Thu, 31 Jan - Fixtures

Buffalo v Boston 7pm ET
Washington v Toronto 7pm ET
NY Islanders v New Jersey 7pm ET
Pittsburgh v NY Rangers 7pm ET
St Louis v Columbus 7pm ET
Winnipeg v Florida 7.30pm ET
Colorado v Calgary 9pm ET
Nashville v Los Angeles 10.30pm ET
Edmonton v San Jose 10.30pm ET

Gameday 12 (Wed, 30 Jan) - Results

Montreal v Ottawa 1-5 - The oldest and youngest Senators, Daniel Alfredsson and Mika Zibanejad, both scored during a three-goal second-period burst as Ottawa ended Montreal's four-game winning streak by beating the Canadiens 5-1 on Wednesday night. Alfredsson, the Senators' 40-year-old captain, broke a 1-1 tie when he beat Peter Budaj at 7:27 of the second period. Zibanejad, who turns 20 in April, scored his first NHL goal 1:58 later, blasting a shot off Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin and into the net as the Senators converted both halves of a double minor to Ryan White. Chris Phillips made it 4-1 at 11:02, and that was more than enough support for goaltender Craig Anderson, who made 31 saves to win for the second straight night and improve to 5-0-1 in his six appearances this season. Jim O'Brien and Chris Neil also scored for Ottawa, now 5-1-1 in its first seven games. Colin Greening, Zack Smith and Andre Benoit each had two assists as a dozen Senators hit the scoresheet. Tomas Plekanec scored the only goal for Montreal (4-2-0), which hadn't lost since opening night. Peter Budaj, making his first start of the season in place of starter Carey Price, stopped 22 shots. Montreal struck first after Phillips was called for interference at 5:18 of the opening period. Andrei Markov's first shot went off of Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson's stick and deflected to Plekanec. Anderson made the initial pad save but the rebound went back to Plekanec. The puck then hit the skate of Ottawa defenseman Marc Methot went between the feet of a stumbling Anderson at 5:31. It was the first power-play goal allowed by the Senators at home this season. O'Brien tied it 7:53 when O'Brien picked up the rebound of Karlsson's point shot and beat Budaj for his second goal in two games. The Senators made White pay when he was called for roughing and assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing the call at 7:24 of the second period, giving Ottawa a four-minute advantage. Right off the faceoff, Alfredsson picked up the deflection of Patrick Wiercioch's shot from the high slot and went top shelf to beat Budaj for his 417th career goal. Zibanejad, who had an assist in his NHL debut on Tuesday, then got the first goal of his NHL career when his point shot found its way into the net at 9:25. Phillips took a pass from Smith and blasted a slapper over Budaj's shoulder 97 seconds later for a 4-1 lead. Neil's completed the scoring with 5:14 left in regulation when his wraparound deflected into the net off Budaj's left foot. Anderson leads the NHL with a goals-against average of 0.99 and a .967 save percentage. Two of his best saves came off Brandon Prust in the third period, one on a point-blank shot at 4:17 and another seven minutes later when the Montreal forward attempted to go high on Anderson, who made the stop with the paddle of his stick. It was a frustrating night for the Canadiens, who never recovered after Ottawa's flurry of goals in the second period. Ottawa won without two of its top players – first-line center Jason Spezza was absent for a second straight game with an upper-body injury, while defenseman Sergei Gonchar was a late scratch with a lower-body ailment. Coach Paul MacLean did not have an update regarding Spezza, and it is unclear whether he will travel to Raleigh with the team for their game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. Gonchar's injury was sustained against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, and MacLean said he expects the 38-year-old defenseman to travel with the team.

Chicago v Minnesota 2-3 - It wasn't a bad run for the Chicago Blackhawks to start the 2012-13 campaign. But after finding a way to win four straight one-goal games, and six overall, the Blackhawks were on the losing end of a one-goal difference Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild. A Matt Cullen goal early in the game and again in the shootout was just enough for the Wild as they handed the Blackhawks their first loss of the season, 3-2 at Xcel Energy Center. The loss was a bitter way to start a critical six-game road trip, especially since the Blackhawks controlled much of the final half of the game. If not for Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who entered the game in relief of an ineffective Josh Harding just 6:45 into the game, Chicago's win streak would likely be at seven. Backstrom's stopped all 28 shots he faced, including 17 in the third period and overtime. Minnesota came out red-hot early, blanketing Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford with several shots in the opening couple minutes before Cullen slammed home a rebound just 1:30 into the contest, giving the Wild an early 1-0 lead. But Chicago responded with a couple of good shifts right after. Shaw tied the game at 5:14 thanks to a nifty play by linemate Bryan Bickell, who went to the net with the puck from the left corner and centered a pass to a crashing Shaw in the slot for his first of the season. Just 90 seconds later, Toews and Brandon Saad cruised into the Wild zone 2-on-2 before Toews snapped a bad angle shot from the left circle through Harding's five-hole to give Chicago the lead. That was enough for Wild coach Mike Yeo to make the move, as Harding appeared to be fighting the puck from the start. What should have been a fairly routine save a couple of minutes earlier had ricocheted off the crossbar. He had also made an awkward blocker save just before Toews' tally. Backstrom rewarded Yeo's bold move, finding his groove early on before being tested several times later in the contest. The relief appearance was just Backstrom's third in the last three years and first since Nov. 12, 2011. Still down one early in the second, Minnesota got a great opening shift of the period from its third line. The grouping scored the tying goal just 59 seconds in, as Cal Clutterbuck scored his first of the season, deflecting a Tom Gilbert shot from the point. Gilbert's assist gave him at least one point in four straight games for just the third time in his career and leaves him one game short of his career long of five straight games, achieved in April 2010. After being outshot 15-7 through 20 minutes, Chicago out-chanced Minnesota 19-6 during the second and third periods, but could get nothing past Backstrom. Zach Parise opened the shootout with a goal for the Wild but was matched by Toews, his former University of North Dakota linemate. Mikko Koivu shot high in round two and Backstrom stopped Patrick Kane before Cullen's forehand snapshot beat Crawford five-hole for the win. Patrick Sharp rang the post as he attempted to extend the shootout and keep the Hawks win streak alive.

Edmonton v Phoenix 2-1 - The Edmonton Oilers have left many NHL barns during the past few seasons with plenty of black-and-blue marks and no points. They are serving notice that the times might be changing, and their latest marquee draft pick is leading the way. Nail Yakupov, the first player taken in last June's NHL Draft, batted a power-play rebound just off the ice and into the net 3:52 in overtime, his fourth goal in his sixth NHL game, as the Oilers allowed the tying goal in the dying seconds of regulation but rebounded to beat the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 Wednesday night. Nick Johnson scored a 6-on-4 power play goal with 19 seconds left in regulation to earn the Coyotes a point, but Yakupov's third power-play goal of the season earned Edmonton the extra point. Lennart Petrell scored 4:51 into the game for Edmonton and goalie Devan Dubnyk made the lead stand up until Nick Johnson knocked in rebound on the doorstep after Phoenix pulled goaltender Chad Johnson for an extra attacker. But Phoenix center Antoine Vermette caught Edmonton's Jordan Eberle with a high stick 2:22 into overtime, Taylor Hall's shot caromed off teammate Ryan Whitney's hand and Yakupov was waiting. Phoenix had won five straight and 10 of the last 11 meetings with the Oilers dating back to the 2009-10 season. Dubnyk lost all four meetings with Phoenix last season and was 1-4-2 in seven career starts before making 27 saves this time. Chad Johnson, who shut out Nashville in his Phoenix debut on Monday, played well again with 19 saves. Phoenix played without five regulars including leading scorer Steve Sullivan, who missed the game with an upper-body injury. Despite dressing only 11 forwards, which forced coach Dave Tippett to mix and match lines all night, Phoenix (2-4-1) had several choice scoring chances but couldn't solve Dubnyk until Nick Johnson's late goal. The Oilers came into the game with the NHL's No. 1 power play, having scored 10 of their 14 goals with the man advantage. They came up empty on their first three chances Wednesday, but cashed in when they needed one to win. The Oilers took a quick lead when veteran Ryan Smyth, scoreless in his first five games, made a power move from behind the Phoenix net and put a backhand shot on net. Chad Johnson made the save, but Petrell charged up the slot for the rebound and put it up and over Johnson for his first goal of the season. The Coyotes pushed hard for the equalizer. Seconds after Sam Gagner hit the crossbar for Edmonton in the second period, Dubnyk made two huge saves – one on Alexandre Bolduc in the slot and another on Nick Johnson from just outside the blue paint to protect the lead. Early in the third period, Oliver Ekman-Larsson sent Vermette in alone with a long stretch pass, but Dubnyk outguessed the Phoenix center to make the stop with the blocker. Phoenix got one last chances when Gagner was called for interference with 1:46 left, and the Coyotes pulled Chad Johnson for a two-man skating advantage. It finally paid off when Radim Vrbata's backhander was stopped but the rebound deflected off David Moss and was left sitting for Nick Johnson to tie the game. Derek Morris hit the post for Phoenix before Vermette's high-sticking penalty led to Yakupov's game-winner. In addition to Sullivan, the Coyotes played without goalie Mike Smith (groin), forwards Martin Hanzal (lower body) and Raffi Torres (suspension) and defenseman Rostislav Klesla (lower body). Former Coyote Nikolai Khabibulin, now 40 years old, dressed as the backup goalie for Edmonton in his first game of the season.
Colorado v Vancouver 0-3 - Roberto Luongo was dissecting a start he didn't expect and another shutout for a team he thought he'd never play for again after last season when he spotted a Toronto reporter in the crowd gathered three deep around his locker stall. After losing the No.1 job to Cory Schneider just three games into the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring, Luongo figured he was finished in Vancouver, agreeing publicly to waive his no-trade clause to clear the path for his good friend to take over in the Canucks' net. Even after that trade failed to materialize and Luongo returned, he never expected to be back where he was Wednesday night, starting a second-straight game ahead of Schneider and making 24 saves to build on his franchise records for wins (225) and shutouts (33). The question now is whether he'll get a chance to build on it against rival Chicago on Friday. Coach Alain Vigneault said he'd announce his starter Thursday. Luongo couldn't remember the last time he didn't get to follow up a shutout, but insisted he isn't worried about it. Most expected Schneider, who has played well since getting pulled on opening night, to be back in goal Wednesday despite Luongo playing well in a 3-2 shootout loss in Los Angeles on Monday. Instead Luongo, a notorious slow starter, got a chance to build some momentum. After a lucky break in the opening minute, Luongo did just that. He made his best save on a shorthanded Matt Duchene breakaway early in the third period to keep Vancouver up by two, a big save for a team that has already blown three two-goal leads this season. He also got Jason Garrison's first goal as a Canuck, and fourth-line center Maxim Lapierre's first of the season before Zack Kassian rounded out the scoring with his fifth on a power play, moving Vancouver above .500 for the first time this season (3-2-2). The Avalanche have plenty to complain about after dropping a third-straight game and falling to 0-4 on the road this season, especially when it comes to health. Captain Gabriel Landeskog (head/leg) missed a second game after taking a big hit in San Jose last Saturday, and Colorado is also missing other top-six forwards Steve Downie (knee) and Ryan O'Reilly (contract holdout). That doesn't help a power play that had a great chance to get back in the game, but didn't manage a shot during an 85-second 5-on-3 advantage late in the period. Colorado failed on four chances overall, and fell to 1-for-19 on the power play this season. Some of their best came in the first five minutes. Luongo, though, was good, and lucky, when his team was outplayed early. Jan Hejda's point shot trickled through him and towards the goal line in the opening minute, but as Luongo spun back to cover it, the puck hit the knob on the end of his stick and straight into the crease. Jamie McGinn fired it right into the back of the sprawled goaltender. There was nothing lucky about his save on John Mitchell in the slot with 1:06 left to play to preserve his 61st career shutout, second only to New Jersey's Martin Brodeur on the active list and 16th all-time. Garrison considers himself lucky to be playing for the team he grew up cheering, even if the six-year, $27.6-million free agent contract he signed last summer after scoring 16 goals in Florida the year before comes with additional pressure. He eased some of it by opening the scoring on Vancouver's first shot 7:34 into the period, blasting a loose puck at the blue line through the legs of Semyon Varlamov. Lapierre doubled the lead with 4:48 left in the second period with a 2-on-1 shot through also through Varlamov's legs, and Kassian tapped in a perfect cross-ice pass on the power play from Dan Hamhuis five minutes after Luongo turned aside Duchene's breakaway.

Wed, 30 Jan - Fixtures

Montreal v Ottawa 7pm ET
Chicago v Minnesota 8pm ET
Edmonton v Phoenix 9.30pm ET
Colorado v Vancouver 10pm ET

Gameday 11 (Tue, 29 Jan) - Results

New Jersey v Boston 1-2 - The Boston Bruins missed Nathan Horton after he was knocked out of the lineup by his second concussion in seven months last January. A little more than a year later, the Bruins are reaping the rewards of another Horton comeback. Horton scored the tying goal with 4:05 remaining in regulation and the Bruins won a six-round shootout to defeat the New Jersey Devils, 2-1, at TD Garden on Tuesday night and improve to 5-0-1 on the season. The Devils remained unbeaten in regulation and are 3-0-2. Boston and New Jersey are the only Eastern Conference teams without a regulation loss. It's been impossible to tell that Horton went nearly a year between NHL games after his career-threatening injury suffered Jan. 22, 2012. He has five points (three goals) in the Bruins' six games. It took Horton until the Bruins' third game of the season to score his first goal, and he has now scored in back-to-back games. The Bruins won the shootout, 2-1, on goals by Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand. Seguin's goal came after a do-over because someone in the stands threw an object onto the ice during his first successful attempt against Devils goaltender Johan Hedberg. The officials used Rule 24.4 to make Seguin shoot again, and the speedster went to his backhand instead of the forehand he used to score the first time. In the sixth round, Marchand beat Hedberg five-hole before Tuukka Rask made a glove save on Marek Zidlicky. Hedberg, who did not play during the lockout, made his first start of the season spelling Martin Brodeur. The veteran proved that the Devils again boast one of the League's best goaltending tandems with a 27-save performance. The Bruins' run of 24 straight penalty kills to start the season, which they extended during the first period, came to a halt in the second when the Devils jumped on the scoreboard first. The Bruins left Zidlicky too much room to get off his slap shot from the left point, and David Clarkson tipped it past Rask. Throughout the night, the Bruins looked like a team playing the second half of a back-to-back for the first time in this condensed season. The Devils had a hand in the Bruins' struggle to get in sync. David Krejci led the rush on the Bruins' tying goal. After he received a return pass from Milan Lucic in a 3-on-3 situation, Krejci fed Horton for a snap shot through Hedberg's five-hole.

Toronto v Buffalo 4-3 - Matt Frattin is making the most of his opportunity with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored two goals, including the game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining in overtime, as the Maple Leafs beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at First Niagara Center on Tuesday. The 25-year-old right wing, who's gotten a chance at an NHL job after Joffrey Lupul went down with a broken forearm last week, has three goals and five points in three games after being recalled from the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. He earned the extra point for the Leafs when he broke down the left wing while being defended by Jordan Leopold, drove to the net and lifted the puck over goaltender Ryan Miller's right shoulder on his short side. The win even Toronto's record to 3-3-0 and snapped a two-game losing streak. The Sabres have now lost four in a row after starting the season 2-0-0. Sabres rookie center Mikhail Grigorenko tied the game at 7:40 of the third period when he scored his first NHL goal. Defenseman Mike Weber took a shot from the point that bounced back into the middle of the ice. Turned away from the net while in a battle with Toronto defenseman John-Michael Liles, Grigorenko reached out for the rebound and threw a backhand shot toward the goal. The shot beat Toronto goaltender James Reimer, and Grigorenko slid into the corner near the Zamboni entrance to celebrate. Grigorenko, Buffalo's first pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, learned Tuesday morning that he would not return to his club in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and would instead spend the rest of the season with the Sabres. Reimer made 29 saves in the win, including a stop on Steve Ott's breakaway late in the second period to preserve a 3-2 lead. The Maple Leafs are now 27-58-6-3 all-time in Buffalo, and a Toronto victory in Buffalo is usually tough to come by. Jay McClement opened the scoring for Toronto midway through the first period with his first goal of the season. Nazem Kadri, coming off the bench, wristed a shot on goal from inside the blue line and rang it off the crossbar. The puck ricocheted into the skates of McClement, who was cruising near the top of the crease. McClement controlled the puck and knocked it in past Miller's outstretched right leg. The goal was the first the Sabres have given up in the opening period this season. Sabres captain Jason Pominville tied the game on the power play with 5:32 left in the period thanks to some hard work in the crease by his linemate Thomas Vanek. Marcus Foligno put a shot on goal and Reimer kicked it back out into the commotion in the slot caused by Vanek. The puck came to Pominville and to his right, Tyler Ennis tapped his stick on the ice, calling for a pass. Pominville hesitated for only a moment before he took the shot and beat Reimer over his shoulder. Buffalo took a 2-1 lead 2:28 into the second period thanks to defenseman Andrej Sekera's top-shelf backhand. Sekera made a beeline to the net from the point and Drew Stafford found him with a pass from along the half-wall. Sekera took the puck to his backhand and roofed it over Reimer. The Maple Leafs tied the game 1:12 later when Frattin cashed in the rebound of a shot from defenseman Cody Franson for his first goal of the night after Miller left a juicy rebound. It took Toronto another 3:19 and another shot by Franson to regain the lead. With forward Tyler Bozak screening Miller, Franson wristed a low shot from the point that went past Miller's glove. Franson finished with a goal, an assist and a plus-3 rating. Miller turned aside 20 shots in the loss. Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta left the game late in the second period after being drilled from behind by Toronto forward Mike Brown. Brown drew a two-minute boarding penalty on the play and was enticed to fight by Weber. In addition to the fighting major, Weber received a minor penalty for instigating and a 10-minute misconduct. Brown played one shift after the fight and did not return to the game with an injury. Defensemen Robyn Regehr (lower-body injury) and Alexander Sulzer (healthy) and forward Nathan Gerbe were scratched for the Sabres. Weber and defenseman TJ Brennan made their season debuts. Defensemen Mike Komisarek (eye), Jake Gardiner (head/neck) and forward Clarke MacArthur (lacerated finger) were scratched for the Leafs. Both teams play Thursday. The Sabres travel to Boston to take on the Bruins while Toronto hosts the Washington Capitals.

Philadelphia v NY Rangers 1-2 - There was a lot to like about the New York Rangers' 2-1 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. For the second straight game, the Rangers put forth a solid 60-minute effort. They received contributions from their second and third lines, including a first-period goal from defenseman Michael Del Zotto less than two minutes into the game. Even the much-maligned power play came through what turned out to be the deciding goal, as Ryan Callahan powered home a rebound for just the Rangers' third goal with a man advantage this season in 24 opportunities. But the sweet taste of improving to .500 was replaced by bitterness afterward, as Callahan was forced to leave the game with what appeared to be a left shoulder injury after dropping the gloves with the Flyers' Max Talbot early in the third period. Rangers coach John Tortorella had no update on Callahan after the game and said he would be re-evaluated Wednesday. Talbot said he could tell right away that something wasn't right as he and Callahan started to fight but only picked up two minutes each for roughing. Callahan's absence over the final 15:18 was immediately noticeable, as a two-goal lead was cut in half when Kimmo Timonen scored on a power play 2:27 after Callahan exited. Timonen found himself alone in the slot and wristed a perfect shot that beat Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who was fantastic in making 27 saves, over the catching glove. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov did everything he could to give the Flyers a chance to tie the game late, stopping a Carl Hagelin breakaway with 1:25 remaining in the third period. He made 27 saves in all, nine in each period. Danny Briere had a game-high 10 shots on Lundqvist, who played his best game since the season-opener in Boston. The Flyers had a chance to make it 2-1 midway through the second period with a 5-on-3 power play for 1:17, as Brad Richards and Derek Stepan took penalties 43 seconds apart. At no point did the Rangers clear the zone during those two minutes of shorthanded time, but they did everything they could to disrupt passes and obstruct shooting lanes. At one point during his nearly two-minute shift, Rangers forward Jeff Halpern lost his stick. The Flyers put just two shots on net, had two more shots blocked and Claude Giroux missed the net with a one-timed cannon from just above the faceoff circles during a golden opportunity that went for naught. Del Zotto's second goal of the season was also just the Rangers' third goal in six games that didn't come with either Richards, Marian Gaborik or Rick Nash on the ice. Scoring depth has been a problem in the early going with the Rangers putting their best three forwards on one line, but the second and third line had their best game of the season. Callahan, Hagelin, Stepan, Boyle, Taylor Pyatt and Benn Ferriero combined for 12 shots and had another five attempts blocked or miss the net. Even the Rangers' defensemen stepped up with 10 shots on net. For all the attack time, they only generated the one even-strength goal, but it was another step in the right direction. How the potential long-term loss of Callahan affects the club remains to be seen. Even with his game cut short Tuesday, Callahan averages 20 minutes of ice time per game. He is the Rangers' No. 1 penalty-killing forward, averaging 3:26 of ice time per game in those situations. He is tied for the team lead in hits with Boyle at 37, and with the Rangers already thin at forward, they'd miss his goal-scoring ability perhaps most of all. The Rangers almost had a two-goal lead evaporate in just 15 minutes without Callahan. If he isn't available for Thursday's home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, their mettle will be put to the test.

Winnipeg v Montreal 3-4 - These are not last season's Montreal Canadiens, and the two rookie additions to the team are a big reason there's a difference. Tomas Plekanec snapped a 3-3 tie with a power-play goal at 5:31 of the third period as the Canadiens picked up their fourth straight win Tuesday night, 4-3 over the Winnipeg Jets, whose three-game win streak ended. Brendan Gallagher scored in a second straight game and added an assist to be named the first star, and the second star was fellow rookie Alex Galchenyuk, the No 3 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft who picked up two assists for a second game in a row. Galchenyuk has five points in five games to sit fourth in NHL rookie scoring, and Gallagher is one spot behind his linemate with four points in four games. Galchenyuk and Gallagher have combined for seven points in the past two games playing on a line with Brandon Prust, though Therrien put them with Erik Cole on the power play Tuesday night. The two roomed together through training camp and developed a quick friendship that appears to be translating to the ice. The Canadiens gave up a two-goal lead for a second straight game but managed to pick up the victory in spite of goaltender Carey Price's first difficult outing of the season, allowing three goals on 21 shots. The team made a bad habit of not only losing leads last season, but also losing those games. That hasn't been the case this season. Rene Bourque and Cole also scored for the Canadiens (4-1-0), who will travel to face the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday to complete the team's first set of back-to-back games this season. Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov continued his torrid start to the season with two assists on the power play, giving him seven power-play points on the Canadiens' eight goals scored with the man advantage. Winnipeg's Blake Wheeler scored his third goal in four games, and Nik Antropov and Olli Jokinen each scored their first of the season for the Jets (3-2-1), who lost for the first time this season when allowing the game's first goal (3-1-0). Ondrej Pavelec gave up four goals for the second time in five starts this season, stopping 22 shots to put his record at 2-2-1. The Jets have lost all three games they have played at the Bell Centre since moving back to Winnipeg at the beginning of last season, and have lost four of five against the Canadiens overall. With the game tied 3-3 in the third period, Plekanec took a what appeared to be a harmless wrist shot from the right faceoff circle, except the puck deflected off Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey's skate and in to give Montreal the lead. Consecutive penalties to Prust for goaltender interference and embellishment midway through the third period gave the Jets a great opportunity to tie the game, but they were unable to take advantage and saw their record on the road drop to 1-1-1. The Canadiens jumped out to a 2-0 lead for a fourth straight game in the first period. Bourque scored his first of the season on a power play off a feed from Markov at 8:04, one-timing a shot past Pavelec. Gallagher made it 2-0 when he rifled a shot under the crossbar on Pavelec's glove side at 14:22. Wheeler cut the lead in half on a Jets power play at 16:10 when his slap shot from the right faceoff circle squeezed through Price and trickled over the line. The Jets tied it in the second period when Antropov scored three seconds after a Jets power play expired, converting a rebound with Price caught out of position at 3:32. Jokinen gave Winnipeg the lead when he snapped a shot high on the stick side at 11:48. But Cole tied it 3-3 off a goalmouth scramble for his first of the season, three seconds after a Canadiens power play ended.

Washington v Ottawa 2-3 - Even withoutf first-line center Jason Spezza, the Ottawa Senators managed to get the job done. Sergei Gonchar's power-play goal with 2:30 left in the game gave the Senators a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Place. Ottawa trailed 2-0 and played without Spezza, who was out with an upper-body injury. He will be re-evaluated and his status for Wednesday's game against the Montreal Canadiens is still unknown, according to coach Paul MacLean. Jim O'Brien and Milan Michalek also scored for Ottawa (4-1-1). Troy Brouwer and Matt Hendricks had the goals for Washington (1-4-1). Ottawa's Craig Anderson made 31 saves for his fourth win of the season, including a point-blank stop on Mike Ribeiro with 39.7 seconds left. Other Senators made an attempt to step up, with the team's fourth line of O'Brien, Mika Zibanejad (making his season debut) and Erik Condra spending the most time in the offensive zone. Washington maintained pressure on the Ottawa defense and broke through halfway through the first period. Wojtek Wolski capitalized on a giveaway by Latendresse and skated up the left wing with the puck. He dished to Brouwer in front of the net, where he sent a backhander past Anderson's stick at 13:15. The Capitals made it 2-0 coming off a power play, when Jay Beagle's shot from the right half boards was deflected by Hendricks past Anderson's left shoulder at 17:43. Ottawa's fourth line put the Senators on the board in the second period. O'Brien tipped the puck to Zibanejad through the neutral zone, and the center quickly dished it to Condra. Zibanejad and O'Brien then sped to the net. Zibanejad occupied Jason Chimera's attention while Condra turned and skated cross-ice. Once on the right side, Condra passed it back to O'Brien, who redirected the pass underneath a stretched-out Michal Neuvirth at 18:37. A quick strike by Ottawa early in the third period tied the game 2-2. Washington's Nicklas Backstrom won a faceoff, but Michalek beat Tomas Kudratek to the puck and backhanded it past Neuvirth at 2:20. The Capitals were not able to recover after the Senators grabbed the momentum, and it was a bitter pill to swallow for the Caps, who dominated most of the first two periods.

NY Islanders v Pittsburgh 4-1 - Even at 22, John Tavares is wise enough to acknowledge that victories in the NHL never come easy. His New York Islanders, though, sure made things difficult on the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday night. Matt Moulson had a goal and an assist, Evgeni Nabokov made 37 saves and New York used its speed and sound defensive hockey to beat Pittsburgh, 4-1. The victory was the Islanders' second consecutive in Pittsburgh since snapping a 13-game road skid to the Penguins. New York did not win at either Mellon Arena or the Consol Energy Center between Dec. 21, 2007 and March 27, 2012. Casey Cizikas had his first NHL goal and Michael Grabner also scored for the Islanders (3-2-1), who have at least a point in four of their past five games. Nabokov was rarely challenged seriously and narrowly missed his 53rd career shutout when Pascal Dupuis scored with 1:09 to play. Still, Nabokov improved to 10-2 in his career against Pittsburgh, the beneficiary of a defensive effort that included killing off nine minutes of Penguins’ power-play time and otherwise frustrated and rendered the Penguins' high-powered offense impotent. Pittsburgh, the Eastern Conference's lone winless team at home, has lost three of four. The Penguins have managed only six regulation goals in their past four games, none from outside their "Big Three" of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal until Dupuis' late tally Tuesday. That goal allowed the Penguins to avoid being shut out at home for the first time since March 12, 2011. The only time the Penguins appeared to be seizing momentum of Tuesday's game came late in the second period. Already down 2-0, Pittsburgh's lengthy shift in the Islanders' zone got the record crowd of 18,657 into the game. But the Penguins promptly took two penalties, each of which led to Islanders' power-play tallies that all but put the game away. First was a Tavares goal for the second consecutive game, the pretty culmination of a near-perfect sequence of passing during a textbook New York power play. Moulson slid a one-touch pass across the slot to Tavares, who beat Marc-Andre Fleury high to the stick side as the goaltender slid the opposite way. Less than two minutes later, Moulson scored for the fourth time in four games, burying a puck left for him while he stood alone in the slot. Brad Boyes corralled a puck off the boards and dropped it for Moulson. Any thought Pittsburgh had of getting back into the contest was extinguished when it couldn't score during the resulting power play after a Colin McDonald five-minute boarding major not long after Moulson's goal. A scratch for Sunday's Islanders overtime loss at Winnipeg, Cizikas scored his first NHL goal 16:01 into the contest when he blocked a Paul Martin clearing attempt from the corner to the right of the Penguins' net, took possession of the puck and beat Fleury on a wraparound on the far post. Grabner made it 2-0 less than seven minutes into the second when he stole the puck from Deryk Engelland at the left point in the Islanders' zone and used his speed to get a clean breakaway. Fleury got a piece of Grabner's wrist shot, but it flipped up over his shoulder and into the net for Grabner's team-high fourth of the season. That would be more than enough for an Islanders’ defense that limited its own giveaways (New York had two, compared with the Penguins' 11) as well as it limited Pittsburgh's quality scoring chances. New York's blue line was buoyed by the presence of Travis Hamonic, who sustained a lower-body injury Sunday and was somewhat of a surprise at the morning skate Tuesday. With 22 goals in six games, the Islanders rank second in the Eastern Conference in scoring. It's early, but they have the look of a team that's poised to break the mold of the one that's saddled by five consecutive last-place finishes in an Atlantic Division that produced the conference's top three regular-season teams in addition to the Stanley Cup Final representative last season. Even against a team led by two recent Hart Trophy winners in Crosby and Malkin, one that hadn't lost two consecutive home games to the Islanders in more than a decade.

Florida v Tampa Bay 2-5 - The Tampa Bay Lightning are getting goals from their big guns. But they're also getting the kind of secondary scoring that makes teams successful. Steven Stamkos had a goal and extended his points streak to six games. But rookie Cory Conacher and the unlikely third-line duo of Tom Pyatt and Dana Tyrell each had a goal and assist as the Lightning remained unbeaten at home by beating the Florida Panthers 5-2 on Tuesday night. The Lightning, the NHL's highest-scoring team in the early going, delighted their fourth straight sellout crowd of 19,204 as they improved to 5-1-0 overall and 4-0-0 at home. The Lightning jumped ahead on their first extra-man opportunity of the game when Stamkos took a pass from Martin St. Louis just outside the crease to the left of goaltender Jose Theodore and put home his own rebound for his fourth goal. Last season's Rocket Richard Trophy winner has 11 points and at least one in all six of the Lightning's games. That lead held up for only 15 seconds as Peter Mueller picked off a pass in the Lightning end and beat goaltender Anders Lindback for his second of the season. Conacher put Tampa Bay ahead to stay 85 seconds later when he took a perfect breakout pass from Victor Hedman and barreled in on Theodore with defenseman Mike Weaver hanging on his back. Conacher moved the puck from his backhand to his forehand and shot back across Theodore for the goal. Pyatt and Tyrell went to work in the second period as the Lightning extended their lead to 4-1. Pyatt stuck first, just 3:18 into the period, when he got his stick on a bouncing pass from Tyrell and directed the puck passed Theodore. At 15:39 it was Tyrell's turn, as he took a centering pass from behind the net from Pyatt and whacked the puck past Theodore for his first goal of the season. Benoit Pouliot had the other assist. Vincent Lecavalier added some insurance in the third period, blasting a pass from Pouliot past Theodore at 14:13 for a power-play goal, Tampa Bay's ninth in 30 chances. Tomas Fleischmann added a shorthanded goal for Florida 18 seconds after Lecavalier's goal. Lindback stopped 26 shots for his third consecutive victory. Theodore, who's lost four of his five decisions, made 28 saves. The loss was the Panthers' fifth in a row after they opened the season by whipping Carolina. The frustration of losing was evident in the dressing room. The Panthers will get another chance to break out of the slump on Thursday when they host the Winnipeg Jets, who come to Tampa on Friday. There is no question that Boucher is pleased with how his team has broken out of the gate this season, but he is still calling for improvement.

Dallas v Detroit 1-4 - The combination of Pavel Datsyuk to Valtteri Filppula was too much for the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. Datsyuk set up two goals by Filppula with a pair of slick passes as the Detroit Red Wings avenged a loss to Dallas a week earlier with a solid 4-1 victory at Joe Louis Arena. The Wings, annually among NHL leaders in fewest fighting majors, took two in the first period, both by Jordin Tootoo. He fought Eric Nystrom three seconds into the game and tangled with Brenden Dillon later in the period. The Stars grabbed the lead midway through the second period when Loui Eriksson knocked a rebound past Jimmy Howard. But the Datsyuk-to-Filppula combination tied the game at 13:24. Henrik Zetterberg put the Wings ahead to stay when he scored a 5-on-3 power-play goal with 24 seconds left in the period. Rookie Damien Brunner made it a 3-1 game by beating Kari Lehtonen at 6:15 of the third period, and Filppula scored again off a feed from Datsyuk 23 seconds later. Howard finished with 25 saves. Lehtonen, the star of Dallas' 2-1 win in Detroit last Tuesday, surrendered four goals on 25 shots before being lifted for Richard Backman late in the final period. It was the first time in Dallas' seven games this season that the margin of victory was more than one goal. They kept it close through two periods but appeared to run out of gas in the third.

Columbus v Minnesota 2-3 - Missing for the better part of five games, the Minnesota Wild's secondary scoring showed up just in the nick of time. Playing on their heels after blowing a 2-0 first period lead against the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday night at Xcel Energy Center, Minnesota's Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored his 100th career goal with 5:19 to play in regulation, propelling the Wild to a 3-2 victory, snapping a three-game losing streak for the home team. Bouchard's game-winner was a thing of beauty which started way back in the defensive zone, when he passed to defenseman Justin Falk standing near the Wild bench. Falk send a cross-ice pass to Torrey Mitchell at the offensive blue line, who dished back to a charging Bouchard entering the zone. He sent a wrister over a sprawling Steve Mason for his second of the season. The goal was also the first by a Wild forward not named Zach Parise, Dany Heatley or Mikko Koivu since the season opener against Colorado 10 days ago. For Bouchard, scoring his 100th goal has been a long time coming. The 28-year old scored 77 goals over his first six seasons in the National Hockey League. But concussions have limited the slick-skating winger to just 97 games over the last three seasons. Sitting just 23 goals shy of 100 following the 2008-09 season, it's taken almost four years to finally reach the milestone. Bouchard's return to health is also a harbinger of good things for Minnesota, which improved to 66-19-6 all-time in games Bouchard has scored a goal, including 2-0 this season. After a back-and-forth first few minutes, Minnesota grabbed control of the game. Koivu scored his second goal in as many games by gathering in a rebound of a Jonas Brodin shot, wheeling around the right circle and backhanding a shot from behind the goal line off Mason's leg pad and in at 9:23. That goal seemed to break Columbus, as the Jackets struggled to create any offense for the next period and a half. Nine minutes later, Minnesota went ahead 2-0 after a Koivu shot from the slot deflected off James Wisniewski's skate right to a crashing Tom Gilbert at the right circle. His wrister beat Mason for his second goal of the season and fifth point in six games. After that, Mason was brilliant, stoning several other Grade-A chances the rest of the way to keep the Jackets alive. Columbus made it pay off. A goal late in the second by Mark Letestu made it 2-1 before a power-play tally by Jack Johnson early in the third knotted the game at 2-2. Richards was frustrated with his team's effort, saying the final result was what the team probably deserved. On the other bench, Minnesota coach was please with his team's first 40 minutes. But a parade to the box in the third, reminiscent of the team's performance Sunday in St. Louis, which allowed the Blues to come from behind in a 5-4 loss, was a little disturbing. Backstrom made 17 saves to earn his second win of the season. Mason made 23 saves in the loss. Minnesota will return to home ice Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks, undefeated this season and well rested, having not played since Sunday. The Blue Jackets begin a crucial six-game homestand Thursday against St. Louis.
Anaheim v San Jose 2-3 - It took a shootout, but the San Jose Sharks kept their perfect record alive Tuesday night at HP Pavilion, beating the Anaheim Ducks 3-2. Sharks center Michal Handzus scored the only goal in the shootout, beating Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller in the first round. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi went 3-for-3 in the competition, as Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne all failed to find the back of the net. Trailing 2-1 entering the third period, the Sharks pulled even at 17:15 on Logan Couture's fourth goal of the season. Scott Gomez dropped a pass behind him to Couture, who rifled a shot from the right circle through the legs of Hiller and into the net. Joe Pavelski also scored for the Sharks, who improved to 6-0-0 despite being outshot 30-18. Niemi made 28 saves. Handzus entered the game with a career shootout percentage of 50 percent, connecting 16 times in 32 attempts with seven game-deciders. He enhanced his reputation as the Sharks' go-to guy on the shootout. Patrick Marleau's five-game streak of games with a goal came to an end, but he had an assist. The Ducks (3-1-1) had goals from Francois Beauchemin and Matt Beleskey. The Sharks nearly ended things early in overtime when Marleau went on a rush and fired a shot from the slot, but Hiller made a glove save. Moments later, Joe Thornton unleashed a shot from close range, but it went just left of the post. With just under two minutes left, Perry had a great scoring chance from right of the crease, but he misfired. The Sharks were outshot 13-4 in the first period but owned a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Pavelski scored his third goal of the season at 9:46 of the first as the Sharks top line delivered yet again and San Jose scored first for the fifth straight game. Marleau got the puck in the Sharks' zone and Thornton, streaking the other way along the left boards. Thornton zipped a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Pavelski, who ripped a shot inside the right post past Hiller. Thornton, Marleau and Pavelski entered the game with a combined 36 points and added to their impressive totals. Niemi, who gave up just one goal Sunday against Vancouver, stopped everything that came his way in the first period and helped kill the Sharks' only penalty. The Ducks struck twice in a span of 59 seconds midway through the second period to take a 2-1 lead on goals by Beauchemin and Beleskey. Beauchemin scored shortly after Couture nearly scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway. Hiller won that battle, but it appeared as if Ducks defenseman Sheldon Souray might have gotten away with a hook from behind that disrupted Couture's timing. After Couture missed, the Ducks stormed the other way, and Beauchemin ripped a sharp-angled shot from along the left boards that bounced off of Niemi and into the net at 8:40 of the second. Saku Koivu and Ryan earned the assists. Beleskey made it 2-1 at 9:39, taking a pass in the low slot from Getzlaf and firing a rocket past Niemi. Former Shark Daniel Winnik, who earned an assist, made it all possible when he won a battle for the puck along the boards and got it to Getzlaf. The Sharks had 12 power play goals in their first five games, but they didn't go on a power play Tuesday until 17:15 of the second period, and the Ducks killed that attempt. At the end of the second, Anaheim owned a 21-10 edge in shots. The Sharks were without veteran defenseman Dan Boyle, who, according to the team, missed the game with the flu. Although Boyle missed the morning skate, McLellan said then that he fully expected him to play. Boyle also missed the third period Sunday against Vancouver with what McLellan described as a nose bleed that trainers had trouble stopping. Sharks rookie defenseman Nick Petrecki, a first-round pick in the 2007 NHL Draft, replaced Boyle and made his NHL debut. Ducks forward Emerson Etem, a first-round draft pick in 2010, also made his NHL debut, skating on the fourth line.

Tue, 29 Jan - Fixtures

New Jersey v Boston 7pm ET
Toronto v Buffalo 7pm ET
Philadelphia v NY Rangers 7pm ET
Winnipeg v Montreal 7.30pm ET
Washington v Ottawa 7.30pm ET
NY Islanders v Pittsburgh 7.30pm ET
Florida v Tampa Bay 7.30pm ET
Dallas v Detroit 7.30pm ET
Columbus v Minnesota 8pm ET
Anaheim v San Jose 10.30pm ET

Gameday 10 (Mon, 28 Jan) - Results

Boston v Carolina 5-3 - After being swept by the Hurricanes last season, the Bruins battled through a wide-open game, with David Krejci scoring from the left doorstep for the go-ahead goal with 1:50 remaining in a 5-3 win at PNC Arena on Monday night. In a 48-game season that puts a premium on a fast start, the Bruins are 4-0-1. On a night when the Bruins found the net with skillful plays, they saved the best for the game-winner. After Nathan Horton's near miss in close, Dougie Hamilton gathered the puck and sent it through the slot to Krejci for the easy finish. For Hamilton, it capped an evening of good news. He was told prior to the game that he will remain with Boston, rather than return to Niagara of the Ontario Hockey League. Despite a strong start, the Bruins let a 3-1 second-period lead slip away. Jeff Skinner and Eric Staal scored 50 seconds apart late in the period, putting the Bruins on their heels. Boston had plenty of jump to start the game. Zdeno Chara put his offensive skills on display with two smart plays that put Carolina in a 2-0 hole after six-plus minutes. First, Chara fired a diagonal pass from the left point to Brad Marchand in right circle for a short-handed goal, then lifted a wrister from the blue line through traffic that found the top shelf. Jamie McBain cut the lead to one when he redirected a pass in the slot to beat Anton Khudobin, who made his first start of the season in goal. The two teams traded chances for most of the second period, but the Bruins put their perfect short-handed unit on display three times, including a stretch of 3:44 consecutively. With seven more penalty kills, Boston has now killed all 24 chances this season. When Nathan Horton circled through the neutral zone and beat two Hurricanes along the boards for his second goal of the season, it looked like the Bruins had seized control of the game. That's when Skinner extended his goal-scoring streak to four games and Staal scored his fourth in the last three games. Suddenly, the game was back to even. The Hurricanes, who were coming off a sweep of back-to-back games with Buffalo, had defensive breakdowns on three of the first four Boston goals. For the Bruins, the win erases a bad memory, going winless a year ago against a team the failed to make the playoffs.

Dallas v Columbus 1-2 - The winless skid is over for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Vinny Prospal broke a 1-1 tie just 1:22 into the third period, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves as the Jackets ended a four-game slide with a 2-1 win against the Dallas Stars at Nationwide Arena on Monday night. Eleven of Bobrovsky's stops came in the third period, as the newcomer helped his club win for the first time since a 3-2 shootout victory at Nashville on opening night. Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves for the Stars, who have played six consecutive one-goal games to begin the season, losing the last three. Philip Larsen had the lone goal for Dallas. The Blue Jackets took the lead for good when Prospal collected the puck in the right corner and fired a shot along the goal line that appeared to catch Lehtonen by surprise, slipping into the net. Bobrovsky preserved the lead with a terrific stop on Michael Ryder's one-timer from the right hash midway through the period, just before Columbus' Adrian Aucoin hit a post with a slap shot. Jamie Benn saw his first action of the season for the Stars, who have lost three in a row. He signed a five-year, $26.5-million contract last week. Jaromir Jagr, needing just one goal to break a tie with Luc Robitaille (667 goals) to move into 10th on the all-time list, returned to the Dallas lineup after missing one game with a sore back. Larsen scored his first goal of the season on the power play at 4:13, rocketing a shot from the right point that slipped between two players to befuddle Bobrovsky, who was screened on the play. Benn picked up an assist. Soon after, Vernon Fiddler picked up two minors for a hook and high sticking on the same sequence. Then Tom Wandell gloved the puck in the defensive zone and was called for delay of game, giving the Blue Jackets a full two-man advantage. The Stars' defense completely shut down the power play, limiting Columbus to passes back and forth out front, but no real scoring chances. Despite generating no offense when they had a man advantage, the Blue Jackets then tied it at even strength. Artem Anisimov carried the puck up the left wing through the neutral zone and dropped a pass to Fedor Tyutin, who sent a perfect setup to Dorsett at the left dot for a one-timer that beat Lehtonen. Lehtonen made a spectacular save in the opening minute of the second. Jack Johnson deked and then fired a shot that Lehtonen got a piece of, the puck flipping over his shoulder. He reached back with his glove to make the grab as the puck was going into the net. The Stars' penalty kill also dominated the opening period. Perfect in all six opportunities coming in when on the road and a man down, the Stars stifled the Blue Jackets, who had three power plays.

Nashville v Phoenix 0-4 - A week ago, the plan was for goalie Chad Johnson to spend the American Hockey League All-Star break relaxing in the Northeast with his parents and twin brother, Curtis. An injury to Phoenix Coyotes starting goalie Mike Smith forced a Plan B, and two lackluster efforts from backup Jason LaBarbera had the entire Johnson clan together almost 3,000 miles to the Southwest at Jobing.com Arena, watching their son and brother notch his first NHL shutout. Johnson was handed a 1-0 lead three minutes into play and that was all he needed, stopping all 21 shots by the Nashville Predators, as the Coyotes broke out of an early-season malaise with a textbook, 4-0 win, just their second in six tries to open the season. Keith Yandle had a goal and two assists and Nick Johnson, no relation, scored his first goal as a Coyote and added an assist as Phoenix played the kinds of suffocating, system hockey that took them past Nashville and all the way to the Western Conference Finals last year. Antoine Vermette and Lauri Korpikoski continued their early offensive sparks with a goal each. But it was Johnson and the Phoenix defense that stole the show as the Coyotes, who had allowed 20 goals in their first five games, got back to what they do best. The Coyotes were hoping to have both center Martin Hanzal and defenseman Rostislav Klesla ready to play, but both were unable to answer the bell before the game. Smith could be back as early as the weekend from his groin injury, but there might be less urgency for the moment. Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, who lost here three times as the Coyotes beat the Predators in last year's playoffs, made 21 saves but allowed a goal to Vermette on the first shot he saw three minutes into play and Nashville chased the rest of the way. Playing without leading scorer Patric Hornqvist, who suffered a lower-body injury in an overtime loss at Anaheim on Saturday, the Predators have now scored just 10 goals in their first six games and just three in even-strength situations. Chad Johnson was tested more in the second period, stopping Martin Erat in close and denying Weber and Colin Wilson on bang-bang shots. And after a two lackluster power plays, the Coyotes doubled their lead. Rinne stopped a shot from the point, but Boyd Gordon pushed the rebound to Korpikoski, who popped in his 50th career NHL goal at 16:48. Nick Johnson made it 3-0 at 11:34 of the third, breaking up a play on one end and finishing a Yandle feed in the other for his first goal as a Coyotes. Yandle wrapped up his three-point night by pounding home an Oliver Ekman-Larsson feed from the point on the power play at 15:02.

Colorado v Edmonton 1-4 - The Edmonton Oilers showed the Colorado Avalanche just how lethal their power play is on Monday night. Ales Hemsky scored one of four power-play goals as the Oilers cruised to a 4-1 win at Rexall Place against the Avs, who were playing without injured captain Gabriel Landeskog. Jordan Eberle, Shawn Horcoff and Nail Yakupov also scored for Edmonton, which entered the game having not led at any point this season prior to Hemsky's tally. Devan Dubnyk made 37 saves for the Oilers; 23 of them came in the third period. PA Parenteau replied for the Avalanche (2-3-0), who have lost two in a row to start a four-game road trip. Landeskog did not play after receiving a hard hit from San Jose Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart on Saturday. Edmonton opened the scoring with five minutes left to play in the first on the tail end of a power play. Hemsky swooped in and swatted a puck past Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov (23 saves) during a scramble in front of the net. The Oilers added another power-play goal with two minutes left in the period as Eberle picked the top corner on a shot from the top of the circle for his third of the season. Edmonton had 14 shots in the first while Colorado only managed three on Dubnyk. The Oilers took a three-goal lead midway through the second period on yet another man-advantage opportunity as Hall's shot hit Horcoff's skate in front and squeaked past Varlamov. Colorado had its best chance to that point of the game a minute later as Jamie McGinn had Dubnyk beat, but rang a shot off the post. Persistent pressure by the Avalanche in the third finally paid off eight minutes in as Parenteau fired a shot under Dubnyk's pads at the side of the net to make it 3-1. Yakupov scored his third of the season on yet another power play with 30 seconds left and Varlamov on the Colorado bench for an extra attacker.

Vancouver v Los Angeles 2-3 - The Roberto Luongo feel-good revenge story died a slow death over the final 25-plus minutes Monday at Staples Center. His teammates played a large role, but fingerprints were found on a Los Angeles Kings squad that forged resiliency and extended the script from last season's Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 3-2 shootout victory. Jeff Carter scored in the third round before Jonathan Quick sealed a gutty finish for Los Angeles, which erased a 2-0 deficit in the second period with 43 seconds left in regulation. The Kings allowed only three shots on goal in the third period and survived a frantic overtime to get the win in the first meeting of the teams since the eighth-seeded Kings upset the Presidents' Trophy winning Canucks last April. Sutter seems to be getting his team back up to speed after a 0-2-1 start. The Kings ended an 0-for-25 power-play slump and took only three penalties. The Vancouver-revenge subplot seemed superfluous for the defending champions. The normally media-guarded Quick moved his bags midway through his postgame scrum so reporters could get closer. It was an odd juxtaposition to Luongo, the soon-to-be traded goalie who was oh-so-close to avenging a loss in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Luongo was left somewhat helpless in that first round loss when Vancouver had no answer for L.A.'s forecheck and allowed seven goals in the first two games, essentially forcing a franchise change to Cory Schneider. Luongo didn't get much help from his teammates late this time, either. He was poised for a win with 26 stops, but L.A. forced overtime with 43 seconds left when Slava Voynov one-timed Anze Kopitar's pass from the right point. The puck trickled through traffic and found the back of the net. Luongo was sharp early with a terrific left-to-right sliding stop on Jarret Stoll and a stoning of Dustin Brown in the second period. Luongo also backstopped the first two penalty kills. The end of L.A.'s power play drought couldn't have come at a better time for the Kings, down 2-0 late in the second when Christopher Tanev was called for high sticking. Mike Richards' attempt at a loose puck deflected to open ice for Carter, who whacked it through Luongo from the right side. Los Angeles probably deserved it after it spent much of the first 35 minutes of the game in Vancouver's zone, but got nothing out of it. The Kings moved the puck well on their second power play, but managed to add two more scoreless tries to the streak. Meanwhile, Vancouver converted on the few early chances it saw. Burrows took the puck from Chris Higgins behind the Kings' net and eluded Rob Scuderi for a wraparound past Quick's left pad for a 2-0 lead at 4:05 of the second. That ended the scoring for Vancouver, which is now in an 0-for-10 slump on the power play. The Canucks concluded three games played in four nights. Kassian tapped in a rebound on Edler's slap shot in the first to quiet the home crowd. Manny Malhotra returned to the lineup for Vancouver after he went home for family reasons and won five of eight draws.

Mon, 28 Jan - Fixtures

Boston v Carolina 7pm ET
Dallas v Columbus 7pm ET
Nashville v Phoenix 9pm ET
Colorado v Edmonton 9.30pm ET
Vancouver v Los Angeles 10.30pm ET

Gameday 9 (Sun, 27 Jan) - Results

Buffalo v Washington 2-3 - Alex Ovechkin opened his scoring account for the 2012-13 season, and it went a long way to ensure the Washington Capitals are no longer winless. Ovechkin's first tally of the season proved to be the game-winner in a 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon for the Capitals against the Buffalo Sabres at Verizon Center. Washington became the last team in the NHL to claim a victory this season, while the Sabres dropped their third straight game. The victory is the first as an NHL head coach for Adam Oates. Joel Ward and Jason Chimera had two points each, while Michal Neuvirth had another strong start in net with 23 saves. Ryan Miller made 28 saves for Buffalo, but the offense sagged without top scorer Thomas Vanek. Ovechkin potted his first of the season with his team on the power play at 5:11 of the third period to give Washington a 3-1 lead. One of the alterations Oates has made is shifting the Capitals into more of a 1-3-1 look on the power play, and that has moved Ovechkin down from the left point to an area near the top of the circle. That's where he was to receive a pass from Mike Green for a one-time blast past Miller. John Erskine gave the Capitals only their second lead of the season at 3:18 of the second period. His shot from the left point hit a couple of Buffalo players on the way in, and moved enough to fool Miller. Erskine had not scored a goal since Game 4 of the second round of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and this was his first in the regular sesaon since April 5, 2011. Tyler Ennis put the Sabres in front at 9:34 of the opening period. A Washington turnover gave Buffalo an odd-man rush on the counterattack, and Ennis flipped a backhander shot past Neuvirth after a pass from Steve Ott. It was Ennis' first tally of the season, and only the third this season by someone not on Buffalo's top line. Vanek, Cody Hodgson and Jason Pominville have three each for the Sabres, but Vanek was out of the lineup because of a muscle strain. Ward has been the closest thing to an offensive force for the Capitals in this early season, and he collected his third goal of the campaign to level the score. Ward got between two Buffalo defenders in the slot, and he was able to put home the rebound of a Chimera shot from near the goal line to the left of Miller. Ward now has three goals this season, while no other Washington player has more than one. He has five points to lead the team, while Chimera, who had two assists in this contest, and Mike Ribeiro have four each. Those three have been together on a line for the past two games. Without Vanek, the Sabres' offense struggled, especially during a second period that featured only six shots on net for the road team. Marcus Foligno did cut Washington's lead to 3-2 midway through the third period. Foligno set up at the top of the crease and muscled his way to a rebound goal at 10:13. It was his first of the season after producing six (and seven assists) in 14 games after being called up late in the 2011-12 campaign. Ovechkin missed a chance to make it a two-goal game when his shot at an empty net hit the side of the goal in the final minute.

Pittsburgh v Ottawa 2-1 - James Neal scored in regulation and again in the shootout and Evgeni Malkin sealed the deal in the breakaway competition as the Pittsburgh Penguins earned a 2-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place on Sunday night. Ottawa controlled the play through the early part of the game, but the Penguins (3-2-0) struck first, when Malkin picked off a long breakout pass by Zack Smith. Malkin blew past Smith along the left boards, then sent a cross-ice pass to Neal, who one-timed a rocket past Craig Anderson's glove hand at 13:31 in the first period. Less than a minute later, the Penguins nearly went up 2-0 when Brandon Sutter snuck up on Anderson and almost slipped a backhanded shot past his left pad. The puck went wide of the post at the last second, and the Ottawa crowd breathed an audible sigh of relief. Ottawa almost tied the game in the dying seconds of the period, when on a shorthanded breakaway, Erik Condra tore up the ice into the Penguins' zone. But Kris Letang caught Condra before the Ottawa forward was able to get a decent shot on Fleury (31 saves). The Senators would tie the game in the second period, when Jason Spezza's shot on Fleury from the top of the left circle hit the goaltender in the chest, allowing Fleury to cradle the puck in his arms. He then dropped the puck, and Greening was able to capitalize on a tap-in in front of the net at 13:44. Sidney Crosby almost put the Penguins up 2-1 when a giveaway by Erik Karlsson along the boards was picked up by the Pittsburgh captain. Crosby fired a wrist shot on Anderson, but the goaltender saw the puck in time to make the stick save. Neal, Crosby and Malkin all beat Anderson in the shootout. Fleury denied Milan Michalek in the opening round, before Jason Spezza and Kyle Turris each found the back of the net. The Pittsburgh captain acknowledged that it wasn't the slickest game, but that the Penguins needed a boost to break their two-game skid. Daniel Alfredsson was a late scratch on Sunday due to the flu, but MacLean anticipates that he will be at practice on Monday, and will likely be available for the Senators' next game against the Washington Capitals at home on Tuesday. Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen left the game after the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Pens coach Dan Bylsma said Niskanen will be re-evaluated once the team returns to Pittsburgh.

New Jersey v Montreal 3-4 - Andrei Markov scored a power play goal at 4:22 of overtime to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 win Sunday against the New Jersey Devils, the defenseman's third straight game-winning goal to fuel his team's three-game win streak. Markov's career high in goals is 16 in 2007-08, the last time he played a full 82-game season. His four goals in four games puts him a quarter of the way there just a week into the season. Markov has made a history of being a major difference-maker for the Canadiens. In 2009-10, the last time Markov played a significant number of games, the Canadiens were 29-16-8 in the 53 regular season and Stanley Cup Playoff games where Markov was dressed and 15-23-2 when he wasn't. Though he managed to play the final 13 games of last season after completing his rehabilitation from his second straight reconstructive surgery on his right knee, he was nowhere near the player he's been so far this season. Markov showed one of his biggest qualities as a player on the overtime winner. Early in the overtime period Markov pinched to try and get the winning goal, but that turned into a 3-on-1 break the other way, with Ilya Kovalchuk ringing a shot off the post. However, when the time came to pinch again during a power play in the final minute of overtime, Markov swooped in from the point yet again to put away a rebound of a missed Rene Bourque shot to win the game at 4:22. Brendan Gallagher scored his first NHL goal, Brandon Prust got his first in a Montreal uniform and Alex Galchenyuk had a pair of assists for the Canadiens (3-1-0), who handed the Devils (3-0-1) their first loss of the season. David Clarkson and Patrik Elias each had a goal and two assists and Elias reached the 900-point mark for his career for the Devils, who lost at the Bell Centre for the first time since March 11, 2008 after winning their last eight visits to Montreal. Martin Brodeur, who snapped his own personal Bell Centre winning streak at seven games, stopped 28 shots for the Devils in their only visit to his hometown this season, while Price made 22 saves for the Canadiens. The Canadiens came out flying in the first period, jumping out to a 2-0 lead while spending practically the entire first 20 minutes in the Devils zone. It could have been a much different opening period if Travis Zajac's shot were about inch further to the right on a 2-on-1 break with Kovalchuk 40 seconds after the initial faceoff, but Zajac's shot rang off the post to the right of Price. Ryan White opened the scoring for Montreal at 2:25 after some great work by Travis Moen, who fought for position in front to tip an Alexei Emelin point shot and created a juicy rebound that White buried into an empty net. Gallagher made it 2-0 at 13:35 off a 2-on-1 break with fellow rookie Galchenyuk, one-timing a perfect feed past Brodeur then jumping into Galchenyuk's arms as the Bell Centre roared. Gallagher got his first NHL point on Galchenyuk's first NHL goal last Tuesday against the Panthers only to have the favor returned against the Devils. As badly as the Canadiens dominated the Devils in the first period, the tables were turned in the second as New Jersey was a completely different team, pinning Montreal deep in the zone for nearly the entirety of the first 10 minutes. The pressure paid off when Mark Fayne's point shot was tipped in front by Elias at 3:26 to make it 2-1 Montreal, but the Devils couldn't tie it up before the second intermission. Montreal went ahead by two goals at 2:00 of the third period on a great play by Galchenyuk, who intercepted a clearing pass at the Devils blue line and set up Prust for his first goal in a Canadiens' uniform. But Prust and Galchenyuk were the source of the Devils' second goal as both players were called for high-sticking during the same sequence, giving New Jersey a 5-on-3 power play at 4:32 of the third. Clarkson capitalized less than a minute later, converting a feed from Elias for his third goal of the season at 5:23. The Devils tied it 3-3 at 13:02 after twice being down by two goals when Elias beat the Canadiens defense to a puck deep in their zone, then set up Zubrus in front for his first goal of the season.

Philadelphia v Tampa Bay 1-5 - Anders Lindback made one mistake, and he made it just 59 seconds into the game. But after that, he was faultless, stopping the next 24 shots he faced as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 to extend their winning streak to four. Lindback allowed a weak shot along the goal line from Philadelphia forward Sean Couturier to slip between his skate and the post and into the Lightning net to give the Flyers a quick one-goal lead. That early fluke goal was all the Flyers could muster, despite having six power-play opportunities, including a four minute advantage in the opening period during which they managed just one shot on net. The first period was a penalty-filled, fast and furious 20 minutes that saw both teams accumulating a total of 26 minutes in infraction time. The whistle began sounding when Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier tussled with Philadelphia defenseman Luke Schenn, earning five minutes apiece. For Lecavalier it was his first major penalty since February 3, 2009. Lecavalier later added a power-play goal when he buried a pass from Martin St. Louis behind Flyers netminder Michael Leighton with only 65 seconds remaining in the opening period. The assist was the third of what would eventually be four in the game for St. Louis. The goal capped a first period comeback that saw the Lightning close out the opening period with a 3-1 lead. Teddy Purcell got Tampa Bay on the board with his first goal of the season, a power-play tally set up by some sharp precision passing between St. Louis and Steven Stamkos. Stamkos collected St. Louis' feed in the low slot and sent the puck to Purcell, standing unchecked to the right of the Flyer net. Purcell ended the night with a goal and two assists. Eric Brewer put the Lightning ahead for good at 16:10 when his blast from the left point deflected off Flyer center Maxime Talbot and passed Leighton. Tampa Bay continued its third-period mastery when they scored two goals in the final period. Victor Hedman notched his second goal of the season when he was in perfect position to tap in a rebound of an Adam Hall backhand. Lightning defenseman Sami Salo was credited with his second assist of the game on the play. Stamkos completed the scoring when he directed the puck past Leighton just two seconds after a Lightning power-play had ended. Stamkos scored from in front of the Flyer crease off some sharp passing from St. Louis and Purcell. With the two third-period goals, the Lightning have now outscored their opponents 13-1 in the final period. The loss dropped the Flyers to 2-4-0 on the season and denied them of a three-game win streak. This was the second of two back-to-back games for Philadelphia, after it played the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. Tampa Bay converted on two of five extra-man chances on the night. The Flyers currently lead the NHL in minor penalties. Sunday night, it appeared the entire team was doing everything right, including paying the price with blocked shots. Tampa Bay blocked 26 shots to only eight for the Flyers. Leighton, making his first start of the season for Philadelphia, stopped 20 of 25 shots he faced. The Flyers continue their road trip Tuesday night against the New York Rangers, while Tampa Bay continues its five-game homestand Tuesday against Florida.

Detroit v Chicago 1-2 - After 20 minutes, it looked like the Chicago Blackhawks might steamroll the visiting Detroit Red Wings for their franchise record-setting sixth straight win to open a season. Instead, the visitors from the Motor City overcame a rough first period and made the home team earn its 2-1 victory in overtime on Sunday night at United Center. The winning goal was scored by Chicago defenseman Nick Leddy at 2:45 of the extra session, after he joined a rush to give his team a 3-on-2 in the Detroit zone. Leddy took a pass from Viktor Stalberg and zipped a shot from the left circle past Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard – which gave the Blackhawks the best start in franchise history. Chicago's six straight wins bests the mark of the 1971-72 team, which won five in a row. It also helps to get scoring from the back end, and the Blackhawks (6-0-0) got both of theirs from defensemen. Leddy's goal – his first of the season – ended the game's scoring while Duncan Keith's first marker of the year gave Chicago a 1-0 lead just 2:24 into the game to cap a power play. Johan Franzen scored Detroit's lone goal at 4:30 of the third to tie it 1-1 for the Detroit (2-2-1) – which couldn't convert any of its six man-advantages into goals – including four in the second period, when the Red Wings also frittered away 43 seconds of a 5-on-3 opportunity. Detroit has now scored just two goals in 26 power plays for a paltry 7.7 percent conversion rate. That might be the biggest area where the Red Wings miss retired star defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, who smoothly quarterbacked their power play for years. The flip side is the job the Blackhawks penalty-killing units did, not only in this game but in all six games thus far. Chicago is now ranked second in the League in penalty killing, after killing off 22 of 23 advantages for the opposition (95.6 percent). The Blackhawks have also killed all 15 opposing power plays they've faced in road games. Spearheading the effort are unheralded fourth-line forwards Marcus Kruger and Michael Frolik plus goalie Corey Crawford (29 saves) – who improved to 5-0-0 with this win and now has a 1.78 goals-against average. Crawford was forced to make several big ones in this game, including one off a tipped point-blast by Kronwall in the first that preserved the early 1-0 lead. Chicago, however, controlled most of the first period – making Howard (25 saves) come up with a number of impressive stops to keep his team in the game. Despite gritting out a 3-2 victory Saturday night in Columbus, the Blackhawks came out flying. Keith's goal put the Blackhawks up quickly, after a holding call on Kent Huskins led to a power play. During the advantage, Detroit's Patrick Eaves lost his stick in a corner battle and Marian Hossa gained control of the puck. He slid it out to Seabrook at the point, who found Keith in the left circle. That turned out to be Chicago's lone man-advantage of the first, but the Blackhawks' puck-possession game was so dominant that it felt like they had several more in the period. Detroit turned the momentum in the second by drawing four penalties and putting the pressure on Chicago's penalty kill units, but the Blackhawks were up to the challenge. Chicago also blocked 20 shots in this game, including four each by defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson, Seabrook and Johnny Oduya. Seabrook now leads the NHL with 19 blocked shots, while Hjalmarsson's 16 ranks third. Detroit finally tied it 1-1 on Franzen's goal early in the third, his first of the season, which he scored after a long shot by Henrik Zetterberg deflected off Keith's skate in the low slot. The puck went right to Franzen's stick and he used Keith as a screen to fire it through Crawford's pads. The goal also continued a Blackhawks' shutout dry spell. Chicago hasn't had a shutout since beating the Vancouver Canucks 5-0 on April 21, 2011 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and hasn't had a regular-season shutout since March 23, 2011 – when Crawford shut out the Florida Panthers on home ice. Considering the outcome of this game, however, the shutout spell is just an obscure stat to the Blackhawks. Heading into a six-game road trip that starts Wednesday in Minnesota, Chicago is only concerned with continuing its strong start.

NY Islanders v Winnipeg 4-5 - The Winnipeg Jets only made a quick two-game stop at MTS Centre this weekend, but it was long enough to display the best and worst of their qualities. The Jets churned out a 5-4 overtime win against the visiting New York Islanders on Sunday night after surrendering a second-intermission lead. Two goals late in the third period erased a three-goal New York outburst earlier in the period that set up Evander Kane's winning strike 1:59 into overtime for the Jets (3-1-1), who own a three-game winning streak. A New York (2-2-1) offensive-zone turnover set up an odd-man rush before Kane pushed the rebound of a heavy Olli Jokinen shot under Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov. The win against a New York team that had taken three of four meetings between the clubs last season came after the Jets beat the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night in a 4-2 come-from-behind win. In both home wins, the Jets erased two-goal deficits. New York used three goals in the opening 9:53 of the third period to erase a one-goal lead Winnipeg had taken into the second intermission. Matt Moulson deflected a shot past Jets goaltender Al Montoya that snapped a 2-2 tie. Mark Streit pushed the visitors' lead to 4-2 before the Jets stormed back with goals from Dustin Byfuglien and Alexander Burmistrov spaced 65 seconds apart that tied the game at 4-4 with 5:56 remaining. Montoya, signed in the offseason after spending the past two seasons with the Islanders, made his Jets debut against his former teammates and turned in a 21-save evening. The Islanders took an early lead before falling behind a goal early in the second period. However, the visitors used Nabokov's strong work to hold the deficit at one goal before John Tavares tied the game 2-2 in the first minute of the third period. Jets defenseman Tobias Enstrom slipped at his own blue line and allowed Tavares to break in and beat Montoya under the crossbar 22 seconds into the period for his first goal of the season. David Ullstrom also scored for the Islanders, a pesky bunch that hung in the game despite registering just 15 shots over the first two periods. Nabokov, who had a night off in Friday's 4-2 road loss to the Boston Bruins, returned to action to make 30 saves. The Islanders surrendered a 2-1 lead against Boston in the loss and lost the game on two Bruins third-period goals The Jets also picked up offensive contributions from Alexei Ponikarovsky and Bryan Little, who scored their first goals of the season. Byfuglien's third-period power play goal with 7:01 remaining sliced the Islanders' lead to one goal and snapped the Islanders' run of 16 consecutive kills to start the season. Indeed, the Jets continued to push after Byfuglien's goal and quickly tied the game. Burmistrov snapped a high shot past Nabokov that tied the game. Ullstrom's second goal of the season put the Islanders up1-0 on their second shot of the game 2:34 into the game and pushed his scoring streak to four games. The Jets, however, are now 3-0-0 in games in which they have allowed the first goal. Kyle Wellwood scurried behind Nabokov's net before backhanding a short saucer pass into the low slot that Ponikarovsky tipped past Nabokov at 10:15 for a 1-1 game. Winnipeg broke the tie five minutes into the second period. Nik Antropov's work along the boards deep inside the offensive zone put the Islanders under heavy pressure. Andrew Ladd collected the puck behind the New York goal line and directed a pass to Antropov inside the bottom right circle. Antropov redirected the pass into the slot to Little, who banged a shot past Nabokov for a 2-1 lead. The Jets' speed and transition game flustered New York for much of the game. The Islanders landed themselves in early penalty trouble, putting the Jets on three power plays in the opening period. New York, which began the evening having killed off all 13 opposing power plays that they had faced over the season's first four games, held the Jets scoreless on all three chances. But the penalty kill, so dependable for the Islanders early in the season, sputtered under late pressure that set up Byfuglien's game-tying goal.

Minnesota v St Louis 4-5 - After finishing a six-game stretch over nine days, the St. Louis Blues can feel good about coming away with 10 of a possible 12 points. It was one of the toughest stretches of their 48-game season, but the Blues can take pride in the fact they were knocked around a few times and were able to stand up in the face of adversity against some tough teams. Sunday's overtime win over a tough Minnesota Wild squad was the culmination of getting kicked, only to get back up and stand victorious. Vladimir Sobotka's tip-in of a Andy McDonald pass gave the Blues a 5-4 win against the Wild on Sunday night at Scottrade Center improving St. Louis to 5-1-0 on the season and keeping pace with the 6-0-0 Chicago Blackhawks for the top spot in the Central Division. It's the Blues' best start since the 1997-98 when the Blues began 7-1-0. McDonald fed Sobotka in front, and the Blues' fourth-line center chopped the puck past Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom 2:16 into overtime. The Wild fell for the third time in a row (0-2-1 in that span). Wade Redden scored his second goal as a Blue and in as many games, Patrik Berglund and Barret Jackman added goals, David Perron, Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk each assisted on two goals. Zach Parise scored twice and set up another. Dany Heatley and Mikko Koivu each added a goal and an assist and Tom Gilbert and Ryan Suter each added a pair of assists. Redden's second goal in as many games, he had two in 75 games with the New York Rangers in the 2009-10 season, gave the Blues a 1-0 lead. Behind the net, David Backes found a streaking Redden in the left circle, and the veteran defenseman made no mistake with a one-timer past Backstrom 9:16 into the game. Minnesota's best chance came early in the game, when Marco Scandella's shot from the blue line deflected in the crease and off the post. Brian Elliott then robbed Matt Cullen in tight on the rebound. The Wild were effective in their shooting percentage in the second period, scoring three times on only four shots. Parise was in on all three goals, scoring a pair of power-play goals. The first tied it up 1-1 when his shot from a tough angle caromed off the left skate of Elliott 2:04 into the period. Parise gave the Wild a 2-1 lead, taking a flip pass from Koivu and curling a shot around Elliott 10:52 into the period. Then in a 4-on-4 situation, Parise's drop pass to Koivu in the right circle set up the Wild captain, who snapped a shot over Elliott's shoulder at 14:40. Play continued but after review, it clearly hit the back of the pipe and came out for a 3-1 Minnesota lead. Berglund cut the lead to 3-2 just 58 seconds later, taking Perron's cross-ice feed and beating a sprawled Backstrom. The Blues came out humming in the third period, swarming the Wild goal. But three missed power play chances hurt their cause. However, they got the equalizer on Stewart's redirection of Pietrangelo's shot from the right point to tie it 3-3. Jackman gave the Blues a 4-3 lead at 13:47 on a shot from the right point, off a drop pass from Vladimir Tarasenko, but Heatley's goal with 4:08 left, on a tip of a scrum in front of Elliott tied the game 4-4. Officials needed video review to see if Heatley touched it with a high stick, but the goal stood. The Blues continued to come at the Wild in bunches and needed the extra session to claim the extra point. They are now off until Thursday.

Vancouver v San Jose 1-4 - The puck hadn't even dropped Sunday night at HP Pavilion and there were already two players in the penalty box, San Jose Sharks forward Ryane Clowe and Vancouver Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows. It was that kind of night between what have become bitter Western Conference rivals. In a physical game filled with penalties, fights and crushing hits, the Sharks beat Vancouver 4-1 and improved to 5-0, their fastest start in franchise history. Getting two goals from Joe Pavelski and one from both Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton, the Sharks snapped Vancouver's streak of four straight victories at the Shark Tank. The Canucks, who had a goal from Burrows, fell to 2-2-1. The game turned chippy as the Sharks and Canucks lined up for the opening faceoff. Sharks forward Logan Couture and Burrows made contact with each other in the circle. Clowe quickly got involved, and both he and Burrows earned unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Patrick Marleau's historic streak of multi-goal games to start a season ended at four, but he still scored a goal and had an assist. He also got to see some other strange history made. For the first time ever, the Sharks started a game 4-on-4 because of penalties before the puck dropped. The Sharks got tremendous goaltending from Antti Niemi, who made 23 saves, and a perfect night from their penalty killers, who went 7-for-7 against one of the NHL's most dangerous power plays. Clowe had a busy night that ended early when he received a game misconduct with 26.5 seconds left in the second period. Clowe was sent to the box for high sticking and quickly received two more minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Then, when he slammed his stick against the wall of the penalty box, he was hit with a 10-minute misconduct penalty and a game misconduct. For the game, Clowe had a franchise record eight penalties for 35 minutes. He traded punches with and got the better of Vancouver's Zack Kassian late in the first period, both went to the box for five minutes. Midway through the second period, Clowe delivered a big hit to defenseman Christopher Tanev, blasting him into the boards behind the Canucks' net. As a team, the Sharks had 13 penalties for a season-high 51 minutes. Vancouver had 12 for 33. Just 43 seconds into the game, Thornton gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead with his third goal of the season. Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic set the scoring play in motion when he launched a hard shot from the left circle. Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider blocked Vlasic's shot, but when defenseman Jason Garrison tried to clear the rebound, he sent it the right to Thornton, who beat Schneider with a shot from the slot. The Sharks took advantage of another Vancouver mistake to take a 2-0 lead at 3:26 of the first on Pavelski's first goal of the season. With the puck deep in his zone, Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler tried to make a cross-ice pass, but Pavelski easily intercepted and quickly fired the puck past Schneider. Niemi made a handful of huge saves in the first period. He stopped Jannik Hansen on a breakaway just seconds before Pavelski's goal. Later in the period, Henrik Sedin fired a shot from the low slot that Niemi handled. Then, on a Canucks’ power play late in the period, Niemi made back-to-back saves on a pair of shots by Burrows. The Sharks also dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 18 of 24 draws in the first period. Vancouver cut San Jose's lead to 2-1 at 11:05 of the second, when Burrows scored on a shot from the right circle. Niemi actually rejected the puck, but it bounced off left skate of Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle and found the back of the net. The Sharks answered at 14:27 of the period on Marleau's power-play goal, and this time San Jose took advantage of a well-placed skate. With time winding down in the power play, Couture fired a shot toward the net from the left circle. The puck pin-balled off bodies in front of the net, bounced off Marleau's right skate and shot past a sprawling Schneider, who actually gave it an extra shove with the back of his glove. Trailing 3-1, the Canucks had 3:34 left on a four-minute power play, resulting from Clowe's meltdown, as they opened the third period. But the Sharks escaped unscathed, thanks to their penalty kill. Pavelski made it 4-1 with a power play goal with 11:46 left to play, taking a pass from Thornton and sending a one-timer from the right circle past Schneider. Marleau scored two goals in each of the Sharks’ first four games and almost got his second goal late in the third, but was denied by Schneider.

San Jose v Colorado Fight

Both of Marleau's goals came after Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart delivered a huge hit on Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog. As Landeskog left the ice, Avalanche defenseman Ryan O'Byrne confronted Stuart, igniting a long, nasty fight. O'Byrne, the instigator, earned 19 penalty minutes, including a 10-minute misconduct. Landeskog, who appeared to take a shoulder to the head, limped toward the dressing room and missed the rest of the first period before returning for the second.

"I thought it was a hard hit. I haven't seen it but I think it was a clean hit or felt like a clean hit," Landeskog said. "It was hard, that much I could tell you. I was reaching for the puck and didn't brace myself enough, Stuart stepped up and that's the way hockey always is. It was a big one. I knew he was there, but I didn't think he was coming at me. Then he came and I saw him at the last second but not nearly early enough. I felt fine. I was a little weak at first but I was able to take care of it after getting some ice in here [dressing room]. I felt fine after that. Hats off to O'Byrne, that's what teamwork is all about. He knows I have his back if it should happen to him."

Stuart wasn't penalized for the hit, and he said he doesn't expect to receive any supplemental discipline from the League.

"I fully expected him to pick his head up but he didn’t," Stuart said. "At that point he’s pretty vulnerable. I tried to make a good, solid hit. I’m not trying to hurt anyone or anything. When a guy doesn’t see you coming it’s going to look pretty bad. You hit the captain, a young kid, you have to expect somebody’s coming. I have no problem with that. That happens and then that’s it. It’s over and done with the rest of the game which is fine with me. I have no problem with that."

Avalanche coach Joe Sacco had a different view of Stuart's hit.

"The hit, looked like it was a direct blow to the head," Sacco said. "It looked like he targeted the head. It looked like it was the first point of contact was on the head. We end up four minutes short where I thought we should be on the power play for a minute. We just didn't get the call. Our PK wasn't good enough. You have a situation where a teammate is defending another teammate, which is the game of hockey, and in those situations we need to step up and get the job done for our teammate. We just didn't get it done. That was the difference in the game."

Stuart's hit seemed to jump-start the Sharks.

"That's one of the biggest hits I've seen," Irwin said. "It was great. It was loud. It got the fans going, and I think that's what we needed because we were a little slow out of the gate. A big hit like that can really turn the momentum."

Thornton said Stuart's hit might have been the "loudest" he's ever heard in the NHL.

"It kind of takes your breath away because you’re like, 'I hope this kid’s OK,' but wow that was hard. It was a great hit. You just hope he’s OK. It was nice to see him come back for the second period. It was just, 'Welcome back to San Jose Brad Stuart.' It was one of the best I’d ever seen."

Week 1 Review

What have we learnt so far? Well one week in most teams have played either 4 or 5 games each, and most of the divisions are finely balanced. Its still early days of course but the Chicago Blackhawks are looking good at 5-0 right now. the reeled off 2 big scoring victories against both Western Conference finals teams, before 3 narrow wins by a 3-2 scoreline. Either way its impressive to beat Los Angeles, Phoenix, St Louis & Dallas. The Central division looks a good one, with St Louis currently standing at 4-1 (their only defeat coming in Chicago), and the Rookie Tarasenko, looks more than at home in the NHL. Both Nashville and Columbus will struggle this season as expected, but I do fear for the Wings. Standing at 2-2, they have yet to find any real form, but they look the weakest Red Wings team I can remember.

San Jose are also unbeaten, albeit having only played 4 games, but they have found the net 19 times during that time. Anaheim are also looking good at 4-1 and are much improved on last season, with Teemu Selanne defying the sands of time to lead his team once more. Both Western Conference Finalists, Phoenix and Los Angeles, only have a single win each, the Kings' solitary victory coming against the Coyotes last night. That leaves Dallas who are at 2-3, their 3 narrow losses coming against 3 of the best teams, in the West, Chicago, St Louis & Minnesota. The 2 wins, coming against Phoenix and Detroit, were orchestrated by Jaromir Jagr, who needs to be kept fit along with line-mate Roy.

The Northwest Division, is so much tighter. Vancouver who lost their opening 2 games, now find themselves top of the division on 5 points, while Minnesota, who looked the real deal after wins against Colorado & Dallas, then slumped to losses to Nashville & Detroit. The Wild still have enough quality to do well this season. Edmonton & Calgary both look poor but the Oilers find themselves with 4 points, tied with the Wild and Avalanche. The Flames sole victory came against Edmonton. Colorado at 2-2 should make the playoffs on current form.

The 3 best teams in the East are New Jersey, Boston and Ottawa. After the first round of games last saturday it was Pittsburgh, Florida & Tampa Bay. New Jersey look really good right now at 3-0, but after a disastrous 0-3 start the Flyers are on a 4-way tie on 4 points with Pittsburgh, the Islanders and the Rangers. The latter also getting off to a poor start, that included a huge loss the the Penguins, who have failed to win since.

The Bruins at 3-0-1 (7 points) and the Senators at 3-1 (6 points) are looking strong too in what is an average division. Toronto and Montreal are both poor teams but find themselves on tied on 4 points with Buffalo who looked good at the start of the week but are starting to slide now.

The South East division still looks the hardest one to call. The Florida Panthers, looked like they could do something this season, especially on opening night after beating the Canes 5-1, but they have since lost 4 straight that has included