Results - Mon, Dec 23, 2013

Toronto @ NY Rangers 2-1 SO - Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan and Cam Talbot helped the New York Rangers end a franchise-record nine-game homestand on a high note. Zuccarello and Stepan scored in the shootout to give the New York Rangers a 2-1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday night at Madison Square Garden. Zuccarello scored in the first round of the tiebreaker on a soft shot that found the top corner and Stepan rifled a shot by Jonathan Bernier's blocker in the second. Toronto's Joffrey Lupul extended the game by beating Talbot, but the Rangers' backup goaltender ended the game by stopping Nazem Kadri's wrister in the third round. Kadri gave the Maple Leafs a point when he scored with 1:24 remaining in regulation and Bernier made 42 saves. J.T. Miller opened the scoring 7:04 into the third period and Talbot stopped 25 of 26 shots for New York. Toronto was outplayed for long stretches, particularly in that lopsided second period, but forced overtime when Kadri poked a loose puck into the net 10 seconds after the Rangers' Chris Kreider finished serving a delay of game penalty for clearing the puck over the glass. David Clarkson took the puck hard to the net and whacked away while it was wedged in Talbot's left pad. The play was never whistled dead and Kadri poked the puck into the net to tie the game. A video review confirmed the goal, Kadri's 11th of the season, a decision Vigneault protested. Before Kadri's goal, the Rangers appeared on their way to winning in regulation after Miller opened the scoring in the third. Kreider set up the game's first goal by using his body to maintain puck possession behind the Toronto net before finding Miller as he was streaking into the slot after coming off the bench. Miller beat Bernier to the blocker side for his second of the season. Miller's goal came just over two minutes after Toronto's Nikolai Kulemin almost broke the scoreless tie. Talbot got a piece of Clarkson's centering feed from behind the net, but Kulemin managed to get off a shot from in close that bounced off the inside of the far post and slid along the goal line. A video review confirmed that the puck didn't cross the goal line. After a first period in which both teams had chances on the rush, the Rangers completely dominated the second period. They outshot the Maple Leafs 22-5 and earned four power plays but couldn't get anything past Bernier. They earned some quality chances early in the second, as Ryan McDonagh's hard wrist shot from the left point ricocheted off the right post 5:31 into the period. Miller had a prime chance from the slot 23 seconds later after taking Benoit Pouliot's pass from the half-wall but was stopped by Bernier.

Anaheim @ Washington 3-2 - The League-leading Anaheim Ducks have been unflappable during their franchise-record nine-game winning streak. They kept their poise again Monday night after trailing the Washington Capitals by two goals before the game was 15 minutes old. Andrew Cogliano scored late in the first period, Saku Koivu tied the game in the final half-minute of the second and rookie Hampus Lindholm got the winner with 5:36 left in regulation for a 3-2 victory that provided coach Bruce Boudreau with a triumphant return to Verizon Center in his first trip back since being fired by the Capitals two years ago. The Capitals opened the scoring with a transition play that began with a deft indirect pass off the wall by Eric Fehr to spring Mikhail Grabovski, who entered the offensive zone with speed and got behind the Ducks defense. Grabovski dropped the puck to Troy Brouwer, who sent a quick pass back to Grabovski for a tip-in on the give-and-go. Nicklas Backstrom extended Washington's lead to 2-0 on the power play at 11:37. With Koivu in the penalty box for the second time for hooking, John Carlson collected Brouwer's faceoff win and found Backstrom near the half-wall. Backstrom surveyed his options before skating into the right circle and snapping a shot that ricocheted off the right post and into the net for his ninth goal of the season. Anaheim responded at 17:15 when Cogliano scored off a scramble in front of Philipp Grubauer. Lindholm's wrist shot went wide of the net. Cogliano fetched the puck and fed to Koivu, whose shot also went wide. But Cogliano was able to wrap around the net undetected, corral Koivu's attempt and throw a sharp-angled backhander past Grubauer to make it 2-1. The Ducks controlled the play through most of the second period, outshooting the Capitals, who spent 6:34 on the penalty kill, by 11-4. Koivu, set up by an end-to-end rush by defenseman Ben Lovejoy, tied the game at 2-2 with 27 seconds left in the period. Lovejoy carried the puck from the Ducks' blue line below the Capitals' goal line, holding off Dmitry Orlov as he rounded the corner to slide a one-handed pass to Koivu in front. Washington had 11 shots on goal in the first period but totaled eight in the final two periods, not including Alex Ovechkin's wrister that he thought tied the game with 3:09 remaining. Ovechkin's shot rang off the crossbar and landed behind Hiller but did not cross the goal line as the referee immediately signaled no goal even as the goal siren sounded. The no-goal call was upheld by video review.

Columbus @ Carolina 4-3 - Ryan Johansen and Jack Skille erased a 3-2 deficit with goals 1:28 apart late in the third period to lift the Blue Jackets to a 4-3 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Monday. Mike McKenna, who got the start after Curtis McElhinney's back tightened up in the morning, stopped 30 of 33 shots for his first NHL victory in more than four years. McKenna's last win came on March 24, 2009. Johansen tied it with his 15th goal of the season at 15:58. He took a pass from Nick Foligno, raced ahead of the Hurricanes defense and unleashed a wrister that beat Carolina goalie Justin Peters (21 saves) to make it 3-3. Skille put the Blue Jackets in front at 17:26 when he took a gorgeous backhand feed from Anisimov and fired a wrister from the right circle past Peters for his second goal in the past four games. Jeff Skinner scored twice on the power play for the Hurricanes, and Alexander Semin gave Carolina the lead midway through the third period. Jordan Staal had two assists. Anisimov gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead 9:45 into the game. With the teams at even strength, Columbus forward Cam Atkinson won a race against Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk to a loose puck behind the net and quickly sent it out in front to Anisimov, who one-timed it from between the circles past Peters for his 10th goal of the season. Carolina tied it on Skinner's power-play goal with 1:11 remaining in the first period. After Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski was whistled for tripping, Skinner collected the puck after Eric Staal won a faceoff deep in the Columbus zone and sent a wrist shot from the slot past McKenna to make it 1-1. Tropp put the Blue Jackets back in front at 15:39 of the second. Tropp, who hadn't scored in an NHL game since March 19, 2012, as a member of the Buffalo Sabres, swatted home a rebound after Peters denied Mark Letestu's wrist shot from the left circle. Skinner scored his second power-play goal of the night 46 seconds later, three seconds after Wisniewski was given a delay of game penalty after dislodging the net to give Carolina a two-man advantage for 1:35. Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson had been giving a holding penalty at 15:56. With the teams skating 5-on-3, Jordan Staal won a faceoff in the Columbus end back to Semin, who found Skinner alone in the slot. He took Semin's feed and fired a wrister past McKenna to make it 2-2 with his 14th of the season. Semin gave Carolina its first lead at 9:06 of the third period, when he completed a 2-on-1 with Jordan Staal by ripping a shot past McKenna for his fourth goal of the season. Semin had played 14 games without a goal, dating to Oct. 24.

NY Islanders @ Detroit 3-0 - Kyle Okposo, Michael Grabner and Casey Cizikas scored in a span of less than six minutes in the first period and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 23 shots to give the Islanders a 3-0 victory against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena on Monday night. The Islanders have lost a League-high six games, including two of their past three, when leading by two or more goals. This time, they played solid defense in their own zone and limited the Red Wings' scoring chances. Nabokov was rarely tested on a night when neither team was assessed a penalty until the goaltender was called for tripping with 6:49 remaining. Islanders captain John Tavares had a couple of good chances early, then set up the game's first goal. Tavares took a breakout pass from Thomas Vanek, raced into the Detroit zone on a 2-on-1 break and put a perfect pass on Okposo's stick for a shot into a wide-open net at 10:57. It was Okposo's 12th of the season. It became 2-0 at 15:07 when Josh Bailey's pass from the right half-boards deflected off defenseman Brendan Smith's stick to Grabner in the left circle for a one-timer that beat rookie goaltender Petr Mrazek cleanly. The goal was Grabner's fifth of the season and third in three games; he scored twice on opening night and didn't score again until getting two more on Friday against the New York Rangers. The Islanders needed less than two minutes to make it 3-0. Colin McDonald won the puck behind the Detroit net and slipped it to Matt Martin. He fed Cizikas coming down the slot for a slam dunk past Mrazek at 16:55. Tavares beat Mrazek but hit the post in the opening seconds of the second period before the Red Wings began to control play. Detroit outshot New York 11-2 in the period and held the Islanders without a shot during the final 19:07, but most of the Red Wings' shots came from the outside. One that didn't was a rebound try by Datsyuk with four minutes remaining on which Nabokov made his best stop of the period. Nabokov got some help from his net in the early stages of the third period. Patrick Eaves drilled the crossbar with a shot from the right circle just past the five-minute mark, and Gustav Nyquist's shot a minute later hit the goaltender's shoulder before deflecting off the post. Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson left the game early in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return. Ericsson was injured when he delivered body checks to Bailey and Martin. Following the check on Martin along the half-wall in the New York zone, Ericsson skated off favoring his left side. Babcock said Ericsson was taken to a hospital, but had no other details of the injury.

Tampa Bay @ Florida 6-1 - Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning continue to roll despite the absence of Steven Stamkos. St. Louis had a goal and two assists and J.T. Brown scored twice Monday night, leading the Lightning to a 6-1 win against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center. Tampa Bay has won five in a row, a season high. The Lightning have beaten Florida in all three games this season and have taken the past six games against each other at BB&T Center. The final game between the teams this season will be on March 13 at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Florida played Monday without defenseman Erik Gudbranson, who underwent orbital bone surgery earlier in the day. The Panthers lost forward Scottie Upshall to an upper-body injury in the first period. Already without veteran defenseman Eric Brewer, who missed the game with an upper-body injury, Tampa Bay lost defenseman Sami Salo to an upper-body injury in the first period. Salo didn't return to the game, but Cooper said the injury did not appear serious. The Lightning broke open a 1-1 game with three unanswered goals in the second period. After Bishop stopped Brad Boyes on a breakaway 15 seconds into the second, Johnson gave the Lightning the lead at 3:22 after Hedman's shot from the left circle went wide and bounced off the boards. The carom found Johnson standing to the right of the net and he put home the rebound from a sharp angle. Filppula scored at 8:01 on a two-minute 5-on-3 power play after the Panthers were penalized for too many men on the ice and defenseman Tom Gilbert was called for hooking St. Louis on a partial breakaway. St. Louis fed Teddy Purcell for a one-timer from the slot, but his shot was partially blocked by the stick of Florida forward Marcel Goc. The puck still went forward to Filppula in the slot, and he turned around and fired a low shot to beat Clemmensen. St. Louis completed the second-period scoring on a one-timer off an Ondrej Palat's cross-ice pass. St. Louis didn’t hit the puck cleanly, but it still found its way past Clemmensen. Florida took a 1-0 lead with 1:04 left in the first period on Bergenheim's power-play goal. Defenseman Matt Carle's clearing attempt was stopped by Panthers rookie Aleksander Barkov and the puck bounced to the slot to Bergenheim, who caught Bishop off guard with a one-timer. Tampa Bay tied it 19 seconds later when Killorn beat Clemmensen with a short backhand from the front of the net. Brown put the game out of reach with two goals in the third period. He made it 5-1 at 3:40 before adding his fourth of the season at 13:36.

Minnesota @ Philadelphia 1-4 - The Wild played without leading scorer Zach Parise, who was scratched due to a lower-body injury. Wild coach Mike Yeo said Parise would be evaluated further Tuesday. Parise's absence didn't help a team that has 24 goals in its past 15 games and has scored one goal or fewer in eight of those 15 games. Philadelphia led 2-1 after one period despite being outshot 11-5. Minnesota had a chance to tie the game with a two-minute power play to start the second after Simmonds was whistled for roughing at the final buzzer of the first period, but they failed to get a shot on net. Instead, Philadelphia took advantage when Giroux skated through the slot to redirect a Braydon Coburn shot past Backstrom at 7:46 of the second for his 10th goal of the season to make it 3-1. The Wild started the third period in a similar situation, with 1:32 of power-play time after a penalty on Voracek with 27.8 seconds left in the second. However, they again failed to capitalize on their chance and failed to get a shot on net. Schenn opened the scoring 1:52 into the game with his third goal of the season. Hartnell took a pass in the Minnesota zone from Simmonds and carried the puck behind the Wild net. He tried moving out in front but lost the puck, which rolled into the right circle for Schenn, who one-timed the puck past Backstrom. Simmonds made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 10:51 of the period. With Marco Scandella off for interference, Simmonds finished a tic-tac-toe passing play that saw Giroux throw a puck across the Minnesota zone to Voracek, who threw it back across to the far post to Simmonds for a tap-in goal. The Wild got on the board on Granlund's third goal of the season with 3:17 left in the first. Back-to-back penalties on Brayden Schenn and Coburn gave the Wild a two-man advantage for 1:40. They took advantage when Jason Pominville whipped a pass through the slot to Granlund, who beat Mason with a one-timer for his first goal since returning Sunday from an 11-game absence due to a concussion. Giroux's goal in the second was his fifth in six games, and Simmonds added an empty-net goal with 57.0 seconds remaining in the third for the final margin.

Boston @ Nashville 6-2 - The Bruins blew the game open early in the third period with two power-play goals 49 seconds apart after Craig Smith had cut Boston's lead to 3-2 with his second goal of the game at 3:25. Iginla batted his second goal of the game out of midair during a 5-on-3 advantage to put Boston up 4-2 at 5:01. Carl Soderberg's snap shot during a 5-on-4 advantage at 5:50 put the game out of reach. Brad Marchand's eighth goal of the season with a little more than four minutes to play rounded out the scoring. The Predators had all the momentum following Smith's third-period goal, his 10th of the season, but Boston capitalized on back-to-back penalty calls against Nashville, a bench minor at 4:21 for too many men on the ice, followed by a cross-checking penalty against Paul Gaustad at 4:44. Iginla opened the scoring 1:15 into the game when he deflected Zdeno Chara's wrist shot from the left point past Nashville goalie Carter Hutton. Iginla has 10 goals this season. Trotz pulled Hutton in favor of Marek Mazanec before the game was six minutes old after Matt Fraser scored when Hutton mishandled Soderberg's dump-in from center ice. The puck went off Hutton and right to Fraser, who beat the Predators goalie high to his glove side. It was Fraser's first goal with the Bruins after he was acquired as part of the offseason trade that sent Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars. Reilly Smith scored on the power play to add to the Boston lead at 10:47. With Nashville defenseman Seth Jones in the penalty box on a hooking call, Smith fired a wrist shot past Mazanec from the bottom of the left circle. It was his 12th goal of the season. Tuukka Rask made 32 saves for the win. He got in front of Patric Hornqvist's shot on a breakaway 8:25 into the second period to preserve Boston's 3-0 lead. Nashville got on the board at 11:35 of the second when Smith scored with eight seconds left on a hooking penalty against Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron. Smith slammed in a rebound of Jones' slap shot from the left circle.

St Louis @ Calgary 3-4 SO - Mark Giordano scored with 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and Joe Colborne scored the only goal of the shootout to lift the Flames to a 4-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday. Colborne opened the shootout by faking a deke before throwing the puck between the legs of goaltender Jaroslav Halak in what would hold up as the only goal. Reto Berra, who made 32 saves through regulation and overtime, stopped all three Blues shooters. He's 3-for-3 in shootouts, allowing just four goals on 17 attempts. The Blues led 3-1 with less than nine minutes left in regulation, but the Flames refused to roll over against one of the NHL's top teams. After Mike Cammalleri scored with 8:55 remaining to make it 3-2, Giordano forced OT when he blew a power-play one-timer past Halak with Berra on the bench in favor of an extra attacker, giving Calgary a 6-on-4 skating advantage. The Flames' captain took a cross-ice pass from Jiri Hudler and blasted it past Halak. The goal came after Hudler set up Sean Monahan at the side of the net with Halak down, but the puck rolled off the rookie's stick when he went to put it into the virtually empty net. Though a problem with the ice delayed the start of the game, it didn't slow the Blues' power-play unit. Eight seconds into Giordano's interference penalty, Brenden Morrow took a pass from Chris Stewart and fed a cross-crease backhand to Kevin Shattenkirk for a tap-in 7:23 into the game. During the stoppage of play before Shattenkirk's fifth of the season, Calgary acknowledged defenseman Jay Bouwmeester's 279 games as a member of the Flames. Hudler pulled the Flames during a power play midway through the second period. With Vladimir Tarasenko off for holding, Hudler took a cross-ice pass from Mikael Backlund and roofed it over Halak from below the faceoff dot to tie the game 1-1 at 12:06. The goal came after Backlund's shorthanded breakaway attempt six minutes into the period was swatted away by Halak. But goals by Jaden Schwartz and Magnus Paajarvi in a 44-second span put the Blues back on top. Bouwmeester found Schwartz in the slot, and he skipped a shot past Berra's pad at 13:49 to restore the Blues' lead. Paajarvi made it 3-1 when he rushed Berra's clearing attempt, which was cut off by Adam Cracknell along the boards. Cracknell fed Maxim Lapierre for a quick shot that Berra stopped, but Paajarvi scooped up the rebound and buried his third of the season to give St. Louis a two-goal margin. Cammalleri made it a one-goal game when he took a no-look, behind-the-back pass from Paul Byron behind the net and ripped it past Halak's blocker. On his next shift, Cammalleri then set-up Mikael Backlund for a one-timer from 10 feet but was denied by Halak's quick pad. Calgary forward Matt Stajan left the game with 59 seconds remaining in overtime after taking a knee from Backes, who received a kneeing minor on the play.

Winnipeg @ Edmonton 2-6 - Jordan Eberle opened the scoring in the first period on the power play at 8:40, taking a cross-ice feed from Ales Hemsky at the side of the net for an easy tap-in. Hemsky had a strong start to the game and was the offensive catalyst for the Oilers. Stuart tied the game at 11:20 beating Bryzgalov through the pads with a shot from the faceoff circle. Gagner gave the Oilers the lead at 16:07 finishing off a play in front after the Oilers cycled the puck in the corner. Ladd pulled the Jets even again at 9:08 of the second period, tipping a Dustin Byfuglien shot past Bryzgalov. Perron restored the Oilers lead at 16:40 taking a pass from Hall in front and beating Pavelec. It was the first time this season Perron and Hall played on a line together. The two combined for five points on the night. Petry extended the lead at 4:28 of the third, jumping into the rush and depositing a feed from Yakupov. Hall made it 5-2 on the power play at 8:34 benefiting after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins intercepted a Jakub Trouba clearing attempt in front. Nugent-Hopkins found Hall for the easy one-timer past Pavelec. Yakupov rounded out the scoring at 16:16, stripping Byfuglien of the puck at the Jets' blue line and finishing off a 2-on-1 rush after taking a pass from Hall.