Gameday 36 (Sat, 23 Feb) - Results

New Jersey v Washington 1-5 - Alex Ovechkin had his first hat trick in more than two years Saturday to help the Washington Capitals defeat a team in the top eight of the Eastern Conference for the first time this season. Ovechkin's first three-goal effort since Jan. 22, 2011 helped the Capitals to a 5-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Verizon Center. The win moved Washington past the Buffalo Sabres and out of last place in the conference, and the Capitals are now 1-8-1 against the current top eight in the East. The Capitals captain also assisted on a late goal by Troy Brouwer to give him a four-point game for the first time since Feb. 4, 2011. Ovechkin put the Capitals in front, 1-0, 5:20 into the second period. Jason Chimera sent the puck from the right wall into the slot to Mike Ribiero, and the team's leading scorer sent it along to the Ovechkin for a one-timer from below the dot in the left circle. After a goal late in the second period by New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk, Ovechkin and the Capitals erupted in the third. Ovechkin put Washington in front at 1:23 when he collected a pass along the right wing and used New Jersey defenseman Anton Volchenkov as a screen to snap a shot past goaltender Johan Hedberg. It was precisely the type of goal Ovechkin used to score regularly during his days as the League's top left wing, but it was the first time he's been able to do it this year since moving to the right side. He completed the hat trick at 15:13 of the third, after a shorthanded goal by Eric Fehr put Washington ahead 3-1. Ribiero had the puck behind the net and sent a diagonal pass to Ovechkin for a one-timer on the power play. Ovechkin's previous hat trick came at Air Canada Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ovechkin now has eight goals this season. Ribiero has 15 assists in 17 games and is leading Washington with 21 points. The Capitals traded for Ribiero at the 2012 NHL Draft, sending forward Cody Eakin and a second-round pick to the Dallas Stars. Finding a center to provide consistent production behind Nicklas Backstrom has been a multiyear project for general manager George McPhee, and Ribiero is exceeding expectations at this point. Ribiero has at least 50 points in each of the past seven seasons, but he hasn't averaged more than one per contest since he had 83 in 76 games in 2007-08. After the Capitals had taken a 1-0 lead, Kovalchuk countered with a goal late in the second period. Devils forward Andrei Loktionov lost the puck after he entered the offensive zone, but he was able to clear space for Kovalchuk to swoop in behind him and fire a shot past goaltender Braden Holtby with Capitals defenseman John Erskine providing a screen. The goal, with 38 seconds remaining in the period, was Kovalchuk's seventh of the season. He has three against the Capitals, including the game-winner in each of the first two meetings of the season, including Thursday in a 3-2 victory also played at Verizon Center. Brouwer deflected an Ovechkin shot at 17:09 of the third for another power-play goal and the final marker of a furious 20 minutes. Fehr's goal to make it 3-1 at 3:56 was the team's first shorthanded tally of the season. He stole the puck from Hedberg behind the net before stuffing a wraparound shot for his fourth of the season.

Winnipeg v Philadelphia 3-5 - The alarm clock went off for the Philadelphia Flyers with just over seven minutes left in the first period, and it was just in time for them to rebound from another slow start to rally for a 5-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. With 7:17 left in the first period the Flyers were trailing 1-0 and were being outshot 12-1. But in that final 7:17, they scored a goal to tie the game, registered 16 shots, and never looked back. Wayne Simmonds' power-play goal at 8:57 of the third period snapped a 3-3 tie and gave Philadelphia its first win of the season when trailing after two periods (1-7). Brayden Schenn took a pass from Jakub Voracek on the right side in the Winnipeg zone and drew three defenders to him. That left Simmonds alone on the back door, and Schenn found him with a cross-slot pass for a tap-in goal. Schenn had his first two-goal game of the season and added an assist, Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist, and Voracek had three assists to extend his point-scoring streak to five games. Zac Rinaldo added an empty-net goal at the buzzer, and had a game-high 12 hits in 14:18 of ice time. The Flyers' power play, 3-for-12 in its past three games, scored three times on six chances Saturday. The game started as well as the Jets could have hoped, with Evander Kane's goal 4:48 in giving Winnipeg the lead. Dustin Byfuglien's shot from the right point went wide of the net, but Nik Antropov retrieved it and passed from behind the goal to Kane, who was wide open on the right post and flipped it over Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for his sixth of the season and third in four career games in Philadelphia. It extended Kane's point streak to six games. It was the third straight game and 11th time in 20 games the Flyers had surrendered the game's first goal. Jokinen's spin-and-fire goal 2:34 into the second put Winnipeg ahead 2-1, then Burmistrov's beautiful leaping deflection of a Grant Clitsome point shot at 11:13 of the second made it 3-1. Clitsome got the puck at the blue line in the center of the Philadelphia zone and fired a low shot that Burmistrov leapt over, but left his stick low, where he was able to change the direction of the shot enough to get it past Bryzgalov. Giroux got the Flyers to 3-2 with a 5-on-3 goal at 14:24 of the second. Penalties on Byfuglien and Jim Slater two seconds apart put the Flyers on a two-man advantage, and Giroux's blast from the top of the left circle went past Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec for his sixth of the season. Schenn tied the game at 6:18 of the third on another power-play chance. Giroux carried the puck into the Jets' zone, and as he was checked pushed it ahead to Voracek. Voracek carried it to the goal line and backhanded a pass to Schenn in the slot. His one-timer beat Pavelec to make it 3-3. After Simmonds' power-play goal put the Flyers ahead, Rinaldo's empty-net goal with less than a second remaining closed the scoring. The Jets saw their three-game road win streak snapped, and lost for the first time on their current five-game trip (2-1-0). Noel said special-teams failures were the culprit, besides their poor penalty kill, they went 0-for-4 on the power play, including missing a chance to tie the game on a man-advantage with 3:49 left in the third. Winnipeg has gone eight games without an extra-man goal, going 0-for-21 in the process. The Flyers received a boost before the game when Scott Hartnell returned to the lineup four weeks and one day after surgery to repair a broken first metatarsal in his left foot. He was second on the team with five shots in 14:54 of ice time. More than any offensive output, Hartnell's presence was welcomed by a team coming off a listless 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday. Now the Flyers (9-10-1) can look toward getting to .500 for the first time this season when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.

Phoenix v Edmonton 2-3 - Sam Gagner was stymied by Mike Smith on two golden opportunities, but he finally found success in the shootout. Gagner, denied on a first-period breakaway and an overtime slap shot, scored a highlight-reel goal in the shootout to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 comeback win against the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday at Rexall Place. Approaching with speed, Gagner quickly went forehand-backhand-forehand and finally got a puck past Smith. Gagner failed on a shorthanded breakaway against Smith with the Oilers trailing 1-0. Jordan Eberle scored in regulation and in the shootout for Edmonton, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit and ended a five-game homestand with a win after losing three of four. Phoenix had a two-game winning streak end. Smith made 41 saves for the Coyotes, including a glove stop on Gagner during a 4-on-3 power play situation in overtime. Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin made 34 saves through 65 minutes, then stopped Mikael Boedker and David Rundblad in the shootout. Trailing 2-0 midway through the second period, the Oilers tied the game with 11:56 left in the third on a tap-in goal by Teemu Hartikainen. A clearing attempt off the boards by Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson did not get past Oilers defenseman Justin Schultz, whose shot from the point was deflected by Ryan Smyth across the crease to Hartikainen waiting at the left post for an easy finish. It was his first goal in 15 games this season. Phoenix's Matthew Lombardi, who had not played since Jan. 24, missing 12 games with a shoulder injury, scored his first of the season to give the Coyotes a 2-0 lead in the second period. The goal at 9:42 was the result of Lombardi going hard to the crease during a power play. Boedker's shot from the right-wing boards hit the far post and ricocheted off the left leg of Khabibulin. Lombardi skated in from the opposite side and was able to backhand the loose puck into the net. The goal snapped a 1-for-23 power-play slump for Phoenix, but it finished the game 1-for-7. Kyle Chipchura's hard work put the Coyotes ahead 1-0 early in the first period. He stole the puck behind the Edmonton net, skated out in front, turned and fired a shot past Khabibulin at 5:23. Smith held the Oilers scoreless in the first, stopping shorthanded breakaways by Eric Belanger and Gagner. Smith got help in the second period when, after making a sprawling save, Keith Yandle had to bat a goal-bound puck away with his glove. The Oilers finally broke through at 16:22 of the second period. Nail Yakupov won the race for a dump-in that hit off the end boards and his pass in front was tapped in by Eberle. Edmonton starts a nine-game, 17-day road trip on Monday in Chicago. Edmonton was without leading scorer Taylor Hall, who served the first of a two-game suspension he received for kneeing Cal Clutterbuck of the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. Phoenix played without its two top-scoring forwards, Radim Vrbata and Martin Hanzal, both of whom were out with an injury.

Colorado v Los Angeles 1-4 - Bring on the Anaheim Ducks? That wasn't quite the chant in the Los Angeles Kings' locker room, although the defending Stanley Cup champions seem to have their game together just in time for their Southern California rivals. The Kings are taking a page from last season with strong play from the reunited top line of Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams leading the way in a 4-1 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Brown, Kopitar and Williams combined for two goals and two assists and Jeff Carter added a goal as Los Angeles, which started 3-5-2, is now 8-6-2 and stretched its winning streak to a season-high three games. The Kings have won five of their past six games going into Monday's showdown against Pacific Division-leading Anaheim, which is 12-2-1. Colorado lost despite the return of captain Gabriel Landeskog from a head injury, mostly because it couldn't stop the Kings from getting loose in its own end. Milan Hejduk's power-play goal 1:16 into the second period was the only shot to elude Jonathan Quick, who made 25 saves. Kopitar remained on the ice during a line change and made it 4-1 at 16:42 of the second period with a wrist shot off a slick pass from Dustin Penner. Penner protected the puck from the back wall to around the corner and dished it between two defenders for only his second point this season. Coach Darryl Sutter reunited the top line Feb.19 and the trio seems to have rediscovered why it was so effective during the run to the Cup last spring. It helped L.A. take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission on long shots that exposed both Colorado's shoddy zone coverage and Semyon Varlamov's blocker side. The start set the tone for a Kings team that ended a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) to Colorado, the only Western Conference team to sweep L.A. last season. Brown blasted a cross-ice feed from Williams into the net only 58 seconds into the game. Carter wristed home a tape-to-tape backhand pass from a curling Mike Richards at 14:22 for his team-leading ninth of the season. Carter has goals in three consecutive games. He had six goals in 16 regular-season games as a King in 2011-12, but has nine through 16 games this season. Trevor Lewis added a shorthanded goal 2:51 into the second period on a soft shot five-hole on Varlamov, the first shorthander by L.A. and the first allowed by Colorado this season. Jarret Stoll started the play with a blocked shot in the slot. Colorado has scored one goal in each of its past two games. Colorado didn't manage much on its other power plays, getting one and zero shots on two occasions. Coach Joe Sacco cited inconsistency and pointed to its leaders to get them out of the doldrums. The Avalanche play at Anaheim on Sunday. Former fan favorite Ian Laperriere was honored in a pre-game tribute. The Kings also observed a moment of silence for former owner Jerry Buss.

NY Islanders v Buffalo 4-0 - A coaching change hasn't helped the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres fell to 0-2-0 since Ron Rolston replaced Lindy Ruff when they were beaten 4-0 by the New York Islanders on Saturday in front of an unhappy sellout crowd at First Niagara Center. New York killed off all six Buffalo power plays and goaltender Evgeni Nabokov made 35 saves for his first shutout of the season and 53rd of his career. The shutout was the first for Nabokov against Buffalo. Mark Streit, Michael Grabner, John Tavares and Colin McDonald scored for the Islanders. Matt Moulson recorded two assists. Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller stopped 28 shots. New York has won four of its past six games after losing five in a row earlier in the month. The Islanders begin a seven-game homestand on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Sabres have lost four in a row, their first four-game losing streak in regulation since they went 0-5-0 from Jan. 14 to Jan. 21, 2012. Buffalo has lost three straight home games in regulation for the first time since Feb. 16 to Feb. 20, 2011. Buffalo is tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with the Washington Capitals. Each team has 13 points but the Capitals have two games in hand. The Islanders had the 10th-best penalty-killing unit in the League heading into the game (83.3 percent) and the Sabres entered with the NHL's second-worst power play (12.3 percent). The Sabres had two power-play opportunities in the first period, and the Islanders killed off both. New York outshot Buffalo, 13-9, in the first. The Sabres' power play tested New York twice more in the second when the Islanders took consecutive penalties. A Buffalo power play in the third period was cut short when forward Nathan Gerbe was called for tripping. The Islanders killed off the Sabres' sixth chance late in the third. With 12:37 left, Nabokov kicked a rebound back into the slot and teammate Frans Nielsen ended up knocking the puck back into him. Later, with the Sabres on the power play, Nabokov fell backward to deny Tyler Ennis from in close. As that power play expired, Nabokov deflected a shot from Ennis in the slot right to Drew Stafford, but went right-to-left in time to rob Stafford with his glove. NHL scoring leader Thomas Vanek couldn't beat Nabokov either on the second man advantage in the second period when Nabokov gloved his backhander. Streit's goal with 2:09 to play in the second period opened the scoring. The Islanders killed off a penalty to Tavares, who joined the rush as he left the box. Moulson carried the puck over the line and threaded a pass through a crowded slot to Streit. The Islanders captain one-timed the puck past Miller for his fourth goal of the season. Grabner scored on a breakaway 1:05 later to give New York a 2-0 lead. He intercepted a cross-ice pass from Christian Ehrhoff along the Islanders' blue line and raced in alone as Ehrhoff chased him down. Ehrhoff ended up getting a stick on Grabner, but the Islanders forward wristed a shot past Miller for his seventh goal of the season. Tavares scored his 12th goal 4:24 into the third period to put him in a tie with Vanek for the NHL lead. Tavares checked defenseman Andrej Sekera behind the Buffalo net, came out in front and snapped a wrist shot into the top far corner. McDonald added a power-play goal with 58 seconds left in the game. The goal was his third of the season. Buffalo goes on the road to the state of Florida for two games next week. They will face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday but will first take Sunday off. Sekera returned after missing three games with a charley horse, but the Sabres lost defenseman Alexander Sulzer in the first period with a lower-body injury after he was checked in the corner by McDonald, who was called for interference on the play. Rolston said Sulzer will undergo some tests but there is no timetable for his return. The Islanders will look to build on the success they've had on the road with the upcoming homestand. New York is 6-3-1 away from Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 2-6-0 on home ice.

NY Rangers v Montreal 0-3 - The New York Rangers lost another game, and may have lost another two key defensemen in the process. The line of Alex Galchenyuk, Erik Cole and Lars Eller each had a goal and an assist and Carey Price made 17 saves for his second shutout of the season as the Montreal Canadiens handed the New York Rangers their third straight loss, 3-0 Saturday night at Bell Centre. Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh left the game after taking a hit from Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty at 7:20 of the second period and did not return. Pacioretty was given a two-minute minor for boarding on the play that left McDonagh bloodied. McDonagh had previously hit Pacioretty hard into the boards near the Canadiens' bench and the Montreal forward was slow to get up. Then, with just over one minute remaining in regulation time, Dan Girardi. blocked a P.K. Subban one-timer with his right ankle and had to be helped from the ice as he was unable to put any weight on his foot. Rangers coach John Tortorella began his post-game news conference by asking the gathered reporters how high they believed Pacioretty jumped when he hit McDonagh, but he would not go into details about the severity of neither McDonagh's nor Girardi's injuries. The potential loss of McDonagh and Girardi would make this difficult stretch for the Rangers (8-7-2) an unmitigated disaster. Over the course of the past five games, the Rangers have gone 1-2-2 and lost top line left wing Rick Nash, fourth line checker Arron Asham, defenseman Michael Del Zotto and now McDonagh. Also, star players Brad Richards was benched for the entire third period in the first game of this five-game slide, while Marian Gaborik did not see a single shift in the third period Saturday night. The Rangers have scored just eight goals in those five games and allowed 14. The Canadiens (12-4-2), on the other hand, continued rolling after blowing two two-goal leads to the New York Islanders on Thursday night to lose 4-3 in overtime, snapping a five-game winning streak but immediately starting a potential new one by beating the Rangers for the second time in a span of four days. With the win the Canadiens reclaimed sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference, two points up on the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils and four points clear of the Boston Bruins in the Northeast Division. The Bruins, however, hold four games in hand on Montreal. Price had just about the easiest shutout a goalie can get, rarely being tested with quality chances as his teammates frustrated the Rangers with its defensive style in much the same they did in Tuesday night's 3-1 win at Madison Square Garden. With the return of rookie Brendan Gallagher from a concussion, Therrien moved Cole onto a line with Eller and Galchenyuk and saw immediate results. Cole surprised Biron with a quick low shot at 1:20 of the second period to score his third goal of the season, snapping a nine-game stretch where he failed to get a point. Galchenyuk made it to 2-0 Canadiens at 13:36 of the second when he took a drop pass from Eller and tried to cut in front of the net for an attempt on goal. As he made his move, the puck deflected off the stick of Girardi and up and over Biron for the rookie's third goal of the season and second in as many games against New York. Eller increased the lead to 3-0 on a power play at 19:34 off a nice pass from Galchenyuk, one-timing it through a Cole screen and past Biron for his second goal of the season. Rangers rookie Christian Thomas, the son of former NHLer Steve Thomas, made his NHL debut in a game his teammates and coach would like to put behind them as soon as possible. The Rangers will not practice Sunday and host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday to open a four-game homestand, one that could define this compressed season for a team that was expected to be a Stanley Cup contender but is currently barely above .500.

Toronto v Ottawa 2-3 - Colin Greening struck big in the Battle of Ontario on Saturday night. Greening had a three-point night and scored with 24 seconds left in regulation as the Ottawa Senators beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 at Scotiabank Place. Mika Zibanejad and Erik Condra each had two points for the Senators (11-6-2), who are currently on a four-game winning streak. Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur had the goals for Toronto (11-8-0). It was the first Senators’ victory over the Maple Leafs at home since Oct. 30, 2011. Ben Bishop made 26 saves in his first victory against the Leafs. Scrivens had 32 stops. Toronto struck early in the first period, when Patrick Wiercioch gave up the puck to Nikolai Kulemin in the right corner. Kulemin passed back to Grabovski, who sent a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot through the five hole of Bishop at 3:32. The Battle of Ontario began to take a physical turn quickly, as the rivals began to battle for space and pucks. Nazem Kadri rocked Jim O’Brien with a monstrous body hit in the Leafs’ zone, knocking the Senators forward to the ice. Ottawa tied the game 1-1, courtesy of some quality work by the Senators’ younger players. Zibanejad passed across the blue line to Colin Greening, who sent a shot from point towards Scrivens. Zibanejad flew towards the net and deflected the puck into the net with a tip-in at 10:52. The Swede now has two goals in two games. Zibanejad, like Greening, was recently made a healthy scratch by MacLean. Greening sat out of the Feb. 16 against Toronto, while Zibanejad was held out of the lineup on Feb. 18 against New Jersey. Both players have seen a resurgence since their return – Zibanejad has three points in two games and Greening is riding a five-point scoring streak through three games. The Senators nearly made the score 2-1 early in the second period. Dave Dziurzynski passed the puck from behind the Toronto net to a waiting Zack Smith, who sent a point-blank shot into the chest of Scrivens. The Leafs goaltender bobbled the puck but managed to cover it with his glove before Smith could find the rebound. After a period that saw end-to-end action and over seven minutes of continuous play, the Senators took the lead late in the second. Condra sent a drop pass to Gryba, who fired on Scrivens, while Condra went to the net. Chaos ensued in front of Scrivens, with the puck ending up in his net at 19:17. Toronto tied the game in third period on a power play, after Erik Gryba was called for holding at 5:33. MacArthur’s shot in front of the net deflected off the body and skate of Marc Methot and dribbled through the legs of Bishop at 7:10. It was the tenth power-play goal the Leafs have scored on the road this season.

Tampa Bay v Carolina 5-2 - The National Hockey League's best third-period attack came through again. Benoit Pouliot, Richard Panik, Thomas Pyatt and Steven Stamkos added to Tampa Bay's League-leading total of third-period goals as the Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Saturday night. The win was the third in four games for the Lightning, now 9-7-1 and first in the Southeast Division. Carolina fell to 8-7-1 and has lost three straight after a 5-0-1 stretch. Tampa Bay is 6-0-0 within the division; the Hurricanes are 0-4-0. Tampa Bay led 1-0 after two periods before blowing the game open in the final 20 minutes. Pouliot doubled the lead at 2:11 after some excellent work by Vincent Lecavalier. Tampa Bay's captain controlled the puck and backhanded a cross-crease pass that Pouliot slammed into a half-empty net for his sixth of the season. Drayson Bowman's one-timer from the high slot off a passout by Riley Nash got the Hurricanes on the board at 3:04, but the Lightning put the game away by scoring twice in 18 seconds. Panik, a rookie playing only his sixth game, scored his first NHL goal through sheer persistence. He raced down right wing and fired a shot from the circle that was stopped by goaltender Dan Ellis. Panik got his own rebound and was stopped again by Ellis. But Panik circled the net, came out the other side and swatted the second rebound into the net at 7:37. Pyatt scored his fourth of the season at 7:55 by ramming home a pass from Alexander Killorn. Carolina's Chad LaRose fired home a rebound with 3:49 remaining, but Stamkos deflected Cory Conacher's pass behind Ellis for his 12th of the season with 2:22 to play. Tampa Bay has scored 32 of its 66 non-shootout goals in the third period. Pittsburgh is next with 24. Mathieu Garon stopped all 23 shots he faced in the first two periods and finished with 32 saves. The Lightning had several good chances while outshooting the Hurricanes 13-11 in the first period, but their only goal came off an innocent-looking shot. Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron intercepted a pass by Joe Corvo in his own zone and raced up ice. He crossed the Carolina blue line, swung toward the boards as he neared the top of the left circle and threw a wrist shot on net that sailed past a screened Ellis. It was his first goal since Dec. 29, 2011. Carolina outshot Tampa Bay 12-10 in the scoreless second period. Garon made his best stop when he robbed Hurricanes' captain Eric Staal on a tip-in try early in the period.

Nashville v Detroit 0-4 - Jimmy Howard made sure the Detroit Red Wings put an end to their five-game winless streak Saturday night. Howard stopped all 33 shots he faced, and Drew Miller, Tomas Tatar, Niklas Kronwall and Daniel Cleary scored as the Red Wings got back on track with a 4-0 victory against the Nashville Predators at Joe Louis Arena. For the Red Wings (8-7-3), it was their first win in 13 days. They had earned two points in their previous five contests, both overtime losses. Pekka Rinne, who made 23 saves, took the loss for Nashville (8-6-5), which was shut out 1-0 by the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. The Predators have not scored since Shea Weber’s overtime goal defeated the Red Wings 4-3 on Feb. 19. Detroit led 2-0 in three of the losses during its skid. Tatar gave Detroit a two-goal lead early in the second, and Kronwall, who also had two assists, made it a three-goal game late in the period. Detroit didn't waste its first 3-0 lead of the season, but instead added to it with Cleary's goal on a power play midway through the third period. They were desperate for some success on the power play. They got some when Cleary raised his stick to redirect Kronwall's slap shot past Rinne. During its five-game losing streak, Detroit scored only one goal on 17 power plays. Nashville, playing on consecutive nights, has lost two straight and four of five. Going into this clash the Predators had won seven of eight against Detroit, including last year's first-round playoff series, but lost this one despite outshooting the Red Wings. It was bitterly disappointing that Nashville failed to continue that winning streak, as my friend Caitlyn was hoping for another good win against Detroit. However since last season's playoff series there seems to a huge power shift within the central division and between these 2 sides. Detroit made the most of its second chances to score against Rinne, who matched a season high by allowing four goals. Miller scored off a rebound 5:11 into the game to perhaps relax the reeling Red Wings. Tatar lifted a loose puck high and into the net 2:58 into the second period. Kronwall's one-timer fluttered past Rinne, who had an obstructed view of the shot as Cleary was tangled up with teammate Scott Hannan in front. That gave the Red Wings a 3-0 lead at 15:33 of the second. Howard made nine saves in the third period to seal his 12th career shutout.

Columbus v St Louis 1-2 - The St. Louis Blues will have four off days before they take the ice again. Having a home victory in their pockets with ample time to work on portions of their game will do wonders for a team whose next opponent is the team with the best record in the National Hockey League. The Blues had two more chances to avoid an 0-for-February on home ice. They only needed one, David Perron's goal midway through the third period provided the necessary scoring, breaking a 1-1 tie that enabled the Blues to snap a five-game winless skid on home ice with a 2-1 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Scottrade Center. The Blues were laboring on home ice and needed something to spark things on the surface that was best in the League last season at 30-6-5. Perron picked up his 11th point in the past 10 meetings against the Jackets as he finished a David Backes feed, beating Sergei Bobrovsky 9:51 into the third period. Chris Stewart picked up his ninth point in eight games by opening the scoring, and Jaroslav Halak stopped 19 shots in his second game back from a groin injury as the Blues won at home for the first time since Jan. 27, snapping an 0-4-1 slide. It was a crazy final couple minutes for Halak, who was able to keep an airborne puck out of the net, making a glove save that started a mad scramble. The Blues also had to kill off a late penalty on Barret Jackman, who broke the franchise record for games played by defensemen with his 616th game, but was whistled for boarding Cam Atkinson. Halak had to readjust after Fedor Tyutin's shot was blocked, sending the puck into the air and dropping fast towards the net. The Jackets, who snapped a six-game losing streak on the road with a come-from-behind 3-2 win at Detroit on Thursday, got a shorthanded goal from Matt Calvert, while Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots in a losing cause. The Jackets seemed to have the better of the play, outshooting the Blues 12-7 in the opening 20 minutes, but the Blues left the ice with a 1-0 lead on Stewart's seventh of the season. Stewart took Kevin Shattenkirk's drop pass and blasted a slapper past Bobrovsky top shelf 13:55 into the game. Stewart's goal snapped a goal-less streak of 111:49, dating back to Tuesday's 2-1 loss to San Jose. Shattenkirk picked up his 15th point, tops in the League among defensemen. The Blues outshot the Jackets 13-3 in the second period, but the Jackets scored on their third shot, as Calvert took a breakaway pass from James Wisniewski and beat Halak with 1:03 remaining in the period. The Blues' Matt D'Agostini fell near center ice trying to backhand a puck into the Columbus zone, but his pass was picked off by Wisniewski, springing Calvert loose. The goal was the first allowed by Halak on home ice in the last 168:32 dating back to March 31, 2012, also against the Blue Jackets. The Jackets, who had only seven shots after the first period, lost defenseman Jack Johnson with an upper-body injury in the second and he did not return. He missed a few shifts in the first, but tried to give it a go in the second. The win was the Blues' 26th in 36 meetings between the two teams in St. Louis (26-8-2).

San Jose v Dallas 1-3 - After a pair of one-goal losses in the first two games of their three-game homestand, the Dallas Stars were determined to come away with two points against the San Jose Sharks before heading out on the road early next week. Dallas got power-play goals from Jaromir Jagr and Michael Ryder, plus a late insurance goal by Jamie Benn in a 3-1 win Saturday night before a sellout crowd at American Airlines Center, snapping a two-game losing streak. Rookie goaltender Cristopher Nilstorp made 31 saves for the Stars to earn his first career victory. After seeing its power play misfire on its first four chances of the game, the Stars finally broke through at 19:02 of the second period when Jagr flipped a wrister into the San Jose net from near the top of the crease. After Loui Eriksson fed Jamie Benn the puck from behind the Sharks' goal and with Antti Niemi focusing on Benn, the Dallas center spotted Jagr streaking towards goal and fed him perfectly for his fifth of the season to break the deadlock. The Stars added a second power-play goal just 30 seconds into the final period, when Ryder beat Niemi to his right with a 28-foot wrister from the slot to make it 2-0. Benn's insurance tally came at 17:49, when he beat Niemi low on his glove side with a long wrist shot from the slot. Goligoski picked up his second assist of the night on Benn's tally. After a quiet first half of the opening period, Dallas drew the game's first power play when Goligoski was tripped near the Stars net by San Jose's Patrick Marleau at 10:54. The Dallas advantage grew to 5-on-3 at 11:52 when Marc-Edouard Vlasic was called for delay of game, but the Stars were unable to convert on either chance. Both teams were down to just five healthy defensemen after the first period. San Jose's Brent Burns left the ice after just three shifts in the opening period and did not return. It was a similar story for the Stars' Aaron Rome, who suffered a lower-body injury in the first period and also did not return. Dallas finished with four healthy blueliners after Philip Larsen left the game with an apparent shoulder injury late in the third period after a controversial boarding call. However, there is some positive news when it comes to the Dallas defensive corps as it appears Trevor Daley, who has missed the last two games with a neck injury is on track to return by Monday. Dallas started the second period on the power play after Brad Stuart earned a tripping penalty at 18:50 of the first period. However, that advantage lasted just 34 seconds as Stars defenseman Jordie Benn was called for holding on Marleau to end the opportunity. The Sharks went on the power play for the first time at 3:37 of the second when Larsen earned a delay of game call after shooting the puck over the glass. However, a tripping call on Vlasic at 5:06 on the Stars' Ryan Garbutt ended that chance prematurely. And after Jagr was called for hooking at 5:25, things were relatively quiet for the next few minutes. However, at 8:21 Dallas' Jamie Benn and the Sharks' Joe Thornton dropped the gloves in a spirited and lengthy scrum that earned them both five-minute majors for fighting. Midway through the second period, Stars third-line center Vernon Fiddler had arguably the best chance of the game to that point, whistling a 34-foot slapper from the left side off the far post at 10:31. After the Stars' Eric Nystrom was called for interference at 1:13 and Stephane Robidas for hooking at 2:17, San Jose broke through just two seconds into the two-man advantage when Marleau beat Nilstorp short side with a wrister. Thornton had won a faceoff in the left circle with the puck sliding to Marleau, who was near the far post and converted for his second goal in as many nights. But there was a bit of controversy in the final frame. At the 9:03 mark, Thornton crashed into Nilstorp, earning a goaltender interference call. The Sharks' Logan Couture knocked in the ensuing rebound for an apparent goal, but it was quickly disallowed. San Jose will now head home before kicking off a three-game homestand on Tuesday against Colorado. Dallas will begin a quick two-game road trip on Monday night at Nashville.

Minnesota v Calgary 1-3 - Matt Stajan and the Calgary Flames finally gave the fans at Scotiabank Saddledome something to cheer about. The Flames entered Saturday's game against Minnesota with just two wins in nine home games. But Stajan scored the tiebreaking goal 7:19 into the third period and added an empty-netter as the Flames beat the Wild 3-1 on Saturday night. It was Stajan's first multi-goal game since scoring twice against the Washington Capitals as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 12, 2009. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Calgary, which is now 3-5-2 at home. Joey MacDonald, playing in place of injured starter Miikka Kiprusoff, stopped 30 shots and snapped Minnesota's two-game winning streak. After Chris Butler's initial shot from the point was stopped by Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom, Stajan wrestled the rebound over the goal line to give the Flames a 2-1 lead. With Backstrom off for an extra attacker and 31.3 seconds left in the game, Flames goaltender Joey MacDonald denied Calgary native Dany Heatley's redirect on his doorstep. Stajan then fired a Minnesota turnover into the empty net to ice the win. Minnesota had a glorious opportunity to get on the scoreboard in the game's opening minutes, but it was the Flames who capitalized on the opportunity. Catching Jay Bouwmeester pinching, Heatley hauled the puck up ice on a 2-on-1 and fired a pass that skipped over the stick of Mikko Koivu. Backchecking, Bouwmeester spun around and fired a pass to a streaking Alex Tanguay at the Minnesota blue line, springing him in alone on Backstrom. Tanguay dipped a shoulder and deked the goaltender, then lifted the puck into the net for a 1-0 lead 1:40 into the game. Playing in his first game after missing 11 with a hip flexor injury, Sven Baertschi almost extended that lead to two. On the Flames' third 2-on-1 of the period, Jiri Hudler fed a pass that Baertschi tipped, but a sprawling Backstrom managed to get a toe on it at 7:42 to keep it 1-0. The save proved important as the Wild made good on another odd-man rush at 8:56. Breaking into Calgary's zone on a 2-on-1, rookie Charlie Coyle redirected a pass from Pierre-Marc Bouchard behind MacDonald for his first career NHL goal to even the game 1-1. It was the first time in nine games that the Wild scored a goal in the first period. Both teams tightened up their defense in a scoreless second period. Minnesota came close to taking a 2-1 lead just 3:28 into the period. While killing an interference penalty to Coyle, Kyle Brodziak hit the post after a nifty setup from Matt Cullen. TJ Brodie answered that with a post of his own, firing a blast from the point that beat a screened Backstrom but not the iron with 7:50 remaining in the frame.