Results - Thu, Mar 13, 2014

Buffalo @ Carolina 2-4 - As the game reached the midway point of the third period Thursday, Carolina Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller felt a little tightening in his gut. His team was pushing the 50-shot mark against the Buffalo Sabres but had nothing but a tie score to show for it. But after Buffalo scored the go-ahead goal, Alexander Semin and Jiri Tlusty scored less than two minutes apart to give Carolina a 4-2 win at PNC Arena. For most of the game, Buffalo goaltender Michal Neuvirth seemed bound to spoil Carolina's plans. He made 51 saves, many of them outstanding. Carolina's Cam Ward made 21 saves for back-to-back wins for the first time since Nov. 24 and 27. After Buffalo forward Drew Stafford broke a 1-1 tie at 8:43 of the third period, Semin tied the game 2-2 on the power play at 11:48 with a shot off the skate of Buffalo defenseman Mike Weber. It was the Hurricanes' second power-play goal in the past 10 games; Carolina had converted once in its prior 38 chances. Tlusty followed with his 12th of the season on a feed from Semin to put Carolina on top at 13:43. The Sabres scored midway through the first period on a penalty shot by Tyler Ennis. After Tlusty tied him up on a breakaway, Ennis skated in on Ward and used a high forehand for his team-leading 17th goal at 10:22. The Hurricanes answered 2:58 later when Jeff Skinner scored from below the right circle for his team-high 26th of the season. Skinner was a constant force in the game, establishing a Carolina record with 13 shots on goal. Like his coach, Skinner wondered whether the Hurricanes were going to be rewarded with a win, particularly after Stafford's go-ahead goal deflected off defenseman Andrei Sekera and Tlusty before going past Ward. Prior to a 3-1 win Tuesday against the New York Rangers, the Hurricanes had lost seven of eight. Muller said he was satisfied with his team's play on many nights during that stretch, so he has insisted that his players stay the course. For the Sabres (19-39-8), the game began to unravel in the second period when they were outshot 22-4. They relied heavily on Neuvirth, who stopped a bid from Andrei Loktionov with his left pad, then gloved a wrist shot from Drayson Bowman on the rebound. Neuvirth later snatched a close-range wrister from Skinner.
Florida @ Tampa Bay 4-5 - The good news for the Lightning was that they beat the Panthers 5-4 on Thursday night. The better news is that Steven Stamkos scored the winning goal. Stamkos scored his first goal since his return a week earlier from a broken right leg when he beat Dan Ellis 10:47 into the third period to make it 5-2. It was Stamkos' 15th goal of the season, but his first since missing 45 games after breaking his right tibia against the Boston Bruins on Nov. 11 It was a classic Stamkos goal; he set up in the lower left circle and one-timed a feed from Valtteri Filppula before the goaltender could react. With the win, the Lightning swept the four-game series from their in-state rivals and jumped past the Montreal Canadiens into third place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay (35-24-7) has picked up points in its past three games. The Lightning appeared to have the game well in hand until the Panthers scored twice in 38 seconds. Scottie Upshall finished off a 2-on-1 with Nick Bjugstad at 18:55 to make it 5-3. Ellis was lifted for an extra attacker, and newcomer Brandon Pirri scored his eighth goal of the season with 27 seconds remaining. Ben Bishop stopped 23 shots for his 30th victory of the season. Tampa Bay pulled away from a 2-2 tie by scoring twice in the second period, when the Lightning outshot the Panthers 13-5. Newcomer Ryan Callahan put the Lightning ahead to stay at 12:04 with his 12th goal of the season and first since coming to Tampa Bay from the New York Rangers on March 5 at the NHL Trade Deadline. He tapped in a cross-crease pass from Ondrej Palat after fighting off a checker. Tyler Johnson made it 4-2 at 18:53. His shot from the corner near the goal line banked off Florida defenseman Ed Jovanovski and went past Ellis for his 21st goal of the season and fourth in five games. Each team scored twice in a free-flowing first period. Tampa Bay had not allowed a power-play goal in its past six home games, but that streak came to an end 1:44 after the opening faceoff when Tomas Fleischmann connected while Lightning forward Tom Pyatt was off for hooking. Dmitry Kulikov got the puck to Fleischmann in the low slot, and Fleischmann took a step to his left and beat Bishop. Bjugstad also had an assist, extending his assist streak to four games. Sami Salo tied the game at 5:38 with his third of the season, a blast from the right point that Ellis likely never saw. Filppula was credited with the first of his three assists when he won the faceoff back to Salo. Florida went back in front 12 seconds later when rookie Quinton Howden scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game this season, beating Bishop with a wrister from the left circle. Tampa Bay got even again at 8:18 when Michael Kostka's blast from the high slot eluded traffic in front and beat Ellis. It was the third goal of the season for Kostka, but his first since joining the Lightning after coming on waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 23. Ellis, making his first start in goal since being acquired by the Panthers for Tim Thomas in a deadline trade with the Dallas Stars, stopped 23 shots.
Edmonton @ St Louis 2-6 - After missing the past 12 games due to injury, St. Louis Blues center Vladimir Sobotka returned Thursday night with a goal and two assists to power a 6-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Scottrade Center. Sobotka, who broke his left kneecap Jan. 31 against the Carolina Hurricanes, is more known for his 200-foot game, but his offensive skill set was on full display against the Oilers as he matched his career-high for points. It was the fifth time Sobotka had three points in a game in his career; the last was March 9, 2013, when he scored his only NHL hat trick against the San Jose Sharks. The Blues scored three times in a 7:14 span in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie on the way to the big win, which gave them 97 points, four more than their closest competitors for the Presidents' Trophy, the Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins and Sharks. Oshie had a goal and two assists, Tarasenko had a goal and an assist, and Alexander Steen had two assists for the Blues, who improved to 45-14-7. Ryan Miller stopped 23 shots to improve to 5-0-1 with the Blues and 7-0-0 all-time against the Oilers. Miller has a 1.82 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage while stopping 134 of 145 shots since coming to St. Louis in a Feb. 28 trade with the Buffalo Sabres. The Blues won all three games against the Oilers this season and have won eight of the past nine. St. Louis outscored Edmonton 17-4 this season. The Oilers got goals from former Blues forward David Perron and defenseman Mark Fraser. Ben Scrivens stopped 31 shots. The teams went to the second intermission tied at 2-2, but the Blues blew the game open in the third. Alex Pietrangelo scored 42 seconds into the period on a feed from Sobotka, who stripped Oilers defenseman Andrew Ference of the puck behind the Edmonton goal. It was Pietrangelo's eighth goal, second in as many games. Schwartz scored at 4:25 to make it 4-2, beating Scrivens with a one-timer from the slot off a David Backes feed. Oshie scored his 17th goal at 7:56 on another one-timer from the side of the goal with the Blues on a two-man advantage. Schwartz scored his second goal at 12:56 when he cleaned up another rebound, this time off a Maxim Lapierre shot. Perron fired a wrister past Miller for his team-leading 25th of the season off a pass from Taylor Hall to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead 7:39 into the game. Sobotka took a saucer feed from Tarasenko in the slot and made a strong drive to the net, fighting through Ryan Nugent-Hopkins before going backhand to forehand in tight to beat Scrivens at 18:48 of the first to tie the game 1-1. It was Tarasenko's sixth assist in the past seven games. Oshie, Sobotka and Tarasenko combined on the rush to give the Blues a 2-1 lead 5:05 into the second period. Sobotka dropped the puck just inside the Edmonton blue line to Tarasenko, who sent a cross-ice feed to Oshie before taking the return pass and sending a wrister past Scrivens high stick side for his 20th goal. The Oilers tied the game when Fraser scored his first of the season, fourth of his career, with 1:57 left in the second period. Barret Jackman took a knee to the head from Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu, leaving the Blues defenseman lying face-first on the ice. But instead of blowing the play dead, referees Kevin Pollack and Chris Rooney allowed play to continue as per rule 8.1 of the NHL Official Rule Book, and Fraser's shot from the slot trickled through Miller, who immediately began arguing with Pollack for not stopping the play immediately and for not blowing the play dead when he felt Joensuu interfered with him in the crease.
NY Rangers @ Minnesota 1-2 - Minnesota Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper has made a habit of following rough outings with brilliant performances. He did it again on Thursday night. Forty-eight hours removed from a clunker against the Edmonton Oilers, Kuemper was nearly perfect in a 29-save performance that led the Wild to an important 2-1 win against the New York Rangers at Xcel Energy Center. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Wild (35-22-9), who moved five points ahead of the Dallas Stars for the first Western Conference wild-card spot in the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Minnesota is six points clear of the ninth-place Phoenix Coyotes, who lost 2-1 to the Boston Bruins. Kuemper made 16 of his saves in the third period and kept the Rangers off the board during a frantic final few minutes. The Rangers (35-28-4) got a late power play after Wild forward Kyle Brodziak flipped the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty with 3:20 remaining. New York pulled goaltender Cam Talbot for a 6-on-4 advantage with 1:40 to go and kept firing away but could not get the puck past Kuemper, who got as big as he could in his net as the puck pinballed around in the crease. He finally pounced on a loose puck with :00.4 left on the clock. It was a measure of redemption for Kuemper, who said he didn't feel too much pressure after surrendering three goals on 26 shots and allowing three of four shooters to score in the shootout Tuesday. The Wild staked Kuemper to a 3-0 lead, but the Oilers left with a 4-3 win. Yeo said one of the things he wanted to see Thursday was his team score "playoff-type" goals. Zach Parise's game-winner was the just that. Mikael Granlund took the puck hard from the right corner to the front of the net but was shut down by Talbot. Jason Pominville got two whacks at the rebound in front before Parise tucked a fourth shot between Talbot and the left post at 1:03 of the third period for his 23rd of the season, breaking a 1-1 tie. Minnesota scored 13:08 into the game to grab a 1-0 lead, capitalizing on a turnover by the Rangers in their own zone. Defenseman John Moore chased down a dump-in and backhanded a pass to Nash at the bottom of the left circle. Nash wasn't ready for the pass, and the puck caromed to Wild forward Nino Niederreiter in the slot; he one-timed a shot past Talbot for his 12th goal of the season. The Rangers took advantage of another Brodziak penalty early in the second period to tie the score. Seconds after ripping a shot off the crossbar, Minnesota native Derek Stepan fired a shot through traffic that squeezed between Kuemper and the near-side post at 3:19 for his 12th of the season. But that was all the goal-scoring the Rangers could muster, although they did outshoot the Wild 30-26. Playoff-type goals or not, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault would settle for any type of offense at this point. New York has scored two goals while losing the first two legs of a quick three-game road trip that concludes Friday against the Winnipeg Jets. Talbot, playing for the first time since Feb. 27 after Henrik Lundqvist made six consecutive starts, made 24 saves. Lundqvist is expected to start Friday against the Jets.

Toronto @ Los Angeles 3-2 - The Toronto Maple Leafs nearly ran out of healthy goaltenders late in the second period. But by the time the final horn sounded Thursday night, it was Anze Kopitar and the Los Angeles Kings who were shaking their heads in disbelief. James Reimer stopped all 31 shots he faced after he replaced injured Jonathan Bernier to start the second period and Mason Raymond scored a game-winning shorthanded goal to lead Toronto past Los Angeles 3-2 and snap the Kings' eight-game winning streak. The Maple Leafs (36-24-8) finished the California portion of their five-game trip 2-1-0 and erased a two-goal deficit against one of the best closing teams in the NHL. They are three points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the race for second place in the Atlantic Division. The Kings (38-23-6) were attempting to equal a franchise record with their ninth straight win and give coach Darryl Sutter his 500th career victory. L.A. is third in the Pacific Division but fell 11 points behind the second-place San Jose Sharks, who beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in a shootout. Reimer was clipped by Jarret Stoll's skate and stayed down on the ice face first with about five minutes left in the second period. Bernier was on the bench with a lower-body injury, Carlyle said, after he made eight saves on 10 shots in the first period in his first game in Los Angeles since he was traded from the Kings to the Maple Leafs last summer. Reimer and Bernier combined to torment Kopitar with three point-blank saves. Bernier made a right kick save in the first period and Reimer made pad saves in the second and third. Immediately after Reimer thwarted Kopitar a third time, Toronto got a 2-on-1 the other way and Raymond ripped a slap shot from the right wing past Jonathan Quick at 5:06 of the final period, breaking a 2-2 tie. It wasn't a good night for Kings captain Dustin Brown either. Brown played four shifts in the third period, and Sutter said he wasn't hurt. It was the first time in six games the Kings allowed more than two goals. Quick was attempting to tie Rogie Vachon's franchise record of 171 wins. He was visibly upset with himself after Toronto tied it 2-2 on a slap shot from the left point by Gunnarsson at 3:46 of the second period. Quick wasn't screened, but Gunnarsson's shot might have deflected off Kopitar's stick before it beat Quick to the glove side. The goal was Gunnarsson's second of the season. Toronto took advantage of a hooking penalty by Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin on Phil Kessel late in the first period to get within 2-1 before the first intermission. Nazem Kadri got the puck out of a scrum at the wall and set up Dion Phaneuf for a backhand past Quick at 18:13. The assist was Kadri's career-high 45th point. L.A. looked sharp in killing two previous penalties and took a 2-0 lead on goals by new top-line linemates Kopitar and Marian Gaborik. Kopitar one-timed Drew Doughty's pass out of the corner for his 21st goal at 16:05. Gaborik went to the net and had Doughty's rebound go in off his skate 1:57 of the game for his first goal as a King. Toronto was slow to get back on defense, and a brief 2-on-1 facilitated in Gaborik's first goal since Feb.27. Kopitar's goal put the Kings on a 6-for-22 power-play tear, but they did not convert the ensuing three power plays. Toronto center Peter Holland was scratched with the flu. Defenseman Cody Franson returned to the lineup after missing the Maple Leafs' game against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday with the same illness. It was Toronto's first game at Staples Center since Jan. 10, 2011.