Gameday 68 (Wed, 27 Mar) - Results

Montreal v Boston 6-5 - Playing on the second night of a road back-to-back with their star goaltender benched to start the third period, the Montreal Canadiens could have been excused if they relinquished first place in the Northeast Division to the Boston Bruins with little fight. Instead, the Canadiens overcame multiple deficits in that third period and left TD Garden with sole possession of first place. Andrei Markov scored with 8.2 seconds left in regulation to tie the game and Brendan Gallagher connected in the sixth round of the shootout to give the Canadiens a 6-5 win Wednesday. Montreal has held at least a share of first place in the division every day since Feb. 19. That streak was less than 10 seconds from ending before Markov's shot hit Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara and went past Tuukka Rask to tie the game at 5-5. The goal came during a 6-on-4 power play with goaltender Peter Budaj off the ice for an extra attacker. After the two goaltenders combined to deny the first 11 shooters in the tiebreaker, Gallagher won it with a wrister that slipped between Rask's legs. The Canadiens had trailed 4-2 after Boston's four-goal second period. Boston also led 5-3, before Gallagher started the comeback with his first goal of the night at 12:18 of the third period. The Bruins' line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin combined for nine points in the losing cause. Bergeron finished with one goal and three assists. Marchand's goal was his second in his past 12 games. The Bruins had scored just eight goals in their past five. Michael Ryder, in his second game back in Boston with the Canadiens since winning the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011, scored twice for Montreal. Montreal's slumping offense had scored just two goals in two games, so the Canadiens were looking for a fast start against the Bruins. That's just what they earned when Ryder got them on the board at 4:15 of the first period. P.K. Subban doubled the lead at 2:53 of the second period with a blast from the right point that went off the left post and in. But it didn't take long for the Bruins to answer and get their comeback in gear. Just 39 seconds after Subban's goal, Dougie Hamilton ended a wild possession in the Montreal zone with a shot from the high slot that eluded Carey Price to cut the Canadiens' lead to 2-1. Marchand then tied the game with a second effort in front of Price. Marchand's initial backhander went over the net and off the glass. It deflected back to the front of the net, where Marchand banked the puck off Price and into the net at 7:23 to tie the score at 2-2. Bergeron's power-play goal at 17:01 put the Bruins ahead for the first time. Nathan Horton capped the second-period scoring spree when he cashed in on a pass from David Krejci at the end of a 2-on-1 at 17:36 for a 4-2 lead. The Canadiens switched to Budaj in goal to start the third, then grabbed a little bit of momentum with a goal. Ryder scored his second of the night at the end of a 2-on-1 with Tomas Plekanec. The Canadiens were within 4-3 just 3:58 into the final period. Seguin extended the Bruins' lead when he cashed in the end of a 2-on-1 with Marchand at 11:50. But Montreal again pulled within one, when Gallagher's follow-up shot beat Rask to the glove side at 12:18 to cut the lead to 5-4. With 1:27 left in the third period, Boston defenseman Aaron Johnson was called for a minor for delay of game when he deflected the puck out of the rink in his own end. The Canadiens then pulled Budaj and got a fortunate bounce off Chara for the tying goal.

Phoenix v Minnesota 3-4 - After watching their two-goal lead evaporate in about 10 minutes, the Minnesota Wild prolonged their night in the final minute of regulation against the Phoenix Coyotes, then saved it in overtime. Minnesota jumped ahead 2-0, fell behind 3-2 in the third period but forced overtime on a goal by Ryan Suter with 54.3 seconds remaining in regulation before Mikko Koivu's game-winner at 2:43 of OT, eight seconds after a Wild power play expired, gave the Wild a 4-3 victory. The victory extended Minnesota's franchise-best winning streak to seven games; Phoenix has lost seven in a row. Trailing 2-0 midway through the second period, the Coyotes faced a dire situation, with Minnesota's Pierre-Marc Bouchard racing in on a breakaway that would have put Phoenix in a three-goal hole. But LaBarbera made the save to keep it a two-goal game, and give his team some momentum. LaBarbera said he needed to pay his teammates back for an error he made earlier in the period in which Wild forward Matt Cullen whacked a LaBarbera clearing attempt out of midair and scored into an open net to make it 2-0 at 5:29. Less than a minute after LaBarbera's big save, Phoenix's Rob Klinkhammer scored a greasy goal, fighting off a body check in front of Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom to snap home his fourth goal in eight games this season. Just over three minutes later, Boyd Gordon tipped Keith Yandle's shot from the half wall through Backstrom's armpit, tying the game at 2-2. Phoenix went ahead 1:52 into the third period after Backstrom robbed Shane Doan with a skate save on a chance in-tight. The rebound squirted free to Michael Stone in the right circle, and the defenseman rifled a shot through a swarm of bodies and past a still recovering Backstrom for his third of the season. Minnesota led 1-0 after one period on a goal by Torrey Mitchell and grabbed the two-goal edge on Cullen's sixth of the season early in the second. Backstrom made 24 saves to improve to 18-7-2. LaBarbera, playing in place of injured starter Mike Smith, stopped 33 shots. For Suter, his third goal of the season extended a sizzling March in which the defenseman has had at least one point in all but three games. After an unusually slow start to the season, especially in his own zone, his plus-2 effort Wednesday made him a plus player for the first time this season. His 27 points are second among all NHL defensemen. Minnesota will head to Dallas on Friday for the front half of back-to-back games this weekend. The Wild defeated the Stars at the American Airlines Center on Monday night for their first victory in Texas in a decade. They return home Saturday to host the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings. The Coyotes continue their three-game road trip Thursday against the Nashville Predators before finishing their trip Saturday against the San Jose Sharks.

Colorado v Calgary 3-4 - The Calgary Flames caught a glimpse of what life could be like without the face of the franchise Wednesday. Mike Cammalleri made sure to pick up the slack. Cammalleri scored twice and Joey MacDonald made 27 saves as the Flames held on to beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 at Scotiabank Saddledome, extending Calgary's winning streak at home to eight games. Flames captain Jarome Iginla was a healthy scratch for the game and it was announced afterwards that he had been dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Kenneth Agostino, Ben Hanowski and Pittsburgh's first round pick at the 2013 NHL Draft. With the distraction, the Avalanche couldn't take advantage and with the loss and are winless in their last 10 on the road. The Flames started MacDonald against Colorado (11-17-4) in place of Miikka Kiprusoff, who played 24 hours before against the Chicago Blackhawks. Inspired by the absence of its captain, Calgary (13-15-4) bombarded starter Semyon Varlamov, outshooting Colorado 14-2 en route to building a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. With former Flames forward Chuck Kobasew in the box for hooking, Roman Cervenka fed fellow Czech Jiri Hudler in the slot. After a couple of whacks on Varlamov, Hudler was able to bang home his seventh of the season at 8:10. Steve Begin extended the lead to two at 12:01 after his backhand from the goal line bounced off the stick of Shane O'Brien and trickled behind Varlamov. The second period made for some more explosive hockey between the Western Conference's most generous defenses. After Jamie McGinn and Cammalleri exchanged near-identical rebound goals 12 seconds apart to open the period, Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog scored a strange one just after MacDonald denied a streaking Duchene with a dazzling second-effort. Coming off the wing, Duchene poked the puck through Flames defenseman TJ Brodie and put a low shot on MacDonald. He handled the initial shot and reached back to snag the rebound in mid air before it had a chance to get into the net. On the ensuing faceoff, Landeskog's centering attempt from below the goal line ricocheted off the outside of the net, up MacDonald's pad and trickled into the net to cut Calgary's lead to 3-2 at 9:14. Again, Cammalleri answered the goal, one-timing a Dennis Wideman feed from the bottom of the left circle behind Varlamov to return the lead to two with 7:19 remaining in the period. Calgary was outshot 16-2 in the third period, but MacDonald was there to bail his teammates out. After losing track of the puck on a rebound that bounced up into the air, MacDonald scrambled to make a toe save off McGinn before gloving another attempt moments later. The saves sparked the Flames, who couldn't solve Varlamov or the post on ensuing chances. After working his way through the slot, Cervenka found Hudler parked to Varlamov's left, but struck the iron instead. On Calgary's next shot, Lee Stempniak slipped a shot under Varlamov's arm, but the puck trickled just wide of the post at the 10-minute mark. Luck continued to follow the Avalanche. With both Matt Stajan and Alex Tanguay in the penalty box for a 5-on-3 advantage, Milan Hejduk broke his stick on his attempt from the point. The puck floated over to Ryan O'Reilly, who lifted his fourth over an out-of-position MacDonald to cut the lead to 4-3 at 12:34. An inspired Duchene almost tied the goal with five minutes remaining, walking around Calgary blueliner Jay Bouwmeester and firing the puck just overtop of MacDonald's cage. He followed it up with another glove save off Duchene with 25.2 seconds remaining to preserve the win.

Anaheim v San Jose 0-4 - Exactly one minute after the puck dropped Wednesday at HP Pavilion, Joe Pavelski scored on a wraparound, giving the San Jose Sharks a 1-0 lead against the Anaheim Ducks. The Sharks made it 2-0 on Patrick Marleau's goal at 4:52 of the first and 3-0 on Brent Burns' power-play goal with 10:40 still left in the opening period. San Jose, a team that couldn't shoot straight for much of the season, has suddenly remembered how to score in bunches. The Sharks opened their seven-game home stand with a 4-0 victory, beating the Ducks for the second time in three days and sending them to their fourth straight defeat. San Jose won the five-game season series with Anaheim, going 3-2-0. San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi stopped 22 shots, earning his second shutout of the season, and Tommy Wingels added a shorthanded goal in the third period. Anaheim goaltender Jonas Hiller, who entered the game with a career 2.16 goals-against average against San Jose, allowed four goals on 29 shots. Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau used his timeout after San Jose's three-goal, deja vu outburst. In their 5-3 win against Anaheim on Monday night, the Sharks jumped to a 3-0 lead on goals by Burns and Pavelski in the first period and one by Martin Havlat just 34 seconds into the second. The Sharks, fighting just to make the playoffs, have won two straight games for just the second time since Jan. 31 when they capped a seven-game streak to start the season with a shootout win against the Edmonton Oilers. They have 36 points and are tied with the St. Louis Blues for seventh in the Western Conference. Thanks to its blistering start, which included a 12-game point streak, Anaheim is still solidly in second place in the West with 48 points, but the Ducks have hit their first true rough patch of the season. Next stop, Chicago, where the Ducks will continue their four-game road trip against the 25-4-3 Blackhawks. Thursday was initially scheduled solely as a travel day, but Boudreau said the Ducks will now practice after they arrive in Chicago. The Sharks have played two of their best games of the season in their home-and-home series against the Ducks. Those wins came after San Jose traded veteran defenseman Douglas Murray to the Pittsburgh Penguins and just days before the April 3 trade deadline. Pavelski scored for the second straight game since being moved from a second-line wing to the third-line center. Clowe, in his first game after missing four straight with a shoulder injury, made a rush down the right boards and sent a pass ahead to TJ Galiardi, who went behind the net and sent the puck to Pavelski, and the latter beat Hiller with a wraparound, putting the puck just inside the left post, for his ninth goal of the season. Minutes later, Clowe put a big hit on Ducks center Dave Steckel, sending him into the boards. Anaheim defenseman Bryan Allen shoved Clowe in the back, igniting a long bout that landed both of them in the penalty box at 4:03 for five minutes and seemed to give the Sharks even more energy. Just 49 seconds later, Marleau took a pass from Logan Couture in the slot and ripped a shot past Hiller, making it 2-0 with his team-high 16th goal of the season. Then with Ducks defenseman Sheldon Souray in the box for holding Wingels, Burns ripped a shot from the left circle passed Hiller at 9:20 of the first period. The goal was Burns' fourth in eight games since making the switch from defenseman to forward. After a scoreless second period, Wingels put San Jose ahead 4-0 at 6:44 of the third with a short-handed goal. Defenseman Dan Boyle hit Couture with a pass, sparking a 2-on-1 rush, and Wingels beat Hiller to his stick side for a goal to go with his two assists. Just before Wingels scored, Ducks forward Corey Perry punched a trailing Boyle in the face. There was no penalty for the punch, but soon after the goal, an angry Boyle and Perry started trading punches in a spirited fight. Both received two minutes for cross checking and five for fighting. Veteran forward Radek Dvorak, who signed with Anaheim on Sunday and cleared waivers Monday, was officially added to the Ducks' roster Wednesday after his immigration issues were resolved. Dvorak, who had been playing in Switzerland, was in the lineup and played his first game of the season for the Ducks. He was on the ice for 11:08 and had one shot, one hit and one takeaway.