Here are last night's games recapped quickly:
The Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2. Dany Heatley scored the 1st goal 13 seconds into the 1st period. The fastest goal ever scored in Wild franchise history. Late in the 1st Daniel Sedin scored his 24th goal of the season, and in the last minute of the period Maxim Lapierre potted his 6th and Vancouver ended the 1st with a 2-1 lead. Henrik Sedin scored the only goal in the 2nd assisted by Byron Bitz and Daniel Sedin. For Mr.Bitz, it was his 3rd point in 3 games and the first time Daniel and Henrik have both scored in Minnesota in the same game. Manny Malhorta scored in the 3rd for 4-1 lead. Devin Setoguchi scored for the Wild for a 4-2 score, but late in the 3rd with an empty net, Ryan Kesler scored his 18th of the season for 5-2 final. Kesler has now scored a goal in a game 5 consecutive games! Henrik Sedin played his 553 consecutive game for 2nd place in the ironman race and only 7 games behind Calgary defenseman Jay Bouwmeester who has played in 560 consecutive games. WOW!
St. Louis beat New Jersey 4-3 in a shootout. The Blues broke the Devils 5 game winning streak. Devil Zach Parise opened the scoring for his team with Adam Henrique and Patrik Elias also scoring. Chris Stewart, David Perron, and Patrik Berglund, who scored the tying goal late in the 3rd. T.J. Oshie scored the only S/O goal, clutching the 2 points for his team.
The Montreal Canadiens beat the NY Islanders 4-2. Two big things happened in this game. Max Pacioretty scored 3 of the 4 goals for his 1st career hat trick with the last goal being scored with 1 second left in the 3rd period. Even bigger news is Scott Gomez scoring! It might not sound like a big deal but Gomez is paid over 7 million $ a year. Gomez hadn't scored a goal since February 5th 2011. That is 368 days, 60 games 125 shots and 1319 shifts on the ice! Nice to get that one over with.
The NY Rangers beat the Tampa Lightning 4-3 on OT. League leading goal scorer Steven Stamkos open the scoring, tallying his total to 36. NYRs took the lead early in the 2nd with goals by Ryan Callahan and Derek Stepan. Before the 2nd period could end Vincent Lecavalier and Bruno Gervais scored and Tampa was leading again 3-2. New York's Brian Boyle scored 1/2 way through the 3rd to tie it up taking the game into OT. Hot shot Brad Richards scoring on his former team to get his current team the 2 points in OT.
Philadelphia beat Toronto 4-3. Scott Hartnell scored the 1st goal for the Flyers, assisted Claude Giroux on his goal, and got in a fight with Toronto Captain Dion Phanuef for a rare Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Tyler Bozak scored twice for Toronto, Phil Kessel got 2 assists, and Joffrey Lupul got a goal and a assist. The best part might be the stats sheet for the game: Scott Hartnell is recorded as scoring his goal at 14:38 and is recorded as fighting at 14:38. Emotions running extra high after scoring?!
The Winnipeg Jets beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 in a shootout. No scoring in the 1st and 2nd periods and the 3rd period got wild. Alex Ovechkin scored his 23rd goal of the season to get his team on the board and less then 3 minutes later assisted Alexander Semin on his goal to put Washington in a 2-0 lead. Five minutes later Evander Kane was assisted by Jets Captain Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien scored to get to within one. 12 seconds later, Dustin Byfuglien from the center ice line scored to tie it up! Scoreless OT and in the S/O Ovechkin scored for Washington but Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little scored for Winnipeg. Winnipeg is 3rd in their division with 58 points but if they get 3 points they will be in 1st place and if they are 1st in their division they would be 3rd in the Eastern Conference. WOW!
Once again the Columbus Blue Jackets were beat. This time by the Dallas Stars. The game ended 4-2. One of my personal favorites Jamie Benn scored the opening goal for the Stars and Alex Goligoski and Stephen Robidas also scored. The Blue Jackets Vinny Prospal and Captain Rick Nash scored to get the game within 1 goal. Then with 1 second left in the 3rd period Jamie Benn finds the back of the net again unassisted to grab his 17th goal of the season.
The Ottawa Senators beat the Nashville Predators 4-3. This was handsome Mike Fisher's first time returning to Ottawa after being dealt to Nashville last year. The scoring was back and forth the entire game with Jason Spezza and Chris Phillips both scoring 2 goals and Spezza assisted a Phillips goal for a 3 point night.
The Florida Panthers beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1. Sean Bergenheim, Mike Santorelli, and Matt Bradley scored for Florida while LA's lone goal came from Drew Doughty (Team Canada) assisted by Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar. The Kings were on a role after head coach Darryl Sutter took over but as of late the have lost a few times.
The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Calgary Flames 2-1. Former Canuck and current Coyote Taylor Pyatt scored for his team. Olli Jokinen scored early in the 3rd to tie it up. Jarome Iginla took a shot, the puck bounced off a stick and hit Alex Tanguay in the face. After a quick trip to the locker room he came back with a full face mask. Then in the 3rd Tanguay came back with a visior and tissue up his nose to finsih the game. Coyote Captain Shane Doan scored the OT winner. Phoenix is on a 4 game win streak and the Flames are on a 5 game losing streak.
There are 4 games being played today:
Anaheim Ducks vs Detroit Red Wings at 4:30pm
Dallas Stars vs Buffalo Sabres at 4:30pm
Carolina Hurricane vs Colorado Avalanche at 6:00pm and finally
Chicago Blackhawks vs San Jose Sharks at 7:30pm ENJOY X