NHL Results - Mon, Mar 02, 2015

Nashville @ NY Rangers 1-4 - Staal scored his first goal in eight games in the first period when he took a drop pass from Zuccarello in the left circle and fired a shot that went past Rinne on the long side at 6:36. Brassard appeared as though he was passing to Nash, but Zuccarello intercepted the puck and left it for Staal. Kreider scored his 17th goal off a tip-in in the slot to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead 4:14 into the second. After hopping over the boards and skating to the net, Kreider took a quick pass from the right circle by Zuccarello. The Predators pulled to within 2-1 in the second when Cullen scored his second goal in two games at 15:24. Mike Santorelli, who was acquired by the Predators on Feb. 15 in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, got the secondary assist on the goal, his first point in six games with Nashville. Predators rookie Filip Forsberg almost tied the game at 17:26 when he beat Dan Girardi 1-on-1 and took a quick wrist shot from in tight that Talbot stopped with his left pad. Moore gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead 5:51 into the third period when he pushed a rebound past Rinne in the slot while on his knees. Nash scored into an empty net for his 38th goal with 44 seconds left. Much of the attention was directed at Yandle, who received a big ovation when announced as a starter prior to the game. In the first of three trades on Sunday, Rangers general manager Glen Sather acquired Yandle, Chris Summers and a fourth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft from the Coyotes for defenseman John Moore, forward prospect Anthony Duclair, a second-round pick in 2015 and a conditional first-round pick in 2016.
Earlier in the day, the Rangers agreed to a reported four-year contract extension with Zuccarello worth $18 million. The deal included a no-trade clause in the first season, according to NorthJersey.com.
Carolina @ Chicago 2-5 - Veterans Kimmo Timonen and Antoine Vermette played their first game as Blackhawks, but captain Jonathan Toews had two goals and an assist to spearhead a strong team effort. Toews reached the 20-goal plateau for the eighth time in as many seasons and showed there are more producers on the Blackhawks than injured right wing Patrick Kane. Goalie Corey Crawford made 27 saves to earn his second win in his past two starts and forwards Brandon Saad and Marcus Kruger scored goals with Toews in a three-goal second period to break open a close game. Marian Hossa scored in the third for the Blackhawks, who polished off a solid performance against a team that had a three-game winning streak end. The Hurricanes are out of the mix for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference, but had won four of their previous five games. The Hurricanes put four shots on goal in the first, but made Crawford work hard during a 5-on-3 situation for 1:14 early in the second. Toews had already scored his second goal by that point during a Carolina power play, but a goal would've gotten Carolina right back in the game.
Instead, the Hurricanes failed to capitalize and Saad set a new career high in goals with his 20th of the season. He made it 3-0 at 9:42 of the second, and Kruger followed it six minutes later with his sixth goal and first since Feb. 8 at the St. Louis Blues (10 games). It was 4-0 heading into the third, which was plenty enough to win despite Carolina goals in the third by John-Michael Liles and Alexander Semin. Hossa scored between those two goals to seal the win. The Blackhawks are 21-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes. Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward allowed four goals on 18 shots and was pulled after the second in favor of Anton Khudobin. Timonen and Vermette, acquired in trades the past weekend, made an impact by simply putting on the Blackhawks uniform for the first time. According to Toews and other Blackhawks players, the veterans brought a charge to the locker room as the regular season starts to wind down.
Timonen played 17:29 and finished with a hit, two blocked shots and minus-1 rating. Vermette played 12:55, but committed a turnover in the Chicago zone that nearly led to a goal and lost 12 of his 17 faceoffs. Each should improve after getting more settled.