NHL Recap Roundup (Part I)
The All-Star break provided the much-needed rest to the National Hockey League (NHL) teams, 26 of which took to the rink on Tuesday, January 31, 2012, hoping to improve their record.
The games were filled with thrill and excitement as the fans witnessed some outstanding performances, which included some upsets as well.
In this space, we are going to have a look at all the 13 games and see who got the triumph and how.
Boston Bruins outsmart Ottawa Senators, 4-3
An impressive late comeback by Boston Bruins to get a one-goal decisive lead stunned Ottawa Senators, 4-3, at the TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts.
Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand and Dennis Seidenberg scored a goal each to take the trailing Bruins from 3-1 to 4-3.
The goals from Marchand and Seidenberg came in the final period where Senators failed to score any.
"Obviously, I liked our third period. We, for some reason, started moving the puck better, and we started getting pucks past those guys," said Bruins coach Claude Julien.
He added that:
“We kind of reversed things in the third period and, with some good defensive play, get the puck up the ice a lot better, and we got ourselves back into the game."
Boston was also the first team to score in the game.
At 11:57 in the first period, Zdeno Chara gave Boston a lead, which was neutralised by Colin Greening in the same period.
For most part of the second period Senators dominated Bruins and built on the momentum they had gained at the end of the previous period
Kyle Turris and Erik Karlsson scored apiece to give Senators a two-goal lead.
However, Senators could not survive the late aggressive outburst from Bruins and surrendered against the team, which suddenly turned into an exploding offensive unit.
After the victory, Boston (66) is just one point behind the NHL Eastern Conference division leader, New York Rangers (67).
Ottawa, on the other hand, is still in the playoff contention with 60 points.
New Jersey Devils stun New York Rangers to get victory in shootout, 4-3
Goalie, Martin Brodeur, did not have an ideal game during the regulation, but he compensated by stopping two shots in the shootout to lead New Jersey Devils to a victory against New York Rangers, 4-3, at the Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey.
Brodeur allowed one goal in the first period and two in the final, but stopped two out of three shots in the shootout to stun the Rangers.
Devils’ coach, Pete DeBoer, said about the goalie that:
“That's always a big boost. Whenever Marty's in net, you have a chance to do what he did tonight -- shut out the other team.”
Rangers, the NHL Eastern Conference leader, got in front in the first period, thanks to a goal by Anton Stralman.
Zach Parise scored for Devils in the second period to equalise the score.
The final period, the most exciting of all, witnessed four goals (two from each side).
At 2:37, Brian Boyle scored for Rangers. Devils’ response was late, but effective.
At 15:25, Ilya Kovalchuk provided an equaliser, but less than a minute later, Rangers once again got in front after Michael Del Zotto’s goal.
At 19:12, David Clarkson scored for Devils, taking the score to 3-3.
During the shootout Kovalchuk scored on the first attempt, but the rest of the shots by both the teams were either missed or blocked.
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