NY Rangers @ Buffalo 3-1 - Brad Richards' power-play goal at 8:29 of the third period made it 2-0 and proved to be the game-winner. The Rangers had the man advantage after Cody Hodgson was called for tripping Rick Nash following his breakaway chance that was stopped by Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Hodgson tried to slip the puck by on the backhand, but Lundqvist came up with a quick leg save to keep the Sabres scoreless. Richards wound up with the puck to the left of Sabres goalie Ryan Miller and lifted a sharp-angled shot into the net for his eighth of the season and a 2-0 lead. Nash opened the scoring at 17:47 of the first period. He skated past Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers and broke in on Miller. Nash used a deke to get Miller moving to the far post and reached back to slip the puck inside the near post for his fifth goal of the season. The goal was the ninth of Nash's career in 14 games against the Sabres. Buffalo has allowed the first goal in 24 of its 29 games. Zuccarello made it 3-0 at 14:47 of the third period when he got past defenseman Henrik Tallinder and his wrist shot beat Miller under his glove. It was his fifth goal of the season. The Sabres spoiled Lundqvist's shutout with 2:06 to play when Tyler Ennis scored his fifth goal of the season.
Boston @ Montreal 1-2 - Max Pacioretty scored his ninth goal in his past nine games and Carey Price made it stand up with 32 saves to propel the streaking Canadiens to a 2-1 win against the Boston Bruins on Thursday. Tomas Plekanec also scored for the Canadiens (18-9-3), who improved to 8-0-1 in their past nine games and 10-1-2 in their past 13 by beating the Bruins (18-8-2) for the fourth straight time dating to last season. The Bruins had a 1-0 lead after one period before being outshot 18-7 and outscored 2-0 in the second. The Canadiens moved past the Bruins atop the Atlantic Division standings by one point, but Boston holds two games in hand. It was the fifth straight game between these teams in which first place in the division was at stake. The Bruins lost defenseman Johnny Boychuk to an injury at 4:28 of the first period when he was hit by Pacioretty and taken off the ice on a stretcher. Boychuk was battling with Pacioretty for a puck along the end boards in the Montreal zone when Pacioretty checked him. Boychuk immediately went down and remained on all fours for several minutes before being immobilized and wheeled off the ice after a 10-minute delay. Pacioretty was assessed a minor penalty for boarding. Boychuk was taken to Montreal General Hospital for observation, able to move his extremities before he left, and returned to Bell Centre in time to travel back to Boston with the team for further evaluation. The loss of Boychuk hurt the Bruins, already missing defenseman Adam McQuaid with a lower-body injury and forced to play with five defensemen the rest of the way. But Julien disregarded the impact of that on the outcome. The game began with some intensity as each team looked to set the pace in the first meeting of the season between the longtime rivals. But the injury to Boychuk and the long delay as he received medical attention appeared to cut that momentum and led to a scattered first period. The Bruins opened the scoring on a play that fit that rhythm. A lob clearing attempt by Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov was kicked forward at the Boston blue line by Dennis Seidenberg to a streaking Milan Lucic, who entered the Montreal zone with speed and split Markov and P.K. Subban before feeding Campbell for his second goal of the season at 17:35. The Bruins controlled play in the first, outshooting the Canadiens 10-3, but Montreal came roaring back in the second period to score twice and take the lead. Plekanec tied the game at 9:16 when his sharp-angled shot went under Rask's left arm for his 10th goal of the season. Pacioretty made it 2-1 by finding a rebound loose in the slot and beating a scrambling Rask with a backhand at 17:42 for his team-leading 11th goal of the season.
Ottawa @ Tampa Bay 1-3 - Valtteri Filppula scored his 10th goal at 10:56 of the third period when he intercepted a pass inside the Lightning blue line and took the puck all the way by himself, finishing with a wrist shot that beat Ottawa goalie Robin Lehner to the stick side. Ottawa, trailing by one goal, began the second period aggressively, firing 10 shots in the first eight minutes of the period before finally getting one past Bishop to tie the game at 1-1. With Lightning defenseman Keith Aulie in the penalty box for interference, Patrick Wiercioch scored his first goal of the season on a turnaround shot from the high slot that beat Bishop to his right. Kyle Turris got the only assist. The second period ended with Ottawa (11-14-4) outshooting Tampa Bay 18-7. It was Bishop's strong goaltending that allowed the Lightning to escape the period with a 2-1 advantage. Tampa Bay started the game slowly, not generating its second shot on goal until 11:22 had elapsed in the opening period. The Lightning (17-10-1) did manage to get on the board first. After shooting wide left on a breakaway, St. Louis stood his ground in front of the Ottawa net and popped a centering pass from Palat under Lehner's glove for the first goal of the game. It was St. Louis' first point in four games. The goal also snapped a scoring drought of 137:19 for Tampa Bay. St. Louis' second goal of the game came at 13:19 of the second period, and it was a mirror image of the first. Once again, it was a pass from Palat from behind the net to St. Louis, who was waiting alone in front of the crease to put Tampa Bay back into the lead to stay. Tampa Bay's already-depleted roster sustained two more losses in the game, bringing to nine the number of players out with injuries. Aulie fractured his hand and will have surgery Friday, and Victor Hedman left in the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Although Hedman is day-to-day, Cooper expressed doubt that the defenseman would be ready when the Lightning host the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
Winnipeg @ Florida 2-5 - Andrew Ladd opened the scoring 5:27 into the game with an easy tap-in after Thomas stopped Blake Wheeler's shot from the wing and Bryan Little centered a pass from the side of the net. Gudbranson used a little finesse and a little brute strength to be the driving force behind the two goals that turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead the Panthers would never relinquish. He tied the score 1-1 at 14:02 of the first period with a blistering slap shot from the top of the right circle. He then picked up the second assist when Olsen gave Florida a 2-1 lead at 3:31 of the second period. Gudbranson delivered a big check on Jets defenseman Tobias Enstrom behind the Florida net, then pushed the puck forward to start a 3-on-2 rush while two Winnipeg players shoved him to show their displeasure with the hit. Scottie Upshall fed a cross-ice pass to Olsen, who fired a wrist shot from the slot that beat Ondrej Pavelec high to the stick side. After Olsen's goal, Fleischmann made it 3-1 at 17:59 of the second when he stood in front of the net and put home the rebound of Weaver's wrist shot from the point. It was Fleischmann's first goal since Nov. 2, when he scored against the Washington Capitals. The second assist on Fleischmann's goal went to Kulikov, who was back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch Tuesday against Ottawa. The Panthers also welcomed back veteran forward Tomas Kopecky, who missed five games because of an upper-body injury. Bjugstad made it 4-1 at 5:37 of the third period, eight seconds after the end of a power play. Upshall's tip of Gilbert's shot went just wide, but Bjugstad retrieved the puck behind the net and his wraparound attempt as he fell to the ice bounced off Pavelec and into the net. Olli Jokinen, who turned 35 on Thursday, scored at 12:45 when he one-timed Devin Setoguchi's pass from behind the net. The Jets kept up the pressure after Jokinen's goal and Chris Thorburn hit the post about a minute later. Acquired in the trade that sent Kris Versteeg to Chicago on Nov. 14, Olsen was playing in his 33rd NHL game. Hayes, the other prospect acquired in the Versteeg trade, scored his second goal in a Panthers uniform when he made it 5-2 with 2:44 left in regulation.
NY Islanders @ St Louis 1-5 - The Blues power play won handily, scoring three times on its first four opportunities, including goals by Derek Roy and David Backes on back-to-back shots in the second period of a 5-1 victory at Scottrade Center. After consecutive losses to the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings, the Blues turned to a unit that's been a huge weapon in the first quarter of the season. Jay Bouwmeester and Roy each scored a power-play goal and had an assist, Kevin Shattenkirk had two assists (giving him four points in two games), and T.J. Oshie had two assists for the Blues (19-5-3). St. Louis tied the Boston Bruins with the most home victories; the Blues are 12-1-2 on home ice. The Islanders (8-16-5) had the better of the play to open the second period and got a game-tying power-play goal from defenseman Andrew MacDonald, who beat a screened Jaroslav Halak. But Roy and Backes scored 2:31 apart to give the Blues the lead. Roy, who had the Blues' first shot on goal in the second period at 6:59, deflected Shattenkirk's shot from the right point, stayed with the puck and roofed the go-ahead goal past Anders Nilsson at 7:02. Backes scored his 13th of the season on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle, with Oshie screening, at 9:33 to make it 3-1. Magnus Paajarvi scored the first even-strength goal at 14:59 of the second period, taking a Patrik Berglund pass and sweeping it past Nilsson from tight quarters to make it 4-1. Bouwmeester scored the lone goal of the first period, a power-play goal on a shot from the point past a screened Nilsson, who couldn't see around Jaden Schwartz at 11:47. The Islanders' best chance came on a 4-on-4 play, with Michael Grabner hitting the crossbar after getting past Alexander Steen. Blues forward Brenden Morrow crashed the net and banged home Roy's backhand saucer feed from the right boards at 13:19 of the third period to make it 5-1. Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo momentarily left the game after blocking a MacDonald one-timer in the first period, and Halak was bleeding from the mouth after a John Tavares shot hit the goalie in the mask early in the second. Pietrangelo returned to the game, and Halak stayed in.
Carolina @ Nashville 5-2 - Justin Faulk's goal 23 seconds into the game gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead, but it took a second-period rally for Carolina to leave Nashville with a win. Mike Fisher tied the game when he tipped defenseman Victor Bartley's slap shot past Carolina goalie Justin Peters 50 seconds into the second period, and Viktor Stalberg gave the Predators a short-lived lead 1:51 later when his backhander on a rebound of a Nick Spaling shot snuck past Peters and inside the left goal post. Carolina responded with four unanswered goals, including two in the second period by Skinner, who sealed the game with an empty-netter with 2:07 left in the third period. Faulk scored his second of the season on the game's first shot, a wrister from the right wall that beat Nashville goalie Marek Mazanec under his glove. The teams combined for nine first-period shots. Skinner tied it 2-2 at 6:11 of the second period. The Hurricanes left wing beat Mazanec under his glove with a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle for his seventh goal of the season. Carolina (12-12-5) took the lead when Riley Nash scored on the power play with a wrist shot through Mazanec's five-hole at 11:51. It was Nash's second goal of the season. Skinner's slap shot from the right circle with less than 52 seconds left in the second extended Carolina's lead to 4-2. The empty-net goal gave Skinner his first career hat trick. Carolina lost three players to injury Thursday. Defenseman Mike Komisarek left the game in the first period and forward Drayson Bowman early in the third, each with a lower-body injury. Forward Patrick Dwyer took one shift in the third period after taking a high stick to the face from Stalberg late in the second period. Carter Hutton replaced Mazanec in the Nashville goal to start the third period. Mazanec allowed four goals on 13 shots; Hutton stopped all nine shots he faced.
Colorado @ Edmonton 2-8 - Taylor Hall scored the fourth hat trick of his career Thursday night, leading his team to an 8-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Rexall Place. Hall scored a pair of goals in the first period and picked up his third with 11 seconds left in the game. Ales Hemsky, David Perron, Mark Arcobello, Jordan Eberle and Sam Gagner also scored for the Oilers, and Ryan Smyth collected three assists. Nick Holden and PA Parenteau scored for the Avalanche. The Oilers got off to a quick start, scoring three goals in the first period, after making three changes to the lineup. They called up defensemen Martin Marincin and Corey Potter and center Anton Lander from their American Hockey League affiliate in Oklahoma City. After opening the scoring on a breakaway at 3:44, Hall and Hemsky scored within 15 seconds of each other on the power play to give the Oilers control of the contest. Hall put the Oilers up 2-0 at 17:42, one-timing a Justin Schultz pass over goaltender Semyon Varlamov. The goal came on the tail end of an extended two-man advantage. Hemsky then scored at 17:57, taking a pass from Smyth in front and getting around Varlamov. Prior to their two-man advantage at the end of the first period, the Oilers killed off a 1:14 two-man penalty of their own. The Avalanche had to play without Jan Hejda for the majority of the game after the defenseman left with a leg injury after crashing into the boards midway through the first period. In the second period, Holden cut into the Edmonton lead at 4:20 when his shot bounced in past Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk off Nail Yakupov's skate. The goal initially was credited to Nathan MacKinnon, who was battling for position in front of the Oilers net, but the scoring was changed on review. Parenteau cut the lead to 3-2 at 9:28, picking up a rebound in front of Dubnyk, skating around the goaltender and putting it into an empty net. Dubnyk had made the initial save on Gabriel Landeskog, but had the rebound get away from him, allowing Parenteau to gobble it up. Perron scored at 12:06 of the second to give the Oilers a two-goal cushion heading into the third. The Oilers blew the game open in the third, starting with Arcobello's goal at 8:55 of the period. Arcobello took a pass from Smyth in front and lifted a shot over Varlamov to make it 5-2. Eberle scored the Oilers' sixth goal at 15:19, also converting a feed from Smyth. Gagner scored the seventh at 18:30, before Hall picked up his hat trick at 19:49.
No comments:
Post a Comment