Gameday 53 (Tue, 12 Mar) - Results

NY Rangers v Buffalo 1-3 - For Marcus Foligno and Jhonas Enroth, two long droughts came to an end Tuesday night. Foligno scored twice and Enroth made 32 saves in his first win of the season as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the New York Rangers 3-1 at First Niagara Center. He had gone 20 games without scoring before finding the back of the net early in the second period, and Enroth had gone nearly a year-and-a-half since earning a win between the pipes. Enroth made his fourth start of the season, but his first at home since Jan. 7, 2012. Ryan Miller was relegated to the backup role due to a sinus infection. Enroth didn't find out he was starting until he arrived at the arena Tuesday morning. He started Buffalo's game against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday but had to leave with 1:06 to play in a tied third period after cramping up. Prior to that game, Miller had started 14 in a row. Tuesday marked Enroth's first victory since Nov. 26, 2011 against the Washington Capitals. Thomas Vanek also scored for the Sabres. Defenseman Andrej Sekera had two assists, extending his point streak to three games. Rookie wing Brian Flynn also recorded an assist and has two goals and an assist in his past three games. Derek Stepan scored for New York, and Henrik Lundqvist made 19 saves. The Sabres' third line, consisting of Foligno, Flynn and center Kevin Porter, finished the night with three points and seven shots on goal. Sabres interim coach Ron Rolston has been impressed with that line for a few games now and was pleased with Foligno's physical play around the net against the Rangers. Buffalo recorded its first win in four games and its first non-shootout win since Feb. 26. New York, which had won five of its past six, will move on to face the Winnipeg Jets in the third of a four-game road trip Thursday. Vanek gave Buffalo a 2-1 lead with 7:20 to play in the second period. Sabres captain Jason Pominville wired a pass across the ice from behind Buffalo's blue line up the left wing to Vanek. The puck ricocheted off the boards and Vanek put it on his tape as he broke in over the Rangers line and past defenseman Dan Girardi. Vanek snapped a shot over Lundqvist's blocker for his 14th goal this season. Vanek's goal came at even strength, but Buffalo used eight minutes of power-play time to outshoot New York 12-5 in the second period. The Rangers killed off all of five of the Sabres' opportunities with the man advantage. Enroth did his part to preserve the 2-1 lead. With 14:17 to play in the third, he deflected a wrist shot from in close by Haley with his blocker and away from Stepan, who was waiting on the doorstep. With 10:11 left and on the penalty kill, Enroth speared a point shot from Michael Del Zotto with his glove. Stepan opened the scoring 4:17 into the second period with a shorthanded goal. He intercepted a pass to the point, sent it to Rangers captain Ryan Callahan and raced down the ice. Callahan drove deep into the Buffalo zone and in around defenseman Tyler Myers at the goal line. Jordan Leopold didn't pick up Stepan up in front of the net and Stepan one-timed it for his seventh of the season. The goal was New York's second shorthanded goal of 2013. Rich Nash scored the other on Jan. 20 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Buffalo quickly tied it 1-1. Foligno scored his second of the season 1:18 later when he collected a Christian Ehrhoff shot from off the end boards. With Lundqvist out of position, Foligno put the puck between his legs and jammed it in along the right post. Foligno made it 3-1 with 8:12 remaining. Parked to the left of Lundqvist, he knocked in a rebound that came off a wrist shot from the point by Sekera. Flynn made a head's up play along the half wall to get the puck to Sekera. Lundqvist made two tremendous stops with less than eight minutes to play in the first period to keep the game scoreless. First, he kicked out his right pad to stop a one-timer from Vanek. As Vanek made his way to the top of the crease to collect the bouncing puck, Lundqvist stacked his left pad while down on the ice to deflect the rebound away. Vanek, Buffalo's leading scorer, was left shaking his head as he made his way to the bench after the shift. Lundqvist stopped Vanek again with less than a minute remaining in the first, then made a lunging kick save with his left pad on defenseman Robyn Regehr's point shot on the rebound. The Rangers nearly scored another shorthanded goal on a Sabres power play late in the second period. Enroth made a kick save with his left pad to deny a one-timer from Del Zotto, on a play that looked quite similar to the one the Rangers scored on earlier. Beating a fellow Swedish goaltender in Lundqvist is a memory Enroth said he's going to hold very dear.

Carolina v Washington 4-0 - The Carolina Hurricanes aren't ready to count the Washington Capitals out of the Southeast Division race just yet. But a few more performances like their 4-0 road victory Tuesday night might do the job. Justin Peters stopped 26 shots for his second career shutout, and the Hurricanes won the opener of a home-and-home series to move 10 points ahead of the Capitals in the division standings. Peters and Dan Ellis are splitting time in goal with Cam Ward sidelined by a knee injury. Peters, a 26-year-old who's bounced between the Hurricanes and the minors for a couple of seasons, is glad to get the chance to show what he can do on an extended basis. Carolina's Riley Nash, who came into the game with one goal this season, scored twice in the second period for the Hurricanes, who improved to 15-9-1 and are first in the Southeast. Joe Corvo scored in the first period, and Pat Dwyer hit the empty net for a shorthanded goal with 1:21 remaining. Washington lost its third in a row and fell to 10-14-1, including 7-7-0 at Verizon Center. The teams meet again Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C. The Capitals showed little spark for most of the night. Peters was sharp when he had to be. He made a pad save on Marcus Johansson in the second period and later denied Troy Brouwer on a shorthanded breakaway. Peters' only previous shutout also came against the Capitals, a 5-0 win on Feb. 20, 2012. Washington's Braden Holtby finished with 32 saves, but he was at fault on Corvo's goal 3:55 into the game. The veteran defenseman had the puck behind the net and backhanded it toward Holtby, who wasn't quite set. The puck hit the back of the goaltender's mask and caromed into the net for Corvo's fourth of the season. Nash made it 3-0 with his two goals in the second period. The first was a deflection of Jay Harrison's shot at 5:55. The second, at 18:26, came after Dwyer hustled to avoid an icing and got the puck to Nash, coming late down the slot, for a 10-footer Holtby had no chance on. Dwyer's empty-netter after the Capitals pulled Holtby during a late power play completed the scoring. Just a few days ago, things were getting brighter in Washington, the Capitals had won three in a row and five or six. But they lost to the New York Islanders and New York Rangers over the weekend; the loss to the Hurricanes was their third defeat in four days.

Vancouver v Columbus 2-1 - The Vancouver Canucks got back on the winning track Tuesday. In the process, they put an end to the Columbus Blue Jackets' win streak. Roberto Luongo stopped 26 of 27 shots before going 3-for-3 in the shootout as the Canucks snapped a four-game slide with a 2-1 victory at Nationwide Arena. Mason Raymond scored the only goal in the shootout in somewhat controversial fashion. Raymond, shooting in the second round for Vancouver, scored when he came to a quick stop, waited for Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to fall to the ice, and backhanded a shot into the net. Luongo, playing in his second game in 16 days, stopped all three Blue Jackets in the shootout. He had played once since surrendering eight goals in an 8-3 loss against the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 24. In the other appearance he gave up three goals on 24 shots in a 4-2 loss at the Calgary Flames on March 3. But he was up to the task Tuesday, ending Columbus' five-game winning streak and depriving the Blue Jackets of tying the franchise mark for consecutive wins. Jason Garrison scored the lone goal in regulation for Vancouver (12-7-6), which begins a four-game homestand Thursday against the Nashville Predators. Bobrovsky made 37 saves, and Mark Letestu scored for Columbus (10-12-5), which set a franchise mark with an eight-game point streak. Bobrovsky, selected as the No. 1 star in the NHL last week, made his fifth straight start. He went 4-0-0 with a 0.77 goals-against average, .927 save percentage and his first career shutout a week ago. He also earned a 2-1 overtime win over Vancouver last Thursday at home, stopping 34 shots. Bobrovsky has given up five goals in six games. With the score tied 1-1, perhaps the best scoring chance for either team in the third period came early when Derick Brassard's blast from the left dot clanged off the far post. Then, in the closing seconds, R.J. Umberger ended up all alone against Luongo as he set up a wrist shot from the right dot.

Boston v Pittsburgh 2-3 - Skating toward the net down the left side late in a tie game with the world's best player open streaking down the right wing, Brandon Sutter declined a chance to pass. Kind of like the Pittsburgh Penguins' improbable, late comeback. Sutter scored the tying and winning goals 3:24 apart during a three-goal Pittsburgh outburst in the final seven minutes when the Penguins turned what appeared to be a sure defeat into a 3-2 victory against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Chris Kunitz broke up Anton Khudobin's shutout bid with 6:27 to play, and Sutter sent the 266th consecutive home sellout crowd into a frenzy 51 seconds later when he tied it on a wrister from the left circle off assists from James Neal and Beau Bennett. Sutter's winner, his eighth goal of the season, came from a similar spot, although it was unassisted off a turnover by Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. Sutter saw Crosby as soon as he corralled the puck, but eschewed giving it to the National Hockey League scoring leader, who had an eight-game point streak on the line. A win that extended the Penguins' winning streak to a season-high six, the longest active run in the NHL. Pittsburgh also has won five in a row at home and has scored at least three goals in 14 straight games. This win, though, came against a Bruins’ team that has allowed a League-low 53 goals this season, a unit that stifled the potent Penguins offense (League-best 98 goals) for more than 53 minutes Tuesday before finally relenting. Zdeno Chara and Tyler Seguin scored first-period goals for the Bruins, who have blown third-period leads during three of their four regulation losses this season. Especially against these Penguins, who have scored 29 goals (4.8 per game) during their winning streak. For the better part of the game, the Bruins shut down the NHL's hottest offense. But although they were badly outplayed in terms of puck possession during the first period, the Penguins gradually gained momentum and were taking play to the Bruins by the time the late stages of the second period arrived. But when Pittsburgh failed to score during 1:05 of 5-on-3 time against Boston's League-best penalty kill early in the third, it appeared as if the early Bruins goals would stand, even if they were using a backup goalie. Boston coach Claude Julien gave starter Tuukka Rask the night off after was battling the flu after Monday night's comeback 3-2 shootout victory in Ottawa. That was the Bruins' first game in a stretch of five in seven days. The Penguins hadn't played since Sunday and hadn't had to travel since Saturday. Kunitz's goal assured the Penguins wouldn't be shut out for the first time this season and the first time at home in exactly two years. It was Kunitz's 12th goal in his past 10 games and 18th of the season, moving him past Neal and Los Angeles Kings forward Jeff Carter into sole possession of second place in the NHL. Although Crosby's eight-game point streak came to an end, Kris Letang's assist streak was extended to six games on the play. Neal (nine games), Letang (six) and Kunitz (five) also had home point streaks continue. The Bruins took a lead 4:45 into the game when Chara's power-play slap shot from right point beat Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for his fifth goal of the season. Seguin made it 2-0 less than nine minutes later when he flipped a wrist shot that beat Fleury high to the glove side as he fell to the ice while receiving a pass from Patrice Bergeron. Seguin now has nine goals, six of them in his past seven games. Forty minutes and 12 seconds of scoreless hockey followed. Then, the floodgates opened up all over the Bruins. The Penguins fell behind the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1, during the first period Thursday in Philadelphia, but tied it before the end of the second and won it on a Kunitz goal 18 seconds into the third. It had been two years ago to the day the most recent time Pittsburgh failed to score a goal in a regular-season game at Consol Energy Center: March 12, 2011 against the Montreal Canadiens. The most recent time the Penguins were shut out anywhere was Feb. 1, 2012, at Toronto. Pittsburgh's streaks of not being shut out are 58 games overall and 60 games at home.

Tampa Bay v Florida 3-2 - The Tampa Bay Lightning got goals from their three biggest stars Tuesday night. But it was their struggling goaltender who was the biggest reason they continued their mastery over their intrastate rivals. Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier all scored, and Anders Lindback stopped 37 of 39 shots as the Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2 at BB&T Center, their seventh consecutive victory in the series. After Stamkos broke a 2-2 tie with his NHL-leading 20th goal at 5:30 of the third period, Lindback preserved the lead when he stopped Shawn Matthias on a breakaway with 3:40 left. Lindback, acquired last summer in a trade with the Nashville Predators, came in with a disappointing 3.11 goals-against average and .894 save percentage. Making the performance even sweeter for Lindback is that it came in his first NHL head-to-head meeting with Panthers goalie Jacob Markstrom, a childhood friend from the town of Gavle, Sweden. Lindback helped the Lightning win despite being outshot 39-13. Markstrom, making his fifth consecutive start for the Panthers, gave up a goal on the opponent's first shot for the third time in four games and finished with 10 saves, the 13 shots allowed represented a season low for Florida. St. Louis ended with a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who won for the fifth time in 19 games (5-13-1) since their 6-1-0 start. He extended his scoring streak to seven games (three goals, nine assists). Lecavalier had a goal and an assist, ending a 10-game goal-less drought, and rookie Alex Killorn had two assists. Kris Versteeg and Tomas Kopecky scored for the Panthers, who came in with the worst record in the League and lost for the seventh time in eight games (1-5-2). The Panthers' bad luck with injuries continued with Versteeg going down with an apparent knee injury midway through the third period. Versteeg collided with Lightning defenseman Radko Gudas and immediately grabbed his right knee after falling to the ice. Dineen said after the game that Versteeg was "pretty tender" and would be evaluated Wednesday. Dineen said he couldn't imagine Versteeg being available for Thursday's road game against the Boston Bruins. The Panthers haven't beaten the Lightning since a 7-4 victory at Tampa Bay on Oct. 17, 2011. The Lightning won the first two games of this season's series, which wraps up with two meetings at Tampa Bay on April 2 and April 27. Stamkos extended his goal streak against Florida to eight games. With Erik Gudbranson in the box for tripping after Markstrom stopped Stamkos on a breakaway, the Tampa Bay sniper scored from a sharp angle when his shot found its way between the goalie's legs. The game was tied 2-2 after two periods despite Florida holding a 30-6 shot advantage. The Lightning, who came in leading the League in shooting percentage, took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission despite being outshot 17-3. Lecavalier opened the scoring 1:36 into the game after getting a great no-look backhanded feed from behind the net from St. Louis. Alone on Markstrom, Lecavalier made a quick deke to his forehand to beat the Panthers goaltender. St. Louis made it 2-0 at 17:48 on a pretty three-way passing play with Lecavalier and Killorn. After taking a pass from Lecavalier, Killorn skated in alone on Markstrom before sending a pass across the crease that St. Louis one-timed into the open net. The Panthers cut the deficit 13 seconds into the second, their fastest goal of the season at the start of the period and three seconds off the team record. After a dump-in, Marcel Goc deflected Sami Salo's clearing attempt from behind the net and the puck went to Versteeg, whose backhand went off the outside of the net. But the puck went straight to Goc, who fed it back to Versteeg for the easy put-away. The goal was the second of the season for Versteeg, who earlier missed 17 games because of a lower-body injury. Kopecky tied the game at 11:24 after Jack Skille stole the puck from Nate Thompson behind the net and fed him for a redirect that went between Lindback's legs. Tampa Bay's Cory Conacher and Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau, who entered first and second in the NHL in rookie scoring, were held without a point.

Toronto v Winnipeg 2-5 - Road play has helped fuel the Toronto Maple Leafs' resurgence this season, while the Winnipeg Jets' special-teams play has tormented coach Claude Noel. But success has left the Maple Leafs stranded on the side of the road lately. The Jets, meanwhile, have retooled what had been the National Hockey League's worst penalty kill and even produced a rare power-play tally Tuesday in delivering a 5-2 thumping to the Leafs at MTS Centre. Winnipeg (13-11-2) received two goals from Blake Wheeler to go with single tallies from Nik Antropov, Kyle Wellwood and Evander Kane in hitting the five-goal mark for the second time this season. Antropov also chipped in two assists, while Dustin Byfuglien had a three-assist evening. Ondrej Pavelec made his 12th start in the club's past 13 games and stopped 24 Toronto shots. The ninth-place Jets' win sets up a meeting Thursday at MTS Centre with the eighth-place New York Rangers. Phil Kessel countered twice for the Leafs (15-11-1) in front of goaltender James Reimer, who made 24 saves before Kane's third-period goal ended his evening. Ben Scrivens finished in relief with five saves. Toronto's 7-2-0 start on the road marked the club's best effort to begin a season since 1940-41, but the Maple Leafs have struggled on the road since rattling off a three-game road winning streak early in February. Toronto owns only two wins in its past six road games and has allowed four or more goals in each of their past four outings. The loss also spawned the first questions about whether the Leafs may be on the same path that derailed them last season when a loss in Winnipeg sent Toronto on a tailspin in which it lost nine of its next 10 games. The skid dropped the Maple Leafs out of contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which led to coach Ron Wilson's firing, but Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf shrugged aside any potential parallels with this season's club. For the Jets, it was their much-maligned special teams set up their fifth win in 11 home dates. The Jets used a first-period goal that interrupted a 1-for-36 slump on the power play to establish an early lead. Then in the second period after regaining a one-goal lead, the Jets burned off a Toronto 5-on-3 power play that lasted 1:55 and continued to revive their penalty kill. The Jets' performance followed a day that featured a lineup controversy when Noel made center Alexander Burmistrov a healthy scratch. Noel did so after benching the 21-year-old for most of the final two periods of a shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils that ended a four-game road trip Sunday. Noel has repeatedly stressed a desire to see his club take a more disciplined approach to its play, and they responded against Toronto. Winnipeg's power play has generated considerable angst inside the dressing room and around the city. Thanks to the 1-for-36 slump, the Jets had not tallied on the man-advantage since Feb. 5 against the Florida Panthers. Antropov's goal came against a Toronto penalty kill that began the evening having 47 of its past 51 opposing man-advantages and pulled the Maple Leafs to seventh overall in the League. Byfuglien unleashed a long, rising shot from inside the blue line that Antropov redirected past Reimer 44 seconds into Mark Fraser's interference minor. Kessel responded 38 seconds into the second period after pouncing on Byfuglien's turnover. Kessel sped down the left boards on the off-wing and let go a broken-stick bouncing shot that slipped under Pavelec's left pad. Kessel's goal, his eighth, came in the same building in which he scored his first goal of the season Feb. 7, a game-winning goal spawned the first of Winnipeg's four straight home defeats. But the Jets retook the lead 25 seconds later when Wheeler snapped a long rebound from the left dot that connected for his ninth goal. The Jets then killed off Toronto's two-man advantage, Winnipeg's 24th and 25th consecutive kills since the allowing three power-play goals to the Philadelphia Flyers in a home loss Feb. 12. Winnipeg's kill rate over the past 10 games has nudged the Jets out of the League's last-place spot after their early-season struggles temporarily had pushed them below a 60-percent kill rate. Byfuglien and Antropov combined to set up a 3-1 Winnipeg lead before Kane and Wheeler tore open the game midway through the third period.

San Jose v St Louis 2-4 - Good things are happening for power forward Chris Stewart, and when they do, they usually turn into victories for the St. Louis Blues. Stewart continued his torrid scoring pace by scoring twice, his team-leading 22nd and 23rd points, as the Blues returned home from their longest trip of the season and downed the San Jose Sharks 4-2 Tuesday night at Scottrade Center. It was the Blues' second win over the Sharks in four days and came with much more resistance, but Stewart is helping carry a team that right now is void of some key components due to injury. Add in the fact that Stewart, coming off an off-year in 2011-12, is playing for a contract this summer. David Perron and Chris Porter also scored goals, Barret Jackman collected two assists, and Jake Allen improved to 6-1-0 by making 39 saves. The 41 shots were a season-high allowed by the Blues, who overcame a 3-1 third-period deficit Saturday in San Jose and won 4-3 in overtime. The Sharks are 0-2-2 in their past four games and have just two regulation wins in their past 20. San Jose got goals from Brent Burns and Dan Boyle, and Antti Niemi stopped 17 shots. Allen also had a lot to do with that, he faced 19 shots in the second period and 13 more in the third. Stewart scored his 10th of the season when he took a nifty touch pass from David Backes to spring him on a 2-on-1 with Jaden Schwartz. Stewart elected to fire a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot and beat Niemi to the far post with 6:18 left in the opening period for a 1-0 lead. Joe Thornton had a chance to tie it for the Sharks, but he fired a breakaway snap shot wide of the left post following an errant Backes pass in the offensive zone that sprung the San Jose center free. Moments later Perron had a chance to give the Blues a 2-0 lead but he also couldn't convert after going in along on Niemi, the puck seemed to roll off his stick in the final minute of the first period. The Blues did increase their lead to 2-0 when Patrik Berglund's cross-ice feed to Perron from a sharp angle caromed off Perron's skate and into the net at 10:39 of the second. The officials looked at the play and deemed there was no kicking motion, ruling that while Perron did turn his skate in an effort to control the puck, he never pushed it towards the net. It was Perron's seventh point [three goals, four assists] in six games. Burns got the Sharks back in it with his first of the season just 1:02 later, one-timing a shot from the high slot that squirted through Allen's pads to cut the deficit to 2-1. But Porter's first of the season and ninth of his career with 6.8 seconds left gave the Blues a 3-1 lead after two periods. He slammed home a rebound from the left dot after Niemi kicked aside Jackman's shot from the right boards. Boyle cut the Blues' lead to 3-2 when he beat Allen with 6:28 remaining after Scott Nichol (holding) and Jackman (roughing) were sent off 67 seconds apart. The Sharks won the faceoff after Jackman's penalty and Boyle blasted a slap shot past Allen for his fourth of the season. Stewart added his ninth point in five games and 19th point in 16 games by hitting the empty net with 1:16 remaining after the Sharks pulled Niemi for an extra attacker. The Blues lost right wing T.J. Oshie to an upper-body injury midway through the game. Oshie connected on a hit against Burns 8:36 into the second period and immediately went to the bench. He did not return, and Hitchcock said afterwards the team will know more Wednesday. The Blues are already missing Alex Steen [upper body], Andy McDonald [knee] and Vladimir Tarasenko [concussion]; Jamie Langenbrunner [hip] is out for the season.

Anaheim v Minnesota 2-1 - A late goal by Luca Sbisa, coupled with a critical five-minute penalty kill, were enough to muscle the Anaheim Ducks past the Minnesota Wild 2-1 Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center. It was a game, admittedly, the Ducks probably didn't deserve to win. Anaheim was badly outshot through 40 minutes, putting just three shots on Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom through one period and just four more in the second. Down 1-0 early in the second, things got worse for the Ducks as they lost winger Corey Perry for the remainder of the game after an elbow connected with Wild left wing Jason Zucker's head. Perry was assessed a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct, giving the Wild an opportunity to build on its lead in a game it had dominated to that point. But the Ducks had the better of the chances for the first two minutes of the Wild power play, ringing the post once, and then continued to kill the remainder of the chance, slowing the Wild momentum heading into the third period, a frame the Ducks controlled throughout. The Ducks also killed an extended 5-on-3 chance midway through the first period, which kept the game scoreless at the time. Anaheim knotted the score just 3:06 into the third as Patrick Maroon gathered in a rebound off the end boards and jammed home his second of the season. Toni Lydman was awarded the first assist after his shot from the point sailed wide of the net. The deflection came right back towards the left post, where Maroon was waiting to put it home into an open net. Sbisa scored the game-winner with just 3:04 remaining, snapping a shot from the high slot through traffic and past Backstrom for his first tally of the season. A late slashing penalty by Wild defenseman Ryan Suter ended any realistic chance of Minnesota finding the equalizer. Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller stopped 30 shots, including 14 in the second period, to improve to 9-2-2 on the year. It was Hiller's second victory against the Wild, and improved Anaheim's record to 10-2-1 this season when allowing an opponent to score first. The Wild got on the board late in the first period when Setoguchi's snap shot from the left dot snuck through Jonas Hiller's five-hole for his sixth goal of the season. The power-play goal marked the fifth straight game Minnesota scored with the man advantage. Minnesota appeared to take a 1-0 lead even earlier, when at 2:27, Torrey Mitchell gained control of the puck and flipped a backhand shot over Hiller's shoulder and off the crossbar. The horn sounded, the music started and the crowd cheered, but after a review in Toronto, the puck was ruled to have not crossed all the way over the goal line. Backstrom wasn't tested much until the third period, stopping 19 shots in dropping to 11-7-2. The loss snapped the Wild's two-game winning streak. Coupled with the Vancouver Canucks win in Columbus, the Wild are now two points back in the Northwest Division, headed into consecutive games with the Colorado Avalanche Thursday and Saturday. The Ducks, who have won four straight contests and collected points in each of their last eight games, continue on the second leg of their three-game road trip Thursday at Dallas.

Nashville v Dallas 4-0 - For a team that hadn't won away from home in more than a month, the Nashville Predators looked mighty comfortable in the opener of a five-game road trip. The Predators snapped a 0-5-1 slide on the road by getting goals from Nick Spaling, Shea Weber, Rich Clune and Gabriel Bourque as they beat the Dallas Stars 4-0 on Tuesday night before 15,661 at American Airlines Center. Rinne stopped all 32 shots he faced for his League-leading fifth shutout of the season and 30th of his career. Nashville had last won on the road on Feb. 5 when the Predators beat St. Louis 6-1. Dallas peppered Rinne, who was making his 10th straight start for Nashville, throughout the first half of the opening period, taking eight of the game's first nine shots. However, the Stars (12-11-2) managed just one shot in the final half of the period while Nashville (11-9-6) had seven and opened the scoring at 12:16 when Spaling scored his first goal in 11 games, firing a wrister from the left circle over the glove of Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen for his fourth of the season. The play was set up when Matt Halischuk, who was appearing in his first game for Nashville since returning from a conditioning assignment with Milwaukee of the American Hockey League, stole the puck from Dallas rookie defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and fed Spaling. The Stars put the Predators on the power play for the second time of the game 2:02 into the second period when rookie defenseman Brenden Dillon tripped Scott Hannan in the offensive zone. Weber scored just 14 seconds later, firing the rebound of David Legwand's shot just inside the left post for his first goal in eight games. Rinne made two of his best stops in the next couple of minutes, nabbing Ray Whitney's wrister from the left circle and making a glove save at the right post on Loui Eriksson's 25-foot wrister. Clune then made it 3-0 at 9:09 when he beat Lehtonen through the five-hole with a wrister from the slot on a penalty shot for his third goal of the season. Clune, who had finished serving a penalty for roughing just 11 seconds earlier, earned the penalty shot when he was hooked by Dallas defenseman Jordie Benn on a breakaway after gaining possession of the puck near center ice. It was Nashville's first penalty shot goal since Nov. 9, 2011, when Martin Erat converted one in a 4-2 win at Anaheim. With 3:17 left before the second intermission, Dallas had another chance at getting on the board when Rinne was pulled away from the net after Whitney made a great pass to Trevor Daley from the left circle. However, Daley, who was on the edge of the right circle, saw his shot deflected and the puck cleared from danger. About the only negative of the night for the Predators was the upper-body injury that kept center Paul Gaustad from returning for the final period. Lehtonen stopped 17 of the 21 shots he faced in a losing effort for the Stars. Bourque flipped home a rebound with 5:02 to play for Nashville's second power-play goal of the night. Things got heated late in the final period as Nashville's Ryan Ellis and Dallas' Eric Nystrom dropped the gloves with 6:17 left. After Lehtonen took a high stick from Fisher at the right post with about six minutes remaining, the Dallas netminder quickly retaliated with a stick to the back of Fisher's head seconds later. Weber and Dallas' Antoine Roussel then dropped the gloves. Dallas defenseman Stephane Robidas and Fisher each earned five-minute fighting majors while Roussel and Weber received fighting majors and 10-minute misconducts. Nashville's Bobby Butler and Dillon were called for roughing for their roles in the scrum. Oleksiak then was sent to the showers with 2:45 remaining, earning a 10-minute misconduct after trying to start another fight. The Stars played without both center Jamie Benn (wrist) and captain Brenden Morrow (groin) but Gulutzan did offer an update on both regulars after the loss. It was the first time the Stars had been shut out in 16 games, when Dallas lost 2-0 at Phoenix on Feb. 2.

Edmonton v Colorado 4-0 - Home might never have sounded so sweet to the Edmonton Oilers after they completed a nine-game, 16-day road trip on a successful note Tuesday at the Pepsi Center. The Oilers hardly looked weary while cruising to a 4-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche, who had won five consecutive home games and were trying to move above .500 for the first time since the third game of the season. Linemates Sam Gagner and Marcus Paajarvi each contributed a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who followed Sunday's 6-5 win at Chicago in impressive fashion to finish the marathon trip with a 3-4-2 record. The Oilers, who started their excursion Feb. 25 at Chicago, will open a four-game homestand Friday against the Detroit Red Wings and will play 14 of their final 22 games at Rexall Place. Dubnyk showed no ill effects from the neck injury that forced him to leave in the second period Sunday when he collided with teammate Teemu Hartikainen after making a save against the Blackhawks' Marian Hossa. The Oilers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Shawn Horcoff and Gagner. Horcoff scored on a breakaway at 11:20 after the Avalanche's Gabriel Landeskog fell down while backpedaling in the Oilers' end, and Gagner skated through the crease to poke in a rebound after Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov knocked down defenseman Ryan Whitney's shot from the top of the left circle. Paajarvi gave the Oilers a 3-0 lead at 12:16 of the second period. He scooped up the puck in the neutral zone, sped down left wing into the Avalanche end, cut in front of Colorado's Jamie McGinn and put a shot on goal while skating through the goal mouth. Varlamov made the initial stop, but the rebound popped in the air and Paajarvi batted it into the net. The Avalanche thought they closed within 3-1 at 3:47 of the third period when Jan Hejda scored from the left point. But referee Stephen Walkom immediately waved off the goal, ruling Landeskog was in the crease. Instead, the Oilers made it 4-0 at 6:32 when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored from the slot on a power play after the Avalanche were penalized for having too many men on the ice. It was Nugent-Hopkins' first goal in 12 games and second in 25 games this season. Edmonton has won three of four meetings against Colorado, which lost for the fifth time this season in its first game after reaching the .500 mark. The Avalanche were coming off big wins against Chicago and San Jose, and they have yet to win three games in a row this season.

Los Angeles v Phoenix 2-5 - Phoenix Coyotes coach Dave Tippett had a little chat with Mikkel Boedker after practice Monday, and the message was one that every young scorer wants to hear. Boedker was all over the ice Tuesday, scoring a goal in each of the first two periods as the Coyotes rolled to a 4-0 lead and cooled off the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 to jump from ninth to sixth-place in the ultra-tight Western Conference playoff race. Phoenix captain Shane Doan added his team-leading ninth goal and fifth in the last seven games as the Coyotes, who had lost 11 of the last 15 meetings to Los Angeles including last year's Western Conference final in six games, had the tired Kings on the run from the outset. Doan and Raffi Torres each had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes and Rob Klinkhammer thwarted a late L.A. rally by scoring for the second time in two games since being called up from Portland of the American Hockey League. Mike Richards and Dustin Brown scored power-play goals as the Kings sliced the Coyotes' lead to 4-2 with more than 15 minutes to play. But the Kings, playing on back-to-back nights after beating Calgary 3-1 at home Monday, lost the momentum when Klinkhammer scored with just under 10 minutes left. Mike Smith made 31 saves for his 11th win of the season. Jonathan Quick made 24 saves but allowed four goals in the first 17 shots he saw and has allowed four or more goals in three of his last six starts. Doan had four goals in his first 19 games but his hot streak comes at a great time. The Coyotes have now won four of five games against Pacific Division opponents in the last 11 days, winning two in a stretch of three straight games against Anaheim and beating Dallas on Saturday before a rare recent win over the Kings. So it Boedker's. Just over nine minutes into the game, Torres flipped a puck to the top of the circles. Boedker kicked it to his stick, gained control and patiently wristed a shot that beat Quick to the stick side. After Smith made a big glove save on Jake Muzzin in the slot to kill a Kings power play, Doan stretched the lead. Steve Sullivan hit Derek Morris at the point with a diagonal pass and Morris spotted Doan coming out of the left corner steaming toward the slot. Morris' shot/pass allowed Doan to deflect the puck up and over Quick at 16:47 to double the lead. The Coyotes capitalized on their first power-play chance early in the second period thanks to another pretty move by Boedker. He twirled a Keith Yandle pass across the slot, went around Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi and beat Quick by flipping a shot to the top corner at 3:37 for the third two-goal game of his career. Boedker had a chance at his first career hat trick several minutes later, but Quick made a nice save on his bid from in close. But Phoenix made it 4-0 when Torres charged into the crease and cleaned up a Doan rebound at 12:33. The Coyotes and Kings will meet twice more next week when they play on back-to-back nights at Staples Center.