National Hockey League news: March 16, 2008

March 16, 2008

There were 10 games played in the National Hockey League on March 15, 2008.

Philadelphia Flyers @ Boston Bruins
Chuck Kobasew scored first for Boston 12:21 into the first period. Mike Richards tied the score with his 24th goal of the season. Daniel Brière's goal 12:25 into the second period gave the Flyers their first lead of the game. Andrew Ference tied the score with 27 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. In the 4-on-4, Aaron Ward scored to give the Bruins the win.

Nashville Predators @ Detroit Red Wings
Dan Hamhuis scored first for the Predators 10:27 into the first period. Detroit tied it up before the first intermission when Niklas Kronvall scored. Nashville retook the lead with Rich Peverley's goal 6:10 into the second period. Nashville took a two goal lead late in the third with a Jerred Smithson empty net goal.

New Jersey Devils @ Colorado Avalanche
New Jersey broke a scoreless tie with a Dainius Zubrus goal. Paul Stastny put the Avalanche on the board and tied the score at one goal apiece. Jay Pandolfo retook a lead for the Devils a couple minutes later. In the third period, Jamie Langenbrunner and John Madden each scored for New Jersey, putting them ahead by 3. Colorado added a goal when John-Michael Liles scored on the power play.

Vancouver Canucks @ Dallas Stars
Matt Pettinger put the Canucks on the board early in the first period. Ryan Kesler scored a power play goal to put Vancouver up by 2, then Markus Naslund scored a goal a couple minutes later to give the Canucks a three goal lead. Dallas went on the board before the period ended, when Joel Lundqvist scored with 14 seconds left in the first period. Mike Modano brought the Stars within 1 goal 7:35 into the second period on a power play goal. Later in the second period, Brad Richards scored a shorthanded goal to tie the score. Brendan Morrison retook the lead for the Canucks early in the third, a goal that turned out to be the game winner. Morrison had three points, assisting on the first two Vancouver goals.

Buffalo Sabres @ Toronto Maple Leafs
Ales Kotalik scored first for Buffalo on a Sabres power play 7:06 into the game. Toronto tied it up a few minutes later when Ian White scored. Just 45 seconds later, Jochen Hecht retook the lead for Buffalo. Drew Stafford scored a few minutes later, putting the Sabres up by 2 going into the first intermission. After a goal-less second period, Toronto came within 1 when Jiri Tlusty scored a power play goal 7:29 into the third. The Sabres scored three goals in the second half of the period, first Jason Pominville's 24th of the season, then Daniel Paille's 18th, and finally Henrik Tallinder's first of the year, which he scored on an empty net.

New York Islanders @ Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens broke a scoreless tie when Roman Hamrlik scored a power play goal 7:04 into the second period. Alex Kovalev put the Canadiens up by 2 early in the third, then Guillaume Latendresse also scored for Montreal to put them ahead by three. Jaroslav Halak made the start for Montreal between the pipes, and stopped all of the Islanders' 30 shots, picking up his third career shutout, and the first one of this season.

New York Rangers @ Tampa Bay Lightning
Alexandre Picard scored with less than a minute left in the second period. Martin St. Louis scored a power play goal 6:40 into the third period, then Michel Ouellet added an empty net goal with 58 seconds left in regulation. Mike Smith made 20 saves for Tampa, and earned his third shutout of the season.

Los Angeles Kings @ Minnesota Wild
Brian Rolston scored his 27th goal of the season to break a scoreless tie 14:11 into the second period. The Wild added a second goal by captain Marian Gaborik with 4:04 left in regulation, which was his 36th of the season. Niklas Backstrom made 24 saves, improving his record to 27-13-7, and earning his 3rd shutout of the season.

Edmonton Oilers @ Phoenix Coyotes
Ales Hemsky scored a power play goal for the Oilers 6:17 into the first period. Shane Doan had a power play goal early in the second period, tying the score. Joni Pitkanen put Edmonton back on top 7:45 into the second. Kyle Brodziak scored the Oilers' second goal of the second period with 4:46 left on the clock. Marty Reasoner put the Oilers up by 3 in the third period. Phoenix added a late goal by Mathias Tjarnqvist to come within 2, but Fernando Pisani scored an empty net goal for the Oilers, securing the win.

St. Louis Blues @ Anaheim Ducks
Mathieu Schneider broke a scoreless tie with less than a minute to go in the first period, putting the Ducks ahead by 1. St. Louis tied the score early in the second with a Jamal Mayers goal. Teemu Selanne scored a power play goal to put the Ducks back on top in the second period. The Blues tied the score back up when Jeff Woywitka scored his first of the season. A pair of goals by Rob Niedermayer in the third period put the Ducks ahead by 2. Ryan Getzlaf also scored with 1:38 left in regulation.

Player of the Day
Today's Player of the Day is Brendan Morrison of the Vancouver Canucks. Morrison assisted in two of Vancouver's three first period goals, and scored the game winning goal in the third period of Vancouver's 4-3 defeat of the Dallas Stars. It was Morrison's first three-point game since February 18, 2007, where Morrison also scored the game winning goal.

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

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