December 8th NHL Recap

Minnesota Wild 3, San Jose Sharks 1 (from Minnesota) - The Wild improved to 18-9-5 on the season thanks to a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks, dropping them to 19-6-5
Goals:
MIN - Zach Parise (13) - from Jason Pominville and Marco Scandella (3:55 2ND)
MIN - Mikko Koivu (7) - from Jared Spurgeon and Dany Heatley (8:11 2ND) *GWG*
SJS - Patrick Marleau (13) - from Matt Irwin and Logan Couture (18:19 3RD)
MIN - Zach Parise EN (14) - from Kyle Brodziak (19:54 3RD)
Goalies:
WG - Josh Harding (37 saves on 38 shots: 16-4-3) LG - Antti Niemi (10 saves on 12 shots: 16-5-5)
Three Stars:
3. Mikko Koivu (1 goal, including the GWG) - Minnesota
2. Zach Parise (2 goals) - Minnesota
1. Josh Harding (37 saves on 38 shots for the win) - Minnesota

Boston Bruins 5, Toronto Maple Leafs 2 (from Toronto) - The Bruins improved to 20-8-2 on the season thanks to a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, dropping them to 16-12-3.
Goals:
TOR - Peter Holland (3) - from David Clarkson and Jake Gardiner (12:20 1ST)
BOS - Carl Soderberg PPG (4) - from Reilly Smith and Patrice Bergeron (5:14 2ND)
BOS - Torey Krug PPG (8) - from David Krejci and Milan Lucic (6:47 2ND)
BOS - Kevan Miller (1) - from Carl Soderberg (15:58 2ND) *GWG*
TOR - Jay McClement (1) - from Peter Holland and Nikolai Kulemin (0:37 3RD)
BOS - Jarome Iginla (6) - from Milan Lucic (16:00 3RD)
BOS - Patrice Bergeron EN (9) - from Gregory Campbell and David Krejci (19:49 3RD)
Goalies:
WG - Chad Johnson (30 saves on 32 shots: 5-1-0) LG - Jonathan Bernier (35 saves on 39 shots: 9-8-2)
Three Stars:
3. Milan Lucic (2 assists) - Boston
2. Patrice Bergeron (1 goal, 1 assist) - Boston
1. Carl Soderberg (1 goal, 1 assist) - Boston

Washington Capitals 4, New York Rangers 1 (from New York) - The Capitals improved to 16-12-2 on the season thanks to a 4-1 win over the New York Rangers, dropping them to 15-15-1 (.500).
Goals:
WSH - Jason Chimera (6) - from Martin Erat and Steve Oleksy (2:28 2ND)
WSH - Steve Oleksy (1) - from Jay Beagle (2:53 2ND) *GWG*
WSH - Mikhail Grabovski (8) - Penalty Shot (18:26 2ND)
WSH - Nate Schmidt (2) - unassisted (17:03 3RD)
NYR - Benoit Pouliot (3) - from Michael Del Zotto (18:07 3RD)
Goalies:
WG - Philipp Grubauer (30 saves on 31 shots: 1-0-0) LG - Henrik Lundqvist (32 saves on 36 shots: 9-12-1)
Three Stars:
3. Jason Chimera (1 goal) - Washington
2. Steve Oleksy (1 goal, 1 assist, GWG) - Washington
1. Philipp Grubauer (30 saves on 31 shots for the win) - Washington

Chicago Blackhawks 6, Florida Panthers 2 (from Chicago) - The Hawks improved to 21-6-5 on the season thanks to a 6-2 win over the Florida Panthers, dropping them to 9-17-5.
Goals:
CHI - Patrick Sharp PPG (12) - from Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane (1:10 1ST)
CHI - Brent Seabrook PPG (2) - from Brandon Saad and Marian Hossa (9:11 1ST)
CHI - Marian Hossa (13) - from Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews (0:37 2ND) *GWG*
FLA - Dylan Olsen (2) - from Tomas Kopecky and Erik Gudbranson (4:05 2ND)
FLA - Marcel Goc (7) - unassisted (9:37 2ND)
CHI - Michal Handzus (2) - from Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane (17:26 2ND)
CHI - Andrew Shaw PPG (9) - from Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane (2:44 3RD)
CHI - Brandon Saad (9) - from Jeremy Morin and Kris Versteeg (19:04 3RD)
Goalies:
WG - Antti Raanta (29 saves on 31 shots: 3-0-1). In relief of the injured Corey Crawford (4 saves on 4 shots) LG - Scott Clemmensen (26 saves on 32 shots: 0-2-1)
Three Stars:
3. Marian Hossa (1 goal, 1 assist, GWG) - Chicago
2. Patrick Kane (3 assists) - Chicago
1. Patrick Sharp (1 goal, 2 assists) - Chicago

Vancouver Canucks 3 Colorado Avalanche 1 (from Vancouver) - The Canucks improved to 17-10-5 on the season thanks to a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche, dropping them to 20-8-0.
Goals:
VAN - Mike Santorelli (7) - from Chris Higgins (5:43 1ST)
VAN - Ryan Kesler (15) - from Mike Santorelli and Chris Higgins (1:32 3RD) *GWG*
VAN - Mike Santorelli (8) - from Jason Garrison (7:17 3RD)
COL - Jamie McGinn (5) - from Cody McLeod and Nick Holden (19:52 3RD)
Goalies:
WG - Roberto Luongo (28 saves on 29 shots: 14-8-5) LG - J.S. Giguere (18 saves on 21 shots: 7-1-0)
Three Stars:
3. Chris Higgins (2 assists) - Vancouver
2. Roberto Luongo (28 saves on 29 shots for the win) - Vancouver
1. Mike Santorelli (2 goals, 1 assist) - Vancouver

Three Stars of the Night:
3. Mike Santorelli - Santorelli scored 2 goals and added an assist in the Canucks 3-1 win over the Avs.
2. Josh Harding - Harding made 37 saves on 38 shots in the Wild's 3-1 win over the Sharks. An impressive feat considering the Wild were outshot 38-12 in the game.
1. Patrick Sharp - Sharp scored 1 goal and added 2 assists in the Hawks 6-2 rout of the Panthers.

Interesting Stats of the Night:
-Despite being outshot 38-12 the Wild beat the Sharks 3-1, Josh Harding making 37 saves.
-After no goals in his 1st 24 NHL games, Caps D Nate Schmidt has goals in back to back games.
-Caps G Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves on 31 shots for his 1st career win in his 1st career start.
-3 shutout bids were broken late in the 3rd tonight: Grubauer's was broken with 1:53 left in the 3rd, Harding's was broken with 1:41 left in the 3rd while Luongo's was broken with 7 seconds left in the 3rd.
-The Sharks have lost 3 games in regulation for the 1st time this season.

Current Winning/Losing Streaks (3 or more games):
Montreal Canadiens (5-game winning streak)
Vancouver Canucks (4-game winning streak)
Carolina Hurricanes (3-game winning streak)
Los Angeles Kings (3-game winning streak)

New York Islanders (9-game losing streak)
Nashville Predators (3-game losing streak)
San Jose Sharks (3-game losing streak) 

Forman Faceoff Highlight of the Night:
-Mikhail Grabovski gets it tonight for his penalty shot goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwvysV6lB5s
Honourable Mentions:
-Josh Harding glove save: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBuszj5ImUs
-Henrik Lundqvist 2-saves in a row: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Rn2Hyyizc

What's up next (December 9th) - There are 4 NHL games on tap for Monday:
1. Philadelphia Flyers vs. Ottawa Senators @730PM ET (In Ottawa) {***Forman's Game of the Night***}
2. Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Pittsburgh Penguins @730PM ET (In Pittsburgh)
3. Carolina Hurricanes vs. Vancouver Canucks @10PM ET (In Vancouver)
4. New York Islanders vs Anaheim Ducks @10PM ET (In Anaheim)

-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff