National Hockey League news: March 3, 2008

March 3, 2008

There were 7 games played in the National Hockey League on March 2, 2008.

Philadelphia Flyers @ New York Rangers
Vaclav Prospal put the Flyers on the scoreboard first early in the first period. Martin Straka scored a power play goal 4:20 into the first period to tie the score. Braydon Coburn scored a power play goal of his own to retake the lead for the Flyers. Fredrik Sjostrom retied the score at 11:36. Ryan Callahan scored a goal at 13:58, giving the Rangers their first lead of the game, but it wouldn't last long, as Jeff Carter scored for the Flyers less than two minutes later. Christian Backman retook the lead for the Rangers 1:51 into the second period. Carter scored his second goal of the game at 11:49 in the third period, which tied the score and forced overtime. In the shootout, Brendan Shanahan and Nigel Dawes each scored. Kimmo Timonen and Carter's attempts were unsuccessful, and the Rangers pick up their fourth win in a row, and snap Philadelphia's three game winning streak.

Vancouver Canucks @ Chicago Blackhawks
Andrew Ladd broke the scoreless tie 17:02 into the first period. In the second period, Patrick Kane scored his 15th goal of the season on a Blackhawks power play. Vancouver cut Chicago's lead in half at 18:31 in the second period when Ryan Kesler scored. In the third period, Patrick Sharp scored at 5:26. Chicago went up by 3 goals when Kane scored his second of the night at 9:24. Chicago outshot Vancouver 28-10; Vancouver only had 2 shots on goal in the first and third periods.

Florida Panthers @ New York Islanders
David Booth scored the only goal of the game for the Panthers, which came at 9:57 in the first period. Craig Anderson stopped all of the Islanders 53 shots, and made his third career shutout. Islanders goaltender Wade Dubielewicz, who filled in for first-string goaltender Rick DiPietro, who was a scratch, made 29 saves, only giving up the single goal.

Atlanta Thrashers @ Pittsburgh Penguins
In the opening minute of the first period, Ryan Malone scored his 23rd goal of the season to give the Penguins an early lead. Maxime Talbot put Pittsburgh ahead by two goals 1:19 later. Jim Slater put Atlanta on the board 14:25 into the first period. Atlanta also scored early the third period, a goal by Vyacheslav Kozlov that was assisted by the former penguin Colby Armstrong, to tie the score. In the shootout, Kris Letang scored the only goal, beating Kari Lehtonen with a backhand shot. Atlanta has now lost seven straight, and the Penguins earn their first win in 3 games.

Detroit Red Wings @ Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta scored his second career goal less than 3 minutes into the first period. Detroit tied it up with a Kirk Maltby goal at 11:56. The Wings took the lead in the second period when Valtteri Filppula scored a power play goal. Johan Franzen scored almost 10 minutes later to put Detroit ahead by 2. Buffalo cut the Detroit lead to 1 when Jason Pominville scored his 20th goal of the season on a Sabres power play in the third period, but Detroit answered with a goal by Kirk Maltby late in the period, which would secure Detroit's victory, breaking a 4 game losing streak. Former Sabres goalkeeper Dominik Hasek made 22 saves, and earned his 21st win of the season.

Los Angeles Kings @ Minnesota Wild
Los Angeles struck first when Mike Cammalleri scored with 2:07 left in the first period. Minnesota tied it up when captain Marian Gaborik scored his 34th goal of the season. This game eventually went to overtime, where Martin Skoula scored 3:45 into the 4-on-4 to give the Wild their third straight win. Los Angeles' goaltender Erik Ersberg had his first career start, stopping all but two of Minnesota's 35 shots. Niklas Backstrom made 27 saves for the Wild, improving his season record to 26-12-4.

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Edmonton Oilers
Rick Nash scored his 35th goal of the season to break the scoreless tie 16:39 into the first period. Twenty-three seconds later, Andrew Cogliano scored tied the game at 1 goal a side. The score remained tied until the second half of the third period, when Jason Chimera's goal reclaimed the lead for the Blue Jackets. Two goals 20 seconds apart put Edmonton in front, first a power play goal by Ales Hemsky, then defenseman Steve Staios's 7th goal of the season. Dick Tarnstrom retied the score with 2:39 left in regulation to send the game into overtime, and then a shootout. Hemsky scored the only shootout goal, which extended Edmonton's record for most shootout wins in a season to 14. Mathieu Garon made 35 saves, and also stopped all three Columbus shootout attempts.

Wikinews Player of the Day
Tonight's Wikinews Player of the Day is Craig Anderson of the Florida Panthers. Anderson, making his 12th appearance of the season filling in for the first-string goalkeeper Tomas Vokoun, allowed no goals and stopped 53 shots. His shutout is the third of his career, and his second of the season.

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