There were 7 games played in the National Hockey League on March 19, 2008.
Jeff Halpern put the Lightning on the scoreboard first 2:50 into the first period. Martin St. Louis put Tampa Bay up by 2 later in the first. Buffalo went on the board with a shorthanded goal by Jason Pominville. Vincent Lecavalier scored a pair of goals in the second period for the Lightning, giving them a 3 goal lead. Pominville scored his second of the night 5:03 into the third period, then 16 seconds later, Jochen Hecht scored to bring the Sabres within 1. Buffalo went ahead when Thomas Vanek scored a natural hat trick. Hecht also added an empty net goal with 6 seconds left in regulation.
Paul Ranger left the game after taking a hit into the boards. He did not return, and appeared to be favoring his left arm or shoulder. Ranger had a pair of assists before leaving the game in the third period.

Dainius Zubrus scored a power play goal 6:05 into the game for the Devils, which gave them a one goal lead. Chris Drury tied the score with just 4:46 left in regulation, to force overtime. Nigel Dawes scored the only goal in the shootout, which gave the Rangers the win.

Trevor Letowski scored early in the first for the Hurricanes, putting them ahead. Sergei Samsonov followed up a few minutes later, increasing Carolina's lead to 2. Eric Staal also scored later in the first period. Bryan Little put the Thrashers on the scoreboard early in the second period. The Hurricanes responded less than 2 minutes later when Joe Jensen scored his first NHL career goal. Steve McCarthy brought the Thrashers within 2 goals just about a minute after that. Erik Cole scored a power play goal late in the third for Carolina. Vyacheslav Kozlov added one for Atlanta with under a minute left.

Manny Malhotra broke a scoreless tie for Columbus 7:05 into the second period. In the third period, Henrik Zetterberg scored a natural hat trick, three consecutive goals, which put Detroit in a two goal lead late in the game.

Jason Williams scored first 1:27 into the first period. Jonathan Toews's power play goal put the Blackhawks ahead by 2 3:19 into the first. Yanic Perreault and Patrick Sharp each also scored in the opening period, giving Chicago a 4 goal lead going into the first intermission. Rene Bourque scored just over halfway through the second period, putting Chicago ahead by 5.

Brenden Morrow scored a shorthanded goal over halfway through the first period, giving Dallas their only lead of the game. The Ducks struck back when Scott Niedermayer scored his 7th of the season to tie the score at 1 goal apiece. Todd Bertuzzi scored the game winner, a go-ahead goal with 28 seconds left in regulation, which gave the Ducks the win.

Jeremy Roenick scored his 12th of the season late in the first period, which put the Sharks on the board and in the lead. Minnesota answered back 49 seconds into the second, when Stephane Veilleux put a puck past Evgeni Nabokov. Curtis Brown put the Sharks back in the lead a few minutes later. Marian Gaborik scored a power play goal early in the third, tying the score. Joe Pavelski scored to put San Jose ahead with 2:02 left in regulation. Minnesota was able to re-tie the score when Gaborik scored his second of the night with just 29 seconds left in regulation to force overtime and eventually a shootout. Pavelski and Brent Burns each scored for their respective teams, which tied the shootout in the first round. Roenick scored the deciding shootout goal in the third round, which gave the Sharks their 13th win in 14 games.
Kurtis Foster was taken off the ice in a stretcher in the second period, after being pushed from behind, losing his balance, and crashing into the boards during a race for the puck in a touch-icing situation. Foster has surgery Thursday to repair damage to a broken leg, and will miss the rest of the 2007-08 season, including the playoffs. 

Today's Player of the Day is Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings. Zetterberg scored a natural hat trick in the third period of Detroit's 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He had 6 shots on goal and a couple take aways. He scored the game-tying and game-winning goals.
For information on the selection process of the Player of the Day, see this page.

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National Hockey League news: March 20, 2008