Carolina @ Boston 2-3 OT - David Krejci scored 1:28 into overtime after Jarome Iginla led the rush into the Hurricanes zone, and the Bruins improved to 6-0-2 in their past eight games at TD Garden with a 3-2 win Saturday afternoon. Iginla drew two defensemen to him as he drove down the right wing, and Carolina goaltender Cam Ward moved out toward his left in anticipation of a shot. Instead, Iginla passed to Krejci in the slot. The Boston center dangled until Ward went down, then roofed the game-winning shot. Prior to the overtime goal, Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk took possession of the puck in the Boston zone after forward Carl Soderberg and Hurricanes center Jordan Staal fell in the corner. Carolina coach Kirk Muller was not pleased Soderberg wasn't called for a penalty. The first period didn't start well for Carolina defenseman Andrej Sekera. He blocked a Shawn Thornton slap shot and had to be helped off the ice at 3:12. He wasn't gone long, however, and returned in time to make sure the Hurricanes' first power play was a success. With Soderberg off for hooking, Sekera took a wrist shot from the blue line that went past no fewer than four bodies and eluded Chad Johnson at 5:53 for a 1-0 Carolina lead. It was the Hurricanes' first power-play goal in four games after they went 0-for-12 in their prior three. Chara swept a rebound of a Lucic shot into the back of the net at 14:49 to tie the game 1-1. The Bruins went to the first intermission with a 14-6 advantage in shots on goal. Carolina went 22:43 without a shot on goal from near the midpoint of the first period until well into the second. The Bruins outshot Carolina 12-4 in the second period and held a 26-10 advantage through 40 minutes. Johnson held up his end of the bargain in Boston's net, and Reilly Smith gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with a goal at 13:31. Soderberg's pass from between the hash marks to the front of the net hit the skate of Hurricanes defenseman Tim Gleason and deflected to Smith, who cut across the slot and beat Ward with a backhander to the short side. Even when killing penalties, the Hurricanes were working hard to score the equalizer. During one penalty kill, Johnson stopped an Eric Staal shot on a 2-on-1. Later in the period, Patrick Dwyer scored shorthanded on a breakaway after he stole an errant Boston pass in the Carolina end. Dwyer roofed a shot past Johnson to tie the score 2-2 with 8:50 remaining in regulation.
Minnesota @ Winnipeg 3-2 SO - The Minnesota Wild survived an injury to goaltender Josh Harding' minutes before the opening faceoff of their game against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon, then overcame a third-period deficit to win 3-2 in a shootout. Harding missed his scheduled start after sustaining a lower-body injury during warm-ups. The injury forced Niklas Backstrom into emergency duty. Backstrom, activated from injured reserve before the game, made 37 saves, and Charlie Coyle won it with a goal in the fourth round of the tiebreaker. Backstrom's play set up a late comeback for the Wild. Shorthanded and trailing 2-1 late in the third period, Zach Parise tied the score with 4:55 left in the third period when captain Mikko Koivu reached him with a pass on a 3-on-2 rush into the Winnipeg zone. Parise outmaneuvered Jets forward Bryan Little before one-timing Koivu's pass behind goaltender Ondrej Pavelec. After Koivu and Little scored in the shootout, Coyle won it by beating Pavelec in the fourth round. The Wild (15-5-4), who had played eight of their past 10 games against Eastern Conference opponents, began a run of five straight games facing Western Conference foes. With 34 points in their first 24 games, the Wild are off to the best start in franchise history and have won six of their past seven games and nine of their past 11. The Jets (10-11-4), on an 0-2-2 slide, received goals from third-liners Michael Frolik and Matt Halischuk, and Pavelec stopped 33 shots. Nino Niederreiter's goal for Minnesota early in the third period made it 1-1 before Halischuk put Winnipeg ahead 2:14 later. The Jets' five shorthanded goals against are the most in the League, and their 11 power-play goals are the third-fewest. The Wild were also without forward Mikael Granlund (upper body), whom the Wild learned earlier in the day would not be available. Granlund's absence forced the Wild to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Yeo did not provide an update on Harding's health after the game. His 1.48 goals-against average ranks second in the NHL and he is tied for second in the League with 13 wins and two shutouts. His save percentage (.939) is among the top 10. Backstrom played his first game since a collision with the Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri on Nov. 13. Backstrom, who practiced once since the injury, had a 1-1-2 record in seven games, a 3.30 GAA and an .874 save percentage. Harding's injury caused the Wild to play the first period without a backup goaltender until Darcy Kuemper arrived at MTS Centre. The Wild managed to retrieve Kuemper, who was sitting on a plane at Winnipeg International Airport after Minnesota removed him from the roster and sent him to the Iowa Wild, the team's American Hockey League affiliate, a few hours before the game. Kuemper was added to the lineup as an emergency exemption. Winnipeg had four shots on Backstrom in the opening 10 minutes before becoming more active in the Minnesota zone in the latter half of the first period. The hosts finished the first period with a 14-3 shots advantage. The Jets' third line cracked Backstrom 13:07 into the second period. Halischuk drove the Minnesota net off the right side and let go a rising shot that Backstrom failed to control. Frolik crashed the net and shoved the rebound under Backstrom. The goalie held firm against the Jets over the first two periods and provided the Wild with time to settle down and find their game. The banged-up Winnipeg blue line received some relief with Mark Stuart's return after he missed 12 of the past 16 games with a hip injury, including a 10-game absence that dated to Oct. 27.
Washington @ Toronto 1-2 SO - James Reimer's heroics got the Maple Leafs into the tiebreaker, and James van Riemsdyk and Joffrey Lupul scored in the tiebreaker to give Toronto a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Air Canada Centre on Saturday night. Lupul started the fourth round of the shootout by beating Braden Holtby with a wrist shot. Troy Brouwer had a chance to extend the tiebreaker but fired his wrister over the net. Eric Fehr scored in the first round to give Washington the lead, but van Riemsdyk scored on a backhander in the second round to get the Maple Leafs even. David Clarkson scored midway through the second period for Toronto. Alex Ovechkin tied the game and became the first NHL player to reach the 20-goal mark this season when he beat Reimer with 4:10 left in regulation. Clarkson opened the scoring at 10:08 of the second when he deflected a power-play point shot from Jake Gardiner past Holtby for his second goal of the season. The goal was reviewed to see if the puck was deflected into the net with a high stick, but video replay was inconclusive and the goal was allowed to stand. With eight seconds left in the second period, Capitals forward Mikhail Grabovski was injured when he was cut in the face by Clarkson's skate blade. Grabovski was bleeding, but headed off the ice under his own power and returned six minutes into the third. It was Grabovski's first game against the Maple Leafs since being bought out by Toronto during the summer.
Ottawa @ Detroit 4-2 - The Senators broke a 2-2 tie when, on their 5-on-3, Erik Karlsson had the puck between the circles and slid a pass to Bobby Ryan low to his left. Ryan fired into an open side at 3:51. Clarke MacArthur added some insurance when he scored another power-play goal with 4:02 remaining. Detroit nearly had another 5-on-3 goal and a 3-3 tie with 8:46 left in the third period, but it was correctly ruled on the ice and confirmed by video that Johan Franzen batted the puck into the net with his hand. The Red Wings tied the game 2-2 on their 5-on-3 goal 1:08 into the third period. Pavel Datsyuk tried to send a pass across the goalmouth; Senators defenseman Jared Cowen went to the ice to block it, but the puck went off his back leg and through goalie Robin Lehner. Ottawa took a 2-1 lead with goals 1:11 apart in the first period. The first came from MacArthur, who after fanning on his first attempt was able to lift his second over goalie Jimmy Howard at 14:33. MacArthur had carried the puck into the zone and sent it behind the net to Ryan, whose pass to the front came off the skate of Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey and back to Ryan, who pushed it to MacArthur. Three fortunate bounces for Ottawa ended in a goal credited to Chris Neil at 15:44. Senators forward Cory Conacher stole the puck from Helm in the Detroit zone. Conacher passed to Neil, whose shot hit Helm then bounced off each leg of Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith into the net. Helm started the scoring at 13:23 of the first. He carried the puck through the neutral zone all the way behind the Ottawa goal, then passed to Tomas Tatar and headed to the front of the net, where he tipped Tatar's wrist shot past Lehner.
NY Islanders @ Philadelphia 2-5 - After a scoreless first period, the Flyers got goals from Read, Simmonds and Giroux in the first 3:48 of the second, but Eric Boulton's goal 2:39 into the third made it a one-goal game. Voracek played a big role in the Flyers snatching the momentum and the victory. He won a puck battle deep in the Islanders' zone and put a sharp-angled shot on net that goalie Anders Nilsson stopped, but the rebound went into the slot to Brayden Schenn, who one-timed it past Nilsson at 12:21 to make it a 4-2 game. Read opened the scoring 46 seconds into the period on a play that started when the Islanders turned over the puck deep in their zone. Sean Couturier had a chance from the slot that Islanders goalie Kevin Poulin lunged to get his blocker on. The rebound went to Read in the left circle and he fired it past Poulin for his seventh of the season. Simmonds scored his fourth of the season 59 seconds later. Vincent Lecavalier carried the puck through the center of the ice and dished it to Simmonds in the right circle. Lecavalier continued to the net, with Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic following him and creating enough of a screen for Simmonds to get a shot past Poulin to make it 2-0. The Flyers then took advantage of an offensive-zone penalty against Thomas Vanek by scoring a power-play goal against the NHL's 30th-ranked penalty-killing unit. Poulin got a piece of Voracek's shot from a sharp angle on right side. Simmonds pounced on the rebound and tried backhanding a pass through the slot to Scott Hartnell, but the puck went past him to Giroux, and the Flyers captain rifled a shot past Poulin for his third of the season at 3:48. The Islanders cut into the Flyers lead on Tavares' 10th goal of the season. Matt Donovan had the puck deep in his zone and sent a long pass up the left side of the ice to Vanek, catching the Flyers on a line change. Vanek threw a pretty saucer pass to a cutting Tavares, who had a step on Brayden Schenn and tipped the pass behind Mason at 14:04. New York made it a one-goal game early in the third on Boulton's first goal in 72 games. Casey Cizikas beat Adam Hall on a faceoff in the left circle in the Philadelphia end, pushing the puck between Hall's skates to Boulton at the right post. He lifted a shot over Mason for his first goal since April 7, 2011. Read's empty-net goal with 48.6 seconds left closed the scoring and sends the Flyers off on a two-game road trip to Florida in a positive frame of mind.
NY Rangers @ Nashville 2-0 - New York came the closest to scoring during its first power play. With Seth Jones off for high-sticking Dominic Moore at 5:31, Mats Zuccarello's backhander trickled through Mazanec's pads, but Roman Josi cleared the puck out of the crease before it could cross the goal line. Mazanec also made a fine stop midway through the period on Benoit Pouliot's backhander from the right circle after Pouliot split the defense. New York began to dominate play and opened the scoring at 13:13 on a perfect deflection by McDonagh. Zuccarello's pass from the right boards found defenseman Dan Girardi for a straightaway slap shot from just inside the blue line. McDonagh, his defense partner, went to the slot and deflected the shot between Mazanec's legs for his fifth of the season. Stepan gave the Rangers some breathing room 7:45 into the third period by starting and finishing the play that led to his fifth goal of the season. He stripped Viktor Stalberg of the puck in center ice, fed Zuccarello to trigger a 2-on-1 break, then fired the return feed past a helpless Mazanec.
Colorado @ Los Angeles 1-0 OT - Patrick Roy knows a little something about coming into Los Angeles and winning in overtime, so it resonates loud when he passes out A-plus grades to his team. The first-year Colorado Avalanche coach had his team match the Los Angeles Kings defensively every step Saturday night and come out with a 1-0 win at Staples Center on Jamie McGinn's overtime goal. McGinn one-timed a pass from John Mitchell from the right side on a rush and McGinn's shot went in off a sprawled Jarret Stoll at 2:32. Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov made 19 saves for the shutout in a duel with Ben Scrivens, who made 32 saves and is 4-0-2 in place of injured goalie Jonathan Quick. The Avalanche also improved to 3-0 in overtime road games this season. Roy, of course, famously backstopped the Montreal Canadiens to three straight overtime wins against L.A. in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final. The sequence that led to the game-winning goal started when Anze Kopitar's shot was deflected in traffic, and Mitchell carried the puck up ice on an odd-man rush. Scrivens could not be asked to do much more for L.A., which has held the opposition to two or fewer goals six straight games. He shined on a late third period penalty kill with five saves, notably one on Nathan MacKinnon on a feed from Ryan O'Reilly. Colorado spent most of the second period in L.A.'s zone, but the Kings didn't give it much to work with, and Scrivens took care of the rest. He stopped all 16 shots in the second, with the best chances by Maxime Talbot on the doorstep and by PA Parenteau from the left side. The Kings changed their lines after Kyle Clifford was activated from injured reserve and Matt Frattin was scratched with a lower-body injury. Kings coach Darryl Sutter notably broke up the Dustin Brown-Anze Kopitar duo and had Brown play the right side with Clifford and Stoll. It didn't really provide any jumpstart; L.A. failed to capitalize on its first two power plays. Kopitar broke down the right side, but Varlamov got a piece of the shot late in the second period in which Colorado had a 16-7 shot advantage. The Avalanche won 21 of 34 faceoffs through 40 minutes. The Kings escaped, though, and could have grabbed momentum when John Mitchell took a double-minor high sticking penalty on Willie Mitchell. But L.A. had two shots on goal in the four minutes. L.A. still extended its points streak to nine games (6-0-3). It typically thrives on low-scoring games and won its share of 1-0 contests with Quick, but this might have been a game where it could have used Jeff Carter, who is nearing a return from a foot injury.
New Jersey @ San Jose 1-2 - The San Jose Sharks got off to another blistering start Saturday night, building a 2-0 first-period lead against the New Jersey Devils on goals by Scott Hannan and Tyler Kennedy. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi made 18 saves, allowing only a third-period goal to Patrik Elias. Martin Brodeur made 28 saves for New Jersey and survived a scary incident late in the game when a shot by Brent Burns hit him in the back of his neck. Brodeur made a sprawling save on Burns shot with 1:31 left to play and remained on the ice for several minutes, but he stayed in the game after being examined by a trainer. The Sharks took a 2-0 lead into the third period, but Elias cut that advantage in half at 8:10 by scoring a power-play goal with Jason Demers in the penalty box for hooking former Shark Steve Bernier. With Bernier providing a screen, Elias sent a wrist shot from the right circle past Niemi with one second left on the Devils' only advantage of the night. Andy Greene and Eric Gelinas got the assists. With less than three minutes left, Zajac sent a rocket toward the net, but Niemi made a great pad save. He made a couple more key saves down the stretch. Hannan opened the scoring at 4:25 with his third goal of the season, beating Brodeur with a slap shot from well above the left circle. Burns set the scoring play in motion, delivering a huge hit on Devils defenseman Adam Larsson behind the net and sending the puck to Thornton. The Sharks' captain threaded a cross-ice pass to Hannan, who skated in and, with Tomas Hertl providing a screen, unloaded a shot that beat Brodeur. The Sharks increased their lead to 2-0 on Kennedy's one-timer from the right circle at 14:47. From behind the net, Martin Havlat sent a pass to a wide-open Kennedy, who beat Brodeur to his stick side for his third goal of the season and first since Nov. 5.
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