National Hockey League news: March 13, 2008

March 13, 2008

There were 6 games played in the National Hockey League on March 12, 2008.

Buffalo Sabres @ Pittsburgh Penguins
Tyler Kennedy put the Penguins ahead 3:30 into the first period. In the second period, Pittsburgh scored twice, first when Jeff Taffe scored his 5th of the season, then when Sergei Gonchar scored on a power play in the closing minutes of the period. In the third period, the Penguins got off to an early start when Petr Sykora scored a power play goal less than a minute into the period. Jochen Hecht put the Sabres on the board with his 18th of the season. Daniel Paille scored a short handed goal for Buffalo, bringing them within 2. Evgeni Malkin scored a power play goal for the penguins 8:56 into the third period. Just past the halfway point of the third, Chris Minard put the Penguins up by 4. The Sabres answered back 46 seconds later with Paille's second goal of the night. Kristopher Letang added a goal for Pittsburgh a few minutes later.

New York Islanders @ Florida Panthers
Bill Guerin broke a scoreless tie 28 seconds into the second period, giving the Islanders the only lead they would have for the game. Florida answered back less than a minute later, when Kamil Kreps scored to tie the game. Just over a minute into the third period, Stephen Weiss put the Panthers in the lead with his 12th goal of the season. Blake Comeau tied the score for the Islanders on a New York power play. Just 1:04 later, Karlis Skrastins scored an unassisted goal, retaking the lead for the Panthers. Brett McLean scored an empty net goal in the closing minute of the game, securing the victory for Florida. The Panthers have now won 5 straight, while the Islanders drop their 4th straight, and their 8th in 10 games.

Carolina Hurricanes @ Chicago Blackhawks
Erik Cole scored first in Carolina's three-goal first period. He scored a power play goal 8:57 into the period, assisted by Sergei Samsonov and Eric Staal. Matt Cullen was assisted by Staal in his 13th goal of the season just past the halfway point of the period. Staal scored a goal of his own with 7:15 left in the first, his third point of the night. Cam Ward made 25 saves for the Hurricanes. That's shutout number 4 on the season and 6 of his career for Ward, who is in his third season. It was also his fiftieth career win.

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Philadelphia Flyers
Ian White scored first for Toronto, giving them a 1-0 lead 3:55 into the game. Later in the first period, Pittsburgh tied the score when Jeff Carter scored an unassisted goal. The Maple Leafs retook the lead under 12 minutes into the period, when Alexei Ponikarovsky scored his 16th of the season. Mike Knuble tied the score with a power play just over halfway through the second period, which was his 26th goal of the season. Toronto went back on top early in the third, Pavel Kubina's power play goal made it 3-2, which is how the score remained through the rest of the game. Vesa Toskala made 18 saves on 20 shots, and picked up his 29th win of the season.

Calgary Flames @ Washington Capitals
Washington struck first; Viktor Kozlov scored just 53 seconds into the game. Jarome Iginla tied the score with a power play goal with 45 seconds left in the opening period. Kristian Huselius gave the Flames their first lead of the game 8:57 into the second. The Capitals tied it up late in the period, when Alex Ovechkin scored his first of 2 power play goals on the night. He would score his second late in the third period, which would prove to be the game winner. Mike Green also earned assists on both Ovechkin goals. Olaf Kolzig made 24 saves on the night, earning his 24th win of the season. Washington has 11 games left on the regular season schedule, and Ovechkin, who now has 56 goals on the season, is on track to pick up his 60th before the season ends.

Vancouver Canucks @ Anaheim Ducks
Todd Marchant put the Ducks on the scoreboard first, his 8th of the season made it 1-0 just past the halfway point of the first period. Travis Moen scored a shorthanded goal to put the Ducks up by 2 a few minutes later. Rob Niedermayer scored to put Anaheim ahead by 3 in the first period, but Vancouver would get one just after that; Mason Raymond put the Canucks on the board going into the first intermission. In the second period, Doug Weight scored a power play goal at 4:03, putting the Ducks back up by 3. Jonas Hiller made the start for Anaheim, picked up his 7th win of the season, and also assisted on the first goal of the game. Marchant assisted on the Moen shorthanded goal, making this his first multi-point game of the season.

Player of the Day
Today's Player of the Day is Eric Staal of the Carolina Hurricanes. Staal had 3 points on 2 assists and a goal. He assisted on the game winning goal, the first goal of the game, and scored the final goal of the game in Carolina's 3-0 shutout win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

For information on the selection process of the Player of the Day, see this page.