Gameday 84 (Fri, 12 Apr) - Results

Ottawa v New Jersey 2-0 - Don't look now, but Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson is heating up again. He notched his first victory in almost two months Friday with a workmanlike 33-save performance to lead Ottawa to a 2-0 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center. The Senators got second-period goals from rookie Jean-Gabriel Pageau and veteran Milan Michalek. Anderson, who entered with the highest save percentage and lowest goals-against average in the NHL, recorded his first shutout in nine career appearances against the Devils. The 31-year-old missed 18 games with an ankle injury before losing back-to-back against the Florida Panthers on April 7 and Tampa Bay Lightning two days later. The fact his shutout came opposite Devils goalie Martin Brodeur made the triumph that much more special. The victory gives the Senators a two-point lead over the New York Islanders for sixth place in the Eastern Conference with seven games remaining. After a visit to TD Garden to face the Boston Bruins on Monday, Ottawa will play five of its last six regular-season games at Scotiabank Place. The Devils lost for the ninth straight time, the same number of games the team has been without injured right wing Ilya Kovalchuk (shoulder). New Jersey, which will visit Air Canada Centre to play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, could equal the team record of 10 straight losses set Oct. 14 to Nov. 4, 1983. With seven games remaining, the defending Eastern Conference champion Devils are in 10th place with 15 wins and 40 points. DeBoer pulled Brodeur with 2:12 left in the third period, but Ottawa bottled up the middle of the ice to secure Anderson's third shutout of the season. New Jersey finished with a 33-11 advantage in shots, but went 0-for-4 on the power play and has been held without a goal in its past 15 chances with the man advantage, including three 5-on-3 opportunities. The Devils have outshot their opponent in 20 of the past 22 games. The 11 shots given up Friday, including two in the third period, were the fewest allowed this season. But New Jersey fell to 3-15-6 when giving up the first goal of game. It was Anderson's first win since a 38-save, 3-1 victory against the Islanders on Feb. 19. Anderson, the game's first star, improved to 6-2-1 against New Jersey. The Senators opened a 2-0 lead early in the second on the goals by Pageau and Michalek in a span of 3:44. Pageau, who was called up from the team's American Hockey League affiliate in Binghamton on Wednesday, scored his first NHL goal on a perfectly timed tip in front of Brodeur at the 3:08 mark. Colin Greening took a feed from Erik Condra in the right circle and drove a high backhand attempt Pageau deflected with his stick from waist high. Michalek, who had missed the previous 15 games with a knee injury, made it 2-0 when he broke in 2-on-0 with Alfredsson and started a give-and-go before depositing his third of the season past a sliding Brodeur from the left circle at 6:52. Devils defensemen Henrik Tallinder and Marek Zidlicky bumped into one another at the Senators blue line following an offensive-zone faceoff win by Travis Zajac. Anderson would keep his team ahead by two when he denied Ryan Carter off a 2-on-1 with Stephen Gionta on a quick right-pad save with less than 10 minutes remaining in the second period. The Devils missed a golden opportunity to grab the lead in the first but failed on three power-play opportunities, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:24. New Jersey misfired on another power-play attempt at 13:20.

St Louis v Columbus 1-4 - A desperate Columbus Blue Jackets team trying to stay in the playoff hunt was able to cool off the red-hot St. Louis Blues. It's playoff hockey for a franchise reconnecting with its fan base. Cam Atkinson had a goal and an assist, and the Blue Jackets made it 11 wins in their past 15 home games [11-1-3] as they pulled within two points of the Detroit Red Wings for the eighth spot in the Western Conference by beating the Blues 4-1 on Friday night at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets (18-16-7) also got goals from Artem Anisimov, Ryan Johansen and Marian Gaborik, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 31 shots. Columbus now has 43 points, two behind the Red Wings, who lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blue Jackets embark on a six-game trip beginning against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday before ending the season here on the final day of the regular season. The Blues (23-15-2), who had a chance to jump into fourth place in the Western Conference with a win, saw their season-high six-game winning streak snapped. Kevin Shattenkirk scored St. Louis' lone goal and rookie Jake Allen, giving red-hot Brian Elliott a breather after three consecutive shutouts, stopped 15 shots. The Blues had allowed only five goals in their six-game winning streak and had won 10 of the past 12 against the Blue Jackets, including 3-1 at Scottrade Center a week ago. But St. Louis, despite its winning streak, had scored only five goals in its past four games. The Blues, who beat the Wild 2-0 in St. Paul on Thursday night, had good jump early and got the scoring started 1:26 into the game when Shattenkirk's seeing-eye shot from the blue line and found its way past a screened Bobrovsky. Vladimir Tarasenko was in the slot obstructing the view of the Columbus goalie and may have prevented him from seeing the puck, which caromed off the far post and into the net. Bobrovsky made some key stops in the early going to keep it 1-0 before the Blue Jackets got the equalizer when a failed clearing attempt came to defenseman Adrian Aucoin at the right point. Aucoin's shot was double-deflected past Allen by Atkinson with 5:28 left in the opening period. The Blues were able to establish a franchise record for consecutive shutout minutes at 215:56. The previous record was 201:32 set from March 21-29, 2012. The Blues also needed 6:47 into the game to break the all-time road shutout mark of 196:15 set Dec. 14-Jan. 3, 1968-69. Atkinson's goal ended that mark at 204:01. The Blue Jackets took control of the game in the middle period, with Anisimov and Johansen scoring in a 4:26 span late in the period. Anisimov knocked Brandon Dubinsky's backhand centering feed past Allen with 5:40 left in the period. It marked the first time the Blues trailed in a game since Chicago's Brandon Saad gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead in the second period of a game April 4. Johansen banged a deflected puck into an empty right side of the net with 84 seconds left in the period after James Wisniewski, playing in his 400th career game, fired a shot from the left point that was tipped by Nick Foligno. Gaborik netted his third goal and sixth point in five games since the Blue Jackets acquired him from the New York Rangers on April 3 when he redirected a Mark Letestu feed in the low slot over a sprawled Allen 1:21 into the third period to give Columbus a three-goal lead. It marked the third goal of the game that the Blue Jackets scored from around the net, and Hitchcock said was the difference in the game.

Dallas v Nashville 5-2 - It might have seemed like the Dallas Stars were giving up on the season when they made a series of trades before the NHL's April 3 trading deadline. Captain Brenden Morrow went to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 24. On April 2, Jaromir Jagr went to the Boston Bruins and Derek Roy went to the Vancouver Canucks. By jettisoning one of the League's all-time great scorers in Jagr, the Stars were forced created an opening for their newest offensive weapon: rookie Alex Chiasson. The former Boston University star scored twice on Friday, giving him five goals in his first five NHL games, helping the Stars to a 5-2 victory against Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena, and furthering the Stars' improbable chase to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the win, the Stars moved within two points of the eighth-place Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference. The Red Wings lost a shootout 3-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. The Stars, who have eight games remaining, hold a game in hand on the Red Wings as well as on the Phoenix Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets, who are even with Dallas at 43 points. Backup goalie Richard Bachman made 26 saves for the Stars, who won despite being outshot 28-18. With No. 1 goalie Kari Lehtonen out with a groin injury, Bachman has risen to the occasion, he has allowed two goals in 105:42 over the last two games since Lehtonen went down in the first period of Tuesday night's game against the Los Angeles Kings. Friday marked Bachman's first start since Feb. 26. With Lehtonen still nursing his injury, Bachman might have to start again on Saturday in Dallas against the San Jose Sharks. Meanwhile, Nashville's late-season collapse continued. The Predators have scored six goals in five games since the trading deadline and lost for the eighth time in nine games (1-6-2). Nashville coach Barry Trotz elected to rest No. 1 goalie Pekka Rinne, who leads the League with 39 games played. In his place, Chris Mason started for only the fourth time this season. Dallas struck first, 6:04 into the game. Low-scoring forward Vernon Fiddler continued his hot streak by a digging a puck out of the boards behind the net and setting up a wide-open Erik Cole in the high slot. Cole ripped a slap shot through a slew of bodies that beat Chris Mason high to the glove side. Fiddler's two assists gave him five points in two games; before that, he had 176 points in 10 NHL seasons. Dallas expanded its lead to 2-0 at 8:40 by taking advantage of a tripping call to Nashville's Craig Smith. Whitney, stationed at the left circle, one-timed a cross-ice pass from Alex Goligoski and beat Mason high to the blocker side. The goal was the 40-year-old's 10th in 24 games. Nashville pulled within 2-1 with 1:18 left in the first period on Taylor Beck's power-play goal. Patric Hornqvist kicked a puck down low through the goalmouth and defenseman Roman Josi touched it glancingly as it arrived on Beck's stick and the rookie wristed it into the net for his third goal in 13 games. The goal ended Bachman's shutout streak at 64:24. Dallas' Tom Wandell earned his first goal in more than a calendar year as both he and Ryan Garbutt skated past the Nashville defense. Garbutt did it took a stretch pass at the blue line from Antoine Roussel and streaked down the right wing. He flipped a pass to Wandell, who easily converted it at 2:28 of the second period to make it 3-1. Chiasson made it 4-1 at 11:12, again getting past a Nashville defender and tapping a pass from Whitney through Mason's pads. He scored an unassisted goal at 7:03 of the third period on a wrist shot from the right wing to finish off a 3-on-2 rush. Bobby Butler made it 5-2 with a rising wrist shot off the rush with 7:48 left in regulation. With 3:29 left in regulation, Nashville's Sergei Kostitsyn received a major for boarding for a hit on Matt Fraser. The play punctuated yet another frustrating night for the Predators. In contrast to Nashville, Dallas is riding a completely different wave. In what could shape up as a huge game, the Stars will host Detroit in the regular-season finale for both teams on April 27.

Detroit v Chicago 2-3 - It wasn't too long ago the Chicago Blackhawks found themselves just a step behind the rival Detroit Red Wings in their quest for sustained excellence. Now, it's safe to say the scenario has flipped, and not just because of Friday night's latest gut punch delivered by the Blackhawks to their longtime rival. Chicago (31-5-4) completed a sweep of the four-game season series against the Red Wings with a 3-2 come-from-behind shootout win at United Center, the first Chicago series sweep since 1976-77, and also clinched the Central Division title in the process. The Hawks are 8-0-2 against Detroit during the past two seasons, with all but a 7-1 Chicago rout on March 31 at Joe Louis Arena being decided by one goal. Six of the games went to overtime or a shootout. Having to fight for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is an oddity for the Red Wings (19-15-7), who are usually a given for the postseason after qualifying for 21 consecutive seasons. Yet again, another late goal by the Blackhawks sent it to overtime, this time scored by Chicago captain Jonathan Toews to knot it 2-2 with 2:57 left in regulation. After neither team scored in OT despite some great chances, it came down to the second shootout of the season between these teams. Chicago won the first on March 3 in Detroit, after Patrick Kane tied it late in regulation and then scored the winner in the tiebreaker. This time it was Hawks rookie Brandon Saad who decided the game's second point with a pretty backhand over Jimmy Howard's shoulder in the fifth round. Chicago is battling motivation for the remaining eight games of the regular season after clinching a playoff spot on Sunday and now the division title, doing so in the last regular-season game against Detroit as a division rival. The Red Wings are headed to the Eastern Conference next season as part of the National Hockey League's realignment plan and it might be a good thing for them just to lessen their games against the Hawks. Johan Franzen and Cory Emmerton scored regulation goals for Detroit, while Howard made 26 saves through 65 minutes. Viktor Stalberg scored Chicago's other regulation goal, while Corey Crawford made 27 saves in regulation and overtime, then ended the game by denying Franzen after Saad's goal. It was a tight game the whole way, once again, but mainly because of Howard in the first 10 minutes of the game. Just as they did in that 7-1 shellacking of the Red Wings in Detroit, the Blackhawks came out flying. The only difference is that Howard was up for the challenge, making eight saves in the game's first 5:35, including shots by Stalberg, Kane, Andrew Shaw and Michael Frolik within a 38-second span. After Henrik Zetterberg recorded the game's first shot on goal 25 seconds after the opening faceoff, the Red Wings didn't get another until Franzen forced Crawford to make a save at 4:59, which made the shot count at that point 8-2 in the Hawks' favor. Thanks to a pair of power plays, Detroit tilted the shots count and scoring chances in its favor over the last half of the period, but the game remained scoreless at intermission. Stalberg opened the scoring with his eighth goal of the season 6:11 into the second by scooping a rebound of Duncan Keith's shot behind the net and wrapping the puck around and over the goal line before Howard could react. It took nearly 10 minutes for the Red Wings to respond with the goals by Franzen and Emmerton, who gave the Wings the lead at 17:39 when he chipped his own rebound over Crawford's shoulder for his fourth goal of the season. That set up a frenetic, fast-paced third period in which both goaltenders came up big. Toews, however, found a way to beat Howard and set up the shootout. Detroit went ahead on Zetterberg's goal in the second round, but former Red Wings star forward Marian Hossa extended it with a goal to lead off the third round. It's been that kind of season series for the Red Wings.

Phoenix v Calgary 2-3 - The Phoenix Coyotes came to Scotiabank Saddledome desperate for two points. The Calgary Flames let them leave with only one. A late goal by Keith Yandle forced overtime, but Mark Giordano's goal with 23.1 seconds remaining in the extra period lifted the Flames to a 3-2 victory and cost the Coyotes a much-needed point. For Phoenix, scrambling for a playoff berth, one point was better than going home empty-handed. They had several chances to get the second point in OT before Giordano drifted into the high slot and snapped a quick shot through a screen that beat goaltender Mike Smith to the blocker side and rang off the post before settling across the goal line. After Phoenix mustered just five shots through the first 14 minutes of the third period, Yandle's one-timer from just below the faceoff dot with 5:04 remaining in the third period tied the game 2-2, potentially saving Phoenix's season by forcing extra time and earning them a point. Calgary goaltender Joey MacDonald weathered the storm after Yandle's goal, making five more saves in regulation and another three in overtime to set the stage for Giordano's fourth of the season. The single point gave the Coyotes 43, the same as the Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets, and two fewer than the Detroit Red Wings, who hold eighth place in the Western Conference. Dallas has eight games remaining; the Red Wings, Coyotes and Blue Jackets have seven. The Coyotes came out playing like a desperate team and wasted little time taking the lead. Just 1:29 into the game, Chris Conner fed Antoine Vermette on the edge of the crease. MacDonald made the initial save, but Vermette grabbed his own rebound and lifted a backhand over the glove of the Flames goaltender and into the back of the net to give Phoenix the lead. David Schlemko almost extended that lead to two with 7:11 remaining in the period when he fired a blast from just inside the faceoff circle that was met by a flashy glove save from MacDonald. That save sparked Jiri Hudler. After having one chance denied by Smith, Hudler parked himself in front of the Phoenix net on the same shift and had Mikael Backlund's centering feed bounce off his skate and behind Smith with 55.2 seconds remaining to get the Flames even. Lee Stempniak broke the tie late in the second period on another second effort from the Flames. He got behind the Coyotes' defense and in alone on Smith, who made a pad save off. The rebound worked its way back to TJ Brodie at the point, whose shot squeezed through Smith and sat just shy of the goal line until Stempniak poked it across, snapping his 11-game drought and giving Calgary a 2-1 lead with 1:08 remaining. Mikkel Boedker was a post away from drawing Phoenix even just 45 seconds later, ringing a late period shot off the iron before watching the rebound slowly slide past the far post. It was Phoenix's best scoring opportunity until Yandle's game-tying goal late in the third gave Phoenix a point.