Fours were wild Friday: Four players had four-point nights. Of course, this space only allows for Three Stars, so we begin with apologies to the odd man out.
1 Thomas Vanek, Buffalo Sabres – Vanek tallied two assists and two goals, including the game-winner, to lead Buffalo past their division rival Maple Leafs 5-4. Drew Stafford, Tyler Ennis and Andrej Sekera scored Buffalo’s other goals and Ryan Miller stopped 29 of 33 shots to get the win.
2 Jared Cowen, Ottawa Senators – Cowen tallied his first career multi-point game, scoring a goal and assisting on three more to lead the Sens past the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-4. Jason Spezza scored two goals and Colin Greening, Daniel Alfredsson and Zenon Konopka scored once for Ottawa, while Alex Auld stopped 32 of 36 shots for his first win of the season.
3 Zach Parise, New Jersey Devils – Parise continued his tear on Friday night, tallying a goal and three assists in Jersey’s 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars. David Clarkson, Adam Henrique, Ilya Kovalchuk, Petr Sykora and Patrik Elias also scored for New Jersey, and Johan Hedberg stopped 33 of 36 shots.
Play of the Night
It’s not an NHL game, but Landon Smith makes a beautiful, diving effort for the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders to record this goal:
Save of the Night
Flames goalie Leland Irving makes this beautiful, sliding save with no stick to rob the Panthers of a goal:
Scott Niedermayer Retirement Ceremony
The Devils honored Scott Neidermayer on Friday by retiring his number. Here’s the ceremony.
.png)
