Box Scorin’ – Where Chris Pronger Heroics Happen!

Here are your game recaps for March 13th, 2010.

Philadelphia Flyers 3, Chicago Blackhawks 2

With the scored tied at 2-2, this Eastern Conference rivalry was a surefire bet to head into overtime, but Chris Pronger had other ideas. With just seconds remaining, a horrendous Chicago backcheck lead to a 4 on 2 Flyers break, and Claude Giroux found a wide open Chris Pronger on the far pipe to give the Flyers a big win at the Wachovia Center. Michael Leighton stopped 39 of 41 shots for Philly, who are making a frantic surge to end the season in an effort to possibly catch New Jersey and Ottawa in the standings.

Florida Panthers 3, San Jose Sharks 2

The Sharks took an early two goal lead, but Tomas Vokoun was stellar in the end game and the Panthers answered with three consecutive goals to win the game, the last coming in overtime. Bryan Allen beat Thomas Greiss, who replaced Evgeni Nabokov in the lineup tonight. After taking the dreaded two goal lead, San Jose began to look disinterested, and Florida’s effort on both ends of the ice eventually wore down the Sharks. Both Bryan Allen and Shawn Matthias had a goal and assist for Florida.

Detroit Red Wings 3, Buffalo Sabres 2

Detroit blew a two goal lead, but Brian Rafalski saved the day in overtime on a power play all thanks to a senseless Tyler Myers delay of game penalty just minutes prior. Jochen Hecht had both scores for Buffalo, and Jason Pominville assisted on both, but it wasn’t enough against a Red Wings team that seemed to want it more the entire night. Ryan Miller gave up two early goals to Pavel Datsyuk and Patty Eaves, but was solid for the rest of the night.

New York Islanders 4, New Jersey Devils 2

Jon Sim and Mark Streit scored goals just a minute apart, and the Islanders managed to snap a four game slide against the Martin Brodeur-less Devils. Yann Danis struggled in Marty’s night off, but still had a chance when Ilya Kovalchuk’s absolute bomb of a one timer beat Dwayne Roloson in the third. Sean Bergenheim managed to help the Islanders pull away minutes later, though, when he scored shorthanded. The Islanders did it all without their grizzled veteran Doug Weight, who will undergo season(and possibly career) ending surgery.

Phoenix Coyotes 4, Carolina Hurricanes 0

The Hurricanes have been one of the tougher teams to beat as of late, and at home they’ve been terrific, making it hard to believe a team could come into the raucous RBC Center and blow them out. Lee Stempniak, who seems set on making Leafs fans more and more pissed off with every goal he scores in Phoenix, and Martin Hanzal both scored a pair of goals, and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped all 29 shots to earn yet another shutout.

St. Louis Blues 5, Columbus Blue Jackets 1

The Blue Jackets continue to look like one of the worst teams in the entire National Hockey League after every performance, and tonight’s showing – or lack thereof - furthers such beliefs. Andy McDonald had a goal and two assists, and scoring was pretty balanced throughout all four lines in a very balanced win for the Blues. Samuel Pahlsson had a rough night for Columbus at -3

Montreal Canadiens 3, Boston Bruins 2

Boston’s played well as of late even with Marc Savard on the shelf for the rest of the season, but a loss to the Montreal Canadiens statistically reduces their chances of making the playoffs by a whopping ten percent, per SportsClubStats. Tuukka Rask had the blunder of the night after he misplayed a puck that caromed off the wall, ending with a Sergei Kostitsyn tap in. Milan Lucic cut the lead to one after his goal late, but Jaroslav Halak shut the Bruins down the rest of the way, including some downright highway robbery on a streaking Marco Sturm with just minutes left.

Toronto Maple Leafs 6, Edmonton Oilers 4

I can pretty much explain this game in one  sentence – a bad team with no first round draft picks and no say in the upcoming draft pummeled a team with a first round pick and plenty of say in the upcoming draft. Neither Gustavsson or Deslauriers looked like NHL capable goalies, but credit to the Leafs who are now winners of four straight. The Kulemin/Kessel/Bozak line was responsible for eight points, including four goals. Dustin Penner had three points for the Oilers in a losing effort.

Vancouver Canucks 5, Ottawa Senators 1

Vancouver rewarded their patient home crowd with an incredible beating of Canadian rival Ottawa, torturing the Sens for the better part of sixty minutes. Ottawa managed to only get 14 shots on net against Luongo, and pretty much looked ready to go home before the puck even dropped. Mikael Samuelsson continued to impress with two goals, and Alex Burrows had a shorthanded score after ripping Erik Karlsson at the blueline, then deking Pascal Leclaire out of his blades.