Results - Fri, Mar 14, 2014

Vancouver @ Washington 3-4 - Evgeny Kuznetsov has played three NHL games, and his Crapitals teammates have noticed a marked improvement in the forward's overall play as he acclimates himself to the League. Against the Canucks on Friday, Kuznetsov flashed the potential that made his debut so anticipated. The 21-year-old, 2010 first-round draft pick, who signed with the Capitals last Saturday, had three assists for his first NHL points in a 4-3 win at Verizon Center. Washington squandered a two-goal, third-period lead but won for the second time in its past seven games (2-4-1). Kunzetsov, who played this season in the Kontinental Hockey League, had an assist on Green's tie-breaking goal with 9:41 remaining. Joel Ward gave the Capitals their first 1-0 lead since March 2 at 8:17. As Washington's third line charged up ice, Jason Chimera sent a centering pass to Eric Fehr in the slot. Fehr's wrist shot went wide but caromed off the end boards right back to him. He chipped the puck toward Ward, who stuffed it past goalie Eddie Lack for his 19th of the season. Washington killed off its first penalty of the game shortly after Ward's goal, but 35 seconds after Vancouver returned to even strength, Jordan Schroeder tied the game. As Alex Ovechkin and Jay Beagle pursued a loose puck, they collided, freeing space in the middle of the ice. Sensing the opening, Schroeder rolled into the slot, received a backhand pass from forward Zack Kassian, and snapped his third goal of the season over Jaroslav Halak's catching glove at 11:41. Ovechkin restored the Capitals' lead at 8:28 of the second period, ripping a one-timer past Lack on the power play from his customary position inside the left circle. It was Ovechkin's 45th goal of the season and 19th on the power play; each lead the NHL. It snapped a four-game pointless drought, tied for his longest of the season. Kuznetsov, who had the secondary assist on Ovechkin's goal, picked up his second assist at 12:35, threading an impressive cross-ice slap pass to a hard-charging Tom Wilson, who roofed it for his third goal of the season. Kuznetsov is the first rookie to have at least three assists in one of his first three NHL games since Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar on Oct. 7, 2006, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Trailing 3-1 early in the third period, Vancouver's Shawn Matthias scored at 4:28, his first goal with the Canucks after being acquired from the Florida Panthers last week. Matthias trailed his teammates into the zone and found plenty of open ice following a cross-ice pass from Chris Higgins to beat Halak. Nicklas Jensen scored his first NHL goal 3:06 later to tie the game. The Capitals failed to clear the zone and the Canucks worked the puck until Higgins found Jensen wide open in the high slot. It was the 12th time this season the Capitals blew a two-goal lead.
Edmonton @ Detroit 1-2 SO - Tomas Tatar scored the only goal in the shootout to lift the Red Wings to a 2-1 win against the Oilers at Joe Louis Arena on Friday night. Jimmy Howard denied all three Edmonton shooters in the tiebreaker, forcing Taylor Hall to fire high on the final attempt to end the game. Riley Sheahan scored in regulation for the Red Wings, who won for the second time in their past six games (2-3-1). The Oilers (23-36-9) have lost three of four. Edmonton's penalty-killers did everything they could to win the game, killing off delay-of-game penalties late in the third period and again in overtime. Ryan Smyth tied the game at 1-1 at 8:43 of the third period when he fired a wrist shot over Howard's glove following a defensive-zone turnover by Brendan Smith. The goal was Smyth's 10th this season and the 15th of his career against Detroit. Sheahan opened the scoring when he snapped home his fifth goal at 13:53 of the first period off a nifty passout from Tatar. The rookie center beat Oilers goalie Viktor Fasth over his glove from just below the right circle for his fifth goal. Sheahan has 15 points in 26 games with Detroit. The goal was his first in six games; he had not scored since Feb. 27 against the Ottawa Senators. Howard, who sat out the game Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets with the flu, made 21 saves in regulation and overtime to win his first game in March and snap a personal three-game losing streak. Oilers center Boyd Gordon was called for delay of game for firing the puck over the glass at 17:06 of the third, but Fasth stopped rookie Teemu Pulkkinen on the Red Wings' only shot. Defenseman Martin Marincin was called for the same penalty at 1:21 of overtime, and Fasth made a great save on a slap shot by Daniel Alfredsson 1:10 into the penalty to get the game to the shootout. The Oilers came to Detroit after a 6-2 road loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, while the Red Wings rested. Still, Edmonton looked like the fresher team in the third period. Pulkkinen made his NHL debut for the Red Wings. He was called up from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League to take injured Tomas Jurco's place in the lineup. The Red Wings (30-23-13) visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. The Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers each have 73 points, but the Flyers hold the second of two Eastern Conference wild-card spots for the Stanley Cup Playoffs entering Saturday by virtue of having played one fewer game. The Flyers begin a home-and-home series against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
New Jersey @ Florida 3-5 - Roberto Luongo didn't take great pleasure in getting the better of Cory Schneider for the third time this season. Luongo beat his former Vancouver Canucks goaltending partner twice in October, when Luongo still was a member of the Canucks and they beat the New Jersey Devils. On Friday, he beat Schneider as a member of the Florida Panthers; the 5-3 loss dealt Schneider and his teammates a blow in their push for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Luongo finished with 28 saves and evened his record at 2-2-0 since rejoining the Panthers the day before the NHL Trading Deadline. Schneider gave up four goals on 21 shots as his post-Olympic break slump continued. Schneider, who the Devils acquired in a trade last June for the ninth pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, has given up 15 goals in his past three outings after posting a 1.85 goals-against average with a .926 save percentage in 31 appearances before the break. Schneider wasn't happy with his performance, particularly on the game-winning goal by Scottie Upshall at 10:00 of the third period on a shot that went between the goalie's legs. The Devils (29-25-13) were unable to hold a 3-1 lead and remained two points behind the Philadelphia Flyers, who own the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot in the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The loss also prevented Devils coach Pete DeBoer, who spent three seasons behind the Panthers bench, from recording his 200th career victory. Brad Boyes keyed Florida's comeback by tying the game with a breakaway goal and setting up Upshall's game-winner. Brian Campbell and Quinton Howden also scored for Florida (25-35-7), which won for the third time in 11 games. Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists. Vincent Trocheck scored an empty-net goal with 32.5 seconds left for his first NHL goal. Defenseman Bryce Salvador scored his first goal in more than four years for New Jersey, and Patrik Elias had a goal and an assist. Salvador's goal was his first since he beat Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers on March 10, 2010, and broke a goal-less streak of 172 regular-season games. Jaromir Jagr added to his team-leading point total with his 22nd goal, and Damien Brunner had two assists. The injury-riddled Panthers played without six regulars: Sean Bergenheim, Aleksander Barkov, Tomas Kopecky, Erik Gudbranson, Jesse Winchester. In addition, captain Ed Jovanovski was given the night off because Florida was playing on consecutive nights after losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. Florida's lineup featured nine players 23 years old or younger. New Jersey led 3-2 in the third period before Boyes tied it at 4:22, beating Schneider with a quick shot through the five-hole after intercepting Mark Fayne's crossing pass in the high slot. Boyes scoring on a breakaway shouldn't be considering surprising given that he's the NHL's all-time leader in shootout goals. Upshall put Florida ahead after Boyes got him the puck near the boards while falling to the ice. Upshall skated in and beat Schneider with a shot between the legs. Florida trailed 3-1 and was being outshot 11-0 in the second period before Howden scored with 5:30 left to begin the Panthers' comeback. Schneider made a pad save on Scott Gomez's shot on a 2-on-1, but the puck went right back to Gomez, who fed it to the front of the net for the redirect. It was the second goal in two games for Howden, a first-round pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, who made his season debut Thursday against Tampa Bay. Howden failed to record a point in 18 games last season. Salvador got a fortunate bounce when he broke a 1-1 tie at 2:02 of the second period. After taking a centering pass from Elias, Salvador fired a wrist shot from the slot and Luongo made a pad save. But the puck bounced off Florida defenseman Dylan Olsen and went back past Luongo. Elias made it 3-1 at 13:13 with a wrist shot from the left circle that went through the legs of teammate Dainius Zubrus and beat Luongo to the short side. After Campbell opened the scoring at 9:59 of the first period on a rebound from the crease, Jagr tied the game 1-1 with a power-play goal at 18:45. The goal came with Thomas Fleischmann, playing in his 500th NHL game, in the box for hooking. Jagr scored his team-high 22nd of the season by redirecting Brunner's shot from just below the right dot past Luongo. Jagr had a breakaway in the first minute of the third period but shot wide after attempting a deke to the forehand. The Devils won't have much time to think about the loss because they face Tampa Bay on Saturday.
NY Rangers @ Winnipeg 4-2 - Carl Hagelin's first career hat trick helped power the New York Rangers past the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 at MTS Centre on Friday. Hagelin scored the game-winning goal late in the second period and added a third-period insurance goal to help the Rangers break a two-game losing streak and finish their three-game road trip on a winning note. Hagelin, playing on the left side with with center Brad Richards and right wing Benoit Pouliot, helped the Rangers overcome two Jets goals 53 seconds apart in the first period. He erased a one-goal deficit and put the visitors on top with his second goal of the game with 7.8 seconds left in the second period. The win moved the Rangers (36-28-4) into second place in the Metropolitan Division, two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The loss pushed the Jets' (30-29-9) losing streak to six games (0-3-3). They are six points behind the Dallas Stars for the Western Conference's second wild-card spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Henrik Lundqvist allowed two goals on the first five shots he faced, then held the Jets scoreless the rest of the way. He finished with 30 saves to tie Mike Richter for the franchise record with 301 victories. Along with Hagelin's three goals, the Rangers got a first-period goal from Chris Kreider and two assists from defenseman Kevin Klein. Dustin Byfuglien and Andrew Ladd scored for the Jets. Ondrej Pavelec made his seventh start in the past eight games, but departed the game with an undisclosed injury after the first period having allowed two goals on eight shots. Al Montoya took over for the Jets and stopped 13 shots in relief. Pavelec will be evaluated further on Saturday. Martin St. Louis, whom the Rangers acquired in a trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 5, helped set up the winning goal. St. Louis beat defenseman Jacob Trouba to a puck dumped behind the Winnipeg net and backhanded a pass into the slot, where Hagelin lifted his second goal of the game over Montoya. Hagelin has has 16 goals this season but had scored just once in his past 13 games and twice in 22 games before his outburst against the Jets. The 25-year-old left wing has three multigoal games this season.

With the Jets on the power play late in the third period, Hagelin also made a key block on Trouba's point-blank shot. Hagelin opened the scoring 1:15 into the first period. Klein let go a right-point shot that Hagelin tipped, catching Pavelec leaning the wrong way. However, the Jets responded with two quick goals. Byfuglien scored 1:18 after Hagelin's goal, using his long reach to swat Blake Wheeler's centering pass out of the air and past Lundqvist at 2:33 for his 17th goal. Ladd celebrated his 600th NHL game with a rising wrist shot that climbed over Lundqvist's right shoulder at 3:26 for his 19th goal. Kreider tied the game at 11:28 by taking Derek Stepan's long outlet pass, outracing Winnipeg defenseman Zach Bogosian and snapping his 17th goal past Pavelec to the short side. Kreider has three goals in his past four games. Hagelin followed with the go-ahead goal late in the second and added the insurance goal at 8:50 of the third period to complete his hat trick.
Anaheim @ Colorado 6-4 - Frustrated by a four-game losing streak and needing a win to stay in first place in the Pacific Division, the Anaheim Sucks scored six times in the second period and defeated the Colorado Avalanche 6-4 on Friday at Pepsi Center. Anaheim (44-16-7) maintained thier lead in the Pacific Division after the second-place San Jose Sharks (44-17-7) defeated the New York Islanders 4-3. Each team has 95 points, but the Ducks have played one fewer game. The teams hadn't played each other since opening night when the Avalanche skated to a 6-1 win, a game the Ducks hadn't forgotten. Despite the loss, Colorado (43-19-5) remained in second place in the Central Division with 91 points, one more than the Chicago Blackhawks (38-15-14), who lost 3-2 to the Nashville Predators. The Avalanche thought they had closed within 6-5 with 6:08 to play, but Nathan MacKinnon poked the puck out of the air with a high stick. The goal was immediately waved off and the call stood following a video review. Jamie McGinn's power-play goal at 5:21 of the period put the Avalanche ahead 2-1, but the Ducks responded with four consecutive goals on seven shots in a 3:19 span for a 5-2 lead. Kyle Palmieri scored twice in 47 seconds, breaking in alone on goalie Semyon Varlamov at 7:47 and putting in the rebound of Hampus Lindholm's wrist shot at 8:34. Palmieri started the play leading to his second goal when he beat Avalanche defenseman Nick Holden for a loose puck behind the net. Corey Perry made it 4-2 at 9:40 with a shot from the right circle on a 2-on-1 rush, and Ben Lovejoy was credited with a goal at 11:53 when he fired a shot from the right point that went off the end boards; the puck caromed off Varlamov's back and bounced inside the right post. Roy replaced Varlamov, who allowed five goals on 24 shots, with Jean-Sebastien Giguere after Lovejoy's goal, his fourth of the season and first in 23 games. The Avalanche responded with two goals in 33 seconds. McGinn scored again on the power play at 18:08 off a rebound of defenseman Erik Johnson's shot for his 17th goal of the season. Landeskog skated through the goalmouth and backhanded the puck under the left arm of Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller at 18:41 to make it 5-4. The Ducks came right back and scored with 48.8 seconds to play in the period. Mathieu Perreault eluded two defenders in the high slot and put a shot through several bodies and into the net. Colorado's John Mitchell, who signed a three-year, $5.4 million contract extension before the game, opened the scoring at 12:25 of the first period. It was his eighth goal of the season and second in three games since he replaced Paul Stastny (back injury) on a line with Landeskog and MacKinnon. Hiller made 34 saves to help the Ducks end their four-game skid (0-2-2). Giguere stopped eight of nine shots he faced. Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler sustained a lower-body injury in the second period and didn't return. Boudreau said Fowler's status is day-to-day.

Typical Anaheim Sucks gooning things up