Buffalo @ Montreal 2-3 - The Montreal Canadiens played their seventh game in 11 days Saturday, and for the first period against the NHL's worst team, it showed. Canadiens coach Michel Therrien then turned to the three players who provided his team with some semblance of energy over the opening 20 minutes, and his fourth line delivered. Montreal's grind line of Brandon Prust, Travis Moen and Ryan White combined for five points and Carey Price made 23 saves to lead the Canadiens to their fifth straight win, 3-2 against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. The Canadiens (19-9-3) had four shots on goal during a sleepy first period. Therrien decided to start the second with the line centered by Prust, who scored a goal set up by White and Moen 19 seconds in and sparked his team to its ninth victory in 10 games (9-0-1). That goal woke up some of Montreal's more traditional sources of offense, with Tomas Plekanec scoring a goal and an assist and Alex Galchenyuk scoring what turned out to be the winning goal. Tyler Ennis had a goal and an assist and rookie Zemgus Girgensons snapped a 27-game goal drought for the Sabres (6-22-2), but it wasn't enough to give coach Ted Nolan his first win against a team other than the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Sabres are 2-1-0 against the Maple Leafs since Nolan took over from Ron Rolston behind the bench Nov. 13, but 0-6-1 against everyone else. The game against the Canadiens did mark the first time the Sabres scored more than one goal against a team other than Toronto since Nolan took over. After a scoreless first period in which the Sabres and Canadiens combined for nine shots on goal, play picked up in the second with 23 shots and four goals between the two teams. Prust got Montreal on the board 19 seconds into the period when he converted a feed by White for his third goal of the season. The Sabres tied it at 8:35 when Ennis scored his second goal in as many games, one-timing a Christian Ehrhoff feed from the corner past Price for his sixth of the season. The Canadiens took control of the game when Plekanec and Galchenyuk scored 23 seconds apart late in the middle period. Plekanec took a feed in front from Prust and wired it top corner past Enroth at 17:44 for his 11th goal of the season, tied with Max Pacioretty for the team lead. Off the ensuing draw the Canadiens entered the Sabres zone and Plekanec fed Andrei Markov with a pass that was in his skates, but Markov kicked it up to his stick before feeding Galchenyuk with a beautiful pass through the slot for his eighth goal of the season at 18:07 to put Montreal ahead 3-1. Girgensons pulled the Sabres within a goal at 4:04 of the third on a great individual effort, with a little help from Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban. Ennis flipped the puck into the Montreal zone and it wound up in Subban's skates, where Girgensons picked it up, moved around Subban and deked past Price for his second goal of the season and of his career. The Sabres had a great opportunity to tie it when Subban was called for holding the stick at 11:08, but Buffalo's 25th-ranked power play could not get a shot on goal against Montreal's third-ranked penalty kill. The Sabres got only one more shot on goal the rest of the game.
Toronto @ Ottawa 4-3 SO - James Van Riemsdyk and Mason Raymond scored on both of the Toronto Maple Leafs' attempts in a 4-3 victory against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. Van Riemsdyk, who had a goal and two assists in regulation, put a backhander past Craig Anderson on Toronto's first attempt after James Reimer stopped Jason Spezza. He has scored on four of seven shootout attempts overall, including all three this season. Reimer then made a glove save on Milan Michalek before Raymond beat Anderson to end the game. Toronto's Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist to extend his points streak to six games, and defenseman Jake Gardiner scored his first goal in 20 months. Ottawa, which erased deficits of 1-0 and 3-1, scored twice in the third period to force overtime. Erik Condra scored at 2:23 to cut the lead to 3-2. Erik Karlsson tied it with a power-goal at 10:30. Gardiner put Toronto up 3-1 at 11:37 of the second period on a shot from the right faceoff dot that went through Senators defenseman Marc Methot's legs, with van Riemsdyk sprawled inside the net. The 23-year-old defenseman carried the puck from the left side, high along the Ottawa blue line and past Senators forwards Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris before making his way to the right circle. Just before Gardiner shot the puck, a delayed penalty was signaled on Methot, who argued in vain that he had not pushed van Riemsdyk into the goal. Van Riemsdyk extended his points streak to four games when he gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead 1:37 into the opening period. He beat Anderson with a backhand from the goalmouth after Karlsson was called for tripping at the 58-second mark. MacArthur got the Senators even with a power-play goal at 9:44. He scored 14 seconds after Toronto's Jay McClement was sent off for tripping. MacArthur has six goals and 11 points in his past 10 games. Referee Brian Pochmara, who had blown his whistle to stop play, immediately waved off an apparent goal by Spezza with 1.3 seconds left in the first period. Van Riemsdyk set up Kessel's goal on a 2-on-1 at 3:05 of the second after Ottawa center Zack Smith turned over the puck in the Maple Leafs' zone. Smith, who fell to the ice while losing the puck to van Riemsdyk, was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for embellishing his contact with Toronto's Nazem Kadri. Defenseman John-Michael Liles, who was recalled from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League on Friday, made his season debut for Toronto, which hosts the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
Florida @ Detroit 2-1 - Jonathan Huberdeau's goal 3:29 into the third period broke a tie and lifted the to a 2-1 victory against the Wings at Joe Louis Arena. Huberdeau snapped a 1-1 tie when he took a pass from Shawn Matthias to the right of goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, made a quick step to his right and whipped a backhander into the net for his seventh goal of the season. Tim Thomas, a native of Flint, Mich., stopped 22 shots to help the Panthers (9-16-5) win back-to-back games for the second time this season. He got a break when Drew Miller's shot with a little more than five minutes left in regulation hit the left post then made a good stop on Johan Franzen's spinning backhand. Dan Cleary had the goal for the Red Wings (15-9-7), who again played without forwards Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Gustavsson made 35 saves but lost in regulation for the first time in 10 decisions. He was 8-0-1. It was the second regulation victory for the Panthers in their 12 visits to Joe Louis Arena and their first since winning 4-2 on Dec. 1, 1996. They are 3-5-3-1 in Detroit since entering the NHL in 1993. The Red Wings fell to 5-6-6 at home this season. Detroit nearly scored in the game's first minute; Panthers forward Tomas Kopecky dove to knock away a loose puck just outside the crease an instant before Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey could put it into a wide-open net during a scramble. The Red Wings kept attacking and opened the scoring at 4:06. Justin Abdelkader drove down the right side and flung a bad-angled backhander Thomas stopped with his pad. But Cleary, who snuck unchecked down the left side, grabbed the rebound and fired it into a half-empty net for his second goal of the season and first since Oct. 14. Florida amped up its game in the second period, outshooting the Red Wings 17-5 and pulling even at 2:59 when Jimmy Hayes, acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks last month in the Kris Versteeg trade, poked a loose puck into the net. Gustavsson thought he had held Matthias' wrister from the lower left circle; however, the puck got away from him, Hayes found it and nudged it into the net for his third goal of the season. Hayes barely missed putting the Panthers ahead with a little less than three minutes remaining in the period when his backhander from the slot beat Gustavsson but clanked off the crossbar.
Winnipeg @ Tampa Bay 2-1 OT - Mark Scheifele tapped in a centering pass from Blake Wheeler 1:04 into overtime to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Tampa Bay Times Forum on Saturday night. Tampa Bay seemed to have the momentum after it battled back from an early 1-0 deficit. Alex Killorn almost won the game seconds before Scheifele's goal, but his breakaway shot hit the goal post. Tampa Bay had several good scoring chances in the third period and outshot the Jets 12-6, but Montoya kept the game tied. It took the Lightning (17-11-1) nearly all of the second period to even the score at 1-1, but they tied the score at 19:58. Nate Thompson, who had just been banished from the faceoff circle to Montoya's right, took a pass from Radko Gudas and whacked the puck into the net for his second goal of the season. Lindback kept the Lightning in the game earlier when he made a diving cross-crease stop on Dustin Setoguchi off a 2-on-1 rush. The Jets (14-13-4) jumped out to an early lead when Wheeler deflected a shot from Jacob Trouba over Lindback's shoulder at 5:25 of the opening period. It was Wheeler's seventh goal of the season and 100th of his career. Winnipeg dominated the first period, interrupting Tampa Bay's rushes and firing 15 shots on net to three for the Lightning. The Jets failed to convert on two power plays in the first and three in the game. Their power play is now in the midst of an 0-for-18 slump.
Nashville @ Washington 2-5 - Brouwer opened the scoring with his sixth goal of the season and his second at even strength at 6:44. Marek Mazanec (28 saves) made the initial save on Fehr's shot from the right half-wall, but could not swallow the rebound. Despite being tangled with Ryan Ellis in front, Brouwer was able to get enough on the puck for it to trickle past Mazanec's outstretched right leg and over the goal line. Washington received its first power play of the game at 13:06, and it took Ovechkin all of three seconds to extend the lead to 2-0 with his League-leading 22nd goal; he blew a slap shot past Mazanec off a clean faceoff victory by Nicklas Backstrom (two assists). Alzner's slap shot from the point, his first-ever goal at Verizon Center in his 148th career home game, gave the Capitals a 3-0 lead at 16:19, but it was short-lived. Josi responded with his first goal of the season in the waning moments of the period. After a scoreless second period, the Capitals and Predators exchanged goals within 23 seconds in the third. Schmidt scored his first career NHL goal at 3:29 before Nystrom answered with his fifth of the season at 3:53. Fehr then restored Washington's three-goal lead with a wrister at 14:50.
New Jersey @ NY Rangers 4-3 OT - Gelinas beat Henrik Lundqvist from the right point inside the right post 1:15 into OT to give the Devils a 4-3 victory. The Devils rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the second to take a 3-2 lead late in the third when Michael Ryder's wrist shot from the right circle beat Lundqvist through the five-hole, snapping a 2-2 tie. The Rangers pulled even when Chris Kreider scored off a backhand in the slot with 21.3 seconds left in regulation with his team on a 6-on-4 advantage with Lundqvist pulled and Travis Zajac in the penalty box for delay of game. On the OT winner, Gelinas took a cross-ice feed from Patrik Elias and wasted no time in firing home his third of the season. Rangers captain Ryan Callahan was given a double-minor for high-sticking defenseman Andy Greene 1:02 into overtime, giving Gelinas the chance to be the hero. Zajac's fifth goal of the season pulled the Devils into a 2-2 tie 5:58 into the third. Jagr made the play happen when he curled around the net while holding off defenseman Ryan McDonagh before unleashing a strong backhand that ricocheted off the pads of Lundqvist and right to Zajac. The assist was Jagr's first point in five games. Brodeur notched his 49th win in his 99th career game against the Rangers in what could turn out to be his last appearance at MSG. It's possible the 41-year-old Brodeur, who is in the final year of his contract, could call it a career at the end of the season. The next game between the Devils and Rangers will be at Yankee Stadium as part of the 2014 NHL Coors Light Stadium Series on Jan. 26. The Hudson River rivals have been separated by two goals or less in 17 of their past 24 games. The Devils pulled within 2-1 in the second when a pass by Tim Sestito in the left circle deflected off the skate of Cam Janssen in the crease and past Lundqvist (20 saves) at 6:02. After a brief review, the referee ruled that Janssen, who was off-balance, didn't deliberately kick the puck into the net. Brodeur was called upon to make a couple of big saves early in the third and the Rangers working the power play. He stopped Brad Richards at 3:33 and then denied a wrist shot by Rich Nash moments later. The Rangers lost defenseman Marc Staal 6:41 into the third after he took a shoulder to his upper body from rookie Reid Boucher. Staal immediately got up and stormed off the ice and didn't return. The Rangers took a 2-0 lead 57 seconds into the second when Mats Zuccarello blasted a long rebound past Brodeur from the left circle. Brad Richards extended his point scoring streak to six games in the first when he ripped a shot from the left circle at 3:32 of the first period.
Anaheim @ St Louis 5-2 - Cogliano opened the scoring 1:10 into the game when his centering feed to Saku Koivu caromed off the left skate of Blues defenseman Barret Jackman between Halak's skates. Perry's power-play goal came after a delay of game penalty to Alex Pietrangelo. Perry deflected Getzlaf's high shot from the slot past Halak at 5:36 for a 2-0 lead. After a David Backes turnover, Getzlaf chased Halak when his wrister from the right circle beat the goaltender at 7:29. Halak was replaced by Brian Elliott after allowing three goals on eight shots. Getzlaf has 10 goals and 10 assists in his past 13 games. In the Ducks' past 11 games, he has six goals and eight assists. Their captain missed three games with an upper-body injury that broke up his point streak. The Blues had a pair of four-minute power plays, one in each of the first two periods, but did not score. Vladimir Sobotka was high-sticked by Patrick Maroon, then again by Sami Vatanen. St. Louis had five shots during the first four-minute advantage but had none on the second. Bonino scored with 2:44 left in the second period to give the Ducks a 4-0 lead, getting a feed at the left side of the net from St. Louis native Maroon. Bonino has 10 points in his past nine games. Schwartz got the Blues on the board 1:18 into the third period when he jammed in T.J. Oshie's wraparound pass to the left post to cut the Ducks' lead to 4-1. Schwartz has nine points in eight of the past nine games (four goals, five assists). The assist was Oshie's seventh point in seven games (six assists). Berglund's first goal in 23 games cut the Ducks' lead to 4-2 when he got behind the defense and went in alone on Andersen, beating the Anaheim goalie high stick side at 6:38 of the third. It extended the Blues' streak of scoring two or more goals on home ice to 22 games dating to last season. Anaheim's Mark Fistric scored an empty-net goal with 1:48 remaining.
Calgary @ Edmonton 2-1 OT - Flames center Jiri Hudler was battling a case of the flu and was questionable for the game against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. Hudler did not make the trip to Edmonton with the team, instead flying in on his own a few hours before the game. He went on to score at 3:14 of overtime to lift the Flames to a 2-1 win at Rexall Place. Hudler found a bouncing puck at the side of the net and beat Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk to give the Flames the win. Calgary came within 10.1 seconds of winning in regulation, but Taylor Hall scored to deny goaltender Reto Berra his first NHL shutout. Lee Stempniak scored the opening goal of the game at 16:00 of the first period. It appeared as the goal would stand up as the winner before Hall scored late, getting the puck alone at the side of the net following a scramble in front. Playing the second of back-to-back games, the Flames took the lead with a play that started in their own end. Matt Stajan outbattled David Perron just inside the blue line, then beat Andrew Ference to the puck and tipped it to Stempniak, allowing him to go in unmolested on Dubnyk. The Oilers had a couple of chances to tie the game late in the first period on the power play. Jordan Eberle fired a shot off the crossbar before Perron hit the post with six seconds left. In the second period, Oilers defenseman Jeff Petry was forced to leave the contest after being sandwiched along the boards by Flames forwards Sven Baertschi and David Jones. Petry slammed his head into the glass on the play. He left the game with a head injury and did not return. Neither team generated many chances in the period, although the Oilers came close in the last minute. Ales Hemsky tipped a Ference point shot that Berra was able to smother. Perron managed to get a shot off as time was winding down following a faceoff, forcing Berra to make another good save. In the third, the Flames managed to keep things tight defensively until Hall found himself alone after the Oilers pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker.
NY Islanders @ Los Angeles 0-3 - Jones made 16 saves and Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Tyler Toffoli scored as the Kings improved to 10-1-4 in their past 15 games; excluding shootout goals, L.A. has held opponents to two goals or fewer in every game of that stretch. Jones didn't have a ton of work as the Islanders had 11 shots through 45 minutes and finished with 16, matching their season low. Jones also didn't get much offensive support early as the Kings' power play extended its drought to 0 for 29. But he is 2-0-0 in his NHL career. What wasn't a mystery was how the Kings shook off a flat start and used their clamp-down defense and penalty-killing to make Jones' life easier. L.A. has killed 46 of the past 49 opposition power play and 53 of 57. Brown made it 2-0 when he scored on a wraparound at 10:37 of the third period. Justin Williams chipped the puck behind the net and Jarret Stoll sent a pass between his skates to a cutting Brown, who scored his second goal in as many games. Toffoli added an empty-net goal. The Islanders are in a nine-game winless streak (0-7-2), their longest since they dropped 14 in a row from Oct.23-Nov. 24, 2010. They have also lost nine straight on the road, all in regulation, their longest such streak since Dec. 20, 1998-Jan. 16, 1999. Los Angeles appeared headed down that path again until Kopitar provided the jump-start L.A. needed with his highlight-reel goal in the second period. Kopitar collected a terrific outlet pass up the right boards from Alec Martinez, cut left on defenseman Travis Hamonic and roofed a shot past goalie Kevin Poulin at 12:08 for his eighth goal. The play started when Michael Grabner whiffed on a shot in the Kings' end. The Islanders had at least three great scoring opportunities prior to Kopitar's goal. Thomas Vanek fanned on John Tavares' cross-crease feed and couldn't backhand in the loose puck during a power play, and Josh Bailey backhanded the puck off the post on a breakaway despite taking a high stick from Jake Muzzin. Casey Cizikas also missed a partial shorthanded partial breakaway early in the second. The Islanders played a fairly solid opening road period but couldn't finish on some quality chances. The Kings came out flat, committed 12 giveaways in the first 20 minutes and didn't generate much offense. Sutter was apparently concerned enough to put Mike Richards and Jeff Carter back together, with Kopitar, before he changed them back.
No comments:
Post a Comment