National Hockey League news: March 8, 2008

March 8, 2008

There were 5 games played in the National Hockey League on March 7, 2008.

Tampa Bay Lightning @ New Jersey Devils
Zach Parise scored the first goal for the Devils at 12:16 into the first period. Michel Ouellet tied the score late in the second period with a power play goal. The game remained tied through the rest of regulation, so it went to overtime. With less than a minute left in the 5 minute 4-on-4, Patrik Elias scored the game winner, giving the Devils their second straight win. The Lightning lost their fourth straight. The Devils outshot the Lightning 33-22. Martin Brodeur made 21 saves, earning his 37th win of the season. Elias had 2 points, assisting on Parise's goal.

Edmonton Oilers @ Columbus Blue Jackets
Edmonton broke a scoreless tie 11:02 into the second period when Fernando Pisani scored on an Oilers power play. With less than a second remaining in regulation, Dan Fritsche put a puck past Mathieu Garon, sending the game to overtime. Andrew Cogliano scored the game winner 1:53 into OT, giving the Oilers their 5th win in 6 games. The Blue Jackets have lost their third straight. Garon made 30 saves for the Oilers. The Blue Jackets outshot the Oilers 31-17.

Minnesota Wild @ Atlanta Thrashers
Brian Rolston scored the first goal of the game for Minnesota on a power play 10:47 through the first period, giving them a 1-0 lead they would hold through the second period. In the third period, Colby Armstrong tied the score for the Thrashers. Minnesota retook a lead with 2:22 left in the third period, but Ilya Kovalchuk pushed in a puck that trickled along the goal line behind Niklas Backstrom, to retie the score and send the game into overtime. In the shootout, Erik Christensen scored the only shootout goal of the night. Johan Hedberg made three stops, giving the Thrashers their first win in franchise history against the Minnesota Wild. The Thrashers also snap an 8 game winless streak. Minnesota has now lost their last three games.

San Jose Sharks @ Chicago Blackhawks
Brent Seabrook scored the first goal for Chicago on their first power play early in the first period. The Sharks tied the score just 17 seconds later when Jonathan Cheechoo scored his 22nd of the season. Kyle McLaren put the Sharks in the lead with his goal at 12:45 in the first period. Jonathan Toews scored his 19th goal of the season with 1:51 left in the first period, to re-tie the score going into the first intermission. Patrick Marleau retook the lead for the Sharks at 14:31 in the second period. Chicago thought they tied it up late in the third period, but the goal was reviewed and nullified because it was deflected in by Rene Bourque's glove instead of his stick. Evgeni Nabokov made 17 saves for the Sharks in his 38th win of the season. Blackhawks goalie Patrick Lalime made 20 saves. Joe Thornton had 3 points, assisting on all 3 San Jose goals.

Nashville Predators @ Calgary Flames
Craig Conroy scored an unassisted goal, breaking a scoreless tie over halfway through the second period. In the third period, Scott Nichol scored at 8:58 to tie the score. About two minutes into the sudden death overtime, J.P. Dumont scored to give the Predators the win. Dan Ellis stopped all but one of the Flames' 30 shots, and improved his record to 18-7-2. Miikka Kiprusoff had 34 saves for Calgary.

Player of the Day
Today's Player of the Day is Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks. Thornton assisted on all three of San Jose's goals in his team's 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. He currently leads the league in assists with 62, and is third in points with 81.

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