Gameday 72 (Sun, 31 Mar) - Results

Chicago v Detroit 7-1 - Just when it started to look like the Chicago Blackhawks might be slipping a little, they came out on Sunday afternoon and blasted the rival Detroit Red Wings on the road. They didn’t just win comfortably at Joe Louis Arena in NBC’s Game of the Week. The Blackhawks (26-5-3) routed the Red Wings 7-1, without injured star forwards Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa, to send a stark reminder to the rest of the National Hockey League of why they’re atop the Western Conference. Sharp and Hossa are expected back soon, possibly on Monday night against the Nashville Predators at United Center, but they didn’t make this trip and it didn’t matter. Their teammates simply overwhelmed Detroit (17-13-5) with three straight goals in the first 4:12 of the game, all scored on Red Wings starting goalie Jimmy Howard by rookie Jeremy Morin, Saad and center Dave Bolland. Saad’s second of the game made it 5-0 just 4:00 into the second period and came just eight seconds after he’d set up a Toews’ goal. Saad had tallied points in 10 of the previous 14 games, but hadn’t found the back of the net since March 5 against the Minnesota Wild. He’s been the left winger next to Toews for all but one of Chicago’s 34 games and is finally getting stats to show it. Saad said it’s been equally important for his confidence to remain with Toews and, when healthy, Hossa. It was also a good day on defense for the Blackhawks, who nearly helped goalie Corey Crawford pick up a shutout before Cory Emmerton’s goal with 33 seconds left in the third spoiled it. Crawford did break a personal two-game losing skid and was great yet again playing against the Red Wings, whom he’d previously beaten 2-1 in overtime Jan. 27 in Chicago and 2-1 in a shootout March 3 in Detroit. Bolland, meanwhile, added a second goal at 7:55 of the third and his offensive presence was also a welcome sight to the Hawks. His first, which was credited to him after Detroit’s Jakub Kindl intercepted his pass and accidentally scored into his own net, was Bolland’s first goal in 16 games. He’d last scored on Feb. 15 against the San Jose Sharks and had just five assists during that stretch, while also sitting out five games with an upper-body injury. If Bolland’s offense picks up, the Blackhawks might not need to trade for a second-line center for Sharp and Patrick Kane. Chicago could also get back to dominating games again, which is something Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville wants to see in the remaining 14 games. Detroit, on the other hand, continues to have a turbulent season. This game started terribly with news that captain Henrik Zetterberg wouldn’t play because of a groin injury and is day-to-day. It continued to get worse as the game progressed, including an upper-body injury that knocked Mikael Samuelsson from the game after two periods in his first game back after an extended absence because of a fractured finger. And that’s just the injury report. What happened on the scoreboard also stung. Detroit outshot Chicago 34-26, outhit the Blackhawks 29-11 and still lost by six goals. Morin’s goal opened the scoring. After scooping the puck in front of the crease off a carom from the end boards, the rookie buried it with Howard out of position. Saad’s first goal came next, which he scored while streaking to the net uncovered 48 seconds later. Bolland’s first goal made it 3-0 41 seconds after that and Chicago had a 3-0 lead that it carried into the first intermission, reminiscent of the way the Edmonton Oilers put four goals on the Vancouver Canucks in a 4-0 win on Saturday night at Rexall Place. Toews and Saad scored their back-to-back markers early in the second, while Nick Leddy and Bolland beat Jonas Gustavsson in the third.

Anaheim v Columbus 1-2 - The Columbus Blue Jackets are now in playoff position. The worst team in the NHL just over a month ago, the Blue Jackets, led by goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, have now gone on a remarkable tear that has lifted them into the midst of the postseason race. Mark Letestu set up the only goal in regulation and then scored the game-winner in overtime and Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 30 shots to lead the Blue Jackets to a 2-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Nationwide Arena. The victory improved the Blue Jackets to 9-0-3 in their last 12 games on home ice and gave them points in 15 of their last 17 games (10-2-5) to creep into the No. 8 spot in the West. Other teams have more remaining games, but that doesn't change the point totals. For at least a day, the Blue Jackets are vying to make the playoffs for only the second time in their 12 seasons as a franchise. The game pitted two of the NHL's hottest teams over the past few weeks. The Ducks came in 16-5-3 for 35 points in their last 24 games. In the overtime, Nikita Nikitin settled a high pass from rookie Dalton Prout at the right boards, then slid a pass to Letestu at the left circle. Letestu collected the pass and then beat goalie Jonas Hiller with a forehand on his stick side for the winner with 1 minute left in overtime. Columbus was playing its third game in four nights and Anaheim its third on a four-game road trip. It showed it, with neither team doing much on tired legs, although the Ducks outshot Columbus 17-1 in the third period. But Bobrovsky stood tall. Emerson Etem had the only goal for the Pacific Division-leading Ducks, who had lost four in a row until winning 2-1 in Chicago on Friday. Down 1-0, Anaheim pulled even 5:55 into the third. Columbus failed to clear the puck and Bryan Allen took it away from R.J. Umberger. Andrew Cogliano then fed Etem, who waded in and tucked a wrister inside the near post past Bobrovsky. In the second period, Letestu fired the puck wide of the cage and it bounded off the back boards to Brassard at the left doorstep. Hiller had it pinned between his right skate and the near post, but Brassard punched it into the net with two whacks.

Los Angeles v Dallas 3-2 - After not scoring in the third period in either of their first two meetings of the season with the Dallas Stars, the Los Angeles Kings erupted for a pair of goals in the final 20 minutes to hand the Stars a 3-2 defeat before 15,719 at American Airlines Center on Sunday. Los Angeles got third-period goals from Brad Richardson, his first tally in exactly one year, and from Justin Williams within 1:09 to break a 1-1 deadlock after two periods. Jonathan Bernier stopped 13 of 15 Dallas shots he faced for his eighth win of the season. Richardson was appearing in just his third game of the season for the Kings and first since Feb. 10 against the Detroit Red Wings. He had been a healthy scratch in the past 24 games for Los Angeles. Richardson beat Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen with a 15-foot wrister over his right shoulder at 5:40 of the third for his first goal of the season and first tally since March 31, 2012, which came on the road against the Minnesota Wild. And just 1:09 later, Williams netted his seventh goal of the season, collecting his own rebound to make it 3-1. After Dustin Brown fed him the puck from the left side, Williams' initial shot was denied by Lehtonen. However, he got his own rebound and flipped it in to give the visitors a two-goal cushion. However, Dallas responded when Ray Whitney scored on the power play at 11:04 of the third to make it 3-2. Bernier appeared to be screened by Stars winger Eric Nystrom at the far post, which was where Whitney's long slapper from the left point landed. The Stars had gone on the power play at 9:18 when Dallas' Loui Eriksson drew a hooking penalty on the Kings' Mike Richards. After peppering Lehtonen with shots early on, Los Angeles forward Jeff Carter put his team ahead with a backhander from the edge of the left faceoff circle just 25 seconds in to give the visitors an early lead. Lehtonen was potentially screened on the play by the Kings' Dustin Penner, who returned to the ice after being a healthy scratch in Los Angeles' past three games. Lehtonen never saw Carter's somewhat soft backhand, which appeared to deflect off Stars rookie defenseman Brenden Dillon before fluttering into the left side of the net. The Dallas goaltender had denied efforts from Penner just nine seconds in and a slapper from Drew Doughty 14 seconds into the game prior to Carter's tally, his 20th of the season. Los Angeles went with Bernier in net for the first time since March 19 against the Phoenix Coyotes. Lehtonen made his 14th consecutive start in goal for Dallas. The Kings drew the first power play of the game when Whitney was whistled for hooking at 13:55 of the first and Jake Muzzin nearly converted for Los Angeles at 15:49, but Lehtonen stopped his slap shot with a spectacular glove save. Dallas got its first power play with 2:52 left before the opening intermission, when Kings defenseman Alec Martinez earned a minor after interfering with Stars forward Erik Cole. However, Dallas was unable to convert. After not logging a single shot in the second period, the Stars drew things level at 13:16 when Jamie Benn flipped a backhand shot past Bernier for his eighth goal of the season. Alex Goligoski spotted Benn streaking toward the Kings' blue line and hit him in stride with a pass from just inside the Stars' zone. Benn had a step on Los Angeles defenseman Slava Voynov and skated in for the equalizer. Lehtonen stopped 37 of the 40 shots he faced in a losing effort. Dallas also got a two-assist performance from Alex Goligoski, who now leads the Stars with 19 helpers on the season. Dallas pulled Lehtonen with about a minute remaining, but the Stars were unable to generate any additional shots with the extra attacker. The Stars fell to .500 at home (8-8-2). Dallas concludes a season-long five-game homestand on Monday against the Anaheim Ducks. The Stars are 2-2-0 thus far on the homestand. Los Angeles outshot Dallas 40-15 and are now 14-1-2 when scoring first. They're also 5-1-0 in the second of back-to-back games.

Washington v Philadelphia 4-5 - Jakub Voracek stuck up for his captain, putting the Philadelphia Flyers in a hole. His teammates bailed him out in a big way. Ruslan Fedotenko scored 94 seconds into overtime after Kimmo Timonen got the tying goal with 9.5 seconds left in regulation and the Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 5-4 on Sunday at Wells Fargo Center. Maxime Talbot, Matt Read and Claude Giroux also scored for the Flyers, who moved within two points of the idle New York Rangers and New York Islanders for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals are a point ahead of Philadelphia in a jumbled East. Desperate to get a point, the Flyers tied it at 4 when Timonen ripped a slap shot past Braden Holtby after several chances in front. Timonen lifted his arms in the air and pointed toward the sky in celebration. Timonen then set up Fedotenko with a perfect crossing pass in overtime to cap off a remarkable comeback and set off a wild celebration. Marcus Johansson and Alex Ovechkin scored power-play goals 26 seconds apart in the third period to give the Capitals a 4-2 lead. Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green also scored for the Capitals. The Flyers have won two in a row and are trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and second in 18 years. The Capitals took advantage of a four-minute power play in the third period after Voracek pounded Steve Olesky with a barrage of rights and left him with a bloody face. Voracek went after Olesky after his hard check on Giroux. He got two minutes for instigating and two minutes for fighting with a visor. Voracek hadn't fought all season and said he wasn't aware of the visor rule. A minute into the man-advantage, Johansson took advantage of a turnover and fired a shot from inside the left circle past Ilya Bryzgalov to give the Capitals a 3-2 lead. Then, Ovechkin ripped a slap shot from above the left faceoff circle past Bryzgalov for his eighth goal in eight games to make it 4-2. Giroux got the Flyers within one on a power-play goal with 7:12 left. The depleted Flyers lost Talbot to a lower-body injury late in the second. They're already missing center Danny Briere and defensemen Braydon Coburn, Nicklas Grossmann and Andrej Meszaros. Washington tied it at 2 late in the second period right after denying the Flyers on a power play. Green came out of the penalty box, took an outlet pass from Brooks Laich and beat Bryzgalov on the breakaway. The Flyers didn't register their first shot on Holtby until midway through the first. Seconds later, Talbot shot one between Holtby's legs to tie it at 1. Read took a long pass from Giroux, broke in alone on Holtby and ripped it past him to give Philadelphia a 2-1 lead late in the first. Shortly afterward, the Flyers had a goal negated because of a goaltender interference penalty on Wayne Simmonds. Giroux was called for a face-off violation before the puck dropped, giving the Capitals a 5-on-3 advantage for two minutes. But Bryzgalov made an outstanding left-to-right sliding save on Troy Brouwer's stuffer in front and Philadelphia killed it off. Backstrom deflected Jack Hillen's slap shot past Bryzgalov to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead 4:29 into the first. It was Hillen's first point since an assist on Jan. 1, 2012.

Boston v Buffalo 2-0 - It took the Boston Bruins over two-and-a-half periods Sunday to find the back of the net, but the line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton scored twice in the third period to provide all the offense necessary. Meanwhile, Anton Khudobin made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season and the second of his career. With 7:06 to play in regulation, Krejci broke a scoreless tie as the Bruins earned a 2-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center. Horton added the second goal 3:10 later to seal the victory and put the Bruins within one point of the Montreal Canadiens for first place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins' offense, which has now been held to three or less goals in seven of their past eight games, stuck to their game plan and didn't press, even though their chances weren't being converted. On the first goal, Horton took two shots on Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, and Krejci was able to knock home the second rebound from the top of the goal crease. Boston then quickly extended its lead to two goals as Horton knocked in a cross-ice feed from Krejci through Miller and Sabres defenseman Andrej Sekera at 15:44. Sekera, who was on the ice for both Bruins goals said he did not know Horton was standing next to him at the top of the crease. Khudobin kept the Bruins in the game early on and throughout the game to earn the shutout. He stoned Tyler Ennis midway through the first period, making a right pad save as Ennis tried to stickhandle around him alone. The Lucic-Krejci-Horton line recorded Boston's only goal in a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Lucic said that these two games are something they can build on moving forward. While Sabres interim coach Ron Rolston was generally happy with his team's performance, he understands that Buffalo has a long way to go in terms of being able to finish out games, especially against a team like Boston. Miller reached a milestone when the puck dropped for the opening faceoff as he tied Dominik Hasek's franchise record of 491 games played with the Sabres. Miller is 263-162-1-53 with 28 shutouts in his career. He made 29 saves in the loss. The Bruins entered the contest looking to end a 4-5-1 skid over their past 10 games. The Sabres are 3-1-2 in their past six home games, but are now 0-2-2 in their past four overall. Buffalo now trails the New York Rangers by three points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have two games in hand. Sitting in 13th place, however, the Sabres are also four points from being in dead last. The Sabres played without both forward Ville Leino and leading scorer Thomas Vanek. Leino did not partake in the pregame skate and the team announced after warmups that he is day-to-day with an upper-body muscle strain. Vanek missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury.