March 8th NHL Recap

Ottawa Senators 5, Winnipeg Jets 3 (from Winnipeg) - The Senators improved to 28-25-11 on the season thanks to a 5-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets, dropping them to 30-28-7.

Goals:

OTT - Milan Michalek PPG (11) - from Ales Hemsky and Jason Spezza (9:54 1ST)

WPG - Bryan Little PPG (20) - from Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd (16:59 1ST) 

OTT - Jared Cowen (4) - from Ales Hemsky and Milan Michalek (17:37 1ST)

OTT - Eric Gryba (2) - from Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky (2:01 2ND)

WPG - Tobias Enstrom PPG (7) - from Evander Kane (4:15 2ND)

OTT - Kyle Turris (21) - from Mike Hoffman and Bobby Ryan (8:56 2ND) *GWG*

OTT - Mike Hoffman PPG (1) - from Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky (9:35 2ND)

WPG - Dustin Byfuglien (14) - unassisted (2:13 3RD)

Goalies:

WG - Craig Anderson (46 saves on 49 shots: 21-14-8) LG - Ondrej Pavelec (15 saves on 20 shots: 20-24-5), Al Montoya (12 saves on 12 shots in relief of Pavelec)

Three Stars:

3. Dustin Byfuglien (1 goal, 1 assist) - Winnipeg

2. Jason Spezza (3 assists) - Ottawa

1. Ales Hemsy (4 assists) - Ottawa

St. Louis Blues 2, Colorado Avalanche 1 (from Colorado) - The blues improved to 43-14-6 on the season thanks to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche, dropping them to 41-18-5.

Goals:

STL - David Backes (21) - from T.J. Oshie and Kevin Shattenkirk (7:03 2ND)

STL - Patrik Berglund (12) - from Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz (3:53 3RD) *GWG*

COL - P.A. Parenteau (14) - from Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly (8:57 3RD)

Goalies:

WG - Ryan Miller (26 saves on 27 shots: 19-22-3) LG - Semyon Varlamov (23 saves on 25 shots: 31-12-4)

Three Stars:

3. Matt Duchene (1 assists) - Colorado 

2. Patrik Berglund (1 goal, GWG) - St. Louis

1. Ryan Miller (26 saves on 27 shots for the win) - St. Louis

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Philadelphia Flyers 3 (OT) - (from Toronto) - The Leafs improved to 34-23-8 on the season thanks to a 4-3 OT win over the Philadelphia Flyers, dropping them to 33-24-7.

Goals:

TOR - Jake Gardiner (6) - from Troy Bodie (2:21 1ST)
TOR - Nazem Kadri (17) - from Joffrey Lupul and Morgan Rielly (3:38 1ST)
PHI - Kimmo Timonen (3) - from Jakub Voracek and Scott Hartnell (18:02 2ND)
PHI - Kimmo Timonen (4) - from Jakub Voracek (7:19 3RD)
TOR - Mason Raymond (18) - from Jay McClement and Troy Bodie (13:34 3RD)
PHI - Braydon Coburn (5) - from Brayden Schenn and Michael Raffl (17:28 3RD)
TOR - Joffrey Lupul (19) - from Dion Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarsson (2:21 OT) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - Jonathan Bernier (28 saves on 31 shots: 24-16-7) LG - Steve Mason (32 saves on 36 shots: 26-15-6)

Three Stars:

3. Troy Bodie (2 assists) - Toronto

2. Kimmo Timonen (2 goals) - Philadelphia

1. Joffrey Lupul (1 goal, 1 assist, OT winner) - Toronto

Boston Bruins 4, Tampa Bay Lightning 3 (SO) - (from Tampa Bay) - The Bruins improved to 41-17-5 on the season thanks to a 4-3 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, dropping them to 34-24-6.

Goals:

TBL - Ondrej Palat SHG (15) - from Tyler Johnson and Eric Brewer (0:27 2ND)
TBL - Mark Barberio (5) - from Tom Pyatt and Ryan Callahan (4:13 2ND)
BOS - Dan Paille (9) - from Gregory Campbell and Johnny Boychuk (6:58 2ND)
BOS - Carl Soderberg (11) - from Chris Kelly (8:29 2ND)
TBL - Valtteri Filppula (21) - from Ondrej Palat (9:31 2ND)
BOS - Johnny Boychuk (3) - from Carl Soderberg and Loui Eriksson (8:11 3RD)
Shootout winner - Reilly Smith (BOS)

Goalies:

WG - Tuukka Rask (17 saves on 20 shots: 28-14-4) LG - Ben Bishop (29 saves on 32 shots: 29-11-5) 

Three Stars:

3. Carl Soderberg (1 goal, 1 assist) - Boston

2. Ondrej Palat (1 goal, 1 assist) - Tampa Bay

1. Johnny Boychuk (1 goal, 1 assist) - Boston

New Jersey Devils 5, Carolina Hurricanes 4 (from New Jersey) - The Devils improved to 28-24-13 on the season thanks to a 5-4 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, dropping them to 27-28-9.

Goals:

NJD - Travis Zajac (11) - from Tuomo Ruutu and Jaromir Jagr (4:25 1ST)
CAR - Jeff Skinner (25) - from Andrej Sekera and Eric Staal (6:21 2ND)
NJD - Damien Brunner PPG (10) - from Marek Zidlicky and Travis Zajac (8:34 2ND)
NJD - Adam Henrique (22) - from Ryan Clowe (8:57 2ND)
NJD - Adam Henrique SHG (23) - from Patrik Elias and Andy Greene (12:51 2ND)
CAR - Jay Harrison PPG (4) - from Jordan Staal and Alexander Semin (13:24 2ND)
CAR - Nathan Gerbe SHG (13) - from Jordan Staal (4:41 3RD)
CAR - Alexander Semin (17) - from Manny Malhotra (12:39 3RD)
NJD - Tuomo Ruutu (6) - from Marek Zidlicky and Travis Zajac (13:30 3RD) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - Martin Brodeur (29 saves on 33 shots: 16-11-4) LG - Cam Ward (8 saves on 9 shots: 6-10-5) in relief of Anton Khudobin (18 saves on 22 shots)

Three Stars:

3. Adam Henrique (2 goals) - New Jerseu

2. Travis Zajac (1 goal, 2 assists) - New Jersey

1. Tuomo Ruutu (1 goal, 1 assist, GWG) - New Jersey

Washington Capitals 3, Phoenix Coyotes 2 (from Washington) - The Capitals improved to 30-25-10 on the season thanks to a 3-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes, dropping them to 29-24-11.

Goals:

PHX - Brandon McMillan (1) - from Keith Yandle and Antoine Vermette (18:58 1ST)
PHX - Radim Vrbata PPG (18) - from Michael Stone and Keith Yandle (3:20 2ND)
WSH - Karl Alzner (2) - from Eric Fehr and Jay Beagle (9:45 3RD)
WSH - Brooks Laich (8) - from Jason Chimera (10:17 3RD)
WSH - Troy Brouwer (18) - from Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson (14:47 3RD) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - Jaroslav Halak (31 saves on 33 shots: 25-9-4) LG - Mike Smith (30 saves on 33 shots: 22-19-10)

Three Stars:

3. Keith Yandle (2 assists) - Phoenix

2. Troy Brouwer (1 goal, GWG) - Washington

1. Jaroslav Halak (31 saves on 33 shots for the win) - Washington

Columbus Blue Jackets 1, Nashville Predators 0 (from Nashville) - The Blue Jackets improved to 33-26-5 on the season thanks to a 1-0 shutout of the Nashville Predators, dropping them to 26-28-10.

Goals:

CBJ - Artem Anisimov (19) - from James Wisniewski and Corey Tropp (13:35 3RD) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - Sergei Bobrovsky (28 saves on 28 shots: 25-16-3) LG - Pekka Rinne (35 saves on 36 shots: 4-8-1)

Three Stars:

3. Artem Anisimov (1 goal, GWG) - Columbus

2. Pekka Rinne (35 saves on 36 shots) - Nashville

1. Sergei Bobrovsky (28 saves on 28 shots for the shutout) - Columbus

Dallas Stars 4, Minnesota Wild 3 (from Dallas) - The Stars improved to 31-23-10 on the season thanks to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild, dropping them to 34-22-7.

Goals:

DAL - Jamie Benn (25) - from Rich Peverley and Trevor Seguin (0:31 1ST)
MIN - Erik Haula SHG (3) - from Mikko Koivu (16:32 1ST)
DAL - Alex Chiasson PPG (11) - from Tyler Seguin and Alex Goligoski (1:55 2ND)
MIN - Charlie Coyle PPG (7) - from Matt Moulson and Jonas Brodin (11:15 2ND)
MIN - Kyle Brodziak (6) - from Nino Niederreiter (1:23 3RD)
DAL - Tyler Seguin PPG (29) - from Erik Cole and Sergei Gonchar (11:11 3RD)
DAL - Erik Cole (15) - unassisted (15:11 3RD) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - Tim Thomas (6 saves on 6 shots: 17-20-3) in relief of the injured Kari Lehtonen (26 saves on 29 shots) LG - Darcy Kuemper (34 saves on 38 shots: 11-4-2)

Three Stars:

3. Charlie Coyle (1 goal) - Minnesota

2. Erik Cole (1 goal, 1 assist, GWG) - Dallas

1. Tyler Seguin (1 goal, 2 assists) - Dallas

Vancouver Canucks 2, Calgary Flames 1 (from Vancouver) - The Canucks improved to 29-27-10 on the season thanks to a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames, dropping them to 25-32-7 

Goals:

CGY - Brian McGrattan (2) - from Tyler Wotherspoon and Ben Hanowski (2:13 2ND)
VAN - Darren Archibald (1) - from Jordan Schroeder (5:45 2ND)
VAN - Yannick Weber (3) - from David Booth and Shawn Matthias (5:00 3RD) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - Eddie Lack (22 saves on 23 shots: 10-11-4) LG - Joni Ortio (12 saves on 14 shots: 2-2-0) 

Three Stars:

3. Darren Archibald (1 goal) - Vancouver

2. Yannick Weber (1 goal, GWG) - Vancouver

1. Eddie Lack (22 saves on 23 shots for the win) - Vancouver

San Jose Sharks 4, Montreal Canadiens 0 (from San Jose) - The Sharks improved to 41-17-7 on the season thanks to a 4-0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens, dropping them to 35-24-7

Goals:

SJS - Tommy Wingels SHG (13) - from Logan Couture (2:26 1ST) *GWG*
SJS - Matt Irwin (3) - from Raffi Torres and Dan Boyle (1:54 2ND)
SJS - Matt Nieto (8) - from Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture (7:43 2ND)
SJS - Logan Couture (18) - from Matt Nieto (0:43 3RD)

Goalies:

WG - Antti Niemi (27 saves on 27 shots: 31-13-6) LG - Peter Budaj (9 saves on 11 shots: 8-7-2), Dustin Tokarski (20 saves on 22 shots in relief of Budaj)

Three Stars:

3. Antti Niemi (27 saves on 27 shots for the shutout) - San Jose

2. Tommy Wingels (2 goals) - San Jose

1. Logan Couture (1 goal, 2 assists) - San Jose

Three Stars of the Night:

3. Logan Couture - Couture scored 1 goal and added 2 assists in the Sharks 4-0 shutout of the Canadiens.

2. Sergei Bobrovksy - Bobrovsky stopped all 28 shots in the Blue Jackets 1-0 win over the Predators.

1. Ales Hemsky - Hemsky picked up 4 assists in the Senators 5-3 win over the Jets.

Interesting Stats of the Night:

-Ryan Miller improved to 4-0 with the Blues with a 2-1 win over the Avs, his 1st career win against them.

-Nathan MacKinnon's 13-game point streak came to an end.

-Tuomo Ruutu had a big home debut for the New Jersey Devils, scoring 1 goal (the game-winner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMZX1sOShGk) and adding an assist. It also happened to be against the team that traded him, the Carolina Hurricanes.

-Kimmo Timonen scored his first 2-goal game since the 2009/2010 season.

-Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves on 33 shots for the win in his Washington Capitals debut, a 3-2 win over the Coyotes.
-Sergei Bobrovsky picked up his 4th shutout of the season.
-Kari Lehtonen left the game in the 3rd after a scary collision with Wild F Erik Haula. Haula was given 5 for charging and a game misconduct. Here is the replay: http://beta.thescore.com/nhl/news/448977
-Adam Henrique is on fire since the Olympic break, scoring 9 goals in 6 games since the break ended. He has scored in all 6 of those games.
-Ales Hemsky had 4 assists for the Senators in only his 2nd game for them.
-Tyler Wotherspoon and Ben Hanowski picked up their 1st career assists on Brian McGrattan's goal.
-6 of the 10 games tonight had the game-winning goal scored in the 3rd period.

Current Winning/Losing Streaks (3 or more games):

Los Angeles Kings - 6 game winning streak

Boston Bruins - 4 game winning streak

St. Louis Blues - 4 game winning streak

Tampa Bay Lightning - 4 game losing streak

Nashville Predators - 4 game losing streak

Forman Faceoff Highlight of the Night:

-Alexander Semin gets it tonight for his great solo effort for the goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rvGfbWAYGE 

What's up next (March 9th) - There are 5 NHL games on tap for Sunday:
1. Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers @1230PM ET (In New York) {***Forman's Game of hte Night***}
2. Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers @5PM ET (In Florida)
3. Chicago Blackhawks vs. Buffalo Sabres @730PM ET (In Buffalo)
4. St. Louis Blues vs. Minnesota Wild @8PM ET (In Minnesota)
5. Los Angeles Kings vs. Edmonton Oilers @8PM ET (In Edmonton)

-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff