Gameday 17 (Mon, 04 Feb) - Results

Carolina v Toronto 4-1 - After a tough start to the season, Cam Ward found his game Monday night. The former Conn Smythe winner stopped 41 of 42 shots, including great saves in the third period on Phil Kessel, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak, as the Carolina Hurricanes earned a 4-1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. Jordan Staal, Eric Staal, Justin Faulk and Patrick Dwyer all scored for Carolina, while Jeff Skinner chipped in with three assists. Ward entered the game with a 1-3 record and a 4.05 goals-against average, but rebounded in a big way Monday night to earn his second win of the season. James Reimer stopped 35 of 39 shots for the Maple Leafs, who went 0-for-5 on the power play. With the Hurricanes up 2-1 entering the final period, Faulk put the visitors up by a pair just 43 seconds in, scoring his second goal of the season on a 5-on-3. Dwyer sealed the victory at 9:58 on a wrist shot from the slot. It was Dwyer's third of the season and second point of the night. After being outshot in the first period 18-12, Carolina rallied together and picked up the slack offensively over the next 40 minutes. The Maple Leafs got caught on a defensive miscue early in the second period, when Jordan Staal scored his first goal as a member of the Hurricanes at 1:21. Dwyer drew several opposing players towards him before sending the puck to the front of the net, where Staal was left all alone and he easily beat Reimer with a quick move to the backhand. Midway through the period, Jordan's older brother, Eric, lit the lamp. With Maple Leafs forward Jay McClement in the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct, the Hurricanes' captain banked the puck in from the side of the net for his seventh goal of the season. The Hurricanes had gone 1-for-16 with the man-advantage over the past three games. They finished 2-for-4 against Toronto. In a momentum-shifting play, Tyler Bozak thought he had tied the game at 18:44 of the second. But after review, it was ruled that he had kicked in a redirection attempt off a shot from Michael Kostka. Matt Frattin's team-leading fifth goal gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead just 5:44 into the game. Frattin pounced on a rebound that defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti misplayed in front of Ward. Nazem Kadri took the initial shot, shoveling the puck on goal after fanning on his first attempt. Clarke MacArthur rejoined the Maple Leafs after missing three games with a lacerated finger. He had four shots on goal in just over 15:34 of ice time. Phil Kessel also had four shots, but has yet to score this season.

Dallas v Colorado 3-2 - Like the Dallas Stars, Jamie Benn was starved for goals in the first nine games of the season. The Stars were averaging a mere 1.8 goals per game and Benn had yet to find the back of the net. That changed Monday night at the Pepsi Center, where Benn scored twice to lead the Stars to a 3-2 victory against the Colorado Avalanche, who suffered their first loss in four home games. Stars coach Glen Gulutzan shuffled the line combinations, and Benn's unit with Brenden Morrow and Jaromir Jagr clicked for all three goals and two assists. Benn, who assisted on Morrow's first-period goal, has accounted for four goals and seven assists in 13 career games against the Avalanche. The Stars squandered an early 2-0 lead, but went ahead 3-2 at 15:29 of the second period on Benn's second goal and third point of the game during a lengthy delayed penalty. Derek Roy, who missed the previous five games because of a groin injury, passed to Benn at the top of the slot for an open shot that whistled past goalie Semyon Varlamov to the stick side. The Avalanche had tied the game at 11:33 of the period on a power-play goal by PA Parenteau. Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen made a save on Paul Stastny's shot from the right side, but Parenteau batted the rebound out of the air and into the net from the opposite side. The Avalanche had a chance to tie the game early in the third period when Jagr was penalized for shooting the puck over the glass, but they failed to register a shot on goal during the ensuing power play. Colorado has gone 3-for-32 with the man advantage this season. Benn collected his first goal at 2:21 of the first period when he scored on a clean breakaway after stripping the puck from Avalanche defenseman Matt Hunwick. Morrow made it 2-0 at 11:18 after Benn poked the puck through the legs of Avalanche center Matt Duchene on a faceoff in the right circle. Jagr gained possession and fed Morrow in front. The Stars had a golden opportunity starting at 13:21 to seize control with a five-on-three power play that lasted the full two minutes with Colorado's Patrick Bordeleau (charging) and Hunwick (roughing) in the penalty box. But the Avalanche killed it off with Varlamov making four saves. Then Hejduk, the first player to wear an Avalanche uniform for all 1,000 games of his career, scored his first goal of the year at 18:12 by knocking in the rebound of John Mitchell's shot. Lehtonen ensured the one-goal lead would hold up, finishing with 29 saves for his seventh win in 11 career decisions against the Avalanche. The Avalanche hurt any attempt for a comeback by taking consecutive penalties late in the period; Greg Zanon went off for holding and Ryan O'Byrne was penalized when he cleared the puck over the glass with nine seconds left on Zanon's infraction. Referee Chris Rooney fell to the ice and was down for several minutes after he was struck in the head with a deflected puck at 3:18 of the first period. Rooney eventually was able to get to his feet and was helped off the ice for medical treatment but didn't return, leaving Justin St. Pierre as the lone referee. Rooney was hit after Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak launched a shot from the blue line that caromed off Stastny's skate. There was no word on Rooney's condition after the game.

Minnesota v Phoenix 1-2 - The Phoenix Coyotes have spent the last week digging their way out of an early-season hole. And if they are done with the shovel, the Minnesota Wild would like to borrow it. The Coyotes ran their points streak to five straight games and continued their mastery over the Wild on Monday night when Lauri Korpikoski and Martin Hanzal scored goals in the first and second period and goalie Mike Smith, now rounding into shape between the pipes. made sure they were enough with 21 saves to squeeze out a 2-1 win at Jobing.com Arena. With Smith, Hanzal and Steve Sullivan all back from injuries, the Coyotes look more like last year's Western Conference finalists. Phoenix is now 3-0-2 in the last five games and back to 4-4-2 overall after a listless, injury-plagued 1-4-0 start. The Coyotes are now 9-2-2 in their last 13 games against Minnesota and are 41-15-6 against Northwest Division teams in three-plus years under coach Dave Tippett. The Coyotes paid for a physical price for the win. Defenseman David Schlemko left the arena with his right arm in a sling after falling awkwardly on his right shoulder in the first period. Tippett said he will be out for a least a few weeks. Another defenseman, Zbynek Michalek, took a puck in the left cheek in the final seconds to help preserve the win. Meanwhile, the Wild are now 2-4-1 after a 2-0 start and held a 20-minute, players-only meeting after putting only four shots on goal in the final 23-plus minutes off the game. Zach Parise scored his 200th career goal and the Wild had the majority of the good scoring chances, but not many late until Pierre Marc-Bouchard hit the post on the second of two power plays in the third period. The Wild did register a shot on goal on either man advantage. Niklas Backstrom won his first eight decisions against the Coyotes, but hasn't had much luck since. He's now 3-9 in the last 12 starts against Phoenix and his 30 saves weren't good enough this time. It was an interesting first period for Phoenix defenseman Keith Yandle. He left Smith hanging when he fell down during Coyotes power play 13 minutes into the game, but Smith poke-checked the puck away from Kyle Brodziak on the shorthanded breakaway. Then, two minutes later, Smith was caught wandering behind his own net and it was Yandle who saved the day, getting a skate on a Mikael Granlund shot destined for the net and steering it wide of the post. On the same shift he saved a goal, Yandle let a shot go from the point that Korpikoski deflected down and under Backstrom at 15:09 on Phoenix's 16th shot of the period. Korpikoski's four goals this season have come against Finnish countrymen, with Backstrom joining Kari Lehtonen (Dallas), Antti Niemi (San Jose) and Pekka Rinne (Nashville) on his hit list. The Coyotes made it 2-0 in the second in similar fashion. Smith topped Ryan Suter's shot from the point and Michalek sent Radim Vrbata the other way. Backstrom stopped Vrbata's shot, but left a rebound in the slot for Hanzal to steer around and sweep home at 7:48. Hanzal's fourth goal was his third in three games since returning from a lower-body injury. The Wild kept pressuring Phoenix's sloppy play in their own end, and it paid off less than two minutes later. Parise gobbled up a Mikkel Boedker turnover and wristed goal No. 200 by Smith at 9:40. The goal snapped a 121 minute, 26-second scoreless streak for Smith and put the Wild right back in the game. But the Coyotes controlled the play and the clock from there.

Vancouver v Edmonton 3-2 - Christopher Tanev picked a great time to notch the first goal of his NHL career. Tanev scored with just 19.3 seconds remaining in overtime as the Vancouver Canucks rallied for a 3-2 victory against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday for their season-high third win in a row. With just 2:17 remaining and the Oilers holding a 2-1 lead, the Canucks were able to tie the game up on a long shot from Kevin Bieksa that beat Devan Dubnyk stick-side to send the game to overtime. Taylor Hall was awarded a penalty shot for the Oilers with 2:47 gone in the extra session after being hooked down by Daniel Sedin on a breakaway, but Hall was stopped by Roberto Luongo, who finished with 23 saves in his fourth straight start. Jannik Hansen also scored in regulation for the Canucks (5-2-2), who got a bit of revenge from the first time the two teams met this season when Edmonton came from behind 2-0 to win 3-2 in a shootout. Ales Hemsky and Ryan Smyth scored for the Oilers (4-3-2), who have lost three in a row. Dubnyk finished with 37 saves. Hemsky got the Oilers on the board late in the first period via the power play. Nail Yakupov made a nice chip pass and Hemsky hustled to beat Jason Garrison to the puck before undressing Luongo with a deke for his third goal of the season. The Oilers doubled their lead eight minutes into the second as Anton Lander picked off a pass at the Canucks’ blue line while shorthanded and sent it to Smyth in front. His shot was partially blocked by Alex Edler, but still managed to dribble its way into the Vancouver net. The Canucks got on the board four minutes later after a good battle by Hansen culminated in his shot from behind the goal-line catching Dubnyk off guard, going in off his arm. The Canucks had a good chance to tie it up five minutes into the third period on a tipped shot in front of the net by Alexandre Burrows, but Dubnyk was able to make a leaping save. Luongo matched that with a point-blank save on Jordan Eberle with nine minutes to play.

San Jose v Anaheim 1-2 - The seasonal arc of the Anaheim Ducks in recent years is typically an awful start followed by a red-hot second half. By that calendar measure, they're right on time in this shortened season. Their latest triumph was a gutty (and lucky) 2-1 decision Monday night that ended San Jose's eight-game points streak (7-0-1) and further provided evidence that it might be time to buy in to Anaheim's hot start. Sheldon Souray unleashed his signature slap shot from above the left circle with 6:39 remaining and the Ducks killed a power play and a 6-on-5 extra attacker advantage in the final two minutes for their best start (6-1-1) since the 2007 Stanley Cup champion team began 6-0-2. It also took a fluky bounce for the score-tying goal to fell the Sharks, but those are the kind of breaks Anaheim didn't necessarily get in seasons past. Souray's shot ramped off the blade of Scott Gomez before it found the upper net for the game winner. Anaheim is 1-0-1 against San Jose this season and 7-1-1 against it in the past nine meetings. Viktor Fasth stopped 25 shots as the 30-year-old rookie became the first goaltender in Ducks history to win his first three NHL games. His poke check on Patrick Marleau's partial breakaway attempt in the third came during an Anaheim 5-on-3 power play. A quirky bounce off the end boards gift-wrapped the score-tying goal for Anaheim fewer than four minutes into the third period. Tommy Wingels' pass behind the net popped out to the crease and Koivu poked it in with an oblivious Thomas Greiss still searching for the puck. San Jose extended its penalty kill streak to 27, but its fourth-ranked power play went 0-for-6 against Anaheim's No.29 penalty kill. The Sharks had been 34-1-4 when leading after two periods, dating back to the beginning of last season. Greiss and Fasth stood ground during a combined five power plays in the second period. Fasth stopped Marleau from the left side and Greiss stretched over to thwart Teemu Selanne's wraparound. But the most impressive save was perhaps by Jason Demers, who managed to get his stick on Andrew Cogliano's attempt at a wide open net during Anaheim's big flurry. Anaheim went scoreless on two first period power plays and San Jose turned around and forced a turnover that led to Couture's sixth goal. Toni Lydman had the puck taken from behind the goal line and Andrew Desjardins' shot deflected on net before an unchecked Couture grabbed it in the crease and backhanded it in at 18:08. The teams combined to go 0-for-11 on the power play and it didn't help that both teams were missing top offensive defensemen. Dan Boyle was scratched with the flu and Cam Fowler with an upper-body injury. Boyle also missed the Jan. 29 game against Anaheim because of the flu. San Jose will host the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. Chicago is now the only team remaining in the NHL without a regulation loss (7-0-2).