Gameday 80 (Mon, 08 Apr) - Results

Carolina v Boston 2-6 - In a discussion of Boston Bruins players who are candidates to center Brad Marchand and Jaromir Jagr, Gregory Campbell's name probably wouldn't come to many people's lips. However, that was the trio which powered the Bruins to a slump-busting rout of the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. Marchand scored two goals, Campbell and Jagr chipped in with a pair of assists each and Dennis Seidenberg produced a career-high three assists as the Bruins bested the Hurricanes, 6-2, at TD Garden. The combination of Campbell with Jagr and Marchand was part of a three-line shakeup during practice Sunday by coach Claude Julien. Tuukka Rask stopped 40 shots to earn the win for the Bruins. He has stopped 107 of 111 shots in the Bruins' past three games (two wins and a loss). Carolina, meanwhile, has now lost five in a row. The Hurricanes outshot Boston, 18-9, in the first period, but had little to show for it. Rask robbed Zac Dalpe with a skate save on a 2-on-none when the game was still 0-0. By the end of the first period, the Bruins led 3-0. The Bruins had scored more than two goals in just three of their past 11 games and their six goals set a new season high. It was just the third time this season they scored five or more goals. The least-heralded of the Bruins' new lines broke put Boston the board first, as Rich Peverley, centering Jordan Caron and Shawn Thornton for the first time this season, stuffed a puck in the net 3:51 into the game. Peverley's shot had deflected off Peters and came out on the other side of the net off the rear glass. Peverley's shots were the first two by the Bruins in the game. Marchand doubled the Bruins' lead 7:58 into period, as the winger cleaned up a rebound of a Campbell wrap-around attempt. The goal was Boston's fourth shot on net and chased Justin Peters, who was replaced by Dan Ellis. The Bruins beat Ellis once on five shots through the rest of the period. After Jagr circled the net and attempted a wraparound, the rebound deflected to Marchand for a backhand goal from just below the left hash mark. Andrew Ference made sure the Bruins' offensive outbursts continued in the second period. After he kept the puck in with a solid pinch down the wall during a line change, Ference went to the net and deflected Seidenberg's shot past Ellis at 3:57. The Bruins extended to a 5-0 lead at 10:29, when Caron cleaned up a loose puck in front after a Thornton drive at 10:29. Patrick Dwyer put the Hurricanes on the board with 9:57 remaining, when he beat Rask through the five-hole with a backhand shot in front of the net. Just 45 seconds later, Drayson Bowman scored the Hurricanes' second goal on a tap-in from behind Rask after the Bruins' goaltender saved Bowman's initial shot on the rush. Nathan Horton put the Bruins back ahead by four with a tip-in with 3:04 remaining.

NY Rangers v Toronto 3-4 - The Toronto Maple Leafs have gotten a lot of mileage this season out of improved defensive play, more team toughness and significantly better penalty-killing. But if they hope to first make the playoffs and then go deep into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they need their big guns to start firing. That is exactly what happened Monday at Air Canada Centre as Phil Kessel snapped a 10-game goalless drought with two markers and James van Riemsdyk tallied his second in three games after going 10 in a row without a goal as the Maple Leafs beat the New York Rangers 4-3 at Air Canada Centre. The Kessel-van Riemsdyk-Tyler Bozak trio led the way with six points. Kessel had two goals and an assist; van Riemsdyk tallied a goal and an assist and Bozak had one helper. Rick Nash scored two vintage Rick Nash goals by driving hard to the net, while center Derek Stepan had the other Rangers' goal. The teams meet again at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. For van Riemsdyk, who is playing his first season with Toronto, having the opportunity to play on a line with Kessel is a thrill. Kessel opened the season without a goal in Toronto's first 10 games. When he is not scoring, his detractors suggest he doesn't bring enough else to the table. Van Riemsdyk doesn't agree. The Leafs took a 2-0 lead early in the second period on Ryan O'Byrne's first goal with his new club, but Nash would not let the Rangers fold. He scored his 16th of the season at 14:55 of the second period, blowing past Toronto defenseman Cody Franson. Then, with the Maple Leafs leading 3-1 in the third, Nash zipped past defender Mark Fraser en route to his 17th. Stepan tied it 3-3 nine minutes into the third, but the Leafs roared back with the game-winner 39 seconds later on Kessel's 12th of the season. Once again, Toronto's penalty killers played a huge role. They shut down New York's power play on two attempts and have not allowed a power-play goal in four straight games.

Calgary v Colorado 3-1 - The Calgary Flames haven't had much reason to smile this season while posting the second-worst record in the NHL. The same can be said for the Colorado Avalanche, who have the League's worst record. The Flames were able to celebrate a rare win Monday at the Pepsi Center, where they defeated the Avalanche 3-1 to snap a 13-game road losing streak. Former Avalanche left wing Alex Tanguay sealed the victory by scoring a shorthanded goal with 3:19 remaining in the third period. Tanguay took a pass from Lee Stempniak after a faceoff, skated in alone on goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere and cut to the left before scoring inside the near post. The Flames previously won on the road Feb. 1, a 4-3 victory at Dallas. They had lost five games in a row overall and six of their previous seven games, the only win in that stretch a 4-3 home decision against the Avalanche on March 27. The Flames own a 14-20-4 record for 32 points and have 10 games remaining. It's been an equally difficult season for the Avalanche, and Giguere was critical of the team's attitude after it ran its losing streak to five games (0-4-1). The Avalanche has lost eight of their past 10 games (1-8-1), 13 of their past 15 (2-12-1) and have fallen to 12-22-5 for the season. The Flames got goals from Roman Cervenka and Mike Cammalleri 6:17 apart in the second period to grab a 2-1 lead before leaning on goalie Joey MacDonald, who finished with a season-best 39 saves. Cervenka scored through a screen at 10:36 after skating to the top of the slot to tie the game 1-1. The goal came 10 seconds after the Flames failed to convert on a power play. They went 0-for-6 with the man advantage, including a 5-on-3 in the first period that lasted 1:36. Cammalleri put the Flames ahead at 16:53 off a pass from Roman Horak, who picked up his second assist of the game. Horak was along the end boards when he slid the puck by Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson as Cammalleri skated unimpeded to the net. Rookie Brad Malone opened the scoring for the Avalanche at 1:45 of the second period for his first NHL goal in 15 career games. Defenseman Tyson Barrie fired a shot from the point and Malone deflected it by MacDonald. It was just the 12th time in 39 games this season that the Avalanche scored first, not that it mattered in the end.

Phoenix v Vancouver 0-2 - Ryan Kesler said Monday morning that he wasn't coming back from injury to be a savior or a hero for the Vancouver Canucks. He'll have to settle for the game-winning goal. Playing his eighth game of the season after missing 19 with a broken foot, Kesler scored 7:26 into the first period and Cory Schneider made 19 saves to lead the Canucks to a 2-0 win against the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday at Rogers Arena. Schneider has been the biggest piece of late, but he was just as quick to pass on the hero label, sharing the credit with his team after one of the easiest of his eight career shutouts. Five have come this season, tying him with Coyotes goalie Mike Smith and Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators, including four while starting the last 11 straight. If this truly was a team win, no one was questioning the Canucks are a better one with Kesler, who missed the start of the season recovering from shoulder and wrist surgeries, only to break a bone blocking a shot in his return. The Selke Trophy winning (2011) center banged in a rebound after Mason Raymond hit the post from a sharp angle at the tail end of a failed 3-on-1 rush. The Canucks are better than that when Kesler scores. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, Vancouver is 43-4-5 when he scores a goal. They only managed two against the Coyotes, and the second one, credited to defenseman Dan Hamhuis, was actually scored by Phoenix center Antoine Vermette when he tried to feed back to the point on a late power play and instead sent it the length of the ice and into the empty net vacated by Smith for an extra attacker. Kesler's impact was more evident in the shot total than the score: 42-19 for the Canucks. It was almost as good at the other end. Schneider wasn't busy, but made his three best saves on Martin Hanzal from close range to win for the ninth time in 11 straight starts, moving the Canucks four points ahead of the idle Minnesota Wild atop the Northwest Division. If not for Smith at the other end it could have been a romp. He kept the Coyotes in it with 40 saves, but it wasn't enough to extend a three-game win streak that had put Phoenix back into the Western Conference playoff race. The Coyotes remain three points behind the eighth-place Detroit Red Wings, but fell to 4-9-5 on the road this season, and are away for six of their remaining nine games. The Coyotes' best push back came after Smith was run over twice. Playing his second game back after missing six with whiplash symptoms after getting hit by Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler back on March 21, Smith gave the Coyotes a chance and was in the middle of everything, including great saves off Daniel Sedin and Jannik Hansen in tight, a pair of disallowed power-play goals late in the second period, and the scrums that followed. Alexandre Burrows was the first to push a puck, and Smith, into the net with 58 seconds left in the second, and Smith responded by giving the Canucks' forward a face wash with his blocker before the goal was waved off after a short review. The puck ended up behind Smith again with 1.4 second left in the period, but this time it was waved off because of a distinct kicking motion by Canucks' captain Henrik Sedin. Replays showed Sedin didn't kick the puck, but did get the top of Smith's pad with his kick, and the puck, which had fallen behind it as Smith tried to corral a high point shot, was knocked. It was called off after another review, and another big scrum in Smith's crease after he was again knocked down.

Edmonton v Anaheim 1-2 - For most of the game, the only sounds louder than the boos for Justin Schultz were pucks bouncing off Devan Dubnyk. The Anaheim Ducks peppered the Edmonton Oilers’ goalie for a good 30 minutes, yet could not build on a one-goal lead. Then, 36-year-old Radek Dvorak restored order with his second goal to lead the Ducks to a 2-1 win Monday at Honda Center. Dvorak topped a terrific night when he chipped in a rebound, end over end, at 7:48. He also scored an easy goal in the first as the Ducks moved to three points behind the Chicago Blackhawks for the top seed in the Western Conference in their third game without captain Ryan Getzlaf, who is day-to-day with a leg injury. That could be said in general about Dvorak, a surprise waiver-wire pickup on March 26. He has three goals in his past three games, put six shots on goal and, at one point, outraced 19-year-old Ryan Nugent-Hopkins down the ice on an icing play. Boudreau expects Getzlaf to play Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche. Edmonton’s outlook isn’t so sunny. It finished 1-3 on its road trip and continued to lose a grip on its Stanley Cup Playoffs aspirations as it sits four points out of eighth place in the Western Conference with nine games remaining, although it plays a majority of those at home. The Oilers have been outscored 10-2 in their past three games after it scored 25 goals in its previous six contests. Schultz, who was selected by the Ducks in the second round (No. 43) at the 2008 NHL Draft, played his first game in Anaheim since he declined to sign with the Ducks last spring before signing a free-agent deal with the Oilers this past summer. He was booed every time he touched the puck and fans held signs that read “Judas Schultz” and “We’re Better Off Without You.” Schultz had a golden chance to tie it with fewer than two minutes remaining, when he was stopped in the slot by Jonas Hiller. Fans mistakenly booed Nick Schultz, too, and it was Nick Schultz who ironically gave them good reason to boo when his innocent shot from nearly the left wall floated over Hiller’s right shoulder to force a 1-1 tie 1:12 into the third. Dvorak provided the first score with a backhand into an open net at 17:21 of the first. Ben Lovejoy’s shot hit traffic and the loose puck found Dvorak, who recorded his 20th multi-goal game and first since Oct.14, 2010. Anaheim outshot Edmonton, 26-3, from late in the first period through the second period, but got nothing out of it. It outshot Edmonton 20-0 at one point and got three power plays in the second period alone. Dubnyk held ground, particularly during Ladislav Smid’s roughing penalty, with stops on Corey Perry, Luca Sbisa and Teemu Selanne on quality chances. Boudreau had said he addressed a letdown with his team because the Ducks were coming off an intense win against the rival Los Angeles Kings. But the Ducks didn’t look engaged at the start. Edmonton outshot them, 11-2, through the first 13 minutes before Anaheim woke up and outshot the Oilers, 13-0, the rest of the period. Ducks defenseman Sheldon Souray sat out with soreness from Sunday. Oilers forward Ales Hemsky missed the game because of a foot injury and was replaced by Ryan Jones.