December 15th NHL Recap

Washington Capitals 5, Philadelphia Flyers 4 (SO) - (from Washington) - The Capitals improved to 18-12-3 on the season thanks to a 5-4 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers, dropping them to 14-15-4.
Goals:
WSH - Marcus Johansson PPG (4) - from Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom (11:17 1ST)
PHI - Claude Giroux (7) - from Michael Raffl and Braydon Coburn (19:06 1ST)
PHI - Mark Streit (2) - from Michael Raffl (7:37 2ND)
PHI - Sean Couturier (6) - from Matt Read and Steve Downie (2:18 3RD)
PHI - Jakub Voracek (6) - from Michael Raffl and Kimmo Timonen (3:32 3RD)
WSH - Mike Green (2) - from Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson (11:20 3RD)
WSH - Dmitri Orlov (1) - from Eric Fehr and Joel Ward (16:29 3RD)
WSH - Alexander Ovechkin (27) - from Joel Ward (19:12 3RD)
Shootout winner - Nicklas Bacstrkom (WSH)
Goalies:
WG - Philipp Grubauer (24 saves on 28 shots: 3-0-1) LG - Steve Mason (29 saves on 33 shots: 11-9-4)
Three Stars:
3. Marcus Johansson (1 goal, 1 assist) - Washington
2. Michael Raffl (3 assists) - Philadelphia
1. Nicklas Backstrom (2 assists, shootout winner) - Washington

Tampa Bay Lighting 3, Detroit Red Wings 0 (from Detroit) - The Lighting improved to 19-11-3 on the season thanks to a 3-0 shutout of the Detroit Red Wings, dropping them to 15-11-9.
Goals:
TBL - Tyler Johnson (8) - from Martin St. Louis and Ondrej Palat (3:13 3RD) *GWG*
TBL - J.T. Brown (2) - from Nate Thompson (9:16 3RD)
TBL - Alex Killorn EN (7) - from Valtteri Filppula and Eric Brewer (18:45 3RD)
Goalies:
WG - Ben Bishop (28 saves on 28 shots: 17-5-2) LG - Petr Mrazek (24 saves on 26 shots: 1-1-0)
Three Stars:
3. Petr Mrazek (24 saves on 26 shots) - Detroit
2. Tyler Johnson (1 goal, including the GWG) - Tampa Bay
1. Ben Bishop (28 saves on 28 shots for the shutout) - Tampa Bay

Florida Panthers 2, Montreal Canadiens 1 (from Montreal) - The Panthers improved to 12-17-5 on the season thanks to a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, dropping them to 20-12-3.

Goals:
FLA - Jesse Winchester (5) - from Tomas Kopecky and Marcel Goc (4:44 2ND)
FLA - Nick Bjugstad (6) - from Tomas Fleischmann and Scottie Upshall (7:11 2ND) *GWG*
MTL - Alex Galchenyuk PPG (10) - from Brian Gionta and P.K. Subban (2:28 3RD)
Goalies:
WG - Scott Clemmensen (17 saves on 18 shots: 2-2-1) LG - Peter Budaj (23 saves on 25 shots: 5-2-1)
Three Stars:
3. Jesse Winchester (1 goal) - Florida
2. Alex Galchenyuk (1 goal) - Montreal
1. Nick Bjugstad (1 goal, including the GWG) - Florida

New York Rangers 4, Calgary Flames 3 (SO) - (from New York) - The Rangers improved to 16-17-1 on the season thanks to a 4-3 shootout win over the Calgary Flames, dropping them to 13-15-5.

Goals:
CGY - Mikael Backlund PPG (4) - from Kris Russell and Mark Giordano (7:28 1ST)
CGY - Curtis Glencross (6) - from Jiri Hudler (15:00 1ST)
NYR - Derek Stepan (6) - from Rick Nash and Dan Girardi (15:25 1ST)
NYR - Carl Hagelin (6) - from Benoit Pouliot and Dominic Moore (7:29 2ND)
CGY - Sean Monahan (10) - from Curtis Glencross and Jiri Hudler (4:44 3RD)
NYR - Chris Kreider (8) - from Derek Stepan and Brian Boyle (12:07 3RD)
Shootout winner - Benoit Pouliot (NYR)
Goalies:
WG - Henrik Lundqvist (18 saves on 21 shots: 10-14-1) LG - Karri Ramo (29 saves on 32 shots: 6-5-2)
Three Stars:
3. Carl Hagelin (1 goal) - New York
2. Curtis Glencross (1 goal, 1 assist) - Calgary
1. Derek Stepan (1 goal, 1 assist) - New York

Chicago Blackhawks 3, Los Angeles Kings 1 (from Chicago) - The Hawks improved to 24-7-5 on the season thanks to a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, dropping them to 22-8-4.

Goals:
CHI - Marian Hossa SHG (14) - from Jonathan Toews and Niklas Hjalmarsson (5:45 1ST)
CHI - Kris Versteeg (6) - from Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook (9:59 1ST) *GWG*
CHI - Patrick Sharp PPG (16) - from Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith (19:31 1ST)
LAK - Alec Martinez (2) - from Matt Greene and Jordan Nolan (16:06 3RD)
Goalies:
WG - Antti Raanta (21 saves on 22 shots: 6-1-1) LG - Ben Scrivens (37 saves on 40 shots: 7-3-4)
Three Stars:
3. Marian Hossa (1 goal) - Chicago
2. Antti Raanta (21 saves on 22 shots for the win) - Chicago
1. Jonathan Toews (2 assists) - Chicago

Anaheim Ducks 3, Edmonton Oilers 2 (From Anaheim) - The Ducks improved to 23-7-5 on the season thanks to a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers, dropping them to 11-21-3.

Goals:
EDM - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (8) - from Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle (6:18 1ST)
ANA - Nick Bonino (9) - from Pat Maroon and Kyle Palmieri (11:22 1ST)
ANA - Teemu Selanne (4) - from Mathieu Perreault and Matt Beleskey (15:24 2ND)
EDM - Sam Gagner (4) - from Nail Yakupov and Andrew Ference (10:26 3RD)
ANA - Dustin Penner (10) - from Ryan Getzlaf and Hampus Lindholm (16:43 3RD) *GWG*
Goalies:
WG - Jonas Hiller (23 saves on 25 shots: 13-4-4) LG - Ilya Bryzgalov (31 saves on 34 shots: 1-2-0)
Three Stars:
3. Teemu Selanne (1 goal) - Anaheim
2. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (1 goal) - Edmonton
1. Dustin Penner (1 goal, including the GWG) - Anaheim

Three Stars of the Night:

3. Michael Raffl - Raffl had 3 assists in the Flyers 5-4 loss to the Caps.

2. Nicklas Backstrom - Backstrom had 2 assists and picked up the shootout winner in the Caps 5-4 shootout win over the Flyers

1. Ben Bishop - Bishop made 28 saves for his 3rd shutout of the season

Interesting Stats of the Night:

-The Caps scored 3 goals in the final 9 minutes of the 3rd to erase a 4-1 deficit and win 5-4 in a shootout against the Flyers. 

-Alexander Ovechkin improved his NHL-leading goal total to 27 tonight. He is 5 ahead of 2nd place Alexander Steen who has 22 goals.

-The Hawks ended the Kings 6-game winning streak with a 3-1 win.

Current Winning/Losing Streaks (3 or more games):
Vancouver Canucks (7-game winning streak)
Anaheim Ducks (5-game winning streak)
Florida Panthers (3-game winning steak)

Pittsburgh Penguins (3-game winning streak)

St. Louis Blues (3-game winning streak)

Nashville Predators (3-game winning streak)

Detroit Red Wings (5-game losing streak)

Edmonton Oilers (3-game losing streak)

Forman Faceoff Highlight of the Night:

-Benoit Pouliot gets it tonight with his shootout goal of the Peter Forsberg variety: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-DTusZoSd0

What's up next (December 16th) - There are 4 NHL games on tap for Monday:

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Pittsburgh Penguins @7PM ET (In Pittsburgh) {***Forman's Game of the Night***}

2. Winnipeg Jets vs. Columbus Blue Jackets @7PM ET (In Columbus)

3. St. Louis Blues vs. Ottawa Senators @730PM ET (In Ottawa)

4. Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche @9PM ET (In Colorado)

-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff