Thu, 28 Feb - Fixtures

Ottawa v Boston 7pm ET
Toronto v NY Islanders 7pm ET
Tampa Bay v NY Rangers 7pm ET
Pittsburgh v Calgary 7pm ET
Buffalo v Florida 7.30pm ET
New Jersey v Winnipeg 8pm ET
Chicago v St Louis 8pm ET
Edmonton v Dallas 8.30pm ET
Calgary v Colorado 9pm ET
Minnesota v Phoenix 9pm ET
Detroit v San Jose 10pm ET

Gameday 40 (Wed, 27 Feb) - Results

Montreal v Toronto 5-2 - Revenge was sweet for the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens avenged a 6-0 home loss to Toronto on Feb. 9 by dominating the Maple Leafs for 60 minutes in a 5-2 victory at Air Canada Centre on Wednesday night. Max Pacioretty scored twice as Montreal improved to 7-0-2 since that embarrassing loss. Brendan Gallagher's tip-in of Josh Gorges' shot 9:08 into the third period broke a 2-2 deadlock. Pacioretty scored his second of the night with 5:34 to play, and Brian Gionta added an unassisted goal with 2:26 remaining to seal a crucial victory after the Canadiens had dropped their first two games of their season series to Toronto. Montreal was clearly the more dominant team throughout the game, even though the score was tied 2-2 after 40 minutes. The Canadiens stifled the Maple Leafs at every opportunity and by the midway point of the second period, they were outshooting the Leafs 22-5. Gallagher gave the Canadiens a lead they would not relinquish after David Desharnais won a draw and got the puck to Gorges for a point shot. The Maple Leafs were unhappy with the play because their center, Tyler Bozak, didn't have his stick on the ice when linesman Jean Morin dropped the puck. Pacioretty made it a two-goal gave by beating Ben Scrivens high to the short side from well inside the right circle. Gionta's goal drew cheers from the sizeable number of Canadiens fans who made the trip. Pacioretty put the Canadiens ahead 2-1 with his first of the night at 4:17 of the second period, six seconds before a five-minute power play expired. Montreal got the long power play when Mike Brown was called for a checking from behind major and a game misconduct for a hit on Gorges. Pacioretty almost scored early into the long power play but missed an open net. He made up for it in the final seconds when Scrivens stopped P.K Subban's shot, only to have the rebound hit Pacioretty's shin pads and land in the net. Scrivens did his best to keep his team in the game, making a huge save on Gallagher on a 2-on-1 a few minutes later. He finished with 35 saves, while Montreal's Carey Price stopped 21 shots, including a penalty shot awarded to Mikhail Grabovski at 11:45 of the middle period when the Toronto center was hauled down by Alexei Emelin on a semi-breakaway. Price smoothly turned away Grabovski's forehand deke. Clarke MacArthur evened the score at 2-2 at 15:47, finishing off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Cody Franson and Nazem Kadri for his fifth goal of the season. Kadri now has a three-game point streak and leads the team in scoring with 18 points. The teams traded goals through the first 20 minutes, although the Canadiens carried the play. Toronto capitalized on a good forecheck and a lucky bounce to open the scoring. Frazer McLaren had the puck go off his body and behind Price as he bore down on the Canadiens crease, going between Subban and Travis Moen. Brown started the play by following his dump-in and nailing Gorges in the corner; the puck then squirted out to McLaren, who scored his second of the season at 13:44. Emelin tied the game at 16:56 during a delayed penalty call. The Russian defenseman took a pass near the blue line and moved into the high slot before zipping a low shot through traffic that beat Scrivens for his first goal of the season. There was plenty of physical play to satiate the capacity crowd in the first period. One of the most notable of the 31 total hits was when McLaren sent Moen into the broadcast area between the benches. It was one of 20 hits by the Maple Leafs in the period. Montreal got in on the action as well, as former Maple Leaf Colby Armstrong laid a solid check on Michael Kostka deep in Toronto's zone. Newly acquired Michael Ryder played right wing on a line with Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk in his first game since being traded from Dallas on Tuesday. He saw 14:34 of ice time and was minus-1. Ryder skated out with his familiar No. 73 jersey that he has worn throughout this career. Earlier in the day Gallagher gave up the number to the veteran forward and now sports No. 11.

Washington v Philadelphia 1-4 - The Philadelphia Flyers certainly looked like an energized bunch with the arrival of Simon Gagne, who was a factor in the Flyers' 4-1 defeat of the visiting Washington Capitals on Wednesday. Gagne, who spent his first 10 NHL seasons with the Flyers, was acquired from the Kings on Tuesday in exchange for a 2013 fourth-round draft pick. He took an overnight flight from Los Angeles, landing not long after sunrise, and said he tried to get as much sleep as he could before the game. He was welcomed back with a tribute video and a number of loud ovations. Later, he thanked the crowd the best way possible, by scoring his first goal in more than 15 months. Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist, and Wayne Simmonds and Maxime Talbot also had goals for Philadelphia. Joel Ward scored the Capitals' lone goal. Goalie Braden Holtby, who stopped all 33 shots he faced in Washington's 3-0 win against Carolina on Tuesday, was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 18 shots. The extra boost showed itself in the game's first minute, as Giroux scored his seventh goal of the season just 23 seconds into the game. Scott Hartnell, who had a pair of assists, fired a shot from the left side that Holtby stopped, with the rebound going behind the Washington net. Hartnell chased after it and poked it away from the Caps' Mike Green, and then from his knees backhanded a pass off Karl Alzner's skates to Giroux, who was unmarked in the left slot. The goal also extended Giroux's point-scoring streak to six games, including three in a row with at least two points. It also marked the first time in five games the Flyers had scored the game's first goal, and snapped the Capitals' streak of eight straight scoring the game's first goal. Part of the Flyers' strong effort can be credited to playing a tired team in the Capitals, who were skating on back-to-back nights and for the fourth time in seven days. After the Flyers made it 2-0 on Simmonds' power-play goal, the Flyers got another jolt of energy from Gagne. Late in a Philadelphia power play, Briere passed the puck from behind the net to Brayden Schenn. Schenn fought off Joey Crabb in the slot and backhanded a pass to Gagne, who scored his first goal since Nov. 17, 2011, when he was with the Los Angeles Kings. Gagne played with nine players on the current roster, and having him back in the dressing room certainly provided a lift. Talbot provided his own momentum when he scored his first goal of the season at 14:55 of the second to make it 4-0. Mike Ribeiro cleared the puck out of the Washington zone right to Bruno Gervais in the neutral zone. He moved it across to Luke Schenn while the Flyers' forwards cleared the zone. Schenn then sent the puck to Talbot, who took two strides over the blue line, wound up and fired a slap shot that went off Holtby's glove on its way into the net. Phillip Grubauer, called up from Hershey of the American Hockey League earlier Wednesday with Michal Neuvirth sick, made his National Hockey League debut when he replaced Holtby after Talbot's goal. He stopped all 14 shots he faced. Ilya Bryzgalov, who finished with 23 saves, had his attempt at a shutout ended with 2:09 left in the third. Jay Beagle beat Ruslan Fedotenko on a faceoff in the Philadelphia end, drawing the puck back to Tom Poti. Bryzgalov stopped his shot from the right point, but the puck bounced off his chest and before he could control it, Ward tipped it away from him and scored.

Nashville v Anaheim 1-5 - Kyle Palmieri and the Anaheim Ducks will be sorry to see February turn into March. Palmieri snapped a 10-game drought by scoring three consecutive goals for his first NHL hat trick as the Ducks capped the third 11-win month in franchise history by routing the weary Nashville Predators 5-1 at Honda Center on Wednesday night. The Ducks have won seven in a row at Honda Center after losing their home opener to Vancouver. The finished February with an 11-2-0 mark and will enter March on top of the Pacific Division with a 14-3-1 record after their seventh win in eight games. Nick Bonino and Saku Koivu also scored for the Ducks, who swept the three-game season series from the Predators. First-year Swedish goaltender Viktor Fasth, who lost for the first time in nine career decisions when the Ducks were beaten 5-2 at Los Angeles on Monday, stopped 20 shots and allowed only a second-period goal by Craig Smith. Nashville, which began a three-game trip through California, lost for the third time in four games. The usually stingy Predators have allowed four or more goals in each of their past three games. The Ducks jumped on the Predators early, scoring twice in 61 seconds to take a 2-0 lead before the game was four minutes old. Bonino put the Ducks ahead with his fifth of the season at 2:48 thanks to some hard work by Emerson Etem. The rookie forward raced in on the forecheck and took the puck away from goalie Pekka Rinne behind the Nashville net. He slid the puck to Bonino, who stepped around Paul Gaustad and snapped home a 10-foot shot before Rinne could get back into the net. Palmieri's first goal was a fine individual effort after Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry worked the puck up the ice. Palmieri, flying up the left wing, took Perry's pass in stride at the Nashville line, cut past All-Star defenseman Shea Weber and stepped around Rinne before sliding the puck into a half-empty net at 3:49. His second goal, at 16:57, was much more of a group effort. Getzlaf won an offensive-zone draw and got the puck to Perry behind the net to the right of Rinne. Perry zipped a passout to Palmieri in the slot for a one-timer that Rinne had no chance to stop. The same combination made it 4-0 at 1:07 of the second period. With the Ducks on the power play, Getzlaf controlled the puck and slid a pass to Perry near the left post. Perry's cross-crease pass found Palmieri racing down the right side for a high shot into a wide-open net to complete his first NHL hat trick. Nashville finally got on the board midway through the middle period thanks to a tic-tac-toe passing play. Rich Clune carried deep into the Anaheim zone and dropped a pass to Kevin Klein in the right circle, setting up a 2-on-1 down low. Klein's pass across the slot found Smith for a one-timer past Fasth at 9:27. It was Smith's third of the season and second in two games. Fasth preserved the three-goal lead with 3:16 left in the period by gloving David Legwand's rocket from the high slot after a giveaway by Anaheim defenseman Luca Sbisa. Koivu crashed the net and swatted home the rebound of Francois Beauchemin's power-play slapper with 39.9 seconds remaining for a 5-1 lead after two periods. Chris Mason played the third period for Nashville after Rinne stopped only 16 of 21 shots.

Detroit v Los Angeles 1-2 - There was no last-minute breakdown this time for the Los Angeles Kings. Anze Kopitar left that memory behind. Kopitar scored on a terrific leave-behind move on Jimmy Howard with 4:48 left to lift the Kings past the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1, in spotlight game between the two Western Conference heavyweights. Dwight King fed a wide-open Kopitar from the boards after Trevor Lewis mucked it free as L.A. completed a comeback from 1-0 down for its fifth straight win. It was redemption for the Feb.10 meeting in which Detroit scored the game winner with 4.5 seconds remaining although the Kings played one of their best games of the season. Detroit could almost see the finish line but a precarious 1-0 lead vanished when it handed Los Angeles its second two-man advantage on Pavel Datsyuk's faceoff violation. Jeff Carter made a great redirect on Mike Richards' shot that slipped under Howard's left pad at 10:26 to give Carter goals in five straight games, one shy of his career high. Detroit's 1-0 lead looked more vulnerable when Justin Abdelkader began a cafeteria line to the penalty box in the second period, with a boarding of Jake Muzzin 200 feet from his own net. Datsyuk and Jonathan Ericsson joined him with tripping and hooking penalties, respectively. The Kings' 24th-ranked power play managed just three shots on goal during two minutes' worth of the two-man advantage. Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall led the way with a combined 5:13 minutes played on the penalty kill, and L.A. walked into its locker room still scoreless after 40 minutes. At the morning skate, Sutter bounced around the hallway to remind his players of the early start time, they usually start home games at 7:30 p.m. PT, but they began as if their body clocks were off. L.A. needed to kill two early penalties and was outshot 11-1 by the time Kyle Quincey's shot bounced straight up off Slava Voynov's stick in front of the goal, and glanced off Jonathan Bernier's mask into the net at 9:42. Quincey's first goal since March 12, 2012 came in his return to the lineup from an ankle injury. Detroit also saw Johan Franzen return to the lineup, along with Brendan Smith. Valtteri Filppula sat out with a sore shoulder. Detroit saw its road power play drought reach 0 for 31, which matched the longest such stretch to start a season since 1938-39.

NHL Realignment

The National Hockey League is proposing a new realignment plan that would see the League go from six divisions to four divisions and introduce a form of divisional playoffs instead of the current conference system in place for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, according to a report by ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun. The plan was detailed in a memo sent to the League's clubs Tuesday, according to LeBrun. The plan needs approval from the National Hockey League Players' Association and the League's Board of Governors. If it passes, it would take effect for the 2013-14 regular season.

"We have been in discussions with the Players' Association for the past several weeks on the issue of realignment and we are trying to get to a solution that everybody can live with," Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told NHL.com. "There are no perfect answers here, so we have to do the best we can in trying to adequately address a number of competing concerns. Once we get to a point where we have the Union's go-ahead, we will present it to our Board of Governors for its consideration. We certainly hope to be in a position to announce something in the relatively near term."

Under the new plan, the conferences would be realigned with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings moving from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference. There would be no corresponding moves by Eastern Conference clubs, resulting in unbalanced-conference alignment that would see 16 teams in the Eastern Conference and 14 in the Western Conference. The schedule matrix would see each team play teams in the other conference both home and away. In the seven-team divisions, teams would play intraconference foes three times per season and five of the six intradivision foes five times a season. The sixth opponent within the division would be played four times. In the eight-team divisions, teams would play intraconference opponents three times and intradivision opponents either four or five times per season on a rotating basis.

Due to the unbalanced conferences, the League has proposed introducing a wild-card element to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, according to LeBrun. Under the proposed system, the top three teams in each of the four divisions would qualify for the postseason. The final four spots would go to the two teams in each conference with the next-best records. So, in theory, five teams from one division and just three from the other division in each respective conference could make the postseason. CBC's Elliotte Friedman first broke many of the details of the potential realignment plan, including the composition of the divisions, Saturday. The Atlantic and Central divisions would be in the East, while the Midwest and Pacific divisions would be in the West.

According to the memo, the Pacific Division would include the: Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks, while the Midwest Division would be the: Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets.

The Central Division would be the: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs. The reconfigured Atlantic Division would include the: Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.

Wed, 27 Feb - Fixtures

Montreal v Toronto 7.30pm ET
Washington v Philadelphia 7.30pm ET
Nashville v Anaheim 10pm ET
Detroit v Los Angeles 10pm ET

Gameday 39 (Tue, 26 Feb) - Results

Winnipeg v NY Rangers 4-3 - The Winnipeg Jets fell eight points short of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2012 in no small part due to their dismal road record. They went 14-22-5 away from MTS Centre, the worst mark of any team in the Eastern Conference. Through the first 19 games of the 2012-13 regular season, the Jets are showing they have learned their lessons from a year ago. Evander Kane and Olli Jokinen scored twice, as the Jets survived a furious late push from the New York Rangers to win 4-3 on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, capping a five-game road trip with a 4-1-0 mark. It was the Jets' third straight road victory, a feat they had not accomplished since moving to Winnipeg prior to the start of the 2011-12 season. Before the Jets embarked on their week-long trek along the Eastern seaboard that left them 6-4-1 on the road, they stumbled to three straight losses at home. They righted the ship quickly and after beating the Rangers and now sit in a three-way tie for first in the Southeast Division with 19 points, although the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning hold the tiebreaker edge. After a scoreless first period against the Rangers, who were missing forwards Rick Nash (undisclosed) and Arron Asham (back) and defensemen Ryan McDonagh (head) and Michael Del Zotto (lower-body), the Jets struck for a pair of goals 1:07 apart to take a commanding 2-0 lead. Jokinen's goal to make it 1-0 was the result of some tenacious pressure after a fantastic individual effort by defenseman Dustin Byfuglien to bring the puck to the net. The Rangers never recovered, and Jokinen was able to stash home his fourth of the season with Rangers goaltender Lundqvist out of position after a pass from behind the net by Kane. Kane made it 2-0 with a shot that was about as close toperfect as it gets. He snapped a shot from the right circle that beat Lundqvist high to the blocker side with the puck hitting the spot where the post and crossbar meet, rattling around the bar in the back of the net, and out the other side. Rangers captain Ryan Callahan answered with a goal 2:26 later, his fifth of the season, but New York never completely recovered from those rapid-fire goals by the Jets. Jokinen, who had four goals in 26 games as a Ranger in 2010 after he was acquired at the trade deadline, scored his second of the game to send the Jets into the second intermission ahead 3-1. Despite giving up three goals and allowing 17 shots in the second period, the Rangers somehow didn't think they played all that terribly. The Rangers made things interesting in the third period when Taylor Pyatt redirected a point shot by Anton Stralman that eluded Pavelec to make it 3-2 with 10:43 remaining in regulation. But before Pyatt's fourth of the season and first goal in 14 games could be announced to the sell-out crowd, Kane pushed the lead back to two by wristing a shot off the rush that squeezed through Lundqvist. It became even tougher when Stralman pulled the Rangers to within a goal 53 seconds later, making Kane's second goal the winner. The Rangers put on intense pressure over the final nine minutes, but Pavelec stood tall, stopping the final nine shots he faced after Stralman's goal. The loss was the Rangers' fourth in a row, all with Nash out of the lineup, and fifth in six games. They sit in 11th place in the East, one point behind three teams tied for eighth with at least a game in hand on all of them.

Carolina v Washington 0-3 - Five years ago, the Washington Capitals got off to a terrible start and a coach without the benefit of a full training camp rallied them to an improbable playoff berth. The 2012-13 season is obviously a truncated one and the comparison isn't perfect, but these Capitals just might be on the verge of a season-saving surge. Washington attacked the injury-depleted Carolina Hurricanes early and earned a 3-0 victory Tuesday night at Verizon Center. It was the Capitals' fifth win in seven games. After a 2-10-1 start, the Capitals are within four points of the three-way tie at the top of the Southeast Division. Washington started 2007-08 by going 6-14-1 before Bruce Boudreau arrived and helped the Capitals to a furious finish, overtaking the Hurricanes on the final day of the season for the first of four straight division titles. New coach Adam Oates had the benefit of starting the season in charge, but a brief training camp didn't provide much time for the Capitals to figure out everything from a coach whose attention to detail defenseman Karl Alzner called "insane" earlier in the day. The Capitals are by no means "back." They are still in last place in the Southeast, but the gap has been narrowed. The past two wins have come against a backup goaltender and a banged-up defense corps, but Washington is generating offense while not yielding a lot of quality scoring chances at the other end. The grand vision behind hiring Oates, that he could find a happy medium between Boudreau's offense and Dale Hunter's defense, is starting to come into focus. Much of the pregame discussions centered around a Hurricanes player returning to Verizon as a former member of the Capitals, but the bigger story proved to be connected to the guys who didn't suit up for the visitors. The Capitals battered Cam Ward early and often in the first 30 minutes, and by the time the Hurricanes steadied and pushed back it was too late. Ward made 36 stops, including a save-of-the-year candidate on Joel Ward when the lead was still only two. But the Hurricanes couldn't solve Braden Holtby, who finished with 33 saves for his second shutout of the season. Nicklas Backstrom missed practice Monday because he was sick, but he was Washington's best player in this contest among several worthy candidates. He was on the end of a pretty passing sequence with the Capitals on the power play to give Washington a first-period lead, and he set up John Erskine's goal 31 seconds in the second period to make it 2-0. John Carlson made it 3-0 when he hammered a home the rebound of a Mathieu Perreault shot at 11:28 of the third period to end any doubt. This game did mark the return of Alexander Semin to Washington for the first time since leaving after seven seasons here. A hearty dose of boos greeted Semin each time he held the puck, but he missed a chance in the opening minutes to quiet the crowd. Semin had a shorthanded breakaway at 2:55 of the first period, but Holtby turned away his shot. Semin finished the night with four shots on net, and nearly had a great assist to linemate Eric Staal, but Mike Ribeiro prevented a likely goal with a nice defensive play. The Capitals took the train to Philadelphia after the game, and the rested Flyers, who also are in desperate need of wins, are waiting for a Wednesday Night Rivalry game. It's the start of a stretch of 17 games in 33 days, and 11 of those contests are away from Verizon Center. When it ends, the calendar will turn to April. If the Capitals still have hopes of reaching the playoffs at that point, it will likely be remembered that the seeds of their revival were sown in the past few days.

Dallas v Columbus 5-4 - Loui Eriksson scored 3:03 into overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 5-4 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets in a battle of alternating goals at Nationwide Arena. Dallas' Derek Roy took a shot that was kicked in front of the net by Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Eriksson fought through defenseman Adrian Aucoin and, while falling to the ice, got the puck on his stick and swept it past Bobrovsky's right pad. Bobrovsky made 34 saves but could not prevent Columbus' ninth loss in its past 11 games. Dallas won for the second time in five games with 16 stops by Richard Bachman. Columbus' R.J. Umberger scored with 1:34 to go in regulation to tie the game 4-4. His wrist shot from just inside the right circle came off a pass from Nick Foligno after a Dallas turnover. Dallas, which lost to the Nashville Predators, 5-4 in overtime on Monday, is 2-15-2 in the second game of its past 19 back-to-backs. Dallas was playing its first game without its leading scorer, forward Michael Ryder, who earlier Tuesday was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for forward Erik Cole. Each player has to pass a physical Wednesday before joining his new team. Nine of Columbus' 12 losses, including four in a row and five of six, are by one goal. The see-saw scoring started with Brenden Morrow's goal for the Stars 15 minutes into the game. Dallas forward Cody Eakin came up the left wing around Columbus forward Matt Calvert. Morrow was heading toward the net, defended by John Moore, when Eakin's pass hit Morrow's skate and went in. The goal was upheld by video review. After being outshot 14-5 in the first period, the Blue Jackets quickly tied the game in the second. Mark Letestu won a faceoff back to Fedor Tyutin at the left point, and Tyutin sent the puck across to Nikita Nikitin, whose one-timer beat Bachman cleanly at 1:21. Dallas took a 2-1 lead at 5:28 when a shot from the point ricocheted off Columbus defenseman Tim Erixon right to Roy, whose first attempt was stopped by Bobrovsky. Roy was able to sneak the rebound past the goalie. The Blue Jackets needed less than a minute to tie it again. Dorsett's first attempt was denied by Bachman's left pad, but Dorsett lifted the rebound over the pad at 6:19 to even it 2-2. Dallas retook the lead on a goal by Roussel at 8:51 of the second when he was able to deflect a wrist shot from the point by teammate Brenden Dillon past Bobrovsky. Columbus needed 6:16 of the third period to tie it at 3-3. A shot from the right-wing boards by Aucoin deflected off a Dallas player right to wide-open Cam Atkinson near the left post, and he lifted a shot over Bachman. Eakin gave the Stars a 4-3 lead when he came across the blue line up the right wing and took a wrist shot from above the circle that squeezed through Bobrovsky's pads and trickled across the goal line at 13:36. Columbus played without its top two defensemen. James Wisniewski was revealed to have a broken foot that will sideline him long term, joining Jack Johnson (upper body), as well as forwards Brandon Dubinsky (knee) and Artem Anisimov (concussion) as a scratch. The Blue Jackets also lost forward Derick Brassard to an upper-body injury in the second period.

Boston v NY Islanders 4-1 - The Boston Bruins can't seem to lose on the road. The New York Islanders still can't find a way to win at home. The Bruins finished a 4-1-0 trip with a near-perfect road game Tuesday night when they defeated the Islanders 4-1, dropping New York to a League-worst 2-8-0 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Tuukka Rask made 36 saves as Boston won its fourth in a row after opening the trip with a loss at the Buffalo Sabres. At 12-2-2, including 8-1-1 away from home, the Bruins are off to their best start since 1976-77. The Islanders didn't make it easy, they generated a lot of chances, especially on the rush, but in the end the Bruins improved to 17-4-1 in their past 22 games against the Islanders, including victories in both games this season. Rask improved to 6-0-1 in his past seven starts, a stretch in which he hasn't allowed more than two goals in any game. The Bruins are back in Boston on Thursday to play the Ottawa Senators. The teams were tied 1-1 after the first 20 minutes, but goals by Brad Marchand and David Krejci put the Bruins ahead. Rask kept the Islanders off the board, and Gregory Campbell hit the empty net with 1:05 remaining. The Islanders got 30 saves by Evgeni Nabokov, but Rask was flawless except for a first-period goal by Casey Cizikas. New York is 8-11-1, and 0-2-0 on a seven-game homestand that continues against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. The Bruins grabbed a 1-0 lead 6:43 into the game on a goal from an unlikely source. Defenseman Adam McQuaid took a pass from Tyler Seguin, got near the top of the right circle and teed up a slap shot that went between the right arm and body of Nabokov for his first goal of the season and the seventh of his four-year NHL career. Rask made the best save of the first period just after the eight-minute mark when Islanders speedster Michael Grabner broke up a play in his own zone and raced in on a breakaway. He tried a deke, but Rask didn't bite and got his left pad on the shot. The Islanders had no success on their first power play after Campbell was sent off for tripping at 13:18, but they tied the game at 15:49. New York's Josh Bailey picked up a pass from Andrew MacDonald near the red line, raced into the Boston zone and reached the lower right circle before reaching around Dennis Seidenberg and putting a backhand pass onto the stick of an oncoming Cizikas. The rookie center lifted a 10-footer over Rask's glove for his second of the season. Rask used his head to preserve the tie in the final seconds of the period, taking John Tavares' wrister from the high slot off the mask. The Bruins needed 38 seconds after the opening faceoff of the second period to regain the lead. Andrew Ference's shot from the left point hit a defender in the slot and came right to Marchand, who had circled out from behind the net. Marchand flipped a backhander past Nabokov for his 10th of the season. Boston added to the lead at 5:16 on an excellent 200-foot play. Zdeno Chara lugged the puck out from behind his net and fed Nathan Horton at center ice. Horton carried into the Islanders' zone and fed Milan Lucic in the slot; Lucic faked a shot and dished to Krejci in the lower left circle for a wide-open one-timer past Nabokov. Rask preserved the two-goal lead during a late Islanders power play when he stopped Mark Streit's deflected point shot through a screen, then got his right pad on Matt Moulson's rebound try. The third period was a goaltending duel between Rask and Nabokov, each of whom excelled until the Islanders pulled Nabokov for an extra attacker and Campbell slid a shot into the empty net at 18:55. It was another frustrating night at home for the Islanders, who are trying to avoid a sixth consecutive non-playoff season.

Buffalo v Tampa Bay 2-1 - It wasn't easy and it wasn't pretty, but the Buffalo Sabres were able to snap a four-game losing streak and earn the first National Hockey League win for interim coach Ron Rolston as they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 Tuesday night at the sold-out Tampa Bay Times Forum. Tyler Myers broke a 1-1 tie and put Buffalo in the lead for good on the first shot for the Sabres in the final period, just 52 seconds after the faceoff. Myers took a pass from behind the Lightning net and one-timed it behind Mathieu Garon from the right faceoff circle. Thomas Vanek picked up his second assist in the game on the goal, Myers' third of the season. Jason Pominville also was credited with an assist. The Lightning entered the game with a League-leading 33 third-period goals, but came up empty in the final period despite firing 12 shots at Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller. The second period was scoreless, although Buffalo gave the Lightning plenty of opportunities to open the game up, giving Tampa Bay three power plays, including 45 seconds of 5-on-3 advantage, but the Lightning, beginning the game with the second-best power play on home ice, was unable to capitalize. Tampa Bay finished 0-for-6 with the man advantage and has now scored only four times in its past 41 opportunities. Steven Stamkos opened the scoring in the opening period, and it didn't take him long as he recorded his NHL-leading 14th goal just 1:24 into the game as he buried a rebound of Teddy Purcell's shot from the slot. Stamkos has now scored at least a goal in his last six games, the longest goal-streak in the League this season. But that goal was all the Lightning could manage, despite outshooting Buffalo 31-21. Buffalo (7-12-1) evened the score midway through the period as a giveaway in the Lightning defensive zone by Victor Hedman led to a wrap-around score by Cody Hodgson, with assists by Andrej Sekera and Vanek. The score was Hodgson's eighth of the season. The Lightning (9-9-1) had several additional good scoring opportunities in the first but squandered them with poor passing and missed shots, including Benoit Poliot's wrister that hit the crossbar. Lightning defenseman Sami Salo only skated 1: 25 in the second period before leaving with a lower-body injury. He did not return in the final period.

Pittsburgh v Florida 4-6 - Tomas Kopecky says he enjoys doing the dirty work. He likes it even more when his effort pays off the way it did Tuesday night. By getting in front of the net, Kopecky sparked a Florida Panthers power play that finally came to life and led the way for a 6-4 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kopecky had two of the Panthers' four goals with the man advantage before completing his first career hat trick with an empty-netter. For good measure, he added an assist to tie his career high of four points. Kopecky clearly had the Penguins frustrated after he scored his second goal in the second period. Pittsburgh forward Craig Adams cross-checked him in the back right after the goal, knocking Kopecky into goalie Tomas Vokoun. Vokoun reacted by punching Kopecky, who quickly got up and confronted Vokoun. Before long, all players on the ice except Panthers goalie Jose Theodore were scuffling. In the end, five penalties were called, including two on Kopecky and one on Vokoun for roughing. Kopecky, who had scored two goals five previous times in his career, recorded Florida's first hat trick since Kris Versteeg did it in a 5-2 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 10, 2011. Kopecky has six goals in his last six games and eight on the season, almost matching his total of 10 in 80 games last season. Thanks in large part to Kopecky's work, the Panthers were 4-for-7 on the power play after going 0-for-17 in their last five home games and 1-for-23 in their last eight overall. Kopecky was one of several offensive stars for the Panthers, who snapped a five-game home losing streak and won for only the second in nine games overall. Another was forward Tomas Fleischmann, who had two assists and broke a 4-4 tie at 3:29 of the third period. The goal, the 100th of Fleischmann's career, came on a 2-on-1 after he came out of the penalty box, took a long pass and beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrist shot to the stick side. Defenseman Brian Campbell also had a goal and two assists. The goal was Campbell's fifth of the season, all on the power play. Marcel Goc also scored on the power play for Florida, his first goal in 13 games this season. The victory evened the season series after the Penguins won 3-1 in Pittsburgh on Friday night. Penguins star forward Evgeni Malkin sustained a concussion in that game and missed Tuesday's rematch. Scott Clemmensen got the victory after replacing a shaky Theodore at the start of the third period and stopping all 15 shots he faced. Theodore, making his first start in eight days, gave up four goals on 19 shots. The Panthers, already dealing with a rash of injuries, were without center Stephen Weiss, who missed the game to attend his grandmother's funeral. James Neal, Dustin Jeffrey, Paul Martin and Chris Kunitz scored for the Penguins, who lost for only the second time in seven games. Sidney Crosby had two assists as he tied Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the NHL scoring lead with 30 points. Vokoun got the start in net against his former team but was gone after Goc's goal at 8:54 of the second period gave Florida a 4-1 lead. He ended up stopping 18 of the 22 shots he faced. Fleury replaced Vokoun and stopped 12 of 13 shots. Vokoun, who started for the Panthers from 2008-11, was 3-0 against Florida last season while with Washington, allowing only one goal on 85 shots. After Kopecky's second goal at 3:22 of the second gave Florida a 2-1 lead, the Panthers were on a power play when Pittsburgh was called for a delayed penalty. Before the Penguins could touch the puck, Campbell beat Vokoun with a slap shot from just inside the left circle to make 3-1. After Goc made it 4-1 on the ensuing power play, the Penguins began their comeback 57 seconds later when Jeffrey beat Theodore with a seemingly harmless wrist shot from the top of the left circle. The puck slipped between Theodore's body and his left arm. Martin made it 4-3 at 14:08 with a one-timer from the top of the right circle before Kunitz tied the game with 40.1 seconds left in the period with a lucky power-play goal. After Crosby stopped a clearing attempt near the boards deep in the Florida zone, he fed Kunitz, whose centering pass went off the skate of defenseman Mike Weaver and past Theodore. The goal marked the 12th consecutive game with at least one power-play goal for the Penguins, their longest streak since February 2008 when they had a 13-game run. Kopecky's goal 13:57 into the game gave Florida a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission, only the fourth time in 20 games this season Pittsburgh trailed after one period.

Calgary v Minnesota 1-2 - For 55 minutes at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night, the Minnesota Wild played sloppy, sluggish hockey. The final five minutes made up for it. Jason Zucker tied the game with 4:19 to play and Zach Parise scored a power-play goal just 27 seconds into overtime, propelling the Wild to a 2-1 victory against the Calgary Flames. Calgary defenseman Mark Giordano was called for smothering the puck with 33 seconds remaining in regulation. Minnesota's eighth power play of the game carried into overtime, and Parise won it when he took a feed from Mikko Koivu and whacked a backhander past Flames goaltender Joey MacDonald. Parise's goal was his eighth career OT winner and gave the Wild a win they probably didn't deserve. For much of the evening, Minnesota couldn't get out of its own way. It took almost five minutes for the team to get its first shot on goal and a power play six minutes in yielded more boos from the stands than shots on goal. When Calgary got its first man-advantage chance two minutes later, the Flames scored just seven seconds in when a rebound of a Mike Cammalleri shot from the right circle was batted out of the air by Alex Tanguay for his sixth of the season. The goal was Tanguay's 16th career marker against Minnesota and gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 10:18. Following that goal, the Wild penalty kill, and goaltender Niklas Backstrom, were the only reason Zucker and Parise had a chance to be late heroes. Minnesota killed off Calgary's next six power play chances, including a five-minute major on Charlie Coyle in the second period and a four-minute double minor on Jonas Brodin in the third. Calgary was undisciplined too, committing eight penalties on the night. Their kill was stellar too, although the Wild certainly helped in that regard. Minnesota coach Mike Yeo shuffled the team's power-play units this week in practice, trying to jumpstart a man advantage that hadn't scored in five games. Many of their chances early in the game generated few opportunities and the pairings looked out of sync. But the eighth time was the charm. When Giordano was sent to the box with less than a minute left in regulation, the Wild had their first 4-on-3 chance of the night, and Parise took advantage quickly into extra session. The goal was a bit of redemption for Parise, who was robbed by Giordano in the first period. Down one, Parise corralled a rebound on the doorstep and flipped a backhander past MacDonald towards the goal line. With the puck straddling it, Giordano swooped in and saved a goal, although it took a review from Toronto to overturn the goal called on the ice. Koivu rang a pair of posts in the second period, but other than that, little materialized offensively for the Wild until Zucker streaked through the Calgary zone and redirected a great pass by Setoguchi past MacDonald for his second of the season in the dying minutes. The goal ruined a potential shutout for MacDonald, who had stymied the Wild for the second time in 72 hours. He stopped 30 of 31 shots in a 3-1 Flames win in Calgary on Saturday night and looked on his way to his third career shutout and first since joining the Flames earlier this month.

Phoenix v Vancouver 4-2 - Instead of trying to hang on to a lead, the Phoenix Coyotes built on one against the Vancouver Canucks. After uncharacteristically blowing leads in weekend losses to the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, Antoine Vermette gave the Coyotes a two-goal cushion with 7:28 left, and Kyle Chipchura added his second goal into an empty net as Phoenix wrapped up a three-game trip through Western Canada by beating the Canucks 4-2 on Tuesday night. There was still plenty of focus on the return of the Coyotes' signature stinginess after it disappeared during consecutive losses, including giving up two goals in the final 1:23 in Calgary on Sunday. But Phoenix was outshooting the Canucks 6-3 in the third period when Vermette scored on a breakaway to extend the Coyotes lead to 3-1. Phoenix did give up a goal to Henrik Sedin just 64 seconds after Vermette scored. But Chipchura hit the empty net with 22.3 seconds left, helping erase the memory of the 5-4 loss in Calgary, a game the Coyotes led 4-3 before allowing two late goals. That came one day after Phoenix saw a 2-0 lead in Edmonton turn into a 3-2 shootout loss. The Canucks spent a good portion of the third period, and the game, trying to get through the neutral zone. When they did, Coyotes' goalie Mike Smith, who made 29 saves, was often the first one to the puck, helping Phoenix break out with smart passes. At the other end, Phoenix is getting contributions throughout a lineup missing two of its top four scoring forwards in Martin Hanzal and Radim Vrbata. Mikkel Boedker also had a goal and an assist, and Chipchura's fourth line scored for a third straight game. Even Phoenix enforcer Paul Bissonnette, who is known as much for his Twitter account as his on-ice play, is getting in on the act, helping set up Chipchura's opening goal, his 50th NHL point, with 5:38 left in the first period to extend his first NHL point streak to three games. Defenseman Jason Garrison also scored for the Canucks and Cory Schneider, back in goal after Roberto Luongo was blitzed in Sunday's 8-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, finished with 18 saves. The first two goals came after blown coverage left Chipchura and Boedker alone in front, and Vermette was in alone from the hash marks before his shot trickled over the line off Schneider.

Colorado v San Jose 2-3 - TJ Galiardi picked a good time to score his first goal of the season for the struggling San Jose Sharks. Galiardi scored just 2:55 into the second period, giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead Tuesday night over the Colorado Avalanche, his former team, and a rare goal from their fourth line. San Jose went on to win 3-2 in a shootout at HP Pavilion, but Galiardi's goal was crucial for a team that has had little production from its third and fourth lines. Nothing has come easily lately for the struggling Sharks, even when they win. They started the day out of the top eight in the Western Conference for the first time this season, but finished the night in seventh place with 21 points with just their second victory in their past 11 games. After blowing leads of 1-0 and 2-1, the Sharks fate came down to a shootout. Michal Handzus opened the shootout with a goal, and Patrick Marleau scored the clincher against Semyon Varlamov in the fourth round after PA Parenteau snuck the puck past Anti Niemi in Round 3. Logan Couture also scored for the Sharks in regulation, and Niemi made 25 saves. Chuck Kobasew and Mark Olver scored for the Avalanche, who received 39 saves from Varlamov but lost their third straight game. Olver tied it 2-2 with just 3:19 left in regulation, banging in a rebound from just left of the crease. After a review, the goal was ruled to be good. Cody McLeod and Jan Hejda earned the assists. San Jose captain Joe Thornton nearly ended it a minute into overtime, but Varlamov made a glove save of his shot from the right circle. Defenseman Justin Braun had a good scoring chance with under a minute left in OT, but Varlamov stopped his blast. The Sharks’ offensive struggles, particularly on the power play, continued Tuesday. They went 0-for-6 with the man advantage and have scored just three times in the past 59 chances. The Sharks needed just 25 seconds to take a 1-0 lead on Couture's one-timer from the slot. Thornton got the puck below the right circle near the boards and zipped a pass to a hard-charging, wide-open Couture, who beat Varlamov. The goal was Couture's seventh of the season and snapped his eight-game stretch without a goal. Colorado pulled even on Kobasew's second goal of the season at 12:13. Niemi stopped Milan Hejduk's long blast from above the left circle but couldn't corral the puck, and Kobasew poked the rebound into the net from just right of the crease. Patrick Bordeleau earned the other assist for his first NHL point. Galiardi gave San Jose a 2-1 early in the second, snapping a long goal scoring slump. The goal was just his second in 29 games, including three in the postseason, since coming to the Sharks from Colorado on Feb. 27 last year with forward Daniel Winnik in a trade for Jamie McGinn and two prospects. James Sheppard, just minutes after dropping from the third to the fourth line in a swap with Andrew Desjardins, made it all possible. He moved the puck behind the net to below the right circle and made a backhand, cross-crease pass to Galiardi, who scored from point-blank range. Adam Burish also earned an assist, notching his first point as a Shark. Sheppard nearly scored again later in the period during a delayed penalty after drawing a hold against Colorado defenseman Ryan O'Byrne. Sheppard's shot from close range went just wide. When the two teams met at HP on Jan. 26, San Jose beat Colorado 4-0 in a game remembered most for Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart's big hit on Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog in the first period. Landeskog missed the next 11 games with a concussion. Stuart's hit ignited a scrap with O'Byrne, and the question entering Tuesday night's game was whether Colorado would seek further retribution. It soon became clear that Landeskog and his teammates were more interested in trying to get a victory than settling a score. Colorado played without top-line center Matt Duchene, who missed the game with a groin injury. He leads the team with 17 points. The Sharks played without three regulars Tuesday night, forwards Ryane Clowe and Tommy Wingels and defenseman Brent Burns. The Sharks placed Burns on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and recalled defenseman Matt Irwin from Worcester of the American Hockey League. Clowe served the second game of his two-game suspension, stemming from an altercation Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks, and Wingels was out after slamming head-first into the boards late in San Jose's game Saturday against the Dallas Stars.

Tue, 26 Feb - Fixtures

Winnipeg v NY Rangers 7pm ET
Carolina v Washington 7pm ET
Dallas v Columbus 7pm ET
Boston v NY Islanders 7.30pm ET
Buffalo v Tampa Bay 7.30pm ET
Pittsburgh v Florida 7.30pm ET
Calgary v Minnesota 8pm ET
Phoenix v Vancouver 10pm ET
Colorado v San Jose 10pm ET

Gameday 38 (Mon, 25 Feb) - Results

Toronto v Philadelphia 4-2 - Toronto Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle was hoping his team could heal from the "scar" of losing to the Ottawa Senators in the game's final minute Saturday. His team's effort Monday against the Philadelphia Flyers provided the perfect salve in a 4-2 victory at Wells Fargo Center. Phil Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin, Mikhail Grabovski and Jay McClement all had goals, and Nazem Kadri and Carl Gunnarsson each had a pair of assists. And after a late power-play goal allowed the Flyers to get within a goal, the team's penalty killers led the effort to earn the Leafs two points in the standings. The effort came through all three periods, but came on especially strong midway through the third period. The Leafs already had killed four Flyers power plays when James van Riemsdyk was called for a pair of minor penalties at 11:18, giving Philadelphia a four-minute advantage. Jakub Voracek, who earlier Monday had been named the NHL's First Star of the Week, scored 24 seconds into the advantage when his shot from the right faceoff circle went through a Brayden Schenn screen and past Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens. The goal extended Voracek's point-scoring streak to six games, but the Leafs allowed the Flyers just one other shot on goal. The Leafs had killed off 35 straight opposing power plays prior to Voracek's goal. And the effort from the Leafs' penalty killers certainly frustrated the Flyers, who totaled one shot on goal on their first four advantages, and were credited with just three shots on the man-advantage. Kessel gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead with 2:40 left in the first period. Tyler Bozak banked a pass from the neutral zone off the wall in the Philadelphia end that Kessel grabbed ahead of Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen. Kessel stayed wide and beat Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle that went just inside the far post for Kessel's fourth of the season. It marked the fourth straight game and 12th time in 20 games this season they had allowed the game's first goal. Kulemin made it 2-0 with his first goal in 12 games. Gunnarsson made a long pass that Kadri one-touched across to Kulemin, who the Flyers missed coming down the right side into the Flyers' zone on a line change. Danny Briere and Brayden Schenn recovered to trip up Kulemin, but as he was falling to the ice he poked the puck over Bryzgalov's blocker at 15:02. The Flyers got on the board with 2:04 left on Hartnell's first goal of the season. Voracek made a nice backhand centering pass off the rush to Hartnell, who was driving to the net and got his stick on the puck to redirect it high over Scrivens' right shoulder and into the net. Philadelphia nearly tied the game when Flyers captain Claude Giroux got loose and beat Scrivens with a backhand shot that went behind the goaltender's head but grazed the crossbar and went wide of the net. Second later, Grabovski's sixth of the season at 7:52 put the Leafs ahead 3-1. Kadri got the puck behind the Philadelphia net and made a nice backhand pass that bounced off Grabovski and went to Clarke MacArthur in front. Bryzgalov stopped his attempt, but kicked the puck back to Grabovski, who lifted a backhander from the slot over the fallen Philadelphia netminder. The Flyers got a bit of life when van Riemsdyk was sent off for holding Braydon Coburn, then hooking Giroux. McClement closed the scoring with an empty-net goal with 12.3 seconds left, and the healing process was well underway for the Leafs.

Montreal v Ottawa 1-2 - Ben Bishop was a savior for the Ottawa Senators on Monday night. The backup goaltender made 44 saves as the Senators (12-6-2) beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in a shootout at Scotiabank Place. Peter Regin scored in the fifth round of the shootout, going high on Carey Price and giving the Senators their fifth straight victory. Jakob Silfverberg and David Desharnais also scored in the shootout. Bishop, who was named the NHL's "Third Star" for the week ending on Feb. 24, is now tied with Patrick Lalime and Brian Elliott for the most saves made during a home win by the Senators. Bishop remained focused in goal throughout the night, but he also received some assistance from the iron, as the Canadiens hit three posts in the game. Dave Dziurzynski scored for the Senators in regulation, while Andrei Markov had the lone goal for the Canadiens (12-4-3), who had their three-game road streak snapped. Montreal's best chance in the first came halfway through the period. Brandon Prust shot the puck from behind the Ottawa net to Tomas Plekanec, who was parked in front of Bishop. Plekanec made a point-blank shot on Bishop, but the Senators' goaltender made the pad save. Ottawa missed a quality opportunity of its own two minutes later. Kyle Turris was going to the net when he was hauled down. Plekanec gained control of the puck and tried to make a drop pass, but it landed on Silfverberg's stick. The Swede took a wrist shot, but it was stopped by Price. Ottawa struck first in the second period, when Chris Neil's long cross-ice pass found Dziurzynski. The left winger sent a slap shot from the top of the faceoff circle, and the puck flew past Price's glove at 6:49, making the score 1-0. It was Dziurzynski's second goal of the season. Montreal would get a tremendous chance at the eight minute mark, off a 3-on-2 play from Prust, Plekanec and Brian Gionta. The trio pulled off a tic-tac-toe pass in the Senators' zone, but Bishop stood tall against Gionta's shot, making the pad save. The Canadiens finally capitalized on a late power play, after Neil was called for roughing at 18:32. Markov capitalized as he fired a rocket shot from the blue line, beating Bishop at 19:56. Max Pacioretty had an assist on the goal, giving the winger four goals and four assists in the past six games, and he leads the Canadiens with 14 points this season. After both teams went scoreless in the third period, overtime was required. Bishop was called upon again, after Turris was called for hooking 52 seconds into the extra session. Pacioretty, Markov and Desharnais peppered Bishop with shots, but the Ottawa goaltender stymied the trio. In the dying seconds, Regin flew into the Canadiens' zone and fired a shot on Price, only to hit the post. Regin was a last-minute addition to the Ottawa lineup Monday night. MacLean did not intend to play him, the Denmark native had missed the past seven games with a chest injury.

Dallas v Nashville 4-5 - Not even a four-goal second period by the opposition could stop Roman Josi on Monday night. The Nashville Predators' defenseman scored twice, including the game-winner 28 seconds into overtime, and added two assists to lead his club to a thrilling 5-4 win against the Dallas Stars at Bridgestone Arena. Josi, 22, had three points through his first 19 appearances this season. His only multi-point game of the 2011-12 season came exactly 365 days ago, when he had two assists against the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 25, 2012. Mike Fisher, Craig Smith and Patric Hornqvist also scored goals for Nashville, which snapped a two-game skid and had dropped four of its past five. The last two losses had been shutouts, and the Predators ended a scoring drought at 133:43 after threatening the franchise-worst drought that reached 176:18 on Feb. 13 in an overtime win against the Sharks. Matt Fraser and Reilly Smith scored 25 seconds apart within the first two minutes of the second, and Vernon Fiddler and Loui Eriksson added a power-play goal apiece for the Stars, who have lost three of their past four games. Michael Ryder had three assists. Fisher tied it at 8:22 of the third when he got the puck as he skated into the Nashville zone, split a pair of Stars and beat Cristopher Nilstorp with a backhander. Nashville wound up outshooting the Stars 31-24, including 11-4 in the third. Smith ended Nashville's scoring drought when he snapped a shot from in front in a relatively quiet first period. Dallas had scored at least three goals the previous nine straight games, and the Stars took a 2-1 lead as the rookie Fraser scored the first career goal on a slap shot from the left circle at 1:20. Then Smith tipped the puck over goalie Pekka Rinne's left leg at 1:45 for a 2-1 lead. Trotz immediately took his timeout, and the Predators responded when Josi tied it 2-2 with his slap shot near the blue line at 3:05. The Predators were trying to kill a holding penalty on Martin Erat when the Stars drew a delayed penalty off a high-sticking by Fisher, and Fiddler, coming on as the extra attacker, scored on a slap shot at 7:29. With Fisher drawing a double minor, the Stars' man advantage continued, and Erikkson scored with the puck redirected past Rinne by Josi at 9:21. The Predators trimmed the lead when they got 1:21 of a 5-on-3 after Eric Nystrom went to the box for fighting with a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. Then Fiddler got his own double minor for unsportsmanlike conduct and roughing. Nashville had only two seconds left when Hornqivst lifted a backhander over Nilstorp at 13:43 to pull the Predators within 4-3.

Edmonton v Chicago 2-3 - Not even the Edmonton Oilers and their "Bulin Wall" could keep the Chicago Blackhawks from extending their National Hockey League record points streak to start this season. The Blackhawks also got a measure of revenge against a nemesis from last season on Monday night at United Center, when Marian Hossa put home his own rebound at 1:44 of overtime to give Chicago a thrilling 3-2 victory. Despite twice blowing out the Blackhawks (16-0-3) at Rexall Place last year and getting a strong performance out of former Chicago goalie Nikolai Khabibulin (31 saves), the Oilers (7-7-4) just couldn't keep the NHL's hottest team from extending its unprecedented streak to 19 straight games of starting a season with at least a point earned in each. After rookie Brandon Saad picked up his second penalty of the game in the second, Oilers rookie Nail Yakupov put Edmonton up 2-1 with 5:33 left before the second intermission on the subsequent power play. He one-timed a pass from Sam Gagner past Ray Emery, and the goal put the Blackhawks in unfamiliar territory starting the third. Prior to this game, Chicago had only trailed after two periods in two games, going 1-0-1 in those matches. Viktor Stalberg made sure it happened just 2:24 into the third, when he tied it 2-2 by swatting home a puck thrown toward the crease by Michal Rozsival from below the goal line. It took an official video review in Toronto to confirm the puck actually slid across the goal line underneath Khabibulin, but it stood nonetheless and again brought the home crowd back to life. Kane did the same thing 5:30 into the first when he quickly tied it 1-1 by scoring his 10th goal at the tail end of the same Blackhawks power play that saw Edmonton's Jeff Petry score shorthanded at 4:28 to open the scoring. Just as they've done all season, the Blackhawks responded each time they fell behind and then found a way to get the second point in the end. That's probably the biggest key to Chicago's amazing start – the relentless way the Blackhawks seek the puck seemingly all game long. That kind of desire wasn't always there with this kind of consistency in the two seasons that followed the Blackhawks' 2010 Stanley Cup championship, but it's there now. It's also proving to be a real headache for Western Conference teams to match shift for shift. They're getting it from just about every position, including goaltenders Emery and Corey Crawford, who are both red hot behind a stingy defensive effort by the teammates in front of them. A night after Crawford shutout the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 in his return from an upper-body injury, Emery (8-0-0) stopped 17 of 19 shots and helped kill off three of the Oilers' four man-advantages, including one in the third with the game still deadlocked in a 2-2 tie. The win concluded an impressive seven-game homestand for Chicago, which went 6-0-1 on it after coming back from long six-game road trip that finished with a 4-0-2 mark. Next up for the Blackhawks is a tough Central Division road matchup on Thursday against the rival St. Louis Blues, who will try to get even for a 3-2 loss on Jan. 22 in Chicago.

Anaheim v Los Angeles 2-5 - In an impressive conjuring of the aggressive and methodical style from last season's Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Los Angeles Kings put on a third period that finally stunted their Southern California rivals. Not even Swedish sensation Viktor Fasth could stop the Kings from pouring in two goals in a two-minute span for a 5-2 victory Monday night in a game that lived up to every bit of its hype. Slava Voynov one timed Anze Kopitar's pass for the go-ahead goal at 4:36, and Jake Muzzin wristed a shot glove side on Fasth on the power play at 6:23 to send the Staples Center crowd into a frenzy as if it were last spring. L.A. ended Anaheim's bid at a franchise-record tying seventh straight win and handed Fasth (8-1) his first career loss. Fasth made was attempting to tie Ray Emery for the longest winning streak to start a National Hockey League career. Jonathan Quick stopped 24 shots to outduel him in the pun-happy Quick-Fasth matchup. Fasth couldn't be faulted much. He gave his team a 2-2 score going into the third and stopped Dustin Brown on a penalty shot in the third. But the hard-charging defending champs eventually busted down the door. Captains Ryan Getzlaf and Dustin Brown lived up to their titles in an equally entertaining second period. Getzlaf wheeled around both corners and sent a loose puck to the crease that Andrew Cogliano whacked home just 13 seconds in. Brown took a pass from Kopitar and ripped a wrist shot from high between the circles that hit the crossbar and skidded across the goal line for a 2-2 score going into the third period. Anaheim's six previous wins had all been comeback victories, but this might have been too much to ask against the defending champions, who have Brown and Kopitar back in form. They combined for a goal and four assists and a plus-four rating and have four goals and six assists the past three games. Brown redeemed his tripping penalty that led to Saku Koivu's power-play goal. Koivu put in a loose puck after Rob Scuderi just missed clearing it from the goal mouth. Dustin Penner added his first goal since his overtime tally in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, on a backhand re-direct of Jarret Stoll's pass. In between there was the expected bad blood, manifested in Jordan Nolan's fight with Sheldon Souray, Quick's healthy push in the back of Kyle Palmieri and Doughty's pancake of Beauchemin. The teams were credited for 32 total hits in the scoreless opening period, the polar opposite of their 11-goal meeting on Feb.2. Luca Sbisa was a healthy scratch for the first time since Oct.15, 2010.

Mon, 25 Feb - Fixtures

Toronto v Philadelphia 7pm ET
Montreal v Ottawa 7.30pm ET
Dallas v Nashville 8pm ET
Edmonton v Chicago 8.30pm ET
Anaheim v Los Angeles 10pm ET

Gameday 37 (Sun, 24 Feb) - Results

Boston v Florida 4-1 - Zdeno Chara is known for his great defense and his physical play, but it was his spectacular goal Sunday afternoon that had his Boston Bruins teammates talking. The 6-foot-9 former Norris Trophy winner channeled Pavel Datsyuk with a spin-o-rama followed by a rooftop backhand from close range for a goal that proved the game-winner in Boston's 4-1 victory against the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center. Chara gave Boston a 2-0 lead at 13:52 of the first period when he took a pass from Brad Marchand near the blue line, spun counterclockwise to get away from Panthers rookie Jonathan Huberdeau and then flipped a high backhand that beat Jacob Markstrom to the glove side. Chara's goal help Rask continue his mastery of the Panthers. Rask, who came in with a 0.97 goals-against average and a .969 save percentage against Florida, made 34 saves as he improved to 5-1 against the Panthers. Milan Lucic and Chris Kelly also scored for the Bruins (11-2-2), who are off to their best start since the 1976-77 season. Surprisingly, Paille's goal game them their first three-goal lead of the season. Kelly's goal wasn't nearly as spectacular as Chara's, but it was his first of the season. In truth, Kelly was the beneficiary of a lucky break. With the Bruins on the power play with a 2-1 lead in the second period, Paille wound up for a slap shot from the high slot, but backchecking Peter Mueller got Paille's stick on the way down. The puck went slowly to the left of the net, through the legs of Florida defenseman Mike Weaver and right onto the stick of Kelly, who had an easy tap-in past Markstrom. Kelly had been limited to four assists in Boston's first 14 games after scoring 20 goals last season. Boston, which came in having played an NHL-low 14 games, began a stretch of 34 games in 63 days. Tomas Kopecky scored for the Panthers (5-9-4), who have lost seven of eight and five in a row at home. It's Florida's longest home losing streak since March 2011. Markstrom, getting a second consecutive start after making his season debut Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, stopped 28 shots. Already playing without forwards Kris Versteeg (upper body) and Scottie Upshall (ankle), and defenseman Ed Jonavoski (knee), the Panthers also had to scratch veteran defenseman Filip Kuba because of an upper-body injury. Boston came in leading the NHL in penalty killing with a 94.4 percent success rate, and killed off four Florida power plays to extend its successful streak to 21 consecutive kills. Florida has one power-play goal in its last 24 opportunities and is 0-for-17 during its home losing streak. Trailing 3-1, Florida had a four-minute power play spanning the end of the second period and the start of the third, but was outshot 3-0 during those four minutes. Lucic opened the scoring at 7:57 off a faceoff. After David Krejci beat Marcel Goc cleanly, Lucic fired a wrist shot that beat Markstrom low to the stick side. Boston had several chances to add to its lead after Kelly's goal in the second period, but Markstrom robbed former Panthers forward Nathan Horton a couple of times, Tyler Seguin hit the post with a wrist shot, and Rich Peverley was stopped on a short-handed breakaway in the final minute.

Winnipeg v New Jersey 4-2 - Special teams again made the difference for the Winnipeg Jets, only this time, the results were positive. The Jets scored a power-play goal for the first time in nine games and their 30th-ranked penalty kill was perfect Sunday at Prudential Center in a 4-2 win against the New Jersey Devils, who are 1-4-2 in their last seven games and may have cause for concern over the health of Martin Brodeur. The veteran goalie had to pull himself out of the starting lineup Sunday due to soreness in his back and is expected to be re-evaluated Monday. Johan Hedberg made 23 saves in replace of Brodeur. Grant Clitsome broke the Jets' 0-for-21 spell on the power play with a game-tying goal in the second period. And, after giving up three power-play goals Saturday in a 5-3 loss at Philadelphia, Winnipeg held the Devils to only four shots on goal over two failed chances with the man-advantage Sunday. Ondrej Pavelec made 24 saves for his sixth win of the season while Zach Bogosian, Evander Kane and Ladd also scored for the Jets, who have a chance to go 4-1 on their season-long five-game road trip when they play Tuesday at Madison Square Garden against the struggling New York Rangers. The Jets have already won at Buffalo, Carolina and New Jersey on this trip. They are 8-9-1 this season. The Devils' woeful penalty kill continues to sink them. It has yielded 13 goals on 32 chances over the past nine games, including eight on 17 shorthanded chances in the past five games. New Jersey has also scored only eight goals in its past five games. Travis Zajac and Steve Bernier scored in the first period Sunday to give the Devils a 2-1 lead that they ultimately could not hold. Winnipeg erased a one-goal deficit to take a 3-2 lead into second intermission on goals by Clitsome and Kane. Ladd gave the Jets the insurance goal they needed with a laser of a shot from the left circle 7:46 into the third period. From there, the Jets went into lockdown mode. They gave up only four more shots on goal and were credited with four blocks over the final 12:14. Winnipeg allowed only five shots on goal in the third period and didn't commit a penalty. The Flyers came back to beat the Jets on Saturday with a pair of power-play goals in the third period. New Jersey thought it might have gotten one back with just over six minutes left in the third period, but Marek Zidlicky's goal was waved off as the officials ruled that a whistle was blown prior to the shot. It appeared that Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey grabbed a hold of the puck when it was on top of Pavelec's pad and tossed it behind him, directly to Zidlicky at the point. Zidlicky said he thought it should have been either a penalty on Hainsey or a good goal, but no penalty was called and it was ruled a no-goal. The Jets built their lead on second-period goals from Clitsome and Kane separated by just 4:47. Clitsome's goal, scored 13:01 into the period, was the Jets’ first on the power play in nine games and 22 chances. Kane's goal, which turned out to be the game-winner, was simply a thing of beauty. He blocked Adam Larsson's shot-pass attempt from the right point and then broke up the ice when he saw the puck go to Alexander Burmistrov. Burmistrov tapped the puck up to Kane, giving him a chance to pick up speed before he picked up the puck. He entered the zone with speed, used his strength to split both Andy Greene and Larsson, made a move around Hedberg's poke check attempt and scored his seventh goal of the season before crashing into the cage. Although it doesn't show up on the scoresheet, Kane also chipped in on Clitsome's game-tying power-play goal by getting in front of Hedberg to provide a screen. Jets coach Claude Noel said prior to the game that the key to getting their power play turned around was net-front presence.

Vancouver v Detroit 3-8 - The Detroit Red Wings made Sunday a miserable afternoon for Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks. Damien Brunner had two goals and two assists, and Joakim Andersson scored twice as the Red Wings cruised to an 8-3 win at Joe Louis Arena. Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall had a goal and two assists each, Daniel Cleary added a goal and an assist, and Jordin Tootoo also scored for Detroit (9-7-3), which netted three power-play goals in the second period to take the lead. Pavel Datsyuk and Jonathan Ericsson added two assists, and Jimmy Howard made 18 saves. Daniel Sedin had two goals, and Chris Higgins also had a goal for Vancouver (10-4-4). Henrik Sedin had two assists, and Luongo stopped 20 shots but lost in regulation for the first time this season. Cleary tied it 3-3 at 2:57 of the second period when he tipped the puck in during a goal-mouth scramble for his fourth goal. Zetterberg's sixth gave the Red Wings the lead with 4:50 left in the second, and Brunner made it 5-3 when he calmly flipped in a rebound with 42 seconds remaining. The Red Wings, who entered ranked 26th in the NHL on the power play, held the Canucks to only three shots in the second period. Brunner added his second goal of the game and 10th of the season in the third before Andersson scored twice. Daniel Sedin's first goal of the game gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead 5:45 in. He put in a one-timed shot from in front off a pass from his brother, Henrik, who was behind the net. Tootoo tied it with 8:52 left in the first when his bad-angle shot from the right-wing boards went in off of defenseman Keith Ballard. The Red Wings went ahead just 1:29 later when Kronwall's slap shot went in off the stick of defenseman Dan Hamhuis for Kronwall's third of the season and second in two games. Daniel Sedin's second goal, with 3:42 left in the first, tied it at 2. He again teamed with Henrik, who made a perfect dump-in that caromed off the boards in the left corner of the Detroit zone to Daniel, who was cutting in off left wing. He picked up the puck and beat Howard for his seventh goal. Higgins capitalized on Justin Abdelkader's turnover to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead with 1:34 left in the first.

Carolina v NY Islanders 4-2 - Another home game, another loss for the New York Islanders. Bobby Sanguinetti's first National Hockey League goal proved to be the game-winner as the Carolina Hurricanes rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 4-2 win at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Sunday night. Jordan Staal and Alexander Semin each tallied a goal and an assist, while Eric Staal also scored for the injury-depleted Hurricanes (9-7-1), who snapped a three-game losing streak. Cam Ward made 23 saves in the win. John Tavares and Matt Moulson helped the Isles jump out to a 2-0 lead, but it wasn't enough to prevent them from losing on home ice for the seventh time in nine games this season. Kevin Poulin gave up three goals on 27 shots in the loss in his season debut. The loss prevented New York (8-10-2) from getting back to the .500 mark. Indeed, it was no way to start a seven-game homestand. Trailing by two goals, the Hurricanes, who were missing Jeff Skinner, Tuomo Ruutu, Joni Pitkanen, Tim Gleason and Jamie McBain, got one on the power play late in the second period. After a faceoff win, Semin's slap shot went off the ankle of an Islanders defenseman and popped into the air. Eric Staal was at the left side of the net and he was able to smack it out of the air for his ninth of the season with 1:32 left in the period. Just 45 seconds later, Carolina tied the game as Jordan Staal's snap shot from the slot beat Poulin to make it 2-2. The Hurricanes then took a 3-2 lead just past the midway mark of the final frame as Patrick Dwyer rushed into the Islanders' zone down the left wing before feeding Sanguinetti, who sent a wrister from the slot past Poulin for his first NHL goal. Semin put the game out of reach with an empty-net tally at 19:30. But New York took a 1-0 lead just 4:38 in as a Brad Boyes skated the puck down low and just before going behind the net he centered it to Moulson, who one-timed it past Ward for his 10th goal of the season. The Islanders went up by a pair as Tavares snapped it into the right corner of the net from the left circle on a 2-on-1 for his 13th goal of the season with 7:35 left in the first.

Columbus v Chicago 0-1 - The beat goes on for the Chicago Blackhawks. Despite not playing their best on Sunday night at United Center, they still found a way to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 and remain the only team in the National Hockey League that hasn't lost a game in regulation, highlighted by a standout goaltending performance from Corey Crawford. They won't get much time to rest. The Edmonton Oilers come into town on Monday night for another chance to break Chicago's NHL-record streak of 18 straight games to start a season with at least one point earned. Playing for the first time in four games, following an injury, Crawford upped his record to 8-0-0 and earned his second shutout of the season by making 28 saves against Columbus (5-12-2), the last-place team in the Western Conference. Crawford keyed a fifth-straight victory for the Blackhawks (15-0-3), whose depth and balance are giving opponents fits. It's not just big-name stars like captain Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa leading the charge during this remarkable stretch. It's also young guys like versatile centers Marcus Kruger and Andrew Shaw. Kruger didn't record a point against Columbus, but was credited with three takeaways and did his usual yeoman's work on the penalty kill. He played a strong game overall in place of injured second-line center Dave Bolland, while Shaw scored the game's lone goal late in the second period on his only shot. Shaw also led Chicago with four hits and won 67 percent of the faceoffs he took while centering a third line that hasn't missed a beat without Bolland this season. Defense and goaltending are also making it tough on opposing teams. Crawford didn't miss a beat after sitting out those four games with an undisclosed upper-body injury and then stepping in for Ray Emery, who'd won four straight and had a hot hand himself. Crawford wasn't the only reason it was such a low-scoring game. Columbus goalie Steve Mason (26 saves) nearly matched him save for save and kept the Blue Jackets either locked in a scoreless tie or within striking distance all game. The first two periods were largely dominated by defensive play and big saves, but each team also squandered golden scoring chances by firing loose pucks over the crossbar at large net openings. Derick Brassard missed from the high slot in the first for Columbus and Brent Seabrook misfired from around the same area just 0:35 into the second on a rebound of Hossa's close-range wrister. Mason also stopped Hossa about five minutes later in the second on a breakaway, after the Blackhawks star stole a pass from James Wisniewski at the Columbus blue line and walked in alone. Wisniewski made up for it by threading a perfect stretch pass down the middle of the ice to Vinny Prospal with 5:50 left in the period for a Blue Jackets' breakaway, but the wrister he fired from 19 feet away clanged off the metal at the top right corner of the net to keep it scoreless. The Blue Jackets also came up empty on five power plays, including three in the third. On the flipside, Chicago's penalty-killing efforts have now thwarted all nine combined power plays faced in the past two games. It has allowed the Blackhawks enough leeway to come up with timely goals like Shaw's, which he scored with 1:27 left in the second. Shaw's wrister from the low slot didn't meet the same misfortune as Prospal's, after Bryan Bickell slid him a pretty backhand pass from the corner. Instead, the puck ripped into the top right corner of the net and put Chicago up 1-0 heading into the third. That's all Crawford needed. In the third, Kane nearly pushed it to a two-goal margin midway through with a pretty spin move in the right circle, but Mason was up to the challenge. He made a nice pad save on the other side of the net and kept his team within a goal. The Blue Jackets just couldn't knot it and it was a stinging end to a tough six-game road trip. Columbus went 1-5-0 on the journey, but five of the games were decided by one goal and the other, a 5-3 loss to Phoenix, was a one-goal game until an empty-net score sealed it.

Tampa Bay v Pittsburgh 3-5 - Guy Boucher had first-hand knowledge of Sidney Crosby's ability to carry a team. Even when he doesn't have his sidekick. Playing without reigning National Hockey League scoring champion Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins got two goals and an assist from Crosby in beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Sunday night at Consol Energy Center. Malkin sustained a concussion colliding into the boards in a victory against the Florida Panthers on Friday, but the team's other former Art Ross and Hart Trophy winner, Crosby, led Pittsburgh to its fifth win in its past six games. Crosby moved into third place on the Penguins all-time points list, but remains one point behind Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos for the NHL scoring lead. Stamkos had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who also got goals from Eric Brewer and Cory Conacher. Beau Bennett's first career goal came during a 5-on-3 and Paul Martin and Matt Cooke each added a goal and an assist for the Penguins (13-6), who tied the Montreal Canadiens atop the Eastern Conference with 26 points. Pittsburgh built a 3-0 first-period lead and held off Tampa Bay to improve to 20-2-1 over the past three seasons against Southeast Division teams at home. Crosby has particularly torched the division, putting up 42 points in his past 20 games against the Southeast's five teams. Crosby entered the game a point behind Stamkos for the NHL scoring lead, but tied him 1:16 in when he took a pass from Chris Kunitz and slipped a wrist shot high and to the stick side over Lightning goalie Anders Lindback. In 12 of 19 games this season, Pittsburgh has scored at least once in the first 5:07. The Penguins have scored before their opponent in 15 of 19 and trailed at the first intermission just three times this season. Crosby's ninth goal of the season came at 7:15, when Martin took a shot from the point and the puck pinballed off of the shafts of the sticks of James Neal and Crosby before Lindback inadvertently kicked it into the net with the back of his skate. The point was the 636th of Crosby's career, tying him with Rick Kehoe behind only Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr on the Penguins' all-time scoring list. Martin added his 11th point in the past 10 games when he scored for the third time this season during the final minute of the first. Cooke earned the primary assist, the 200th of his career. Things could have unraveled at that point for the Lightning, who played in Raleigh, N.C., the previous night. Boucher canceled the morning skate and publicly fretted about how the Penguins were at home resting over the previous 48 hours. But instead of folding, Tampa Bay scored twice in the first 3:14 of the second, beginning with some luck when the Penguins had an "own goal" of their own. Brewer was credited with his fourth of the season 97 seconds into the period when a puck deflected off of Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik and into the net. Stamkos snapped a 3-for-32 slide for the Lightning power play with a 5-on-3 goal, his fifth consecutive game with a goal, but the Penguins regained a two-goal cushion with a two-man advantage tally of their own at 12:20. Bennett, the team's first-round pick two years ago, was on the ice in lieu of Malkin on the Penguins power play. Letang picked up an assist to extend his point streak to a career-high five games. The Lightning lead the National Hockey League in third-period goals with 32 and had scored four times during the final period Saturday. Just 3:15 into the third Sunday, Conacher extended his point streak to five games and padded his lead in the rookie scoring race when his one-timer past Marc-Andre Fleury cut Pittsburgh's lead to 4-3. But Cooke sealed it with an empty-net goal with 51.2 left. Crosby has six three-point games in February and 28 points on the season. Fleury made 27 saves to win for the fifth straight start and eighth time in nine games.

Phoenix v Calgary 4-5 - An old cliché states better late than never. The Calgary Flames aren't about to disagree. Goals 23 seconds apart from Jarome Iginla and Curtis Glencross in the final minutes of the third period turned what looked to be a regulation loss into a 5-4 win against the Phoenix Coyotes at Scotiabank Saddledome on Sunday night. Down 4-3 with under two minutes remaining, Iginla converted a cross-ice feed from Alex Tanguay with 1:23 left in the game to tie it for Calgary (7-7-3). Before the goal had an opportunity to be announced, Glencross took a feed from Lee Stempniak and hammered home a slap shot from the top of the slot that beat Phoenix starter Mike Smith with exactly one minute remaining in the game to give the Flames their second-consecutive win on home ice. The loss comes a day after Phoenix coughed up a two-goal lead to the Edmonton Oilers before eventually losing 3-2 in a shootout. Calgary's comeback came after the Coyotes (8-7-3) erased a deficit of their own to start the third. Trailing 3-2, Raffi Torres finished a play he helped start by burying a Zbynek Michalek pass behind Flames goaltender Joey MacDonald to knot the game 2:22 into the period. Nick Johnson put the Coyotes ahead at 8:48. After Paul Bissonnette worked the puck back to Oliver Ekman-Larsson at the point, the Phoenix blueliner threw the puck on net. MacDonald handled the initial shot, but Johnson swept the rebound into the net to make it 4-3. That lead was quickly erased by Glencross and Iginla, who helped improve the Flames to 4-5-2 on home ice this season. The Flames opened the scoring early courtesy of an unlikely sniper. Tim Jackman scored just 2:15 into the game, chipping a backhand under the arm of Smith for his first goal since December 29th, 2011, a span of 52 games, to give the Flames a 1-0 lead. Combining for just 13 shots in the opening 20 minutes, chances were few from either side. But Matt Stajan and Iginla tried their best to extend Calgary's lead to two at 17:17. Working a give-and-go with Stajan along the goal line, Iginla fired a shot from in close that Smith kicked out to keep it a one-goal game heading into the first intermission. Shorthanded early in the second period, a holding penalty on Stajan put the Flames down two, but the Coyotes couldn't convert. Coming out of the box after a successful Flames' kill, Stajan broke up a play heading up ice before both skates hit the ice and was immediately whistled for interference. And with Stajan back in the box, the Coyotes struck. Winning the ensuing faceoff, Michael Stone, who played his junior with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League, uncorked a blast from the point that was blocked, but the puck ricocheted off the skate of Jay Bouwmeester and behind MacDonald at 5:32 to tie the game 1-1. Phoenix added another on the heels of an expiring penalty for a faceoff violation by Mike Cammalleri. Former Flames forward Matthew Lombardi hit Torres cutting through the slot with a pass, who quickly went forehand-to-backhand to slide the puck by MacDonald for his first of the game to make it 2-1 at 14:01. Iginla answered for Calgary just 2:25 later, poking a puck loose in the crease through Smith to restore the tie and Cammalleri gave the Flames lead with 34.3 seconds remaining in the period. Smith stopped Stempniak on the doorstep with his paddle, but Cammalleri converted a Glencross pass over the goalie's shoulder to make it 3-2. Glencross recorded his 100th career assist and 200th career point on the play.

Colorado v Anaheim 3-4 - Chalk up another win for Team Resiliency. This isn't the ideal formula for the Anaheim Ducks to spot the opposition a lead and come back, but they've made it their identity after a 4-3 overtime win Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche. Anaheim won its sixth straight game, and all six are come-from-behind victories. The last National Hockey League team to win six straight when trailing in all six was the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2006. Anaheim is also 3-2 when trailing after 40 minutes. Anaheim allowed the first goal for the 11th time in 16 games but improved to 8-2-1 in that situation after Corey Perry tipped Ryan Getzlaf's shot with 45.4 seconds remaining in overtime, a power-play tally that completed a comeback after the Ducks erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-2. Getzlaf completed a monster game with Perry as the two are re-discovering their dominance from seasons past. Getzlaf forced a tie at 3-3 with a tap-in of a puck that trickled through Jean-Sebastien Giguere's pads at 8:49, with Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog in the penalty box for slashing. Getzlaf had a goal and two assists and won the faceoff on the overtime winner. He looks entirely different from his disappointing 2011-12 season and is on a contract year along with Perry. In other words, he's… John Mitchell had sucked the air out of the building with an end-over-end shot between the legs of Ben Lovejoy that eluded Jonas Hiller that gave Colorado a 3-2 lead going into the third. But Colorado got only one shot in the third period. Perry's winner came with Ryan O'Byrne off for hooking Cam Fowler. Anaheim went 3-for-5 on the power play. Forty seconds before Mitchell's goal, Teemu Selanne erupted the crowd with his 250th career power-play goal, on a one-timer from Saku Koivu to complete tape-to-tape sequence with Francois Beauchemin. Selanne moved into a tie with Luc Robitaille for 11th on the all-time goals list at 668. The five-day rest was supposed to benefit the Ducks but they couldn't have started much worse against a Colorado team that looked like it wanted to redeem an ugly loss the previous night. Cody McLeod deflected Matt Hunwick's slap shot from the top of the left circle at 2:28, and PA Parenteau wristed in a Tyson Barrie rebound that went right to him on the left side of the goal for a power-play strike and 2-0 lead at 12:54. Fowler returned to the lineup for Anaheim for the first time since was knocked out of a Feb.2 game with an apparent concussion.

Sun, 24 Feb - Fixtures

Boston v Florida 3pm ET
Winnipeg v New Jersey 5pm ET
Vancouver v Detroit 5pm ET
Carolina v NY Islanders 7pm ET
Columbus v Chicago 7pm ET
Tampa Bay v Pittsburgh 7.30pm ET
Phoenix v Calgary 8pm ET
Colorado v Anaheim 8pm ET

Gameday 36 (Sat, 23 Feb) - Results

New Jersey v Washington 1-5 - Alex Ovechkin had his first hat trick in more than two years Saturday to help the Washington Capitals defeat a team in the top eight of the Eastern Conference for the first time this season. Ovechkin's first three-goal effort since Jan. 22, 2011 helped the Capitals to a 5-1 victory against the New Jersey Devils at Verizon Center. The win moved Washington past the Buffalo Sabres and out of last place in the conference, and the Capitals are now 1-8-1 against the current top eight in the East. The Capitals captain also assisted on a late goal by Troy Brouwer to give him a four-point game for the first time since Feb. 4, 2011. Ovechkin put the Capitals in front, 1-0, 5:20 into the second period. Jason Chimera sent the puck from the right wall into the slot to Mike Ribiero, and the team's leading scorer sent it along to the Ovechkin for a one-timer from below the dot in the left circle. After a goal late in the second period by New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk, Ovechkin and the Capitals erupted in the third. Ovechkin put Washington in front at 1:23 when he collected a pass along the right wing and used New Jersey defenseman Anton Volchenkov as a screen to snap a shot past goaltender Johan Hedberg. It was precisely the type of goal Ovechkin used to score regularly during his days as the League's top left wing, but it was the first time he's been able to do it this year since moving to the right side. He completed the hat trick at 15:13 of the third, after a shorthanded goal by Eric Fehr put Washington ahead 3-1. Ribiero had the puck behind the net and sent a diagonal pass to Ovechkin for a one-timer on the power play. Ovechkin's previous hat trick came at Air Canada Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ovechkin now has eight goals this season. Ribiero has 15 assists in 17 games and is leading Washington with 21 points. The Capitals traded for Ribiero at the 2012 NHL Draft, sending forward Cody Eakin and a second-round pick to the Dallas Stars. Finding a center to provide consistent production behind Nicklas Backstrom has been a multiyear project for general manager George McPhee, and Ribiero is exceeding expectations at this point. Ribiero has at least 50 points in each of the past seven seasons, but he hasn't averaged more than one per contest since he had 83 in 76 games in 2007-08. After the Capitals had taken a 1-0 lead, Kovalchuk countered with a goal late in the second period. Devils forward Andrei Loktionov lost the puck after he entered the offensive zone, but he was able to clear space for Kovalchuk to swoop in behind him and fire a shot past goaltender Braden Holtby with Capitals defenseman John Erskine providing a screen. The goal, with 38 seconds remaining in the period, was Kovalchuk's seventh of the season. He has three against the Capitals, including the game-winner in each of the first two meetings of the season, including Thursday in a 3-2 victory also played at Verizon Center. Brouwer deflected an Ovechkin shot at 17:09 of the third for another power-play goal and the final marker of a furious 20 minutes. Fehr's goal to make it 3-1 at 3:56 was the team's first shorthanded tally of the season. He stole the puck from Hedberg behind the net before stuffing a wraparound shot for his fourth of the season.

Winnipeg v Philadelphia 3-5 - The alarm clock went off for the Philadelphia Flyers with just over seven minutes left in the first period, and it was just in time for them to rebound from another slow start to rally for a 5-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. With 7:17 left in the first period the Flyers were trailing 1-0 and were being outshot 12-1. But in that final 7:17, they scored a goal to tie the game, registered 16 shots, and never looked back. Wayne Simmonds' power-play goal at 8:57 of the third period snapped a 3-3 tie and gave Philadelphia its first win of the season when trailing after two periods (1-7). Brayden Schenn took a pass from Jakub Voracek on the right side in the Winnipeg zone and drew three defenders to him. That left Simmonds alone on the back door, and Schenn found him with a cross-slot pass for a tap-in goal. Schenn had his first two-goal game of the season and added an assist, Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist, and Voracek had three assists to extend his point-scoring streak to five games. Zac Rinaldo added an empty-net goal at the buzzer, and had a game-high 12 hits in 14:18 of ice time. The Flyers' power play, 3-for-12 in its past three games, scored three times on six chances Saturday. The game started as well as the Jets could have hoped, with Evander Kane's goal 4:48 in giving Winnipeg the lead. Dustin Byfuglien's shot from the right point went wide of the net, but Nik Antropov retrieved it and passed from behind the goal to Kane, who was wide open on the right post and flipped it over Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for his sixth of the season and third in four career games in Philadelphia. It extended Kane's point streak to six games. It was the third straight game and 11th time in 20 games the Flyers had surrendered the game's first goal. Jokinen's spin-and-fire goal 2:34 into the second put Winnipeg ahead 2-1, then Burmistrov's beautiful leaping deflection of a Grant Clitsome point shot at 11:13 of the second made it 3-1. Clitsome got the puck at the blue line in the center of the Philadelphia zone and fired a low shot that Burmistrov leapt over, but left his stick low, where he was able to change the direction of the shot enough to get it past Bryzgalov. Giroux got the Flyers to 3-2 with a 5-on-3 goal at 14:24 of the second. Penalties on Byfuglien and Jim Slater two seconds apart put the Flyers on a two-man advantage, and Giroux's blast from the top of the left circle went past Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec for his sixth of the season. Schenn tied the game at 6:18 of the third on another power-play chance. Giroux carried the puck into the Jets' zone, and as he was checked pushed it ahead to Voracek. Voracek carried it to the goal line and backhanded a pass to Schenn in the slot. His one-timer beat Pavelec to make it 3-3. After Simmonds' power-play goal put the Flyers ahead, Rinaldo's empty-net goal with less than a second remaining closed the scoring. The Jets saw their three-game road win streak snapped, and lost for the first time on their current five-game trip (2-1-0). Noel said special-teams failures were the culprit, besides their poor penalty kill, they went 0-for-4 on the power play, including missing a chance to tie the game on a man-advantage with 3:49 left in the third. Winnipeg has gone eight games without an extra-man goal, going 0-for-21 in the process. The Flyers received a boost before the game when Scott Hartnell returned to the lineup four weeks and one day after surgery to repair a broken first metatarsal in his left foot. He was second on the team with five shots in 14:54 of ice time. More than any offensive output, Hartnell's presence was welcomed by a team coming off a listless 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday. Now the Flyers (9-10-1) can look toward getting to .500 for the first time this season when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.

Phoenix v Edmonton 2-3 - Sam Gagner was stymied by Mike Smith on two golden opportunities, but he finally found success in the shootout. Gagner, denied on a first-period breakaway and an overtime slap shot, scored a highlight-reel goal in the shootout to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 comeback win against the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday at Rexall Place. Approaching with speed, Gagner quickly went forehand-backhand-forehand and finally got a puck past Smith. Gagner failed on a shorthanded breakaway against Smith with the Oilers trailing 1-0. Jordan Eberle scored in regulation and in the shootout for Edmonton, which rallied from a 2-0 deficit and ended a five-game homestand with a win after losing three of four. Phoenix had a two-game winning streak end. Smith made 41 saves for the Coyotes, including a glove stop on Gagner during a 4-on-3 power play situation in overtime. Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin made 34 saves through 65 minutes, then stopped Mikael Boedker and David Rundblad in the shootout. Trailing 2-0 midway through the second period, the Oilers tied the game with 11:56 left in the third on a tap-in goal by Teemu Hartikainen. A clearing attempt off the boards by Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson did not get past Oilers defenseman Justin Schultz, whose shot from the point was deflected by Ryan Smyth across the crease to Hartikainen waiting at the left post for an easy finish. It was his first goal in 15 games this season. Phoenix's Matthew Lombardi, who had not played since Jan. 24, missing 12 games with a shoulder injury, scored his first of the season to give the Coyotes a 2-0 lead in the second period. The goal at 9:42 was the result of Lombardi going hard to the crease during a power play. Boedker's shot from the right-wing boards hit the far post and ricocheted off the left leg of Khabibulin. Lombardi skated in from the opposite side and was able to backhand the loose puck into the net. The goal snapped a 1-for-23 power-play slump for Phoenix, but it finished the game 1-for-7. Kyle Chipchura's hard work put the Coyotes ahead 1-0 early in the first period. He stole the puck behind the Edmonton net, skated out in front, turned and fired a shot past Khabibulin at 5:23. Smith held the Oilers scoreless in the first, stopping shorthanded breakaways by Eric Belanger and Gagner. Smith got help in the second period when, after making a sprawling save, Keith Yandle had to bat a goal-bound puck away with his glove. The Oilers finally broke through at 16:22 of the second period. Nail Yakupov won the race for a dump-in that hit off the end boards and his pass in front was tapped in by Eberle. Edmonton starts a nine-game, 17-day road trip on Monday in Chicago. Edmonton was without leading scorer Taylor Hall, who served the first of a two-game suspension he received for kneeing Cal Clutterbuck of the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. Phoenix played without its two top-scoring forwards, Radim Vrbata and Martin Hanzal, both of whom were out with an injury.

Colorado v Los Angeles 1-4 - Bring on the Anaheim Ducks? That wasn't quite the chant in the Los Angeles Kings' locker room, although the defending Stanley Cup champions seem to have their game together just in time for their Southern California rivals. The Kings are taking a page from last season with strong play from the reunited top line of Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams leading the way in a 4-1 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Brown, Kopitar and Williams combined for two goals and two assists and Jeff Carter added a goal as Los Angeles, which started 3-5-2, is now 8-6-2 and stretched its winning streak to a season-high three games. The Kings have won five of their past six games going into Monday's showdown against Pacific Division-leading Anaheim, which is 12-2-1. Colorado lost despite the return of captain Gabriel Landeskog from a head injury, mostly because it couldn't stop the Kings from getting loose in its own end. Milan Hejduk's power-play goal 1:16 into the second period was the only shot to elude Jonathan Quick, who made 25 saves. Kopitar remained on the ice during a line change and made it 4-1 at 16:42 of the second period with a wrist shot off a slick pass from Dustin Penner. Penner protected the puck from the back wall to around the corner and dished it between two defenders for only his second point this season. Coach Darryl Sutter reunited the top line Feb.19 and the trio seems to have rediscovered why it was so effective during the run to the Cup last spring. It helped L.A. take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission on long shots that exposed both Colorado's shoddy zone coverage and Semyon Varlamov's blocker side. The start set the tone for a Kings team that ended a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) to Colorado, the only Western Conference team to sweep L.A. last season. Brown blasted a cross-ice feed from Williams into the net only 58 seconds into the game. Carter wristed home a tape-to-tape backhand pass from a curling Mike Richards at 14:22 for his team-leading ninth of the season. Carter has goals in three consecutive games. He had six goals in 16 regular-season games as a King in 2011-12, but has nine through 16 games this season. Trevor Lewis added a shorthanded goal 2:51 into the second period on a soft shot five-hole on Varlamov, the first shorthander by L.A. and the first allowed by Colorado this season. Jarret Stoll started the play with a blocked shot in the slot. Colorado has scored one goal in each of its past two games. Colorado didn't manage much on its other power plays, getting one and zero shots on two occasions. Coach Joe Sacco cited inconsistency and pointed to its leaders to get them out of the doldrums. The Avalanche play at Anaheim on Sunday. Former fan favorite Ian Laperriere was honored in a pre-game tribute. The Kings also observed a moment of silence for former owner Jerry Buss.

NY Islanders v Buffalo 4-0 - A coaching change hasn't helped the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres fell to 0-2-0 since Ron Rolston replaced Lindy Ruff when they were beaten 4-0 by the New York Islanders on Saturday in front of an unhappy sellout crowd at First Niagara Center. New York killed off all six Buffalo power plays and goaltender Evgeni Nabokov made 35 saves for his first shutout of the season and 53rd of his career. The shutout was the first for Nabokov against Buffalo. Mark Streit, Michael Grabner, John Tavares and Colin McDonald scored for the Islanders. Matt Moulson recorded two assists. Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller stopped 28 shots. New York has won four of its past six games after losing five in a row earlier in the month. The Islanders begin a seven-game homestand on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Sabres have lost four in a row, their first four-game losing streak in regulation since they went 0-5-0 from Jan. 14 to Jan. 21, 2012. Buffalo has lost three straight home games in regulation for the first time since Feb. 16 to Feb. 20, 2011. Buffalo is tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with the Washington Capitals. Each team has 13 points but the Capitals have two games in hand. The Islanders had the 10th-best penalty-killing unit in the League heading into the game (83.3 percent) and the Sabres entered with the NHL's second-worst power play (12.3 percent). The Sabres had two power-play opportunities in the first period, and the Islanders killed off both. New York outshot Buffalo, 13-9, in the first. The Sabres' power play tested New York twice more in the second when the Islanders took consecutive penalties. A Buffalo power play in the third period was cut short when forward Nathan Gerbe was called for tripping. The Islanders killed off the Sabres' sixth chance late in the third. With 12:37 left, Nabokov kicked a rebound back into the slot and teammate Frans Nielsen ended up knocking the puck back into him. Later, with the Sabres on the power play, Nabokov fell backward to deny Tyler Ennis from in close. As that power play expired, Nabokov deflected a shot from Ennis in the slot right to Drew Stafford, but went right-to-left in time to rob Stafford with his glove. NHL scoring leader Thomas Vanek couldn't beat Nabokov either on the second man advantage in the second period when Nabokov gloved his backhander. Streit's goal with 2:09 to play in the second period opened the scoring. The Islanders killed off a penalty to Tavares, who joined the rush as he left the box. Moulson carried the puck over the line and threaded a pass through a crowded slot to Streit. The Islanders captain one-timed the puck past Miller for his fourth goal of the season. Grabner scored on a breakaway 1:05 later to give New York a 2-0 lead. He intercepted a cross-ice pass from Christian Ehrhoff along the Islanders' blue line and raced in alone as Ehrhoff chased him down. Ehrhoff ended up getting a stick on Grabner, but the Islanders forward wristed a shot past Miller for his seventh goal of the season. Tavares scored his 12th goal 4:24 into the third period to put him in a tie with Vanek for the NHL lead. Tavares checked defenseman Andrej Sekera behind the Buffalo net, came out in front and snapped a wrist shot into the top far corner. McDonald added a power-play goal with 58 seconds left in the game. The goal was his third of the season. Buffalo goes on the road to the state of Florida for two games next week. They will face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday but will first take Sunday off. Sekera returned after missing three games with a charley horse, but the Sabres lost defenseman Alexander Sulzer in the first period with a lower-body injury after he was checked in the corner by McDonald, who was called for interference on the play. Rolston said Sulzer will undergo some tests but there is no timetable for his return. The Islanders will look to build on the success they've had on the road with the upcoming homestand. New York is 6-3-1 away from Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 2-6-0 on home ice.

NY Rangers v Montreal 0-3 - The New York Rangers lost another game, and may have lost another two key defensemen in the process. The line of Alex Galchenyuk, Erik Cole and Lars Eller each had a goal and an assist and Carey Price made 17 saves for his second shutout of the season as the Montreal Canadiens handed the New York Rangers their third straight loss, 3-0 Saturday night at Bell Centre. Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh left the game after taking a hit from Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty at 7:20 of the second period and did not return. Pacioretty was given a two-minute minor for boarding on the play that left McDonagh bloodied. McDonagh had previously hit Pacioretty hard into the boards near the Canadiens' bench and the Montreal forward was slow to get up. Then, with just over one minute remaining in regulation time, Dan Girardi. blocked a P.K. Subban one-timer with his right ankle and had to be helped from the ice as he was unable to put any weight on his foot. Rangers coach John Tortorella began his post-game news conference by asking the gathered reporters how high they believed Pacioretty jumped when he hit McDonagh, but he would not go into details about the severity of neither McDonagh's nor Girardi's injuries. The potential loss of McDonagh and Girardi would make this difficult stretch for the Rangers (8-7-2) an unmitigated disaster. Over the course of the past five games, the Rangers have gone 1-2-2 and lost top line left wing Rick Nash, fourth line checker Arron Asham, defenseman Michael Del Zotto and now McDonagh. Also, star players Brad Richards was benched for the entire third period in the first game of this five-game slide, while Marian Gaborik did not see a single shift in the third period Saturday night. The Rangers have scored just eight goals in those five games and allowed 14. The Canadiens (12-4-2), on the other hand, continued rolling after blowing two two-goal leads to the New York Islanders on Thursday night to lose 4-3 in overtime, snapping a five-game winning streak but immediately starting a potential new one by beating the Rangers for the second time in a span of four days. With the win the Canadiens reclaimed sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference, two points up on the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils and four points clear of the Boston Bruins in the Northeast Division. The Bruins, however, hold four games in hand on Montreal. Price had just about the easiest shutout a goalie can get, rarely being tested with quality chances as his teammates frustrated the Rangers with its defensive style in much the same they did in Tuesday night's 3-1 win at Madison Square Garden. With the return of rookie Brendan Gallagher from a concussion, Therrien moved Cole onto a line with Eller and Galchenyuk and saw immediate results. Cole surprised Biron with a quick low shot at 1:20 of the second period to score his third goal of the season, snapping a nine-game stretch where he failed to get a point. Galchenyuk made it to 2-0 Canadiens at 13:36 of the second when he took a drop pass from Eller and tried to cut in front of the net for an attempt on goal. As he made his move, the puck deflected off the stick of Girardi and up and over Biron for the rookie's third goal of the season and second in as many games against New York. Eller increased the lead to 3-0 on a power play at 19:34 off a nice pass from Galchenyuk, one-timing it through a Cole screen and past Biron for his second goal of the season. Rangers rookie Christian Thomas, the son of former NHLer Steve Thomas, made his NHL debut in a game his teammates and coach would like to put behind them as soon as possible. The Rangers will not practice Sunday and host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday to open a four-game homestand, one that could define this compressed season for a team that was expected to be a Stanley Cup contender but is currently barely above .500.

Toronto v Ottawa 2-3 - Colin Greening struck big in the Battle of Ontario on Saturday night. Greening had a three-point night and scored with 24 seconds left in regulation as the Ottawa Senators beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 at Scotiabank Place. Mika Zibanejad and Erik Condra each had two points for the Senators (11-6-2), who are currently on a four-game winning streak. Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur had the goals for Toronto (11-8-0). It was the first Senators’ victory over the Maple Leafs at home since Oct. 30, 2011. Ben Bishop made 26 saves in his first victory against the Leafs. Scrivens had 32 stops. Toronto struck early in the first period, when Patrick Wiercioch gave up the puck to Nikolai Kulemin in the right corner. Kulemin passed back to Grabovski, who sent a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot through the five hole of Bishop at 3:32. The Battle of Ontario began to take a physical turn quickly, as the rivals began to battle for space and pucks. Nazem Kadri rocked Jim O’Brien with a monstrous body hit in the Leafs’ zone, knocking the Senators forward to the ice. Ottawa tied the game 1-1, courtesy of some quality work by the Senators’ younger players. Zibanejad passed across the blue line to Colin Greening, who sent a shot from point towards Scrivens. Zibanejad flew towards the net and deflected the puck into the net with a tip-in at 10:52. The Swede now has two goals in two games. Zibanejad, like Greening, was recently made a healthy scratch by MacLean. Greening sat out of the Feb. 16 against Toronto, while Zibanejad was held out of the lineup on Feb. 18 against New Jersey. Both players have seen a resurgence since their return – Zibanejad has three points in two games and Greening is riding a five-point scoring streak through three games. The Senators nearly made the score 2-1 early in the second period. Dave Dziurzynski passed the puck from behind the Toronto net to a waiting Zack Smith, who sent a point-blank shot into the chest of Scrivens. The Leafs goaltender bobbled the puck but managed to cover it with his glove before Smith could find the rebound. After a period that saw end-to-end action and over seven minutes of continuous play, the Senators took the lead late in the second. Condra sent a drop pass to Gryba, who fired on Scrivens, while Condra went to the net. Chaos ensued in front of Scrivens, with the puck ending up in his net at 19:17. Toronto tied the game in third period on a power play, after Erik Gryba was called for holding at 5:33. MacArthur’s shot in front of the net deflected off the body and skate of Marc Methot and dribbled through the legs of Bishop at 7:10. It was the tenth power-play goal the Leafs have scored on the road this season.

Tampa Bay v Carolina 5-2 - The National Hockey League's best third-period attack came through again. Benoit Pouliot, Richard Panik, Thomas Pyatt and Steven Stamkos added to Tampa Bay's League-leading total of third-period goals as the Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Saturday night. The win was the third in four games for the Lightning, now 9-7-1 and first in the Southeast Division. Carolina fell to 8-7-1 and has lost three straight after a 5-0-1 stretch. Tampa Bay is 6-0-0 within the division; the Hurricanes are 0-4-0. Tampa Bay led 1-0 after two periods before blowing the game open in the final 20 minutes. Pouliot doubled the lead at 2:11 after some excellent work by Vincent Lecavalier. Tampa Bay's captain controlled the puck and backhanded a cross-crease pass that Pouliot slammed into a half-empty net for his sixth of the season. Drayson Bowman's one-timer from the high slot off a passout by Riley Nash got the Hurricanes on the board at 3:04, but the Lightning put the game away by scoring twice in 18 seconds. Panik, a rookie playing only his sixth game, scored his first NHL goal through sheer persistence. He raced down right wing and fired a shot from the circle that was stopped by goaltender Dan Ellis. Panik got his own rebound and was stopped again by Ellis. But Panik circled the net, came out the other side and swatted the second rebound into the net at 7:37. Pyatt scored his fourth of the season at 7:55 by ramming home a pass from Alexander Killorn. Carolina's Chad LaRose fired home a rebound with 3:49 remaining, but Stamkos deflected Cory Conacher's pass behind Ellis for his 12th of the season with 2:22 to play. Tampa Bay has scored 32 of its 66 non-shootout goals in the third period. Pittsburgh is next with 24. Mathieu Garon stopped all 23 shots he faced in the first two periods and finished with 32 saves. The Lightning had several good chances while outshooting the Hurricanes 13-11 in the first period, but their only goal came off an innocent-looking shot. Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron intercepted a pass by Joe Corvo in his own zone and raced up ice. He crossed the Carolina blue line, swung toward the boards as he neared the top of the left circle and threw a wrist shot on net that sailed past a screened Ellis. It was his first goal since Dec. 29, 2011. Carolina outshot Tampa Bay 12-10 in the scoreless second period. Garon made his best stop when he robbed Hurricanes' captain Eric Staal on a tip-in try early in the period.

Nashville v Detroit 0-4 - Jimmy Howard made sure the Detroit Red Wings put an end to their five-game winless streak Saturday night. Howard stopped all 33 shots he faced, and Drew Miller, Tomas Tatar, Niklas Kronwall and Daniel Cleary scored as the Red Wings got back on track with a 4-0 victory against the Nashville Predators at Joe Louis Arena. For the Red Wings (8-7-3), it was their first win in 13 days. They had earned two points in their previous five contests, both overtime losses. Pekka Rinne, who made 23 saves, took the loss for Nashville (8-6-5), which was shut out 1-0 by the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. The Predators have not scored since Shea Weber’s overtime goal defeated the Red Wings 4-3 on Feb. 19. Detroit led 2-0 in three of the losses during its skid. Tatar gave Detroit a two-goal lead early in the second, and Kronwall, who also had two assists, made it a three-goal game late in the period. Detroit didn't waste its first 3-0 lead of the season, but instead added to it with Cleary's goal on a power play midway through the third period. They were desperate for some success on the power play. They got some when Cleary raised his stick to redirect Kronwall's slap shot past Rinne. During its five-game losing streak, Detroit scored only one goal on 17 power plays. Nashville, playing on consecutive nights, has lost two straight and four of five. Going into this clash the Predators had won seven of eight against Detroit, including last year's first-round playoff series, but lost this one despite outshooting the Red Wings. It was bitterly disappointing that Nashville failed to continue that winning streak, as my friend Caitlyn was hoping for another good win against Detroit. However since last season's playoff series there seems to a huge power shift within the central division and between these 2 sides. Detroit made the most of its second chances to score against Rinne, who matched a season high by allowing four goals. Miller scored off a rebound 5:11 into the game to perhaps relax the reeling Red Wings. Tatar lifted a loose puck high and into the net 2:58 into the second period. Kronwall's one-timer fluttered past Rinne, who had an obstructed view of the shot as Cleary was tangled up with teammate Scott Hannan in front. That gave the Red Wings a 3-0 lead at 15:33 of the second. Howard made nine saves in the third period to seal his 12th career shutout.

Columbus v St Louis 1-2 - The St. Louis Blues will have four off days before they take the ice again. Having a home victory in their pockets with ample time to work on portions of their game will do wonders for a team whose next opponent is the team with the best record in the National Hockey League. The Blues had two more chances to avoid an 0-for-February on home ice. They only needed one, David Perron's goal midway through the third period provided the necessary scoring, breaking a 1-1 tie that enabled the Blues to snap a five-game winless skid on home ice with a 2-1 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Scottrade Center. The Blues were laboring on home ice and needed something to spark things on the surface that was best in the League last season at 30-6-5. Perron picked up his 11th point in the past 10 meetings against the Jackets as he finished a David Backes feed, beating Sergei Bobrovsky 9:51 into the third period. Chris Stewart picked up his ninth point in eight games by opening the scoring, and Jaroslav Halak stopped 19 shots in his second game back from a groin injury as the Blues won at home for the first time since Jan. 27, snapping an 0-4-1 slide. It was a crazy final couple minutes for Halak, who was able to keep an airborne puck out of the net, making a glove save that started a mad scramble. The Blues also had to kill off a late penalty on Barret Jackman, who broke the franchise record for games played by defensemen with his 616th game, but was whistled for boarding Cam Atkinson. Halak had to readjust after Fedor Tyutin's shot was blocked, sending the puck into the air and dropping fast towards the net. The Jackets, who snapped a six-game losing streak on the road with a come-from-behind 3-2 win at Detroit on Thursday, got a shorthanded goal from Matt Calvert, while Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots in a losing cause. The Jackets seemed to have the better of the play, outshooting the Blues 12-7 in the opening 20 minutes, but the Blues left the ice with a 1-0 lead on Stewart's seventh of the season. Stewart took Kevin Shattenkirk's drop pass and blasted a slapper past Bobrovsky top shelf 13:55 into the game. Stewart's goal snapped a goal-less streak of 111:49, dating back to Tuesday's 2-1 loss to San Jose. Shattenkirk picked up his 15th point, tops in the League among defensemen. The Blues outshot the Jackets 13-3 in the second period, but the Jackets scored on their third shot, as Calvert took a breakaway pass from James Wisniewski and beat Halak with 1:03 remaining in the period. The Blues' Matt D'Agostini fell near center ice trying to backhand a puck into the Columbus zone, but his pass was picked off by Wisniewski, springing Calvert loose. The goal was the first allowed by Halak on home ice in the last 168:32 dating back to March 31, 2012, also against the Blue Jackets. The Jackets, who had only seven shots after the first period, lost defenseman Jack Johnson with an upper-body injury in the second and he did not return. He missed a few shifts in the first, but tried to give it a go in the second. The win was the Blues' 26th in 36 meetings between the two teams in St. Louis (26-8-2).

San Jose v Dallas 1-3 - After a pair of one-goal losses in the first two games of their three-game homestand, the Dallas Stars were determined to come away with two points against the San Jose Sharks before heading out on the road early next week. Dallas got power-play goals from Jaromir Jagr and Michael Ryder, plus a late insurance goal by Jamie Benn in a 3-1 win Saturday night before a sellout crowd at American Airlines Center, snapping a two-game losing streak. Rookie goaltender Cristopher Nilstorp made 31 saves for the Stars to earn his first career victory. After seeing its power play misfire on its first four chances of the game, the Stars finally broke through at 19:02 of the second period when Jagr flipped a wrister into the San Jose net from near the top of the crease. After Loui Eriksson fed Jamie Benn the puck from behind the Sharks' goal and with Antti Niemi focusing on Benn, the Dallas center spotted Jagr streaking towards goal and fed him perfectly for his fifth of the season to break the deadlock. The Stars added a second power-play goal just 30 seconds into the final period, when Ryder beat Niemi to his right with a 28-foot wrister from the slot to make it 2-0. Benn's insurance tally came at 17:49, when he beat Niemi low on his glove side with a long wrist shot from the slot. Goligoski picked up his second assist of the night on Benn's tally. After a quiet first half of the opening period, Dallas drew the game's first power play when Goligoski was tripped near the Stars net by San Jose's Patrick Marleau at 10:54. The Dallas advantage grew to 5-on-3 at 11:52 when Marc-Edouard Vlasic was called for delay of game, but the Stars were unable to convert on either chance. Both teams were down to just five healthy defensemen after the first period. San Jose's Brent Burns left the ice after just three shifts in the opening period and did not return. It was a similar story for the Stars' Aaron Rome, who suffered a lower-body injury in the first period and also did not return. Dallas finished with four healthy blueliners after Philip Larsen left the game with an apparent shoulder injury late in the third period after a controversial boarding call. However, there is some positive news when it comes to the Dallas defensive corps as it appears Trevor Daley, who has missed the last two games with a neck injury is on track to return by Monday. Dallas started the second period on the power play after Brad Stuart earned a tripping penalty at 18:50 of the first period. However, that advantage lasted just 34 seconds as Stars defenseman Jordie Benn was called for holding on Marleau to end the opportunity. The Sharks went on the power play for the first time at 3:37 of the second when Larsen earned a delay of game call after shooting the puck over the glass. However, a tripping call on Vlasic at 5:06 on the Stars' Ryan Garbutt ended that chance prematurely. And after Jagr was called for hooking at 5:25, things were relatively quiet for the next few minutes. However, at 8:21 Dallas' Jamie Benn and the Sharks' Joe Thornton dropped the gloves in a spirited and lengthy scrum that earned them both five-minute majors for fighting. Midway through the second period, Stars third-line center Vernon Fiddler had arguably the best chance of the game to that point, whistling a 34-foot slapper from the left side off the far post at 10:31. After the Stars' Eric Nystrom was called for interference at 1:13 and Stephane Robidas for hooking at 2:17, San Jose broke through just two seconds into the two-man advantage when Marleau beat Nilstorp short side with a wrister. Thornton had won a faceoff in the left circle with the puck sliding to Marleau, who was near the far post and converted for his second goal in as many nights. But there was a bit of controversy in the final frame. At the 9:03 mark, Thornton crashed into Nilstorp, earning a goaltender interference call. The Sharks' Logan Couture knocked in the ensuing rebound for an apparent goal, but it was quickly disallowed. San Jose will now head home before kicking off a three-game homestand on Tuesday against Colorado. Dallas will begin a quick two-game road trip on Monday night at Nashville.

Minnesota v Calgary 1-3 - Matt Stajan and the Calgary Flames finally gave the fans at Scotiabank Saddledome something to cheer about. The Flames entered Saturday's game against Minnesota with just two wins in nine home games. But Stajan scored the tiebreaking goal 7:19 into the third period and added an empty-netter as the Flames beat the Wild 3-1 on Saturday night. It was Stajan's first multi-goal game since scoring twice against the Washington Capitals as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 12, 2009. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Calgary, which is now 3-5-2 at home. Joey MacDonald, playing in place of injured starter Miikka Kiprusoff, stopped 30 shots and snapped Minnesota's two-game winning streak. After Chris Butler's initial shot from the point was stopped by Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom, Stajan wrestled the rebound over the goal line to give the Flames a 2-1 lead. With Backstrom off for an extra attacker and 31.3 seconds left in the game, Flames goaltender Joey MacDonald denied Calgary native Dany Heatley's redirect on his doorstep. Stajan then fired a Minnesota turnover into the empty net to ice the win. Minnesota had a glorious opportunity to get on the scoreboard in the game's opening minutes, but it was the Flames who capitalized on the opportunity. Catching Jay Bouwmeester pinching, Heatley hauled the puck up ice on a 2-on-1 and fired a pass that skipped over the stick of Mikko Koivu. Backchecking, Bouwmeester spun around and fired a pass to a streaking Alex Tanguay at the Minnesota blue line, springing him in alone on Backstrom. Tanguay dipped a shoulder and deked the goaltender, then lifted the puck into the net for a 1-0 lead 1:40 into the game. Playing in his first game after missing 11 with a hip flexor injury, Sven Baertschi almost extended that lead to two. On the Flames' third 2-on-1 of the period, Jiri Hudler fed a pass that Baertschi tipped, but a sprawling Backstrom managed to get a toe on it at 7:42 to keep it 1-0. The save proved important as the Wild made good on another odd-man rush at 8:56. Breaking into Calgary's zone on a 2-on-1, rookie Charlie Coyle redirected a pass from Pierre-Marc Bouchard behind MacDonald for his first career NHL goal to even the game 1-1. It was the first time in nine games that the Wild scored a goal in the first period. Both teams tightened up their defense in a scoreless second period. Minnesota came close to taking a 2-1 lead just 3:28 into the period. While killing an interference penalty to Coyle, Kyle Brodziak hit the post after a nifty setup from Matt Cullen. TJ Brodie answered that with a post of his own, firing a blast from the point that beat a screened Backstrom but not the iron with 7:50 remaining in the frame.