National Hockey League news: February 17, 2008

February 17, 2008

There were 10 games played in the National Hockey League on February 16, 2008, including the New York Rangers, who hadn't played since the afternoon of February 10, taking on the Buffalo Sabres.

Buffalo Sabres @ New York Rangers
You could tell the Rangers were hungry to score goals, due to having 5 days off. A goal scored by Sean Avery just ten seconds into the game could tell you that. In fact, three more goals would be scored by the Rangers by the time the first period ended; Ryan Callahan at 4:29, Brandon Dubinsky at 9:05, and Brendan Shanahan at 12:25. In the second period, Avery would score his second goal. Thomas Vanek would put Buffalo on the board with a power-play goal at 13:02 in the third period. By the time it was done, Dubinsky had three points, Jaromir Jagr had a pair of assists, and the Sabres' winning streak was over at three games.

Boston Bruins @ Toronto Maple Leafs
The struggling Leafs needed a win at home, after losing 6 of their last 9 games. Boston scored first on a Glen Murray goal 5:48 into the first period. Dominic Moore would tie the score up just over halfway through the period. The second period was where Toronto went on the offensive, outshooting the Bruins 12-3, but couldn't get any pucks past Tim Thomas. One of Boston's three shots did go past Toronto goalkeeper Vesa Toskala though, to put them up by two. In the third period, Darcy Tucker scored to tie the score at two goals a piece. That was closely followed by a Nik Antropov goal which Tucker assisted in, to give Toronto their first lead of the game. In the closing minute of regulation, however, Boston captain Zdeno Chara scored to send the game into overtime. Tucker would win the game 3:34 into 4-on-4 overtime to win it for the Leafs.

Philadelphia Flyers @ Montreal Canadiens
The Flyers lost their sixth straight game in this low scoring game. The only goal of the game came early in the second period, when Andrei Kostitsyn, while falling down, manages to send the puck slowly past Flyers goalie Antero Niittymaki and into the net. Despite outshooting the Canadiens 15-3 in the final period, including almost 2 minutes with a 5-on-3 disadvantage, the Flyers were continuously stopped by Montreal's goaltender Carey Price, who picked up his first career NHL shutout. The Flyers and Canadiens will play the second game of a weekend series Sunday, this time in Philadelphia.

New Jersey Devils @ Ottawa Senators
The Devils travel to Ottawa, after defeating the Senators 3-2 at home, to defeat them again 3-2. Arron Ashman scored in the first and second periods, his seventh and eighth of the year, and Zach Parise would add a power play goal to put the Devils up by three by the halfway point of the game. Jason Spezza would put the Senators on the board at 16:37 in the second, Chris Kelly would cut the New Jersey lead in half in the third, but it wasn't enough, as the Senators, who started the season winning 13 of their first 14 games, lose their 6th of 9 since the All-Star break.

Atlanta Thrashers @ New York Islanders
The Islanders have rebounded from losing 7 straight to picking up their third win in a row. Miroslav Satan scored off of a Richard Park centering pass at 14:52 in the first period to put the Islanders on the board. Ruslan Fedotenko would increase the lead early in the second period, and Marc-Andre Bergeron would score on a power-play to make it a three-goal game by the second intermission. Sean Bergenheim would be assisted by Freddy Meyer and goalie Rick DiPietro in the Islanders fourth goal at 7:50 in the third period. Todd White would spoil DiPietro's shutout attempt with a late power-play goal.

Florida Panthers @ Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina forward Matt Cullen made his return to the active lineup after missing 7 games after experiencing distorted vision. He assisted Wade Brookbank in his first goal of the season early in the game to give the Hurricanes their first goal of the game. Florida would answer back when Brett McLean scored on goalie Cam Ward to tie the game at one goal a piece. The Panthers took their first lead at 8:08 in the second period, when Rostislav Olesz scored his second in two games. Sergei Samsonov evened the score less than two minutes later. Florida would retake the lead before the second period was done with a Nathan Horton goal. Horton would score his second goal, his 7th goal in the past 7 games, on a penalty shot to put the Panthers up by two goals in the third period, but Carolina scored the lead with three consecutive goals: Eric Staal at 5:35, Trevor Letowski two minutes later, and Ray Whitney, the game winner, at 15:39.

Washington Capitals @ Tampa Bay Lightning
Tomas Fleischmann would be assisted by Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead late in the first. After a scoreless 36 minutes of play, David Steckel would score his 5th of the season to put Washington up by 2. Two Tampa Bay goals would even the score, when Vaclav Prospal and Jan Hlavac each scored 27 seconds apart. Semin would score the go-ahead goal 36 seconds later to give the Lightning their third loss in a row to the Capitals. Kolzig made 39 out of 41 saves to pick up his 22nd win of the year.

St. Louis Blues @ Nashville Predators
The Predators put 44 shots on goal, managing to put two of them past goaltender Manny Legace, which was just enough to pick up a home victory. Yan Stastny made his Blues debut, and scored the first goal of the game to give them one goal lead late in the first period. They would hold on to it until a Scott Nichol goal tied the game and sent it into overtime. Shea Weber scored a power play goal at 40 seconds to win it for the Predators.

Los Angeles Kings @ Phoenix Coyotes
Coach Wayne Gretzky picked up his 99th win as coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, who were playing Gretzky's former team, the Los Angeles Kings. Ed Jovanovski would score his 10th goal of the season on a first period power play to put the Coyotes on the scoreboard. Raitis Ivanans would tie the game a few minutes later. Joel Perrault and Daniel Winnik would each score a goal to give Phoenix a two goal advantage. Early in the third period, Los Angeles' a Dustin Brown power play goal would cut their deficit in half. Alexander Frolov would beat Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to even the score at three goals a piece. Radim Vrbata would give Phoenix the go-ahead goal, and game winner, at 12:54. Shane Doan and Niko Kapanen would each pick up two assists, Jovanoski would have a three point night, assisting on the Perrault and Vrbata goals.

Edmonton Oilers @ Vancouver Canucks
Daniel and Henrik Sedin assisted Markus Naslund in scoring first for the Canucks 3:08 into the opening period; Edmonton's Marty Reasoner would even the score later in the period. An early second period power play goal by Sami Salo would retake the lead for Vancouver, but Kyle Brodziak would re-tie the game at 17:14. Daniel Sedin would score his 25th goal of the year, which was assisted by Henrik Sedin and Naslund, at 7:45 in the third period. Henrik would earn his 3rd point in the game by assisting Alex Burrows in an empty net goal, which salted the Canucks win.