Boston @ Buffalo 2-4 - Drew Stafford's wraparound goal at 14:19 of the third period broke a tie and helped give the Buffalo Sabres a 4-2 win against the Boston Bruins at First Niagara Center on Thursday. Stafford scored his third goal of the season when he skated deep into the Bruins' zone and beat goalie Chad Johnson to the far post. Brian Flynn gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead when he scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 16:27 of the first period. Flynn got the puck when Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk couldn't keep it in the zone at the blue line. Flynn poked the puck past Boychuk, raced in and put a backhander behind Johnson. Bruins forward Brad Marchand scored a shorthanded goal to tie the game at 1:50 of the second period. Marchand skated in on a 2-on-1 with Patrice Bergeron against defenseman Jamie McBain. Marchand didn't look to pass and beat goalie Ryan Miller for his second shorthanded goal of the season, tying him for the NHL lead. Marchand's second of the game 1:14 later gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead. He took a slap shot from the faceoff circle that beat Miller over the shoulder into the top corner. The goals were Marchand's sixth and seventh of the season. Marcus Foligno tied the game 2-2 when he scored off a rebound of a McBain shot at 17:11. The shot deflected into Foligno's chest at the side of the net, and he put it past Johnson untouched. It was Foligno's fifth goal of the season and marked the first time in his career he's scored goals in back-to-back games. Stafford's goal made it 3-2, and 1:20 later Tyler Myers scored his third goal of the season with an assist from Foligno to put the Sabres ahead by two. Sabres forward Cody Hodgson left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return. Hodgson's last shift came at 14:12 and lasted eight seconds before he headed off the ice.
Columbus @ Philadelphia 4-5 - The Flyers' fortunes have changed in a big way during the past six weeks. That was evident Thursday night when they scored three times in the final 4:39 of regulation for a come-from-behind 5-4 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus led 4-2 after Blake Comeau's goal at 5:22 of the third, but the Flyers scored three in a row, capped by captain Claude Giroux's tying and game-winning goals in a 2:08 span. The winner came in spectacular fashion as Giroux, positioned to the left of the Blue Jackets net, controlled the rebound of a Mark Streit shot and, as he was falling to the ice, somehow roofed a backhander over Columbus goalie Curtis McElhinney's glove and under the crossbar with 1:38 remaining. Jakub Voracek had a goal and two assists, and Braydon Coburn and Erik Gustafsson also scored to help the Flyers extend their home win streak to eight games and move into third place in the Metropolitan Division. Comeau, Cam Atkinson, Jack Skille and Nick Foligno scored for the Blue Jackets. McElhinney, in his first game back after missing two with a lower-body injury, allowed five goals on 39 shots. Giroux supplied most of the help. The Flyers went into the third period trailing 3-0, but the captain started the run with a nice play behind the Columbus net, kicking a rebound away from Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin. He took the puck into the corner to the left of the Columbus net and then backhanded a pass to Voracek, who was behind the goal. Voracek skated out into the bottom of the right circle and beat McElhinney to the far side at 4:20 of the third. Just 1:02 after Voracek got the Flyers on the board, Coburn pulled them within one when his off-balance shot from the blue line got past McElhinney at 5:22. It was the defenseman's first goal in 25 games. A miscommunication by Hartnell and defenseman Nicklas Grossmann allowed Artem Anisimov to get a puck alone behind the Philadelphia net. He made a quick pass in front to Comeau, who scored at 8:35 to push the Blue Jackets' lead back to two. Rather than sink, the Flyers began their comeback. It started when the Flyers took advantage of a delayed penalty on the Blue Jackets. Giroux carried the puck into the Columbus zone and dropped a pass for Wayne Simmonds, whose shot hit the skate of a Blue Jackets player and went to Gustafsson alone in front for his second goal of the season at 15:21. Giroux tied the game 53 seconds later when he beat McElhinney to a loose puck in the crease. Michael Raffl deflected a Voracek shot off the post behind McElhinney, and Giroux got his stick under the goaltender's arm as he reached back and Giroux shoved it over the goal line at 16:14 to make it 4-4. It was the Blue Jackets getting all the bounces through the first two periods Thursday. They led 1-0 after one period on Atkinson's shorthanded goal despite being outshot 14-4. They built on that lead when Skille finished a 2-on-1 break at 4:44 of the second period to make it 2-0, and then Foligno made it 3-0 when he scored from in front with 10.5 seconds left. Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson made a nice individual effort to create the goal, first beating Flyers forward Matt Read to a loose puck along the wall deep in the Philadelphia zone and then using his body to protect the puck from Gustafsson behind the Flyers net. He spun and found Foligno cutting to the net, and his one-timer from the slot found just enough space between Mason's left arm and his body to squeeze through and trickle across the goal line.
Florida @ Ottawa 4-2 - Tom Gilbert scored a power-play goal with 2:32 left in regulation to break a 2-2 tie, Tomas Kopecky added a shorthanded goal 51 seconds later and Florida extended its season-high winning streak to five games Thursday with a 4-2 victory against the Ottawa Senators. Gilbert gave Florida a 3-2 lead when he scored his second of the season with three seconds left in a penalty to Ottawa's Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Kopecky's third made it a two-goal lead after Panthers defenseman Mike Weaver was sent off for tripping at 17:45. Jimmy Hayes and Aleksander Barkov scored, and Scott Clemmensen made 32 saves in his fourth start in a row for Florida, which has won seven of eight. Senators goalie Craig Anderson stopped 31 shots in his first game since Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings, when he was pulled at 4:18 of the first period after allowing two goals on four shots. Pageau was called for high-sticking at 15:30 of the third period when he clipped Panthers defenseman Dylan Olsen in the face. Barkov drew Florida even at 2-2 at 17:11 of the second. The 18-year-old forward, who had two assists in the Panthers' 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, set up in the slot to deflect Gilbert's shot from the right point past Anderson for his sixth goal of the season and fifth point in five games. Hayes scored his fourth goal at 5:39 of the first period to put Florida ahead 1-0. Senators defenseman Joe Corvo's shot was blocked by Krys Barch, and Hayes rushed down ice to take a pass from Shawn Matthias before putting a wrist shot over Anderson's right pad. Neil tied it 1-1 with his fifth goal at 9:17, with the help of a video review. Neil drove to the net as Clemmensen stopped Clarke MacArthur's shot from the top of the left circle. The rebound struck Neil's right skate and went in off Clemmensen, but the goal was immediately waved off by referee Kevin Pollock. His ruling was overturned when the review determined Neil was in the process of stopping and did not use a distinct kicking motion when his skate made contact with the puck. Spezza scored a highlight-reel goal on a power play with 29 seconds left in the first to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead. He took Erik Karlsson's cross-ice pass on the fly and streaked along the right side. Spezza deked Olsen and cut inside to blow past the defenseman before snapping a shot past Clemmensen for his 11th of the season and 650th career regular-season point. It was the first time the Panthers trailed in four games dating to Dec. 10, when they were behind against the Detroit Red Wings from midway through the first period until 14:38 of the third in a 3-2 shootout victory that launched the winning streak. Senators forward Mika Zibanejad left the game at 7:02 of the first period. He did not return after sustaining an upper-body injury on a hit into the boards by Panthers defenseman Erik Gudbranson in the right corner of Florida's zone.
Calgary @ Detroit 2-3 OT - The Detroit Red Wings have six regular forwards out of the lineup, but Pavel Datsyuk and Daniel Alfredsson are playing. Datsyuk took charge late in the third period against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena and Alfredsson scored a pair of goals to go with his 700th career assist in the Red Wings' 3-2 overtime victory. Datsyuk assisted on all three Detroit goals, including the game-winner. After gathering the puck in the corner of the Calgary defensive zone, the Russian center zipped a cross-ice pass to Alfredsson at the top of the slot for a one-time slapper that ripped past Flames goalie Karri Ramo and into the top left corner. After a strong second half of the game, Datsyuk simply dominated his final shift of regulation. After intercepting two passes in the Calgary defensive zone and throwing long backhand shots toward the net, Datsyuk grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone and streaked toward Ramo. He split defensemen Kris Russell and TJ Brodie in the low slot and wound up drawing a hooking call against Brodie. Alfredsson scored the game-winner on the ensuing power play to send Red Wings fans home happy. The 41-year old Alfredsson scored the game's first goal and had one overturned by video review in the second. His milestone assist also came in the second, at 11:38, after blasting a slap shot from the right point that deflected off Andersson for a 2-1 lead. Detroit took a 1-0 lead 26 seconds into the game on Alfredsson's eighth goal, which he smacked home from the low slot off a juicy rebound created by Datsyuk's shot from the right circle. The scoring chance was created when Kronwall shot one off the boards behind the Calgary net and the puck skipped right to Datsyuk. Less than five minutes later, Backlund tied it after the puck caromed right to him at the right of the Detroit net following Cammalleri's shot from the left circle. It was the fifth goal for Backlund, who got just enough of the puck to beat Gustavsson. The Red Wings goalie only faced three more shots in the first period and stopped them all, but one was off a shorthanded breakaway by Backlund. In the second, each team again scored one goal to keep it knotted 2-2 at the second intermission break. Less than a minute after Andersson scored, at 12:52, Alfredsson appeared to put Detroit up 3-1 by chipping a puck over Ramo's head and into the net. The goal was overturned by video review that showed the puck never fully crossed the goal line before Ramo trapped it on the ice. Momentum turned quickly and the Flames tied the game a little more than three minutes later. Detroit was called for three minor penalties less than two minutes apart to give Calgary a 5-on-3 situation that wound up lasting 1:44 and led to Giordano's goal. Seven seconds after Brendan Smith exited the penalty box to make it a 5-on-4, Giordano knotted it 2-2 by roofing a blast from the slot past Gustavsson's glove. Ramo preserved the tie at 6:46 of the third by getting his glove over the puck just in the nick of time behind him, but the Red Wings kept pushing, led by Datsyuk, until they had a much-needed victory.
Nashville @ Tampa Bay 2-4 - Lindback stopped 28 shots for his third win of the season, but what was special was that this one came in his first game against the Predators, who traded him to Tampa Bay in June 2012. Tampa Bay dominated the opening period while jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Killorn opened the scoring with his eighth of the season at 2:26. He controlled the puck in Nashville's zone and was looking for someone to pass to, but the defense backed off and allowed him to glide into the left circle before beating Carter Hutton. Defenseman Victor Hedman, in his first game back after missing six with a lower-body injury, got one assist. The second assist went to Jean-Philippe Cote, who collected his first NHL point in his first game with the Lightning. Cote, who was recalled by the Lightning from Syracuse of the American Hockey League this week, played in his first NHL game since Feb. 4, 2006, when he was a member of the Montreal Canadiens. St. Louis made it 2-0 at 19:06 with a power-play goal, only the third for the Lightning in their past 28 chances. St. Louis was alone in the slot and one-timed a pass from Sami Salo off the stick of Nashville's Mike Fisher and into the net for his 14th goal of the season. Smith scored twice in the second period, but Tampa Bay answered less than two minutes after each goal. Smith got Nashville on the board at 6:36, firing a rebound past Lindback. His second of the game and eighth of the season, at 13:02, came on the power play off a Matt Cullen pass. But Purcell countered Smith's first goal when he took a cross-ice pass from Valtteri Filppula and scored his eighth of the season at 8:27. Panik's deflection of Eric Brewer's shot came 49 seconds after Smith's second goal and ended the night for Hutton, who allowed four goals on 14 shots. He was replaced by Marek Mazanec, who stopped all 19 shots that he faced. Tampa Bay came into the game averaging 1.8 goals in Lindback's appearances while scoring more than three goals per game for starter Ben Bishop. With a two-goal lead entering the third period, the Lightning took control of the puck and kept the play in the Nashville zone.
Montreal @ St Louis 1-5 - Alexander Steen may want to renegotiate the three-year contract extension he signed with the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. Steen scored two more goals to help the Blues to a 5-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens. They increased his team-leading total to 24, tying a career high and putting him second to Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin's 28 for the NHL lead. The Blues snapped a two-game winless streak. Earlier Thursday, Steen put the finishing touches on a $17.4 million contract extension that will keep him with the Blues through the 2016-17 season. He went out and led St. Louis (23-7-4) to victory despite the absence of forwards David Backes and Vladimir Sobotka, who each have an upper-body injury. Chris Stewart scored his fifth goal in five games, Jaden Schwartz scored in his return to the lineup, and Maxim Lapierre had the final goal for the Blues. Jaroslav Halak was able to beat the team that drafted him in 2003 for the fourth time in as many starts, stopping 25 shots. Halak is 4-0-0 against the Canadiens with an 0.98 goals-against average and .960 save percentage. Steen put the Blues on top 4:20 into the game with a shorthanded goal when he took a T.J. Oshie pass off a 3-on-1 break and beat Price high to the stick side. The 29-year-old struck again in the first period, this time coming out of the box. Steen took Derek Roy's drop pass and used Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin as a screen to beat Price high to the short side at 7:55 for a 2-0 lead. Stewart put the Blues on top 3-0 at 13:33 off Brenden Morrow's 300th career assist. Morrow fed Stewart in the slot from behind the net for a one-timer from the right circle. The Canadiens scored in the second period on Gallagher's 10th of the season, first in 12 games. He batted in a puck from in close past Halak when David Desharnais got it to the net at 12:51. Schwartz, who missed the past two games with an upper-body injury, took Oshie's pass and snapped a shot from the top of the right circle over Price's stick hand 12:21 into the third period to give the Blues a 4-1 lead. Schwartz has 13 points in his past 13 games, and Oshie's two assists snapped a streak of four games without a point. Lapierre scored his first goal in 18 games, against the team that drafted him in the second round in 2003, with 2:27 remaining on a slap shot from the slot to make it 5-1.
Edmonton @ Colorado 2-4 - Varlamov was especially strong in the third period Thursday when he stopped all 14 Oilers shots before Matt Duchene sealed the win by scoring into an empty net with 1.1 seconds left to complete a three-point performance. The win gave the Avalanche, who are third in the Central Division, a 23-10-1 record and 47 points, two more than the Minnesota Wild, who lost 5-2 on the road to the Pittsburgh Penguins and have played three more games. Ryan O'Reilly and Maxime Talbot scored 3:28 apart late in the second period to give the Avalanche a 3-2 lead before Duchene's empty-netter. O'Reilly, who had one goal in his previous 12 games, tied the game with 5:00 remaining in the middle period by completing a pretty passing play with Nathan MacKinnon and Duchene. Duchene was in the right circle when he passed to MacKinnon, who immediately fed O'Reilly cutting to the net on the left side. O'Reilly redirected the puck behind goalie Devan Dubnyk, who faced 38 shots. The Avalanche took their first lead of the game with 1:32 remaining in the middle period on Talbot's shorthanded goal, which came 31 seconds after Colorado's Patrick Bordeleau was penalized for interference. Marc-Andre Cliche led a 2-on-1 rush into the Oilers' end following an Edmonton turnover. Cliche skated down right wing and passed across to Talbot, who went to his backhand and slid the puck past Dubnyk's right skate. The Avalanche enjoyed a 17-5 advantage in shots on goal in the first period, but the Oilers took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Taylor Hall, who sped down the right side and beat Varlamov to the glove side with a wrist shot for his fourth goal in two games against him this season. The Avalanche tied the game at 1:07 of the second period on a goal by Tyson Barrie during a 5-on-3 power play. The Oilers' Sam Gagner was assessed a major penalty for cross-checking and a game misconduct at 18:32 of the first period for striking Paul Stastny in the face after a faceoff and Hall was given an unsportsmanlike penalty at the 20-minute mark. Duchene fed Barrie in the right circle for a shot that sailed past Dubnyk's glove for the Avalanche's second power-play goal in 38 chances covering parts of 13 games. The Oilers killed off the final 2:25 of Gagner's penalty after Hall returned to the ice. The Oilers went ahead 2-1 at 12:10 of the period when Hall stole the puck from defenseman Erik Johnson after a poor pass by defense partner Jan Hejda. Hall fed Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who scored from right in front.
San Jose @ Los Angeles 1-4 - Martin Jones improved to 7-0-0 and recorded his first NHL point with an assist in the second period. He made 31 saves and was 2:10 away from his fourth career shutout when Patrick Marleau snapped his home shutout streak at 177:06. San Jose lost rookie center Tomas Hertl to an apparent lower-body injury when he took a knee-on-knee hit from Dustin Brown late in the first period and immediately went to the dressing room. Brown was given a five-minute kneeing penalty and a game misconduct. Hertl leads all rookies with 15 goals and 25 points in 35 games, and the Sharks could have used his scoring touch. In what typically is a tightly contested and intense series, San Jose didn't play with the puck much and blew two chances at an open net with three minutes left in the second period when the puck hopped over Joe Pavelski's stick and Tommy Wingels' wraparound was stopped on the goal line by Jones. Jones' impressive numbers underscore that the Kings are playing perhaps their best puck possession hockey since the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They're also squeezing out enough goals to support their strong defense. Tyler Toffoli is a new wrinkle, though, and he gave L.A. a 2-0 lead at 11:15 of the second with an impressive sniper shot. Slava Voynov sent a 114-foot outlet pass from the goal line that Toffoli collected at the Sharks blue line before sending a wrist shot from the right side that beat Antti Niemi on the far side. Toffoli assisted on L.A.'s first goal, a product of cycle work behind the San Jose net. Toffoli's backhand centering attempt went through the slot and off the boards to Alec Martinez, whose knuckling shot beat Niemi inside the left post at 5:26 of the first period. The shot might have deflected off a San Jose player, but McLellan acknowledged that it wasn't Niemi's best game. Jeff Carter effectively put the game away with a tap-in goal 36 seconds into the third period for a 3-0 lead. San Jose turned it over trying to break out, and Dwight King bulled past Justin Braun before toe-dragging a pass over to Carter. King also banged in a loose puck in traffic for a 4-0 lead at 6:16. But an important sequence came on L.A.'s penalty kill for Brown's kneeing infraction, spread over the first and second periods. Including the playoffs, the Kings have won eight straight and are 10-0-1 at home against San Jose in the past 11 games at Staples Center. Marleau played in his 1,200th NHL game and Kings defenseman Drew Doughty played in his 400th game.
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