Johan Hedberg stopped 28 of 29 shots to help the New Jersey Devils defeat the Atlanta Thrashers 3-1. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Devils. It was also the first win for coach Jacques Lemaire since he took over for recently fired John MacLean. Mark Fayne, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Ilya Kovalchuch had goals for the Devils. Dustin Byfuglien scored his 15th goal of the year for Atlanta. He leads all NHL defensemen with 40 points. Goalie Chris Mason took the loss.
James Wisniewski deflected a Michael Cammalleri shot for the game-winning goal in overtime to give the Montreal Canadians a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. Wisniewski was playing in only his second game with Montreal since being acquired in a trade with the New York Islanders earlier this week. He also scored a power play goal and added an assist in the second period. The Panthers took an early 2-0 lead with goals from Stephen Weiss and Dmitri Kulikov. But Montreal then dominated the rest of the game. Alex Auld stopped twenty shots for the win. Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun played well in the loss, blocking 45 of 48 shots.
Pekka Rinne made 22 saves to earn his first win since coming back from a knee injury, as the Nashville Predators defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1. Rinne had lost his previous three starts. Patric Hornqvist, after failing to register a point last night on 14 SOG, tipped in a Shea Weber shot to give the Preds a 2-0 lead. Minnesota's Chuck Kobasew made it a one goal game when he scored at 18:06 of the third period. But the Preds sealed the victory with empty net goals from Joel Ward and Sergei Kostitsyn in the final minute. Cody Franson also scored for Nashville. Niklas Backstrom saved 28 of 30 shots in the loss.
Jakub Voracek put a wrist shot past past goalie Brian Elliott's leg pads in overtime as the Columbus Blue Jackets ousted the Ottawa Senators 4-3. Voracek, who was a healthy scratch the past two games, also added an assist. The Blue Jackets had a 3-0 lead midway through the second-period on goals from R.J. Umberger, Rick Nash, and Samuel Pahlsson. But the Senators stormed back on an unassisted second-period wrist shot by Mike Fisher, and third- period goals from Nick Foligno and Daniel Alfreddson, the latter a wrist shot with just over a minute left in regulation. Elliot stopped 19 shots for the Senators. Steve Mason in the win saved 35 of 38 shots for Columbus.
Jason Blake and Lubomir Visnovsky each netted two goals and added two assists to lead the Anaheim Ducks to a convincing 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Teemu Salanne, Saku Koivu, and Toni Lydman also had two assists apiece. Rookie goalie Sergei Bobrovsky
continued his recent poor play, stopping only 22-27 shots. The lone goal scorers for the Flyers were Andreas Nodl and Jeff Carter, who also added an assist. Jonas Hiller was brilliant behind the net again, stopping 35 Flyer shots.
Backup goalie Cory Schneider was phenomenal, stopping 44 of 45 shots to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars. It was Vancouver's fourth consecutive win. Dallas netminder Kari Lehtonen suffered his second difficult game in the past two nights and was pulled after allowing four goals on only ten shots. He was relieved by Andrew Raycroft who saved all eight shots he faced. Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Raffi Torres, and Kevin Bieksa all scored for Vancouver. Brenden Morrow's power play goal was the only marker for the Stars.
Alexander Steen scored a goal and added an assist, and Jaroslav Halak made 30 saves as the St. Louis Blues won their fifth straight game beating the Phoenix Coyotes 4-3. Brad Boyes, Erik Johnson, and Alex Pietrangelo also scored, and Barret Jackman added two helpers for the Blues. Shane Doan potted two goals, Laurie Korpikoski scored once, and Scottie Upshall had two assists for the Yotes. Ilya Bryzgalov took the loss, saving 18 of 22 shots.
Tom Kostopoulos and Tim Jackman each had a goal and an assist as the Calgary Flames got the best of the Colorado Avalanche 3-2. Mikka Kiprusoff stopped 19 of 21 shots for the win. Jerome Iginla continued his strong December play, netting a goal. Daniel Winnik and Tomas Fleischmann scored third-period goals but the Avalanche rally fell short. Craig Anderson made 23 saves in the loss.
P.A. Parenteau lifted a snap shot passed goalie Jimmy Howard in overtime as the New York Islanders defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-3. The Isles, arguably the NHL's weakest team, has beaten the Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins in consecutive nights. Dwayne Roloson was stellar, stopping 38 of 41 shots. Despite winning only six of 19 games, he maintains a decent .916 SV% and a 2.64 GAA. John Tavares, who recently broke out of a lengthy slump, had a goal and two assists. Matt Moulson and Jesse Joensu also scored for the Isles. Detroit rookie Tomas Tatar scored his first goal in his NHL debut. Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula also netted goals for the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard was only able to stop 19 of 23 shots in the loss.
NHL Nomads:
The Montreal Canadians traded fan favorite Maxim Lapierre to the Anaheim Ducks for Brett Festerling and a 2012 fifth round pick.
Edmonton sent Linus Omark down to Oklahoma City.
Phoenix sent Brett MacLean down to the San Antonio Rampage.
After clearing waivers, Canuck's defenseman Ryan Parent has been sent down to the minors.
Florida center Steve Reinprecht was placed on waivers.
Edmonton defenseman Shawn Bell has been called up from Oklahoma City.
Injuries:
Evander Kane returned to action after missing his last game with an injured arm.
Devil's Colin White missed tonight's game because of the flu. He remains doubtful for Sunday.
Carolina forward Jussi Jokinen will probably miss Saturday's game with a lower body injury.
Carolina defenseman Joni Pitkanen is also doubtful for tomorrow's game. He is suffering from the flu and also has a lower body injury.
Red Wing center Patrick Eaves suffered an upper body injury after scoring a hat trick on Wednesday. He is considered day-to-day.
The Islanders placed defenseman Radek Martinek on IR with a wrist injury.
Fantasy Futility:
Richard Peverly minus 3 +/-
Andrew Ladd minus 3 +/-
Cam Barker minus 3 +/-
Danny Briere minus 3 +/-
Mike Richards minus 3 +/-
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