National Hockey League news: March 5, 2008

March 5, 2008

There were 10 games played in the National Hockey League on March 4, 2008.

Florida Panthers @ Boston Bruins
The game remained a scoreless tie until 22 seconds into the 4-on-4 sudden death overtime, when Nathan Horton put a wrist shot past Boston goalie Alexander Auld. Craig Anderson had his second straight start for the Panthers, and had his second straight shutout, stopping all of Boston's 40 shots. The Panthers had 32 shots on goal.

New York Islanders @ New York Rangers
Blake Comeau scored with 1:27 left in the first period to put the Islanders up going into the first intermission. Nigel Dawes scored a power play goal to tie the score, but less than a minute later, Sean Bergenheim scored to retake the lead for the Islanders. Trent Hunter scored two minutes later to put the Islanders up by 2. Chris Drury cut the Rangers' deficit in half when he scored a couple minutes after that. Ryan Callahan's scored a short handed goal 5:47 into the third period to tie the score and send it into overtime. In the shootout, Jeff Tambellini scored in the sixth round to win it for the Islanders. Wade Dubielewicz was the starting goaltender for the Islanders, and made 27 saves.

Buffalo Sabres @ Philadelphia Flyers
Jason Pominville put the Sabres on the board first with his 21st goal of the season. Maxim Afinogenov put Buffalo ahead by two later in the first period, but Philadelphia tied the score when Scottie Upshall and Steve Downie each scored. Derek Roy put the Sabres back on top early in the third period, which was closely followed by Pominville's second of the night. Afinogenov also scored his second goal of the night a few minutes later. Ryan Miller stopped 19 of Philadelphia's 21 shots, earning his 30th win of the season.

Chicago Blackhawks @ Minnesota Wild
Pavol Demitra scored the first goal of the game, 5:56 into the first period, to give the Wild the lead, but Jason Williams tied the score under a minute later for the Blackhawks. In the second period, Duncan Keith scored a goal to give the Blackhawks their first lead of the game. In the third, an early power play goal by Dustin Byfuglien put Chicago up by two, but the Wild would cut that lead in half when Stephane Veilleux scored a goal at 6:47 in the third period. Chicago would secure the victory with an empty net goal by Craig Adams with 16 seconds left in the game, giving the Blackhawks their second straight win, and snapping Minnesota's 3 game winning streak.

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Calgary Flames
Craig Conroy scored the only goal in the game, 5:49 into the third period, giving Calgary their third straight win. Columbus loses their second straight on the road. Miikka Kiprusoff stopped all of Columbus's 39 goals, earning his second shutout of the season. Pascal Leclaire made 18 saves for the Blue Jackets.

Nashville Predators @ Edmonton Oilers
Jean-Pierre Dumont scored in the opening minute of the game to give the Predators an early 1-0 lead. Martin Erat scored three goals in a row, first 3:48 in the first, then 13:09 in the same period, and finally less than a minute into the second period. Tom Gilbert put the Oilers on the board 5:45 into the third. Nashville added another goal when Ville Koistinen scored to retake a 4 goal lead for the Predators. Dan Ellis made 29 saves for the Predators, improving his record to 17-6-2. Erat's hat trick was the first in his NHL career.

New Jersey Devils @ Toronto Maple Leafs
Zach Parise broke a 4 game scoreless streak 11:22 into the first period. Brian Gionta put the Devils up by two with a power play goal in the second period. Nik Antropov put the Maple Leafs on the scoreboard later in the second period. The Devils scored twice less than two minutes apart, first David Clarkson's 8th of the season, then Parise's second of the night. Martin Brodeur made 41 saves for the Devils, Vesa Toskala gave up 4 goals on 25 shots for Toronto.

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Tampa Bay Lightning
Maxime Talbot broke a scoreless tie with less than 3 minutes remaining in regulation. Evgeni Malkin scored an empty net goal with 5 seconds left to secure Pittsburgh's victory. Sidney Crosby made his return to the Penguins lineup, scoring an assist on Talbot's goal. Talbot had two points, assisting on the empty net goal. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all of Tampa Bay's 35 shots, earning his third shutout of the season.

Los Angeles Kings @ St. Louis Blues
Andy McDonald scored early in the first period, giving the Blues their first lead of the game. With less than a minute left in the period, Los Angeles tied the score when Alexander Frolov scored his 20th goal of the season. Dustin Brown gave the Kings the lead 4:32 into the second period, but Keith Tkachuk retied the score over halfway through the second period. St. Louis would retake the lead when Ryan Johnson scored his 5th goal of the season, which ended up being the game winner. The Blues snapped a six game losing streak, while the Kings drop their 5th straight. Manny Legace made 30 saves for St. Louis, improving his record to 24-20-7.

Vancouver Canucks @ Colorado Avalanche
Paul Stastny scored 9:12 in the first period, giving the Avalanche the first lead of the game. Ryan Shannon scored a power play goal with 1:02 left in the second period, tying the score. John-Michael Liles scored a power play goal to re-take the lead for Colorado. That goal would prove to be the game winner, giving the Avalanche their fourth straight win, and the Canucks their fourth straight loss. Peter Forsberg played in his first game since last April, playing almost 20 minutes with three shots on goal for the night.