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.