Gameday 19 (Wed, 06 Feb) - Results

Boston v Montreal 2-1 - Tyler Seguin certainly made his coach look pretty good Wednesday night. Boston's Claude Julien moved Seguin to the wing on a line with David Krejci and Milan Lucic in the second intermission. Seguin then scored the tying goal and helped set up Krejci's winner on his first two shifts of the third period to lead the Bruins to a 2-1 victory against the Montreal Canadiens in the first of four meetings this season between the bitter Northeast Division rivals. It was Seguin's second goal of the season, the first on which he beat a goaltender, with his other goal coming into an empty net Jan. 28 against the Carolina Hurricanes. He had a goal called back and had another shot hit the knob of goaltender James Reimer's stick in a 1-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. But Seguin's production had largely been lacking until he was placed on that wing with Krejci and Lucic, swapping spots with Nathan Horton who moved to a line with Patrice Bergeron and Gregory Campbell. Tuukka Rask was tremendous in goal for the Bruins (7-1-1), particularly during a first period when his team was outshot 11-4 and he was forced into a number of key saves to get Boston to intermission in a scoreless tie. Rask finished with 21 saves and allowed one goal or fewer for the fifth time in eight starts this season. P.K. Subban scored his first goal of the season and Carey Price made 20 saves for the Canadiens (6-3-0), who saw their five-game home winning streak end. It was the first loss for Price since opening night, snapping a six-start run of wins. Canadiens captain Brian Gionta took no solace in the fact his team was able to compete with an elite team like the Bruins, because he feels his club belongs in the same category. Down 1-0 and having generated little in terms of scoring chances through the first two periods, the Bruins capitalized with two quick strikes to take the lead early in the third. Seguin lost Alexei Emelin on his way to the front of the net and Krejci saucered a pass to him from out of the corner for an easy tap in just 14 seconds after the opening faceoff. Seguin was at the root of the go-ahead goal on his next shift, entering the Canadiens' zone with tremendous speed to back up the defense before feeding Lucic on the wing and driving the net hard. That created a lane for Lucic to feed Krejci cutting to the far post, and he had a tap-in at 2:05 for a 2-1 Bruins lead. It was the first time the Canadiens lost in the six games this season in which they led after two periods. The Canadiens dominated the first period, and the Bruins were unable to generate a shot on goal until 11:24 after the opening faceoff. By that point, Colby Armstrong had just missed tipping one inside the far post, Tomas Plekanec nearly stuffed one inside the near post, Rene Bourque was denied by Rask from in tight, Alex Galchenyuk's deflection was stopped by Rask's skate, and Lars Eller had been stopped on a breakaway. The game remained scoreless entering the second, when the Bruins finally appeared to find their legs. This time, it was Montreal that was unable to muster a shot on goal midway through the period, though Plekanec really should have managed at least that instead of having the puck roll off his stick into a corner when he went in alone on Rask. By the time the Canadiens got their first shot of the period, 10:38 had passed. They scored on their next one when Subban's shot from the point was tipped by Boston's Rich Peverley and over Rask's glove for the defenseman's first of the season at 10:53.

Anaheim v Colorado 3-0 - It sure looks like the Anaheim Ducks struck gold in the free-agent market after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs a year ago. Signees Sheldon Souray, Daniel Winnik and Viktor Fasth have played major roles in the Ducks' red-hot 7-1-1 start, the best in franchise history, and all three contributed in Wednesday night's 3-0 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. Souray, a 36-year-old defenseman, had a goal and an assist; he's scored four times and has seven points. Winnik, a former Colorado forward, has five goals and three assists after setting up Francois Beauchemin's second-period goal. Fasth, a 30-year-old rookie from Sweden, turned aside 31 shots for his initial NHL shutout and is unbeaten in four starts. He has a 0.98 goals-against average and a save percentage of .962. The victory moved the Ducks into first place in the Pacific Division, San Jose also has 15 points but has played one more game, and into second place in the Western Conference, three points behind Chicago. The Ducks have won four games in a row, have gone 5-0-1 in their past six games and are 3-0-1 on the road with five games remaining on a grueling six-game trip. The Avalanche, meanwhile, has lost two consecutive games, both at home, and five of the past seven to fall two games below .500 (4-6-0). Colorado already has been shut out three times. The Ducks needed just eight first-period shots to grab a 2-0 lead on goals by Souray and Saku Koivu. Souray, who has goals in three consecutive games and has rejuvenated his career, opened the scoring at 6:20 with a shot from just inside the blue line that found its way through a number of sticks and skates before slipping behind goalie Semyon Varlamov. Souray, Teemu Selanne and Koivu combined for a power-play goal at 15:39 during a two-man advantage after Colorado's Michael Sgarbossa and Ryan O'Byrne took interference and hooking penalties, respectively, 40 seconds apart. It took the Ducks 34 seconds to convert. Souray fed Selanne at the base of the right circle, Selanne passed in front, and Koivu nudged the puck in while stationed near the left post. The Ducks increased the lead to 3-0 at 10:45 of the second period when Winnik fed a centering pass to Beauchemin for a one-timer from the top of the slot. The Avalanche failed to register a shot on goal during a first-period power play and are 3-for-33 with the man advantage this season. The Ducks recalled defenseman Jordan Hendry from Norfolk in the American Hockey League and inserted him in the lineup because Toni Lydman was ill with flu symptoms.

Dallas v Edmonton 3-2 - At age 40, Jaromir Jagr still knows where the back of the net is, especially in overtime. Jagr scored his NHL-record 17th overtime goal when he connected 1:46 into the extra period Wednesday night to give the Dallas Stars a 3-2 victory against the Edmonton Oilers. Jagr picked up the rebound of Jamie Benn's shot in the corner to the left of Edmonton goaltender Devan Dubnyk. He curled his way around defenseman Ryan Whitney, moved into the lower right circle and ripped a low wrister past Dubnyk's glove for his third goal of the season, and the 668th of his career, tying him with Hall of Famer Luc Robitaille for 10th on the all-time goal-scoring list. Jagr's performance, he also made a brilliant play to set up Jamie Benn's second-period goal, left both the Stars and Oilers impressed. Kari Lehtonen made 27 saves for the Stars (5-5-1), who've had nine games decided by one goal and have been outshot in all 11. Dubnyk stopped 25 shots for Edmonton (4-3-3), which is winless in its last four games. The Oilers have had six of their 10 games this season go to overtime or a shootout, they are 1-3 in regulation and 3-3 when the game goes past 60 minutes, including back-to-back OT losses to Vancouver and Dallas. Still, the Oilers are seventh in the West, just ahead of Dallas, a good start for a team that has finished 30th, 30th and 29th in the overall standings in the past three seasons. Edmonton trailed 2-1 after two periods but tied the score 7:38 into the third on a power-play goal by rookie defenseman Jeff Schultz. He stepped into a straightaway one-timer from 55 feet and blew a slap shot through traffic and past Lehtonen for his third of the season. The Oilers pressed for the go-ahead goal in the final 10 minutes of regulation but couldn't beat Lehtonen again. The Oilers opened the scoring 3:31 into the second period after getting the Stars' defense running around in its own zone. Sam Gagner barely missed a tip on a back-door pass, but Edmonton kept the heat on and Ales Hemsky finally beat Lehtonen when he picked up the carom of Yakupov's shot off the post and put it into a wide-open net for his fourth of the season. The assist gave Gagner a 10-game point-scoring streak, he's hit the scoresheet in each of the Oilers' games this season. After both teams hit posts in an eight-second span, Loui Eriksson for Dallas and Yakupov for the Oilers on the return rush, Dallas tied it at 13:24 on a goal by Benn, who took a feed in the left circle from Jagr and whisked a shot off the skate of Oilers defenseman Jeff Petry and past Dubnyk. It was Benn's third of the season, all in the past two games, and ninth in 11 career games against Edmonton. Jagr made the play by controlling the puck and finding Benn all alone. Dallas took the lead at 18:44 on Derek Roy's first goal as a Star. Roy, acquired from Buffalo last summer, took a pass from Eriksson at the right point and teed up a slap shot that went through a screen and past Dubnyk for a power-play goal. Gulutzan was happy with the outcome but not with his team's performance after the Oilers got even in the third period. Neither team scored in a first period that saw Dallas outshoot Edmonton 12-9 and get the better scoring chances. Dubnyk stopped Roy on a 2-on-1 break with 5:28 left, then foiled Michael Ryder on the rebound. About two minutes later, Eakin beat Dubnyk cleanly from well inside the right circle during a penalty kill, only to see his shot hit the far post and stay out. Edmonton lost center Anton Lander in the first period with a foot injury. The Oilers also were without center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the first player taken in the 2011 NHL Draft. He took a hit from Vancouver's Henrik Sedin in Monday's 3-2 overtime loss and sat with a sore shoulder. Krueger said he expects Nugent-Hopkins to play against Detroit.The Stars made a change on the blue line, as Alex Goligoski was a healthy scratch, with Philip Larsen dressing in his place. Goligoski has just three points in 10 games and has struggled at times in the early going.