Gameday 23 (Sun, 10 Feb) - Results

Los Angeles v Detroit 2-3 - Jimmy Howard did it all for the first 59 minutes Sunday afternoon. After the Los Angeles Kings struck in the final minute to even the score, the Detroit Red Wings goaltender needed a little help from Jonathan Ericsson to ensure his team a victory. Ericsson scored with 4.5 seconds remaining and Howard made 45 saves as the Red Wings pulled off a thrilling 3-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions in front of a big crowd at Joe Louis Arena and a national-TV audience. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty knocked the puck off the boards in an attempted clear, but Ericsson intercepted it and took a shot that trickled through Kings goalie Jonathan Quick and into the net. Alec Martinez had tied it for Los Angeles with 52.8 seconds left. Shortly after Quick left the net for an extra attacker, Martinez got to a loose puck in front of Howard after a Kyle Clifford shot, moved across the crease and deposited his first goal of the season into the right side of the net. Up until that point, all the scoring had come in the first period. Pavel Datsyuk and Damien Brunner scored for the Red Wings, while Anze Kopitar answered for the Kings. Los Angeles lost its second in a row and fell to 3-5-2, tied for the fewest points in the Western Conference. With injuries to veteran goalies Jonas Gustavsson and Joey MacDonald, the Red Wings have started Howard in 11 of their 12 games this season, including a back-to-back this weekend. Petr Mrazek started in St. Louis on Thursday, giving Howard his only respite. Howard made 37 saves in the first two periods alone, the 38 shots were more than the Red Wings had allowed in any full game this season. In between Howard standing on his head, his teammates built him a lead. The scoring started after a Justin Williams interference penalty put Detroit on its first power play of the game. Datsyuk took a pass from Henrik Zetterberg going over the Los Angeles blue line, split a pair of Kings defenders while kicking the puck from his skate to his stick, and then roofed the puck over Quick at 5:44 for a power-play goal and a 1-0 lead. Howard continued to hold the fort, making a strong pad stop on Dustin Brown, and at the other end Brunner doubled the lead at 17:28 with a shot from the right circle for the dynamic rookie's sixth goal. Kopitar got one back for the Kings with just 40.3 seconds left in the period, getting to the front of the net and converting the rebound of a point shot by Rob Scuderi. Howard's career-best game for saves also came against the Kings in Los Angeles when he stopped 51 shots in a 2-1 win on Jan. 7, 2010.

Edmonton v Columbus 3-1 - The Edmonton Oilers owe their goaltender a steak dinner after what transpired at Nationwide Arena on Sunday night. Devan Dubnyk made a season-high 39 saves as the Oilers managed to notch two points despite being outshot 40-14 in a 3-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ales Hemsky, Magnus Paajarvi and Sam Gagner scored for the Oilers, who ended a five-game winless streak despite being outplayed. Gagner also added an assist. R.J. Umberger had the lone goal for Columbus. Sergei Bobrovsky made just 11 saves in the loss. The Blue Jackets went 0-for-7 on the power play, while Edmonton finished 0-for-4. Paajarvi's tally came shorthanded and broke a 1-1 tie with 3:10 remaining in the third period, as he took a pass from Gagner and ripped a high wrister past Bobrovsky for his first goal of the season. Gagner added an empty-netter at 19:47. Columbus fired 25 shots on goal through the first two periods, but Dubnyk stopped them all. Umberger finally solved the Oilers' netminder with his first goal of the season at 9:43 of the third, when he stepped around Hemsky and Gagner before beating Dubnyk with a low shot from the slot. The Blue Jackets outshot the Oilers 15-3 in the final period. Jordan Eberle thought he gave the Oilers a 2-0 lead midway through the second period on a play that was ruled no-goal by the officials. After rookie Nail Yakupov blocked Bobrovsky's clearing attempt behind the goal, the puck ramped off James Wisniewski's stick and over the net to Eberle, who batted it in. Replays proved to be inconclusive, upholding the call on the ice. Dubnyk made several pad saves before Hemsky capitalized on a giveaway by Wisniewski. Taylor Hall intercepted a breakout pass and the puck caromed toward Bobrovsky, who swiped at it. But the puck bounced off Hall and Bobrovsky, then came to Hemsky for a one-timer at 13:58. It was his fifth goal of the season.

Boston v Buffalo 3-1 - While the Boston Bruins dealt with the remnants of a blizzard on their way to Western New York, Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller weathered a storm of a different kind when the Bruins arrived Sunday. Miller, coming off a 43-save performance against the New York Islanders on Saturday, stopped 36 shots Sunday night, but his efforts weren't enough as the Sabres fell to the Bruins, 3-1, at First Niagara Center. At 8-1-1, Boston is off to its best 10-game start in franchise history. Patrice Bergeron scored the game-winning goal on the power play 7:52 into the third period. Forward Chris Bourque whistled a shot in from the left point and it bounced straight back into the slot off the end boards. The puck landed right on Bergeron's stick and he fired a shot into the top corner of the net for his second goal of the season. The goal was also the Bruins' first power play goal in four games. Boston finished the night 1-for-5 with the man advantage and has gone 1-for-18 in its last five games. The Bruins gained an extra day of rest when their home game on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning was postponed due to inclement weather. The Bruins last played on Wednesday, and the time off played to their advantage. On the other hand, the Sabres played their third game in four nights on Sunday and looked like a tired team at times. The Sabres seemed to finally find their legs by the time the third period rolled around. Anton Khudobin made 25 saves in his second start of the season for the Bruins and praised his team's defensive effort. Brad Marchand opened the scoring for Boston before Tyler Ennis scored to tie the game for Buffalo. Milan Lucic added an empty-net goal for the Bruins with 48.6 seconds remaining in regulation. Marchand was one of three injured players to return to the Bruins lineup. Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton also took the ice after each missed the team's previous two games with injuries. Miller had to come up big for the Sabres several times in the opening period as Boston's sustained attack put 16 pucks on net and had 12 more blocked or go wide. The Sabres struggled to get the puck out of their own zone for much of the first two periods, which led to a furious Boston assault. Despite outshooting the Sabres 26-18 through two periods, the teams skated to the locker room tied, 1-1. Buffalo managed only 15 shots in its game against the Islanders and they had trouble getting pucks on net again Sunday. They mustered 13 shots on Khudobin in the first, but did not manage a shot on goal in the last 8:31 of the period. Then, after getting the first shot on goal of the second period, the Sabres went nearly 12 minutes without another one. The Bruins ended up outshooting the Sabres 10-5 in the second period. Boston couldn't convert on a 41-second 5-on-3 power play early in the second period, but as in the first period, kept the action mainly in the Buffalo zone. On one chance as the penalties expired, Miller went post-to-post and kicked out his right pad to stop a one-timer from Nathan Horton. The Bruins were finally rewarded for keeping the action in the Sabres' zone with a goal from Marchand 7:10 into the second period. Marchand took a wrist shot from 48 feet out that beat Miller as Horton battled Andrej Sekera to create traffic in front of the net. Ennis tied the game with 1:59 to play in the second period on Buffalo's fifth shot of period. Drew Stafford connected with Ennis from the halfway as Ennis found himself alone in front of the Bruins' net. Ennis moved in, went from his backhand to forehand, waited for Khudobin to make the first move and put the puck up and over him for his fifth goal of the season. Ennis has five points (three goals and two assists) in his last four games. Bergeron came close to making it 3-1 with 5:50 to play. Miller moved to his left and stacked the pads to deny the Bruins' forward and keep it a one-goal game. The Bruins' only regulation loss this season came at the hands of the Sabres, a 7-4 defeat on Jan. 31. Boston hadn't forgotten the defensive breakdowns in that game that led to a Sabres rally. Buffalo forward Thomas Vanek, the NHL's leading scorer, had five points in that game, but the Bruins held him off the score sheet on Sunday. Vanek finished with one shot and a minus-1 rating in 15:23 of ice time. Boston leads the Northeast Division with 17 points in 10 games and trails the New Jersey Devils for first place in the Eastern Conference by two points. Boston has two games in hand on the Devils. Buffalo now stands at 5-7-1 on the season. Buffalo waived forward Matt Ellis earlier in the day to make room on the roster for defenseman Robyn Regehr, who returned to action after missing seven games with a lower-body injury.

Tampa Bay v NY Rangers 1-5 - Thirty-one seconds into Sunday's night game, Carl Hagelin gave the New York Rangers a lead against the Tampa Bay Lightning that they would not relinquish. The final score, Rangers 5, Lightning 1, appears to tell the story of a lopsided victory at Madison Square Garden that pushed the home side above .500 for the first time this season. Hagelin would add another goal; captain Ryan Callahan scored his third; enforcer Arron Asham sniped his first goal as a Ranger, and Rick Nash provided the cherry on top by scoring with 8.3 seconds remaining in regulation. The one-sided victory, however, may have been Tampa Bay's if a 12-minute stretch in the first period had been just slightly different. After Hagelin made it 1-0, the Lightning ripped off five odd-man rushes in the next dozen minutes, but found the back of the net with none of them. Lundqvist didn't have to make a save on the first two opportunities. Lightning star Steven Stamkos carried the puck down the left win on a 2-on-1, but his shot was deflected to the corner by Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh. Not long after that chance, Vinny Lecavalier had the puck bounce off his stick to foil a clear breakaway attempt. The turnovers continued for the Rangers, and so did Tampa Bay's glorious scoring chances. This time, Lundqvist answered the bell with a stop at the post of Martin St. Louis on a 3-on-2, then squared up a shot from Cory Conacher on a 2-on-1 sparked by the patience of Lecavalier along the right wing. Those failed attempts were even more glaring once Callahan intercepted a pass in the neutral zone from Lightning defenseman Matt Carle and beat goaltender Mathieu Garon on a breakaway to put the Rangers ahead 2-0 with 4:47 remaining in the opening period. Before the Rangers' 4-1 win against the New York Islanders on Thursday, Tortorella said Lundqvist needed to be better. The 2012 Vezina Trophy winner has responded with a 27-save performance in that win and followed it with a 19-save showing against the Lightning. Hagelin put the Rangers ahead 3-0 at 9:58 of the second period and also ended Garon's night. The sharp-angle shot squeezed through Garon's pads, resulting in Boucher tapping starter Anders Lindback to take over between the pipes. The 24-year-old had gone 36 games (including playoffs) without a goal before ending the drought in St. Petersburg on Feb. 2 but now has three goals in his past four games, all against Garon and the Lightning. Lecavalier broke the shutout less than five minutes after the goalie change to bring the Lighting to within two goals, banging home a rebound after a disastrous line change that left the Rangers defending a 4-on-1. Asham put the game out of reach with 7:38 remaining when he ripped a wrist shot off a 2-on-1 that beat Lindback to the glove side. Nash's goal gave the Rangers their most lopsided victory of the season, but it was the goals from the depth lines that left Tortorella feeling good about his team's balance. The Rangers were anchored by the return of defenseman Dan Girardi, who missed the previous two games with a lower-body injury. He logged 22:10, had two assists and was a plus-4.

New Jersey v Pittsburgh 3-1 - David Clarkson scored a pair of goals, Johan Hedberg made 23 saves and New Jersey beat the Pittsburgh Penguins by a 3-1 score for the second consecutive day. The Devils (8-1-3) kept hold of first place in the Eastern Conference, blowing past Pittsburgh (8-5) for the Atlantic Division lead and extending their winning streak to six. Reigning Stanley Cup finalist New Jersey more than avenged its only regulation loss of the season, 5-1 at Consol Energy Center Feb. 2, by limiting a high-octane Penguins team to two goals in two victories over a 36-hour span. Ilya Kovalchuk also scored for New Jersey, who overcame a sluggish first period to win in Pittsburgh for only the second time in its past eight games there. James Neal had a third-period power-play goal for the Penguins, who went into Newark on Saturday riding a five-game winning streak and with the best record in the conference, but emerged from the weekend reeling. Clarkson scored for the fourth and fifth times over his past six games to give him nine in 12 games on the season. Only Buffalo's Thomas Vanek has more (11). Clarkson broke out with a 30-goal season in 2011-12 after having only 52 goals in 298 games over his previous four-plus NHL seasons. New Jersey entered the first intermission with a 1-0 lead despite having only four first-period shots, tying a season-low for a Penguins’ opponent. Clarkson opened the scoring 13 minutes when he split Penguins defensemen Deryk Engelland and Robert Bortuzzo on a transition play, firing a wrist shot past Tomas Vokoun. Henrique earned an assist on the play, extending his point streak to five. Clarkson's second of the game made it 3-0 while on the power play 13:20 into the second. Uncovered while standing in front of the net, Clarkson was able to swat home the rebound of an Elias shot from the point. Kovalchuk had scored less than two minutes prior, his fourth of the season and fourth point in the past three games. A Neal power-play goal, his third tally in the past four games, just 15 seconds into the third cut the Devils' lead to 3-1. That would be the only time the Penguins beat Hedberg, the 39-year-old who made his NHL debut with Pittsburgh 12 years ago and led Pittsburgh to the Eastern Conference Finals over the ensuing two months. He won against his former team in Pittsburgh for the first time in six starts. Among Hedberg's better saves were stopping an Evgeni Malkin one-timer on a set-up by Crosby during power play late in the first period. Hedberg also denied a Malkin backhand try eight minutes into the second, about four minutes after preventing Matt Cooke from tucking in a rebound off the boards from close range. Martin Brodeur was the beneficiary of Saturday's defensive performance, one that might have been dismissed as a product of the fact the Penguins took 12 minor penalties, meaning they expended much of their energy working to kill 10 Devils power plays. There was no doubt Sunday. A much more disciplined Pittsburgh lineup gave New Jersey just one power play, and it led to the Devils' third goal. Pittsburgh managed only 14 shots after the first intermission. New Jersey's Stephen Gionta sat out most of the second period after crashing headfirst into the boards when he lost his edge retrieving a puck seconds into the period.

Chicago v Nashville 3-1 - Make it 12 games without a regulation loss for the Chicago Blackhawks. And now they play their next seven games at home. Corey Crawford stopped 17 shots to notch his sixth career shutout, his first in almost two years, as the Blackhawks earned a 3-0 victory against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday night. Marcus Kruger and Jonathan Toews each scored 66 seconds apart in the second period, helping the Blackhawks remain the National Hockey League's lone undefeated team in regulation (10-0-2). Patrick Kane also added a goal in the third as the Blackhawks wrapped up their season-high six-game road trip with their fourth straight win and improved to 8-0-2 away from the United Center. The shutout was Chicago's first in regulation since Mar. 23, 2011 against the Florida Panthers. Nashville missed its best chance at scoring when Nick Spaling's backhander sent the puck sliding across the crease before hitting off the far post at 10:02 of the first period. The Predators managed only three shots on goal in the first. Preds goalie Pekka Rinne had won four straight starts and hadn't allowed an even-strength goal since Jan. 28. But that streak ended at 316 minutes, 40 seconds when Nashville defenseman Roman Josi kicked the puck, trying to clear it, right to Kruger near the high slot. Kruger snapped a shot over Rinne's stick for his second goal of the season at 6:14. Chicago also got a bit of luck as Duncan Keith's shot from the right circle deflected off Toews in front of Rinne and went up and over the Nashville goalie into the net at 7:20 for a 2-0 lead. It was Toews' sixth goal of the season and the 150th of his career. The Blackhawks wound up with 27 shots, including Kane's ninth goal this season. He scored at 4:27 of the third after skating up the left boards and shooting at the net, sneaking the puck past Rinne for the 3-0 lead. Kane extended his point streak to six games and his goal-scoring streak to five. He leads the club with 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in 12 games this season.