Gameday 57 (Sat, 16 Mar) - Results

Washington v Boston 1-4 - In the days leading up to a Saturday matinee against the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruin coach Claude Julien had directed several critical words at his mostly silent trio of Milan Lucic, Nathan Horton and David Krejci. Those three players, widely considered to be the No. 1 line on Boston's depth chart, decided to finally make some noise on the ice against the team that shut them down in the playoffs last season. Lucic set up first-period goals by Horton and Krejci and the three forwards combined for nine points as Boston bested Washington, 4-1, at TD Garden in a game that earned some level of revenge for a Game 7 playoff loss here last season and the Capitals' comeback victory from earlier this month in Washington. Anton Khudobin made 32 saves for Boston, while Michal Neuvirth, in a rare second straight start, made 34 saves for the Capitals. In addition to three points, Horton capped a Gordie Howe hat trick with a fight against Matt Hendricks in the second period. The Capitals have now lost four of their last five and scored just six goals in their last four outings. Snapping an eight-game goal drought, Horton got the Bruins on the board first with a one-timer from the slot at 14:12 of the first period. Lucic put the pressure on Troy Brouwer on the forecheck, and after stealing a pass below the goal line he skated around the net and found Horton out front. Lucic set up the Bruins' second goal with a heavy forecheck as well. The left wing won a battle below the goal line and forced Mike Ribeiro to make an errant pass that Krejci picked off on his way to the net. Krejci fired the puck past Neuvirth at 17:15 for a 2-0 lead. If thoughts of the Bruins' loss after leading 3-0 in Washington earlier this month weren't on the players' minds, that collapse might've been when the Capitals got on the scoreboard without taking a shot. Krejci intercepted Johansson's centering pass near the Boston net. The Boston center tried to bump the puck to Johnny Boychuk, who accidentally deflected it into the net with the blade of his left skate at 1:24 of the second period. Boston proved its mental toughness by not letting the fluky goal change the way it played the rest of the game. Krejci helped the Bruins regain their two-goal lead later in the period. He gained the offensive zone and dropped the puck back to a streaking Horton, who drew the defense to him and slid the puck back to Andrew Ference. The defenseman buried a wrist shot from the high slot at 8:02. Ference's goal gave Boston a 3-1 lead and was his first score after 30 games without one this season. Rich Peverley added a third-period power-play goal, and the Bruins moved at least temporarily into first place in the Northeast Division with the victory.

NY Rangers v Pittsburgh 0-3 - The Pittsburgh Penguins have found that having fun doesn't mean having to score a lot of goals. Winning's always fun, no matter the style. Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves to establish a franchise record for career shutouts, and Pittsburgh won its eighth consecutive game, 3-0 against the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon. The Penguins lead the NHL in goals with 104. That allowed them to reach first place in the Atlantic Division weeks ago despite a defense that was allowing, for example, at least three goals in seven consecutive games through a 5-4 shootout win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 9. Pittsburgh has allowed a total of four goals over its past four contests. Pittsburgh (21-8-0) moved into first place in the Eastern Conference and defeated New York for the seventh straight time. It was the Penguins' second consecutive shutout this season against the Rangers, the only team they have held scoreless. Rookie Beau Bennett's goal 90 seconds into the game held up, and Tyler Kennedy and Pascal Dupuis scored in the third period. Fleury earned his first shutout of the season, the 23rd of his career, breaking a tie with two-time Stanley Cup winner Tom Barrasso for the most in Penguins history. It was Fleury's first since a 36-save shutout against the Rangers on Feb. 21, 2012. The Penguins are averaging a League-best 4.4 goals per game during an 8-0-0 March, a month that has been especially successful for them in recent years. They're 26-6-2 at home in the month under Bylsma, and Fleury is 33-6-3 at home in March since 2007. The Rangers wrapped up a season-long four-game road trip having lost three consecutive and four of their past five. They've been held to two total goals over their past three games. New York's regulation losing streak is a season-high. The Penguins extended their streak of scoring at least three goals to eight, once since Feb. 10 have they not. But they again had to wait until late in the game to reach it. Pittsburgh had been held scoreless through the first 52-plus minutes of its previous two games, scoring three times down the stretch for regulation wins in each. Saturday, Kennedy and Dupuis scored 43 seconds apart beginning 6:34 into the third, taking the pressure off Fleury. Kennedy's goal, a one-timer off a pass from Kris Letang while on the power play, was his fourth of the season. Dupuis' was his 14th of the season and seventh in his past six games. Dustin Jeffrey had the primary assist on Dupuis' goal and on Bennett's. Bennett, a 2011 first-round draft pick known for his passing, showed off his shot when his rising slapper from the right circle beat Henrik Lundqvist for his second goal of the season, the first at even strength. The Rangers did not have a shot through the first 10:55 of the game and did not seriously test Fleury until later than that. One of the Rangers' best chances to score came 1:25 into the third when Fleury denied Carl Hagelin from in close after he skated down the left wing. Hagelin also produced the shot that was the closest New York came to scoring, literally. At 1:14 of the second period, Hagelin's shot from the left wing deflected off Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik. Fleury had trouble tracking it from there, and the puck made its way over his shoulder and fell onto the goal line but did not cross it. Fleury (15-5-0) has his second personal five-game winning streak of the season and moved into sole possession of the NHL lead for victories. His shutout was the fourth of his career against the Rangers, against whom he improved to 5-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average in his past five starts. Fleury has won eight home starts in a row and is 13-3-0 overall since the beginning of February. Pittsburgh has won 13 of 16 overall and has a six-game winning streak at home. The Penguins won despite League scoring leader Sidney Crosby being held without a point, and without Evgeni Malkin in the lineup. Malkin (upper-body injury) missed his fourth straight game, but Bylsma did not rule out a possible return Sunday when Pittsburgh plays the Boston Bruins. With the way they've been shutting down opponents lately, the Penguins hardly look like they're missing the reigning League MVP and scoring champion.

Ottawa v Buffalo 4-3 - The Ottawa Senators have played in a handful of close games lately and after two shootout losses, they were finally able to come away with two points Saturday. Kyle Turris scored twice, including the winner in overtime on the power play, as the Senators defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at a sold-out First Niagara Center. Ottawa's last 11 games have been decided by one goal and the Senators have now gone 5-2-4 in that span. Six of those games have been decided either in overtime or the shootout. After serving as the backup for the last three games, Bishop stopped 33 shots. Defenseman Mike Weber and forward Drew Stafford scored to put Buffalo ahead 2-0 after the first period. The Senators tied it in the second period thanks to forward Patrick Wiercioch's fourth goal in six games and a goal from defenseman Chris Phillips. Turris scored Ottawa's third goal of the period to give his team the lead. Wiercioch added an assist on the first Turris goal as well. With two assists in the game, Senators defenseman Sergei Gonchar extended his point streak to six games. He has eight assists in that span. Turris also assisted on Wiercioch's goal, giving him four points in his last three games. Stafford scored again with 7:54 left in the third period to tie the game 3-3. Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff put the Senators on the game-deciding power play when he was called for interfering with Senators forward Mika Zibanejad with 2:44 left in overtime. The Senators were patient with the puck with the man advantage in the extra period and after having several shots blocked, Turris accepted a pass from captain Daniel Alfredsson and ripped a one-timer from in close over Ryan Miller's blocker. Perhaps Bishop's best save of the game came shorthanded with less than three minutes to play. Sabres center Cody Hodgson passed the puck into the slot and Bishop kicked out a one-timer from Sabres leading scorer Thomas Vanek with his right pad. Miller, having recovered from a sinus infection that prevented him from starting on Tuesday against the New York Rangers, made 30 saves for Buffalo. Miller was stellar very early in the second, stopping four Ottawa shots in a five-second span by Jakob Silfverberg and Peter Regin during 4-on-4 play, but the Senators eventually beat him three times in the period. Ottawa outshot Buffalo 15-9 in the second. The Sabres have now allowed 37 second-period goals this season. Only the Pittsburgh Penguins have surrendered more (38). Ottawa improved to 10-1-1 when leading after two. The Senators first got on the board 4:03 into the second when a slap shot by Wiercioch from the top of the left faceoff circle beat Miller. Alfredsson set up a screen in front and Miller may not have seen the shot. Phillips then tied the game 2-2 at the 10:14 mark of the second. Senators forward Jim O'Brien cleanly won a faceoff against Jochen Hecht to Miller's left and Phillips fired a shot on goal right away. The puck deflected off Sabres defenseman Jordan Leopold and floated up past Miller to even the score. The goal was Phillips' fourth this season. Turris scored on a wraparound to make it 3-2 with 1:03 remaining in the second. Turris accepted a pass from Latendresse on the right wing and skated around Ehrhoff to the other side of the net. When Turris threw the puck in front, it went off Miller's skate as he pushed off from his left to his right and into the back of the net. Stafford tied the game when he gathered in an errant shot from Ehrhoff along the left wing boards and put a wrist shot on goal. The puck deflected off Senators defenseman Zack Smith and beat Bishop on his glove side from 48 feet out. Center Tyler Ennis and forward Ville Leino returned to Buffalo's lineup and, with linemate Steve Ott, created opportunities to get the Sabres going early. Leino made his season debut for the Sabres after missing the first 27 games of the season due to a hip injury sustained during training camp. Ennis also returned to Buffalo's lineup, having recovered from an upper-body injury he incurred on March 10 against the Philadelphia Flyers. He missed Buffalo's last game. While on the ice with the Leino-Ennis-Ott line, Weber put Buffalo ahead 1-0 with his first goal of the season. Leino, buzzing around the net, deflected a shot from Ott in behind the net, recovered it and fed it back out to the point. Weber wristed it on net and, with Leino back in front of Bishop, scored the sixth goal of his career and his first since Jan. 21, 2012. Stafford scored his first of the game and second of the season with 4:44 to play in the first to increase Buffalo's lead to two. Setting up in the Ottawa zone, Sabres center Jochen Hecht's pass to the point found its way to Weber at the right point. Weber thought about shooting but moved it across the blue line to partner Jordan Leopold, who then whipped the puck across to Nathan Gerbe on the right half-wall. Gerbe's one-timer was blocked in front of the net by defenseman Marc Methot and went to the top of the crease, where Stafford was parked. Stafford muscled past Gonchar to poke the puck in between Bishop's legs. Before capitalizing with Weber's tally, Leino, Ennis and Ott's line nearly set up a goal 6:22 into the first period. Skating down the right wing boards, Leino threw a puck on goal that Ennis deflected off the left post. Bishop sprawled out on the ice and covered the puck to force a faceoff. The Sabres are scrambling to collect points and make a playoff push and Sabres captain Jason Pominville knows that, despite tying the game in the third, his team needs to collect more than one point against a team they're looking up at in the standings. Forward Matt Kassian, acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, played his first game for the Senators. He made his presence known when he created traffic in front of Miller on the Phillips goal. Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta served the fifth and final game of his suspension for checking New York Rangers forward Brad Richards into the boards from behind on March 3. Defenseman Andrej Sekera left the game late in the third period with what Rolston called an upper body injury. He will be re-evaluated on Sunday and the team may call up another defenseman for the team's game against the Washington Capitals.

Minnesota v Colorado 6-4 - One year after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Minnesota Wild have set their sights on first place in the Northwest Division. The Wild kept the pressure on division-leading Vancouver by beating the slumping Colorado Avalanche 6-4 on Saturday at the Pepsi Center to complete a sweep of the home-and-home series and set up a showdown with the Canucks on Monday at GM Place. The Wild have won four of their past five games and are 11-5-1 since Feb. 9. They have scored 18 goals while going 3-0-1 against the Avalanche this season. Devin Setoguchi led the Wild with two goals and an assist, matching his career high for points in a game, while Ryan Suter and Pierre-Marc Bouchard each had a goal and an assist to support goalie Niklas Backstrom, who has a 23-5-3 career record against the Avalanche. The Wild broke out to a 4-1 lead in the first period against Avalanche goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who faced 14 shots in his first home start of the season and was replaced by Semyon Varlamov to begin the second period. The Avalanche pulled within 4-3 in the second period on goals by PA Parenteau and Gabriel Landeskog, whose goal at 10:23 caused Wild coach Mike Yeo to call his timeout. But the Wild regained their two-goal advantage at 12:02 when Pierre-Marc Bouchard intercepted Landeskog's cross-ice pass from the corner and beat Varlamov from the right circle. Setoguchi and the Avalanche's Chuck Kobasew traded goals in the third period. Bouchard fed Setoguchi skating in alone on Varlamov at 10:22 and Kobasew scored at 18:07. Parenteau scored at 2:45 of the second period when he moved through traffic into the goalmouth and slipped the puck past Backstrom. Landeskog scored from the slot off a pass from Duchene, who regained possession after his shot was blocked by Wild forward Charlie Coyle. Suter and Setoguchi scored 1:44 apart to give the Wild a 2-0 lead at the 6:00 mark of the first period, prompting Avalanche coach Joe Sacco to call his timeout. Whatever Sacco said didn't work because Clutterbuck scored 3:04 later with a shot from a bad angle after Heatley rang one off the left post. The Avalanche got on the board at 14:11 on a goal by John Mitchell, who scored from near the right-wing boards, but the Wild answered at 17:18 after Heatley fired another shot off the left post. Kyle Brodziak, skating to the net from the right side, watched the puck skip off his skate before he knocked it out of the air and behind Giguere. Heatley's second assist gave him 400 for his NHL career. Suter opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 4:16, beating Giguere with a one-timer from the right point. Setoguchi scored from the slot at the 6:00 mark, beating Giguere to the glove side while using Avalanche defenseman Matt Hunwick as a screen. The Avalanche have been outscored 15-6 in a three-game losing streak that followed wins against Chicago and San Jose, dropping them to the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

Winnipeg v Toronto 5-4 - Just call them the first-place Winnipeg Jets. Zach Bogosian ended the longest shootout in more than two years by scoring in the 10th round to give the Jets a 5-4 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. The victory, combined with Carolina's 4-1 loss at Tampa Bay, moved the Jets past the Hurricanes and into the top spot in the Southeast Division. It was the longest shootout in the NHL since Buffalo beat Montreal in 10 rounds on Feb. 15, 2011. Blake Wheeler scored in the first round of the shootout for the Jets and Tyler Bozak connected in round two for Toronto. Goalies Ondrej Pavelec of the Jets and James Reimer of the Maple Leafs then matched saves until Bogosian, a defenseman, snapped a shot past Reimer's glove and under the crossbar to give the Jets their second victory against the Leafs in five days. Wheeler scored twice in regulation for Winnipeg (15-11-2), which has won three in a row and is 5-0-1 in its last six. The Leafs (15-11-1) lost their fifth in a row despite two goals from returnee Joffrey Lupul; however, they overcame a 4-1 deficit to get a point that moved them past New Jersey into sixth place in the East. Lupul wasted no time making an impact, scoring on his first shift in his first game back after missing 25 contests with a broken right forearm. Nazem Kadri took the puck away from Kyle Wellwood along the right wall in the Winnipeg zone and slipped a past to Lupul, who moved into the slot and whipped a backhander past Pavelec at 1:32. It was his first goal since Feb. 29, 2012, though he played only five games in the interim because of injuries. Both teams had chances during the remainder of the period, which saw Toronto outshoot Winnipeg 14-11. The early stages of the second period belonged to the Jets, who swarmed the Leafs' zone and got even on a nice three-way passing play. Nik Antropov worked the puck free in the neutral zone and got it to Wellwood, who carried down the right side and found James Wright heading for the net. Wellwood put the puck right on his stick, and Wright lifted it over Ben Scrivens' right pad at 5:29 for his first NHL goal since Nov. 7, 2009, when he played for Tampa Bay. The Jets continued to control play and grabbed the lead at 10:36 when Antti Miettinen batted the puck out of the air and past Scrivens for his second of the season, both of which have come in the past two games. Scrivens stopped Dustin Byfuglien's blast, but Miettinen made contact with the puck just below the crossbar. The play was ruled a goal on the ice, and video review upheld the call. Winnipeg continued to attack and made it 3-1 just 87 seconds later after some nice work by Wheeler. He dumped the puck behind the net, batted it away from Scrivens and headed to the front of the net. Bryan Little battled Toronto defenseman Dion Phaneuf for the puck, and it popped out into the slot, where Wheeler backhanded past a surprised Scrivens. Wheeler got his second of the night at 15:29 on a nice individual effort. He came down left wing, had his shot blocked by Leafs' defenseman Korbinian Holzer, but chased down the carom, circled the net and stuffed a backhander inside the right post for his 12th of the season. Toronto got back in the game with two goals 25 seconds apart before intermission. Nikolai Kulemin scored his first in nine games after Jay McClement won a draw to the left of Pavelec back to him in the high slot for a rocket under the bar. Lupul got his second of the game at the 19-minute mark after Jets defenseman Grant Clitsome made an errant drop pass behind his own net. Kadri picked up the loose puck and found Lupul racing into the slot for a quick shot that Pavelec had no chance on. Phil Kessel got the Leafs even 5:50 into the third period when he went around defenseman Ron Hainsey and roofed a wrist shot for his 10th of the season.

Montreal v New Jersey 2-1 - Carey Price did his part again, and he and his teammates found two new players to praise Saturday night. It's been that way all season for the surprisingly successful Montreal Canadiens. Price made 32 saves for his 15th win of the season, but Colby Armstrong and rookie defenseman Jarred Tinordi were the talk of the team following a 2-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center. Armstrong scored his first goal of the season in the first period, and Tinordi picked up the lone assist on Tomas Plekanec's game-winner in the third for his first point in his NHL debut. The Canadiens have won five in a row for the second time this season and moved back into first place in the Eastern Conference with 42 points in 28 games, including 22 points earned in 14 road games. Price kept pace with Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for the most wins in the NHL. Fleury shut out the New York Rangers, 3-0, Saturday, to give the Penguins 42 points in 29 games. Montreal next plays Tuesday at home against the Buffalo Sabres. New Jersey goalie Johan Hedberg made 20 saves in his career-high 12th straight start, and defenseman Peter Harrold scored his first goal of the season, but the Devils lost in regulation for the first time in four games. They dropped to seventh place in the Eastern Conference. They're off until Tuesday, when they play the slumping New York Rangers. Price and others were particularly impressed with Tinordi, the son of former NHL defenseman Mark Tinordi. Jarred had an assist and played 19 shifts totaling 14:48 of ice time, more than coach Michel Therrien planned on giving him. Tinordi, who had his father and other family members drive up from their home in Millersville, Md., for the game, picked up his first NHL point when Plekanec deflected his point shot past Hedberg at 6:49 of the third period. The Canadiens also were thrilled for Armstrong, whose goal 8:08 into the first period was his first since Feb. 25, 2012, when he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov tripped and coughed up the puck in the defensive zone, leaving it for Armstrong, who carried it into the right circle and ripped a shot into the far corner. Kovalchuk did beat Price in the second period; he just couldn't beat the post as his blast off a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush caught all iron. He was inches away from scoring his League-leading fifth shorthanded goal of the season. New Jersey was credited with 13 shots during the final nine minutes, but Price was able to preserve the lead and the Canadiens' 19th win of the season; that's 12 shy of the amount of wins they had in 82 games last season.

Carolina v Tampa Bay 1-4 - The Tampa Bay Lightning snapped their five-game home losing streak with some help from a couple of rookies. Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat scored their first National Hockey League goals and goaltender Mathieu Garon won for the third time this season, all against Carolina, as the Lightning beat the Hurricanes 4-2 on Saturday night. Johnson opened the scoring for Tampa Bay (12-15-1) at 10:54 of the opening period when he found himself with the puck and time and space in the faceoff circle to the right of goaltender Justin Peters. His perfect snap shot beat the goaltender high to the glove side. Alex Killorn and Cory Conacher assisted. The goal broke a Lightning scoring drought that had reached 85:24. Palat made it 2-0 when he scored his first career goal at 6:35 of the second period, Sami Salo's shot from the blue line bounced off his skate and into the net. Johnson picked up an assist for his second point. Playing Carolina was a good tonic for the Lightning after a desultory effort in Thursday's 2-0 home loss to the New York Islanders. The Lightning are now 3-0-0 against the Hurricanes this season, and Tampa Bay hasn't trailed in any of those games. Garon has all three wins and has stopped 88 of the 92 shots he's faced, including 21 of 22 in this game. Eric Staal spoiled Garon's bid for a shutout at 6:21 of the final period when he took Alexander Semin's long pass in the neutral zone, came in alone and put the puck under Garon. Carolina leads the NHL in second-period goals, but the Hurricanes were outscored 2-0 in the middle 20 minutes. After Palat made it 2-0, Nate Thompson scored his sixth goal of the season at 12:55 when he corralled a long cross-ice pass from B.J. Crombeen and broke in on Peters alone except for Hurricane forward Drayson Bowman draped across his back. Thompson broke to his right with a sharp move and backhanded the puck into the net. Matt Carle also was credited with an assist. Teddy Purcell stretched the lead to 4-0 when a pass by Martin St. Louis sent him in on a breakaway. Purcell's backhander found the net for his fifth goal of the season and first since Feb 16, a stretch of 13 games. Carolina [15-11-1] had two power-play opportunities but was held without a shot on both of them. The Hurricanes are in a 2-for-30 slump with the extra man. One thing he and his team will have to figure out is a way to beat the Lightning. The teams meet twice more this season.

Phoenix v Columbus 0-1 - The Phoenix Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets got together Saturday, and that could mean just one thing: a one-goal game. Artem Anisimov and Mark Letestu scored in the shootout, and Sergei Bobrovsky did not let any puck get behind him in Columbus' 1-0 win at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets have won six of eight games and extended their franchise-record points streak to 10 games (6-0-4). They will have two days off between games for the first time since March 1. Bobrovsky stopped Mikkel Boedker and Steve Sullivan to complete his second shutout of the season. The Blue Jackets goalie made 39 saves in regulation and overtime after games in which he made 37 and 39 respectively, allowing one goal in each shootout loss. Bobrvosky has stopped 239 out of 245 shots (.976 save percentage) in his past eight games. Mike Smith made 23 saves to get his fourth shutout but could not stop Columbus' first two shootout participants. On Feb. 9, Smith defeated the San Jose Sharks 1-0 in a shootout. Columbus allowed five goals in each of two losses to Phoenix earlier this season, part of a slow start that bottomed out at 5-12-2. Now, the Blue Jackets trail the Coyotes by two points in a logjam of five Western Conference teams with 28-30 points. The Blue Jackets and Coyotes entered having played a combined 31 one-goal games and added to that total with this result. Columbus has played 20 one-goal games and is 8-6-6. Nine of its past 10 have gone past regulation, with five wins and four losses. Phoenix has been in 13 one-goal games and is 6-3-4. In a scheduling quirk, the Coyotes play back-to-back games at the Los Angeles Kings on Monday and Tuesday after flying from their easternmost game.

NY Islanders v Florida 4-3 - The New York Islanders were able to keep rolling Saturday, but not before they got a big scare. Casey Cizikas scored with 7:05 left in the third period as the Islanders beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 after squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period at BB&T Center. Cizikas beat Scott Clemmensen to the short side for his fourth goal of the season after some strong board work from linemates Colin McDonald and Keith Aucoin. Cizikas scored from the left of the net after taking a feed from McDonald. For McDonald, getting the assist on the game-winning goal provided a great capper to a roller-coaster week. He had to sit out Thursday's 2-0 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning because of illness and then signed a two-year contract extension on Friday. Kyle Okposo, Radek Martinek and Brad Boyes had the other goals for the Islanders, who improved to 5-1-1 in March after suffering through a 4-9-1 February. Evgeni Nabokov made 27 saves as he improved to 8-2-1 on the road this season. The victory moved the Islanders past the New York Rangers into ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings. It was the first time in 12 meetings in South Florida that the Islanders beat the Panthers in regulation. T.J. Brennan, Marcel Goc and Mike Santorelli scored for the Panthers, who lost for the sixth straight time (0-5-1), their longest losing streak since they went 0-7-3 late in the 2010-11 season. The Panthers scored three goals in a span of 1:43 early in the third period, more goals than in any other game during their losing streak. Florida hasn't won since beating the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on March 5 and has fallen behind 2-0 in the first period of each game during its current losing streak. The Panthers, who won the first division title in team history last season, have the worst record in the NHL at 7-16-6. Clemmensen received a second consecutive start in net for Florida and finished with 21 saves. Captain Ed Jovanovski returned to the Florida lineup after missing 22 games with a lower-body injury, but didn't play in the third period. The Panthers also lost enforcer George Parros to an upper-body injury in the first period after he had a fight with Islanders winger Eric Boulton. Dineen said he would have "an announcement" on Jovanovski's status, as well as that of Parros, on Monday. The Islanders led 3-0 before Brennan, playing in his first game with Florida after being acquired in a trade with Buffalo on Friday, started the Panthers' comeback. Brennan scored at 5:09 of the third after rushing to the net and following up with a rebound. Brennan, who played for Dineen for two seasons with the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, ended up with 23:42 of ice time, second on the team behind only defenseman Brian Campbell. It was an impressive Panthers debut for Brennan, who was selected as the second star of the game. After Goc made it 3-2 at 5:43 when he one-timed Tomas Fleischmann's pass to the right side of the net, Santorelli tied the game at 6:52 when he put home a rebound after Nabokov had stopped two quick shots by Skille. After giving up a goal in the first four minutes in each of their previous five games, the Panthers outshot the Islanders 7-1 in the first 7:10 Saturday, but the game remained scoreless until Okposo scored at 15:26. After a turnover behind the Florida net, Frans Nielsen whipped around a no-look back that found its way to Okposo in front of the net. Okposo one-timed it between Clemmensen's legs. Martinek scored at 17:59 after defenseman Mark Streit carried the puck deep into the Florida zone and let the Panthers players drop into coverage. Streit then fed Martinek near the blue line and his seemingly harmless one-timer found its way through traffic just inside the left post. The Islanders made it 3-0 only 33 seconds into the second period, thanks to some luck. After a pass from John Tavares bounced off his stick, Boyes tried to feed Matt Moulson across the crease but the puck instead went in off the skate of Panthers forward Tomas Kopecky. At that point, it looked like the Islanders were headed for a rout. Instead, the Panthers made it a game to continue their strange pattern during their losing streak, they've alternated losses by three goals or more with one-goal losses since the streak began.

Anaheim v St Louis 1-2 - Chris Stewart had so much time once he got the puck, he had nearly had too much time on his hands. But fortunately for the St. Louis Blues, with Stewart on an unbelievable hot streak and showing the deft touch of a goal scorer, the power forward was able to cap off a terrific play by teammate Vladimir Sobotka. Stewart scored 45 seconds into overtime to give the Blues a 2-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday before 19,593 at Scottrade Center. Sobotka was able to pick off a Teemu Selanne pass near his own blue line and take off on a 2-on-1 with teammate Roman Polak. Stewart, who was trailing on the play, got the puck from Sobotka, who ever-so-patiently dangled the puck around a sliding Selanne and Cam Fowler, fed Stewart in the slot, who in turn out-waited Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller, pulled it to his backhand and roofed the winner. Stewart now has five goals in the past three games, 14 points [seven goals, seven assists] in the past seven and 24 points [10 goals, 14 assists] in the past 18 contests. Kris Russell scored his first goal of the season, and Jake Allen continued to roll, improving to 8-1-0 on the season after making 27 stops to see the Blues win their fifth in six games. They improved to 16-10-2 on the season playing without injured stars Andy McDonald (knee), T.J. Oshie (upper-body) and top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who was a late scratch with the flu. Saku Koivu netted a goal, the 798th point of his career, and Hiller stopped 19 shots as the Ducks (20-3-4) saw their five-game winning streak snapped, but they still took five of six points on a three-game trip. They also set a franchise record for most points in a 17-game stretch in which the Ducks collected 29 points. The Ducks grabbed the lead late in the first when Koivu netted his eighth of the season. The Ducks kept several attempts at clears by the Blues in the zone, Fowler found his defensive partner with a cross-ice feed to the left side of the blue line. Bryan Allen's shot had eyes, deflected off Koivu in the slot and beat Allen top shelf with 19.5 seconds remaining in the period for a 1-0 Ducks lead. The Blues had their best chance three-plus minutes into the game when Matt D'Agostini's check on Koivu forced a turnover, and David Perron's shot from the high slot had Hiller beat but rang off the left post. Russell's first goal since April 7, 2012 [the final day of the regular season] tied the game 1-1. The power-play goal, which saw the Blues score for only the fourth time in their last 40 attempts, came after Vladimir Tarasenko, who returned to the lineup after missing 10 games with a concussion, reverse a pass to Russell. He skated to the middle of the point and ripped a shot over Hiller's right shoulder at the 12:42 mark of the second period. Both goalies made their share of stops on the period, with Allen coming up with the best one, as he robbed Andrew Cogliano with a terrific left pad save as Cogliano tried flipping in a backhand from a sharp angle into an open side. Allen also robbed Fowler after Anaheim won an offensive zone faceoff and Fowler ripped a shot from the slot that saw Allen flash the leather. Allen also made a nifty right kick stop on a breaking Matt Beleskey with 7:24 left in the third period. Hiller also had a couple key stops, thwarting back-to-back attempts from Ryan Reaves and Wade Redden before flashing his glove on Tarasenko late in the second period. The Ducks brought pressure in the third period, and the Blues didn't register their first shot of the period until 9:24 left on a turn-around shot by Tarasenko. Ryan had the terrific chance early in the third period, but the puck rolled off his stick wide of an empty side that would have given the Ducks a 2-1 lead. In the meantime, Allen keeps trucking along for the Blues. He lowered his goals-against average to 2.18 and now sports a .920 save percentage.

Chicago v Dallas 8-1 - In case there was any doubt, the Chicago Blackhawks showed why they're on top of the NHL standings. Jonathan Toews scored twice in a 1:35 span of the first period, and Marian Hossa added a pair of second-period goals as the Blackhawks overwhelmed the Dallas Stars 8-1 on Saturday night. The Blackhawks started the season 21-0-3 before back-to-back regulation losses to Colorado and Edmonton. The Hawks had to go to a shootout to beat Columbus, but they were back to being their dominating selves against the Stars (12-12-3), who dropped their third home game this week and are 0-3-1 in their past four. Toews opened the scoring by deflecting Nick Leddy's shot behind Kari Lehtonen 9:05 into the game and made it 2-0 at 10:30 with a tap-in. Leddy added another goal before the end of the opening period, in which Chicago outshot Dallas 11-3. Chicago poured it on in the second period. Defenseman Johnny Oduya made it 4-0 and ended Lehtonen's evening at 8:01 when he scored his second of the season on a screened slap shot. Hossa beat his replacement, Richard Bachman, at 12:18 and added a power-play goal at 19:01 for a 6-0 lead after two periods. Duncan Keith and Kane sandwiched third-period goals around a power-play score by Dallas defenseman Trevor Daley at 6:30 that ended goaltender Corey Crawford's shutout bid. Kane's tally, his 15th of the season, was truly of the highlight-reel variety. He spun around Dallas rookie defenseman Brenden Dillon in the right faceoff circle before firing a 23-foot backhand that beat Bachman to his short side to make it 8-1. Kane had two assists to go along with his goal; Toews added an assist for a three-point night. Crawford made 18 saves; he faced eight shots through the first two periods. Lehtonen and Bachman each stopped 13 of the 17 shots they faced for Dallas, numbers which didn't sit well with center Jamie Benn, who returned to the ice after missing the past two games with a wrist injury. The Blackhawks continue their four-game road trip on Monday night at Colorado while Dallas will conclude its four-game homestand on Monday against Calgary.

Detroit v Vancouver 5-2 - Detroit Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader could barely walk Saturday morning, and almost didn't play against the Vancouver Canucks. He's glad he changed his mind after the pre-game warm up. With help from linemate Pavel Datsyuk, Abdelkader overcame a scary skate cut on the top of his left foot to end a lengthy drought with two goals, and help lead the Red Wings to a 5-2 win against the Canucks on Saturday. Abdelkader was cut right through the top of his skate during the Red Wings' 3-2 overtime win against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday, requiring "8-to-10 stitches," and making it hard to even walk the following morning. It felt a lot better after the game, especially after Datsyuk banked a shot off it to tie the game six minutes in, and then angled another puck in off his chest in the third period. It was just the second and third goals of the season, and in 41 games dating back to last season, for Abdelkader, who credited Datsyuk. The way Datsyuk is playing, he scored the overtime winner in Edmonton on a highlight reel solo rush before adding three assists against the Canucks, the only surprise was he didn't bank the first shot off Abdelkader's healthy foot. Datsyuk also set up the first of two goals for Henrik Zetterberg, putting the Red Wings ahead for good and ending a long drought with his first road goal of the season. Zetterberg, who hadn't scored in nine games and only had one his last 21, added another goal off a 3-on-2 rush just 1:20 into the third period. It's not the first time they've done it against Roberto Luongo and the Canucks. Luongo was in for all eight in an 8-3 loss in Detroit on Feb. 24, and finished with just 21 saves this time, with Daniel Cleary adding the fifth goal six minutes into the third period on a long screen shot that went in off the post. The game actually started well for the Canucks, who were wearing burgundy and cream retro jerseys to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Vancouver Millionaires team that would win a Stanley Cup in 1915. Alexandre Burrows scored the first of his two goals off a set play just six seconds in to set a new franchise record of their own off the opening faceoff. But Jimmy Howard, who finished with 33 saves, made the first of a couple great saves to take an empty net away Burrows a short while later, allowing the Red Wings to escape the first period tied. They took over in the second. Burrows, who added his second with 2:38 left, lamented the early missed chance at the open net, which came on a delayed penalty call that he drew. Instead, the Canucks failed to convert on the ensuing power play. They didn't even manage a shot during a lengthy 5-on-3 in the third period and are now 0-for-29 over the last 11 games. The Canucks also fell out of top spot in the Northwest Division. Vancouver is tied with the Minnesota Wild with 32 points, but has fewer wins, dropping the Canucks to seventh in the Western Conference, one point behind Detroit. Now the two-time President's Trophy winners must worry about just making the playoffs. They may have lost one of those 20 on Saturday. Forward David Booth left in the final minute of the first period, and was spotted leaving Rogers Arena on crutches with his left foot in a walking boot. He will have an MRI on Monday. It was just as hard to watch the third period for Canucks fans. Dominant in stretches early, they had another great chance to tie the game late in the second period when Jannik Hansen was hauled down on a break away from inside the blue line just a minute after Zetterberg scored his first. But Howard held his ground atop the crease on the ensuing penalty shot and tried to poke check the slow moving Hansen, whose shot hit the outside of the post. Despite setting up the first goal, Canucks captain Henrik Sedin said his top line, and power play unit, was to blame for the loss.

San Jose v Los Angeles 2-5 - A save by Jonathan Bernier's glove hand was worth two points in the rematch for the Los Angeles Kings. Bernier got his glove on Tommy Wingels second-period penalty shot to short-circuit San Jose's momentum, and L.A. responded with three goals in a 7:41 span on the way to a 5-2 win Saturday night. The Kings split the home-and-home set with their Northern California rivals thanks to Bernier and an impressive night from Kyle Clifford, who recorded his first career multiple-goal game and also had a second-period fight against the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Douglas Murray. Los Angeles stepped up and avoided losing three in a row in regulation for the first time since a five-game skid in December 2011. The Kings also avenged Thursday's 4-3 loss at San Jose. San Jose continued to struggle on the road and lost Ryane Clowe to an undisclosed injury in the first period. Coach Todd McLellan did not have an update on Clowe, but he did open his postgame press conference with a scorched-earth dressing down of his team and said it was "easily" their most disappointing game of the season. Clifford pushed home a loose puck at 13:45 of the middle period after Dustin Penner outraced Justin Braun for a breakaway to make it 4-1 and chase Antti Niemi. Dwight King completed the three-goal barrage with a shot from the left circle at 18:56. After Bernier's big save at 7:58 of the middle period, L.A. got rolling on a seemingly harmless give-and-go play in which Trevor Lewis' pass hit Jarret Stoll before Stoll collected the puck and backhanded it past Niemi at 11:15 for a 3-1 lead. The Kings continue to thrive in Staples Center, having outscored opponents 40-20 during a 9-1 run at home. L.A. is 10-1-1 here since an opening-day loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. At the other end of the spectrum are the Sharks, with just 16 goals scored in their past 12 road games and a 2-8-2 record in that span. Patrick Marleau scored 35 seconds into the second period, and Matt Irwin added a last-minute power-play goal. Logan Couture said the start of the second was "probably the only five to 10 minutes we played well all night" and talked about his team's inconsistency. San Jose did not put a shot on goal until Wingels' backhand more than 12 minutes into game, and it immediately led to the Kings' second goal. Kopitar started the rush and Justin Williams finished it with a centering pass that hit Brad Stuart's backside and into the net at 12:19. L.A. scored on its first shot of the game when Clifford's steep-angled shot from the right side made it through Niemi, who otherwise made 10 saves in the opening period to manage a flat start by San Jose, which was outshot 12-5.