From Abdelkader to Zuccarello – 18 Feb 2011

Boston Bruins 6; New York Islanders 3
Tuukka Rask got the start last night for the Bruins as they ended a three-game losing streak. With 34 saves in the game Rask had a 0.919 save percentage – enough for the win and the second star of the game.

The Islanders saw a split in time with their goaltending that combined for 28 saves.

Los Angeles Kings 2; New York Rangers 3 (SO)

It is good to be King. Well if you’re King Hank.

Henrik Lundqvist recorded his 200th NHL win. They made him work for it as the game went to a shootout.

Rangers Brandon Dubinsky wasted no time taking a penalty for boarding that lead to a power play goal from Dustin Brown early in the first to put the Kings up over the Rangers.

Ryan Callahan tied it up early in the second and then a scoring drought took hold for both teams until Marian Gaborik put the Rangers up 2-1 in the third.

Detroit Red Wings 6; Tampa Bay Lightning 2

In what has been one of the most anticipated games of the season the Detroit Red Wings headed to Florida for their annual father son trip and made a stop in Tampa to see an old friend: Steve Yzerman.

Stevie Y.

The Captain.

Hockeytown reaches long beyond the city limits of Detroit as the sea of red in St. Pete Times Forum showed in last nights Red Wings / Lightning match up. The octopus even was sported at least twice on the ice in Tampa as Detroit powered through what some Red Wings fans are calling “Hockeytown South” during the MoTown beat down.

Montreal Canadiens 1; Edmonton Oilers 4

Canadiens defenseman James Wisniewski was taken to the hospital for observation after he took a puck to the face during the first period.

Vancouver Canucks 1; Nashville Predators 3

Hockey games may last 60 minutes but all 4 goals in this game took place in the last six minutes of the second period as the Predators hand the Canucks just their fourth regulation loss in 30 games.

Nashville’s Martin Erat opened the scoring only to see Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin tied the game back up with a power play goal a few minutes later. Less than ten seconds after Sedin’s goal Nick Spaling got the eventual game winner as new comer Mike Fisher topped off the scoring at the 19:11 mark in the second.

Canucks Roberto Luongo recorded a 0.885 save percentage with 23 saves in the loss to the Predators while Pekka Rinne stopped 35 of 36 shots for a 0.972 save percentage.

It’s a good thing that Canucks have a nice cushion of points a top the Western Conference as they have been hit by a nasty injury bug on their blue line.

Atlanta Thrashers 3; Phoenix Coyotes 4

The surging Coyotes have now made it six wins in a row with a defeat over the Thrashers. Even with the onslaught of injuries – like the late scratch of Taylor Pyatt that saw Lauri Korpikoski enter the line up. Korpoikoski ended up with a goal, and assist, a plus three and first star of the night honors.

Special teams made their mark on the game as the Thrashers scored two power play goals while the Coyotes opened the scoring for the game with a short handed goal from Eric Belanger.

A sixth win in a row is cause for celebration. Coyotes Sami Lepisto was kind enough to share with the world (via Twitter) how he treated himself after the game.

Washington Capitals 2; San Jose Sharks 3

Coming off a high scoring win the Capitals were unable to find that same spark in San Jose. The Sharks took the lead late in the first with a short handed goal from Joe Pavelski; while Alex Ovechkin wasted no time tying the game back up in the last minute of the period on the same power play.

After a scoreless second the Sharks scored an early third period goal and then a little over halfway though the period went up two on the Capitals with a power play goal from Dany Heatly when John Erskine was called for interference. In the last two minutes of play Nicklas Backstrom brought Washington within one of San Jose; however, it was not enough to send the game into extra time.

Up into the Netting

FOX Sports Carolinas announced that they will have live coverage of the Rod Brind’Amour Number Retirement Ceremony online today. Brind’Amour’s number 17 will be raised to the rafters in the RBC Center in a pre game ceremony that will begin at 7:00 p.m. EST before the 8:00 p.m. game versus the Philadelphia Flyers. Along with streaming the event live at FOX Sports Carolinas reporter Andrew Jones will tweet throughout the ceremony with fan reactions along with giving a feel for the atmosphere within the arena. You can follow on twitter with the official Twitter hash tag #CanesRetire17

A great piece by Mike Colligan on there being more to Mario Lemieux’s statement and Kerry Fraser‘s take.

Did the NHL contribute to the brawl?

Ottawa Senators are sending Jarkko Ruutu packing. The Senators have traded Ruutu to the Anaheim Ducks where he will join fellow bronze medal winning Finnish Olympic teammates Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu for a 6th round draft pick.

Maybe it is time for some Respect and other things…

Justin Johnson sat down for an interview with Comcast Spectacor President/COO Peter Luukko.

The 2011 Heritage Classic viewer guide. Do not forget American readers the Heritage Classic will take place during Hockey Weekend Across America this weekend.

As day one of Hockey Weekend Across America today is wear your jersey to work/school day; so what better day to take a look at Janne Virtanen’s Jerseys are more than something you wear for a game.

Who do you think were the Top Ten NHL Lines?

Is there enough being done about head injuries in the NHL?