Results - Tue, Apr 01, 2014

New Jersey @ Buffalo 2-3 SO - Ville Leino, who does not have a goal this season, scored in the ninth round of the tiebreaker to lift the Sabres to a 3-2 victory against New Jersey at First Niagara Center on Tuesday night. Tyler Ennis scored twice in regulation and again in the shootout for the Sabres, and goalie Nathan Lieuwen made 33 saves through 65 minutes and seven more in the tiebreaker for his first NHL win. Dainius Zubrus and Tuomo Ruutu scored and Cory Schneider made 25 saves for the Devils, who fell to 0-11 in shootouts this season. They are 2-0-3 in their past five games and trail the Columbus Blue Jackets by three points for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference race to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Jacob Josefson and Jaromir Jagr scored in the shootout for New Jersey, which entered the night with one goal in 30 attempts this season. Travis Zajac had a chance to win it for the Devils in the fifth round and hit the post, but Schneider kept the Devils alive with a save on Cory Conacher. Leino eventually won it when he ripped a rising wrist shot past Schneider in the ninth round and Lieuwen denied rookie Mike Sislo, forcing the Devils to leave Buffalo with one point instead of two. Zubrus gave the Devils a 1-0 lead when he ended a 20-game scoring drought 8:16 into the second period. With the teams at even strength, Michael Ryder sent a pass from behind the net in front to Zubrus, who poked it past Lieuwen for his 11th goal of the season and first since Jan. 30. Ennis tied it for Buffalo at 1:39 of the third with his 20th goal of the season when he finished off a nice passing play with Drew Stafford and Leino, wristing Leino's feed from the right circle past Schneider to make it 1-1. It marked the second time in his career that Ennis has scored 20 goals in a season; he had 20 goals in 2010-11. The Sabres grabbed their first lead of the night when Ennis scored again, this time on the power play, at 4:41. With Devils forward Steve Bernier off for high sticking, Cody Hodgson sent a long pass that found its way through the crease to Ennis, who quickly ripped it past Schneider to make it 2-1. But the lead was short-lived; Ruutu tied it for New Jersey with a power-play goal 2:17 later. With Leino serving a holding penalty, Andy Greene sent a wrist shot from between the circles that Ruutu managed to redirect past Lieuwen to make it 2-2. It was Ruutu's seventh goal of the season. Each team had four shots on goal in overtime, but New Jersey ultimately found itself on the losing end of yet another shootout. The Devils have lost an NHL-record 15 straight shootouts dating to last season.
Calgary @ Toronto 2-3 - Maple Leafs forward David Clarkson picked the right night to break his goal drought. He scored a breakaway goal at 5:47 of the third period that proved to be the game-winner in a 3-2 victory against the Flames on Tuesday that snapped Toronto's eight-game losing streak. Mason Raymond sprung Clarkson on a breakaway, and he beat Flames goalie Karri Ramo for his first goal since Feb. 4 against the Florida Panthers and his first point in 17 games. He has 11 points this season. Clarkson's goal gave the Maple Leafs a 3-1 lead, but the Flames made the Air Canada Centre crowd nervous when Kris Russell scored his sixth goal of the season at 7:24 of the third. Russell found room alone in the faceoff circle to the left of Bernier (19 saves) and snapped a wrist shot over his shoulder. Toronto moved within one point of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second Eastern Conference wild-card position in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Maple Leafs grabbed a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the second period when Jay McClement scored his fourth goal of the season. McClement batted a cross-crease pass from defenseman Cody Franson behind Ramo, who finished with 20 saves. Calgary thought it had tied the game at 6:53 when forward Curtis Glencross knocked down a point shot from defenseman Chris Butler and the puck went past Bernier. But a video review determined that the puck was deflected into the net with a high stick, and the goal was waved off. The Flames got a goal that counted at 16:55 when Matt Stajan beat Bernier on a breakaway. Stajan took a lead pass from defenseman T.J. Brodie, got in behind the defense, deked Bernier and slipped the puck underneath him for his 13th goal of the season. Dave Bolland put Toronto ahead to stay 2:16 into the third period with his eighth goal of the season. Bolland took a pass from defenseman Morgan Rielly and banked the puck off the stick of Brodie and past Ramo. It was Bolland's second goal since he returned from a cut ankle tendon on March 22. Defenseman Paul Ranger returned to the Maple Leafs lineup for the first time since he suffered an injured neck against the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 19.

Florida @ NY Islanders 2-4 - The Islanders are not only surviving a rash of injuries that has forced them to play a host of rookies, they're actually thriving. Mike Halmo, one of 10 rookies among the 20 players dressed for the game, scored his first NHL goal in the third period, helping the Islanders beat the Panthers 4-2 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday night. The Islanders are without star center John Tavares and first-line right wing Kyle Okposo, as well as second-line forward Michael Grabner and veteran defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky due to injury. They also traded Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens at the NHL Trade Deadline on March 5. But the rookie-laden Islanders are now 4-0-1 in their past five games, their best stretch of the season. Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist, Travis Hamonic and Matt Martin also scored, and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 20 shots, allowing a first-period shorthanded goal to Quinton Howden and a power-play goal by Brandon Pirri with 5.9 seconds to play. Scott Clemmensen made 36 saves for the Panthers, who dropped their fourth game in a row and second in as many nights. Florida played its final road game; all of the Panthers' five remaining games are at BB&T Center. However, the Panthers were forced to stay in New York overnight due to plane problems. Panthers rookie defenseman Jonathan Racine, making his NHL debut, took an interference penalty 42 seconds after the opening faceoff, and each team scored a goal while he was in the box. Howden gave the Panthers the lead at 1:50 with an excellent individual effort. He stripped defenseman Matt Donovan at the left point, raced in and snapped a shot from between the hash marks that beat Nabokov cleanly for his fourth of the season. But the Islanders still had 52 seconds of power-play time against the NHL's worst penalty-killing unit, and they put it to good use. Hamonic got his third goal of the season at 2:35 when his wrister from the right point went through traffic and past Clemmensen. Bailey, who won the draw that led to Hamonic's goal, put the Islanders ahead 11:18 into the second period after some hard word by his linemates. Ryan Strome controlled the puck behind the net and fed an oncoming Colin McDonald, whose shot was stopped by Clemmensen. But Bailey found the rebound and snapped it home for his first goal since March 10 and eighth of the season. Bailey's struggles mirror those of the Islanders, who regressed after qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. McDonald did most of the work on Martin's goal at 17:36. He tapped the puck past Racine at the left point, raced deep into the circle in Florida's zone and took a bad-angled shot that hit Clemmensen's pads. Martin was unchecked as he raced down the slot and hammered in the rebound for his career-high eighth goal of the season. Halmo scored his first NHL goal 4:21 into the third, batting his own rebound out of the air and past Clemmensen to finish a 2-on-1 break. The Panthers lost Brad Boyes, their leading goal-scorer, when his back tightened up late in the first period. Boyes has been dealing with a bad back and was a game-time decision. Forward Scottie Upshall also left in the first period after being hit in the face by New York's Matt Carkner, but returned in the second period and finished the game despite a sore jaw.
Colorado @ Columbus 3-2 OT - Gabriel Landeskog scored his second goal of the game in overtime to cap the Avalanche's come-from-behind 3-2 win against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena. The Avalanche rallied with two goals in the last 10:14 of regulation to send the game to overtime, with Landeskog scoring the equalizer with 4:47 left. Each of Colorado's goals went directly off a Columbus player in front of befuddled goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (25 saves). Colorado moved three points ahead of the third-place Chicago Blackhawks in the Central Division, and Columbus maintained the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Columbus led 2-0 with 10:14 left in the third on second-period goals by Cam Atkinson and Blake Comeau until its fortunes turned, capped by Landeskog's game-winning goal with the Avalanche on their first power play. Landeskog drew a holding penalty on Artem Anisimov with 2:21 left in overtime. With 32.2 seconds remaining he tried to send a pass through the crease to Nathan MacKinnon from the right side. Instead, the puck went off Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson's leg and into the net. Landeskog's 26th goal of the season was an exclamation point on a stunning comeback for the Avalanche and continued their dominance with the man advantage against the Blue Jackets. In a 5-3 win against the Blue Jackets on Dec. 31, Colorado scored on all three of its power-play chances. This time, the Blue Jackets appeared to be on the verge of killing off the man advantage, thanks to the strong work of Brandon Dubinsky, but the Avalanche were able to set up one last time to earn the victory. Bobrovsky lost the shutout with 10:14 left in the third when Colorado center Brad Malone was credited with his second goal of the season after his centering pass from the left corner caromed off Columbus left wing Nick Foligno, the only player standing in front of Bobrovsky. Landeskog scored 5:17 off an assist by MacKinnon to tie the game. The rookie, moved to the top line when Avalanche leading scorer Matt Duchene sustained a knee injury Saturday that will keep him out up to four weeks, took a pass from low in the right circle, then fed a pinpoint pass to the goalmouth for Landeskog, whose redirect went in off Blue Jackets defenseman Dalton Prout. The Blue Jackets had some help of their own in breaking the scoreless tie in the second period. Each goal was created off a turnover. Dubinsky set up the first goal by swiping the puck from Colorado defenseman Nate Guenin while they battled for possession behind the net. Dubinsky took control and fed Atkinson in the slot for a one-timer at 10:52 past Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov (24 saves). It was Atkinson's 20th goal. Guenin, a former Ohio State player, was the unlucky victim five minutes later on a play that started with Columbus defenseman Fedor Tyutin flipping the puck out of his own zone to center ice. Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie whiffed at his attempt to corral the puck, which then bounced over Guenin's stick. Comeau poked the puck from him and dished it left to Foligno. Comeau continued toward the net and was in perfect position to receive the return pass from Foligno for the quick shot.

Montreal @ Tampa Bay 1-3 - The Lightning got the better of the Canadiens on a night when both teams took a step towards meeting again in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Rookie Tyler Johnson scored a tiebreaking shorthanded goal at 12:41 of the third period and the Lightning beat the Canadiens 3-1 on Tuesday to wrap up their first playoff berth since 2011. For the Lightning, it was a sweet end to what has been a trying season piled high with adversity, one in which Steven Stamkos was lost for four months to a broken leg and team captain Martin St. Louis asked for and was granted a trade away from the team that made him a star. The belief, whether real or not, that they were being written off by everyone appears to have fueled the Lightning to reach this goal. It was perhaps the most difficult for Stamkos, who had to watch as his teammates picked up the slack from his injury, they were 22-18-5 in his absence as he worked hard to speed up his recovery, and then watching his mentor and great friend St. Louis get traded the day before his return to the lineup. But Stamkos has been a difference-maker, leading the Lightning to a 20-7-4 mark when he is dressed with 23 goals and 13 assists in 31 games. The Lightning was not the only team with something to celebrate postgame, though they were the only ones who were in the mood to do so. With the Washington Capitals' 5-0 loss to the Dallas Stars and the New Jersey Devils' 3-2 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres, the Canadiens also clinched their sixth playoff appearance in seven seasons despite going home without a point. The playoff qualification was of little solace to most in the Canadiens dressing room following the game, but coach Michel Therrien admitted he and his players should also be proud of what they did. The Lightning moved past the Canadiens into second place in the Atlantic Division with the victory. The teams are tied at 93 points, nine more than the Detroit Red Wings, but Tampa has six games left, one more than Montreal. If indeed these two teams meet in the playoffs, which looks very likely, it promises to be a fast-paced, closely fought series judging by the four games these teams played in the regular season. This was the first of the four that did not end 2-1, and that was only because Alex Killorn scored into an empty net with 44.3 seconds to play. It was Tampa Bay's third win in the season series and the first of the four games that did not go to overtime or a shootout. Canadiens goaltender Carey Price and Tampa Bay counterpart Ben Bishop have been outstanding in all four games, combining to allow 10 goals in 254 minutes of play. Each was tremendous again Tuesday, with Bishop making 25 saves and Price stopping 30 shots. Ryan Callahan, acquired from the New York Rangers in the St. Louis trade on March 5, scored his sixth goal in 14 games with the Lightning after Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring for the Canadiens. Johnson's winner came on a breakaway with Nate Thompson in the penalty box. He beat Price cleanly with a move to the backhand for his 23rd goal of the season and fifth on the penalty kill. Johnson tied Stamkos' franchise record for goals by a rookie and moved into a tie with Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins for the League lead in shorthanded goals. Lightning defenseman Michael Kostka was injured with 2:13 to play after taking a heavy hit from Canadiens defenseman Douglas Murray as he crossed the Montreal blue line. Kostka lay motionless on the ice for several minutes after the hit and the Lightning trainers called for a stretcher to come out on the ice, but Kostka eventually got up and skated slowly to the bench under his own power. Kostka will be re-evaluated Wednesday, Cooper said. Murray was assessed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head, which triggers an automatic review by the NHL Department of Player Safety. The Canadiens jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 10:18 of the first period on Gallagher's 19th goal of the season. A Tampa Bay clearing attempt was misplayed at the half boards by Lightning forward Teddy Purcell, and the puck bounced right into the slot to Mike Weaver. The Montreal defenseman made a nifty play with the puck to get into a shooting position and put a backhander on Bishop, who kicked it out onto Gallagher's stick for the rebound goal. The Lightning got even 9:19 into the second period on the power play when Callahan picked up a puck left for him by rookie Ondrej Palat before Palat fell and took out two members of the Canadiens in doing so. That cleared a path to the net down the right side for Callahan, who beat Price with a great backhand to the far corner. The Lightning came very close to taking a 2-1 lead on two occasions before the end of the period. The first came with about five minutes to play when Steven Stamkos and J.T. Brown broke in 2-on-1. Stamkos kept the puck and forced Price to make a difficult glove save before the rebound bounced out to Purcell in the slot. With Price on his knees Purcell shot high, only to have it stopped by Price's glove again. With 11.7 seconds to play, Purcell appeared to beat Price on a shot from the slot with Brown screening the goaltender in front. But after the officials got together to discuss it was deemed that Brown interfered with Price and waved off the goal. Replays appeared to suggest Brown made contact with Price after the puck entered the net. Purcell also hit the crossbar on a backhand from in tight about three minutes into the third period. When it was all over, Cooper walked off the bench and down the tunnel, reveling in another win. It was only when people began congratulating him as he made his way to the dressing room that he realized what had just happened, that the Lightning had just guaranteed themselves a spot in the playoffs.
Philadelphia @ St Louis 0-1 SO - Ryan Miller sat at his locker after a loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. The Blues goalie was feeling the burden of not performing up to par. But the 33-year-old has been through the battles before. He knows there's no better way to atone for a shaky outing than to shine the next time he's called upon. Not only did Miller shine Tuesday night, he was at his best since being acquired by the Blues on Feb. 28. Miller stopped 31 shots and denied Vincent Lecavalier and Claude Giroux in the shootout and was aided by shootout goals from T.J. Oshie and Kevin Shattenkirk in a 1-0 victory against the Cryers at Scottrade Center. It was Miller's first shutout in 101 games dating back to March 21, 2012, against the Montreal Canadiens, and he was busy right from the start. He made a save on Scott Hartnell from the slot 12 seconds into the game, then faced a 2-on-0 and stopped Michael Raffl 2:28 into the game after Alex Pietrangelo tripped over the skates of Shattenkirk. It was a telltale sign that it was going to be a special night. The shutout made the game even sweeter for Miller, who helped the Blues improve to 51-17-7 on the season, tying the franchise record for wins set in 1999-2000. They lead the Anaheim Ducks by three points in the Western Conference race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and trail the Boston Bruins by one point in the race for the Presidents' Trophy. Oshie continued his mastery in the shootout and Shattenkirk provided the winning margin. Oshie gave the Blues the lead in the shootout with a backhand shot over Flyers goalie Ray Emery and improved to 9-for-12 this season. Shattenkirk ended the game when he snapped a shot past Emery in the third round after Miller snagged Giroux's wrister. Emery's second shutout of the season came in a 28-save performance. He blanked the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 20, 2013. The Flyers have 87 points, three fewer than the New York Rangers after the latter's 3-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. Philadelphia has two games in hand on New York. Neither team could score in the second period, but each missed out on prime scoring chances. Blues forward Jaden Schwartz intercepted a Braydon Coburn outlet feed and clanked the crossbar from the slot eight seconds into the period. Raffl was robbed by Miller on a one-time shot coming in from the right circle when the Blues goalie kicked over the left pad to keep the game scoreless 2:48 into the period. Pietrangelo was in the slot and fired a shot off the left post with 17 seconds left in the second to keep the game scoreless. In overtime, Miller stopped Flyers forward Jakub Voracek twice on the doorstep with his right pad with 1:30 remaining.

NY Rangers @ Vancouver 3-1 - Martin St. Louis admitted the pressure was mounting after going 14 games without scoring for his new team. Making his first goal for the Rangers an important one added to the sense of relief for the veteran forward. St. Louis scored his first goal since being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning on a shorthanded 2-on-1 pass from Rick Nash midway through the third period, and the Rangers beat the Canucks 3-1 at Rogers Arena on Tuesday night. St. Louis' goal was the Rangers' third shorthanded in two games, and their seventh in the past 15, three more than they have managed to score on the power play in the same span. New York is in a three-way tie for second in the NHL with 10 shorthanded goals. With the Canucks pressing for the tie on a second straight power play, defenseman Yannick Weber's diving attempt to keep a puck in at the blue line came up short. Nash broke into the Vancouver end before passing across to St. Louis atop the right circle for a quick shot over Eddie Lack's glove. Daniel Carcillo and Benoit Pouliot scored in the first period for the Rangers, who have won seven of the past eight games to increase their lead for second place in the Metropolitan Division to three points over the Philadelphia Flyers. New York also set a franchise record with its 25th road win. With five games left, the Rangers have an eight-point lead on the Toronto Maple Leafs for the final Eastern Conference berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It wasn't all positive for the Rangers, who watched top defenseman Ryan McDonagh go straight to the dressing room appearing to favor his left shoulder with 43.8 seconds left after a high hit from Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows, who was assessed a five-minute major penalty for elbowing and a game misconduct. Ryan Kesler scored and Lack made 28 saves in his 17th straight start for the Canucks, who fell six points behind the Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Vancouver has five games left. It was the second regular-season game between the teams since they swapped coaches last summer. The Vigneault-led Rangers won each game against former coach John Tortorella and the Canucks, but neither coach put any extra stock in that storyline. Carcillo, who was dropped from the first to the fourth line, opened the scoring after Lack failed to control a dump in off the end boards 4:59 into the first period. The puck bounced right through the crease, setting off a scramble that ended with Brian Boyle knocking the puck out from under Lack's glove to a wide-open Carcillo on other side. Lundqvist, who made a couple of good saves on Kesler in the first three minutes, kept the Rangers ahead by staying patient to get his left arm on Chris Higgins partial breakaway shot midway through the period, and Pouliot made it 2-0 on a power play with 5:17 left. Lack made a good blocker save on Mats Zuccarello's shot from alone in the slot, and followed the rebound to his right. But the puck went straight to Derick Brassard, who quickly passed it back across the crease to an open Pouliot for a one-timer into an empty net. Kesler finally beat Lundqvist 6:21 into the second period. After winning an offensive zone, Kesler fought off a check from Dominic Moore and one-timed a cross-ice pass from Daniel Sedin between the legs of Lundqvist as he slid left to right across his crease. Each goaltender survived scrambles late in the second period, with Lack robbing Pouliot twice in front and Lundqvist getting his left pad on a tough deflection, then diving to poke away the rebound.