Columbus (5) @ St.Louis (3)

The Blue Jackets went into St.Louis on a two game win streak and early on it looked like that's where it would stop but then, cue the come back. The Blues were up 3-1 just three minutes into the second period, then just eighteen seconds later the Blue Jackets started their come back. Four goals in an eleven minute span was more than enough to send the Blues' faithful home signing a sour note again. Leading the way for Columbus was Jason Speeza (1-2-3), Johan Hedberg registered the win stopping 21 of 24 shots. Daniel Paille scored twice for the Blues and Steve Mason stopped all 6 shots he faced after relieving Niklas Backstrom (in the second period), who allowed 5 goals on 20 shots. Marcel Goc was lost to Columbus in the second period with what the team is calling back spasms but is not expected to miss any games.

Vancouver (4) @ Calgary (1)

The Canucks went to Cowtown and doused the Flames by a score of 4-1. Vancouver scored 4 goals on 22 shots and led 4-0 after two. Calgary finally decided to play some hockey in the third as they fired 17 shots on Miikka Kiprusoff beating him just once, alittle too little, too late. Alex Ponikarovsky (0-3-3) and Pavel Datsyuk (1-2-3) led the offense for the Canucks, while Marion Gaborik was the only Flame to beat Kipper who stopped a total of 29 shots.

Dallas (6) @ Chicago (4)

A total of eight goals were scored in the game's first 16 minutes as the Stars put up a five spot and led 5-3, each team scored one more in the third. Both teams used their back ups in the game in hopes of swinging the momentum. Rookie Mike Lundin had a pair of goals to led Dallas. Jason Blake (1-2-3), Bryce Salvador (1-1-2) and Evgeny Artyukhin (0-2-2) led Chicago. Roberto Luongo perserved the win for John Grahame, as he stopped all seven shots he faced in relief.

Colorado (5) @ NY Islanders (1)

The Avs went to Uniondale and left the Isles feeling stranded after a 5-1 defeat. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov lost his shut-out bid with just over a minute remaining in the third on the powerplay with Brendan Morrow serving a questionable interference penalty, Brzy stopped 32 of 33 shots he faced for his 11th win of the season. Mike Cammalleri had three helpers while, Braydon Coburn and David Jones both had (1-1-2) for the Avs. Mike Rozsival was the only one to find the back of the net for the Isles.

Anaheim (6) @ Tampa Bay (4)

The Ducks must love playing on Saturday nights as they won for the third time in a row playing on Saturday. This game was looked to be a laugher early as the Ducks jumped all over the Lightning, perforating Brian Elliot for 5 goals in 19 shots before being replaced by Dan Cloutier who surrendered the final goal of the half sack before Tampa woke up and struck for four goals on 16 shots in the final sixteen minutes of the game but came two goals short of a come back. Andrew Brunette scored a pair while four other Avs had two points in the game. Adrian Aucoin (1-1-2) and Curtis Glencross (0-2-2) led the attack for Tampa Bay.



Minnesota (3) @ Florida (5)

The Wild out-shot Florida 11-2 in the first but the game was tied after the first twenty, and that could very well have been the turning point of the game as the Panthers came out and scored the next three goas to take a 4-1 lead by the 6:41 mark of the second. Minny scored twice in the third to cut the lead to a signle goal but Florida would score the insurance marker on the powerplay late to secure their sixth win in their last ten games. Matt Stajan (1-1-2) and Chris Campoli (0-2-2) led the Panthers and Pekka Rinne registered his 8th victory. Minnesota was led by Paul Kariya (1-1-2). Rookie Darcy Campbell was lost to the Wild early in the first period to what team reps are calling an upper body injury and could be out of the line up as long as three weeks, Campbell is the latest to join the ever growing list of injuries to the Wild, which now sits at five players.

Edmonton (2) @ Nashville (0)

The Oilers went hunting for a victory in Nashville and came away with a 2-0 win. The game was as close as the score would dictate as were the shots with Edmonton winning that stat also at (24-23). Nashville never could find an answer for Jordan Leopold's powerplay goal midway through the first which ended up being the winner. Kurtis Foster had Edmonton's other marker while Tomas Vokoun registered his first shut-out of the season, stopping 23 shots. Ondrej Pavelec stopped 22 shots and played very well for Nashville.

Toronto (1) @ New Jersey (4)

New Jersey's latest win streak reached five games as they powered past the Maple Leafs, 4-1. The Devils lead 2-0 after one and 3-0 after two periods before Toronto got one back on the powerplay in the first minute of the third. Vinny Lecavalier scored eight and a half minutes later also on the PP to restore New Jersey's three goal lead. Dwayne Roloson keeps piling up the wins as he recorded his 12th of the season putting him third in the league in that catagory. Chris Kunitz and Dan Cleary had (1-1-2) on the night for the Devils. Eric Fehr scored the lone goal for the Leafs.

Washington (1) @ Buffalo (3)

The Caps had hoped to build on their modest one game win streak with a visit to Buffalo but the Sabres proved poor hosts as they handed the road team a 3-1 defeat. The game was tied at one after one but the Sabres added a goal in each of the next two periods to salt the game away. Tomas Plekanec and Marian Hossa each had a goal and assist to lead Buffalo. The Caps lone goal was scored by Niklas Bergfors. Jimmy Howard got the win for Buffalo while Jose Theodore was tagged with the loss for Washington.

Pittsburgh (3) @ Boston (4)

Boston is currently riding a three game win streak after defeating their Eastern Conference rivals from Pittsburgh 4-3. These two very good teams left it all out on the ice but if not for the heroics of Marc-Andre Fleury it could have been alot worse as he stopped 29 of 33 shots he faced before being pulled in favor of Martin Gerber who stopped all seven shots he faced in relief. The reasoning for Fleury's hook was being down played by Pens GM Pat Matthews who was quoted as saying "Mind your damn business !!" when questioned after the game. It was rumoured that Matthews was unhappy with the way Fleury had whiffed on the winning goal by Marek Zidlicky and sent the message down to the coach to pull him. The Bruins were led on the score sheet by Chris Pronger (1-1-2) while another defensemen Dan Boyle led the Pens (0-2-2). Bruins' Craig Anderson stopped 18 shots for his 12th win of the season. Pittsburgh lost two players to injury in the game, Andrei Markov took a shot off his right foot and Pat Marleau seemed to be favoring his groin as he exited the locker room after the game. It was thought Markov's injury is nothing more than a stinger and won't miss any time but Marleau could be lost to the team for upto 3 weeks with a badly strained groin.

Atlanta (4) @ Philly (3)

Could the season get any worse for the Flyers? Once the toast of the league, they lost their third in a row and now see themselves in a four-way tie for 2nd in the East. The Flyers were up 3-0 on Atlanta with less than a minute remaining in the second period but surrendered a Tom Poti powerplay goal which seemed to deflate the team and when they returned for the third only one team came to play. Atanta would strike for three straight in the period, on the strength of two James Neal pwerplay goals. Three other Thrashers had two point nights. Jeff Carter had a pair of helpers for the losers, Chris Mason looks as if he maybe tiring having played all 18 of the Flyers games so far this season, allowing four goals on 15 shots. Another one of Philly's troubles was the fact that the team failed to score on ten man advantages on the night.

Reporting for The WCHL Network.........
Peter Pucker