Gameday 37 (Sun, 24 Feb) - Results

Boston v Florida 4-1 - Zdeno Chara is known for his great defense and his physical play, but it was his spectacular goal Sunday afternoon that had his Boston Bruins teammates talking. The 6-foot-9 former Norris Trophy winner channeled Pavel Datsyuk with a spin-o-rama followed by a rooftop backhand from close range for a goal that proved the game-winner in Boston's 4-1 victory against the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center. Chara gave Boston a 2-0 lead at 13:52 of the first period when he took a pass from Brad Marchand near the blue line, spun counterclockwise to get away from Panthers rookie Jonathan Huberdeau and then flipped a high backhand that beat Jacob Markstrom to the glove side. Chara's goal help Rask continue his mastery of the Panthers. Rask, who came in with a 0.97 goals-against average and a .969 save percentage against Florida, made 34 saves as he improved to 5-1 against the Panthers. Milan Lucic and Chris Kelly also scored for the Bruins (11-2-2), who are off to their best start since the 1976-77 season. Surprisingly, Paille's goal game them their first three-goal lead of the season. Kelly's goal wasn't nearly as spectacular as Chara's, but it was his first of the season. In truth, Kelly was the beneficiary of a lucky break. With the Bruins on the power play with a 2-1 lead in the second period, Paille wound up for a slap shot from the high slot, but backchecking Peter Mueller got Paille's stick on the way down. The puck went slowly to the left of the net, through the legs of Florida defenseman Mike Weaver and right onto the stick of Kelly, who had an easy tap-in past Markstrom. Kelly had been limited to four assists in Boston's first 14 games after scoring 20 goals last season. Boston, which came in having played an NHL-low 14 games, began a stretch of 34 games in 63 days. Tomas Kopecky scored for the Panthers (5-9-4), who have lost seven of eight and five in a row at home. It's Florida's longest home losing streak since March 2011. Markstrom, getting a second consecutive start after making his season debut Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, stopped 28 shots. Already playing without forwards Kris Versteeg (upper body) and Scottie Upshall (ankle), and defenseman Ed Jonavoski (knee), the Panthers also had to scratch veteran defenseman Filip Kuba because of an upper-body injury. Boston came in leading the NHL in penalty killing with a 94.4 percent success rate, and killed off four Florida power plays to extend its successful streak to 21 consecutive kills. Florida has one power-play goal in its last 24 opportunities and is 0-for-17 during its home losing streak. Trailing 3-1, Florida had a four-minute power play spanning the end of the second period and the start of the third, but was outshot 3-0 during those four minutes. Lucic opened the scoring at 7:57 off a faceoff. After David Krejci beat Marcel Goc cleanly, Lucic fired a wrist shot that beat Markstrom low to the stick side. Boston had several chances to add to its lead after Kelly's goal in the second period, but Markstrom robbed former Panthers forward Nathan Horton a couple of times, Tyler Seguin hit the post with a wrist shot, and Rich Peverley was stopped on a short-handed breakaway in the final minute.

Winnipeg v New Jersey 4-2 - Special teams again made the difference for the Winnipeg Jets, only this time, the results were positive. The Jets scored a power-play goal for the first time in nine games and their 30th-ranked penalty kill was perfect Sunday at Prudential Center in a 4-2 win against the New Jersey Devils, who are 1-4-2 in their last seven games and may have cause for concern over the health of Martin Brodeur. The veteran goalie had to pull himself out of the starting lineup Sunday due to soreness in his back and is expected to be re-evaluated Monday. Johan Hedberg made 23 saves in replace of Brodeur. Grant Clitsome broke the Jets' 0-for-21 spell on the power play with a game-tying goal in the second period. And, after giving up three power-play goals Saturday in a 5-3 loss at Philadelphia, Winnipeg held the Devils to only four shots on goal over two failed chances with the man-advantage Sunday. Ondrej Pavelec made 24 saves for his sixth win of the season while Zach Bogosian, Evander Kane and Ladd also scored for the Jets, who have a chance to go 4-1 on their season-long five-game road trip when they play Tuesday at Madison Square Garden against the struggling New York Rangers. The Jets have already won at Buffalo, Carolina and New Jersey on this trip. They are 8-9-1 this season. The Devils' woeful penalty kill continues to sink them. It has yielded 13 goals on 32 chances over the past nine games, including eight on 17 shorthanded chances in the past five games. New Jersey has also scored only eight goals in its past five games. Travis Zajac and Steve Bernier scored in the first period Sunday to give the Devils a 2-1 lead that they ultimately could not hold. Winnipeg erased a one-goal deficit to take a 3-2 lead into second intermission on goals by Clitsome and Kane. Ladd gave the Jets the insurance goal they needed with a laser of a shot from the left circle 7:46 into the third period. From there, the Jets went into lockdown mode. They gave up only four more shots on goal and were credited with four blocks over the final 12:14. Winnipeg allowed only five shots on goal in the third period and didn't commit a penalty. The Flyers came back to beat the Jets on Saturday with a pair of power-play goals in the third period. New Jersey thought it might have gotten one back with just over six minutes left in the third period, but Marek Zidlicky's goal was waved off as the officials ruled that a whistle was blown prior to the shot. It appeared that Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey grabbed a hold of the puck when it was on top of Pavelec's pad and tossed it behind him, directly to Zidlicky at the point. Zidlicky said he thought it should have been either a penalty on Hainsey or a good goal, but no penalty was called and it was ruled a no-goal. The Jets built their lead on second-period goals from Clitsome and Kane separated by just 4:47. Clitsome's goal, scored 13:01 into the period, was the Jets’ first on the power play in nine games and 22 chances. Kane's goal, which turned out to be the game-winner, was simply a thing of beauty. He blocked Adam Larsson's shot-pass attempt from the right point and then broke up the ice when he saw the puck go to Alexander Burmistrov. Burmistrov tapped the puck up to Kane, giving him a chance to pick up speed before he picked up the puck. He entered the zone with speed, used his strength to split both Andy Greene and Larsson, made a move around Hedberg's poke check attempt and scored his seventh goal of the season before crashing into the cage. Although it doesn't show up on the scoresheet, Kane also chipped in on Clitsome's game-tying power-play goal by getting in front of Hedberg to provide a screen. Jets coach Claude Noel said prior to the game that the key to getting their power play turned around was net-front presence.

Vancouver v Detroit 3-8 - The Detroit Red Wings made Sunday a miserable afternoon for Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks. Damien Brunner had two goals and two assists, and Joakim Andersson scored twice as the Red Wings cruised to an 8-3 win at Joe Louis Arena. Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall had a goal and two assists each, Daniel Cleary added a goal and an assist, and Jordin Tootoo also scored for Detroit (9-7-3), which netted three power-play goals in the second period to take the lead. Pavel Datsyuk and Jonathan Ericsson added two assists, and Jimmy Howard made 18 saves. Daniel Sedin had two goals, and Chris Higgins also had a goal for Vancouver (10-4-4). Henrik Sedin had two assists, and Luongo stopped 20 shots but lost in regulation for the first time this season. Cleary tied it 3-3 at 2:57 of the second period when he tipped the puck in during a goal-mouth scramble for his fourth goal. Zetterberg's sixth gave the Red Wings the lead with 4:50 left in the second, and Brunner made it 5-3 when he calmly flipped in a rebound with 42 seconds remaining. The Red Wings, who entered ranked 26th in the NHL on the power play, held the Canucks to only three shots in the second period. Brunner added his second goal of the game and 10th of the season in the third before Andersson scored twice. Daniel Sedin's first goal of the game gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead 5:45 in. He put in a one-timed shot from in front off a pass from his brother, Henrik, who was behind the net. Tootoo tied it with 8:52 left in the first when his bad-angle shot from the right-wing boards went in off of defenseman Keith Ballard. The Red Wings went ahead just 1:29 later when Kronwall's slap shot went in off the stick of defenseman Dan Hamhuis for Kronwall's third of the season and second in two games. Daniel Sedin's second goal, with 3:42 left in the first, tied it at 2. He again teamed with Henrik, who made a perfect dump-in that caromed off the boards in the left corner of the Detroit zone to Daniel, who was cutting in off left wing. He picked up the puck and beat Howard for his seventh goal. Higgins capitalized on Justin Abdelkader's turnover to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead with 1:34 left in the first.

Carolina v NY Islanders 4-2 - Another home game, another loss for the New York Islanders. Bobby Sanguinetti's first National Hockey League goal proved to be the game-winner as the Carolina Hurricanes rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 4-2 win at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Sunday night. Jordan Staal and Alexander Semin each tallied a goal and an assist, while Eric Staal also scored for the injury-depleted Hurricanes (9-7-1), who snapped a three-game losing streak. Cam Ward made 23 saves in the win. John Tavares and Matt Moulson helped the Isles jump out to a 2-0 lead, but it wasn't enough to prevent them from losing on home ice for the seventh time in nine games this season. Kevin Poulin gave up three goals on 27 shots in the loss in his season debut. The loss prevented New York (8-10-2) from getting back to the .500 mark. Indeed, it was no way to start a seven-game homestand. Trailing by two goals, the Hurricanes, who were missing Jeff Skinner, Tuomo Ruutu, Joni Pitkanen, Tim Gleason and Jamie McBain, got one on the power play late in the second period. After a faceoff win, Semin's slap shot went off the ankle of an Islanders defenseman and popped into the air. Eric Staal was at the left side of the net and he was able to smack it out of the air for his ninth of the season with 1:32 left in the period. Just 45 seconds later, Carolina tied the game as Jordan Staal's snap shot from the slot beat Poulin to make it 2-2. The Hurricanes then took a 3-2 lead just past the midway mark of the final frame as Patrick Dwyer rushed into the Islanders' zone down the left wing before feeding Sanguinetti, who sent a wrister from the slot past Poulin for his first NHL goal. Semin put the game out of reach with an empty-net tally at 19:30. But New York took a 1-0 lead just 4:38 in as a Brad Boyes skated the puck down low and just before going behind the net he centered it to Moulson, who one-timed it past Ward for his 10th goal of the season. The Islanders went up by a pair as Tavares snapped it into the right corner of the net from the left circle on a 2-on-1 for his 13th goal of the season with 7:35 left in the first.

Columbus v Chicago 0-1 - The beat goes on for the Chicago Blackhawks. Despite not playing their best on Sunday night at United Center, they still found a way to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 and remain the only team in the National Hockey League that hasn't lost a game in regulation, highlighted by a standout goaltending performance from Corey Crawford. They won't get much time to rest. The Edmonton Oilers come into town on Monday night for another chance to break Chicago's NHL-record streak of 18 straight games to start a season with at least one point earned. Playing for the first time in four games, following an injury, Crawford upped his record to 8-0-0 and earned his second shutout of the season by making 28 saves against Columbus (5-12-2), the last-place team in the Western Conference. Crawford keyed a fifth-straight victory for the Blackhawks (15-0-3), whose depth and balance are giving opponents fits. It's not just big-name stars like captain Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa leading the charge during this remarkable stretch. It's also young guys like versatile centers Marcus Kruger and Andrew Shaw. Kruger didn't record a point against Columbus, but was credited with three takeaways and did his usual yeoman's work on the penalty kill. He played a strong game overall in place of injured second-line center Dave Bolland, while Shaw scored the game's lone goal late in the second period on his only shot. Shaw also led Chicago with four hits and won 67 percent of the faceoffs he took while centering a third line that hasn't missed a beat without Bolland this season. Defense and goaltending are also making it tough on opposing teams. Crawford didn't miss a beat after sitting out those four games with an undisclosed upper-body injury and then stepping in for Ray Emery, who'd won four straight and had a hot hand himself. Crawford wasn't the only reason it was such a low-scoring game. Columbus goalie Steve Mason (26 saves) nearly matched him save for save and kept the Blue Jackets either locked in a scoreless tie or within striking distance all game. The first two periods were largely dominated by defensive play and big saves, but each team also squandered golden scoring chances by firing loose pucks over the crossbar at large net openings. Derick Brassard missed from the high slot in the first for Columbus and Brent Seabrook misfired from around the same area just 0:35 into the second on a rebound of Hossa's close-range wrister. Mason also stopped Hossa about five minutes later in the second on a breakaway, after the Blackhawks star stole a pass from James Wisniewski at the Columbus blue line and walked in alone. Wisniewski made up for it by threading a perfect stretch pass down the middle of the ice to Vinny Prospal with 5:50 left in the period for a Blue Jackets' breakaway, but the wrister he fired from 19 feet away clanged off the metal at the top right corner of the net to keep it scoreless. The Blue Jackets also came up empty on five power plays, including three in the third. On the flipside, Chicago's penalty-killing efforts have now thwarted all nine combined power plays faced in the past two games. It has allowed the Blackhawks enough leeway to come up with timely goals like Shaw's, which he scored with 1:27 left in the second. Shaw's wrister from the low slot didn't meet the same misfortune as Prospal's, after Bryan Bickell slid him a pretty backhand pass from the corner. Instead, the puck ripped into the top right corner of the net and put Chicago up 1-0 heading into the third. That's all Crawford needed. In the third, Kane nearly pushed it to a two-goal margin midway through with a pretty spin move in the right circle, but Mason was up to the challenge. He made a nice pad save on the other side of the net and kept his team within a goal. The Blue Jackets just couldn't knot it and it was a stinging end to a tough six-game road trip. Columbus went 1-5-0 on the journey, but five of the games were decided by one goal and the other, a 5-3 loss to Phoenix, was a one-goal game until an empty-net score sealed it.

Tampa Bay v Pittsburgh 3-5 - Guy Boucher had first-hand knowledge of Sidney Crosby's ability to carry a team. Even when he doesn't have his sidekick. Playing without reigning National Hockey League scoring champion Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins got two goals and an assist from Crosby in beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Sunday night at Consol Energy Center. Malkin sustained a concussion colliding into the boards in a victory against the Florida Panthers on Friday, but the team's other former Art Ross and Hart Trophy winner, Crosby, led Pittsburgh to its fifth win in its past six games. Crosby moved into third place on the Penguins all-time points list, but remains one point behind Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos for the NHL scoring lead. Stamkos had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who also got goals from Eric Brewer and Cory Conacher. Beau Bennett's first career goal came during a 5-on-3 and Paul Martin and Matt Cooke each added a goal and an assist for the Penguins (13-6), who tied the Montreal Canadiens atop the Eastern Conference with 26 points. Pittsburgh built a 3-0 first-period lead and held off Tampa Bay to improve to 20-2-1 over the past three seasons against Southeast Division teams at home. Crosby has particularly torched the division, putting up 42 points in his past 20 games against the Southeast's five teams. Crosby entered the game a point behind Stamkos for the NHL scoring lead, but tied him 1:16 in when he took a pass from Chris Kunitz and slipped a wrist shot high and to the stick side over Lightning goalie Anders Lindback. In 12 of 19 games this season, Pittsburgh has scored at least once in the first 5:07. The Penguins have scored before their opponent in 15 of 19 and trailed at the first intermission just three times this season. Crosby's ninth goal of the season came at 7:15, when Martin took a shot from the point and the puck pinballed off of the shafts of the sticks of James Neal and Crosby before Lindback inadvertently kicked it into the net with the back of his skate. The point was the 636th of Crosby's career, tying him with Rick Kehoe behind only Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr on the Penguins' all-time scoring list. Martin added his 11th point in the past 10 games when he scored for the third time this season during the final minute of the first. Cooke earned the primary assist, the 200th of his career. Things could have unraveled at that point for the Lightning, who played in Raleigh, N.C., the previous night. Boucher canceled the morning skate and publicly fretted about how the Penguins were at home resting over the previous 48 hours. But instead of folding, Tampa Bay scored twice in the first 3:14 of the second, beginning with some luck when the Penguins had an "own goal" of their own. Brewer was credited with his fourth of the season 97 seconds into the period when a puck deflected off of Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik and into the net. Stamkos snapped a 3-for-32 slide for the Lightning power play with a 5-on-3 goal, his fifth consecutive game with a goal, but the Penguins regained a two-goal cushion with a two-man advantage tally of their own at 12:20. Bennett, the team's first-round pick two years ago, was on the ice in lieu of Malkin on the Penguins power play. Letang picked up an assist to extend his point streak to a career-high five games. The Lightning lead the National Hockey League in third-period goals with 32 and had scored four times during the final period Saturday. Just 3:15 into the third Sunday, Conacher extended his point streak to five games and padded his lead in the rookie scoring race when his one-timer past Marc-Andre Fleury cut Pittsburgh's lead to 4-3. But Cooke sealed it with an empty-net goal with 51.2 left. Crosby has six three-point games in February and 28 points on the season. Fleury made 27 saves to win for the fifth straight start and eighth time in nine games.

Phoenix v Calgary 4-5 - An old cliché states better late than never. The Calgary Flames aren't about to disagree. Goals 23 seconds apart from Jarome Iginla and Curtis Glencross in the final minutes of the third period turned what looked to be a regulation loss into a 5-4 win against the Phoenix Coyotes at Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday night. Down 4-3 with under two minutes remaining, Iginla converted a cross-ice feed from Alex Tanguay with 1:23 left in the game to tie it for Calgary (7-7-3). Before the goal had an opportunity to be announced, Glencross took a feed from Lee Stempniak and hammered home a slap shot from the top of the slot that beat Phoenix starter Mike Smith with exactly one minute remaining in the game to give the Flames their second-consecutive win on home ice. The loss comes a day after Phoenix coughed up a two-goal lead to the Edmonton Oilers before eventually losing 3-2 in a shootout. Calgary's comeback came after the Coyotes (8-7-3) erased a deficit of their own to start the third. Trailing 3-2, Raffi Torres finished a play he helped start by burying a Zbynek Michalek pass behind Flames goaltender Joey MacDonald to knot the game 2:22 into the period. Nick Johnson put the Coyotes ahead at 8:48. After Paul Bissonnette worked the puck back to Oliver Ekman-Larsson at the point, the Phoenix blueliner threw the puck on net. MacDonald handled the initial shot, but Johnson swept the rebound into the net to make it 4-3. That lead was quickly erased by Glencross and Iginla, who helped improve the Flames to 4-5-2 on home ice this season. The Flames opened the scoring early courtesy of an unlikely sniper. Tim Jackman scored just 2:15 into the game, chipping a backhand under the arm of Smith for his first goal since December 29th, 2011, a span of 52 games, to give the Flames a 1-0 lead. Combining for just 13 shots in the opening 20 minutes, chances were few from either side. But Matt Stajan and Iginla tried their best to extend Calgary's lead to two at 17:17. Working a give-and-go with Stajan along the goal line, Iginla fired a shot from in close that Smith kicked out to keep it a one-goal game heading into the first intermission. Shorthanded early in the second period, a holding penalty on Stajan put the Flames down two, but the Coyotes couldn't convert. Coming out of the box after a successful Flames' kill, Stajan broke up a play heading up ice before both skates hit the ice and was immediately whistled for interference. And with Stajan back in the box, the Coyotes struck. Winning the ensuing faceoff, Michael Stone, who played his junior with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League, uncorked a blast from the point that was blocked, but the puck ricocheted off the skate of Jay Bouwmeester and behind MacDonald at 5:32 to tie the game 1-1. Phoenix added another on the heels of an expiring penalty for a faceoff violation by Mike Cammalleri. Former Flames forward Matthew Lombardi hit Torres cutting through the slot with a pass, who quickly went forehand-to-backhand to slide the puck by MacDonald for his first of the game to make it 2-1 at 14:01. Iginla answered for Calgary just 2:25 later, poking a puck loose in the crease through Smith to restore the tie and Cammalleri gave the Flames lead with 34.3 seconds remaining in the period. Smith stopped Stempniak on the doorstep with his paddle, but Cammalleri converted a Glencross pass over the goalie's shoulder to make it 3-2. Glencross recorded his 100th career assist and 200th career point on the play.

Colorado v Anaheim 3-4 - Chalk up another win for Team Resiliency. This isn't the ideal formula for the Anaheim Ducks to spot the opposition a lead and come back, but they've made it their identity after a 4-3 overtime win Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche. Anaheim won its sixth straight game, and all six are come-from-behind victories. The last National Hockey League team to win six straight when trailing in all six was the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2006. Anaheim is also 3-2 when trailing after 40 minutes. Anaheim allowed the first goal for the 11th time in 16 games but improved to 8-2-1 in that situation after Corey Perry tipped Ryan Getzlaf's shot with 45.4 seconds remaining in overtime, a power-play tally that completed a comeback after the Ducks erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-2. Getzlaf completed a monster game with Perry as the two are re-discovering their dominance from seasons past. Getzlaf forced a tie at 3-3 with a tap-in of a puck that trickled through Jean-Sebastien Giguere's pads at 8:49, with Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog in the penalty box for slashing. Getzlaf had a goal and two assists and won the faceoff on the overtime winner. He looks entirely different from his disappointing 2011-12 season and is on a contract year along with Perry. In other words, he's… John Mitchell had sucked the air out of the building with an end-over-end shot between the legs of Ben Lovejoy that eluded Jonas Hiller that gave Colorado a 3-2 lead going into the third. But Colorado got only one shot in the third period. Perry's winner came with Ryan O'Byrne off for hooking Cam Fowler. Anaheim went 3-for-5 on the power play. Forty seconds before Mitchell's goal, Teemu Selanne erupted the crowd with his 250th career power-play goal, on a one-timer from Saku Koivu to complete tape-to-tape sequence with Francois Beauchemin. Selanne moved into a tie with Luc Robitaille for 11th on the all-time goals list at 668. The five-day rest was supposed to benefit the Ducks but they couldn't have started much worse against a Colorado team that looked like it wanted to redeem an ugly loss the previous night. Cody McLeod deflected Matt Hunwick's slap shot from the top of the left circle at 2:28, and PA Parenteau wristed in a Tyson Barrie rebound that went right to him on the left side of the goal for a power-play strike and 2-0 lead at 12:54. Fowler returned to the lineup for Anaheim for the first time since was knocked out of a Feb.2 game with an apparent concussion.