Columbus @ NY Rangers 4-2 - Blue Jackets forward Artem Anisimov admitted to feeling weird about being back in Madison Square Garden, where he played his home games during his first three NHL seasons. Once the puck dropped Thursday, Anisimov made himself right at home. In his first game here since being dealt to Columbus in the 2012 trade that sent Rick Nash to the New York Rangers, Anisimov scored, Mike McKenna made 17 saves in relief, and the Blue Jackets defeated the Rangers 4-2. Matt Calvert, David Savard and Ryan Johansen scored for Columbus, and Curtis McElhinney made 15 saves before leaving with a lower-body injury after the first period. Dominic Moore and Dan Girardi scored for the Rangers. Cam Talbot made 13 saves in relief of Henrik Lundqvist, who was pulled 11:10 into the game after stopping 10 of 13 shots. Anisimov gave Columbus a 2-0 lead 8:46 into the first period after Rangers defenseman Dylan McIlrath drew a delayed penalty in the offensive zone and Blue Jackets forward Blake Comeau led a 3-on-1 rush against Rangers defenseman John Moore. Comeau stopped near the Rangers crease, waited, and fed Anisimov, who beat Lundqvist, who was down and out of position. Columbus (14-15-3) scored 38 seconds into the game. Cam Atkinson fed a streaking Calvert, who burned by Anton Stralman down the left wing before wiring a quick shot past Lundqvist's outstretched glove for his fourth of the season. Atkinson, who grew up in Connecticut 40 miles from New York City, estimated he had 30 family members and between 20 and 30 close friends in attendance. The Blue Jackets chased Lundqvist 2:24 later when R.J. Umberger outworked two Rangers on the half-wall before feeding the puck toward the slot. It ended up bouncing to Savard, whose wrist shot went through a crowd in front before deflecting off Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto and inside the far post for Savard's first of the season. New York coach Alain Vigneault then decided to bring in Talbot. Brad Richards' slap shot from the point was stopped by the goalie. But the puck rebounded past Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno in the crease straight to Dominic Moore, who deposited a backhand into the open net to make it 3-1 on his first of the season with 5:52 remaining, one second after a penalty to Fedor Tyutin expired. Columbus made their goaltending switch to start the second, then put defensive clamps on New York in the third, holding the Rangers to three shots in the first 11 minutes. Dan Girardi made it 3-2 on New York's fourth shot. With the teams playing 4-on-4, Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello skated down the left wing before finding the trailing defenseman, who beat McKenna to the glove side for his second of the season with 9:53 remaining. That goal by Johansen came with 92 seconds remaining. With Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh pinching at the blue line, Johansen tipped the puck ahead and sped toward Talbot. The goaltender got part of the shot, but the puck trickled behind him for Johansen's team-leading 11th of the season. New York had a quality opportunity to cut the lead in the second period when Brandon Dubinsky, also sent to Columbus in the Nash trade and making his return to the Garden, was penalized two minutes for high-sticking McIlrath with 6:36 remaining. He was then issued another high-sticking minor 27 seconds after leaving the box. The Rangers had two shots on the back-to-back power plays.
Montreal @ Philadelphia 1-2 - Raffl showcased his skills at 13:57 of the first period. Giroux beat Tomas Plekanec on a faceoff on the left side of the Montreal zone and then found the puck in a scrum and dumped it behind the Canadiens net to Voracek. He walked in front and found Raffl above the hashmarks. Raffl settled the puck and sent a wrist shot past Price. Flyers coach Craig Berube switched Raffl and Scott Hartnell, shifting the Austrian rookie from left wing on the second line to the top line. Berube said Raffl earned a shot on the first line based on strong recent play. Giroux made it 2-0 halfway through the second period on a play that started with a nice pass by defenseman Erik Gustafsson to Brayden Schenn to turn the play toward the Montreal zone. Schenn skated the puck through the middle of the ice and passed to the left side for Voracek. Four Montreal skaters turned to follow Voracek, who whipped a cross-ice pass to Giroux. The Flyers captain got the puck in the right circle and fired a wrister past Price at 9:43. The Canadiens finally got on the board with 55.1 seconds left in the third on Galchenyuk's ninth goal of the season, which came with Price on the bench for an extra attacker. Nicklas Grossmann stopped a backhand attempt by Canadiens captain Brian Gionta, but Grossmann's clearing pass went right to Galchenyuk in the left circle. Galchenyuk sent the puck back on net through a screen, and while Mason stopped the shot, the puck found space between the goalie's left arm and his body. It dropped on the goal line before trickling across. The Galchenyuk goal was the only mistake Mason made as he snapped a personal two-game winless skid. His best save came on a Brendan Gallagher attempt with 6:48 left in the second period. Galchenyuk raced the puck down the left side and centered to a driving Gallagher, who tipped the puck on net, but Mason went post to post to get his left pad on the shot as Gallagher ran into him. The Canadiens nearly broke through with 6:35 left in the third period when Galchenyuk's shot from the left side got between Mason's arm and his body and dropped into the crease. Gionta dove for the puck and pushed it into the net, but referees immediately waved off the goal, ruling Gionta directed the puck into the net with his glove. Replay review upheld the call. The Canadiens had to play the final minutes of the second period and all of the third without defenseman Alexei Emelin, who was assessed a five-minute major for elbowing and a game misconduct for a hit on the Flyers' Steve Downie at 16:15 of the second period. Downie remained on the ice for several moments after the hit and then skated slowly off the ice under his own power, with Flyers trainer Jim McCrossin walking next to him. Downie played nine shifts in the third period.
Buffalo @ Ottawa 1-2 - Tyler Ennis tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal in the first period for the Sabres, who fell to 0-20-0 when trailing after two. Ryan Miller made 30 saves. Ryan redirected Turris' centering pass into an open net at 9:22 of the first period to put Ottawa up 1-0. Ennis tied it at 17:39. He came out from behind the net and beat Anderson between the legs for his seventh goal, third in his past four games. Smith restored the Senators' lead at 6:39 of the second when he beat Miller on a rebound of Turris' shot from the left corner. Ceci made his NHL debut and led the Senators with 7:22 of ice time in the first period. The 6-foot-3, 209-pound defenseman finished with 20:40 and was among the penalty killers in the final minutes after Milan Michalek was sent off for holding at 17:57 of the third. Ottawa defenseman Jared Cowen served the first game of his two-game suspension for his hit to the head of Buffalo's Zemgus Girgensons on Tuesday. The Sabres put the puck in the net first at 2:10, but that apparent goal was immediately waved off because left wing John Scott was called for goaltender interference. Shortly before Ennis tied it, Anderson stuck out his right pad to deny Steve Ott's shot on a breakaway at 17:01. The goalie made another right-pad save on Luke Adam's scoring chance early in the second, moments after he gloved a shot from the slot by Ennis.
Detroit @ Tampa Bay 1-2 SO - St. Louis skated down the right side, cut toward the middle and beat Gustavsson with a wrist shot. Bishop ended the game by denying Johan Franzen's wrister, giving the Lightning back-to-back victories against the Red Wings for the first time in franchise history. Tampa Bay won 3-2 in overtime at Detroit on Nov. 9. The Lightning are 7-24-2-1 all-time against the Red Wings. Nikita Kucherov scored Tampa Bay's only goal and tied the game when he took advantage of a screen in front of Gustavsson to score from the slot with 46 seconds left in the second period. It was his third goal of the season and second in as many games. Until Kucherov's goal, the period was notable for the scoring chances that weren't converted. St. Louis broke in alone on Gustavsson but fired wide left. Moments later Bishop stopped Drew Miller's shot from point-blank range and finished the period with a diving cross-crease pad save on Daniel Alfredsson after Alfredsson had taken a pass from Pavel Datsyuk. Detroit defenseman Kyle Quincey scored his first goal in 51 games at 15:04 of the first period to put the Red Wings ahead. Quincey backhanded a shot from the high slot that Bishop failed to catch cleanly. When the puck hit the ice to his left, Bishop lost sight of it; Quincey followed his shot and tapped the puck into the net for his first goal since Feb. 27.
Toronto @ St Louis 3-6 - First-period dominance has been a missing ingredient from the St. Louis Blues' arsenal lately. Thursday night was an exception, as the Blues scored three times en route to a 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scottrade Center. The Blues entered the night No. 1 in the NHL in second-period goal differential at plus-16, and in third-period goal differential at plus-17. But they were even in the first period through 29 games after being outscored 9-1 in the opening period in their past five. Now they're plus-3. The Blues (21-6-3) scored three times in the first period against Toronto, getting goals from David Backes, Jaden Schwartz and Derek Roy. The Blues, who pride themselves on puck pursuit and being able to keep possession of the puck based off their forecheck, were just too much for the Maple Leafs to handle in their second game in as many nights. Schwartz had a goal and two assists for his second career three-point game. Linemate Chris Stewart had a goal and an assist, and center Vladimir Sobotka had two assists as the Blues' second line finished with seven points. Schwartz, the 14th pick in the 2010 NHL Draft, has 12 points in 11 games. Backes scored twice, including an empty-netter, giving him 15 goals this season. Alexander Steen also had a goal, his 22nd, and an assist. The win was the Blues' 13th on home ice (13-2-2), which ties them for most in the League with the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and Minnesota Wild. The Blues are 47-0-1 on home ice when scoring three or more goals dating back to March 12, 2011, when they lost 5-3 to the Detroit Red Wings. The Maple Leafs (16-14-3), who got goals from Nazem Kadri, Nikolai Kulemin and James van Riemsdyk, fell to 2-6-2 in their past 10 games. They haven't won in regulation in 12 straight games dating back to Nov. 19. The Blues' three-goal outburst in the first period chased starting goalie James Reimer after 16:10 and 12 saves on 15 shots. It marked the seventh time this season a starting goaltender was pulled from a game against the Blues. St. Louis outshot Toronto 16-7 in the first. Backes took a pass from Steen, who spent the first three-plus seasons of his career with Toronto, and one-timed a shot from the right circle over Reimer's left shoulder 4:48 into the game to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. Reimer lost his stick attempting to play a puck headed to the corner and Schwartz made him pay when he scored on a second-chance attempt at 12:59 to make it 2-0. Reimer made an initial save with his left pad, but without a stick, he was helpless on the rebound. Stewart beat Mark Fraser behind the Toronto net and fed Roy in the left circle, and Roy ripped a one-timer into the top short-side corner at 16:10. That was it for Reimer, who was replaced by Jonathan Bernier, the starter against the Kings. Bernier stopped 18 of 20 shots in relief. The teams traded goals in the second period. Stewart put the Blues up 4-0 at 29 seconds when Sobotka found Stewart in the left circle for a one-timer that beat Bernier. Kadri got one back when his shot from the left circle got past a screened Brian Elliott (19 saves) at 1:45. Steen's snap shot from the slot off a feed by T.J. Oshie beat Bernier 7:04 into the third period to give the Blues a 5-1 lead. It was Oshie's fifth assist in the past four games. Steen has nine points in nine games. Kulemin's third of the season came off a shot from the high slot that beat Elliott high to the glove side with 5:30 remaining in the third and made it 5-2. The Leafs made it a bit interesting late when van Riemsdyk got credit for a goal after Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo kicked the puck into his own goal with 3:08 remaining to make it 5-3. Backes' empty-netter with 29.2 seconds remaining sealed the game.
Carolina @ Calgary 1-2 OT - Less than a dozen hours after the team's president of hockey operations, Brian Burke, dismissed general manager Jay Feaster and assistant GM John Weisbrod in the morning, the Flames responded Thursday night with a 2-1 overtime victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at Scotiabank Saddledome. With 3.6 seconds remaining in overtime, defenseman Chris Butler sailed a puck over Carolina goalie Justin Peters' shoulder to give the Flames the win, snapping Calgary's two-game losing skid on home ice. It was Butler's second goal of the season. In his press conference Thursday morning, Burke, who will serve as interim GM, challenged his team to play a more aggressive style and stressed the importance of holding onto late-game leads, both things that have been missing from the Flames in recent weeks. The Flames took a 1-0 lead into the third on Brian McGrattan's first goal in 30 games. But Carolina's Jeff Skinner ran the total to 14 third-period goals allowed in the past nine home games, taking a cross-slot pass from Tuomo Ruutu and sliding it between the legs of goalie Karri Ramo to tie the game with 8:50 remaining in regulation. Skinner couldn't make it 15 despite two chances with a little more than five minutes remaining in the third. Despite being hooked by Flames defenseman Ladislav Smid while going in alone on a breakaway, the Hurricanes forward got a shot off that Ramo blockered away. He was awarded a penalty shot but was denied by Ramo a second time to keep the game tied. The Flames played the physical game Burke preached in his morning press conference during the first period when they outhit Carolina 9-6, including Giordano's big hit on Hurricanes forward Elias Lindholm near the Calgary bench, forcing the 19-year-old out the game after four shifts. The Hurricanes had a few chances to open the scoring about halfway through the first period. Skinner cruised into the zone and forced Ramo to make a quick pad save, and Eric Staal dropped a pass through the slot to Ruutu, but he couldn't beat the glove of the Flames goalie, who made 10 first-period saves. The Flames tried to jump-start their offense with five minutes remaining in the first. Lee Stempniak worked a give-and-go with Matt Stajan off the goal line, but Peters handled the chance for one of his nine saves in the period. With 2:11 remaining in the second period, McGrattan chased down a dump-in and stole Peters' clearing attempt before centering it into the slot from his knees. The pass couldn't be converted, but Lance Bouma tracked down the puck and found McGrattan back in the slot, and he slid a shot under Peters' pads to give the Flames a 1-0 lead. McGrattan's goal came after Justin Faulk's shot from the slot beat Ramo but struck both posts and stayed out, starting the sequence that led to McGrattan's first of the season. It was the second time in the period that Carolina caught iron. Skinner's shot hit the crossbar seven seconds shy of the game's midway mark.
Boston @ Edmonton 4-2 - Dennis Seidenberg and Brad Marchand also scored for the Bruins in the first period as Boston took a 3-0 lead and hung on for the win. David Perron scored both goals for the Oilers. Playing in his 90th game against the Oilers, Iginla scored his 35th and 36th goals against his hometown club. The longtime Flames captain had plenty of support in the crowd. Seidenberg opened the scoring at 10:25 of the first period on a gift from Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk, who let a long, unobstructed wrist shot from the blue line get past him. Prior to the goal, Dubnyk had made a number of key saves to keep the Bruins off the board. Iginla increased the Bruins' lead at 16:11, taking a pass from Seidenberg off a cycle in the corner and firing a shot from the top of the circle and through a screen past Dubnyk. Marchand scored a shorthanded goal at 18:17 to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead. The Bruins left wing broke out with Patrice Bergeron on a 2-on-1 rush after Oilers defenseman Philip Larsen gave the puck away at the blue line. Bergeron slipped the puck past Larsen on a slow-developing play, giving Marchand an open net to shoot at. Dubnyk was replaced by Jason LaBarbera, who had not played an NHL game since he allowed five goals in a loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 26. LaBarbera didn't get much work to start the second, as it took the Bruins more than eight minutes to register a shot in the period. He finished with 12 saves. Perron cut into the lead at 3:25 when his shot appeared to hit Seidenberg's stick and sailed past Johnson. Johnson got the start over No. 1 goalie Tuukka Rask, who was battling the flu. Rask did dress as the backup. Perron added another for the Oilers at 17:25 to make the score 3-2. The Oilers left wing had a centering pass from Jordan Eberle bounce off his stick and behind the Bruins net. Perron gave chase and was able to fight off Bergeron with one arm and wrap the puck around and past Johnson with the other. The Oilers (11-19-3) took the play to the Bruins in the third period, outshooting them 13-3, but were unable to beat Johnson, who had battled the flu himself earlier in the week. Iginla sealed the victory with an empty-net goal at 19:16.
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