Thursday night was Tim Gleason bobblehead night in Carolina, and after a quick search of eBay, I've found that you too can own this rare collectible for the low, low price of $29.99 (starting bid)! Exciting. And incredibly bizarre. Anyway, after the Maple Leafs jumped out to a 4-0 lead, the Hurricanes roared back to tie the game, thanks in large part to three goals in the first eight minutes of the third period. Unfortunately, at the 13:44 mark of the period, Gleason, the man of the night, was sent to the box for high-sticking Nik Antropov which ultimately led to Tomas Kaberle scoring the game-winner, helping Toronto to a 6-4 win. Jason Blake netted a hat trick -- and picked up two assists -- for the Leafs, while Ian White and Niklas Hagman also added goals, as Toronto snapped a four-game losing streak.
Lightning 4, Flyers 1: Earlier in the day, Tampa Bay general manager Brian Lawton tried to put an end to the circus that has been the Vincent Lecavalier trade rumors. It's doubtful that these are going away anytime soon, but Lecavalier did score on a penalty shot midway through the third period, helping the Lightning roll to a 4-1 win over Philadelphia. Mike Smith turned aside 31-of-32 shots in net, while Martin St. Louis, Ryan Craig and Andrej Meszaros tallied goals. Tampa Bay has now won four of its past six games. One other note of interest was the fact Tampa Bay called up Steve Downie from the minors to play against his former team, and it took him all of 12 seconds -- 12 seconds! -- to end up in the penalty box. It's a gift.
Canadiens 3, Predators 2: With its 3-2 win over Nashville, Montreal has now won eight of its past ten games. Andrei Kostitsyn, Andrei Markov, and Guillaume Latendresse all scored goals, while Jaroslav Halak made 23 saves.
Bruins 2, Islanders 1: It looked like it was going to be a mismatch of epic proportions on paper as the Bruins, the best team in the league, took on the Islanders who would be starting their No. 3 goalie in net. The Islanders managed to keep it close, even firing 41 shots at Boston goalie Tim Thomas, yet still came up short, 2-1. Marc Savard and Martin St. Pierre provided the offense for the Bruins, while Thomas turned aside 40 shots. His shutout bid was ended with just 54 seconds to play when Bill Guerin scored his 14th goal of the season.
Wild 5, Oilers 1: Thanks to its 5-1 win over Edmonton on Thursday, Minnesota has now scored 11 goals in its past two games. Just for comparisons sake, prior to this two-game stretch of offensive firepower, it took the Wild five games to score 11 goals.
Blues 5, Avalanche 2: Cam Janssen entered play on Thursday night with one goal in his 140 game NHL career. At the 9:36 mark of the second period, the 6-foot, 210-pound enforcer scored his second career goal -- his first since February 24, 2007 -- as the Blues pulled out a 5-2 win over Colorado.
Sabres 5, Stars 4: Buffalo overcame a 4-1 third period deficit to pull out a 5-4 shootout win. The shootout went six rounds, while Jason Pominville scored the winner.
Coyotes 4, Canucks 1: Roberto Luongo returned to the lineup on Thursday, and it wasn't enough to keep the Canucks from losing their fourth straight, 4-1. Joakim Lindstrom scored a pair of goals for the Coyotes, while Ilya Bryzgalov turned aside 31 shots in goal.
Red Wings 4, Kings 0: Ty Conklin stopped all 23 shots he faced to pick up his fifth shutout of the season in Detroit's 4-0 win in Los Angeles. The Red Wings have won nine of their past 10 games.
Flames 3, Sharks 2: Calgary's Dion Phaneuf broke a 2-2 tie with just under four minutes to play in regulation, as the Flames took a 3-2 decision in San Jose. The loss for the Sharks is just their sixth loss in regulation this season, and only their fourth since the end of October.
