Gameday 58 (Sun, 17 Mar) - Results

Boston v Pittsburgh 1-2 - The Boston Bruins took advantage of the absence of Kris Letang in terms of shots on goal, attack-zone time and chances. Where they couldn't take advantage was with goals. Even without their top defenseman, the Pittsburgh Penguins aren't allowing many of those these days. Sidney Crosby and Joe Vitale scored, Tomas Vokoun made 31 saves and the Penguins extended their winning streak to nine with a 2-1 win Sunday afternoon against the Bruins. Pittsburgh has allowed a total of five goals over its past five games. Pittsburgh (22-9-0) took over sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference with the win, its seventh consecutive at home. The Penguins built a 2-1 lead during the first 19:28 and protected it through the final two periods despite not having Letang available in that time. The NHL's scoring leader among defensemen, Letang sustained a lower-body injury. The team did not elaborate on the nature of the injury or when it was sustained, but television replays showed Letang gesturing in apparent pain after taking a slash from Boston's Brad Marchand. Marchand's skate also perhaps made contact with the back of Letang's leg on the play. After the game, Letang was seen in street clothes but not in any sort of boot or cast. The only update the team gave was that he would be further evaluated, Bylsma said. Pittsburgh already was without the services of reigning League MVP and scoring champion Evgeni Malkin, who missed his fifth straight game because of an upper-body injury. The Penguins beat the Bruins for the fifth time in a row and second time at Consol Energy Center in the past six days. This game was for sole possession of first place in the conference standings. Tyler Seguin scored for Boston, which has lost two of its past seven, both to the Penguins. Playing their fifth game in seven days, the Bruins had a 32-18 edge in shots Sunday. The Bruins also had a prominent player leave the game because of injury. David Krejci was struck square in the right knee by a slap shot while he leaped in front of the net. He was down on the ice for several moments and needed to be helped to the bench, not applying any weight onto the leg. The only official update on Krejci's condition the team provided after the game was Julien saying that it is not been ruled out that he will accompany the team on its trip to Winnipeg in advance of a game against the Jets on Tuesday. Krejci, who is second on the team in points with 24 in 27 games, was seen walking under his own power after the game. The Penguins scored the game's first goal for the 21st time this season, tied with the Montreal Canadiens for most in the NHL. Seconds after being stopped by Tuukka Rask following splitting two Boston defensemen, Crosby made it 1-0 with his 13th of the season 12:06 into the game. The NHL's scoring leader received a pass from Chris Kunitz while in the slot, slowly skating backward to the right wing. Crosby hesitated momentarily before releasing a rising wrist shot that Rask was too late in lunging over to stop. Seguin tied it 4:32 later when a Johnny Boychuk shot from the right point deflected off a skate in the slot and came right to a wide-open Seguin, who was to the right of Vokoun. The goal was Seguin's 10th of the season, seventh in his past 10 games and 50th in 182 career contests. Vitale scored what was ultimately the winner during the final minute of the first period. Rask could not handle a Craig Adams shot from the point cleanly with his glove, leaving a rebound for a wide open Vitale to flip into the roof of the net for his first of the season. Vitale's most recent goal was Feb. 26, 2012 against Columbus. The tally also was only the second of the season, not counting empty-net goals, for the Penguins' usual fourth line of Vitale, Adams and Tanner Glass. That depth could be tested further moving forward if Malkin and Letang remain unavailable.

Winnipeg v Ottawa 1-4 - Finally, some breathing room for the Ottawa Senators. There would be no one-goal game this time. Jakob Silfverberg scored two goals Sunday as the Senators topped the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 at Scotiabank Place. Kyle Turris and Guillaume Latendresse also scored for the Sens (15-8-6), while captain Daniel Alfredsson and Sergei Gonchar each added two assists. Zach Bogosian had the lone goal for the Jets (15-12-2). Entering Sunday's action, the Senators had previously gone 11 games where the score had come down to one goal. Ottawa came out firing, outshooting the Jets 19-6 in the first. MacLean claimed it was the best first period the Sens have played all season. Robin Lehner made 25 saves for the win, while Ondrej Pavelec turned away 38 of 42 shots. MacLean was pleased with the performance of his current backup, who made his fifth start of the season. Lehner and Ben Bishop continue to handle the netminding duties for Ottawa after Craig Anderson was sidelined with an ankle sprain on Feb. 21. Ottawa came out with pressure in the first period and its efforts paid off early. Pavelec made a pad save on Alfredsson's shot from the bottom of the right circle, but the puck popped back out and Latendresse bobbled it up and over the shoulder of the Winnipeg goaltender at 3:44. With 1:21 left in period, the Senators struck again, this time on the power play. After Chris Thorburn was called for hooking at 17:42, Ottawa's special teams swarmed the Jets' offensive zone. Sergei Gonchar sent a cross-ice pass through the slot to Silfverberg, who went top shelf on Pavelec for his fifth of the season. The successful power play by the Sens broke a 12-game streak for Winnipeg, the Jets had previously killed off their last 29 penalties without allowing a goal. Winnipeg got on the board early in the third period, when Bogosian's slap shot from the blue line flew through traffic and beat Lehner at 3:26, making the score 2-1. Andrew Ladd picked up an assist on the goal for his fourth point in as many games. The Jets maintained pressure through the third period but Lehner stood tall, making a pad save on an Evander Kane breakaway, and a 2-on-1 shorthanded chance with Kane and Wheeler. Kane again took the shot, and Lehner was able to make the stick save. But the Senators would respond once more on the power play, after Ron Hainsey was called for a delay of game at 10:49. Alfredsson sent a beautiful shot through the slot to Turris, who beat Pavelec with a slap shot at 11:30, making the score 3-1. Gonchar also picked up an assist on the goal, giving him 10 points in his past seven games. Ottawa made the score 4-1 after Mika Zibanejad's rebound was picked up by Silfverberg, the Swede took puck into the corner to Pavelec's right, skated through the faceoff circle and wristed it into the roof of the Winnipeg net at 12:45. The Jets had points in six straight games (5-0-1) and were riding a three-game winning streak prior to facing the Sens on Monday. But after three games in four days, Jets coach Claude Noel admitted that his team was tired.

Buffalo v Washington 3-5 - The Washington Capitals showed Sunday they're not about to bow out of the race to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Six different players on Washington's roster enjoyed two-point nights as the Caps moved within six points of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with a 5-3 win against the reeling Buffalo Sabres at Verizon Center. Jason Chimera scored his first regular-season goal in nearly a year for the Capitals (12-15-1), who broke out of an offensive slump in which they had scored only seven times in five games, losing four. Alex Ovechkin got the Capitals going with his 350th NHL goal, scored only 19 seconds in, and Marcus Johansson and Matthieu Perrault also had a goal and an assist each as Washington beat Buffalo at home for the seventh time in eight games. Cody Hodgson scored twice for the Sabres (10-15-4), who have lost five straight road games and have won just once in seven games overall. Brian Flynn also scored for Buffalo, which will play four of its next five on the road. Ryan Miller allowed five goals on 25 shots. Washington busted out of its scoring slump with three goals during a 5:22 stretch of the second period. Troy Brouwer got it started on the Capitals' first power play when he took Mike Ribeiro's feed and beat Miller to the top left corner. Four minutes later, Brouwer found Chimera from behind the net for Chimera's first regular-season goal since April 2, 2012. Less than a minute after that, Johansson squeezed a shot out of a goal-mouth scrap to make it 4-1 at 10:28. Flynn got Buffalo back within two goals at 13:27 off a feed from Marcus Foligno. Hodgson scored a power-play goal early in the third to make it 4-3 after Jordan Leopold's effort from the left caromed to him off the pads of goalie Braden Holtby (27 saves). It was Buffalo's first power-play goal in four games. Washington killed a penalty later in the period, and just after it ended, Holtby made a full stretch to deny a clear look from Drew Safford. Perrault scored on the Capitals' next trip into the offensive zone to seal the win with just under five minutes to play. The Sabres actually outshot the Capitals 17-10 in the second period, and Hodgson scored their first goal just 12 seconds into it when he sneaked a shot past Holtby. That got the Sabres even. Ovechkin had staked the Capitals to their quick lead in the opening seconds off a faceoff feed from Nicklas Backstrom. Ovechkin, who leads the Capitals with 11 goals, has scored six times in seven games against the Sabres. Backstrom finished with two assists. The Capitals will now play eight of their next nine games on the road, beginning with Tuesday's showdown at Pittsburgh. A brief lightning malfunction delayed the start of the third period for about six minutes.

Nashville v Edmonton 2-3 - The Nashville Predators probably can't wait to get back home, but they have one more stop to make before this frustrating road trip concludes. Jordan Eberle had a goal and an assist as the Edmonton Oilers earned a 3-2 victory against the Preds at Rexall Place on Sunday. Magnus Paajarvi and Lennart Petrell also scored for the Oilers (11-11-6), who have won three of their last four games. Shea Weber and Roman Josi scored for Nashville (11-12-6), which has dropped the past three games of a five-game road trip that ends Tuesday at Columbus. The Predators had the game's first good scoring chance seven minutes into the first period, but Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk (29 saves) was able to rob Gabriel Bourque with a huge glove save. Edmonton's best opportunity in the opening period came midway through as Eberle stole a puck deep in the Nashville zone for a breakaway, but wasn't able to get Predators goalie Pekka Rinne to bite on his deke attempt, the Oilers' first shot of the game. Rinne finished with 18 saves. The Oilers broke a scoreless tie eight minutes into the second period as Eberle was able to flick the rebound from a power-play point shot to Paajarvi, who hooked it into a wide-open net for his sixth goal of the season. The Predators tied the game on a power play of their own with just over three minutes to play in the second period as Weber ripped a point shot past Dubnyk to make it 1-1. The Oilers restored the lead with nine minutes remaining in the third on a shorthanded goal, as Sam Gagner won a race to a lost puck to create a 2-on-1, dishing the pass off to Petrell, who beat Rinne with a quick one-timer for Edmonton's fourth shorthanded tally this season. Edmonton got an insurance goal with four minutes left as Eberle was able to beat Rinne with a high shot from the top of the circle to make it 3-1. It was Eberle's seventh goal of the season and first since Feb. 23. The Oilers, 3-0-1 in their past four games, next play host to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday.