St Louis @ Boston 3-2 SO - Derek Roy beat Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask in the fourth round of the shootout to give the Blues a 3-2 victory. St. Louis heads home from a 2-1-0 road trip with a 15-3-3 record, its best after 21 games in franchise history. The Bruins fell to 14-6-2. Roy, who scored one of the Blues' goals in regulation, hit the crossbar on an overtime breakaway. Carl Soderberg, who also scored a goal in regulation, had Boston's best scoring chance in overtime, but Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak stopped his breakaway attempt. Bruins center Gregory Campbell opened the scoring at 18:20 when he one-timed a pass from Matt Bartkowski off the heel of his stick. The puck stayed on the ice and glided past Halak to the glove side. Campbell hadn't scored in 30 games dating back to last April. The Blues tied the game 31 seconds later with an equally awkward goal. Roy one-touched the puck from the top of the left circle toward the net. The puck fluttered a little bit, but stayed along the ice as it went past Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk and Blues forward Chris Stewart, who were battling at the left dot, and slid through Rask's five-hole before the goaltender could get his stick down. St. Louis grabbed its first lead with 5:56 remaining in the second period. David Backes won a draw against Milan Lucic after Bruins center David Krejci was kicked out of the circle. Backes then went to the net, where he joined teammate Alexander Steen. Kevin Shattenkirk's shot from the point went off Backes' stick and past Rask for a 2-1 lead. Soderberg made sure the teams went to the second intermission all even. Chris Kelly sent the puck from behind the net to Soderberg at the top of the right circle, and Soderberg's wrist shot went through Kelly's screen and over Halak at 18:41. In the shootout, Patrice Bergeron scored for Boston and Steen tied it in the second round before Roy's fourth-round winner.
Nashville @ Toronto 4-2 - Craig Smith scored two goals and Matt Cullen had four points Thursday to give the Nashville Predators a 4-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. Smith's power-play goal, the Predators' second of the night, at 16:25 of the second period gave them a 3-1 lead. His goal early in the third period, his sixth of the season, made it 4-1. The Maple Leafs scored first when Peter Holland skated into the offensive zone and fired a wrist shot past goalie Marek Mazanec at 5:48 of the first period. It was Holland's second goal of the season, his first for the Maple Leafs after arriving in a trade from the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. Holland had room to gain the zone when Predators captain Shea Weber laid a big hit on Nikolai Kulemin in the neutral zone. With Holland only having Roman Josi defending him, he let his shot go from the faceoff dot and past Mazanec. After Maple Leafs forward Mason Raymond picked up a high-sticking double-minor 1:25 into the second period, the Predators tied the game when Seth Jones scored his third of the season at 2:01. Jones' shot was deflected by a defender on the way to net and the redirection helped get the puck past goalie Jonathan Bernier. The Predators took a 2-1 lead at 11:14 of the second period when Cullen scored his fourth goal of the season. He received a quick pass from the half-boards from Gabriel Bourque and snapped a wrist shot by Bernier through his five-hole. Cullen assisted on the other three Predators goals. A boarding call to James van Riemsdyk led to Smith's power-play goal in the second. Nashville went 2-for-4 with the man-advantage. The Maple Leafs cut the lead to 4-2 when Nazem Kadri scored his sixth goal of the season. He was playing his first game after a three-game suspension for hitting Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom.
Buffalo @ Philadelphia 1-4 - Read beat Sabres goalie Ryan Miller at 14:09 and again at 15:49, both off feeds by Steve Downie, after Buffalo grabbed the lead late in the first period on Tyler Myers' power-play goal. Vincent Lecavalier added a power-play goal midway through the third period and Scott Hartnell hit the empty net with 10.9 seconds left in the game. After the Flyers failed to score during 41 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage in the first, they saw their 5-on-4 power play cut short by a high-sticking call against Mark Streit at 16:29. Buffalo capitalized on its power play when Myers scored off a scramble one second before Streit would have stepped out of the box. The Sabres buzzed the Flyers zone and had Philadelphia's defense scrambling before Tyler Ennis fired a shot from the lower right circle that hit the far post. The puck sat in the crease and Myers jammed it over the goal line at 18:28 for his second goal of the season, giving the Sabres their first lead after one period in 24 games this season. Buffalo had a chance to add to its lead when Flyers forward Scott Hartnell was assessed a double minor for high sticking Buffalo defenseman Mike Weber. The Sabres managed four shots, not counting Christian Ehrhoff's blast off the post, but put only sporadic pressure on Emery. Philadelphia got a second 5-on-3 power play, this one for 1:22, in the second period when Myers was called for tripping at 5:45 and a bad line change led to a bench penalty for too many men at 6:23. The Flyers had plenty of zone time, but their three shots were easily stopped by Miller. The Flyers finally got one past Miller at 14:09. Read slid off the left boards and was unchecked as he drifted into the slot. Downie controlled the puck in the right circle and slid a pass for Read's one-timer into a half-empty net. Downie and Read teamed again on their next shift to put the Flyers in front. Downie picked up a carom after a Buffalo clearing pass hit a linesman and slid a backhand pass toward the front of the net, where Read had been left all alone. Read deked Miller to the ice, stepped to his right and flipped the puck high into the net at 15:49 for his sixth of the season. Lecavalier scored his eighth of the season at 9:58 of the third on a one-timer from the right circle on the Flyers' sixth power play.
Carolina @ Detroit 3-4 - Gustav Nyquist scored 17 seconds into the game, then added the eventual game-winner on a breakaway in the third period of a 4-3 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes. Nyquist, playing his first NHL game this season, got his first goal off a rebound when he slid a forehand past goalie Justin Peters. Henrik Zetterberg had created a turnover and left a touch pass for a hard shot by Jonathan Ericsson that kicked back to Nyquist at Peters' left. In the third period, Nyquist picked up a clear by Zetterberg at the offensive blue line, skated in alone on Peters, deked and slid a backhand into the net with 4:02 to go. Detroit broke a 2-2 tie in the third period with 15 seconds to go in a two-minute, 5-on-3 power play. A shot by Niklas Kronwall ping-ponged away from the net toward Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal, who kicked it into his own net at 8:29. Detroit did not allow a goal during a Carolina 5-on-3 of 1:36 near the end of the second period. Detroit held a 2-0 lead, but Sekera evened the game at 12:51 of the second period. He picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, skated around Red Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi and had his shot tip off defenseman Kronwall's stick past Jonas Gustavsson's glove side. It came 7:02 after defenseman Brett Bellemore got Carolina on the scoreboard with his first NHL goal. Bellemore, a 25-year-old playing his 26th NHL game, finished a give-and-go with Radek Dvorak off the right-wing boards. It was Dvorak's first assist since Feb. 24, 2012, a span of 36 games (17 this season). Sekera scored a shorthanded goal with 16 seconds to go for the final score. The Red Wings took their two-goal lead when Darren Helm scored 2:37 into the second period. Justin Abdelkader was cycling on the right-wing boards, changed direction and headed toward the net. His shot popped back to Helm, who lifted a forehand from the slot over Peters. Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner played for the first time since Oct. 24 after he missed 11 games with an upper-body injury. Carolina played its second game without Alexander Semin, who's out with a concussion. Brendan Shanahan, the NHL senior vice president of player safety and hockey operations, dropped the puck for the ceremonial opening faceoff. Shanahan, who played for the Red Wings from 1996-2006 and was a member of three Stanley Cup-winning teams, was honored before the game for his recent induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Florida @ Edmonton 1-4 - Jordan Eberle opened the scoring on the power play 57 seconds into the game when he knocked a rebound past Thomas at the side of the net after the goaltender turned aside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' point shot. Nugent-Hopkins had three assists. Gagner extended the Oilers' lead 6:10 into the second. He was the beneficiary of a good individual effort from Nail Yakupov, who played the puck to himself off the boards at center, then led an odd-man rush into the Panthers zone. Yakupov used Ales Hemsky as a decoy and sent a pass across to Gagner, who beat Thomas for his first goal of the season. The Oilers added another power-play goal at 10:54 of the second when David Perron tipped in Justin Schultz's point shot. Scottie Upshall cut into the Oilers' lead at 16:34, finding a hole between Dubnyk and the post on a wraparound. The Oilers goaltender was hugging the post, but Upshall was somehow able to squeeze the puck past him. The goal snapped Dubnyk's shutout streak at 119:26. Eberle added an empty-netter with 1:12 left in regulation. He has eight goals.
New Jersey @ Los Angeles 2-1 OT - After the cameras drifted away and his postgame scrum died down some, Jaromir Jagr spoke modestly about former teammate Mario Lemieux and the impact Lemieux had on his career. Jagr's teammates have been heaping the same praise on him for years now, and it was quite poignant Thursday night after Jagr tied Lemieux for ninth on the all-time goal-scoring list with an overtime winner that gave the New Jersey Devils an improbable 2-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings. Jagr's 690th career goal came when he took a pass from Marek Zidlicky and toe-dragged the puck past goalie Ben Scrivens at 2:30 of overtime to pull even with Lemieux.
"I didn't really have a chance to see
Wayne [Gretzky] when he was doing the 200-point season when he was in
Edmonton," said Jagr, who joined the Pittsburgh Penguins in
1990 and was a member of two Stanley Cup-winning teams with Lemieux.
"When I came in the League I was playing with Mario. He was
the guy I was looking up to. I know Wayne got all the records, but to
me, I got a better chance to look for Mario. I could see him every
day in practice, the way he plays. He was a huge influence on the
game I play. I was pretty lucky to see him at his best. I tied him,
but he probably played 600 less games than me. This is just a number,
but he didn't play many games. If he would have played as many games
as me, he would probably have 2,500 points and 900 goals."
Lemieux scored his 600 goals in 915 games;
Thursday was Jagr's 1,413rd. The goal was also Jagr's 18th in
overtime, extending his own NHL record, and his team-high ninth of
the season. Jagr also tied Gordie Howe for first on the all-time
game-winning goals list with No. 121.
"He played 'til 50," Jagr, 41,
said of Mr. Hockey. "I've got nine years to go."
While Lemieux has company, New Jersey has some
overtime mojo. The Devils were 0-5 in games that went beyond
regulation before beating the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in overtime on
Wednesday; they now have back-to-back OT victories in the first two
games of a three-game trip. It took a great breakout for the Kings to
get their first goal and force a 1-1 tie 65 seconds after New Jersey
remarkably put a puck in the net after 40-plus minutes of
ineffectiveness. Anze
Kopitar came down with speed on a 2-on-1 with Justin
Williams and fired a shot off Schneider. The puck bounced inches
from the goal line and Williams beat his man to tap it in at 6:57 of
the third period. It was an important response required by L.A. after
it bottled up the Devils for most of the night only to see New Jersey
break through on its seventh shot of the game. Ryan
Carter wheeled around the left side and sent a backhand that
sailed through Willie
Mitchell's legs and into the top corner of the net at 5:52, and
just like that, New Jersey had a 1-0 lead. It was the first meeting
between the teams at Staples Center since the Kings beat the Devils
in Game 6 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Final to win the first championship
in franchise history. This wasn't nearly as dramatic but L.A.
channeled that championship defense and didn't allow the Devils so
much as a nibble, outshooting them 27-5 through two periods.
Tampa Bay @ San Jose 1-5 - When San Jose Sharks forward Brent Burns was activated from injured reserve Thursday and rejoined linemates Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Tommy Wingels had to find a new home. It didn't take long for Wingels to feel comfortable with new linemates Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau, or for the new trio to click. Wingels scored a career-high two goals, Couture had a career-high three assists, and Marleau had a goal and an assist. They combined for eight points and led the Sharks to a 5-1 victory against the Lightning at SAP Center. Brad Stuart and Burns also scored for the Sharks, and goaltender Antti Niemi made 36 saves. Tyler Johnson scored for Tampa Bay. Backup goaltender Anders Lindback stopped 31 of 36 shots. After going 3-1-1 on a five-game road trip that ended with a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, the Sharks opened a five-game homestand by snapping a rare three-game home losing streak. Burns scored his fifth goal in his return to the lineup after missing 13 games with an upper-body injury. Wingels gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 3:39 of the first period. Marleau won a battle along the left boards, knocking the puck to Couture for a short pass to Wingels in the low left circle, where he wristed a shot past Lindback. Tampa Bay had a great chance to pull even on the power play after Wingels went to the penalty box at 14:13 for tripping Valtteri Filppula. The Lightning's top power-play unit controlled the puck the entire two minutes and put three shots on goal, but couldn't score against Niemi and an exhausted foursome of penalty-killers, Scott Hannan, Marleau, Stuart and Joe Pavelski. Stuart made it 2-0 at 18:03, blasting a long rebound from above the left circle that snuck inside the left post. The goal was Stuart's second of the season and second in five games. Tyler Kennedy and Couture earned assists. Wingels increased the lead to 3-0 at 11:47 of the second period. From behind the net, Marleau zipped a pass to Wingels, just to the right of the crease. Wingels fired the puck between former Sharks defenseman Matthew Carle and Teddy Purcell and past Lindback. The Sharks scored two more goals in a 19-second span early in the third period to take a 5-0 lead. Hannan hammered a shot from above the left circle that bounced off Thornton before deflecting off Burns' skate and past Lindback at 4:23. Marleau scored at 4:42 on a breakaway. He whiffed on his first attempt from close range, but beat Lindback with a backhand, slipping the puck inside the right post. Couture had the primary assist. Johnson ended Niemi's shutout bid at 7:39 when he took a pass from Ondrej Palat in the slot and blasted a shot past the goaltender's glove.
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