Gameday 93 (Sun, 21 Apr) - Results

New Jersey v NY Rangers 1-4 - Last May, a promising season ended abruptly for the New York Rangers when Adam Henrique scored 1:03 into overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final. The heartbreaking loss eliminated a team that finished the regular season atop the conference standings with 109 points. The Rangers earned a small measure of revenge 11 months later, beating the Devils 4-1 Sunday at Madison Square Garden to dash New Jersey's playoff hopes and assure that their rivals across the Hudson River will not defend their Eastern Conference crown in 2013. With the loss, the Devils are mathematically eliminated from a Stanley Cup Playoff spot. It's the first time in six years that one of the Stanley Cup finalists failed to make the playoffs the following season; both the Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers missed the postseason in 2007 after playing for the Stanley Cup the year before. Facing a desperate Devils team playing the second half of a back-to-back, the Rangers came out aggressively. Dictating the tone early, the impressive effort started and ended with team captain Ryan Callahan. Callahan scored twice and linemate Derek Stepan added a goal and an assist and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 26 shots to lead New York. Taylor Pyatt also scored for the Rangers while Andrei Loktionov scored the Devils' lone goal and Martin Brodeur made 18 saves. It certainly paid off early for the eighth-place Rangers, who now have 52 points, tying them with the seventh-place Ottawa Senators, who have a game in hand. Fuelled by the forecheck of linemates Stepan and Carl Hagelin, Callahan opened the scoring off a Devils turnover just 34 seconds into the game. After batting the puck away from Marek Zidlicky behind the Devils' net, Hagelin was able to feed the Rangers captain, who tucked the puck into the net off Brodeur as the latter appeared to momentarily lose sight of the puck and could not recover in time. Not content with their early 1-0 lead, the Rangers' top line came out just as aggressively on their next shift, with Callahan laying big hits on Peter Harrold and Anton Volchenkov, who made his return to the lineup following a four-game suspension. Pitted in a crucial division matchup, both teams increased the physical nature of their game, which quickly resulted in Ryan Carter and Darroll Powe being whistled for roughing barely three minutes after Callahan's goal, with Carter receiving an extra roughing minor. That nastiness continued throughout the period when Hagelin was called for roughing at 7:36, a penalty that was negated when Matt D'Agostini was whistled for holding Dan Girardi's stick shortly after the Rangers defenseman knocked him down with a punishing hit. Just one minute after D'Agostini finished serving his two minutes, Stepan doubled New York’s lead when he tipped a point shot from Ryan McDonagh past Brodeur with eight minutes remaining in the opening period. In a sign of thing to come, the Devils' frustrations appeared to boil over, as New Jersey's bench was assessed a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct with 5:18 remaining and Carter already off for tripping. The Devils killed off both penalties and held the Rangers to just two shots on four first-period power plays that spanned almost seven minutes. The contest tightened up in the second as both teams began trading quality scoring chances. But the Rangers effectively took over the game on an opportunistic play that typified the tone Callahan set early. With 8:04 remaining in the second, Brad Richards pounced on Volchenkov's clearing attempt and fed the puck to Pyatt, who beat Brodeur high to the glove side to give the Rangers a commanding 3-0 lead. Richards' assist on the goal was another big play from the center, who came into the game with five points in his previous two games after notching his first career hat trick Friday in Buffalo. The Devils got an opportunity to mount a comeback when Callahan was whistled for tripping Henrik Tallinder 2:53 into the third. But New Jersey's 22nd-ranked power play failed to mount much of an attack before Patrik Elias earned the team's second unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty of the afternoon. Callahan crushed New Jersey's playoff hopes when he scored his second goal of the game shortly after serving his penalty. Like his first of the game, the goal came from in close, as Brodeur dove to poke the puck away from him, but Callahan managed to flip the puck over the prone goaltender and into the net. Loktionov replied on a delayed-penalty call with 6:30 remaining, but the game was well in hand by then. Shortly after eliminating their division rival from playoff contention, the Rangers weren't talking about earning their revenge against the Devils. They were instead focused on their remaining three games, the last of which will be played against New Jersey at MSG on April 27.

Florida v Boston 0-3 - By getting the start in net on back-to-back days for the first time all season Sunday, Tuukka Rask was given an opportunity to make amends for what he felt was a loss he was responsible for Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Rask bounced back with a 28-save shutout that made sure the output from Boston Bruins' struggling offense was just enough to snap a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) in a 3-0 victory against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden. The victory enabled the Bruins to pass the idle Montreal Canadiens for the top spot in the Northeast Division and second place in the Eastern Conference. The teams are tied with 59 points, but the Bruins have played one fewer game. Jaromir Jagr's goal 3:03 into the game was the only offense the Bruins needed in front of Rask, who picked up his fourth shutout of the season. Dougie Hamilton and Brad Marchand scored the Bruins' other goals. The goal was the 118th game-winning goal of Jagr's career, tying him with Bruins legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Phil Esposito for most in League history. Although he wanted to get Rask and backup Anton Khudobin playing time in the final week of the regular season, Bruins coach Claude Julien thought it was important to go back to Rask against the Panthers. The Panthers will return to Florida after going 0-4-0 on their road trip, during which they were outscored 20-5. They've lost six in a row overall. For the fourth straight game the Bruins scored first, as Jagr found the back of the net early in the first period. Chris Kelly had hacked at the puck and Jagr stole it from Shawn Matthias before skating to the high slot and beating Jacob Markstrom with a wrist shot high to the glove side for a 1-0 lead. That goal was Jagr's second with the Bruins and 681st of his career, moving him nine goals away from tying Mario Lemieux for ninth place on the League's all-time list. The Panthers outshot the Bruins 10-7 in the first period. Of his seven saves, Rask's biggest was a left-pad stop on Drew Shore when the Florida forward tried to stuff in a rebound from the top of the blue paint with a little less than six minutes to play in the period. Both teams ramped up their offense in the second period, with the Bruins doing more to test Markstrom than the Panthers did Rask, as Boston outshot the Panthers 21-10. Markstrom was able to keep the Panthers within one until a Florida turnover put the puck on Hamilton's stick at the right point. The rookie defenseman slammed a shot just inside the left post for his first goal in nine games. Marchand closed the scoring with an empty-net goal, his team-best 18th of the season, with 1:22 left in regulation. After the game, the Bruins presented their game sweaters to first-responders from the Boston Marathon bombings Monday. Typically the "Shirts Off Their Backs" promotion is for season-ticket holders, but those fans elected to have the sweaters given to the heroes of the tragedy. The players stayed on the ice with the first-responders and took in a rousing ovation from the fans in the stands.

Carolina v Tampa Bay 3-2 - The Carolina Hurricanes got two goals from Jiri Tlusty and three points from Alexander Semin as they parlayed three first-period goals into a 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. Anders Lindback allowed three goals on 15 shots in the first 20 minutes, but in truth, he got very little support from his teammates. It only took 16 seconds and one turnover for Carolina to jump into an early lead. Eric Staal took the puck away from Steven Stamkos behind the Lightning’s goal line and Staal found Semin in the left faceoff circle as the latter scored his 12th goal of the season. The goal came on the first shot that Lindback faced in his return after missing 13 games with an ankle injury. The Hurricanes made it 2-0 at 10:45 of the first when Tlusty’s backdoor pass attempt hit Victor Hedman’s skate and slipped through Lindback’s pads. Semin and Joe Corvo got the assists. The Lightning continued to have difficulties clearing the puck from their own end, and another miscue led to Tlusty’s second goal of the game and Carolina’s third of the period. After Lindback got his right pad on a shot from the slot, the rebound bounced off Ryan Malone in front of the net and right to Tlusty. Semin and Eric Staal assisted. The goal was Tlusty’s 21st of the season. Semin collected a point on all three of Carolina’s first-period goals and Eric Staal had two assists. Stamkos cut into the Carolina lead when he blasted a one-timer from his favorite perch, the left faceoff circle, on a power play with Jay Harrison in the penalty box for hooking. The goal was No. 28 for Stamkos and moved him to within two of Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead. Martin St. Louis picked up his 42nd assist of the season and moved into the lead in that department, one ahead of the injured Sidney Crosby. St. Louis added his 13thgoal of the season at 2:16 of the third period, assisted by Vincent Lecavalier. Tampa Bay outshot the Hurricanes 16-4 as they tried to find the tying goal in the final period. The win was the first of the season for Carolina (18-24-3) against Tampa Bay (17-24-4) in five attempts and extended the Lightning’s losing streak to six games, their longest skid of the season. Tim Gleason left the ice late in the third period after being cross-checked by Pierre-Cedric Labrie from the front and B.J. Crombeen from behind.

Calgary v Minnesota 4-1 - For large stretches of Sunday's game against the Calgary Flames, the Minnesota Wild didn't play badly. In fact, the Wild dominated big chunks of both the first and second periods. But the Flames took advantage of chances at the right times and got a fantastic game from goaltender Joey MacDonald in goal in a 4-1 win at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild, once 13-3-1 on home ice, have now lost five straight games in downtown St. Paul. The Flames have won three in a row and four of five overall. MacDonald stopped 34 shots, but he was especially good during big stretches in both the first and second periods. The Wild held a 14-5 edge in shots after one and a 25-12 advantage after two with MacDonald covering for a number of turnovers and sloppy defensive play in front, which afforded the Wild plenty of Grade-A chances through 40 minutes. Minnesota gained a pair of power play chances in the first period but were unable to capitalize, opening the door for Calgary to grab the lead 59 seconds into its first man-advantage 13:37 into the contest. Rookie defenseman Mark Cundari's snipe from the right circle was his first career goal in the NHL, in his first career game, giving the Flames a 1-0 lead. Zach Parise evened things up late in the period, taking a great pass by Charlie Coyle from the slot and waiting out MacDonald in front, beating him for his 17th of the year at 18:44. The goal gave Minnesota a big boost to start the second as the Wild dominated much of the first eight minutes of the middle frame, hitting a pair of posts in the process. But the Flames staved off the attack and grabbed the lead for good when Mikael Backlund slammed home a loose puck in front of Niklas Backstrom after the Wild goaltender had stopped a Stempniak breakaway. The goal, at 8:50 of the second, was Backlund's eighth of the year. Despite dominating much of the game to that point, Minnesota trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes. Was there a level of frustration setting in? Calgary played its best hockey all night in the final period, clearing pucks and giving the Wild few opportunities to knot the game. With 7:20 remaining in regulation and on the power play, Mike Cammalleri gathered in a blocked shot from the point at the right circle and beat a sprawling Backstrom to give the Flames a big two-goal advantage, sending many fans to the exits early. Jiri Hudler dashed the hopes of those remaining with an empty-netter, the Flames’ third power-play goal of the night, with 31 seconds remaining. Calgary, which wraps up the season with four straight road games, is playing some of its best hockey of the year as the roster seems to gets younger by the night. The Flames scratched 11 players Sunday, many of whom are veterans. The loss doesn't help the slumping Wild's Stanley Cup Playoffs hopes as Minnesota clings to one of the final two spots in the Western Conference. With three of its final four games at home and against non-playoff teams, Minnesota has an opportunity to get things going before the postseason begins next week. A loss to Calgary however, just 5-13-2 on the road entering play Sunday, doesn't help the Wild’s chances. Now just 3-7-1 over its past 11 games and with 51 points, Minnesota is just three points ahead of the ninth-place Detroit Red Wings and four up on the 10th-place Dallas Stars with three games to play. The Wild face a critical test Tuesday when the Los Angeles Kings come to St. Paul in the second game of a three-game homestand. Calgary ends the season with three straight against the Central Division, continuing its trip Tuesday in Nashville.

St Louis v Colorado 3-5 - The St. Louis Blues remain very much in the hunt for a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they didn't do themselves any favors Sunday. Needing a win against the 29th-place Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center to clinch a postseason spot, the Blues lost 5-3 for their eighth consecutive defeat in the Mile High City. The Blues have three games remaining, all at home, starting with a rematch against the Avalanche on Tuesday. Hitchcock replaced goalie Brian Elliott, who faced 19 shots, with Jake Allen after Matt Duchene scored at 17:23 of the second period to give the Avalanche a 4-2 lead. Elliott had shutouts in each of his three previous road games and allowed one goal in each of his previous three starts overall. The Avalanche have gone 3-1-2 since goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere criticized his teammates' effort and attitude after a 3-1 home loss to Calgary on April 8; Semyon Varlamov was in net for the only regulation defeat in that stretch, a 4-1 loss to Edmonton on Friday. Along with the Blues, the Avalanche has beaten Anaheim and Vancouver in the six-game span, with a shootout loss to Los Angeles and an overtime loss to Columbus. The Avalanche too often have hung their collective heads in frustration following goals by opponents, but that wasn't the case Sunday. They responded in a positive way every time the Blues closed to within a goal. Chuck Kobasew scored at 11:54 of the third period to give the Avalanche their 5-3 lead a little more than three minutes after Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk put a wrist shot from the right point behind Giguere to pull within 4-3. Jaden Schwartz's goal at 6:49 of the second period cut the Avalanche's lead to 3-2, but Duchene got that one back after spinning around Blues defenseman Jordan Leopold near the bottom of the left circle. McGinn gave the Avalanche a 3-1 lead with a power-play goal at 3:10 of the second period. Ryan O'Reilly poked the puck away from David Perron in the right circle and it slid to McGinn alone in front for a point-blank shot. Cody McLeod continued his late-season scoring spree with his fourth goal in four games and seventh overall with 55 seconds left in the first period to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead. He batted the puck inside the right post after Stefan Elliott took a shot from the right circle. The Avalanche took a 1-0 lead at 11:48 when Aaron Palushaj's shot from the bottom of the left circle caromed into the net off McGinn's left skate. Backes tied the game at 12:42 during a four-on-four skating situation off a long lead pass from Jay Bouwmeester.

Columbus v San Jose 4-3 - Desperation brought out the best again in the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ryan Johansen scored with just 1:37 left to play, lifting the Blue Jackets to a 4-3 victory Sunday against the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion. Mark Letestu scored a career-high, tying two goals and had a career-high three points for the Blue Jackets, who moved three points ahead of the ninth-place Detroit Red Wings in their playoff push in the Western Conference. Columbus has just two games remaining, while Detroit has four and Minnesota (51 points) has three. Joe Pavelski had pulled the Sharks even with a power-play goal at 14:57 of the third, but he turned the puck over deep in San Jose's zone, and Johansen made the Sharks pay, beating goaltender Antti Niemi for the game-winner. The Sharks could have secured their ninth straight trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with one point Sunday, but will have to wait for another chance. They remained in fifth place with 55 points, two behind the Los Angeles Kings and one ahead of the St. Louis Blues. Vinny Prospal also scored for the Blue Jackets, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves. Martin Havlat and Andrew Desjardins also scored for the Sharks, while Niemi stopped 18 of 22 shots. The Blue Jackets beat the Sharks for the third straight time this season, but the first time at HP Pavilion. The Blue Jackets won at HP for just the third time in franchise history, improving to 3-17-2, but they had routed the Sharks 6-2 and 4-0 at Nationwide Arena this season. What's more, they had won five of their previous six games before facing the Sharks on Sunday. Letestu's power-play goal gave the Blue Jackets a 3-1 lead at 12:42 of the second period. His goal snapped the Blue Jackets' 0-for-18 streak over eight games on the power play. They had gone 1-for-25 on the power play over their 13 previous games. With Sharks defenseman Matt Irwin in the penalty box for interference, Letestu took a cross-ice pass from Fedor Tyutin at the left point. He ripped a one-timer through traffic, Columbus forward Marian Gaborik and Sharks defenseman Brad Stuart were battling in front of the net, that got past Niemi. The Blue Jackets took a two-goal lead into the third period, but Desjardins made it 3-2 on his second goal of the season at 6:34. Irwin flipped a outlet pass along the right boards. Desjardin caught up to the puck, got past Johnson near the blue line and kept going. He put on the brakes at the right circle as Blue Jackets defenseman Dalton Prout went by, cut to the middle and put the puck past Bobrovsky. The Sharks outshot Columbus 13-7 in the first period and had the only power play, but they had giveaways to four for the Blue Jackets and trailed 1-0 at the first intermission. Columbus took a 1-0 lead at 16:53 of the first period on Letestu's 11th goal of the season, with the assists going to Johnson and Prospal. Prospal sent a long outlet pass to Johnson, who streaked down the left side as a hard-charging Letestu got a half step in front of Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic down the middle. Prospal fired a pass from the left circle, and Lestestu beat Niemi from the slot. The Blue Jackets grabbed a 1-0 lead against San Jose for the third time this season. In the previous two, they extended their lead to 3-0 in the second and cruised to victories at Columbus, outscoring the Sharks a combined 10-2. Columbus made it 2-0 at 4:27 of the second when Prospal scored on a breakaway. Stuart turned the puck over in the neutral zone on a pass along the boards that went to Letestu, who immediately hit Prospal, streaking the other way with a clear path to Niemi. Prospal beat Niemi with a shot to the stick side for his 12th goal of the season. The Sharks cut Columbus' lead to 2-1 at 7:14 of the second when Havlat scored his eighth goal of the season and third in two games. Logan Couture whipped a pass from below the goal line to Havlat, who beat Bobrovsky from the slot. The Blue Jackets played without injured left wing Matt Calvert, who broke a finger Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings. Blake Comeau moved up from the fourth line to take Calvert's spot and skate with Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson. Forward Colton Gilles returned to the lineup after missing five straight games as a healthy scratch. Defenseman Nikita Nikitin (lower body) missed his second straight game and forward Arlem Anisimov (upper body) his fourth straight. Sharks defenseman Jason Demers, who missed practice Saturday, was out of the lineup. Veteran Scott Hannan replaced Demers.

Anaheim v Edmonton 3-1 - The Edmonton Oilers now possess the longest active playoff drought in the NHL. The Oilers will miss the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season after losing 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks at Rexall Place on Sunday. Taylor Hall scored the lone goal for the Oilers (17-20-7), who have lost seven of their last eight games and were officially eliminated from the playoffs. The string of futility stretches back to their loss in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. It was a badly-needed victory for the Ducks (28-11-6) as Cam Fowler, Kyle Palmieri and Corey Perry scored to help the team snap a four-game losing skid. The Ducks can clinch the Pacific Division title with another win over the Oilers in the rematch in Edmonton on Monday. The Oilers had a quick start to the game, scoring exactly one minute in. Hall notched his 15th of the year as he came in off the boards to beat Hiller between the legs with a wrist shot from the right circle. The Ducks evened it up with just 1.1 seconds remaining in the opening period as Oiler center Jerred Smithson broke his stick on the faceoff and Fowler was able to pick up a rebound and bank in his first of the season off of Edmonton goalie Devan Dubnyk’s pads. Anaheim took a 2-1 lead with just under a minute to play in the second period as Palmieri tried to get a pass through to Teemu Selanne on a 2-on-1, but the pass was blocked by a diving Ladislav Smid. However, Palmieri was able to dig the puck from under Smid and deposit his 10th of the season behind Dubnyk. The Ducks went up 3-1 midway through the third when Getzlaf made a great move to walk around Smid and then sent a backhand pass in front for Perry, who had an easy tap-in for the goal.

Dallas v Los Angeles 3-4 - In one locker room, Dustin Brown ribbed Anze Kopitar before a scrum of reporters. Down the hall, Stephane Robidas still hadn't taken off his skates and shin pads as he sat with teammates who held their heads in their hands. Such are the emotional swings of the Stanley Cup Playoff race, and this swung hard and chaotic before the Los Angeles Kings pulled out a 4-3 overtime win against the Dallas Stars in a wild affair Sunday at Staples Center. The game-winner was appropriate, a wrist shot by Mike Richards from a steep angle on the left side that deflected off Jeff Carter's shoulder. Brown added two goals as Los Angeles moved two points ahead of the San Jose Sharks for fourth place in the Western Conference. It assured the Kings of finishing no lower than sixth. Dallas was trying to win in Los Angeles for the fifth straight time, but came out with one point and sits in 10th place in the West. It erased a 2-0 deficit and took a 3-2 lead, but seemed to get worn down in overtime. Brown and Richards were among the top players that Kings coach Darryl Sutter called out as a reason for the Stars' success against L.A., three wins in four previous meetings. Dallas had handed L.A. half of its four regulation losses at home this season. Brown's second goal made it 3-3 early in the third as the Kings finally converted on their seventh power play. Kopitar's rebound came directly to Brown on the left side and the latter buried it to bring the crowd alive. Carter was credited with his 25th goal to keep pace among the League leaders. Dallas erased a 2-0 deficit and took a 3-2 lead 43 seconds into the third when Alex Goligoski scored into an open net after the Stars flustered the Kings behind the goal line and Cody Eakin nudged the puck to Goligoski. The Stars' second-period comeback came on a controversial goal. Ryan Garbutt appeared to tip Goligoski's shot with a high stick on its way to the net, and Antoine Roussel swooped in and buried the puck at 14:54. Quick came out to argue and slammed his stick on the ice, but the play was upheld after video review. Roussel left the game late in the third when he appeared to be hit by Brown. Stars coach Glen Gulutzan did not have an update. Gulutzan liked the competitiveness and resiliency of his team, which finishes out against the teams ahead of it, San Jose, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Detroit Red Wings. Quick was outstanding in the second period and made a pad save on Loui Eriksson in the final minute. He stopped Eric Nystrom on a partial shorthanded breakaway and made two other stops on Eriksson and Reilly Smith. Quick also closed the pads on Garbutt in the third. Eriksson cut it to 2-1 with his second goal in 17 games, on a chop of a loose puck with Robyn Regehr in his face at 4:32. It came 40 seconds Brown zinged a wrist shot from a steep angle from the left circle. The game's first goal came largely because of an impressive drive around the net by Dustin Penner, who turned and fired the puck to a stationed Richards before the latter flipped a backhand high past a frozen Kari Lehtonen.