in Vancouver, the Canucks bring in the Philadelphia Flyers. Carter Hart and Arturs Silovs will be in goal. Vancouver drew first blood in the first period with an Anthony Beauvillier goal, his twelfth of the season, assisted by Luke Schenn and Elias Pettersson. Philadelphia tied it on a Scott Laughton goal, his thirteenth of the season, via Justin Braun and Patrick Brown. The Canucks took the lead in the second period with an Andrei Kuzmenko goal, his twenty-fourth of the year, helped along by Schenn and Pettersson. Vancouver added on with a Beauvillier power play goal, his second of the game and thirteenth of the season, powered by Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. The Flyers got one back with a Morgan Frost power play goal, his eleventh of the year, with assists provided by Travis Konecny and Rasmus Ristolainen. The Canucks answered with a Phillip Di Giuseppe goal, his second of the season, coming off of Brock Boeser. Vancouver extended the lead with a Pettersson shorthanded empty net goal, his twenty-sixth of the year, with a helper from Schenn. The Canucks iced it at 6-2 with another Pettersson shorthanded empty-netter, his second of the game and twenty-seventh of the campaign, set up by J.T. Miller and Ethan Bear. The three stars were Pettersson, Beauvillier and Schenn.
Stateside to Nevada, where the Vegas Golden Knights host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Adin Hill are between the pipes. Tampa Bay began in the first period with a Vladislav Namestnikov goal, his sixth of the season, fueled by Corey Perry and Mikhail Sergachev. Vegas tied it on a Brett Howden goal, his third of the year, passed from Keegan Kolesar and Alex Pietrangelo. The Lightning retook the lead on a Steven Stamkos power play goal, his twenty-fifth of the season, powered by Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov. The Golden Knights tied it on a Jonathan Marchessault goal, his sixteenth of the year, coming off of Paul Cotter and Shea Theodore. Vegas pulled ahead with a Theodore goal, his sixth of the season, helped along by Reilly Smith and William Karlsson. The Golden Knights added on with a Marchessault goal, his second of the game and seventeenth of the year, with helpers from Theodore and Smith. Tampa Bay got one back on a Perry goal in the second period, his eleventh of the season, made possible by Hedman. Vegas replied in the third period with a Nicolas Roy empty net goal, his eleventh of the year, going in unassisted. The Lightning got one back with a Pierre-Edouard Bellemare goal, his fourth of the campaign, guided in by Sergachev and Namestnikov. This only made it 5-4, with the three stars being Marchessault, Theodore, and Smith, while Perry, Namestnikov, Hedman, and Sergachev get the honorable mentions.
In California, the Los Angeles Kings welcome the Arizona Coyotes. Karel Vejmelka and Jonathan Quick are given the green light to start in goal. Los Angeles opened in the first period with a Kevin Fiala power play goal, his twentieth of the season, going in unassisted. Arizona tied it on a Josh Brown goal, his fourth of the year, coming off of Victor Soderstrom and Travis Boyd. The Kings retook the lead with an Anze Kopitar goal, his eighteenth of the season, assisted by Quinton Byfield and Matt Roy. Los Angeles added on with a Blake Lizotte goal, his ninth of the year, via Alex Iafallo and Fiala. The Kings extended the lead as Roy scored his eighth of the season, thanks to Kopitar and Sean Durzi. Los Angeles padded the lead on a Fiala goal, his second of the game and twenty-first of the year, helped along by Lizotte. Connor Ingram replaced Vejmelka in goal. The Coyotes got one back in the second period with a Clayton Keller power play goal, his twenty-second of the season, powered by Matias Maccelli and and Juuso Valimaki. Arizona got closer in the third period with another Keller goal, his second of the game and twenty-third of the year, made possible by Barrett Hayton. The Coyotes got closer with a Boyd goal, his seventh of the season, with helpers from Maccelli and J.J. Moser. Arizona tied it as Christian Fischer scored his tenth of the year, with the help of Brown and Liam O'Brien. The tie went to a shootout, where Gabriel Vilardi and Adrian Kempe scored to lift the Kings to a 6-5 win. The three stars were Fiala, Keller, and Kopitar, while Lizotte, Roy, Brown, Boyd, and Maccelli get the honorable mentions.
Up in San Jose, the Sharks bring in the Buffalo Sabres. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Kaapo Kahkonen are the Finnish goalies. Buffalo led off in the first period with a Dylan Cozens goal, his twentieth of the season, going in unassisted. San Jose tied it on an Evgeny Svechnikov goal, his sixth of the year, courtesy of Jacob MacDonald and Steven Lorentz. The Sabres pulled ahead on an Owen Power goal, his fourth of the season, coming off of Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner. The Sharks retied it on an Alexander Barabanov goal, his eleventh of the year, via Logan Couture and Erik Karlsson. Buffalo took the lead in the third period on a Skinner goal, his twenty-first of the season, passed from Tage Thompson. The Sabres iced it at 4-2 with a Tuch empty net goal, his twenty-sixth of the year, set up by Rasmus Dahlin. The three stars went to Skinner, Tuch, and Power.
Finally, the Seattle Kraken host the Detroit Red Wings. Ville Husso and Philipp Grubauer protect the nets. Seattle started in the first period with a Jordan Eberle goal, his twelfth of the season, courtesy of Carson Soucy. Detroit tied it on a Pius Suter goal, his ninth of the year, via Jake Walman and Filip Zadina. The Kraken took the lead back in the second period with an Eberle goal, his second of the game and thirteenth of the season, assisted by Matty Beniers and Jared McCann. Seattle added on with a Jamie Oleksiak goal, his sixth of the year, fueled by Beniers and Jamie Oleksiak. The Kraken extended the lead in the third period as Eeli Tolvanen scored his twelfth of the season, thanks to Daniel Sprong and Will Borgen. The Red Wings got one back with a Dylan Larkin goal, his twenty-second of the year, going in unassisted. The three stars of the 4-2 game were Eberle, Beniers, and Grubauer (22 for 24 in saves).
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