For a recap of the Islanders win against the Blues and Sabres-Flyers game, click here. This post details the Canucks’ win against the Kings. Finally, here are recaps of the five early evening games. We’ll summarize the final two of the night later on.
The Blackhawks won their eight game in a row, but hopefully it didn’t come at the cost of Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith, who took a controversial elbow from Leafs plugger Mike Brown. Jonathan Toews scored a goal, extending his personal points streak to nine games. Chicago is now in fourth place in the West thanks to another impressive win; is it time to take them seriously as a Cup contender again?
While the Blackhawks kept their winning streak going and the Sharks are playing the Stars tonight, at least one hot run is done. Despite getting a dramatic David Krejci goal in the waning seconds with Boston’s net empty, the Bruins weren’t able to grind out a win against the scrappy Penguins. Dustin Jeffrey left Dennis “The Pain Sponge” Seidenberg in the dust on the deciding goal in OT, befuddling Tim Thomas to give the Penguins a much-needed win.
Considering how rare wins have been for the Thrashers lately, this game must have been a breath of fresh air, especially since Atlanta’s most important players came up big. Captain Andrew Ladd scored two goals and one assist, including the overtime winner. Dustin Byfuglien produced a four assist night. Even recently traded forward Blake Wheeler came up big, scoring the two other Thrashers goals. Sergei Samsonov notched a goal and an assist in one of his first contests as a Panther.
The Canadiens beat the Lightning in front of a crowd with more than its fair share of Montreal fans in Tampa Bay tonight, as Carey Price stopped 43 out of 45 shots to help his team take the game. Max Pacioretty scored twice, including a game-winner on the power play, but perhaps the most surprising development was that Hal Gill also had a goal in the game.
If the City of Glendale was anywhere near as resilient as the team it hosts, the Phoenix Coyotes’ ownership situation would have been settled a long time ago. The Red Wings carried a 4-1 lead into the third period as it looked like Phoenix’s playoff hopes were dimming, but the team scored three unanswered goals to get it to OT. The game went to a shootout, with Radim Vrbata scoring the only skills competition goal while Detroit hit two posts against Ilya Bryzgalov.
The Coyotes broke a five-game losing streak with this win, moving themselves up to fifth place in the West with 78 points.