Gameday 75 (Wed, 03 Apr) - Results

Pittsburgh v NY Rangers 1-6 - On a day when news of Marian Gaborik's trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets made waves around the League, it was the players the Rangers received just before the trade deadline who made their mark. Ryane Clowe scored twice in his Rangers debut while Brian Boyle and fellow newcomer Derick Brassard each added a goal and three assists as New York beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1 on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Ryan McDonagh and New York's third newcomer, defenseman John Moore, also scored for the Rangers (16-15-3) and Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for the win, which moved the Rangers from ninth to seventh place in the East. The Rangers, Islanders and New Jersey Devils all have 39 points, but the Rangers have more non-shootout wins than the Devils and both teams have a game in hand on the Islanders. Pascal Dupuis had the lone goal for Pittsburgh (28-10-0), which got 33 saves from Marc-Andre Fleury. The win was New York's first at home against Pittsburgh since Nov. 29, 2011, and handed the Penguins a second consecutive loss after winning 15 straight games. The final buzzer brought to a close a hectic day for Clowe, who was acquired from the San Jose Sharks late Tuesday for three draft picks. But the arrival in New York was even more manic for Brassard and Moore, who were acquired just hours before the game along with Derek Dorsett and a sixth-round pick in exchange for Gaborik and defensemen Steve Delisle and Blake Parlett. While Clowe was able to join his new teammates for their morning skate, the other additions arrived in New York less than an hour before warmups and rushed into the dressing room as the team was preparing to take the ice. Despite the late arrival, Brassard made a quick impression. Midway through the opening period, with Chris Kunitz in the penalty box for slashing, Brassard made a nifty move at the right circle before passing back to Brad Richards, whose point shot deflected off Boyle and past a screened Fleury. Just 2:18 later, Richards found the puck in the corner before feeding a perfect pass to the oncoming McDonagh, who buried his third of the season. Clowe's assist on the play gave him his first point as a Ranger, which he followed up two minutes later with his first goal of the season. The gritty winger, who spent parts of the game playing in Gaborik's old spot alongside Richards and Mats Zuccarello, tucked a backhand past Fleury after Derek Stepan batted the puck away from Brooks Orpik. In a first period that saw the Penguins go without a shot for almost 11 minutes, Clowe appeared to find instant chemistry with Richards, who like his new linemate grew up in the Maritime region of Eastern Canada. Showing no signs of rust following his late arrival, Brassard got his first goal as a Ranger 1:53 into the second while the Penguins played shorthanded. With Evgeni Malkin in the box for tripping, Brassard found the rebound off Dan Girardi's point shot and lifted a backhander over Fleury. Dupuis got the Penguins on the board 34 seconds later, but Clowe would make it a night to remember midway through the period, taking a perfect backhand pass from Brassard before scoring his second goal of the game. It was the Rangers' third power-play goal of the night, exceeding their combined total from their previous 11 games. Like most of the Rangers' offense Wednesday night, the goal came courtesy of aggressive play around the Pittsburgh net. That particular style of play was pivotal to the New York attack and appeared to give the Penguins fits all night. Not to be outdone by his fellow newcomers, Moore scored his first of the season when his third-period point shot deflected off Matt Cooke's stick and past Fleury. Playing primarily alongside veteran Steve Eminger. Looking ahead to a rematch against the Penguins on Friday night at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Tortorella was particularly intrigued by Clowe. Not so much for what the gritty forward provided on the ice Wednesday night, but for what he could potentially bring to the locker room moving forward.

Montreal v Philadelphia 3-5 - The Philadelphia Flyers made late comebacks their specialty last season. Now it appears they've rediscovered that mindset. Wayne Simmonds and Erik Gustafsson scored 90 seconds apart late in the third period as the Flyers rallied for a 5-3 victory Wednesday against the visiting Montreal Canadiens. Simon Gagne and Jakub Voracek each had a goal and an assist, and Sean Couturier snapped a 27-game goal drought as the Flyers extended their win streak to a season-best three games. The victory moved the Flyers up to 11th in the Eastern Conference, four points behind the eighth-place New Jersey Devils. They play again Thursday at the Toronto Maple Leafs. David Desharnais and Alexei Emelin each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, and Brandon Prust had a goal. The loss snapped the Canadiens' three-game win streak. The Canadiens also lost center Tomas Plekanec to a groin injury. Coach Michel Therrien said Plekanec, who is tied for the team lead with 13 goals, is day-to-day. The Canadiens have a quick turnaround, as they’ll host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Montreal looked to be in control after getting goals 20 seconds apart late in the second period to take a 3-2 lead, but Simmonds and Gustafsson scored in quick order to lead the Philadelphia comeback. At 14:54, Bruno Gervais' shot from the right circle hit Simmonds' right skate in the slot and went past Canadiens goalie Carey Price. A minute-and-a-half later, Gustafsson took a pass from Claude Giroux, skated deep into the Montreal end, faked a shot and threw the puck in front, where it bounced off Canadiens defenseman Francis Bouillon into the net. Voracek closed the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final minute. The Canadiens looked to have made their own comeback when Prust and Desharnais scored seconds apart late in the second to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Jeff Halpern forced a turnover just outside the Philadelphia zone, with the puck rolling to rookie Alex Galchenyuk, who started a 3-on-2 rush down the left side of the Flyers' end. Galchenyuk centered the puck for Halpern, who slid it on his backhand to Prust, and his shot along the ice went under the glove of Ilya Bryzgalov at 16:29 to tie the game. Seconds later, Desharnais' odd goal gave Montreal a 3-2 lead. His shot from the right circle hit Schenn's stick and rose up as it headed toward Bryzgalov. The goalie ducked and the puck fluttered over his head and into the net at 16:49. But that was as good as it would get for the Canadiens, who despite scoring twice, had just four shots in the second period, and added just two in the third. Alexei Emelin gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 13:13 of the first period when his shot from the blue line went through a screen by Brendan Gallagher and past Bryzgalov. It was Emelin's third goal of the season, but first in 11 games. The Flyers tied the game early in the second on Couturier's first goal in more than two months. The second-year center, who had 13 goals last season, scored his third, this one in unorthodox fashion. He had the puck down low in the Montreal end and threw a hard-angle shot on net that hit Price's arm and then bounced off the left leg of Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban and into the net at 4:47. The goal snapped a 27-game drought for Couturier, dating to Jan. 27. Gagne gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead when he scored his third of the season at 15:43 of the second. Luke Schenn fired a shot from the right point that went wide of the Montreal goal, but banged hard off the end boards to Gagne, who was on the post on the far side and scored from in close before Price could react. Flyers rookie defenseman Oliver Lauridsen, in his third NHL game, picked up an assist on the goal for his first NHL point.

Edmonton v Calgary 8-2 - The Edmonton Oilers showed their provincial rival what a well-done rebuild can reap. Taylor Hall, the first player taken in the 2010 NHL Draft, had a goal and four assists while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the No. 1 pick in 2011, scored once and set up three more goals as the Oilers trounced the Calgary Flames 8-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday. The line of Nugent-Hopkins, Hall and fellow first-round pick Jordan Eberle combined for 11 points against the Flames to help lift Edmonton (16-13-7) to its fifth straight win and into the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference. The Oilers, who scored eight unanswered goals after spotting the Flames a 2-0 lead, improved to 39 points, one more than St. Louis, though the Blues have two games in hand. The eight goals were the most scored by the Oilers in Calgary since a 10-1 win on Nov. 26, 1996. Calgary (13-18-4) was selling on Wednesday's trade deadline, dealing Blake Comeau after parting with Jarome Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester in the past week as they start what general manager Jay Feaster called a retooling. In a season gone awry, being blown out at home by their biggest rival might be the low point. Edmonton's most recent No. 1 pick broke a 2-2 tie early in the middle period. Nail Yakupov, the first player taken in the 2012 NHL Draft, put the Oilers ahead to stay by one-timing Sam Gagner's pass from the hash marks behind Flames starter Joey MacDonald for a power-play goal at 3:34 to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead. With Cory Sarich in the box for cross-checking, Hall put Edmonton up by two. Nugent-Hopkins' centering feed hit the skate of Mark Giordano and bounced onto the stick of Hall, who buried the puck behind MacDonald at 7:39. Nugent-Hopkins then completed the barrage by players taken No. 1 in the draft, slapping a Hall rebound into the back of the net for Edmonton's third power-play goal of the period at 9:51 to extend their lead to three. Eberle, who sometimes gets overshadowed by the Oilers' trio of top picks, added to the rout with a pair of goals in the third period. Nugent-Hopkins' wrist shot from the point was blocked by Hall in the slot, but the puck squirted onto the stick of Eberle, who slid it by a down-and-out MacDonald to make it 6-2 at 9:56. It became 7-2 after a nifty give-and-go on a 2-on-2 between Hall and Eberle left the 22nd player taken in the 2008 NHL Draft with another tap-in at 17:06. The final goal went to Yakupov, who scored his second of the game after taking a Ryan Smyth feed off the draw and burying it behind MacDonald with 1:03 remaining in the game. It's hard to believe looking at the final score, but the Flames led by two goals less than six minutes into the game, as Stajan scored on Calgary's first two shots. Dennis Wideman worked the puck down low and centered to Curtis Glencross in the slot, but the puck was redirected onto the stick of Stajan, who beat Oilers' goaltender Devan Dubnyk over the glove just 2:35 into the game. On his next shift, Stajan fed Glencross, who slid a backhand behind Dubnyk but off the post. Stajan fired the carom into a virtually empty net to give the Flames a 2-0 lead at 5:18. Between the two goals, Steve Begin and Mike Brown dropped the gloves in the Battle of Alberta's first bout in 12 games dating back to Oct. 26, 2010. Unlike the Flames in their 4-2 loss at Edmonton on Monday, a game that saw the Oilers score three quick goals and coast to victory, the visitors quickly chipped away at the lead. After Lennart Petrell sent a shot over the top of the net, Gagner deflected a Jeff Petry shot from the point into the net to cut the lead to one by the midway mark of the period. Ryan Whitney tied it at 12:59, finishing a nifty passing play with Hall and Nugent-Hopkins.

Dallas v Anaheim 2-5 - Hours after the Anaheim Ducks acquired a key forward for the stretch run, they reminded everyone of what they already had. Captain Ryan Getzlaf shined with a goal and two assists and Viktor Fasth continued to thrive against the Dallas Stars in a 5-2 victory Wednesday that showed two teams on distinctly different paths post-trade deadline. Getzlaf shook off what appeared to be a lower-body injury in the third period and came back to score a highlight-backhand goal, the 150th of his career, off a terrific pass from Corey Perry. Fasth, who shutout Dallas on Monday, stopped 23 shots as Anaheim took the first two games of three straight against the Stars. Anaheim is 3-0-1 since a season-high four-game losing streak and crept to two points behind the Chicago Blackhawks for the top seed in the Western Conference. When the teams meet Friday, Anaheim will have filled their second-line center spot with Matthew Lombardi, who was acquired earlier in the day for Brandon McMillan. Getzlaf highlighted the first two goals. He threaded a pass to Radek Dvorak on a delayed penalty that Dvorak one-time tapped home for his first goal as a Duck at 11:44 of the first. Getzlaf fed Teemu Selanne for a snap shot from the right side at 11:33 of the second. Selanne's 673rd career goal came after Cam Fowler kept the puck in Anaheim's zone. Dvorak has nearly 1,200 NHL games on his resume and spent last season with the Stars. He's now getting a taste of Anaheim and his new captain after signing with the club last week. Kyle Palmieri made it 3-0 late in the second when he took a pass from Peter Holland and embarrassed Aaron Rome with a drive along the goal line to stuff it in for his eighth goal. The Stars played their first game since they traded leading scorer Jaromir Jagr (Boston Bruins) and Derek Roy (Vancouver Canucks) for three prospects and two draft picks. They played two players with three games of NHL experience and another, Alex Chiasson, who made his NHL debut. It won't get any easier for Dallas, which has allowed 21 goals during a 1-4 slide. Coach Glen Gulutzan tried Loui Eriksson at center while Jamie Benn, who thrived with Jagr, played with Erik Cole and Eric Nystrom. Cole scored in the third period when he fended off Holland and put Vernon Fiddler's feed past Fasth, who saw his shutout streak against Dallas end at 1:02:48. He has stopped 49 of 51 shots against Dallas. Lane MacDermid, who arrived in the trade for Jagr, scored late in the third for his first NHL goal. Matt Beleskey was high-sticked by Chiasson in the third period and received stitches under his eye. Anaheim's Saku Koivu recorded his 800th career point.

Minnesota v San Jose 2-4 - No one has to tell the surging San Jose Sharks where they stand in the Western Conference playoff race. The Sharks won their sixth straight game, remained perfect on their current homestand and moved into fifth place with 44 points, one more than the Los Angeles Kings. Martin Havlat, Dan Boyle, Thornton and TJ Galiardi each scored a goal as the Sharks continued the NHL's longest current winning streak. They are one shy of their season-best seven-game streak, which came at the start of the season. The Sharks are 5-0-0 on their seven-game homestand with games remaining against the Calgary Flames on Friday and the Dallas Stars on Sunday. Charlie Coyle and Dany Heatley scored for the Wild. Goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who stopped all 23 shots in a 2-0 shutout of San Jose on March 23, allowed four goals on 33 shots this time around. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi made 31 saves to earn his sixth straight win. The game turned chippy at times and ended with Heatley, a former Shark, and San Jose defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic trading punches and winding up on the ice. Heatley skated off, bent over and holding his left wrist, in obvious pain. Wild coach Mike Yeo offered no update on his injury but, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, indicated that he'll be out for a while. Minnesota, coming off a 4-1 loss home loss against the St. Louis Blues on Monday, lost two straight games for the first time since Feb. 14. The Wild have lost three of their past four games after a seven-game winning streak. With 44 points, they're deadlocked with the Vancouver Canucks in the Northwest Division. The Sharks took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Havlat, a former member of the Wild, and Boyle. They entered the third period with a 3-2 edge after a wacky second. Coyle and Heatley scored goals 25 seconds apart as the Wild drew even with 10:55 left in the second. Coyle, a first-round pick by the Sharks in 2010, scored on a 2-on-2 rush, threading a pass ahead to Parise and banging the rebound into a wide-open net from close range after Parise's shot bounced off of Niemi. Heatley then made the Sharks pay for a turnover in their zone, ripping a slap shot from above the left circle that beat Niemi to the far side. The Sharks went ahead to stay with 5:18 left in the second, when Thornton banked the puck off Minnesota defenseman Clayton Stoner's skate and into the net after a turnover by Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon. Galiardi got some rare time on the power play and scored with the man advantage 6:55 into the third period to give the Sharks some breathing room. Brent Burns, another former member of the Wild, ripped a shot from near the blue line into a mass of bodies in front of the net; Galiardi knocked in the loose puck, with Havlat and Scott Gomez getting assists. Havlat put the Sharks ahead 1-0 just 1:34 into the game, taking a pass from Thornton and beating Backstrom with a laser from the left circle. Burns ignited the early offense. He won a battle for the puck with Heatley along the left boards, made a rush toward the net then dropped a pass to Thornton, who hit a wide-open Havlat. Boyle made it 2-0, going coast-to-coast to score an unassisted, 5-on-3 power-play goal fit for the Sharks' season-highlight film. Boyle headed straight up the middle, built up speed, then sidestepped Suter inside the blue line. At that point, there was nothing but open ice between Boyle and Backstrom. He faked right, went left and beat the Wild goaltender with a backhand to the stick side. San Jose went on the power play when Kyle Brodziak was sent to the penalty box for hooking at 3:55. Just over a minute later, Stoner joined him in the box after sending the puck over the glass and drawing a delay of game penalty. Seventeen seconds later, Boyle scored. The Sharks dominated the first period and had a chance to build a much bigger lead than just two goals. Sharks forward Patrick Marleau ripped a shot from the right circle that pin-balled off Backstrom's glove, the right post and the crossbar before bounding away from the crease. Galiardi had a breakaway after intercepting a poor cross-ice pass from Stoner deep in the Wild's zone, but Backstrom made a poke save. With less than three minutes left, Burns took a pass from Thornton and got the puck past Backstrom, but Suter swiped it out of the blue paint before it could trickle over the goal line. The Wild had only 11 forwards available Wednesday night after their blockbuster trade that sent Johan Larsson to the Buffalo Sabres as part of a package for Jason Pominville, who didn't have enough time to get to San Jose for the game. Center Matt Cullen also missed the game with a lower-body injury, so defenseman Nate Prosser filled in as the right wing on the fourth line, ex-Shark Torrey Mitchell's normal spot. The Sharks made a pair of deadline deals Wednesday, acquiring forward Raffi Torres from the Phoenix Coyotes and defenseman Scott Hannan from the Nashville Predators, neither one was available to play against Minnesota. They also signed rookie defenseman Matt Irwin to a two-year contract extension through the 2014-15 season and activated Tim Kennedy (upper body) from injured reserve, though he didn't dress. The Wild recalled goaltender Darcy Kuemper from Houston of the American Hockey League to back up Backstrom after sending goaltender Matt Hackett to Buffalo in the Pominville deal.