Live NHL Recap

Chris Nichols | January 5, 2012, 6:45 pm

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CALGARY FLAMES 0 @ BOSTON BRUINS 9

Goaltending match-up: Leland Irving (15/21, .714 SV%) & Miikka Kiprusoff (18/21, .857 SV%) vs. Tuukka Rask (25/25). This was Rask's third shutout of the season and in his past four starts alone. He has 11 in his career and had two last year.

Combos: Curtis Glencross - Olli Jokinen - Jarome Iginla/ Rene Bourque - Mikael Backlund - Lee Stempniak/ Paul Byron - Roman Horak - Tim Jackman/ Tom Kostopoulos - Brendan Morrison - Raitis Ivanans/ Jay Bouwmeester - Chris Butler/ Scott Hannan - Anton Babchuk/ T.J. Brodie - Cory Sarich

Scratches: Carson, Bourque, Wilson

Top PP times: Bouwmeester, Jokinen, Glencross, Iginla (2:06). Butler (1:54)

Trending: Yuck.

Combos: Benoit Pouliot - Patrice Bergeron - Tyler Seguin/ Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Nathan Horton/ Zach Hamill - Chris Kelly - Rich Peverley/ Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton/ Zdeno Chara - Johnny Boychuk/ Dennis Seidenberg - Joe Corvo/ Andrew Ference - Adam McQuaid

Scratches: Kampfer, Marchand

Top PP times: Chara, Peverley (1:49), Corvo, Seguin, Bergeron, Seidenberg (1:20)

Trending: Brad Marchand was sick and missed this one, which is too bad because talk about a stat-padder of a game. Are you kidding me with these Boston Bruins? They’re just embarrassing teams out there now. Nathan Horton (2G, 1A, +3, 1:09 PP, 4 SOG). Milan Lucic (1G, 1A, +3, 1:09 PP, 1 SOG). David Krejci (1G, 2A, +3, 1:09 PP, 1 SOG). Tyler Seguin (1G, 2A, +3, 6 SOG). Patrice Bergeron (2G, 1A, +3, 2 PIM, 2 SOG). Benoit Pouliot (3A, +3, 1:15 PP, 4 SOG). Zdeno Chara (2A, +3, 3 SOG). Andrew Ference (1A, +1, no PP, 2 SOG). Rich Peverley (2A, +2, no SOG).

WINNIPEG JETS 0 @ TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS 4

Goaltending match-up: Chris Mason (21/25, .840 SV%) vs. Jonas Gustavsson (24/24)

Combos: Evander Kane - Tim Stapleton - Blake Wheeler/ Andrew Ladd - Nik Antropov - Kyle Wellwood/ Tanner Glass - Jim Slater - Antti Miettinen/ Chris Thorburn - Alex Burmistrov - Eric Fehr/ Tobias Enstrom - Ron Hainsey/ Zach Bogosian - Johnny Oduya/ Mark Stuart - Randy Jones

Scratches: Cormier, Byfuglien, Flood

Top PP times: Enstrom (1:57), Wheeler (1:07), Miettinen, Kane (1:04), Stapleton (1:03)

Scratches: Rosehill, Holzer

Top PP times: Kessel (3:37), Lupul, Connolly (3:22), Phaneuf (3:00), Gardiner (2:56)

Trending: Tim Connolly (1G, 1A, +2, 2 SOG) had a pair of points in his last game and had five points in five tilts coming in. Phil Kessel (1G, +2, 1 SOG) pushed his point streak to seven games and Joffrey Lupul (1A, +2, 4 SOG) was coming off his four-pointer against the Lightning. Clarke MacArthur (1G, 1:41 PP, 1 SOG) has a nice seven game point streak rolling along now. Dion Phaneuf (1A, +2, 4 SOG) had seven points in his last six games before this outing. Mikhail Grabovski (1G, 1A, +1, 1:40 PP, 4 SOG) had 10 points in 13 GP coming in here, while Nikolai Kulemin (1A, +1, 0:44 PP, 1 SOG) has points in three of five.

FLORIDA PANTHERS 2 @ NEW YORK RANGERS 3 (OT)

Goaltending match-up: Scott Clemmensen (38/41, .927 SV%) vs. Martin Biron (19/21, .905 SV%)

Combos: Tomas Fleischmann - Stephen Weiss - Kris Versteeg/ Tomas Kopecky - Shawn Matthias - Michal Repik/ Mikael Samuelsson - Marcel Goc - Matt Bradley/ Mike Santorelli - Tim Kennedy- Bill Thomas/ Jason Garrison - Brian Campbell/ Ed Jovanovski - Erik Gudbranson/ Mike Weaver - Dmitry Kulikov

Scratches: Ellerby, Madden, Barch

Top PP times: Matthias (1:09), Samuelsson, Kopecky (1:07), Garrison, Jovanovski (1:01)

Trending: Mikael Samuelsson (2A, +2, 2 PIM, 3 SOG) returned to action tonight and he had three points in his only six starts headed in here. Brian Campbell (1A, 0:59 PP, no SOG) had seven points in seven games headed in here.

Combos: Brandon Dubinsky - Brad Richards - Ryan Callahan/ Artem Anisimov - Derek Stepan - Marian Gaborik/ Carl Hagelin - Brian Boyle - Ruslan Fedotenko/ Mike Rupp - John Mitchell - Brandon Prust/ Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi/ Michael Del Zotto - Anton Stralman/ Marc Staal - Stu Bickel

Scratches: Woywitka, Christensen, Wolski

Top PP times: Richards (4:37), Callahan (3:48), Gaborik (3:27), Stepan (2:44), Del Zotto (2:42)

Trending: Brad Richards (1A, 5 SOG) has goals in each of his past three now and Marian Gaborik (1G, 3 SOG) had been pointless in three before tonight, where he delivered his fifth GWG of the season. His career high is eight, which he has done a few times. Derek Stepan (1A, 2 SOG) has been one of the better pickups this season for poolies in the past few months, although he was pointless in four games coming in. Michael Del Zotto (1A, 2 SOG) has been cruising since the end of November. Anton Stralman (1G, +1, no PP, 3 SOG) had chipped in five points in 14 GP coming in here.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 4 @ PHILADELPHIA FLYERS 5

Goaltending match-up: Ray Emery (41/46, .891 SV%) vs. Ilya Bryzgalov (30/34, .882 SV%)

Combos: Patrick Sharp - Jonathan Toews - Andrew Shaw/ Viktor Stalberg - Patrick Kane - Marian Hossa/ Bryan Bickell - Dave Bolland - Andrew Brunette/ Michael Frolik - Jamal Mayers - Jimmy Hayes/ Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook/ Niklas Hjalmarsson - Nick Leddy/ Sean O’Donnell - Dylan Olsen

Scratches: Carcillo, Lepisto, Scott

Top PP times: N/A

Trending: Jonathan Toews (2A, 1 SOG) came into tonight one point shy of 40, so he hit and passed the mark. Patrick Kane (1G, 2 PIM, 5 SOG) has points in six of eight and Patrick Sharp (1A, +2, 4 PIM, 2 SOG) had 38 points headed into this affair. Duncan Keith (1A, +3, 3 SOG) hadn’t done much for his owners in the past few weeks. Quite an NHL debut for Andrew Shaw (1G, 5 PIM, 4 SOG), who was a fifth rounder from this past summer’s draft. Jimmy Hayes (1G, 4 SOG) has points in two of his three starts with the big club. Brent Seabrook (1G, +2, 2 SOG) had chipped in four points in five games before tonight.

Combos: Scott Hartnell - Claude Giroux - Matt Read/ Max Talbot - Danny Briere - Jakub Voracek/ James van Riemsdyk - Brayden Schenn - Wayne Simmonds/ Harry Zolnierczyk - Sean Couturier - Zac Rinaldo/ Braydon Coburn - Kimmo Timonen/ Matt Carle - Marc-Andre Bourdon/ Andrej Meszaros - Andreas Lilja

Scratches: Walker, Shelley, Jagr

Top PP times: Carle (4:23), Hartnell (3:51), Giroux (3:45), Simmonds (3:32), Voracek (3:30)

Trending: Jaromir Jagr could apparently play as early as Saturday. FYI. He's already progressing nicely. Kimmo Timonen left this one with an upper-body injury. Cuz losing Chris Pronger wasn’t enough. Matt Read (1A, 3:23 PP, 6 SOG) drew the L1 assignment alongside the seemingly always productive line with Claude Giroux (2A, 1 SOG) and Scott Hartnell (1G, 1A, 7 SOG). Jakub Voracek (1G, +1, 6 SOG) only had one goal over the last month or so before tonight. It’s not a completely lost campaign by any stretch, but the next step from James van Riemsdyk (2G, 3:23 PP, 3 SOG) has not materialized (it looked like it would early on this season) with his string of ailments. Still potentially a really good buy-low candidate in those deeper keeper leagues though. He is going to be that kind of high-end guy. Every time I see Wayne Simmonds (1A, 3 SOG) now I just picture him dancing to Mac Miller. Thanks HBO.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 1 @ OTTAWA SENATORS 4

Goaltending match-up: Dwayne Roloson (20/23, .870 SV%) vs. Craig Anderson (35/36, .972 SV%)

Combos: Martin St. Louis - Steven Stamkos - Steve Downie/ Dominic Moore - Vincent Lecavalier - James Wyman/ Tom Pyatt - Nate Thompson - Teddy Purcell/ Dana Tyrell - Adam Hall - Blair Jones/ Eric Brewer - Pavel Kubina/ Brett Clark - Matt Gilroy/ Bruno Gervais - Marc-Andre Bergeron

Scratches: Malone, Oberg

Top PP times: St. Louis (4:27), Stamkos, Downie (4:15), Clark (4:14), Lecavalier (4:12)

Trending: Of course Steven Stamkos (1G, -3, 2 PIM, 6 SOG) was going to score tonight. He’s been in the zone. Vincent Lecavalier (1A, -1, 4 SOG) has been solid over the past three weeks. Matt Gilroy (1A, -3, 0:03 PP, 7 SOG) had three points in five games before tonight.

Combos: Colin Greening - Jason Spezza - Milan Michalek/ Erik Condra - Kyle Turris - Daniel Alfredsson/ Nick Foligno - Zack Smith - Bobby Butler/ Kaspars Daugavins - Zenon Konopka - Chris Neil/ Filip Kuba - Erik Karlsson/ Jared Cowen - Sergei Gonchar/ Matt Carkner - Brian Lee

Scratches: Phillips

Top PP times: Karlsson (2:27), Gonchar (2:15), Spezza, Michalek, Greening (2:14)

Trending: Daniel Alfredsson (1G, 2A, +3, 1 SOG) in the starting lineup for the ASG in Ottawa. Say what you will if you’re outside of that area, but I think it’s pretty damn cool. He's also been going really well for poolies for a bit now. Jason Spezza (1G, +2, 2 SOG) had racked up 36 points in 27 GP vs. Tampa Bay coming in. Sergei Gonchar (1A, +3, 1 SOG) was back in the lineup tonight and has points in each of his past three starts now. Colin Greening (1A, +1, 2 PIM, 5 SOG) only had one point in five games before tonight. Kyle Turris (1G, 1A, +2, 2 PIM, 1:33 PP, 2 SOG) had four helpers in seven games with the Sens before scoring his first goal of the season here.

EDMONTON OILERS 3 @ ST. LOUIS BLUES 4

Goaltending match-up: Devan Dubnyk (33/37, .892 SV%) vs. Jaroslav Halak (29/32, .906 SV%)

Combos: Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Ales Hemsky/ Ryan Smyth - Anton Lander - Jordan Eberle/ Shawn Horcoff - Josh Green - Teemu Hartikainen/ Ryan Jones - Eric Belanger - Ben Eager/ Ladislav Smid - Corey Potter/ Theo Peckham- Colten Teubert/ Andy Sutton - Jeff Petry

Scratches: Whitney, Hordichuk, Gilbert

Top PP times: Smyth (7:15), Horcoff (6:46), Eberle (6:37), Hall (5:58), Potter (5:23)

Trending: Taylor Hall (1G, -1, 2 PIM, 4 SOG) has goals in four of five and Ales Hemsky (1A, -1, 2 PIM, 3:31 PP, 1 SOG) was coming off his two-assist effort against the Sabres. Jordan Eberle’s (1G, 3 SOG) game logs are just a dream over which for his owners to peruse. Sam Gagner (1A, -1, 4:21 PP, 3 SOG) has points in four straight and he’s been on a nice run with a top six spot locked in for now with RNH out for potentially a month.

Combos: David Perron - David Backes - Chris Stewart/ Matt D'Agostini - Patrik Berglund - T.J. Oshie/ Vladimir Sobotka - Jason Arnott - Jamie Langenbrunner/ Chris Porter - Scott Nichol - B.J. Crombeen/ Carlo Colaiacovo - Alex Pietrangelo/ Barret Jackman - Kevin Shattenkirk/ Cade Fairchild - Roman Polak

Scratches: Cole, Reaves, Grachev

Top PP times: Pietrangelo (4:49), Backes (4:41), Arnott (4:38), Perron (4:31), Berglund (4:20)

Trending: Chris Stewart (1G, +1, 3:41 PP, 5 SOG) had eight points in 15 GP before tonight with only 6 PIM in that time. Alex Pietrangelo (1G, 1A, 6 SOG) had a pair of assists in his last game after having a horrible December offensively. David Backes (1G, 1A, 8 SOG) had 10 points in 15 GP coming in and Carlo Colaiacovo (3A, 3:42 PP, no SOG) had one point in six tries coming in. Matt D’Agostini (1G, +1, 2:45 PP, 3 SOG) had one point in five games before tonight and T.J. Oshie (1A, +1, 2 PIM, 4:00 PP, 4 SOG) had nine points in 13 starts coming in.

DALLAS STARS 4 @ NASHVILLE PREDATORS 1

Goaltending match-up: Kari Lehtonen (24/25, .960 SV%) vs. Pekka Rinne (26/30, .867 SV%)

Combos: Loui Eriksson - Mike Ribeiro - Brenden Morrow/ Steve Ott - Jamie Benn - Michael Ryder/ Eric Nystrom - Vernon Fiddler - Radek Dvorak/ - Tom Wandell - Adam Burish/ Nicklas Grossman - Trevor Daley/ Alex Goligoski - Stephane Robidas/ Mark Fistric - Jordie Benn/ Adam Pardy

Scratches: Dowell, Petersen, Larsen

Top PP times: Goligoski (6:53), Daley (5:51), Eriksson (5:21), Ryder, Benn (5:16)

Trending: Some minor line shuffling for the Stars tonight, with Loui Eriksson (2A, +2, 2 SOG) moved onto the line with Mike Ribeiro (2G, +2, 1:46 PP, 3 SOG) and Brenden Morrow (1A, +2, 2 PIM, 4 SOG). Ribeiro’s goal to open the scoring? Sweet. Bad news is he left with an injury. Jamie Benn (1G, 1A, +2, 3 SOG) has multi-pointers in B2B games to get back to point-per-game pace.

Combos: Martin Erat - David Legwand - Craig Smith/ Sergei Kostitsyn - Mike Fisher - Patric Hornqvist/ Gabriel Bourque - Nick Spaling - Jordin Tootoo/ Brian McGrattan - Jerred Smithson - Matt Halischuk/ Ryan Suter - Shea Weber/ Roman Josi - Kevin Klein/ Francis Bouillon - Jack Hillen

Scratches: Blum, Wilson, Ellis

Top PP times: Legwand, Smith (3:36), Suter (3:20), Weber (3:19), Kostitsyn (2:58)

Trending: Shea Weber (-2, 2 PIM, 25:45 TOI, 4 SOG) made his return to the line-up from a concussion tonight and Jordin Tootoo (1A, 9 PIM, 2:00 PP, 3 SOG) attempted to exact some revenge for him from Mark Fistric early on. Tootoo has been a solid add for points and PIM for the last while. This was the fourth start for Gabriel Bourque (1G, -1, 0:09 PP, 3 SOG) and first NHL goal.

PHOENIX COYOTES 0 @ LOS ANGELES KINGS 1 (OT)

Goaltending match-up: Mike Smith (27/28, .964 SV%) vs. Jonathan Quick (22/22). This was Quick's sixth shutout of the season already and 20th of his career. He had five last year. He has two in his last four starts.

Combos: Mikkel Boedker - Daymond Langkow - Shane Doan/ Ray Whitney - Kyle Chipchura - Radim Vrbata/ Patrick O’Sullivan - Cal O’Reilly - Paul Bissonnette/ Lauri Korpikoski - Marc-Antoine Pouliot - Taylor Pyatt/ Keith Yandle - David Schlemko/ Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Adrian Aucoin/ Rostislav Klesla - Michal Rozsival

Scratches: Rundblad, Torres, Morris

Top PP times: Whitney (2:00), O'Sullivan, Ekman-Larsson (1:20), Doan, Langkow (1:09)

Scratches: Westgarth, Voynov, Drewiske

Top PP times: Penner (1:10), Johnson (1:09), Doughty (1:08), Brown (1:00), Stoll (0:56)

Trending: Drew Doughty (1G, +1, 2 SOG) scored the OT GWG and aside from the past few starts, his offensive game has been coming around for poolies. His drive to the net resulted in this goal, although it could still be Jack Johnson (1A, +1, no SOG) credited with it. Huge scrum at the net on a reviewed play involving the net being off the moorings.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS 1 @ SAN JOSE SHARKS 2

Goaltending match-up: Curtis Sanford (37/39, .949 SV%) vs. Thomas Greiss (23/24, .958 SV%)

Combos: Rick Nash - Jeff Carter - Ryan Johansen/ Vinny Prospal - Antoine Vermette - Mark Letestu/ Derek Dorsett - Samuel Pahlsson - R.J. Umberger/ Derick Brassard - Derek MacKenzie - Jared Boll/ Nikita Nikitin - Fedor Tyutin/ Marc Methot - John Moore/ Grant Clitsome - David Savard

Scratches: Johnson, Huselius

Top PP times: N/A

Trending: Vinny Prospal (1G, +1, 2 SOG) only had one point in six games coming in. Antoine Vermette (1A, +1, 3 SOG) has points in two of three after many consecutive zeroes. Mark Letestu (1A, +1, no SOG) has points in five of seven.

Combos: Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski/ Ryane Clowe - Logan Couture - Benn Ferriero/ Jamie McGinn - Andrew Desjardins - Brad Winchester/ Andrew Murray - Michal Handzus - Tommy Wingels/ Dan Boyle - Marc-Edouard Vlasic/ Jason Demers - Brent Burns/ Douglas Murray - Justin Braun

Scratches: Mitchell, McLaren, Niittymaki

Top PP times: Thornton (5:46), Pavelski (5:40), Marleau (5:15), Boyle (5:04), Demers (4:13)

Trending: Ryane Clowe (1G, -1, 3:24 PP, 2 SOG) has points in two of three this month. Joe Thornton (1G, +1, 3 SOG) had eight points in nine games before tonight and Patrick Marleau (1A, +1, 4 SOG) had nine points in that same stretch. Jason Demers (2A, 2 SOG) has points in three of five now.

Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.