National Hockey League news: March 7, 2008

March 7, 2008

There were 9 games played in the National Hockey League on March 6, 2008.

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Boston Bruins
The Bruins scored the first goal and the last goal, but the Maple Leafs scored 8 in between them. Peter Schaefer scored for the Bruins 11:40 into the first period. Toronto tied the score when Jason Blake scored a power play goal a few minutes later. In the second period, Alexei Ponikarovsky scored at 1:17 to give Toronto the lead, then Bryan McCabe scored at 4:48 on a Maple Leafs power play. Matt Stajan put Toronto up by three at 8:05, and Nik Antropov scored his 25th of the season at 11:50. Darcy Tucker also scored a power play goal 6:44 into the third period, followed by Antropov's second of the night. The Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin scored his team's final goal of the night with less than five minutes remaining in the game. Phil Kessel gave Boston their second goal with 36 seconds left in the game. This is the second time in three games that the Boston Bruins have given up a large number of goals in a game; they lost in Washington by a score of 10-2 on March 3. They have now lost three straight.

New York Rangers @ New York Islanders
Brendan Shanahan scored the first goal 1:29 into the first period to give the Rangers an early lead. Sean Avery gave the Rangers a two goal lead going into the first intermission. The Islanders got on the board in the second period, when Sean Bergenheim scored his 9th goal of the season. Scott Gomez scored his 15th of the season 1:12 into the third period. Avery scored an empty net goal with 58 seconds left to secure the Rangers' victory with a three goal lead. Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for the Rangers.

Tampa Bay Lightning @ Philadelphia Flyers
Jussi Jokinen scored 31 seconds into the game for the Lightning, his first goal since his trade deadline move from Dallas. Philadelphia tied the score when Daniel Briere scored his 23rd goal of the season. Jeff Carter's goal a couple minutes later gave the Flyers their first lead of the game. Michel Ouellet scored 8:18 into the second period, which tied the score. With 1:56 remaining in the game, the Flyers retook the lead with Carter's second goal of the night.

Minnesota Wild @ Carolina Hurricanes
Matt Cullen gave the Hurricanes the lead 12:30 into the first period. Scott Walker's goal 1:39 later put Carolina ahead by two. Minnesota was able to cut Carolina's lead in half before the intermission; Pavol Demitra scored his 15th goal of the season with 1:58 left in the first period. The Wild struck again after the intermission; Mikko Koivu scored his 10th goal of the season 19 seconds into the second period. Carolina retook the lead later in the second period, Erik Cole's 19th of the season made it 3-2 Hurricanes. Cam Ward made the 1 goal lead stand, with the Wild outshooting the Hurricanes 9-2 in the third period. The Wild are winless when playing the Hurricanes in Raleigh; this was their third away game against Carolina since entering the NHL during the 2000-01 season.

Anaheim Ducks @ Colorado Avalanche
Wojtek Wolski scored the only goal, which came almost 12 minutes into the second period; Andrew Brunette and Paul Stastny each assisted on the goal. Jose Theodore stopped all 27 of Anaheim's shots to earn his fifth straight win. Jonas Hiller stopped all but 1 of Colorado's 30 shots on goal. The Ducks lost their second straight game, but they have only lost three in their past 14 games. The Avalanche picked up their fifth win in 5 games.

Montreal Canadiens @ Phoenix Coyotes
Tomas Plekanec broke a scoreless tie 6:03 into the second period. Shane Doan tied the score on a Coyotes power play 4 minutes later. Zbynek Michalek gave Phoenix the lead when he scored 3:54 into the third. Saku Koivu scored a power play goal to tie the score at 6:38. Andrei Markov scored a power play goal of his own a few minutes later, retaking the lead for Montreal. Sergei Kostitsyn gave the Canadiens a 2 goal lead with 1:41 left in the game. Carey Price made 37 saves for Montreal, and earned his sixteenth win of the season.

Nashville Predators @ Vancouver Canucks
Alex Burrows scored a short handed goal just 37 seconds into the game, giving Vancouver an early 1-0 lead. The Canucks took a 2 goal lead when Alexander Edler scored a power play goal at 4:11. Just 14 seconds later, Nashville went on the board when Vernon Fiddler scored a short handed goal. Matt Pettinger put the Canucks back ahead by two goals at 6:09, but Greg de Vries scored just 12 seconds after that, making it a 1 goal game again. Kevin Bieksa put Vancouver back up by 2 later in the first period. Mason Raymond scored an unassisted goal 1:33 into the second period, and Ryan Shannon scored a power play goal in the third. Roberto Luongo made 21 saves, improving his record to 29-20-9. Nashville snaps a two game win streak, while Vancouver snaps a 4 game winless streak.

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Florida Panthers
David Booth scored the first goal of the game at 4:19. Less than a minute later, Rostislav Olesz scored his 12th goal of the season. Ryan Malone's goal cut the Panthers' lead in half less than two minutes after that. Stephen Weiss put the Panthers back up by two goals late in the first period. Brett McLean increased Florida's lead to 3 about three and a half minutes into the second period. Kristopher Letang's goal about halfway through the period brought the Penguins within 2. The Florida Panthers added an empty net goal in the closing minute of the game by Bryan Allen. Sidney Crosby assisted on the Letang goal, which was his second point in 2 games since his return to the lineup from a high ankle sprain. The Panthers have won their third in three games. Craig Anderson stopped all but 2 of Pittsburgh's 27 shots, and earned his fourth straight win.

Ottawa Senators @ Los Angeles Kings
Alexander Frolov broke the scoreless tie 8:10 into the second period. Patrick O'Sullivan scored Los Angeles' other goal, an empty net goal with 5 seconds left. Erik Ersberg made 40 saves for the Kings, earning his first NHL career win and shutout. Martin Gerber allowed just 1 of 31 shots for the Senators. This is the third straight loss for the Senators, all of which have come against Western conference teams. They will finish their 4 game road trip in Phoenix, another Western conference team on Saturday.

Wikinews Player of the Day
Today's Wikinews Player of the Day is Erik Ersberg of the Los Angeles Kings. Ersberg, who made his 4th career start, stopped all 40 of the Ottawa Senators' shots in the Kings' 2-0 win. He also earned his first NHL career shutout and win.

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