Jordan and Marc battled it out last night in Pittsburgh in a key Eastern Conference matchup between the Rangers and the Penguins.

With the game tied at one in the third period, Jordan Staal gave the Penguins the lead when he scored his 15th goal of the season. Jordan now has seven points in his last eight games, including four goals.

Marc didn't want to be shown up though, so he tried to help bring the Rangers back. He picked up his second goal of the season when he ripped a wrist shot home to make the score 4-2. The Rangers couldn't find any more offense though, as Jordan and the Pens came away with the 6-2 win.

The win helped Pittsburgh jump back into a tie for the eighth and final playoff spot with 52 points, while the Rangers remain in fourth place in the conference.

Marc and the Rangers will next be on the ice on Saturday when the travel to Boston to take on the first place Bruins, while Jordan and the Pens will take on New Jersey on Friday night.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Simon Gagne has been putting pucks in the back of the net ever since he came into the league back in 1999. He has been in the league for nine years now, but if you take away the two years in which he missed significant time due to injury, Gagne has scored 20 or more goals in each and every season.

Gagne made sure of that on Tuesday night when he picked up his 20th goal of the season against the Florida Panthers. Gagne's return to the Flyers lineup this season has added even more of an offesnive threat to go along with Jeff Carter and captain Mike Richards.

For the season, Gagne now has 20 goals and 26 assists for 46 points. He also leads the team with a +19 rating.

Philly currently sits in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 59 points. They will be back in action on Friday night when the visit the Lightning down in Tampa Bay.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

The 2009 NHL All-Star Game certianly didn't dissapoint, as the players put on quite a show from start to finish up in Montreal. The Eastern Conference team pulled out an exciting 12-11 shootout win Sunday night and gave the fans more than their money's worth.

Evgeni Malkin came away with the title of most accurate shooter by winning the shooting competition. He went 4 for 4 in the first round, and then won the event by going 3 for 4 in the final round.

He didn't stop there though, as he also scored a highlight goal during the All-Star game. Malkin put the puck between his legs and fired home the trick shot.

Eric Staal and Patrick Kane also ended up on the scoresheet by picking up goals of their own. It was Staal's third straight All-Star Game and he has now scored at least one goal in each of the games. For Kane, it was his All-Star debut and he has started his career on the right foot.

Finally, for the second straight year Tim Thomas put on quite a show and came away with the win. Thomas was also the winning goalie at last year's game in Atlanta. He made some incredible saves on Sunday including stopping the Western Conference on both of their shootout attempts.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Jack Johnson certainly didn't envision picking up his first goal of the season in January, but he sure did make his first goal a memorable one. After injuring his shoulder in the second game of the season, Jack missed the next 41 games of the Kings season. His return to the lineup this week is a boost to the Los Angeles locker room as the team is looking to climb into the playoffs.

On Wednesday night in Colorado, Johnson picked up that first goal he's been looking for. Early in the second period, with the Kings up 2-1, Johnson fired home an absolute rocket to finish off a three on two. His one-timer goal came just outside the left faceoff circle and helped the Kings pick up a huge 6-5 victory against the Avalanche.

"I was just letting it rip," Johnson said. "It was nice to get it, but it was more nice to help this team win, and that's part of the reason why I came back a little earlier than expected. It's nice to help get another win on the road."

Johnson definitely hasn't been eased back into the lineup, as the third year defenseman has picked up over 20 minutes of ice time in two of his three games since returning from injury. The Kings hit the All-Star break having won two games in a row and six points out of the final playoff spot. They will be looking to make up that difference when they take on the Blackhawks next Thursday in Los Angeles.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Ales Hemsky has shown he has the ability to score big goals, and on Tuesday night he once again proved that he can lead a team victory.

Hemsky scored two goals and picked up two assists to help lead the Oilers to a tough 4-3 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"That was unreal, I haven't seen anything like that in a while," said Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish. "Two goals and two assists. We've seen that before. But not where all four are world-class plays.

Hemsky's first goal was a thing of beauty as he beat the defense and roofed a backhander to put the Oilers up 2-1. With the game tied at three in the final minute of the game, Hemsky once again showed his heroic side when he fired home a wrist shot to give the Oilers a 4-3 lead with 34.9 seconds left in the game.

"For me every game we win is what I feel good about. I just want to go out there and do my part. It felt great to win the game. It's a great feeling in this room right now."

Hemsky now has team highs in goals with 14 and assists with 27. His 41 points in 36 games played puts him on pace for the best season of his young career. Edmonton has won five of their last six games and will head into the All-Star break on a high note. They will start back up next Tuesday night when they host the Buffalo Sabres.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Eric Staal and the Hurricanes wanted a win and needed a win and they got just that. Staal scored the game winning goal in the second period which gave the 'Canes a huge 2-1 win against his younger brother Jordan and the Pittsburgh Penguins. "They didn't clear the puck and I was down on top of the crease where I like to be and fortunately it went in," Staal said.

With the victory, Carolina jumped over Pittsburgh in the standings with 51 points and into the final playoff spot. With the big goal, Eric now has 20 goals and 15 assists on the season. For his career, he now has four consecutive seasons with 20 or more goals. Pretty impressive for the 'Canes 24 year old.

Having lost five in a row coming into the week, the Hurricanes wanted to get back on the winning side of things before heading into the All-Star break and they accomplished their goal by winning their last two. Eric will now make his way up to Montreal to represent Carolina and the Eastern Conference in the 2009 NHL All-Star Game.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Teammates on Team USA's 2006 Olympic team, Jason Blake and Erik Cole certainly have a bond that some players never get to experience. I guess it's not surprising then that both players would put up such great performances so close together.

Blake recorded his sixth career hat trick on Thursday night and finished the game with five points to lead the Maple Leafs to a 6-4 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes. The three goals give Blake a total of 13 on the year to go along with his 16 assists.

Meanwhile, Cole helped lead the Oilers to a 5-2 win against the Capitals on Tuesday night when he picked up his fifth career hat trick. "We controlled the play the way we wanted to, but at the same time, no matter what the score is, who you're playing, we need to be playing the game the right way and we need to continue to do things the right way with consistency," Cole said.

Cole now has seven goals in his last nine games and will be looking to help the Oilers continue their winning ways against the Avalanche on Friday night. Blake and the Leafs are back in action on Friday as well when they travel to Atlanta to take on the Thrashers.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

Tim Thomas was once again on his game and helped lead the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 victory by stopping 40 shots against the Islanders on Thursday night.

If it wasn't for a fluke bounce of the puck off a teammate in the last minute, Thomas would have picked up another shutout. "Timmy was our best player, he held the fort," Bruins coach Claude Julien said.

Thomas has put up incredible numbers this season and is certainly deserving to be headed to Montreal for the All-Star game later this month. He is now 19-4-3, with a 2.00 goals-against average and a league best .937 save percentage. His goals against average is good for second in the league.

Thomas has now won 10 of his last 11 starts and has led the Bruins to the best record in the NHL. At 33-7-4, they have a league high 70 points. They will look to improve on that record when they travel to Washington to take on the Capitals on Saturday night.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

On a night when the Penguins desperately needed a win, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal provided the spark they have been looking for.

With the game tied at one in the second period, Malkin fired home his 17th goal of the season for his league leading 66th point. For Malkin, he now has six points in his last four games, including goals in back to back games.

Later in the period, Staal picked up his 14th goal when he held off the Flyers defense and roofed a backhand to give the Pens a 3-1 lead. Staal now has goals in three straight games.

It doesn't get any easier for Pittsburgh though, as they will be hosting the Southeast Division leading Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

Posted By: Luke Ventura

NBH would like to congratulate Tim Thomas, Jeff Carter and Eric Staal for being named to the 2009 Eastern Conference All-Star team. The three players were named on Thursday as part of the Eastern Conference reserves.

Thomas, who made his first All-Star appearance last year in Atlanta, will be one of three netminders representing the East. Thomas has once again put together a great season with incredible numbers. He is 16-4-3 with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage. He was also recently named the NHL's co-first star for the month of December.

Jeff Carter is tied for the league league in goals with 27 and is off the best start of his young career. He has quickly become one of the leagues most deadliest scorers with his quick wrist shot leading the way. He has four multi-goal games this season, including five game winners. This will be Carter's first All-Star game appearance.

Eric Staal will be making his third straight All-Star appearance and will be looking to win his second straight All-Star MVP award. Last year in Atlanta, Eric took home the award after recording two goals and an assist in last year's Eastern Conference win. So far on the season, Eric has a team high 18 goals and 13 assists, including 16 points in his last 14 games.

All three of these players are more than deserving to make the trip up to Montreal. Congrats to all of them. These three will join fellow NBH All-Stars Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane, Scott Niedermayer and Dustin Brown at this year's event.

The All-Star game festivities will kick off on Saturday, Jan 24th with the NHL Skills Competition, while the 57th NHL All-Star game will take place on Sunday, January 25th.

Posted By: Luke Ventura