National Hockey League news: March 6, 2008

March 6, 2008

There were 6 games played in the National Hockey League on March 5, 2008.

Carolina Hurricanes @ Atlanta Thrashers
Chris Thorburn scored the first goal of the game for Atlanta, giving them a 1-0 lead 4:21 into the first period. Carolina took the lead before the first intermission; first, Scott Walker scored his 8th goal of the season, then Ryan Bayda scored with less than a minute left in the first period. Joe Corvo put the Hurricanes up by two goals early in the second period. Erik Cole scored just past the halfway point of the game to increase Carolina's lead to 3. Erik Christensen's goal put Atlanta within two before the second period was over. Eric Staal put Carolina back up by 3 in the third period. Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 43rd goal of the year for Atlanta, but Staal then scored his second of the night late in the game. Carolina outshot Atlanta 37-24. Cam Ward made 21 saves for the Hurricanes.

Washington Capitals @ Buffalo Sabres
Alexander Ovechkin broke a scoreless tie at 15:21 in the first period, giving Washington the first lead of the game. Ales Kotalik scored on a Sabres power play in the second period, but Washington answered right back 50 seconds later with a Nicklas Backstrom goal. Ovechkin scored his 54th goal of the season and his second of the night in the third period. Olaf Kolzig stopped 25 of Buffalo's 26 shots on goal.

St. Louis Blues @ Detroit Red Wings
Pavel Datsyuk scored the first goal of the game 5:28 into the first period, giving the Red Wings their first lead of the game. St. Louis tied the score late in the first period, when Erik Johnson scored his 4th goal of the season. Johan Franzen retook the lead for Detroit less than halfway through the second period. Brian Rafalski scored in his first game back from injury 6:11 into the third period, putting the Red Wings ahead by two goals. Datsyuk also scored an empty net goal with 1:31 left in the game to salt the victory for the Red Wings. Manny Legace allowed three goals on 31 shots for the Blues. Dominik Hasek made 18 saves, earning his 21st win of the season.

Anaheim Ducks @ Chicago Blackhawks
Dustin Byfuglien scored a power play goal to give the Blackhawks the first lead of the game 7:07 into the first period. Cam Barker increased their lead in the third period. Patrick Sharp scored an empty net goal with 1:31 left in the game. Corey Crawford, who made his first NHL career start, shutout the Ducks with 19 saves. The Ducks have lost their first in 7 games, and Chicago has a 3 game winning streak.

Phoenix Coyotes @ Dallas Stars
Peter Mueller put the Coyotes on the board 9:26 into the first period, which was his 20th goal of the season. Shane Doan scored early in the second period to put Phoenix up by 2. Dallas cut that lead in half later in the period with a goal by Brad Winchester, his first of the season. Ilja Bryzgalov made 20 saves, and improved his record to 25-19-2. The Stars drop their second straight home game.

Ottawa Senators @ San Jose Sharks
Jason Spezza broke the scoreless tie over halfway through the second period. Patrick Marleau scored for the Sharks would tie the score at 1-1 early in the third period. Spezza scored his second of the night to retake the lead for Ottawa, but San Jose rallied to tie the score on a Jonathan Cheechoo goal to force overtime. At 3:05 into the 4-on-4 overtime, Marleau trickled a puck past Martin Gerber, giving the Sharks their seventh straight win. San Jose outshot Ottawa 30-19 throughout the game, but did not have a lead until the game winning goal in sudden death overtime.

Wikinews Player of the Day
Today's Wikinews Player of the Day is Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. Ovechkin scored two of Washington's three goals, and made the hit that led to the other one, the game winner, in the Capitals' 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. He had over 20 minutes of time on ice, with 5 hits and 4 shots on goal. Ovechkin now has 54 goals on the season, and 10 points in his last 4 games.

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

Other news
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom announced that he is ready to return to the ice. Lidstrom has missed six games with a sprained knee after taking a hit in Detroit's 4-0 win against Colorado on February 18. It is expected that he will be in the lineup when the Nashville Predators come to Detroit on March 9.