Daily Review for January 18, 2010

Last night there were twenty teams in action around the NHL, with the Buffalo Sabres and San Jose Sharks posting blowout wins over their respected opponents.

Ottawa Senators @ Boston Bruins
Starting off with the Boston Bruins hosting the Ottawa Senators for a matinee matchup. The one was all Daniel Alfredsson, who scored a natural hat trick in his second game back after returning from a shoulder injury. Alex Kovalev and Johnathan Cheechoo also tallied for the Sens. The final score was 5-2.
Boston netminder Tim Thomas was chased from the game after allowing three goals on nine shots. This was Ottawa's first win of the season over their divisonal rivals. The teams are now tied in the standings with 54 points.

New Jersey Devils @ New York Islanders
The New York Islanders pulled out a shutout win over the New Jersey Devils last night. Matt Moulson lit the lamp twice and the Isles were supported with stellar netminding from long term injury returnee, Rick Dipietro. This was DiPietro's first shutout in almost two years.
It was the fourth straight win for the Islanders, who took this one by a score of 4-0.

Tampa Bay Lightning @ Carolina Hurricanes
Tampa Bay snapped its eight game losing streak against the NHL bottom dwelling, Carolina Hurricanes by the score of 3-2. Ryan Malone, Vincent Lecalvalier, and Steve Downie tallied for the Bolts, while Chad Larose and Matt Cullen scored for Carolina.

St. Louis Blues @ Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets pulled out a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues, highlighted by Rick Nash scoring to collect his 400th career point. Raffi Torres scored two goals with Chris Clark adding another for the Blue Jackets, while veterans Paul Kariya and Keith Tkachuk each scored for St. Louis.

Buffalo Sabres @ Phoenix Coyotes
Buffalo scored their way to an impressive 7-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale last night, moving them into a tie with the Washington Capitals for top spot in the Eastern Coference standings.
The usually solid Ilya Bryzgalov was pulled from his duties in the second period, after allowing three soft goals on just thirteen shots.
Phoenix goals were scored by Shane Doan and Radim Vrbata, while Pominville netted two and Tyler Myers, Butler, Kaleta, Hecht, and Vanek each added a goal.

Atlanta Thrashers @ Florida Panthers
Tomas Vokoun helped the Florida Panthers to their third consecutive win last night, with a 27 save shutout performance against the reeling Atlanta Thrashers. Gregory Campbell scored the only goal of the game, but it was all that was needed for Florida to squeek out a 1-0 win.

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Nashville Predators
The lowly Toronto Maple Leafs made a rare trip to the home of the Nashville Predators, barely pulling off a 4-3 win after squandering a 3-0 lead. Phil Kessel ended up the hero, after scoring the game winning goal for Toronto, and breaking a nine game scoring slump. Niklas Hagman, Alexi Ponikarovsky and Matt Stajan also scored for the Leafs, while Marcel Goc, Franson, and Ryan Jones each collected a marker for Nashville.

Minnesota Wild @ Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars pulled off a 4-3 win at home despite a third period push from the Wild. Mike Modano scored his 551st goal, with Loui Eriksson, Wandell, and Niskanen adding Dallas' other goals.
Antti Miettinen scored two and Mikko Koivu added Minnesota's third goal. Niklas Backstrom was also pulled from the game midway.

Edmonton Oilers @ Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche skated to an easy 6-0 win over the free-falling Edmonton Oilers, who have only one win in their last fifteen games. Craig Anderson was brilliant in goal for the Avalanche, gaining his fourth shutout of the season.
Matt Duchene had three points on the night, moving him past John Tavares for the rookie scoring lead. Cumisky's two goals along with tallies from Liles and Stewart rounded out the scoring for Colorado in this one sided affair. Colorado now holds a four point lead for top spot in the Northwest division.

Calgary Flames @ San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks put on a scoring clinic against the Calgary Flames, winning 9-1 on Monday night. A franchise high eight different players scored for the Sharks, with Dany Heatley scoring his 28th and 29th goals. Pavelski, Nichol, Ortmeyer, Blake, Malhotra, Clowe, and Setoguchi rounded out the scoring for San Jose, while Robyn Regehr scored the lone goal for Calgary. With the win, San Jose is once again tied with Chicago for the best record in the NHL.