National Hockey League news: February 18, 2008

Monday, February 18, 2008 

There were 8 games played in the National Hockey League on February 17, 2008, including the top two teams in the West, the Detroit Red Wings and the Dallas Stars, going head to head.

Game summaries

Colorado Avalanche @ Chicago Blackhawks

	1	2	3	Total
Colorado Avalanche	0	0	1	1
Chicago Blackhawks	1	1	0	2

Chicago scored first with a Dustin Byfuglien goal 4:48 into the first period. Martin Havlat would put the Blackhawks up early in the second period. A late game goal by Colorado would ruin the shutout for Chicago goaltender Patrick Lalime, when Jaroslav Hlinka managed to beat Lalime at 17:35 in the third period. Lalime, who stopped 21 of 22 shots, picked up a win, his 11th of the season. Chicago picked up their third straight victory; Colorado picked up their third straight loss.

San Jose Sharks @ New York Rangers

	1	2	3	Total
San Jose Sharks	1	0	0	1
New York Rangers	1	1	1	3

Jonathan Cheechoo scored first for the Sharks to give them an early 1-0 lead. Ryan Callahan would tie the score at 11:34 in the first period to tie the score. Chris Drury would score a goal on a Rangers power play to put New York up by 1 in the second period. Callahan would score his second goal of the game by shooting a puck into an empty net with two seconds left in the third period.

Detroit Red Wings @ Dallas Stars

	1	2	3	Total
Detroit Red Wings	0	0	0	0
Dallas Stars	0	0	1	1

Who would've thought that two teams, who have combined to score 375 goals this season, would only manage one in this game? Niklas Hagman beat Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard to break the scoreless tie 3:13 into the third period. That would be the only goal in the game, as Dallas, who have now won nine of their last ten games, give Detroit their sixth straight loss. Stars goalie Marty Turco picked up the shutout after stopping 28 shots.

Columbus Blue Jackets @ St. Louis Blues

	1	2	3	Total
Columbus Blue Jackets	1	0	0	1
St. Louis Blues	1	3	1	5

Matt Walker scored his first career NHL goal to put the Blues ahead in the first period. Columbus' Rick Nash would score his 31st goal of the season short handed to tie the score at 1 goal a piece. David Perron put St. Louis back in the lead early in the second period. Then, Brad Boyes scored on the power play to give St. Louis a two goal advantage. Andy McDonald and Keith Tkachuk each scored a power play goal to extend St. Louis' lead by 3. Manny Legace made 19 saves, and picked up an assist in the McDonald goal, in his 22nd win of the year. Eric Brewer had four assists, Erik Johnson had 2, and the Blues tied the season series with Columbus at three games each.

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Buffalo Sabres

	1	2	3	Total
Pittsburgh Penguins	0	2	2	4
Buffalo Sabres	0	1	0	1

Jarkko Ruutu broke the scoreless tie at 7:28 in the second period to put Pittsburgh on the board first. Petr Sykora would score two minutes later on a power play to put the Penguins up by 2 goals. Buffalo's only goal would come from Thomas Vanek at 14:45 in the second period to cut Pittsburgh's lead in half. Evgeni Malkin and Colby Armstrong each scored in the third period, and the Penguins took their third victory against the Sabres this season. Penguin goaltender Ty Conklin stopped 36 shots, and earned his 15th win of the season.

Montreal Canadiens @ Philadelphia Flyers

	1	2	3	Total
Montreal Canadiens	2	2	1	5
Philadelphia Flyers	1	1	1	3

Alexander Kovalev scored first for the Canadiens to give them the lead 6:18 into the game. Mike Richards would put the Flyers on the board on a short handed goal at 9:30 in the first. Francis Bouillon put Montreal in the lead with two seconds left in the first period. Philadelphia would tie the game at two goals a piece early in the second period when Braydon Coburn scored his 5th goal of the season. Michael Ryder would re-take the lead for Montreal when he scored less than two minutes later. Saku Koivu would extend the Canadiens' lead to 2 on a power-play goal just past the halfway point of the game. Maxim Lapierre would score a goal on an empty net at 18:36 in the third period. Riley Cote would add a Philadelphia goal about a minute later, but the damage was already done, as the Montreal Canadiens took their third straight victory and handed Philly their seventh straight loss.

Calgary Flames @ Anaheim Ducks

	1	2	3	Total
Calgary Flames	1	0	1	2
Anaheim Ducks	0	4	0	4

Daymond Langkow would give the Flames their only lead of the game at 15:10 in the first period on a power play goal. Ryan Getzlaf would score in the opening minute of the second period to tie the game. Ryan Carter would give the Ducks their first lead of the game 4:26 into the second period. That was followed by power play goals by Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger to give Anaheim a 3 goal lead by the end of the second period. Wayne Primeau would cut the Flames' deficit to two goals at 1:54 into the third period. Anaheim's two goal lead would hold as they pick up the victory at home. Teemu Selanne assisted in the Carter goal, his 670th point as a Duck, and his fourth point since returning to the Ducks on February 5. Chris Kunitz picked up a pair of assists, and Getzlaf had two points, assisting on Niedermeyer's game winning goal.

Nashville Predators @ Minnesota Wild

	1	2	3	OT	Total
Nashville Predators	1	0	2	0	4
Minnesota Wild	2	1	1	1	5

A goal by Jerred Smithson put the Predators on the board early, his 5th goal of the season. Petteri Nummelin would put the Wild on the scoreboard just past the half-way point of the first period on a break-away, assisted by Eric Belanger. Mark Parrish would give Minnesota their first lead of the game with 23 seconds left in the opening period. Pierre-Marc Bouchard would add to the Wild lead at 14:19 in the second period with a power play goal. Martin Erat would cut the Wild's lead in half at 4:05 in the third, but Marian Gaborik would score his 31st goal of the season on a delayed penalty to put the Wild back ahead by two moments later. Nashville would tie the game when Ryan Suter scored at 8:54 in the third period, and Shea Weber scored on a Predator power play at 14:05. No goals would be scored through the rest of regulation, so the game was sent into overtime. Pavol Demitra passed across to Gaborik, who beat Nashville goalie Chris Mason, to win it for the Wild with 4 seconds left in the 4-on-4 overtime. Gaborik had a three point night, with two goals and an assist on the Parrish goal.

Other news

The Blue Jackets activated Sergei Fedorov from injured reserve. Fedorov missed 13 games due to a concussion he suffered on January 17 in a game against the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Rangers signed defenseman Fedor Tyutin to a contract extension. Tyutin, who was drafted by the Rangers in 2001, has played in 228 games with New York, scored 14 goals, and assisted in 46. The Rangers have also inked contract extensions for defenseman Dan Girardi and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist this week.

Sources

Game summaries:

• "Game recap: Colorado @ Chicago" — NHL.com, February 17, 2008
• "Game recap: San Jose @ NY Rangers" — NHL.com, February 17, 2008
• "Game recap: Detroit @ Dallas" — NHL.com, February 17, 2008
• "Game recap: Columbus @ St. Louis" — NHL.com, February 17, 2008
• "Game recap: Pittsburgh @ Buffalo" — NHL.com, February 17, 2008
• "Game recap: Montreal @ Philadelphia" — NHL.com, February 17, 2008
• "Game recap: Calgary @ Anaheim" — NHL.com, February 17, 2008
• "Game recap: Nashville @ Minnesota" — NHL.com, February 17, 2008

Other news:

• Canadian Press. "Blue Jackets activate Fedorov, send Lindstrom to Syracuse" — NHL.com, February 17, 2008
• Canadian Press. "Rangers cap busy week of signings by agreeing to deal with D Tyutin" — NHL.com, February 17, 2008

Yesterday's NHL news:

• "National Hockey League news: February 17, 2008" — Wikinews, February 17, 2008