April 3rd NHL Recap

Columbus Blue Jackets 2, Philadelphia Flyers 0 (from Philadelphia) - The Blue Jackets improved to 39-30-7 on the season thanks to a 2-0 shutout of the Philadelphia Flyers, dropping them to 39-28-9.

Goals:

CBJ - James Wisniewski PPG (7) - from Mark Letestu and Fedor Tyutin (17:07 2ND) *GWG*
CBJ - Brandon Dubinsky (16) - from Cam Atkinson and James Wisniewski (3:20 3RD)

Goalies:

WG - Sergei Bobrovsky (37 saves on 37 shots: 28-19-5) LG - Steve Mason (25 saves on 27 shots: 31-18-7)

Three Stars:

3. Brandon Dubinsky (1 goal) - Columbus

2. James Wisniewski (1 goal, 1 assist, GWG) - Columbus

1. Sergei Bobrovsky (37 saves on 37 shots for the shutout) - Columbus

Carolina Hurricanes 4, Dallas Stars 1 (from Carolina) - The Hurricanes improved to 34-32-11 on the season thanks to a 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars, dropping them to 37-28-11. 

Goals:

CAR - Eric Staal (19) - from John-Michael Liles and Andrei Loktionov (2:30 2ND)
CAR - Justin Faulk PPG (5) - from John-Michael Liles and Chris Terry (4:07 2ND) *GWG*
CAR - John-Michael Liles PPG (2) - from Chris Terry and Justin Faulk (7:06 2ND)
DAL - Tyler Seguin (34) - from Valeri Nichushkin and Trevor Daley (9:44 2ND)
CAR - Riley Nash (10) - from Brett Bellemore (7:40 3RD)

Goalies:

WG - Anton Khudobin (33 saves on 34 shots: 18-12-1) LG - Kari Lehtonen (13 saves on 16 shots: 30-19-10), Tim Thomas (15 saves on 16 shots in relief of Lehtonen)

Three Stars:

3. Anton Khudobin (33 saves on 34 shots for the win) - Carolina

2. John-Michael Liles (1 goal, 2 assists) - Carolina

1. Justin Faulk (1 goal, 1 assist, GWG) - Carolina

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Boston Bruins 3 (OT) - (from Toronto) - The Leafs improved to 38-32-8 on the season thanks to a 4-3 OT win over the Boston Bruins, dropping them to 52-18-7.

Goals:

TOR - Paul Ranger (5) - from Jerry D'Amigo and Morgan Rielly (6:00 1ST)
BOS - Brad Marchand (23) - unassisted (6:56 1ST)
TOR - Tyler Bozak (18) - from Phil Kessel and Cody Franson (19:48 1ST)
TOR - James van Riemsdyk (30) - from Phil Kessel (0:52 2ND)
BOS - Milan Lucic (22) - from David Krejci and Matt Bartkowski (5:03 3RD)
BOS - Patrice Bergeron (28) - from Brad Marchand and Kevan Miller (12:51 3RD)
TOR - Nazem Kadri PPG (19) - from Cody Franson and Jake Gardiner (2:51 OT) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - James Reimer (10 saves on 11 shots: 12-13-1) in relief of the injured Jonathan Bernier (25 saves on 27 shots) LG - Chad Johnson (27 saves on 31 shots: 17-3-2) 

Three Stars:

3. Phil Kessel (2 assists) - Toronto

2. Brad Marchand (1 goal, 1 assist) - Boston

1. Nazem Kadri (1 goal, OT winner) - Toronto

Calgary Flames 4, Tampa Bay Lightning 1 (from Tampa Bay) - The Flames improved to 32-38-7 on the season thanks to a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, dropping them to 42-26-9. 

Goals:

CGY - Mike Cammalleri (2) - unassisted (10:20 1ST)
CGY - Kevin Westgarth (4) - from Christopher Breen (10:35 1ST) *GWG*
TBL - Ondrej Palat (20) - from Matt Carle and Ryan Callahan (15:56 2ND)
CGY - Curtis Glencross PPG (11) - from Mike Cammalleri and Kris Russell (18:04 3RD)
CGY - Curtis Glenross EN (12) - unassisted (19:44 3RD)

Goalies:

WG - Karri Ramo (31 saves on 32 shots: 15-13-4) LG - Ben Bishop (21 saves on 24 shots: 37-13-7)

Three Stars:

3. Curtis Glencross (2 goals) - Calgary

2. Mike Cammalleri (1 goal, 1 assist) - Calgary

1. Karri Ramo (31 saves on 32 shots for the win) - Calgary

Chicago Blackhawks 3, Minnesota Wild 2 (SO) - (from Chicago) - The Blackhawks improved to 43-19-15 on the season thanks to a 3-2 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild, dropping them to 39-26-12.

Goals:

MIN - Charlie Coyle (11) - from Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter (14:19 1ST)
CHI - Ben Smith (11) - from Brandon Saad and Nick Leddy (2:29 2ND)
CHI - Bryan Bickell (11) - from Jeremy Morin (2:45 3RD)
MIN - Erik Haula (4) - from Justin Fontaine (18:06 3RD)
Shootout winner - Marian Hossa (CHI)

Goalies:

WG - Corey Crawford (25 saves on 27 shots: 30-15-10) LG - Ilya Bryzgalov (24 saves on 26 shots: 9-8-8) 

Three Stars:

3. Erik Haula (1 goal) - Minnesota

2. Ben Smith (1 goal) - Chicago

1. Bryan Bickell (1 goal) - Chicago

St. Louis Blues 2, Buffalo Sabres 1 (from St. Louis) - The Blues improved to 52-17-7 on the season thanks to a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres, dropping them to 21-46-9.

Goals:

STL - Maxim Lapierre (8) - from Ryan Reaves (1:59 2ND)
STL - Brenden Morrow (13) - from Vladimir Sobotka and Jaden Schwartz (18:08 3RD) *GWG*
BUF - Cody Hodgson PPG (18) - from Tyler Ennis and Ville Leino (19:04 3RD)

Goalies:

WG - Brian Elliott (24 saves on 25 shots: 18-5-2) LG - Nathan Lieuwen (26 saves on 28 shots: 1-3-0) 

Three Stars:

3. Maxim Lapierre (1 goal) - St. Louis

2. Brenden Morrow (1 goal, GWG) - St. Louis

1. Brian Elliott (24 saves on 25 shots for the win) - St. Louis

Pittsburgh Penguins 4, Winnipeg Jets 2 (from Winnipeg) - The Penguins improved to 49-23-5 on the season thanks to a 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets, dropping them to 34-34-10 (.500).

Goals:

PIT - Beau Bennett PPG (3) - from Sidney Crosby and Jussi Jokinen (12:44 1ST)
WPG - Olli Jokinen (17) - from Blake Wheeler (2:52 2ND)
WPG - Zachary Redmond (1) - from Evander Kane and Matt Halischuk (9:42 2ND)
PIT - Craig Adams (5) - from Lee Stempniak (18:47 2ND)
PIT - Paul Martin PPG (3) - from James Neal and Sidney Crosby (7:42 3RD) *GWG*
PIT - Brian Gibbons (5) - unassisted (16:24 3RD

Goalies:

WG - Marc-Andre Fleury (13 saves on 15 shots: 37-18-4) LG - Ondrej Pavelec (17 saves on 21 shots: 21-26-7)

Three Stars:

3. Craig Adams (1 goal) - Pittsburgh

2. Paul Martin (1 goal, GWG) - Pittsburgh

1. Sidney Crosby (2 assists) - Pittsburgh

Colorado Avalanche 3, New York Rangers 2 (SO) - (from Colorado) - The Avalanche improved to 49-21-6 on the season thanks to a 3-2 shootout win over the New York Rangers, dropping them to 43-30-5.

Goals:

NYR - John Moore (4) - from Mats Zuccarello and Benoit Pouliot (2:10 1ST)
COL - Andre Benoit (7) - from John Mitchell and Ryan O'Reilly (5:57 2ND)
NYR - Derek Stepan (16) - from Kevin Klein and Dan Girardi (15:30 2ND)
COL - Tyson Barrie (11) - from Paul Stastny and Erik Johnson (19:08 3RD)
Shootout winner - Tyson Barrie (COL)

Goalies:

WG - Semyon Varlamov (29 saves on 31 shots: 39-14-5) LG - Henrik Lundqvist (35 saves on 37 shots: 31-23-5) 

Three Stars:

3. Henrik Lundqvist (35 saves on 37 shots) - New York

2. Semyon Varlamov (29 saves on 31 shots for the win) - Colorado

1. Tyson Barrie (1 goal, shootout winner) - Colorado

San Jose Sharks 2, Los Angeles Kings 1 (from San Jose) - The Sharks improved to 49-20-9 on the season thanks to a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, dropping them to 45-27-6.

Goals:

LAK - Jordan Nolan (6) - from Alec Martinez and Dustin Brown (3:36 1ST)
SJS - Brent Burns PPG (23) - from Dan Boyle and Joe Thornton (7:15 2ND)
SJS - Logan Couture (21) - from Patrick Marleau and Tommy Wingels (12:13 2ND) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - Antti Niemi (26 saves on 27 shots: 38-15-7) LG - Martin Jones (19 saves on 21 shots: 11-6-0) 

Three Stars:

3. Joe Thornton (1 assist) - San Jose

2. Antti Niemi (26 saves on 27 shots for the win) - San Jose

1. Logan Couture (1 goal, GWG) - San Jose

Three Stars of the Night:

3. Justin Faulk - Faulk scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in the Hurricanes 4-1 win over the Stars. 

2. Tyson Barrie - Barrie tied the game late in the 3rd and scored the shootout winner in the Avs 3-2 win over the Rangers. 

1. Sergei Bobrovsky - Bobrovsky stopped all 37 shots in his return to Philly, a 2-0 win over the Flyers.  

Interesting Stats of the Night:

-Sergei Bobrovsky made quite the return to Philadelphia, making 37 saves for the shutout in his 1st game against his former team since the trade in 2012. It was his 4th shutout of the season.
-James van Riemsdyk scored 30 goals for the 1st time in his career.

-The Penguins clinched the Metropolitan Division Title tonight, the 2nd of 4 division winners to be decided (Boston).
-The Bruins lost 2 straight games for the 1st time since March 1st
-Brandon Bollig will hear from Brendan Shanahan after his vicious hit to the head of Zach Parise. Here is the replay: http://nhl.si.com/2014/04/03/minnesota-wild-zach-parise-blackhawks-brandon-bollig/
-Semyon Varlamov picked up his league-leading 39th win of the season.
-Paul Martin scored a goal in his 1st game since breaking his hand at the Olympics in February.
-Bad night if handling the puck for Ben Bishop, he caused 2 turnovers leading to the first 2 Flames goals tonight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R60B9DdhIu8

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

Colorado Avalanche - 5 game winning streak

Detroit Red Wings - 3 game winning streak
Anaheim Ducks - 3 game winning streak
New York Islanders - 3 game winning streak

Florida Panthers - 4 game losing streak

Edmonton Oilers - 3 game losing streak
Phoenix Coyotes - 3 game losing streak

Forman Faceoff Highlights of the Night:

-Tyler Seguin goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adaJBDtidTU
-Tyson Barrie game-tying goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGn-cWDZ-VE

-Nazem Kadri OT goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEgacSBQqeA
-Logan Couture wrap-around goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt0k7XI-DYQ

What's up next (April 4th) - There are 7 NHL games on tap for Friday:

1. Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators @7PM ET (In Ottawa)
2. Chicago Blackhawks vs. Columbus Blue Jackets @7PM ET (In Columbus) {***Forman's Game of the Night***}
3. Washington Capitals vs. New Jersey Devils @7PM ET (In New Jersey)
4. Buffalo Sabres vs. Detroit Red Wings @730PM ET (In Detroit)
5. Calgary Flames vs. Florida Panthers @730PM ET (In Florida)
6. Edmonton Oilers vs. Phoenix Coyotes @10PM ET (In Phoenix)
7. Nashville Predators vs. Anaheim Ducks @10PM ET (In Anaheim)

-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff