National Hockey League news: February 16, 2008

February 16, 2008

There were 5 games played in the National Hockey League on February 15, 2008.

Atlanta Thrashers @ New Jersey Devils
New Jersey scored first on a goal late in the first period. would give the Devils a 2 goal lead in the second period, but Atlanta would cut their deficit in half less than a minute later with an goal. would tie the score on a power-play goal. The Devils would retake the lead in the third period on a goal by, but the Thrashers would score on a goal with 19 seconds left to send the game to overtime. After a scoreless 5 minutes of 4-on-4 hockey, the game went into a shootout. After nine rounds ending with a tie, it was who scored on. stopped to give the Thrashers their first win against the Devils this season.

Washington Capitals @ Florida Panthers
made his return to the Panthers lineup after injuring his hand on January 16, and scored the first goal 5:52 into the game. would score on an a Washington power-play early in the second period to tie the score at one goal a piece. earned his two-year contract extension by giving Washington their first lead of the game in the opening minute of the third period, his 7th of the season. would re-tie the score 3 minutes later, but the Panthers would retake the lead on a goal at 8:27 in the third. would salt the Panthers victory with an empty net goal in the final minute of the game. Florida now sits tied with two other teams, including Washington, with 60 points in the Southeast Division.

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Detroit Red Wings
put the Jackets on the board first, and added another for Columbus a few minutes later, assisted by Nash. It was then who put the Blue Jackets ahead by 3 less than two minutes later. Modin would score his second goal of the night, and Nash his third point of the game with a second assist, at 11:18 in the second period to add to Columbus' lead. Detroit would then replace their goaltender, for the second straight game, with their backup goalie (, who is usually Detroit's backup goaltender is out due to an injured hip flexor). would put Detroit on the board early in the 3rd period with a power-play goal. Columbus would answer with a goal to put the Jackets back up by 4, a lead that would hold through the rest of the game, and give the Detroit Red Wings, the top ranked team in the NHL, their fifth straight loss.

Dallas Stars @ Anaheim Ducks
made his return to the Honda Center after coming out of retirement during Anaheim's 9 game road-trip. put the Ducks on the board first early in the game. scored on a 5-on-3 power-play to tie the score for the Stars. With Dallas on the power-play in the second period, gave the Stars their first lead of the game with a slap-shot from just inside the blue-line that Anaheim goaltender  didn't see coming. Late in the second period, Dallas would take advantage of their second 5-on-3 power-play when Robidas scored his second goal of the game in the closing minutes of the second period. Kunitz would score his second goal, which deflected off the skate of Stars defender and past goaltender, to cut the lead in half. An empty-net goal by in the final seconds of the game iced the Stars 8th victory in 9 games, and snapped Anaheim's 5 game winning streak.

Calgary Flames @ Los Angeles Kings
The Calgary Flames are 3-0-0 in their season series with the Los Angeles Kings. started the scoring for the Kings, his first goal of this NHL season, his second career goal as a King. and assisted. would tie the score just over a minute later, but Los Angeles would answer with a goal at 6:02 in the first period, also assisted by Frolov and Armstrong. scored his first career NHL goal at 8:59 to put the Kings up by 2. Dustin Boyd would cut Los Angeles' lead in half with a goal at 12:59. would score a short-handed goal to increase the Los Angeles lead by 2. Armstrong would increase that lead a few minutes later, which was assisted by Frolov, to give each their 3rd points of the game. would also score for the Kings, assisted by O'Sullivan, to give Los Angeles a 4 goal lead just after the halfway point of the game. Calgary would answer with a goal by at 5:15 in the third period, but couldn't come up with more goals, despite outshooting the Kings 25-5 in the third period.

Other news
will be playing without center, who was placed on injured reserve on Friday with a broken wrist. He was hit by player  late in the third period in Pittsburgh's 2-4 loss to the Hurricanes Thursday. Carolina captain was also injured in this game with a torn ligament in his knee.

of the skated with his team on Wednesday for the first time since his 30-game suspension for stepping on Pittsburgh's 's foot on December 15. The first game he would be eligible to play in is the February 21 game against the.