From Abdelkader to Zuccarello – 7 April 2011

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New York Islanders 2 Boston Bruins 3

It was a late period goal (and by late I mean it was scored with one second left in the first) by Shawn Thornton that gave the Bruins the first lead of the game.

It was penalty problems for the Bruins early in the first as Rich Peverley was called for tripping. Islanders Michael Grabner took advantage of the power play and scored his 32nd goal of the season to tie the game.

Dennis Seidenberg regained the lead for Boston when he put a slap shot past Rick DiPietro. It took just over a minute after the Seidenberg goal for Gregory Campbell to make it 3-1 over the Islanders before Michael Grabner would score short handed for the Islanders when teammate Kyle Okposo was called for hi-sticking.

Tim Thomas and Rick DiPietro each had 30 saves for the night.

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Toronto Maple Leafs 2 New Jersey Devils 4

The first (and only) penalty called in the first period was to the Maple Leafs and it lead to a Devils lead. Ilya Kovalchuk put a wrist shot past James Reimer for his 30th goal of the season (making his 700th point in his 700th NHL game).

The second period saw both Mattias Tedenby and Henrik Tallinder put the puck past Reimer for a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes of play.

Coming back from the second intermission Toronto had put Jean-Sebastien Giguere in net for Reimer and spured the team to come within one goal of New Jersey with goals by Phil Kessel and Tyler Bozak.

Late in the period the Maple Leafs pulled Giguere for the extra skater only to have the Devils Patrik Elias score his 20th of the season on the empty net.
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Florida Panthers 2 Washington Capitals 5

It took 1:20 before the Capitals took the lead as veteran Mike Knubble tipped in a power play goal from a shot from Brooks Laich. It was late in the first when Panthers David Booth was called for hooking which lead to a second power play goal from the Capitals; this time from Jason Chimera.

The second period saw Washington go up 3-0 over Florida with the first goal of the season for Sean Collins.

Just over six minutes into the third Matt Hendricks made it 4-0 for the Capitals. It would be an automatic penalty to Capitals Boyd Gordon for delay of game (puck over th glass) that would lead to a power play goal from David Booth to finally get the Panthers on the scoreboard.

It took just shy of 5 minutes but the Panthers scored again – this time Mike Santorelli tipped-in a shot from Sergei Samsonov to cut the Capitals lead in half.

With an empty net for the extra attackers the Panthers gave up the fifth goal to the Capitals – an empty net goal for Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin.

Three Stars:
Semyon Varlamov – Capitals
Alex Ovechkin – Capitals
Brooks Laich – Capitals

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Detroit Red Wings 0 Carolina Hurricanes 3

After losing Hendrik Zetterberg after a collision with Bryan Allen in the first the Red Wings seemed to have called in the rest of the game.

Putting in a half hearted effort against the Hurricanes the Red Wings have already clinched their division title for the Central Division and thus a playoff spot while the Hurricanes are fighting to stay alive being two points down on eighth place New York Rangers.

The first goal for Carolina came from Derek Joslin (his second of the season) on the power play early in the second while Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader was in the box for holding. Late in the second rookie sensation Jeff Skinner put in a wrap-around goal to make it 2-0 heading into the second intermission.

The Hurricanes were not done with the Red Wings as they came out in the third and Erik Cole scored the third early shortly after a 4-minute power play had ended for Detroit.

Cam Ward stopped all 42 shots the Red Wings threw at him earning him the first star of the night (followed by Eric Staal and Derek Joslin).

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St. Louis Blues 3 Chicago Blackhawks 4 (OT)

The Blues may not be heading to the post season but they have not stopped playing. They steamrolled over the Red Wings a week ago 10-3 and literally fought their way though a game with the Avalanche. Now they took the defending Stanley Cup champs into overtime to earn their much needed two points as Chicago sits 8th in the Western Conference.

It took a mere 17 seconds into the game before David Backes gave the Blues the lead over the Blackhawks.

The second period would start off just as poorly for Chicago as a carry over penalty from the first period to Michael Frolik for hooking would lead to a power play goal by Blues TJ Oshie.

It was a highly controversial goal by Chicago’s Marian Hossa that changed the tone of the game:

Hossa’s fellow countryman Tomas Kopecky would tie the game with a slap shot before Nick Leddy would get the go ahead goal for the Blackhawks after 40 minutes of play.

The third period would see Chris Stewart tie the game and force overtime in which Chicago captain Jonathan Toews would come up big for the Blackhawks with the goal just over 3 minutes into the extra time.

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Edmonton Oilers 1 Calgary Flames 6
Fighting to stay alive for the playoffs the Flames went after their much needed two points and destroyed the Oilers 6-1; however, they were still eliminated.

The Flames put 47 shots on Oilers goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin while Miikka Kiprusoff only had to turn aside 22 of th4e 23 shots he faced from the Oilers.

The first goal of the4 game came early in the second as Oilers were given a bench penalty for too many men on the ice. Rene Bourque took advantage of the power play and put in a wrap-around goal on Khabibulin.

By the end of the second Jarome Iginla would score twice to give Calgary the 3-0 lead after forty minutes of play.

Third period started with a goal from Alex Tanguay to make it 4-0 before one minute had ticked off of the clock. The only goal for the Oilers came shortly after from rookie Magnus Paajarvi.

Curtis Glencross would score at the 6:24 point then see the Oilers Steve MacIntyre take a penalty for roughing at 6:42 and see Jarome Iginla complete his hat trick at 6:47 on the power play.

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San Jose Sharks 2 Anaheim Ducks 6

Did you pick Corey Perry to hit the 50-goal mark this season? I sure didn’t; but he did it anyway with a hat trick as the Ducks defeated the Sharks last night.

It was Perry who opened up the scoring in the game just seconds after a fight between Sharks Douglas Murray and Ducks Brad Winchester.

Anaheim’s rookie defenseman Cam Fowler would score his 10th of the season on the power play late in the first after San Jose’s Devin Setoguchi was called for roughing.

The second period would see Perry tip-in a shot from Bobby Ryan to put the Ducks up 3-0 before Sharks Dan Boyle would finally put San Jose on the score sheet. Perry would answer back with his 50th of the season (and completing his hat trick) when he tipped in a Teemu Selanne goal on the power play.

Less than two minutes later Selanne would net his 29th of the season and before the second was over Jason Blake would tip-in a shot from Saku Koivu to make it 6-1 after forty minutes of play.

Just over three minutes into the third Sharks Brandon Mashinter and Ducks George Parros would get five for fighting. The Sharks Ben Eager would score the only goal of the third.

Check out Corey Perry’s Hat Trick:

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Phoenix Coyotes 2 Los Angeles Kings 3 (SO)

The Kings may have lost Anze Kopitar but they are heading to the playoffs after the beat the Coyotes in the shoot out for the full two points last night.

Los Angeles took the first lead of the game with a backhanded goal from Jarret Stoll in the first. Phoenix came back and saw Lee Stempniak score a slap shot less than two minutes later to tie it at one; the Taylor Pyatt would take the lead for the Coyotes late in the period.

The second period say Kyle Clifford tip-in a shot from Wayne Simmonds to tie the game which would eventually force the game into overtime and the shootout.

Shootout results:
Michal Handzus – Goal
Eric Belanger – Miss

Jarret Stoll – Goal
Radim Vrbata – Goal

Dustin Brown – Save
Lauri Korpikoski – Save

Up into the Netting

The University of Michigan ice hockey team is preparing for the Frozen Four against North Dakota:

Taking a look at the Canucks and individual awards (disclaimer: These are not the official winners from the team. These are the personal opinions of Larenzo Jensen).

Coyotes sign 6 foot 2 goaltender Mark Visentin.

Tempers flair in hockey… but this takes it to the extreme:

The Playoffs if they started today:

West:
Vancouver Canucks / Chicago Blackhawks
San Jose Sharks / Anaheim Ducks
Detroit Red Wings / Phoenix Coyotes
Los Angeles Kings / Nashville Predators

East:
Washington Capitals / New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers / Buffalo Sabres
Boston Bruins / Montreal Canadiens
Pittsburgh Penguins / Tampa Bay Lightning