National Hockey League news: March 28, 2008

March 28, 2008

There were 8 games played in the National Hockey League on March 27, 2008.

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Boston Bruins
Marco Sturm scored the first goal for the Bruins with 3:13 left in the first period. Toronto tied the score in the second period when Jiri Tlusty scored. Phil Kessel retook the lead for the Bruins 5:47 into the third. Glen Murray also scored for Boston 5 minutes later on a power play. Pavel Kubina scored a power play goal for the Maple Leafs with 4:59 left in the game, but the Bruins answered back 23 seconds later with a goal by Peter Schaefer. Tim Thomas made 30 saves and picked up the win for Boston.

New Jersey Devils @ New York Rangers
Brendan Shanahan scored a power play goal for the Rangers to break a scoreless tie 5:21 into the second period. Patrik Elias and Zach Parise each scored for the Devils to put them in the lead before the second period was over. In the third period, Christian Bäckman scored a power play goal for the Rangers at 1:38. Nigel Dawes scored to give New York the lead with 3:06 left in the game. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 32 of New Jersey's 34 shots, improving his record for the season to 35-23-8.

Buffalo Sabres @ Ottawa Senators
Jason Spezza scored first for the Senators, but the Sabres answered back 55 seconds later with a Maxim Afinogenov goal. Jochen Hecht gave the Sabres their first lead of the game when he scored a power play goal 12:45 into the first period. Mike Fisher scored a pair of goals to put Ottawa ahead. Paul Gaustad scored for Buffalo with 1:06 left in regulation, tying the score and forcing overtime. In the shootout, Jason Pominville scored in round 2 for Buffalo, Spezza tied it up for Ottawa as the first shooter in round 3, but Derek Roy scored the deciding goal, giving the Sabres the win. Ryan Miller picked up the win as Buffalo's goaltender.

New York Islanders @ Pittsburgh Penguins
Evgeni Malkin scored 6:53 into the game to put the Penguins in an early lead. Josef Vasicek scored the Islanders' only goal, which tied the score late in the first period. Jarkko Ruutu scored a shorthanded goal with 4:48 left in the second, and Georges Laraque scored 6:40 into the third, which lead the Penguins to the victory. Marc-Andre Fluery made 27 saves in his win for the Penguins. Ruutu had three points on the night, 1 goal and a pair of assists.

Washington Capitals @ Tampa Bay Lightning
Brooks Laich scored a shorthanded goal with 2:02 remaining in the first period, which gave the Capitals the first lead of the game. Tampa Bay answered back less than a minute later, when Jeff Halpern scored a power play goal to tie the score. Matt Bradley retook the lead for Washington 3:11 into the second period. Alexandre Picard scored to tie the score at the six minute mark of the second period. Michel Ouellet scored 6:51 into the third, which gave the Lightning their only lead of the game. Alexander Semin scored for Washington with 4:48 left in regulation to tie the score and force overtime. Tomas Fleischmann scored 2:27 into overtime, which gave Washington the win. Cristobal Huet stopped 23 of Tampa Bay's 26 shots, earning his 28th win of the season.

Atlanta Thrashers @ Florida Panthers
Bobby Holik scored with 8 seconds left in the first period, giving the Thrashers the first lead of the game. Florida's Nathan Horton tied the score just under 10 minutes into the second period. Mark Recchi scored to retake the lead for Atlanta in the third. Bobby Holik scored an empty net goal with 59 seconds left in regulation, putting the Thrashers up by 2. Florida came back within 1 when Radek Dvorak scored with three seconds remaining, but there wasn't enough time to score again, as the Thrashers pick up the win in Florida. Kari Lehtonen made 43 saves for the Thrashers.

Dallas Stars @ San Jose Sharks
Brenden Morrow scored his 30th goal for Dallas 15:59 into the first. Joe Pavelski tied the score 3:48 into the second period on a San Jose power play. Jere Lehtinen scored for the Stars on their power play later in the second period. Joe Thornton scored a third period goal for the Sharks to re-tie the score and force overtime. Thornton scored his second of the night 2:58 into the 4-on-4 sudden death overtime, giving the Sharks the win.

Phoenix Coyotes @ Los Angeles Kings
Kevin Dallman scored for Los Angeles 6:52 into the second, breaking a scoreless tie. Anze Kopitar scored a couple minutes later to put the Kings ahead by 2. Dustin Brown's power play goal added to the Kings' lead later in the second, and Rob Blake put Los Angeles ahead by 4 in the third period. Kopitar had a pair of assists to go with his goal, three points on the night total. Patrick O'Sullivan also picked up a pair of assists. Erik Ersberg made 38 saves and earned his second NHL career shutout.

Player of the Day
Today's Player of the Day is Jarkko Ruutu of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ruutu scored the game-tying goal in the second period, and assisted on both of Pittsburgh's other two goals in the Penguins' 3-1 win over the New York Islanders.

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

Related news
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