March 9th NHL Recap

New York Islanders 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 3 (OT) - (from Toronto) - The Islanders improved to 43-21-4 on the season thanks to a 4-3 OT win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, dropping them to 26-35-6.

Goals:

TOR - David Booth (4) - from Jake Gardiner (18:23 1ST)
TOR - Peter Holland (11) - from Richard Panik and James van Riemsdyk (10:27 2ND)
NYI - Tyler Kennedy (5) - from John Tavares and Josh Bailey (1:32 3RD)
TOR - James van Riemsdyk (23) - unassisted (6:06 3RD)
NYI - Frans Nielsen PPG (12) - from Anders Lee and Josh Bailey (9:58 3RD)
NYI - Casey Cizikas (7) - from Travis Hamonic (10:28 3RD)
NYI - John Tavares (33) - from Tyler Kennedy and Travis Hamonic (4:38 OT) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - Michal Neuvirth (22 saves on 25 shots: 7-17-4) LG - Jonathan Bernier (39 saves on 43 shots: 19-21-6)

Three Stars:

3. Tyler Kennedy (1 goal, 1 assist) - New York

2. James van Riemsdyk (1 goal, 1 assist) - Toronto

1. John Tavares (1 goal, 1 assist, OT winner) - New York

Detroit Red Wings 5, Edmonton Oilers 2 (from Detroit) - The Red Wings improved to 37-17-11 on the season thanks to a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers, dropping them to 18-38-11.

Goals:

EDM - Rob Klinkhammer (5) - from Matt Hendricks and Boyd Gordon (2:15 1ST)
DET - Niklas Kronwall PPG (8) - from Erik Cole and Henrik Zetterberg (0:21 2ND)
DET - Riley Sheahan (11) - from Gustav Nyquist and Teemu Pulkkinen (14:04 2ND)
DET - Teemu Pulkkinen (3) - from Pavel Datsyuk (10:39 3RD) *GWG*
EDM - Nail Yakupov PPG (10) - from Justin Schultz and Jordan Eberle (18:05 3RD)
DET - Justin Abdelkader EN (17) - from Riley Sheahan and Henrik Zetterberg (18:56 3RD)
DET - Pavel Datsyuk EN (23) - from Henrik Zetterberg (19:42 3RD)

Goalies:

WG - Jimmy Howard (36 saves on 38 shots: 20-9-9) LG - Ben Scrivens (21 saves on 24 shots: 12-22-8) 

Three Stars:

3. Riley Sheahan (1 goal, 1 assist) - Detroit

2. Henrik Zetterberg (3 assists) - Detroit

1. Teemu Pulkkinen (1 goal, 1 assist, GWG) - Detroit

Vancouver Canucks 2, Anaheim Ducks 1 (from Vancouver) - The Canucks improved to 38-24-4 on the season thanks to a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks, dropping them to 42-19-7. 

Goals:

VAN - Bo Horvat (11) - from Jannik Hansen (9:57 1ST)
ANA - Emerson Etem (5) - from Nate Thompson and Cam Fowler (8:40 3RD)
VAN - Zack Kassian (10) - from Dan Hamhuis (16:01 3RD) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - Eddie Lack (29 saves on 30 shots: 10-8-3) LG - Frederik Andersen (14 saves on 16 shots: 30-10-5) 

Three Stars:

3. Emerson Etem (1 goal) - Anaheim

2. Zack Kassian (1 goal, GWG) - Vancouver

1. Eddie Lack (29 saves on 30 shots for the win) - Vancouver

Nashville Predators 2, Arizona Coyotes 1 (OT) - (from Arizona) - The Predators improved to 42-19-7 on the season thanks to a 2-1 OT win over the Arizona Coyotes, dropping them to 21-38-8.

Goals:

NSH - Paul Gaustad (3) - from Taylor Beck (3:26 2ND)
ARI - Kyle Chipchura PPG (4) - from John Moore and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (7:27 3RD)
NSH - James Neal (22) - from Seth Jones and Cody Franson (2:45 OT) *GWG*

Goalies:

WG - Pekka Rinne (27 saves on 28 shots: 36-13-3) LG -  Louis Domingue (35 saves on 37 shots: 1-0-1)

Three Stars:

3. James Neal (1 goal, OT winner) - Nashville

2. Louis Domingue (35 saves on 37 shots) - Arizona

1. Pekka Rinne (27 saves on 28 shots for the win) - Nashville

San Jose Sharks 2, Pittsburgh Penguins 1 (SO) - (from San Jose) - The Sharks improved to 33-26-8 on the season thanks to a 2-1 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, dropping them to 38-18-10. 

Goals:

SJS - Matt Nieto (7) - from Chris Tierney and Ben Smith (19:03 1ST)
PIT - Sidney Crosby (22) - from David Perron and Kris Letang (7:22 3RD)
Shootout winner - Tommy Wingels (SJS)

Goalies:

WG - Antti Niemi (39 saves on 40 shots: 26-18-7) LG - Marc-Andre Fleury (29 saves on 30 shots: 30-14-7) 

Three Stars:

3. Tommy Wingels (shootout winner) - San Jose

2. Marc-Andre Fleury (29 saves on 30 shots) - Pittsburgh

1. Antti Niemi (39 saves on 40 shots for the win) - San Jose

Three Stars of the Night:

3. Teemu Pulkkinen - Pulkkinen scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in the Red Wings 5-2 win over the Oilers.

2. Antti Niemi - Niemi stopped 39 of 40 shots in the Sharks 2-1 win over the Penguins.

1. John Tavares - The Islanders Captain scored the OT winner and added an assist in the Islanders 4-3 win over the Leafs.

Interesting Stats of the Night:

-Tyler Kennedy scored his 1st goal as a member of the Islanders in his debut for the team.
-James Wisniewski made his Ducks debut.
-Teemu Pulkkinen scored his 1st career game-winning goal.
-The Oilers were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with a loss tonight. That extends their NHL-worst playoff drought to 9 season.
-All 3 late games (Canucks/Ducks, Penguins/Sharks, Coyotes/Predators) ended 2-1.

-The Predators snapped their season-long 6 game losing streak with a 2-1 OT win vs. the Coyotes.

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

Tampa Bay Lightning - 3 game winning streak

Colorado Avalanche - 3 game winning streak
Ottawa Senators - 3 game winning streak

Edmonton Oilers - 5 game losing streak

Buffalo Sabres - 4 game losing streak

Toronto Maple Leafs - 3 game losing streak

Forman Faceoff Highlights of the Night:

-John Tavares gets it tonight with his fantastic OT winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DWJ4tHva10&feature=youtu.be

What's up next - Tuesday March 10th: There are 8 NHL games on tap for Tuesday night:

1. New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders at 7:00 PM ET (In New York I.)

2. Dallas Stars vs. Philadelphia Flyers at 7:00 PM ET (In Philadelphia)

3. Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Carolina Hurricanes at 7:00 PM ET (In Carolina)

4. Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 PM ET (In Montreal) {***Forman's Game of hte Night***}

5. Boston Bruins vs. Ottawa Senators at 7:30 PM ET (In Ottawa)

6. Winnipeg Jets vs. St. Louis Blues at 8:00 PM ET (In St. Louis)

7. New Jersey Devils vs. Minnesota Wild at 8:00 PM ET (In Minnesota)

8. Los Angeles Kings vs. Colorado Avalanche at 9:00 PM ET (In Colorado)

-Joel Forman - The Forman Faceoff