Gameday 83 (Thu, 11 Apr) - Results

NY Islanders v Boston 2-1 - The New York Islanders' late-season push toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs has included several impressive wins against top-quality opponents. You can add their latest victory to that list. The second of Josh Bailey's two goals broke a second-period tie, and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 30 shots as the Islanders defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 Thursday night, handing the Bruins their third regulation home loss at TD Garden this season. Tuukka Rask stopped 34 shots for the Bruins, who were playing the second half of a back-to-back and their third game in four nights. After a fast start and a 16-9 shots edge in the first period, Boston's game fizzled and it managed 13 shots the rest of the night. The Bruins lost in regulation at home for the first time since March 3. Boston had been 8-0-1 in its past nine home games. The Islanders are 8-1-1 in their past 10 overall and remained in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the New York Rangers, who come to the Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night. Bailey, who has at least one point in five of his past six games, nearly had a hat trick. Rask's blocker save with 5:37 remaining in the third period stopped Bailey's wide-open shot at the end of a 2-on-1. The Bruins tied the game 1-1 at 3:41 of the second period on Tyler Seguin's power-play goal. The wing roofed a shot from the left side of the slot after a cross-ice feed from Gregory Campbell. Rask faced 19 shots to the Bruins' eight on Nabokov in the second period, and the Boston netminder made several excellent saves. However, Bailey beat Rask for his second goal of the game at 13:12 after a steal from Adam McQuaid in the neutral zone. Bailey's wrist shot from the left dot trickled under Rask's arm and over the goal line to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead. The Bruins, playing without center Patrice Bergeron and wing Brad Marchand because of concussion issues, continued to juggle lines, a task Julien has been forced to do several times in the past month because of injuries and ineffectiveness. Boston came out strong and nearly scored on its best chance of the first half of the first period. Seguin danced round Keith Aucoin at the New York blue line, circled the net and set up Chris Kelly in front. Nabokov made the initial stop then denied Jordan Caron's attempt to jam the puck with 9:36 elapsed. New York failed on the lone power play of the period but scored a late goal at even strength. Mark Streit led the rush and fed the puck back to Bailey at the blue line. The Islanders forward slapped a rocket through a Casey Cizikas screen and into the top corner with 21 seconds remaining for a 1-0 lead. By outplaying the Bruins on Boston's home ice, the Islanders showed they can win in one of the League's most hostile environments and that they were able to not look ahead to Saturday's showdown with the Rangers.

Ottawa v Philadelphia 3-1 - Third periods haven't been kind recently to the Ottawa Senators. They played a solid one Thursday and were rewarded with a victory. Colin Greening's power-play goal with 5:26 left in regulation snapped a 1-1 tie and helped the Senators snap their five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Zack Smith and Daniel Alfredsson also scored for the Senators, and Robin Lehner stopped 24 shots. Claude Giroux scored the Flyers' lone goal, and goalie Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 31 shots. During their skid the Senators had been outscored 8-3 in the final 20 minutes, and in four of the five games they either entered the third tied or ahead before losing each time. The goal came 41 seconds after Giroux was assessed a double-minor for high sticking the Senators' Mika Zibanejad. The Senators had been 3-for-27 in their previous 10 games with the man advantage. Greening created the winning goal when he changed the Senators' breakout pattern. Rather than start with all five players regrouping and flowing out of the defensive zone together, Greening stayed near the Philadelphia blue line. It worked exactly as planned when Patrick Wiercioch split Philadelphia's Matt Read and Kimmo Timonen with a pass out of his zone to Greening, who had a clear path to the net and snapped a shot from the right circle that beat Bryzgalov over the glove. It was a break the Senators have been hoping for. They weren't in danger of slipping out of a playoff spot, but the win enabled them to stay in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the New York Islanders by a tiebreaker. That's the same situation facing the Flyers, who lost their third straight game. And while the same seven-point deficit they were faced entering the game remains, they only have eight games to make it up if they want to extend their season into May. Gagne set up the Flyers' lone goal, a shorthanded score by Claude Giroux. Off a faceoff in the Philadelphia end, Gagne tipped a loose puck past the Senators' Andre Benoit and broke out through the neutral zone. He tried centering the puck to Giroux, but Chris Phillips blocked the pass. The puck came back to Gagne in the high slot, and he spun and threw a shot on net. Giroux, camped in the crease, tipped it past Lehner at 11:44. It was the first shorthanded goal allowed by the Senators this season. But for the third straight game, the Flyers could only manage a single goal, and their power play went 0-for-2, extending its slump to 0-for-13 in five games. The Senators figured things out early, taking a 1-0 lead on Smith's fourth goal of the season. Taking advantage of a poor Flyers line change, Marc Methot found Smith alone at the Philadelphia blue line, and he had a clear path to the net. Smith pulled the puck from his forehand to his backhand and back to his forehand to beat Bryzgalov 3:20 into the game. Now the Senators can make the short trip to New Jersey for a game Friday at the Devils feeling better about themselves.

Carolina v Washington 1-3 - One month ago, the Carolina Hurricanes left Verizon Center in command of the Southeast Division after blowing out the Washington Capitals, who appeared to be on the way to missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Hurricanes left the same building Thursday night with their playoff hopes in tatters while the Capitals moved closer to a division title. Troy Brouwer scored twice and Braden Holtby made 43 saves as the Capitals won their sixth in a row by beating the Hurricanes 3-1, handing Carolina its seventh consecutive loss. The victory kept the Capitals (22-17-2) two points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets in the race for the division. The Jets kept pace by routing the Florida Panthers 7-2 in Winnipeg. Brouwer and Mike Green scored 2:38 apart midway through the second period to overcome Jeff Skinner's first-period goal for Carolina. Holtby made the lead stand up, and Brouwer hit the empty net in the final seconds. Carolina, which led the division a month ago, fell to 1-13-1 in its past 15 games, a stretch that began with a loss to the Capitals in the rematch March 14, and has fallen to 14th in the Eastern Conference. The Hurricanes came out flying, taking the first 14 shots and opening the scoring at 5:01 of the first period when Skinner banged home the rebound of Eric Staal's shot from the right circle for a power-play goal. But with Jordan Staal off for slashing, Brouwer tied the game at 8:08 of the second period when he set up in the slot and one-timed Mike Ribeiro's pass behind Justin Peters. Green put the Capitals ahead at 10:46 with an excellent individual effort, moving into the right circle before picking the far corner just under the crossbar for his ninth of the season.

Montreal v Buffalo 5-1 - The Montreal Canadiens finished the 2011-12 season with the worst record in the Eastern Conference and found themselves picking third in the 2012 NHL Draft. Less than a year later, Alex Galchenyuk, Montreal's first-round selection, helped them clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Galchenyuk, Rene Bourque, Brendan Gallagher, Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban each had a goal Thursday when the Canadiens defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-1 at First Niagara Center to secure a spot in the playoffs. Montreal goalie Peter Budaj improved to 7-1-1, making 14 saves. The victory by the Canadiens (26-9-5), combined with the Boston Bruins' loss to the New York Islanders, moved Montreal back into first place in the Northeast Division. The Canadiens have 57 points to the Bruins' 56. Montreal missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2006-07, and getting back has been one of coach Michel Therrien's goals since he took over prior to this season. Ten players for Montreal ended up on the scoresheet. Max Pacioretty and Michael Ryder recorded two assists each. Subban and Markov also had multipoint games with a goal and an assist apiece. Thursday marked the final meeting of the season between the clubs. Buffalo was 3-1-0 against Montreal this season. When the teams met March 23 in Montreal, goaltender Ryan Miller kept the Sabres in the game; they were outshot 39-18 but won 2-1. Montreal poured it on against Buffalo again Thursday. The Canadiens outshot the Sabres 15-7 in the first period and held a 2-0 lead on goals by Bourque and Galchenyuk. Seven minutes into the second period, the Canadiens were outshooting Buffalo 11-1 and held a 32-11 edge by the time the horn sounded. Gallagher and Markov scored in the second to give Montreal a four-goal lead. Miller stopped 28 shots through two periods before being relieved by Jhonas Enroth to start of the third. Enroth made nine saves on 10 shots. Montreal finished the game outshooting the Sabres 42-15; the Canadiens had 14 shots blocked and 13 that missed the net. The Sabres sit at 38 points, six points out of a playoff spot with seven games remaining. Five of those last seven games are on home ice, but Buffalo is 8-8-3 at First Niagara Center this season. Brian Flynn scored shorthanded for the Sabres 6:45 into the third period to spoil Budaj's shutout. Canadiens forward Jeff Halpern reached a milestone, playing in his 900th NHL game. Budaj got the start after the team announced Wednesday he had signed a two-year contract extension. He was rewarded again with a win. The Montreal defense did its part, blocking 13 shots. Bourque opened the scoring 6:43 into the game. Sabres forward Thomas Vanek lost the puck in his skates at the Canadiens blue line and Bourque started back on a 2-on-1 with Tomas Plekanec. Bourque sent the puck to Plekanec on the right wing, where he fed a backhand pass back into the slot to Brian Gionta, coming late. Gionta's shot deflected off Bourque's heel as he crossed in front of the net and went past Miller. Sabres wing Patrick Kaleta and Canadiens forward Brandon Prust dropped the gloves right after the faceoff at center ice. Montreal struck again at 10:27 after some hard work behind the net. Ryder beat defenseman Mike Weber and curled his way around in front to Miller's left. Ryder sent a pass across the crease that Galchenyuk buried on his second attempt after his first went off the side of the net and came right back to him. Galchenyuk, who turned 19 in February, has six goals in his first professional season. Gallagher, a fellow rookie who was drafted in 2010 (No. 147) by Montreal, put the Canadiens ahead 3-0 at 4:36 of the second period. A slap shot by David Desharnais was turned aside by Miller, but the rebound went to Gallagher, who was standing unchecked to Miller's right. Gallagher pulled the puck back into the slot and reached past the outstretched goalie to put it in around his left pad for his 12th of the season. Montreal made it 4-0 at 17:54 during a 5-on-3 power play. Flynn attempted to block Andrei Markov's slap shot from the point, but the puck deflected off his stick, floated up and skipped into the net behind Miller. Subban scored a power-play goal with 2:41 remaining in regulation to make it 5-1. His shot from the point was deflected before finding its way past Enroth. The goal was Subban's 11th of the season, the most by any NHL defenseman.

Pittsburgh v Tampa Bay 6-3 - Jussi Jokinen has fit right in with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jokinen, acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes at the NHL Trade Deadline last week, scored twice and added an assist Thursday night as the Penguins overwhelmed the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3. Jokinen opened the scoring with his eighth goal of the season and second as a Penguin at 4:07 of the opening period when he charged the net and finished off a cross-ice pass from Brenden Morrow. He added a third-period goal and has points in all three games he's played since being acquired from Carolina, giving the Penguins an offensive boost while Sidney Crosby is sidelined with a broken jaw. The Penguins led 3-2 as the third period began, but Evgeni Malkin's unassisted tally triggered a three-goal third period as the Penguins won their third in a row and 18th in 20 games. Malkin gave the Penguins a 4-2 lead when he picked off a pass by Lightning forward Alex Killorn and beat goaltender Ben Bishop under the glove at 1:24 of the final period. Jokinen scored his second of the night at 4:45 and Glass backhanded home a power-play goal at 16:40 for his first point in 40 games with the Penguins. Pittsburgh converted on three of six extra-man opportunities, including a goal by Chris Kunitz to open the second period. Tampa Bay went 3-for-4 with the extra man; Teddy Purcell scored twice, one in the final seconds, and Brett Connolly also connected for the Lightning. But the closest that Tampa Bay could get was to close the gap to one goal twice, at 2-1 and 3-2. Tampa Bay was whistled for 37 minutes of penalties, tying a season-high set against Ottawa on Jan. 25. Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang returned after missing six games; he played 23:32 and assisted on Kunitz's goal. The Penguins (31-10-0) lead the Eastern Conference with 62 points, five more than Montreal, and have won three in a row. Tampa Bay (17-21-2) remained eight points behind the eighth-place New York Rangers with eight games remaining. Tomas Vokoun faced only 19 shots, and Cooper thought his team made it much too easy on the veteran goaltender.

San Jose v Detroit 3-2 - The San Jose Sharks were able to win a crucial road game because the Detroit Red Wings can't seem to win at home. Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture scored in regulation and again in the shootout to give the Sharks a 3-2 win against the Red Wings on Thursday at Joe Louis Arena. Marleau's goal in the third round followed a successful shootout attempt by Couture against Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard. San Jose goalie Antti Niemi allowed a goal by Pavel Datsyuk in the first round of the tiebreaker but stopped Damien Brunner and Gustav Nyquist, making his first NHL attempt in the tiebreaker. The Sharks, 8-1-1 in their past 10, have 49 points; they remained one point behind the Los Angeles Kings for fourth place in the Western Conference. The Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout Thursday night. San Jose is 7-11-2 on the road this season but was motivated by its poor showing in the loss to the Blue Jackets. The Red Wings have 44 points, good for eighth place in the Western Conference as they attempt to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a 22nd consecutive season. They are two points ahead of Phoenix and three in front of Dallas and Columbus. Detroit has lost five of its past six at home (1-3-2) and plays Friday night on the road against the League-leading Chicago Blackhawks. The teams traded power-play goals 1:31 apart in the third period. Detroit's Jakub Kindl got the first, giving the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. Henrik Zetterberg grabbed a loose puck near the left faceoff dot and fed the charging wide-open defenseman for a shot inside the far post at 2:29. It was Zetterberg's 400th career assist. Couture tied it 2-2 at 4:00, backhanding the rebound of a Joe Thornton shot over Howard into the net. The Sharks started the scoring 2:35 into the game with a shorthanded goal. Joe Pavelski stole the puck in the left circle in the Sharks' zone. He and Marleau criss-crossed at center ice to create a 2-on-1. With Zetterberg chasing Marleau, Pavelski hit his teammate with a pass, and Marleau beat Howard to the short side. After sustained pressure midway through the second period, the Red Wings, shut out by the St. Louis Blues 1-0 at home on Sunday, broke through with a goal at 9:51. Defenseman Brendan Smith shot wide of the net and Johan Franzen gathered the puck along the right-wing boards. He outdueled Sharks defenseman Justin Braun and skated behind the net, from where he fed Justin Abdelkader at the near post. Abdelkader slid a shot along the ice through Niemi's five-hole.

Florida v Winnipeg 2-7 - Back-to-back victories by the Winnipeg Jets had begun to undo some of the damage five consecutive losses had done to their Stanley Cup Playoff chances. But the Jets still owned minimal margin for error when they reached the halfway point of their six-game homestand Thursday. Tearing apart the Florida Panthers 7-2 at MTS Centre will help Winnipeg keep pace in the Eastern Conference race going into a four-day break. The ninth-place Jets (21-19-2) began the evening two points behind the Southeast Division-leading Washington Capitals, who held a game in hand. A trio of teams, the Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders and New York Rangers, owned a two-point lead on the Jets as well. The Senators, Capitals and Islanders each won Thursday to maintain that lead on the Jets. The idle Rangers and Jets are tied at 44 points, but the Rangers own two games in hand, leaving the Jets in ninth place. Winnipeg’s three-game winning streak ties a season high, but the Jets will not play again until the Tampa Bay Lightning visit on Tuesday. Evander Kane scored pair of goals, his 15th and 16th, to tie Andrew Ladd for the team lead. Winnipeg used three second-period goals to turn the game into a rout. The Jets have scored 10 second-period goals in their past three games, and their 47 goals in the middle period lead the League. Along with the production from Kane and Ladd, it was secondary scoring, a major issue for much of the season, that helped to carry Winnipeg to a season-high seven goals. The Jets received goals from recent American Hockey League recall Aaron Gagnon and defenseman Grant Clitsome, who both scored their second goal in as many games. Florida (13-21-6) had won four of its previous five games, but the Panthers had no answer for Winnipeg. With a visit from the Eastern Conference-leading Pittsburgh Penguins looming Saturday, Panthers coach Kevin Dineen vowed not to brush aside the loss. Florida goaltender Jacob Markstrom and Winnipeg counterpart Ondrej Pavelec faced an early offensive outburst that had the clubs tied 2-2 by the 6:31 mark thanks to four goals in a 2:37 span. Gagnon and Kane provided the Jets with two in the opening 5:04 that sandwiched a tally from Florida defenseman TJ Brennan. After Kane made it 2-1, Fleischmann erased the lead 1:27 later to extend his point streak to seven games. Noel called his timeout and settled down his club. Ladd then put the Jets ahead to stay with 7:18 left in the first period, converting Bryan Little's centering feed. Winnipeg fired 17 first-period shots at Markstrom. The Jets blew the game open with a pair of goals 28 seconds apart halfway through the second period. Little and Clitsome teamed to make it 4-2 on Winnipeg's second power play. Clitsome's goal at 10:05, his second in as many games, ended Winnipeg's 0-for-21 drought on the power play. Dustin Byfuglien followed with a long blast from the right point that beat Markstrom over the left shoulder to make it 5-2. It became 6-2 on the Jets' third goal in 1:57 when Kane ended Markstrom's night, outracing Florida's Erik Gudbranson to a puck off the left boards and sweeping it past the goaltender. Markstrom stopped 17 of 23 shots before he gave way to Scott Clemmensen, who made 11 saves in relief. Pavelec, who made his 38th appearance of the season, second only to Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators, finished with 25 saves. Gagnon opened the scoring at 3:54, tipping a long shot from Blake Wheeler. Brennan's right-side shot fooled Pavelec 52 seconds later. Kane trickled a shot past Markstrom 18 seconds after Brennan's goal, and Fleischmann tied the game at 2-2 with a left-side shot into a nearly empty net amid a scramble of players near Pavelec. Nine seconds into a minor penalty to George Parros, Little's right-circle pass into the slot reached Clitsome, who pounded a low shot under Markstrom at 10:05. Chris Thorburn added a goal with eight minutes left in the third period, his first in 33 games. The Jets head into their first extended rest period of the season. Winnipeg wraps up its homestand next week before facing a potentially crucial meeting with the Capitals in their second-to-last game of the season.

St Louis v Minnesota 2-0 - When Andy McDonald scored with 10:30 remaining in regulation, it seemed the only question remaining was whether St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott would post his third straight shutout. He did., stopping 23 shots that stretched his shutout streak to 189:31 as the Blues defeated the Minnesota Wild 2-0 on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. Just 10 days ago, the Blues and Wild met in this building. The teams were heading in different directions, Minnesota had won seven of eight and was comfortably above water in the Western Conference playoff race. St. Louis was desperate; out of the playoffs and badly in need of a win. Perhaps in a bit of irony, both teams suffered injuries in that game that have seemingly changed the direction of their seasons. The Blues lost goaltender Jaroslav Halak to a groin injury and were forced to play Elliott, who hadn't seen game action in two months. The Wild lost Matt Cullen, the straw that stirred Minnesota's secondary scoring mix. Since that time, Elliott has become the hottest goalie in the NHL and Minnesota's offense has gone into the deep freeze. The Wild have been shut out in back-to-back games and in three of four since acquiring forward Jason Pominville at the trade deadline. Since that game against the Blues on April 1, Minnesota is 1-5-0; St. Louis is 6-0-0. Roman Polak's first goal of the season 10:37 into the first period was all the offense Elliott needed. McDonald's goal kept the Blues from being the first team in NHL history to win three consecutive 1-0 games on the road. What should be a rare feat, shutting out teams in three straight games, actually isn't for the Blues: They did it just 13 months ago. The Wild, almost a shoe-in to make the playoffs at the start of the month, now finds themselves just four points up on the surging ninth-place Phoenix Coyotes ( winners of four of five) and five up on the 10th-place Dallas Stars (winners of three straight) and Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blues visit Columbus on Friday before the Wild host the Blue Jackets on Saturday night. The Wild nearly did just that, getting their best scoring chance just one minute into the game when Pominville led a 3-on-1 break into the Blues zone. But his heavy snap shot rang off the right post. Perhaps of more immediate concern is the status of defenseman Ryan Suter, who was injured late in the first period. He was late to the bench to start the second, played a few shifts then missed the entire third period. Yeo refused to discuss the issue but said he doesn't believe the injury is serious, he did indicate, however, is that changes are likely coming to the lineup. The Wild have allowed just three goals in their past three games but are only 1-2-0 in that span.

Colorado v Los Angeles 2-3 - The cure for the Los Angeles Kings' two-game slide was practically presented to them on a silver platter in the form of baby-faced rookie goaltender Sami Aittokallio, who was thrust into goal against the defending Stanley Cup Champions in his first NHL game. The first few minutes were predictable: two goals allowed on the first six shots. But Aittokallio held his ground with 23 saves before leaving midway through the third period with cramps in both legs. It wasn't until Anze Kopitar slipped a backhand past Jean-Sebastien Giguere in the third round of a shootout that Kings finally beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Thursday night. The hard-earned two points allowed L.A. to jump ahead of the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues for fourth in the Western Conference with 50 points. They were happy to get the two points, though not with the way they did it. That's been an issue the past three games for L.A, which next hosts the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. Anaheim beat the Kings 4-3 in a shootout last Sunday. Aittokallio, 20, was the second-youngest goalie to start for Colorado, behind only 19-year-old Marc Denis in 1996. He was recalled this week because Semyon Varlamov was injured and coach Joe Sacco decided to give him a look. But Aittokallio went prone after a leg appeared to buckle under him while the Kings were attacking shorthanded. The Avalanche, playing the second half of a back-to-back after winning 4-1 at Anaheim on Wednesday, also lost defenseman Erik Johnson to a wrist injury, so all things considered, it was an impressive effort for a Colorado team headed for an early summer. Giguere replaced Aittokallio and made 12 saves in 15:36 of regulation and overtime, but was beaten by Kopitar, a signature Carter backhand and Dustin Brown's wrist shot in the shootout. Colorado got even at 5:15 of the third period when Stefan Elliott's point shot was deflected through traffic and into the net with Jonathan Quick sliding to his left. Patrick Bordeleau was credited with his first NHL goal. The Avalanche carried their momentum from the second period and outshot the Kings 9-0 to start the third. They gained a power play on Drew Doughty's high sticking penalty but couldn't convert as Aittokallio went down during an awkward move in the net with the Kings attacking shorthanded. After the quick start, Los Angeles had a big letdown second period and didn't put a shot on goal until Kopitar's easy wrister with 7:05 remaining. L.A. was outshot 11-6 in the middle period and saw half of its lead vanish after Colorado's hard work finally paid off. David Jones freed the puck from Carter behind the net and Stastny quickly stuffed it past Quick at 16:19. Stastny scored his first goal since he came back from a foot injury Tuesday Aittokallio's early nerves didn't get any help from his teammates, who took two penalties in the first five minutes, including a high-sticking penalty by Jones three seconds after the puck drop. Carter ripped a wrist shot high from the left circle that banked in off the post at 5:27 with Brad Malone serving a holding penalty. Carter's 24th goal tied him with John Tavares of the New York Islanders for third in the NHL. At 7:14, Mike Richards grabbed Jake Muzzin's fanned shot and wristed it past Aittokallio from the high slot for a 2-0 lead. Milan Hejduk missed a seventh straight game with a shoulder injury.