Gameday 78 (Sat, 06 Apr) - Results

Philadelphia v Winnipeg 1-4 - The Winnipeg Jets began their Saturday-afternoon date with the Philadelphia Flyers lugging a five-game losing streak that had shoved them out of the Southeast Division lead and into a free-fall threatening their Stanley Cup Playoff aspirations. The Flyers, meanwhile, arrived in Winnipeg owning a four-game winning streak that had moved them directly into the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race after knocking off three opponents currently occupying playoff berths over the past week. Well, a four-goal second period for Winnipeg led the Jets to a 4-1 win at MTS Centre and kept their playoff hopes alive for a bit longer. The win moved the Jets (19-19-2) back into the Southeast Division lead, two points of ahead of the Washington Capitals, who meet the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. The Flyers (17-18-3) now sit three points behind Winnipeg and three points out of a playoff spot. The visit from the Flyers kicked off a six-game homestand that will go a long way toward determining the Jets' postseason fate. Winnipeg has battled home demons all season at MTS Centre, where they have only won nine of 18 contests. Winnipeg used second-period goals from Grant Clitsome and Kyle Wellwood 27 seconds apart to take away Philadelphia's 1-0 lead. Evander Kane followed 1:39 later with a goal that ended his five-game drought. Little closed out the period, striking with 54 seconds left to send the Jets up 4-1 going into the second intermission and finishing Philadelphia starter Ilya Bryzgalov's afternoon. Ondrej Pavelec turned in a 31-save afternoon for the Jets. The Jets' penalty kill, a source of trouble at various points this season, also held off the Flyers' second-ranked power play on three Philadelphia opportunities. The Flyers received a first-period goal from Ruslan Fedotenko that provided a lead they nursed deep into the second period. Bryzgalov made his 22nd consecutive start and made 12 saves. Steve Mason, whom the Flyers acquired Wednesday from the Columbus Blue Jackets, made his Philadelphia debut in third-period relief and stopped all nine shots he faced. Philadelphia struggled even with Kimmo Timonen, a question mark to dress for the game because of a foot injury. Timonen managed to remain in the Philadelphia lineup to help reinforce a blue line missing Braydon Coburn, Nicklas Grossmann and Andrej Meszaros. Desperate for a strong start in a building where they had won just eight of their first 17 home dates, the Jets failed to deliver in the first period. The Flyers buried the Jets with a 13-4 shots advantage and directed steady pressure at Pavelec, holding the home team without a shot over the final 15:04. Moments after Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd failed to convert his breakaway, the Flyers took a 1-0 lead. Kent Huskins directed a shot at Pavelec that Fedotenko deflected through a screen at 11:07. Winnipeg rebounded with a stronger second-period effort against the Flyers, and the Jets finally broke through against Bryzgalov with seven minutes to go in the period. Little sped down the right boards and centered a pass into the slot that Clitsome fired low and past Bryzgalov. Wellwood ended a 12-game stretch without a goal when he put the Jets in the lead 27 seconds later when he fished loose a rebound and dropped it behind Pavelec. The Jets then took a two-goal lead at 14:44 when Kane stormed Bryzgalov's crease and jabbed a loose puck behind Bryzgalov. Little finished the period on an odd-man rush, snapping an off-wing left-circle shot that fooled Bryzgalov for his first goal that ended a six-game run without a goal. Winnipeg's four-goal period was its second such effort this season. The Flyers face another tough week beginning Tuesday with road game against the New York Islanders, one of the slew of clubs that they are battling for a playoff spot. The win now sets up the Jets for a visit from the Buffalo Sabres, who also lurk only four points behind the Jets.

Chicago v Nashville 1-0 - In their two previous games, the Chicago Blackhawks took leads into the third period and promptly gave them up. On Saturday, they played a Stanley Cup Playoff-type of game, and this time, they successfully protected a one-goal lead. Goalie Ray Emery made 20 saves to earn his second shutout and Chicago finished with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena that dealt another blow to their Central Division rival's postseason chances. Chicago had points in three straight (2-0-1) and four out of five (3-1-1) entering the game. The Blackhawks are starting to take control of the race for the Western Conference's top seed. The win puts them five points up on the Anaheim Ducks, who have played one more game than the Blackhawks. With the win, Emery improved to 13-1-0 on the season. His lone defeat came in his last start on March 29, as Anaheim defeated him 2-1. Quenneville liked what he saw from his goalie. Nashville pulled goalie Pekka Rinne, who stopped 29 of 30 shots, twice in the last two minutes and pressured Emery for the equalizer. After the first time the Predators pulled Rinne, the big Finn had to go back in the net for a faceoff in his zone. With Rinne out for the final 90 seconds after Nashville called its timeout, Emery had some anxious moments around his crease as the Predators threw bodies at the net and tried to jam the puck in. The Blackhawks got on the board by converting a 2-on-1. The Predators got trapped in the offensive zone and Michal Handzus took advantage of a mental mistake by a Nashville forward in front of the Chicago bench as the puck bounded to Handzus. The newly acquired Slovak skated up the right wing and sent a saucer pass to a wide-open Bryan Bickell, who put it in a gaping net at 5:31 of the opening period. The net was so open because Nashville coach Barry Trotz said defenseman Jon Blum did not do a good job of taking away the pass; it's the defenseman's responsibility in that situation to take away the pass and let the goalie play the shooter. Trotz also was upset with a forward, it appeared to be Bobby Butler, who made the wrong decision when Chicago defenseman Sheldon Brookbank got the puck in the corner and shot it up the right-wing boards. From there, Quenneville said he thought the key moment of the game was when the Blackhawks were forced to kill a double minor in the third period. With 12:02 left in regulation, Daniel Carcillo high-sticked Nashville's Shea Weber. However, Chicago got as many shots as Nashville did during the four-minute power play, one, and held the Predators off the board. The Predators entered having won only one of their previous five (1-2-2). Nashville began Saturday in 12th place in the Western Conference, four points out of the eighth and final spot for the playoffs. Since trading right wing Martin Erat, one of the team's co-leaders in points when he was dealt to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, the Predators have struggled to put the puck in the net. In their first game after the trade, they lost 3-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. In some ways, they have reverted to the form that hurt their playoff chances from the season's outset. For the first half of the season, the Predators averaged less than two goals per game. Trotz observed that in two meetings with Chicago this week, the Blackhawks scored three goals and Nashville two, but the Predators lost both, including a 3-2 shootout loss on Monday. But the Predators desperately need points in the standings now. Trotz also made an oblique reference to the trade of Erat and numerous injuries: to forward Colin Wilson, the team's leading scorer when he got hurt on March 9, and Gabriel Bourque, who has a team-high 11 goals. On Saturday, a new player was added to the injury list: big checking center Paul Gaustad with an upper-body injury that has plagued him throughout the season. Gaustad sat out the game, allowing Chicago's top line of Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad to control the puck at length in Nashville's zone, and Trotz said he would be out for at least the next few games. With only nine games left, Nashville is running out of time to earn its eighth playoff berth in nine seasons.

Edmonton v Los Angeles 1-4 - Speed and youth vs. methodical defense? The Los Angeles Kings threw that storyline out the window when the Edmonton Oilers came to their barn Saturday afternoon. Los Angeles won a special-teams contest with two power-play goals in a 4-1 win at Staples Center. Slava Voynov scored his first goal since March 5 and Jeff Carter helped L.A. go 2-for-5 on the man-advantage. The Kings jumped ahead of the San Jose Sharks and moved into fourth in the Western Conference playoff race. L.A. put the new defense combination of Drew Doughty and Robyn Regehr out exclusively against Edmonton's kid line of Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle, and the trio was kept scoreless. Kings coach Darryl Sutter previously said he wouldn't break up his defensive pairings but he's gone with Doughty-Regehr since the last half of Regehr's debut Thursday. Edmonton's third-ranked power play got four chances and converted on a strike from Magnus Paajarvi in the second period. It finished 1-for-4 and managed only one shot during Doughty's hooking penalty halfway through the third. The Oilers remain a bubble team at ninth, and their road trip now goes to Anaheim on Monday. Edmonton has one goal in two games after it scored 25 goals in its previous six. Voynov's slap shot from the point stayed on the ice the whole way and found the left side of the goal at 8:22 to give the Kings a 3-1 lead in a second in which L.A. outshot Edmonton, 17-5. Jeff Petry was in the penalty box for holding. That's effectively game over for Los Angeles opponents. The Kings are now 101-1-11 in their past 113 games when leading after two periods. The first 30 minutes saw a combined seven power plays. Carter was credited with his 22nd goal when Dustin Brown's pass hit Carter's leg and bounced just under the crossbar at 15:35 of the second on Eberle's hooking penalty. For the second straight game, Los Angeles struck in the opening two minutes. Edmonton left Mike Richards open at the edge of the left circle to one-time Carter's pass on the L.A.'s first shot on goal at 1:38. Jerred Smithson made his Edmonton debut and centered a line with Mike Brown and Lennart Petrell. He won seven of nine faceoffs in nearly 10 minutes of ice time, but his penalty killing wasn't enough. Quick, who made 23 saves, improved to 9-1-4 lifetime against the Oilers. His next victory will tie him with Kelly Hrudey for No.2 on the club's all-time victory list. The Kings are 12-1-6 in their last 19 meetings with the Oilers.

Boston v Montreal 1-2 - At the beginning of the season, Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said that every year there is a team considered the NHL's biggest surprise, and he wanted his club to be that team. Entering the home stretch of the 2012-13 season sitting in first place in the Northeast Division and having taken three of four from the arch rival Boston Bruins after Saturday's 2-1 win, it would be pretty safe to say that Therrien's goal has been realized. Alex Galchenyuk and Michael Ryder scored, Carey Price made 26 saves and P.K. Subban added another two assists for the Canadiens (25-8-5), who opened up a three-point lead on the Bruins (24-9-4) atop the Northeast Division with their fifth win in six games. It's a far cry from where this team was a year ago Sunday, when Montreal closed its 2011-12 season with a 4-1 win in Toronto, but still remained in last place in the Eastern Conference. Daniel Paille scored Boston's lone goal and Tuukka Rask made 27 saves for the Bruins, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. It was Boston's fifth regulation time loss in 11 games, surpassing the four regulation losses the Bruins had in their first 26 games of the season. But the most frustrating thing for the Bruins was having a 6-on-4 power play for 56.4 seconds at the end of the third period when Eller took a holding penalty in the offensive zone and not getting a shot on goal, or even attempting one for that matter. Julien was forced to juggle his lines midway through the first period after Montreal took a 1-0 lead against the trio of Tyler Seguin, Brad Marchand and the newly acquired Jaromir Jagr, with Seguin playing center in place of the injured Patrice Bergeron, perhaps the best defensive forward in the NHL. Julien replaced Seguin at center with Rich Peverley to have a better defensive player in that spot, while Jagr played the rest of the game with Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell, who usually make up two-thirds of Boston's fourth line. The Canadiens lost physical defenseman Alexei Emelin at 10:54 of the first period when he attempted to lay a big hit on Milan Lucic near center ice and took the worst of it, falling awkwardly and suffering what appeared to be an injury to his left leg, likely the knee. The goal by Ryder was his sixth in his last six games and his 10th in his past 12 games. He has 10 goals and eight assists in the 18 games he's played since being acquired from the Dallas Stars on Feb. 26. Subban's two assists gave him a goal and nine assists in six games, and gave him 32 points in 32 games this season to increase his lead on Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild as the NHL's top scoring defenseman to four points. Galchenyuk opened the scoring for Montreal on his first shift of the game at 6:49 of the first, the 26th time in 38 games this season the Canadiens have scored the game's first goal. With Rask scrambling to get back in position following a flurry around the Bruins net, Galchenyuk got the puck below the goal line and attempted to bank it in off the Boston netminder. The wound up in the crease on the other side of Rask, and defenseman Matt Bartkowski wound up kicking it into his own net. It was Galchenyuk's second goal in as many games, giving the No. 3 pick at the 2012 NHL Draft the first goal streak of his young career. Montreal continued to control the play for much of the first, but it was an ill-advised Lucic cross-checking penalty in the final minute of the period that wound up costing the Bruins when Ryder tipped home a Subban point shot at 0:57 of the second period to make it 2-0 Montreal. The Bruins were being largely outplayed until they finally got on the board at 7:10 of the second when Paille beat David Desharnais on an offensive zone draw and Johnny Boychuk took a shot from the point that hit Paille and beat Carey Price to make it 2-1. From that point onward the Bruins were a different team, controlling the play and spending entire shifts in the Canadiens' zone as Montreal attempted to manage with five defensemen. But the Bruins squandered that great opportunity to tie the game late, allowing the Canadiens to hold them off and claim the season series between the bitter rivals, marking the first time in four games between the two that the team leading after two periods went on to win the game.The Canadiens have 10 games remaining while the Bruins have 11, but building on their division lead may have made Montreal believe that finishing first in the Northeast became a lot more realistic Saturday night.

Toronto v New Jersey 2-1 - The Toronto Maple Leafs look poised to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in nine years. The New Jersey Devils look like they will miss them for the second time in three seasons. Toronto got goals from Leo Komarov and Tyler Bozak, and James Reimer made 27 saves, to defeat New Jersey 2-1 Saturday night at Prudential Center. The Maple Leafs won for the fourth time in five games and remain on track for their first postseason appearance since 2004. The Devils are winless in six games after losing forward Ilya Kovalchuk to a shoulder injury March 23 (0-3-3). From seventh place on that date, four points clear of ninth, they have fallen out three points out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference. David Clarkson got one in the third period to end New Jersey's scoreless streak at 143:36. The Devils were shut out 1-0 at the Boston Bruins on Thursday. They were 0-for-5 on the power play Saturday, including a first-period 5-on-3 that lasted for 1:04. Toronto had its three-game winning streak snapped with a 5-3 home to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, but wasted little time taking a lead Saturday. Komarov, playing his first game since March 21, scored 3:49 into the game when he deflected a shot from teammate Mark Fraser past Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. Fraser was able to handle a pass right at the blue line and his shot found Komarov in the left circle. Bozak converted a breakaway at 8:02 of the third period. He took a breakout pass from Phil Kessel at center ice and avoided the chasing defense of Peter Harrold. Bozak's shot popped up and over Brodeur, and Harrold missed a baseball swing trying to keep the airborne puck out of the net. Devils defenseman Marek Zidlicky led a rush up ice and his pass at the offensive blue line found Clarkson charging toward the circles, from where his shot trickled through Reimer with 8:23 left to play. The defending Eastern Conference champion Devils made the playoffs every season since 1996-97 before failing to do so in 2010-11. They play at the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday. Toronto played without forward Joffrey Lupul, who has an upper-body injury. He could miss a home-and-home against the Rangers on Monday and Wednesday.

Tampa Bay v NY Islanders 2-4 - The New York Islanders are inching closer to ending their six-year playoff drought. Matt Martin's goal with 6:26 remaining broke a tie as the Islanders beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Saturday night at a sold-out Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The victory assured New York of ending the week in the top eight in the Eastern Conference, where they haven't finished since 2007. Martin took a pass from rookie Anders Lee, crossed the Tampa Bay blue line and cut to the high slot before wristing a shot through a screen that went between the pads of goaltender Ben Bishop. It was his third of the season, but two have come against the Lightning, one in each of Tampa Bay's visits to the Coliseum. Andrew MacDonald hit the empty net from 150 feet away while on his knees to give the Islanders their third win this week, along with a shootout loss, giving them 42 points. Both New York teams, the Islanders and Rangers, have 42 points; the Rangers are seventh and the Islanders eighth because the Rangers have a game in hand. Both teams are two points ahead of Winnipeg and three ahead of New Jersey. It was the kind of game the Islanders have lost too many of this season, they twice gave up leads, the second time early in the third period. But instead of folding, the Islanders stepped up their game and dominated the last 15 minutes, something they hadn't been doing earlier. Even after Martin's goal put them ahead, the Islanders forechecked rather than going into a defensive shell, and held the Lightning without a shot on goal the rest of the way. Josh Bailey also scored for the Islanders. Evgeni Nabokov had to make only 19 saves as the Islanders blocked more shots (23) than they allowed to get through to their goaltender. New York plays six of its final nine games, including the last five, away from home. Bishop made 24 saves, and Richard Panik and Matt Carle had goals for the Lightning, whose faint playoff hopes grew fainter. Tampa Bay trails the eighth-place Islanders by eight points. A giveaway by former Islander Nate Thompson turned into the game's first goal. Thompson's pass was picked off just inside the Tampa Bay blue line; Grabner took the puck, raced down the middle, took a look at Tavares and decided to take a quick slap shot that went over Bishop's glove at 14:45. Tampa Bay went more than 10 minutes between shots on goal, but forced Nabokov to make his best save of the period on Brett Connolly's point-blank shot with just over two minutes remaining in the period. The Lightning continued to press until New York's Frans Nielsen was called for hooking Steven Stamkos with 1:40 left in the period. But it was Bishop who had to be sharp, he was called upon to stop Grabner's semi-breakaway and Bailey’s blast off a 2-on-1 just before the horn. Tampa Bay came out stronger in the second period, got the Islanders running around in their own zone and tied the game at 4:44. A superb behind-the-back passout from behind the net by Vincent Lecavalier set up Panik in the lower-left circle for a wide-open one-timer, and he beat Nabokov easily for his second of the season. Bailey put the Islanders back in front at 8:22, but Kyle Okposo did most of the work. Okposo carried the puck around the Lightning net out near the blue line, danced away from two defenders in the high slot and cut to the lower right circle before zipping a pass into the slot. Bailey kicked the puck into his stick and backhanded it into the net for his seventh of the season. As they did at the beginning of the second period, the Lightning again came out strong to start the third, and wasted little time tying the score at 2-2. Tampa Bay kept the play in the New York zone for the better part of a minute before Stamkos circled into the high slot and fired a shot that was stopped by Nabokov. But the goaltender had lost control of his stick and couldn't control the rebound, which came back into the slot, where Carle banged it in at the 4-minute mark. It was his fourth of the season, but first in 22 games. The Islanders played without forward Matt Moulson, their second-leading scorer, who had the flu. It was the first game Moulson had missed since joining New York at the start of the 2009-10 season, a span of 284 consecutive games. The Lightning lost in regulation for the first time in four games under new coach Jon Cooper, partly because they turned over the puck 31 times, Tampa Bay made 14 giveaways and the Islanders had 17 takeaways. The Lightning flew right out for a Sunday game at Washington, one that they cannot afford to lose.

NY Rangers v Carolina 4-1 - Henrik Lundqvist deserved a deep breath after stopping a game-long barrage of Carolina shots on Saturday night at PNC Arena. After a 2-1 shootout loss Friday night in Pittsburgh, the Rangers (19-15-4) spent their energy completely as Lundqvist turned in one of his best performances. Thanks to second-period goals by Derek Stepan, Ryan Callahan and Rick Nash, the New York goaltender played with a cushion; he needed it, particularly in the third period when the Hurricanes peppered him with 21 shots. Stepan buried Richards' feed on the power play 2:00 into the second period, and Nash needed just 29 seconds to pick the pocket of Carolina goalie Dan Ellis behind the net and set up Callahan in front for the 2-0 lead. For the Hurricanes, mired in an ugly 1-10-1 stretch, it could have spelled the beginning of a long night. Nash extended the lead to 3-0 on a nice individual effort, skating the puck across the slot, then wheeling around to fire a shot past Ellis. It marked the second power-play goal of the night for the Rangers and fifth in their past three games. Despite the big lead, the Rangers were never off the hook in the third period. The wear and tear of back-to-back games showed as Lundqvist fought off numerous bids from the Hurricanes, most of them in scoring position. In one stretch, he stopped Jordan Staal, Joe Corvo and Zac Dalpe, all from the slot. Dalpe's shot, snatched away with Lundqvist's glove, might have been the best of the night. Rangers forward Ryane Clowe, acquired Tuesday from San Jose, has played just three games in front of Lundqvist. After watching the Rangers star allow just one regulation goal in each game, he sounded a bit star struck. Not that Lundqvist minded. In fact, he seemed happy to carry the load for a night, perhaps because he has a new-found enthusiasm for the Rangers' team chemistry. The recent acquisitions of Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett and John Moore from Columbus, along with Clowe, have invigorated Lundqvist. Carolina, meanwhile, is trapped in a nightmare stretch drive. Once 15-9-1 and in control of the Southeast Division, the Hurricanes have fallen into 13th place in the Eastern Conference at 16-19-2. Despite the woes, Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller has been mostly positive after the last several losses, noting that his team played with plenty of resolve. Aside from the Rangers' strong second period, Muller's point was well-taken. The Hurricanes carried the play for extended stretches, only to be shut down by Lundqvist. The Hurricanes finally broke the shutout bid midway through the third period on a goal from Dalpe, who was recalled from the Charlotte Checkers earlier in the day.

Washington v Florida 4-3 - Alex Ovechkin's scoring surge continued Saturday night, but the Washington Capitals almost let his work go to waste. Ovechkin had three goals and an assist to help the Capitals build a 4-0 lead, then had to hold off a three-goal third period by the Florida Panthers to win 4-3 at BB&T Center. Ovechkin's 12th career hat trick gave him 13 goals in 13 games, and after a slow start he is now tied for second in the NHL with 23 goals, only two behind Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers didn't enjoy any of it. In fact, they have to be glad that Ovechkin and the Capitals won't be division opponents after this season. While helping Washington sweep the four-game series against Florida this season by a combined score of 22-8, Ovechkin had six goals and four assists. That gave him 61 points in 47 career games against Florida. Mike Ribeiro added a goal and an assist and Nicklas Backstrom had three assists for the Capitals, who have beaten Florida seven consecutive times dating back to last season. The victory kept Washington atop the Southeast Division standings. The Capitals and the Winnipeg Jets, 4-1 winners against the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday, both have 40 points but Washington has two games in hand. Washington is 7-1-1 in its past nine games. Holtby made 25 saves but had to survive a third-period rally that saw the Panthers get within a goal with 32.7 seconds left. The Panthers saw their longest winning streak of the season snapped at three games, but not without mounting a valiant comeback effort after trailing 4-0 heading into the third period. Tomas Kopecky scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season for Florida, as he passed Shawn Matthias for the team lead. Peter Mueller had the other Panthers goal. Jacob Markstrom got the start in net for Florida for the sixth consecutive game, but he struggled again against Washington. Markstrom was pulled after Ovechkin's third goal made it 4-0 at 14:22 of the second period, although he was reinserted during a TV timeout 52 seconds later. Markstrom ended with 27 saves. In a March 7 game at Washington, Markstrom was pulled in a 7-1 loss after allowing two goals on the Capitals' first two shots. Nick Bjugstad, one of Florida's three first-round picks in the 2010 draft, made his NHL debut three days after signing an entry-level contract. Bjugstad had a quiet night, although he did have a good scoring opportunity on a wraparound in the second period. The game was scoreless until late in the first period when Florida defenseman Erik Gudbranson was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding Martin Erat. Erat, acquired by the Capitals from the Nashville Predators at the trade deadline on Wednesday, sustained a lower-body injury on the play and did not return. Capitals coach Adam Oates said after the game that Erat would be evaluated Sunday morning but added that the injury didn't look serious enough to force Erat to miss many games. Washington, which came in with the best power play in the NHL, took advantage against the worst penalty-killing team in the League. Ovechkin scored his first goal at 15:45 of the first off a tic-tac-toe passing play from Backstrom to Ribeiro at the side of the net and across the crease to Ovechkin for the one-timer. It was the first of three power-play goals for the Capitals. Dineen took the blame for the second, Ribeiro's goal 43 seconds into the second period. After Gudbranson was ejected from the game for the hit on Erat, the Panthers neglected to put anyone in the penalty box to serve his major penalty. So when that penalty expired during play with 23 seconds left in the first period, after Florida had killed off the last 3:52, the Panthers were not allowed to send a fifth skater onto the ice until a whistle. That whistle came when Quinton Howden was called for hooking at 19:55. Ovechkin's third goal also came on the power play and was identical to his first, except that it was Marcus Johansson who took the pass from Backstrom and fed Ovechkin. Ovechkin's second goal, which made it 3-0 at 2:24 of the second period, was his most spectacular. After losing control of the puck to his right while attempting to deke defenseman Filip Kuba, Ovechkin lifted Kuba's stick from behind, grabbed the puck and fired a quick wrist over the left shoulder of Markstrom.

Colorado v Phoenix 0-4 - The Phoenix Coyotes have their offense clicking, their starting goalie back between the pipes and their team swagger back. The only question: Is there is still enough time for them to rescue a Stanley Cup Playoff berth? Martin Hanzal, Boyd Gordon and Shane Doan all scored during an 11:31 span of the second period Saturday and goalie Mike Smith returned to the Phoenix lineup from injury with 24 saves and his fifth shutout of the season as the Coyotes drilled the Colorado Avalanche 4-0 at Jobing.com Arena. The line of Doan, Hanzal and Radim Vrbata combined for six points and Oliver Ekman-Larsson added two assists as the Coyotes extend their points streak to a season-high six games (4-0-2) and jumped over Columbus and Edmonton and into ninth place in the Western Conference with 40 points. They trail eighth-place St. Louis by two points, the Blues have two games in hand and own the regulation win tiebreaker, heading into a crucial three-game road trip to Western Canada beginning Monday night against the Vancouver Canucks. The Coyotes play seven of their final 10 games on the road. The Coyotes swept a must-win, three-game homestand, their first three-game win streak of the season, using three different goaltenders. Jason LaBarbera beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Tuesday and Chad Johnson stopped the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 on Thursday before Smith returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury to record his 13th shutout in 94 games with Phoenix. Smith was his old feisty self from the very beginning, straying from the net to set up Hanzal's power-play goal and engaging the few Avalanche players who invaded his crease. The Coyotes have dominated Colorado on home ice over the past six years, 9-0-2 in their past 11 games here. And the Avalanche, who are a miserable 2-15-3 road on the road this season and winless in their past 14 (0-11-3) were in trouble right from the start after fighting hard in an overtime home loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. Just 1:46 into play, Mikkel Boedker raced down the left side and let go a long wrist shot that beat Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov (24 saves) over his pad to the far post. It was Boedker's seventh goal and 24th point of the season, and the 44th first-period goal allowed by the Avalanche. Smith saw only five shots in the first, but became a bigger factor with big plays offensively and defensively in the second, when the Coyotes were dominant and scored three times for the second straight game. On an early Phoenix power play, Smith dashed to the faceoff circle to stop a clearing attempt and caught Colorado on a change. His long pass was right on the tape of Vrbata, who sent Hanzal and Doan in all alone. Doan returned a pass for Hanzal for the easy tap-in at 3:06, the 23rd power-play goal allowed by Colorado in 20 road games. Smith then made a more traditional goalie play, diving to smother an Aaron Palushaj rebound shot. Cody McLeod tried to jam at the puck, but Smith grabbed McLeod's stick out of his hands and tried to break it over the crossbar before tossing it away in disgust. Just 2:58 after Hanzal's 11th goal, a Colorado breakout attempt caromed off the skate of Brad Malone and gave the Coyotes another golden opportunity. David Moss pushed the puck to Gordon, who carried the puck to the goal line before banking it off Varlamov's back and in at 7:04. Gordon didn't score a goal in the first 32 games of the season, but now has three in the past six. Doan made it 4-0 at 14:37, completing and tic-tack-toe play with Ekman-Larsson and Vrbata, with both Varlamov and Johnson over committing and leaving the crease wide open. Doan's easy goal was his team-leading 13th of the season and the rout was on.

Calgary v Vancouver 2-5 - Now that the Vancouver Canucks are no longer counting on their top line to score every game, it makes it easier for them to do just that. After a week focused on the trade-deadline addition of scoring center Derek Roy and the return of a handful of injured forwards, it was the top duo of Daniel and Henrik Sedin, with a lot of help from No.1 goalie Cory Schneider, that led the Canucks to a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. Henrik scored into an empty net with 10.1 seconds left and added two assists, including the 600th of his career, and Daniel had three assists as the identical twins set up goals by Dan Hamhuis, Alexandre Burrows and Alexander Edler. Add an assist for Burrows and Vancouver's top line combined for eight points. Schneider was no slouch himself, turning aside 36 shots and several point-blank chances against a Flames team coming off a 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks the night before and is playing out the season after trading long-time captain Jarome Iginla and top defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. Despite all that, and even after giving up a goal to Hamhuis just 34 seconds in, the Flames actually carried the play for long stretches, especially in the first period, and outshot the Canucks 38-22. Dale Weise also scored, the only Vancouver goal that didn't directly involve the Sedins, as the Canucks won for the eighth time in 10 games to move four points ahead of the Minnesota Wild atop the Northwest Division. Most of those wins have been low-scoring, one-goal wins, but after adding Roy in a trade with the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, and also getting Zack Kassian, Weise and Mason Raymond back from injury, the Canucks have scored nine goals in consecutive wins. That matches the total from their previous five games, a figure that includes two empty-net goals in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche. The Sedins have been in on six of those nine goals this week. They did on the opening shift, with Hamhuis converting a 2-on-1 after Daniel chipped the puck past a bad pinch by Flames defenseman Mark Giordano, who rejoined the team after missing a game for the birth of his son. Weise and Dennis Wideman traded goals before the period ended, but the Canucks extended their lead with second-period goals set up by the Sedins. Burrows jammed in a rebound after Henrik set up Daniel for a wraparound 7:24 into the period, and Henrik won an offensive zone to start a power play back to Daniel, who fed across for a one-time goal with 27 seconds left in the period. It was the second straight game in which Vancouver's 28th-ranked power play scored, the first time that has happened since Feb. 21, and just the fourth goal in 22 games for the Canucks with the man advantage. Alex Tanguay also scored, and Miikka Kiprusoff, starting on consecutive nights, made 18 saves the Flames, who are 0-12-1 in their last 13 road games. Playing without first-line forward Curtis Glencross, who hurt his leg in San Jose, Calgary also lost tough guy Brian McGrattan with a shoulder injury in the second period. Yet the Flames continued to push, forcing Schneider to come up with several big saves while the result was still in question. He made a trio of great stops, and got a break when Mike Cammalleri hit the post, before Weise, in his first game back after missing six with a shoulder injury, got a piece of Jason Garrison's one-timer from the point at 6:57. Schneider also robbed Roman Cervenka from the slot early in the second, and gloved Lee Stempniak's shot from the slot on a 3-on-1 early in the third, but Tanguay, who also hit a post earlier, beat him between the legs midway through the third after being sent in alone by Stempniak off the left wing.