Results - Sun, Mar 23, 2014

Columbus @ NY Islanders 0-2 - The Islanders are all but eliminated from a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they put a dent in the postseason hopes of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday. The Islanders got goals from forward Cal Clutterbuck and defenseman Travis Hamonic, and goalie Evgeni Nabokov made 41 saves for his third shutout of the season and 58th of his career, to defeat the Blue Jackets 2-0 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Blue Jackets alternated wins and losses in their prior six games and had an opportunity to at least temporarily move into the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Instead, they lost their second straight to remain on the outside of the playoff picture, with 78 points and 11 games remaining. A problem for the Blue Jackets has been their power play, which after going 0-for-6 Sunday is 0-for-35 in 10 games dating to March 4. Columbus was victimized on the penalty kill in the closing seconds of the second period, when Hamonic did his best impersonation of Bobby Orr. Hamonic received the puck from Calvin de Haan behind the Islanders net and went coast to coast, bobbing and weaving through Blue Jackets defenders before firing a wrist shot past goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for a 2-0 lead. It was Hamonic's first goal since Oct. 29, a span of 45 games, and the Islanders' ninth power-play goal in their past 74 attempts covering 19 games. Playing their first game in four days, the Islanders opened the scoring when Clutterbuck scored his 10th of the season at 13:26. After the puck was chipped into the corner, rookie Johan Sundstrom's wraparound attempt was stopped by Bobrovsky. With Frans Neilsen battling Matt Calvert, Clutterbuck, just out of the penalty box, picked up the loose puck and beat Bobrovsky for his 10th goal. Nielsen's assist gave him 50 points for the first time in the NHL. Sundstrom had the secondary assist for his first NHL point. Columbus opened the third with a 6-0 advantage in shots before Bobrovsky denied defenseman Kevin Czuczman on a 3-on-1 attempt, but the Islanders were able to avoid a dubious trend in which they have lost a two-goal lead in the third period eight times this season (1-4-3). Cam Atkinson gave the Blue Jackets their finest scoring chance of the third with 5:53 left when he drove on net against a sliding Matt Donovan, but his shot was gloved by Nabokov. Atkinson drew the penalty, but Columbus managed one shot with the man-advantage. Seconds after pulling Bobrovsky, the Blue Jackets drew another penalty to create a two-man advantage for the final 1:50. Nabokov stopped a one-timer from the point, and the Islanders were able to clear after a scramble near the crease and hang on despite being outshot 17-9 in the final period.
Toronto @ New Jersey 2-3 - New Jersey, who rebounded from a 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday, got goals from Damien Brunner, Patrik Elias and Merrill. Goalie Cory Schneider made 21 saves in his 14th win of the season. Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel scored for the Maple Leafs, who lost their fifth straight. Merrill, a second-round pick (No. 38) in the 2010 NHL Draft, played 16:31 in 23 shifts, had two shots and was active again in every key situation as DeBoer went with seven defensemen and 11 forwards. Kessel's goal, his team-leading 36th of the season, made it 3-2 with 1:31 remaining in regulation and the goalie pulled for an extra attacker. After taking a pass from Dion Phaneuf at the Devils blue line, Kessel skated low into the left circle and snapped a shot that beat Schneider to the long side. Schneider, who won his second straight start, made nine saves in the third period when the Devils were holding a 3-1 lead. His best stop came at 4:58 when he denied a quick snap shot by James van Riemsdyk at the left post. He would again deny van Riemsdyk with his right pad off a tip in front at 14:41. The victory was the second in three games for the Devils (31-28-13, 75 points), who are four points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. New Jersey, which has 10 games remaining, will end a five-game homestand Thursday against the Phoenix Coyotes. The Devils scored two goals in 32 seconds early in the second period to open a 3-0 lead. Elias took a feed from Merrill at the Maple Leafs blue line, faked a shot in the left circle and skated by goalie James Reimer for an easy backhand into the net at 1:18 for a 2-0 lead. Merrill scored his second of the season off a shot from the left point that Reimer saw but couldn't control, and it trickled over the goal line under his pads at 1:50 for a 3-0 edge. After Reimer allowed three goals on 10 shots, Toronto coach Randy Carlyle replaced him with Drew MacIntyre, who made his first NHL appearance for the Maple Leafs. The 30-year-old, recalled March 15 from the American Hockey League, stopped all 14 shots he faced in relief. The Maple Leafs pulled within 3-1 on a power-play goal by Bozak at 5:26. Morgan Rielly sent a pass to Bozak from the left point to the right hash for the redirection past Schneider. Toronto fell behind 1-0 for the seventh straight game (1-6-0). The Maple Leafs missed an opportunity to get closer on a two-man advantage for 1:16 of the second period with Andy Greene (hooking) and Mark Fayne (delay of game) in the penalty box at 17:04. The Maple Leafs generated two shots during the advantage, a slap shot from the right circle by Phaneuf that Schneider redirected into the left corner at 18:07 and a snap shot from between the circles by Cody Franson seven seconds later that Schneider stopped. New Jersey, which has the top penalty-killing unit in the League (86.6 percent), has killed 22 of the past 25 attempts spanning six games. Toronto forward David Clarkson returned to play in New Jersey for the first time since he signed a seven-year contract with the Maple Leafs in July 2013. Clarkson, whom the Devils signed as an undrafted free agent in August 2005, spent his first seven NHL seasons with them. He finished the game with one shot, one hit and a minus-2 rating on 14 shifts. Toronto (36-29-8, 80 points) has allowed at least three goals in each of its five-game losing streak. The Maple Leafs hold the first wild card in the Eastern Conference with nine games remaining. They play at home Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues. Brunner, who missed the past two games as a healthy scratch, scored his 11th of the season in the first period to give the Devils a 1-0 lead. Brunner broke in 2-on-1 with Adam Henrique, collected a pass in the right circle, and swept a shot over Reimer's glove just inside the right post at 14:38.
Minnesota @ Detroit 4-3 OT - The Wild rallied from two goals down Sunday night at Joe Louis Arena before defeating the Red Wings 4-3 in overtime to earn a split of the home-and-home weekend series. Matt Moulson scored the game-winner at 2:15 of overtime when he tipped in defenseman Jonas Brodin's wrist shot. The Wild (37-24-11) took a 3-2 lead on Zach Parise's 24th goal of the season at 6:18 of the third period, but Red Wings left wing Tomas Tatar ripped a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot over Wild goalie Ilya Bryzgalov's blocker to tie the game with 8:17 left in regulation. It was Tatar's 16th goal. Detroit (33-24-14) led 2-0 on goals by red-hot Gustav Nyquist before Jason Pominville scored his 27th of the season, blasting a slap shot from the top of the circles over Jimmy Howard's glove at 11:57 of the second. Charlie Coyle pulled the Wild even 2-2 with his ninth goal at 4:33 of the third period, and Parise gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead when he whacked in a rebound of a Mikael Granlund deflection attempt from the top of the crease. Howard made 21 saves for the Red Wings, who are 7-0-3 in their past 10 home games. The overtime loss snapped Detroit's three-game winning streak. Nyquist continued his torrid goal-scoring pace when he hammered home a rebound off Niklas Kronwall's shot at 13:45 of the first period on the power play. He scored his second on a breakaway when he slipped the puck past Bryzgalov along the ice to the glove side with 1:33 left in the first period. Nyquist has seven goals in the past five games, 18 in the past 23. He scored the game-winner in the third period Saturday night to lift Detroit past Minnesota 3-2 in St. Paul. The three points earned have the Red Wings in the top wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. The win strengthened the Wild's hold on the top wild card in the Western Conference. Howard made a number of key saves in the first period, when Minnesota had a 12-6 lead in shots, to keep Detroit in the game. He robbed Kyle Brodziak with the glove from in close at 5:23, then slid post to post to stop Moulson on a tip attempt on the power play at 15:15. Minnesota outshot Detroit 25-16. Each team converted one power-play opportunity; Detroit went 1-for-2 and Minnesota was 1-for-3. Bryzgalov made 13 saves. Detroit forward Todd Bertuzzi was a late scratch because of the flu. He was replaced in the lineup by Joakim Andersson.
Buffalo @ Vancouver 2-4 - Zack Kassian finished with 10 stiches and four assists, but the gash between the eyes of the Canucks forward wasn't enough to wipe the smile off his face. The grin was a little wider Sunday night because the big right wing's first four-point game in the NHL came against his former team, the Sabres. Kassian, who was traded from Buffalo to Vancouver in 2012, set up unanswered goals by Brad Richardson, Shawn Matthias, Yannick Weber and David Booth in the Canucks' 4-2 win at Rogers Arena. The Canucks fell behind 2-0 3:29 into the first period before Kassian started the comeback by cycling the puck below the goal line with new linemates Matthias and Richardson. He set up Richardson out of the corner for a quick shot over rookie goaltender Nathan Lieuwen's shoulder from below the left faceoff circle at 10:12, then made a similar pass to Matthias a bit higher in the zone 2:36 later. Kassian got his third assist when Lieuwen whiffed on Weber's long shot 1:40 into the second period, but was full value to set up Booth 2:23 into the third. Kassian skated the puck out of trouble in his own end, fought off a check in the neutral zone to create a 2-on-1, then passed across to Booth, who ended a 32-game goal drought. Kassian, who was traded for Sabres center Cody Hodgson on Feb. 27, 2012, downplayed the significance of his outburst coming against his former team. Kassian said he was more worried about Vancouver winning consecutive games for the first time in more than two months to keep its slim Stanley Cup Playoff hopes alive. With five wins in eight games, the Canucks are three points behind the Phoenix Coyotes for the second Western Conference wild card. Vancouver has nine games remaining; the Coyotes have 11; and the Dallas Stars, who are one point ahead of the Canucks, have 12. It may have been a costly victory, however. Canucks captain Henrik Sedin, who was honored in a pregame ceremony for playing his 1,000th game March 12, left favoring his left leg late in the second period and did not return. Tyler Ennis and Jamie McBain scored early for Buffalo, but the last-place Sabres weren't able to build off a 3-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, losing for the eighth time in nine games. Lieuwen, making his second NHL start, this one in front of family and friends from his nearby hometown of Abbotsford, finished with 32 saves. The Canucks welcomed back top-six forwards Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler. But less than three-and-a-half minutes later, they trailed after two quick goals by the NHL's lowest scoring team. Ennis scored at 1:11 after a turnover in the neutral zone allowed him to skate unchecked below the left faceoff dot before beating Lack off the goal post on the blocker side. McBain scored during on a delayed penalty against Daniel Sedin at 3:29. McBain was alone to take a cross-ice pass from Brian Flynn on the rush, and his attempt to pass back hit the stick of Canucks defenseman Ryan Stanton and trickled past a stranded Lack, who came well out to challenge. The new line of Kassian, Richardson and Matthias, who started the game as the fourth-line center after being bumped by Kesler before being moved back up to play left wing, dominated the Sabres on the cycle down low.
Florida @ Anaheim 2-6 - It wasn't difficult to imagine what was said during a seething speech by Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau during a second-period timeout Sunday. He had to have dressed down the Ducks after defensive lapses allowed the Panthers to score twice in a little more than two minutes. Boudreau could have reminded Anaheim that the game was the first of nine straight against current non-qualifiers for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The push begins now for the Ducks, who responded to the timeout with two goals in 1:56 on the way to a 6-2 win at Honda Center that put them one point back of the San Jose Sharks for first place in the Pacific Division. The Ducks ended a four-game home losing streak (0-2-2) with all the bells and whistles: Captain Ryan Getzlaf reached 30 goals for the first time and earned his 600th NHL point, and Corey Perry scored his 37th goal. The Selanne-Getzlaf-Perry line combined for three goals and five assists. Perry scored from his knees for the second time this season when he put in his rebound from the crease at 11:56 of the second. It was reminiscent of his Dec. 9 goal against the New York Islanders. Perry's goal gave Anaheim a 5-2 lead after Florida had pulled to 3-2 with goals in 2:01 to prompt Boudreau's timeout. Boudreau looked agitated as he adddressed the Ducks, but he said afterward it must have looked worse than it actually was on the bench. The game has seemingly become easier for Selanne since Boudreau put him on Getzlaf's line. Selanne's goal came 15 seconds into the second period on a one-timer off a drop pass from Perry to finish a rush started by Getzlaf's pass from the red line. Selanne fed Getzlaf on a give-and-go goal in the third period. Getzlaf joined Selanne and Paul Kariya as the only Ducks with 600 points. He called the 30-goal mark a "nice step forward for me in the goal-scoring department," but said he's always been more of a playmaker. Florida goalie Dan Ellis beat Anaheim twice this season with the Dallas Stars, but the Panthers defense didn't offer much resistance against the offensive depth of the Ducks, who got three goals from their third and fourth lines. Jakob Silfverberg scored on a shorthanded breakaway with a backhand through Ellis' five-hole at 4:08 of the second period. Silfverberg stole the puck from Florida forward Brandon Pirri in front of Anaheim's bench. Patrick Maroon's first career power-play goal gave Anaheim's sagging man-advantage unit goals in consecutive games after a 1-for-33 stretch. Getzlaf finished good puck movement with a drive down the left side before he passed to Maroon in front at 11:57 of the first. Maroon left the game with less than five minutes left in the second due to a lower-body injury, according to the Ducks. Florida's scoring drought reached more than 96 minutes before Jimmy Hayes was credited for a tip-in goal off Krys Barch's wrist shot through heavy traffic at 7:59 of the second. Tomas Fleischmann scored at 10:00 to pull the Panthers to within a goal before the Anaheim response. It was a sobering end to a four-game trip for the Panthers, who were outscored 10-2 in Southern California, including a 4-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, after they began with a win at San Jose. Florida has lost 10 of its past 12 road games. Anaheim center Nick Bonino returned from a foot injury. The Ducks recalled defenseman Sami Vatanen, who was reunited with partner Bryan Allen. Defenseman Stephane Robidas started the game with Francois Beauchemin, the first time Anaheim has used that combination.