Gameday 48 (Thu, 07 Mar) - Results

Toronto v Boston 2-4 - The 2013 season has featured many marked improvements for the Toronto Maple Leafs except in one area: beating the Boston Bruins. Though Toronto cut Boston's lead to one goal late in the third period, the Bruins hung on Thursday night at TD Garden for a 4-2 win that ran their winning streak against their Northeast Division rivals to eight games, dating to March 2011. The Bruins are 8-0-1 in their past nine against the Maple Leafs and they snapped a two-game losing streak. Toronto, which last beat Boston on March 31, 2011, had its three-game winning streak end. The Maple Leafs are 0-2-0 against the Bruins this season and trail them by three points for second place in the Northeast Division. Boston's Tyler Seguin scored two goals and added an assist; he combined with linemates Marchand and Patrice Bergeron for seven points. After starting the third period down 3-1, Toronto pulled within one goal with 5:08 remaining when Mikhail Grabovski's shot went off Jay McClement in front and beat Anton Khudobin. But Seguin's empty-net goal sealed the win with 45 seconds left. It was a far cry from the previous two games for the Bruins, who squandered third-period leads to the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals. The Bruins have lost three times this season after taking a lead into the final period. The Bruins' top-ranked penalty kill was called on early, when it had to extinguish 23 seconds of a Toronto 5-on-3 and two Maple Leafs power plays in the first 15 minutes of the game. After the defense took care of business, the Bruins got on the scoreboard. Marchand battled Korbinian Holzer near the Toronto blue line, and the puck deflected out to Seguin, who darted to the Maple Leafs net. Ben Scrivens stopped the initial shot, but Bergeron swooped in to bury the rebound and give the Bruins a 1-0 lead with 53 seconds left in the period. Khudobin was a perfect 10-for-10 in the opening 20 minutes. He finished with 25 saves. Toronto evened the score after a David Krejci miscue in the Maple Leafs zone. Clarke MacArthur skated the puck end to end on a 2-on-1 with Nazem Kadri, who finished with 2:32 elapsed to make it 1-1. The Bruins owned the rest of the second period. Bergeron's line put Boston back in front with Seguin streaking down the right wing and beating Scrivens with a shot into the left post after a feed by Marchand at 7:11. Krejci was then the benefactor of a lucky bounce after Andrew Ference had his shot blocked on the rush. Krejci knocked the loose puck in the slot into the net at 18:12 to put Boston ahead 3-1. Scrivens, playing in place of James Reimer on the second night of a back-to-back situation for Toronto, finished with 21 saves and dropped to 0-2-0 against Boston.

Buffalo v New Jersey 2-3 - New Jersey Devils goalie Johan Hedberg can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The veteran goalie, who was mired in an 0-6-1 slump entering Thursday's game against the Buffalo Sabres, turned aside 23 shots and received some aide from the post behind him to help lead the Devils to a 3-2 shootout victory against Buffalo before 17,625 at Prudential Center. David Clarkson and Patrik Elias scored in the shootout against Sabres goalie Ryan Miller after the Devils rallied for two late goals in regulation to send the game to overtime. The shootout win was their first win in four tries after they won 12 times in the tiebreaker last season. In the shootout, Hedberg denied Thomas Vanek with a save off his shoulder before forcing captain Jason Pominville to shoot high and wide. Elias then scored as the Devils snapped a six-game slide. Pominville barely missed giving the visitors the victory 3:52 into overtime when his slap shot from the right circle beat Hedberg but rang off the long-side post. The break came just 15 seconds after Miller, who was filling in for injured starter Jhonas Enroth, made a sliding save against Devils defenseman Andy Greene. The victory snapped the Devils six-game losing streak. Elias connected for the equalizer when he ripped a shot past Jhonas Enroth off a rebound from low in the right circle. Clarkson took the initial blast from the point just after Hedberg skated off for the extra attacker. Enroth, who was out of position when Elias picked up the puck in the circle, remained on the ice for a few minutes after the tying goal with 1:06 remaining in regulation. He admitted to suffering from severe right leg cramps in the third which forced him from the game after the Elias goal. Enroth was helped off the ice after yielding two goals on 29 shots. Miller, who started the Sabres' previous 14 games before getting a breather Thursday night, made four saves prior to the shootout. At the end of the game, Enroth admitted he needs to take better care of his body. The 24-year-old, who last celebrated a victory on Nov. 26, 2011, was making his first start since a loss to Ottawa on Feb. 5. The Devils pulled within 2-1 when Henrique took a feed from Ilya Kovalchuk and ripped a shot from high in the left circle that was stopped. The rebound came right back to Henrique, who made no mistake in notching his seventh of the season with 6:30 remaining in regulation. The Sabres led 2-0 on a second-period power-play goal by Vanek and a third-period score by rookie Brian Flynn. Flynn's goal, his first in the NHL, came off a turnover in the right-wing corner by Devils captain Bryce Salvador. Sabres defenseman Andrej Sekera knocked down the puck in front of Hedberg before Flynn found it and scored in his fourth NHL game. The Sabres opened a 1-0 lead 7:06 into the second when Vanek ripped a power-play shot from the point past Hedberg off a great dish from the right circle by Tyler Ennis. It was Vanek's sixth power-play goal of the season; the Sabres have scored just 11 goals with the man advantage in 2012-13. Enroth's best save of the game came 14:31 into the second when he robbed Clarkson on a rebound by extending his glove hand to stop a shot from the slot that was ticketed for the short side. Clarkson was in prime position following an initial save off a left point shot by Elias. After the remarkable save, Clarkson appeared in disbelief, looking at the Buffalo goalie before skating back to his bench. The Devils travel to PNC Arena to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday before returning home against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. The Sabres, 3-2-1 in the past six games, are off until they visit Philadelphia on Sunday.

NY Rangers v NY Islanders 2-1 - Rick Nash wouldn't let the New York Rangers lose. He scored the tying goal with 5:23 left in regulation and set up Marian Gaborik's game-winner 42 seconds into overtime as the Rangers rallied to beat the New York Islanders 2-1 on Thursday night for their fourth consecutive victory. The Rangers got a power play 21 seconds into overtime when Michael Grabner took down Michael Del Zotto. They controlled the puck off the faceoff before Gaborik took a pass from Nash and blasted a straightaway 30-footer through traffic and past Evgeni Nabokov for his eighth of the season and first in nine games, delighting the thousands of Rangers fans who made the trip to Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders were less than six minutes away from their first shutout of the Rangers since Dec. 26, 2006, before Nash's deflection of Derek Stepan's shot got behind Nabokov to tie the game. Stepan teed up a shot from the left point; Nash, stationed about 10 feet in front of the net, swatted the puck downward with his stick and it hopped into the net. It was Nash's fifth goal in four games and his eighth of the season, all in the third period. Until Nash scored, Grabner's goal midway through the first period had been the only scoring, though both teams had plenty of opportunities. The Rangers dominated the third period, outshooting the Islanders 15-9 and earning the tying goal. Nabokov was brilliant while making 35 saves. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopped 27 shots, including a handful of Grade-A chances. The Rangers had all three of the power plays awarded in the game, something that didn't sit well with the Islanders, who've gone without a power play in two of their past four games. The Islanders are 2-0-2 in their past four games and 10-11-3 at the halfway point of their season. They are 2-2-2 on a seven-game homestand that ends Saturday afternoon against the Washington Capitals, and Capuano wants to make sure his team doesn't have a hangover from a tough loss. Grabner became the third Islanders player to reach double figures in goals when he opened the scoring at 11:51. Colin McDonald grabbed a dump-in behind the Rangers net and wheeled a backhand pass to the slot right to Grabner, who zipped a one-timer over Lundqvist's glove for his 10th of the season. He has a goal in three straight games and trails Tavares (14) and Matt Moulson (11) for the team lead. Each goaltender survived early tests in the scoreless second period. Lundqvist denied Grabner on a 2-on-1 break and stopped Josh Bailey's blast from the high slot before Nabokov robbed J.T. Miller on a wide-open one-timer from 15 feet at the 7:00 mark. Moulson missed a chance 90 seconds later when he shot high on a backhander from the slot after a feed by Boyes put him in alone on Lundqvist. The Rangers had the better of the play for most of the second period and earned the game's first two power plays on penalties five minutes apart to Casey Cizikas and Kyle Okposo. But the Rangers managed one shot in four minutes with the extra man; the Islanders had three, including a breakaway by Matt Martin that forced Lundqvist to come up big. The visitors came out strong to start the third period, but Nabokov was up to the challenge, denying Nash on a power move to the net and again on a wrister from the right circle. Lundqvist then made two excellent saves on Moulson, one on a deflection and the other on the rebound, giving the Rangers a chance to get even. The Rangers were without defenseman Marc Staal, who is out indefinitely after taking a puck near his right eye Tuesday. Center Brad Richards sat out his second game after being checked headfirst into the boards by the Buffalo Sabres' Patrick Kaleta on Sunday. Two former Islanders, defenseman Roman Hamrlik and center Micheal Haley, took their places.

Pittsburgh v Philadelphia 5-4 - Chris Kunitz's second goal of the game snapped a 4-4 tie and gave the Penguins a wild 5-4 victory against the Flyers on Thursday at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers led 4-1 after one period, but the Penguins scored three times in the second to tie it, and Kunitz's goal 18 seconds into the third period held up as the game-winner. Scott Hartnell missed on a scoring chance in front of the Pittsburgh net when he fell, and the Penguins sent the play the other way. Pascal Dupuis tipped a loose puck at the Pittsburgh blue line past Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen to Kunitz, who fed the puck across to Sidney Crosby to create a 2-on-1 rush. Crosby sent the puck back to Kunitz, and his shot from the right circle beat Flyers goalie Brian Boucher. Crosby had three assists, Dupuis had a goal and an assist, and James Neal and Tyler Kennedy also had goals for the Penguins. Tomas Vokoun, who relieved Marc-Andre Fleury in goal for the final two periods, stopped all 14 shots he faced. Jakub Voracek had a pair of goals for the Flyers, and Timonen and Zac Rinaldo also scored as Philadelphia dropped its second straight. Ilya Bryzgalov, who made his League-high 22nd start in goal, was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Boucher relieved Bryzgalov and stopped five of six shots. Each period saw completely different styles of play, as the Flyers dominated the first with a huge offensive output, the Penguins matched them with their dominant goal-scoring in the second, and then after the Pens got the lead early in the third, they were able to close the game down defensively. The Penguins' rally started when Crosby set up Dupuis for a shot from the doorstep after a scramble in front of the Philadelphia net at 5:30 of the second to make it 4-2. Neal made it a one-goal game at 8:13 when his pass from the right corner, intended for Evgeni Malkin in front of the net, bounced off Bryzgalov's leg and into the net. Kennedy scored to tie the game when his one-timer from above the circles off a Matt Cooke pass went through a Brandon Sutter screen and past Bryzgalov with 4:13 left in the period. After the wild swing to open the third, the Flyers thought they tied the game at 7:07 when Hartnell tipped a Timonen point shot past Vokoun. But the referees ruled Hartnell played the shot with a high stick, and replay review upheld the call of no goal. That was as close as Philadelphia would get, despite putting 11 shots on net in the third and getting a power play midway through the period. It marked the second straight time the Flyers took a lead in the first and failed to take advantage of it. Against the New York Rangers on Tuesday, the Flyers led 2-1 but then allowed a Ryan Callahan goal in the final minute of the first tie the game. They managed just six shots in the second and then allowed two goals in third to fall 4-2. After their great start to Thursday's game, they managed just three shots in the second. The Flyers did everything right to start the game, putting 18 shots on net and scoring four times. It started when Neal was sent off for elbowing and Voracek scored on the power play at 11:18. When Neal left the penalty box, he and Hartnell exchanged words and a scuffle broke out. Both players were sent off for roughing, with Hartnell receiving an extra minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Pens capitalized when Kris Letang's pass to Crosby bounced off Nicklas Grossmann's skates to Kunitz for a power-play goal. Rinaldo's goal off the rebound of a Grossmann shot gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead at 15:06, and they took over the game when Timonen and Voracek scored in the final 1:43 of the period. Timonen's harmless-looking shot from the wall found space between Fleury's right arm and his body at 18:17, and after Neal was sent off for his third minor penalty of the period, Voracek's shot bounced off Sutter and Paul Martin before skidding between Fleury's skates with 7.6 seconds left.

Florida v Washington 1-7 - The Washington Capitals might start picking up the Florida Panthers at the airport. The Capitals scored on their first shot, led 4-0 after eight minutes, and cruised to a 7-1 win against the Panthers on Thursday night, continuing their dominance over them at Verizon Center. Washington has won three in a row, five of six and eight of 11 to climb the Southeast Division standings. Florida has lost four of five during a 3-6-4 slide that started with a 5-0 loss at Washington on Feb. 9. The Panthers have been outscored 23-4 in their past five visits to Washington, and they have lost nine of 10 trips to the nation's capital since the 2009-10 season. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby made 29 saves but lost his bid for a NHL-leading fourth shutout midway through the third period. Seven players scored for Washington. Alex Ovechkin and Mike Ribeiro each had a goal and two assists. Washington's first shot of the game came from John Erskine, who cruised up to the Florida blue line and launched the puck at goalie Jacob Markstrom. The Panthers rookie opened his pads slightly, allowing the puck to sneak through 1:58 into the game. It was 2-0 just 72 seconds later. From behind the goal line, Wojtek Wolski corralled a puck that deflected off the side of the net and snuck it in short side on Markstrom, who moved off the post anticipating a wraparound. Markstrom was pulled without making a save, playing for the second time since being called back from San Antonio of the American Hockey League to replace Jose Theodore, out long-term with a groin injury. Replacement Scott Clemmensen didn't fare any better, allowing Washington to take a 3-0 lead 2:28 after he entered. Nicklas Backstrom won a faceoff to the point, and John Carlson beat Clemmensen stick-side on the fourth shot he faced. It took the Capitals two more shots to make it 4-0. Matt Hendricks knocked the puck loose behind the net to Ovechkin, who, with his back to the play, fed a backhand pass to Ribeiro in the slot at 8:10. It was the second-fastest four-goal start in Capitals history. Washington made it 5-0 on the first shift of a five-minute power play created by an interference penalty to Florida's Tyson Strachan. Ribeiro moved the puck off the right-wing boards to Brouwer, whose straight-line pass found Ovechkin in the left circle, and his blast connected at 9:17. It was Ovechkin's ninth goal of the season, and he has 10 points in his past six games. The collision between Strachan and Washington's Jason Chimera knocked Chimera from the game briefly. Strachan was given a major and a game misconduct. Florida's Jack Skille spoiled Holtby's shutout bid when he took a pass from Shawn Matthias between the circles and beat the goalie in the top right corner at 10:49. Third-period goals by Eric Fehr and Mathieu Perrault sandwiched Skille's score for the final margin.

Montreal v Carolina 4-2 - Montreal Canadiens forward Brandon Prust didn't have a ready answer when asked if he recalled his last three-point night. Known for his rugged play and willingness to drop the gloves, Prust was both a playmaker and a finisher in a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at PNC Arena. Prust staked the Canadiens to a 2-0 first-period lead, first by cleaning up a rebound in front of Carolina goalie Justin Peters, then lofting a long backhand pass to Josh Gorges on the back door, a set-up that will certainly go on Prust's career highlight reel. For Prust, whose best NHL season was 29 points for the New York Rangers in 2010-11, there were no illusions about taking on the mindset of a scorer. But he admits that hitting the score sheet is a fickle proposition, even for a grinder. The Hurricanes answered, owning a period of their own in the second. Jordan Staal connected on a shot through traffic, followed by a Drayson Bowman blast streaking down the left wing. Carolina dominated the period with a 21-5 advantage in shots. It attempted a total of 38 in the middle frame, although Montreal goaltender Carey Price dismissed the notion his team was on its heels. Price needed a strong outing after giving up 12 goals on 59 shots in consecutive losses to the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders. He stopped Eric Staal on a penalty shot in the second period, but his best of the night came against Justin Faulk in the first. With Faulk charging into the slot, Price snagged a wrister labeled for the top shelf. Prust wasn't the only offensive star of the night for Montreal. In fact, his linemates were both noteworthy contributors. In addition to a goal and an assist from Gorges, Lars Eller had three points, including the go-ahead goal at 6:09 of the third period. Gorges sent a pass to Eller at the far post. Fittingly, Prust started the play to earn his third point. P.K. Subban gave the Canadiens a two-goal cushion, ripping a hard slap shot past Peters for a power-play marker at 7:56. For the Hurricanes, the loss snapped a four-game winning streak. The Canadiens shut down the red-hot line of Jiri Tlusty, Eric Staal and Alex Semin, who had combined for nine goals and 24 points in the prior three games.

Vancouver v Columbus 1-2 - The Columbus Blue Jackets are finding some comfort at home. Matt Calvert scored on an outstanding individual effort with 57 seconds remaining in overtime to give Columbus a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night at Nationwide Arena. Calvert took the puck in his own zone, performed a 360-spin in the neutral zone to avoid Henrik Sedin, then battled through Alex Edler on a chip-in before skating between the circles and lifting a wrist shot over Cory Schneider's glove for the game-winner. Columbus has won three in a row at home after winning once while playing seven of eight on the road. The Blue Jackets are 4-0-1 in their past five home games. This was the ninth straight one-goal game for the Blue Jackets and the fifth straight that went past regulation. Vancouver has lost five of its past six games (1-3-2). Columbus scored first off a very effective cycle by Nick Foligno, Ryan Johansen and R.J Umberger. Foligno went hard behind the net and his wraparound attempt came off the far, left post, where Umberger was waiting to slide it in 11:33 into the game. Vancouver tied it 1:05 into the third period. Canucks defenseman Jason Garrison made an aggressive pinch and wheeled the puck behind the net, winding up on Dan Hamhuis' stick at the point. Hamhuis' low shot deflected off a skate to Sedin at the left post, and he lifted a shot into the center of the net over Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped the other 34 shots he faced. The Blue Jackets killed the one power play they faced, and have denied 18 in a row. Columbus forward Derek Dorsett went hard into the net early in the first period and suffered a fractured clavicle, according to the team. He's expected to miss the rest of the season.

Winnipeg v Tampa Bay 2-1 - Al Montoya hadn't played in almost a month, but he was able to backstop the Winnipeg Jets to a win on Thursday. Bryan Little broke a 1-1 tie with 4:08 remaining to give Montoya and the Jets a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Montoya, making his fourth start of the season as Ondrej Pavelec got the night off, stopped 28 shots for his third win. Little swept in alone along the crease and slipped the puck under goaltender Anders Lindback for his fourth goal of the season. Andrew Ladd got the assist on the game-winner. Tampa Bay tied the game with 6:57 gone in the third period when Steven Stamkos, unchecked in the slot, one-timed a pass from Martin St. Louis. Ryan Malone, making his return after missing 13 games with a lower-body injury, had the other assist. For Stamkos it was his NHL-leading 18th goal and his 39th point in 26 games against the Jets' franchise. Although the Jets entered the game with the worst penalty-killing percentage in the NHL (.735), they were able to shut down the Lightning power play. Tampa Bay had a full two minutes of 5-on-3 time in the second period when Paul Postma and Mark Stuart were called for minor penalties at 7:57. But the Lightning came up empty, managing four shots. Vincent Lecavalier had the best chance but was robbed by a diving stop by Montoya, going across the crease to his left. Tampa Bay was 0-for-5 on the power play. The teams were firing with abandon in the first period, combining for 25 shots on net. Winnipeg's Evander Kane, who finished the game with nine shots, had six in the opening period. The Jets (11-11-1) opened the scoring at 10:05 of the first period when Kyle Wellwood did some hard work keeping control of the puck along the boards while holding off two defenders. He finally found Eric Tangradi, who beat Lindback from a sharp angle from below the faceoff circle for his first goal of the season. The Lightning (10-13-1) did not lack for scoring chances, particularly late in the first period when Montoya robbed Tom Pyatt by moving to his left after Pyatt appeared to have an open net. Lindback faced 28 shots and his record fell to 8-6-1. The loss was the first time in the past 11 games the Lightning failed to gain a point against the Jets' franchise; they had gone 9-0-1 against them. Winnipeg continues its four-game road trip with a return visit to the Florida Panthers in Sunrise on Friday night. They dropped a 4-1 decision to the Panthers on Tuesday.

Edmonton v Detroit 0-3 - The Detroit Red Wings continue to make sure Joe Louis Arena is a tough port of call for other National Hockey League teams this season. The young Edmonton Oilers were the latest to learn there is no place like home for the veteran Red Wings, dropping a 3-0 decision on Thursday night. Detroit is 9-4-2 at home, and only the Chicago Blackhawks (11-0-1) have more home wins this season. Edmonton is 4-6-3 on the road and has lost in each of its past seven visits Detroit. Overall, the Red Wings are 10-0-1 in their last 11 meetings with the Oilers. Jakub Kindl and Cory Emmerton scored during a dominant second-period to put the Oilers on their heels. Justin Abdelkader added his first goal of the season into an empty net. Goalie Jimmy Howard, who spent long stretches without much activity, made 22 saves and was sharp on the few occasions Edmonton was able to breach the Detroit zone. It's the second shutout of the season for Howard and the 13th of his career. He has allowed four goals in regulation in his past four starts. Detroit has been quite stingy during its current 4-1-1 run, allowing more than two goals one time in that stretch, an 8-3 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 24. The Red Wings have allowed six goals in the past five games, none of them in the first or second periods. With such defensive dominance, Edmonton had 13 shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, the two-goal outburst during a nine-minute stretch of the second period was enough to give Detroit some breathing room. Kindl opened the scoring 3:16 into the middle period when he pinched in a bit from the blue line to corral a puck in the high slot and let go off a shot through traffic. Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk (26 saves) got a piece of the shot, but the puck managed to trickle across the goal line. That goal by Kindl, who has provided the game-winner both times he has scored this season, may have deflated the Oilers, but seemed to give life to the Red Wings, who had not generated much offense in the first period. Emmerton capped a sustained period of pressure with a pretty goal, coming off the bench on a player change to take the Oilers defense by surprise. Drew Miller, circling along the end boards as the rest of his line changed, picked up Emmerton as he steamed into the slot and hit the forward with a perfect pass for a quick-release shot that totally flummoxed Dubnyk. To make matters worse for the Oilers, they were forced to play part of the game without Ales Hemsky, who injured himself blocking a shot just six minutes into the second period. With eight of their next 10 games away from home, holding serve at home was vital to the Wings' playoff hopes.

St Louis v Phoenix 6-3 - There is chemistry. And then there is nitroglycerin. Right now, the St. Louis line of David Perron, Patrik Berglund and Chris Stewart are downright flammable. Berglund scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season, Stewart added a goal and three assists and Perron had three assists as the Blues scored three times in a 4:47 span of the second period and rolled to a 6-3 win against the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday night at Jobing.com Arena. Alex Pietrangelo added a goal and an assist for the Blues, while minor league call-up Jake Allen made 23 saves for his fourth win in five NHL decisions. With the likes of Andy McDonald, Alex Steen and Jamie Langenbrunner out with injuries, the Perron-Berglund-Stewart trio was put together four games ago by coach Ken Hitchcock. After a quiet first two games, they had five points Tuesday's 6-4 loss in Los Angeles and combined for nine to help the Blues pass the Coyotes in the Western Conference standings. Scott Nichol added his first goal to cap the second-period scoring burst and Vladimir Sobotka, coming on the ice for Berglund, scored with help from Stewart and Perron in the third. Phoenix goalie Mike Smith stopped just 23 of 29 shots and has allowed 18 goals on 114 shots in his last four appearances, pushing his goals-against average to 3.09, 39th among NHL goalies. His save percentage of .894 ranks 34th. David Moss, Shane Doan and Keith Yandle scored for the Coyotes, who lost for the second time in as many nights and have hit the halfway point in the 48-game season with a pedestrian 11-10-3 record. Turnovers and poor coverage in the defensive zone continue to haunt them. The top defensive pair of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Zbynek Michalek was a combined minus-7 against the Blues. The Blues didn't have a decent scoring chance until 13 minutes in, but they made the most of it. With the Coyotes running around in their own end, Smith stopped Pietrangelo's shot from the right point, but the rebound squirted right to Stewart, who had half a net to shoot at and didn't miss at 13:07. The Coyotes' penalty kill provided some spark. Boyd Gordon broke up a pass at the Phoenix blue line and chipped it ahead to Moss to send him on alone. Allen appeared to make the save, but the puck dribbled between his legs and over the line for Phoenix's first shorthanded goal of the year at 18:54. Moss' third goal of the season was his first in nine games. Phoenix took its first lead 41 seconds into the second period thanks to a Blues misplay. Allen played the puck behind his net but didn't get much on the pass. Martin Hanzal pushed the skidding puck into the slot where Doan stepped into his seventh goal of the season. At 5:40, Berglund put a shot up high that Smith stopped with his blocker but pushed back to the slot. It bounced between two players and Berglund converted the rebound for the tying goal. Just 2:12 later, Berglund puller a Perron pass out of his skates, twirled and lifted a backhander that deflected up off defenseman Derek Morris' stick and over Smith's shoulder to give the Blues the lead for good. It became 4-2 just 2:24 later when Kyle Chipchura was leveled by Ryan Reaves as he coughed up the puck behind the Phoenix net. Jaden Schwartz steered the puck to Nichol in the slot for another point-blank goal, and the Coyotes never recovered. The Blues polished off the win with two more in the third. Poor Phoenix defensive coverage allowed Perron and Stewart to set up Sobotka with a tic-tac-toe goal at 6:53 before Pietrangelo banged home a 4-on-4 rebound at 15:04, negating any effect from Keith Yandle's power-play goal with 25 seconds to play.

Dallas v Los Angeles 5-2 - Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow wasn't aware of the recent third-period domination by the Los Angeles Kings. He probably wasn't too keen on their terrific homestand, either. But part of him acknowledged that a three-goal third period in the first game against the defending Stanley Cup champions felt that much better after a 5-2 win at Staples Center. Morrow slipped unnoticed in front of the Kings' net and put home Reilly Smith's pass at 6:21 of the third to break a 2-2 tie, and Jaromir Jagr completed a two-goal game 3:19 later on a fat rebound as the Stars snapped the Kings' six-game home winning streak. Dallas improved to 6-1-1 in its past eight road games. Antoine Roussel wrapped up the win by hitting the empty net with 1:41 remaining. The Stars' outburst represented some serious defensive lapses for the Kings, who had outscored opponents 25-12 in the third period and were coming off a great late comeback Tuesday, when they scored five unanswered goals to beat St. Louis, 6-4. Sutter pointed to his team's inability to handle the line of Jagr, Jamie Benn and Louis Eriksson. Jagr's 673rd and 674th goals both came on tape-to-tape passes from Benn. Morrow's goal was more inexplicable, Smith drew Trevor Lewis and Slava Voynov to the corner before Cody Eakin grabbed the loose puck and fed Morrow. Dallas, which has scored three or more goals in 13 of 14 games, tied the game at 2-2 with 1:14 remaining in the second period when Eakin collected a loose puck and popped in a backhander with Keaton Ellerby off for hooking. It was only the second time this season the Kings allowed two power-play goals. Jagr got the first power-play goal 5:28 into the game on a tap-in off a perfect pass from Benn. His second was similar, and of course it never gets old for Dallas. The good news for L.A. was that Jeff Carter stayed red-hot, scoring his 16th goal of the season and 12th in 12 games. This one came on a soft centering pass intended for Mike Richards that bounced off Jordie Benn's skate and into the net at 15:30 of the second period for a 2-1 lead. That's how it's been going for Carter, second in the NHL in goals behind Tampa Bay's Steve Stamkos (18). Including the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Carter has 30 goals in 58 games since he arrived in L.A. last spring.