National Hockey League news: February 22, 2008

February 22, 2008

There were 9 games played in the National Hockey League on February 21, 2008.

Tampa Bay Lightning @ New York Islanders
Chris Simon made his return to the Islanders lineup, as New York win their 6th straight, and the Lightning lose their 3rd straight, in this low scoring game at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Miroslav Satan broke the scoreless tie 5:37 into the third period, assisted by Sean Bergenheim and Drew Fata. Rick DiPietro picked up his third shutout of the season and improved his record to 26-21-7. Simon, who was suspended on December 19 for an on-ice incident where he stepped on Penguin Jarkko Ruutu's skate, played 9 shifts, on the ice for 6:17 of the game.

San Jose Sharks @ Philadelphia Flyers
Jonathan Cheechoo put San Jose up 1-0 15:56 into the first period. The Flyers tied the score on a Mike Knuble goal, his 22nd of the season. Milan Michalek put the Sharks back on top early in the third period, and Douglas Murray scored on a San Jose power play to put them up by 2. Joe Thornton had 2 assists for the Sharks, his 52nd and 53rd of the season. Evgeni Nabokov picked up his 33rd win of the season, stopping 26 shots while allowing only 1. The Sharks break a 5 game losing streak; Philadelphia is now winless in their last 9.

Atlanta Thrashers @ Carolina Hurricanes
Ray Whitney scored after a scoreless first period to give Carolina the first lead of the game. 1:40 later, Eric Perrin put Atlanta on the scoreboard to tie the game 1-1. Moments later, a Ryan Bayda goal put Carlina back on top. Sergei Samsonov gave the Hurricanes a 2 goal advantage 12:25 into the second period. Atlanta cut the deficit in half when Mark Recchi scored on a Thrashers power play. Scott Walker made the score 4-2 3:51 into the third period. A Keith Aucoin goal increased Carolina's lead to 4. Todd White scored for Atlanta in the closing minutes of the game, but it wasn't enough to catch up to Carolina, who now snapped a 2 game losing streak.

Buffalo Sabres @ Toronto Maple Leafs
Brian Campbell put Buffalo in the lead 2:36 into the first period. Less than a minute into the next period, Thomas Vanek, coming off of a hat trick performance against Tampa Bay 24 hours earlier, increased the Buffalo lead to two goals. Toronto's Pavel Kubina scored on a Leafs power play moments later to cut Buffalo's lead in half. Vanek assisted in the next two Buffalo, first when Ales Kotalik scored 8:59 into the second period, then again when Derek Roy scored on Buffalo's 4th power play of the night at 14:49. Kotalik scored his second of the night on an empty net in the closing minute of the game. Buffalo has their 10th win in 14 games, and Vanek picks up his 22nd point in his last 17 games. Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller made 34 saves.

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Montreal Canadiens
Ryan Whitney scored 6:46 into the game to put the Penguins up 1-0. Jarkko Ruutu scored an unassisted goal with 1:13 left in the opening period to give Pittsburgh a two goal advantage. Montreal captain Saku Koivu picked up his 12th goal of the year to cut their deficit in half. Ryan Malone put the Penguins back up by two with a power play goal at 6:59 in the second. Christopher Higgins would get Montreal closer on the Canadiens' second power play. Michael Ryder tied the score 21 seconds into the third period, and Roman Hamrlik gave Montreal their first lead of the game a few minutes later. Evgeni Malkin scored his 35th goal of the year to retie the score 4-4. Sergei Gonchar scored the go-ahead goal for Pittsburgh as they retake the lead 11 minutes through the final period, and take their third win in a row. Malkin and Whitney each had three points for the Penguins.

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Ottawa Senators
Cory Stillman scored in the opening minute of the game to give the Senators an early 1-0 lead. Rick Nash tied the score with his 32nd goal of the season 4:07 into the second period. Andrej Meszaros scored on Ottawa's power play to retake the lead for the Senators. Sergei Fedorov tied it up 5:28 into the third to send it to a shootout. Nash and Nikolai Zherdev each scored on Ottawa's Ray Emery. Pascal Leclaire stopped Daniel Alfredsson and Antoine Vermette. Columbus came from behind to win just their third game in 12.

Boston Bruins @ Florida Panthers
Jay Bouwmeester scored for Florida 2:40 into the game to give the Panthers an early lead. Marco Sturm tied the game early in the second period for Boston. Florida were up by 2 after Steve Montador and Rostislav Olesz each scored goals. Dennis Wideman cut the Florida lead in half on Boston's second power play, but Kamil Kreps put Florida back up by two with a second remaining in the second period. Zdeno Chara and Phil Kessel tied the score with goals 1:38 apart to send the game to overtime. Sturm scored on Tomas Vokoun for the only shootout goal, as Boston sneaks past the Florida Panthers, who have now lost their third straight.

Vancouver Canucks @ Nashville Predators
Kevin Bieksa made his return to the Canucks lineup tonight against the team he was playing when he suffered a deep gash to his right calf November 1. Mason Raymond put Vancouver ahead first in the closing minute of the opening period. Jason Arnott put Nashville on the board 5:42 into the second period on a 5-on-3 power play. Alexander Edler retook the lead for Vancouver on a Canucks power play 12:49 into the period, his 6th of the year, which was assisted by Raymond and Ryan Shannon. Marek Zidlicky gave Nashville their second power play goal to tie the score 2-2 and send it to a shootout. Raymond scored the only shootout goal on Nashville goalie Chris Mason. Roberto Luongo made 49 saves to keep Vancouver in the game, and stopped all three Nashville attempts in the shootout, as Vancouver picks up their third win in a row.

St. Louis Blues @ Los Angeles Kings
After a scoreless first period, the Kings had a flurry of goals in the second period. First, Anze Kopitar scored on Los Angeles' first power play of the game. Soon after, Alexander Frolov scored a pair of back-to-back goals. Patrick O'Sullivan, after assisting on the first three Kings goals, scored one of his own on Los Angeles' second power play, to give them a four goal lead after two periods. Frolov picked up a hat trick, deflecting a puck Mike Cammalleri shot, to give the Kings a 5-0 lead 3:31 into the third, which also gave O'Sullivan his 5th point of the night from an assist. Martin Rucinsky ruined Dan Cloutier's shutout attempt by scoring with 4:02 left in the game. Cammalleri had 3 points, assisting on all of Frolov's goals. Chris Beckford-Tseu made his NHL debut, replacing goaltender Manny Legace in the second period after giving up 4 goals in 19 shots. Cloutier, who filled in for the injured Jason LaBarbera, made 32 saves.

Other news
Philadelphia's Simon Gagne was told by concussion doctors that he should take the rest of the season off. Gagne, who has 18 points in 25 games this season, suffered his third concussion in 5 months on February 10 in a 4-3 loss to the Penguins.