NHL: Thursday match round up - Part 2
New York Islanders 3 – Colorado Avalanche 4 (OT)
Colorado Avalanche put an end to their four game losing streak by winning 4-3 in overtime as Kyle Quincy scored the winner at 2:39 on the power play after a spectacular third half comeback by the Avalanche.
Islanders goal tender Al Montoya put in a sensational individual performance stopping 47 shots in the game but his heroics were not enough to see the Islanders hold on to the lead.
The game looked to be going the Islanders way as they took the lead through Josh Bailey who scored his first goal of the season on the power play. The Islanders were 3-0 up eight minutes into the second through Brian Rolston and
Michael Grabner.
The Avalanche pegged a goal back through Pual Stastny who scored just 21 seconds before the end of the second period to start the Avalanche comeback. Milan Hejduk scored six minutes into the third period and Jan Hejda completed
the comeback four minutes later to send the game into overtime. Kyle Quincy stepped up to beat Montoya and win the game for the Avalanche.
Montreal Canadiens 3 – Phoenix Coyotes 2 (OT)
Montreal Canadiens got a much needed win in this fixture as their rehabilitation continued after the worst start to the season in 70 years for the franchise. Josh Gorges stepped up to put in the winner at 1:45 in overtime to give
the Canadiens the win in a tightly fought encounter.
The Coyotes took the lead five minutes into the first period through Mikkel Boedker. The Canadiens responded with two goals in the second period to take the lead with Brian Gionta equalizing at 3:28 in the second period and Travis
Moen giving the Canadiens the lead at 17:46.
The Coyotes were not giving up and responded five minutes into the third period with Raffi Torres getting the game level again.
With both teams’ goal tenders in good form with Carey Price saving 32 shots for the Canadiens and Mike Smith who has performed excellently throughout the season saving 33 shots, the game was tied at regulation time. Gorges then
stepped up to score his first goal of the season to give the Canadiens victory in overtime.
Vancouver Canucks 3 – Los Angeles Kings 2
The Los Angeles Kings are struggling for consistency this season. The Kings had just ended a five game losing streak against the Nashville Predators on November 8th but succumbed again to a 3-2 loss at the hands of the
Vancouver Canucks yesterday.
The Canucks ran out of the blocks in the first period scoring three times in a space of nine minutes leaving the LA Kings shell shocked. Sami Salo opened the scoring with a power play goal at 6:51 in the first period, Andrew Ebbett
made it 2-0 as he scored his first goal of the season on the power play and Aaron Rome put the Canucks three goals up at 15:42.
The Kings took their time to get to grips with what had just happened and started putting on some good plays. They were rewarded ten minutes into the second period as Drew Doughty scored on the power play to make it 3-1 and Mike
Richards got the second goal for the Kings at the end of the third period. However the comeback was too little too late for the Kings as Vancouver held on to their lead with goal tender Roberto Luongo making 28 saves during the game to gain.
Minnesota Wild 1 – San Jose Sharks 3
Minnesota Wild’s five game winning streak was finally snapped yesterday as the Sharks won the encounter 3-1.
With no goals in the first period the Sharks came out fired up during the second with Patrick Marleau scoring two goals from two power plays, the first at 2:34 and the second goal coming at 15:34. The Sharks increased their lead
to 3-0 as Tory Mitchell scored his first goal of the season at the tail end of the second period.
Sharks goal tender Antti Niemi had a comfortable evening as he made 21 saves during the game to keep the Wild out. Minnesota got a consolation goal at 13:33 in the third period through Kyle Brodziak. The Sharks held on to win the
game 3-1 with a fine offensive performance giving the Wild goal tender Niklas Backstrom a busy night as he made 33 saves but could not stop the Sharks three second period goals.
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