Ottawa @ Buffalo 1-2 SO - Zemgus Girgensons had a goal in regulation and scored in the 10th round of the shootout to lift the Buffalo Sabres to a 2-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at First Niagara Center on Tuesday night. Girgensons' goal was the fourth for Buffalo in the shootout. Matt Moulson, Brian Flynn and Steve Ott also beat Ottawa goalie Robin Lehner in the tiebreaker. The Senators (12-14-6) jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Milan Michalek scored at 6:35 of the first period. Michalek and forward Cory Conacher broke into the offensive zone against defenseman Henrik Tallinder, and Conacher connected with Michalek with a saucer pass over Tallinder's stick. The goal was Michalek's fifth of the season. The Sabres (7-22-2) tied the game in the second period when Girgensons scored his third goal of the season at 13:15. The rookie forward chased down the rebound of a Christian Ehrhoff shot to Lehner's right, beat defenseman Joe Corvo to the puck and chopped it past Lehner. Girgensons played on the Sabres' top scoring line with Ennis and Matt Moulson following interim coach Ted Nolan's changes at practice Monday. The goal was his second in as many games. He had gone 27 games without a goal before scoring Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens. At 15:30 of the second, the Sabres had an apparent goal disallowed when Senators center Jason Spezza accidentally put the puck past Lehner. There was a delayed high-sticking penalty coming up on Spezza, and the officials ruled the Ottawa captain controlled the puck in swiping it past Lehner, negating the goal.
Tampa Bay @ Washington 5-6 SO - With the Capitals in desperate need of a lift against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ovechkin scored four goals (his 13th career hat trick) and surpassed Peter Bondra for the franchise record for power-play goals, helping Washington erase a 3-0 first-period deficit en route to a 6-5 shootout victory at Verizon Center on Tuesday night. Backstrom played a role in all five Washington goals in regulation, scoring once and assisting on all four of Ovechkin's. It was his fourth-career five-point game. Before Ovechkin's personal scoring outburst, however, the Lightning had one of their own. With Mike Green serving a double minor for high-sticking Valtteri Filppula, Martin St. Louis took advantage of Tampa Bay's power play in 12 seconds, receiving a pass from Sami Salo, curling into the middle of the ice and beating a heavily screened Braden Holtby with a wrist shot at 2:26. Green's first period only got worse from there. Back in the penalty box for tripping Ondrej Palat, he could only watch as Nikita Kucherov blew a one-timer from the high slot past Holtby to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. Nate Thompson scored again 18 seconds later, completing a 2-on-1 with J.T. Brown, pushing the lead to 3-0 and forcing Capitals coach Adam Oates to pull Holtby in favor of Philipp Grubauer after allowing three goals on eight shots. The Lightning, who entered the game having scored a total of four goals in their previous four games, scored three goals before the Capitals could muster a shot on net. Green took his third penalty of the period and earned a 10-minute misconduct shortly after Thompson's goal, giving him a career-high 18 penalty minutes less than 12 minutes into the game. Ovechkin stopped the proverbial bleeding at 14:15 with a one-timer directly off a faceoff victory by Backstrom. In the second period, Backstrom cut the Capitals' deficit to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 6:24. Tyler Johnson answered and restored the Lightning's two-goal lead at 12:41 when he tapped in Palat's rebound. Ovechkin completed his hat trick within the last four minutes of the period. Richard Panik was assessed a five-minute major for boarding defenseman Karl Alzner, giving Washington's vaunted power play five uninterrupted minutes with which to work. Ovechkin converted a back-door feed from Marcus Johansson seven seconds into the power play at 16:38, then followed that with a one-time blast from the left circle at 18:48 to tie the game at 4-4, completing the hat trick and setting the franchise record with his 138th career power-play goal. Palat scored at 8:36 of the third period to give the Lightning a 5-4 lead, but Ovechkin tied it with his fourth of the night and League-leading 26th of the season on another one-timer with 33 seconds remaining and Grubauer on the bench in favor of an extra attacker. He leaped into the air exuberantly as his teammates mobbed him in celebration. After a scoreless overtime, the Capitals won their League-leading seventh game in a shootout in five rounds with Eric Fehr, Mikhail Grabovski and Troy Brouwer clinching the victory.
New Jersey @ Columbus 4-5 - This time, Nick Foligno was in the right place at the right time. One night after Foligno had the winning goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins bounce off him, teammate Ryan Johansen's pass hit his skate and deflected into the net with 1:31 left in regulation to give the Columbus Blue Jackets a 5-4 win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. Forward Brandon Dubinsky drew the ire of coach Todd Richards following the 2-1 loss to the Penguins for being ejected after arguing with the officials in the third period. Dubinsky responded against the Devils with a goal and three assists to help Columbus rally after trailing 3-1. His linemates also contributed in a big way with Cam Atkinson scoring twice and adding two assists and Matt Calvert giving the Blue Jackets a 4-3 lead 18 seconds into the third period. New Jersey (12-14-6) got two goals from Damien Brunner, with his second making it 4-4 with 6:01 left. The Devils appeared headed to overtime for the fourth time in six games before a second bad luck goal sent them to defeat. The Blue Jackets’ first goal came from a Dubinsky shot that was stopped Martin Brodeur only to carom off Atkinson and into the net. New Jersey coach Peter DeBoer was looking for more balanced scoring and he got it – all nine players on the top three lines had points, including goals from Travis Zajac and Michael Ryder in addition to those by Brunner. Still, losing a two-goal lead had DeBoer upset afterward. The line of rookie Reid Boucher, Jaromir Jagr and Zajac opened the scoring 32 seconds after the opening faceoff. Boucher earned his second assist in four games since being recalled from the minors with a drop pass to Zajac down the right side when the Devils took advantage of a pinch attempt by Columbus defenseman Fedor Tyutin. Zajac did the rest with a snap shot that flew past the right shoulder of Curtis McElhinney for his sixth goal. He almost added another at 3:10, but his shot hit the crossbar following a turnover. After Atkinson tied the score with his first goal, Columbus defenseman Dalton Prout coughed up the puck at his own blue line, Steve Bernier picked it up and fed Adam Henrique, whose shot was stopped. But Henrique got the rebound and centered to Ryder, whose shot went just underneath the crossbar and fell across the line for his ninth goal. Columbus was 0-7-0 when trailing after the first period, and things looked bleak when the Devils took the two-goal lead. Patrik Elias threaded a pass from the left corner for a one-timer by Brunner 68 seconds into the middle period. The goal was Brunner’s fifth of the season and first in 18 games since Oct. 26 against the Boston Bruins. Dubinsky started the comeback with by scoring one goal and setting up another in a 49-second span to get the Blue Jackets even. On the first, he won a faceoff back to the left point where Jack Johnson was able to fire a shot on goal. Atkinson tried putting in the rebound before the puck came to Dubinsky at the left post. He jammed it across the line at 4:19 for his sixth goal. That score had barely been announced when the Blue Jackets struck again. Dubinsky had the puck behind the Devils’ net when he skated left, right, then left again to shirk the defense and find Atkinson for the near-post redirection that went top shelf for his ninth goal.
Los Angeles @ Montreal 6-0 - Jones has not allowed a goal in 142:46, dating back to a Corey Perry goal for the Anaheim Ducks at 2:14 of the third period of a 3-2 Kings shootout win Dec. 3, the first start of his NHL career. Jones won that game by stopping every shot in a nine-round shootout, then made 16 saves for the first shutout of his career Saturday against the New York Islanders. After the 23-year-old made two excellent stops on Alex Galchenyuk, seven total while Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was in the penalty box early in the first period, Nolan scored on a rebound of a Willie Mitchell point shot that was tipped in front by Kopitar at 7:03. With 12.3 seconds to go in the first, Mike Richards set up Kopitar for his ninth goal of the season to put the Kings ahead 2-0. Martinez scored his first goal since Feb. 10, a span of 37 games, on a rebound of a Toffoli shot that was tipped in front by Kyle Clifford at 1:45 of the second, and Toffoli scored his eighth in 17 games this season at 5:28 to chase Price. The second shot on Peter Budaj extended the lead to 5-0 when Muzzin snapped the Kings' power-play drought at 8:14, and Williams made it 6-0 when Jarret Stoll earned his second assist of the game on a sweet pass in front at 18:28. A 6-0 win against the NHL's hottest team in one of the more difficult buildings to visit could be seen by some as a statement game, but Williams said the Kings are trying to make a more long-term statement. Williams' goal came on the Kings' 24th shot, allowing Los Angeles to match in less than two periods the six goals the Canadiens had allowed on 92 shots in their three previous games.
Detroit @ Florida 2-3 SO - After rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the third period, Aleksander Barkov and Brad Boyes scored in the shootout to lead the Panthers to a 3-2 win at BB&T Center. Boyes ended the game in the second half of the third round with a wrist shot through Jimmy Howard's legs. Tomas Tatar scored for Detroit in the shootout. Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall hit the post with a slap shot from the point midway through the overtime period. Sean Bergenheim also scored in regulation for the Panthers, who have won three of four overall. The new Atlantic Division rivals met for the first time Saturday in Detroit, with the Panthers winning 2-1. They will meet three more times, with the next game scheduled for Dec. 28 at BB&T Center. Back after missing seven games because of a concussion, Datsyuk had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, who have lost six times (9-3-3) this season when leading after two periods, more than any team in the NHL. Todd Bertuzzi scored for the Red Wings, who came in with an NHL-best 10-3-1 record on the road. Johan Franzen added two assists, giving him seven goals and 10 assists in 14 games since coming back from an upper-body injury. Detroit led 2-0 going into the third period before Bergenheim and Bjugstad tied the game. Bergenheim made it 2-1 at 5:00 when he deflected Dmitry Kulikov's wrist shot from the point. Bjugstad then tied the game at 14:38 with a spectacular individual effort that began when he beat Datsyuk along the boards. Bjugstad eventually skated to the side of the net before beating Howard with a high shot to the short side. Datsyuk is a three-time winner of the Selke Trophy, awarded to the best defensive forward in the NHL and has been a finalist six times, which made Bjugstad's goal even more impressive. Datsyuk, who had been out since being injured by an elbow from Ottawa Senators defenseman Jared Cowen on Nov. 23, scored his team-leading 13th goal at 6:47 of the second period when he stood to the left of the net and redirected a nifty pass from the right point from defenseman Jonathan Ericsson. Datsyuk had another great scoring chance later in the second period after a Florida turnover in the defensive zone, but his backhand from close range went wide. Datsyuk picked up an assist when Bertuzzi opened the scoring with a power-play goal 10:26 into the game. Datsyuk stood in front of the net when he deflected Franzen's wrist shot from the top of the left circle. Thomas made the save, but Bertuzzi was standing alone in front of him and easily was able to put home the rebound. The Red Wings appeared to have taken a 1-0 lead two minutes earlier, but Ericsson's goal on a shot from the point was immediately waved off when it was ruled that Daniel Cleary had interfered with Thomas. Detroit center Stephen Weiss, the Panthers' all-time leader in games played and assists, played his first game at BB&T Center since leaving Florida last summer. He was kept off the score sheet for a second consecutive game against his former team, although he did have a great. Highlights of Weiss' career with the Panthers were shown on the center-ice scoreboard in the first period.
Nashville @ NY Rangers 4-1 - Nashville's checking line of Paul Gaustad, Matt Hendricks and Rich Clune accounted for three goals, one by each player, and combined for seven points to lead the Predators past the struggling New York Rangers 4-1 on Tuesday night. Nick Spaling opened the scoring for the Predators (14-14-3) and Nashville's fourth line, affectionately known as the Wagon Line, did the rest, providing plenty of support to rookie goaltender Carter Hutton, who made 28 saves in his first start in a month. Rick Nash scored and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 22 shots for the Rangers (15-16-1), who fell to 0-2-1 on their franchise-record nine-game homestand that continues Thursday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Spaling's goal at 13:45 of the opening period put Nashville ahead, and the checking line doubled the lead at 17:52. With the Rangers a step late on the backcheck, Hendricks made a perfect saucer pass to a streaking Clune, who went to his backhand and beat Lundqvist. The goal came less than four minutes after Spaling opened the scoring. After tangling with Spaling at the side of the net, Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh lost his balance and appeared to be hurt behind the net. With McDonagh out of the play, Patric Hornqvist fed a soft pass in the slot to Spaling, who beat Lundqvist for his fifth of the season. McDonagh didn't miss a shift, but the Rangers did lose captain Ryan Callahan, who left midway through the first period following a collision in the corner with Nashville defenseman Victor Bartley and did not return. The team said after the game that Callahan suffered a second-degree sprain of his MCL in his left knee and will be sidelined four to six weeks, marking the third time this season he will miss time due to injury. Lundqvist made his biggest stop of the night with New York down 2-0 in the second and Carl Hagelin off for tripping. Matt Cullen's power-play slap shot from the left circle appeared headed for the top corner, but Lundqvist made a glove stop 4:47 into the period. That gave the Rangers a chance to get back into the game, which they did when Nash beat Hutton at 6:38. Derick Brassard carried the puck into the Nashville zone before leaving a drop pass for Brad Richards at the blue line. With the Predators defense frozen, Richards found Nash streaking for the net. Nash went backhand-to-forehand before sliding the puck into the open left side of the net for his sixth of the season. That line appeared energized following the goal and proceeded to carry the attack, accounting for all five of New York's even-strength shots in the second period. But the Rangers failed to muster much offense as the game wore on. New York opened the third pressing for the equalizer. But Nashville's fourth line came up big again early in the period. Gaustad drove down the right wing toward the net, Clune shoveled the loose puck towards the center of the crease during a scramble and Hendricks knocked it into a wide-open net at 2:38 for his second of the season. Gaustad hit the empty net with 1:06 remaining to finish the night with three points, doubling his total for the season. Brian Boyle appeared to have a wide open net with 8:10 remaining in regulation when Hagelin's shot was blocked following a Hendricks giveaway. But Hutton recovered and snared Boyle's shot with his glove.
Boston @ Calgary 2-1 - The Calgary Flames gave a warm welcome to former franchise face Jarome Iginla. The Boston Bruins weren't nearly as nice to the Flames. In his first game in Calgary since leaving in a trade last March, Iginla, who played 16 seasons with the Flames and served as captain for nine of them, returned Tuesday night to a touching video tribute and several standing ovations from a sellout crowd of 19,289 fans before the puck dropped on the game. He received another standing ovation after being named the game's Third Star. With the entire Bruins team remaining on the bench, Iginla took several spins around the ice to salute the crowd one final time. After being outshot 22-9 and trailing 1-0 through 40 minutes, the Bruins flipped the switch in the third. With former Bruins first rounder Joe Colborne in the penalty box for delay of game, Krejci deflected Torey Krug's point shot behind Reto Berra at 13:49 to tie the game 1-1. The goal came moments after Iginla hit the post. With 4:33 remaining in regulation, Smith beat Berra again, streaking down the wing before lifting a shot over the glove of the Flames' goaltender to put the Bruins ahead to stay. Iginla had a chance at the empty net with Berra on the bench for the extra skater but had his shot blocked by Kris Russell. With Matt Bartkowski off for holding, the Flames fired away at Rask. He made a quick leg save off current captain Mark Giordano, who slid down from the point and buried a one-timer into the left pad 10 seconds into the man advantage. Twenty-seven seconds later, Stempniak took a pass from Hudler and slid a shot that trickled under the Bruins' goaltender and went wide. Mikael Backlund and David Jones fared no better after Rask flashed his left pad on successive saves to complete the penalty kill. Iginla had a final opportunity to put the Bruins up heading into the intermission but his slap shot with nine seconds remaining was turned aside by Berra. Hudler finally got the Flames on the board 5:17 into the second period. Streaking down the wing against Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, Hudler ripped a shot from the faceoff dot that dipped under Rask's glove.
Carolina @ Edmonton 4-5 OT - Taylor Hall opened the scoring 1:33 into the game, taking a pass from Sam Gagner and snapping a shot past Ward. It was Hall's 12th goal of the season and fifth in his past three games. Ruutu tied the game on the power play at 6:19 with Nugent-Hopkins serving a hooking penalty. Ruutu found the puck in front of the Oilers net and slipped it past Dubnyk 14 seconds into the man advantage. Yakupov restored the Oilers' lead at 11:04, taking a pass from Hall in front of the net and firing a shot past Ward. It was Yakupov's first even-strength goal of the season and fifth of the year. Nugent-Hopkins put the Oilers up 3-1 at 18:14, left alone in front and converting Eberle's centering feed. The Oilers went on to outshoot the Hurricanes 14-6 in the first period. The Hurricanes eventually did find their skating legs in the second period, but not before Joensuu put the Oilers up 4-1 at 1:40, benefiting from Mark Arcobello's shiftiness behind the Hurricanes net. Arcobello was able to elude a check then find Joensuu unattended in front of Ward. Jordan Staal cut the lead to 4-2 at 9:37, finding a loose puck in front of the Oilers net and then room underneath Dubnyk's pad. At 7:47 of the third period, Eric Staal scored a shorthanded goal to get the Hurricanes to within 4-3. The Hurricanes captain accepted a gift from Eberle, who was trying to play the puck back to the point on the power play. Staal raced in on Dubnyk, faked a shot, then stepped around the goaltender and fired it into the empty net. The comeback bid took a hit when Hurricanes center Riley Nash was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding at 9:19. Nash drove Corey Potter into the boards from behind, temporarily knocking the Oilers defenseman out of the game. The Oilers were unable to capitalize on the power play and paid for it when Skinner tied the game at 14:46, firing a point shot that found its way through traffic and past Dubnyk. Justin Faulk took a boarding penalty against Nugent-Hopkins early in overtime to give the Oilers the power play, which eventually led to the winning goal. Jordan Eberle scored a power-play goal 1:48 into overtime. Eberle converted Taylor Hall's pass in front of the net to pull out the victory for Edmonton, which surrendered a three-goal lead to the Hurricanes.
NY Islanders @ San Jose 3-2 SO - Kyle Okposo forced overtime by scoring with 1:37 left in regulation, then got the game-winner in the fourth round of a shootout Tuesday night to give the Islanders a 3-2 victory. Thomas Vanek beat Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi in the first round of the shootout, but San Jose's Logan Couture countered with a goal against Kevin Poulin to open the second round. Okposo ended it with a goal in the fourth round, lifting a backhander over Niemi's pad. Marleau and Pavelski scored second-period goals for the Sharks, while Vanek and Okposo scored in the third period for the Islanders, who won in San Jose for the first time since Feb. 19, 2003. Both teams had good chances to end it in overtime. Pavelski came close to scoring on a wraparound with 85 seconds left. Seconds later, the Islanders' Brock Nelson ripped a rebound from the right circle, but Niemi made a glove save. After a scoreless first period, the Sharks built a 2-0 lead in the second as Marleau scored on the power play and Pavelski at even strength. But Vanek cut the deficit in half 51 seconds into the third period, hammering home a rebound from the crease. John Tavares ignited the scoring play with a high-speed rush around Ryan Braun and took a shot that Niemi somehow stopped, but the puck squirted away. Okposo and Vanek both tried to jam the puck over the goal line; Vanek finally succeeded, scoring his 10th goal of the season. The Islanders pulled even on Okposo's goal. With Poulin on the bench for an extra attacker, Tavares won a left-circle faceoff with Pavelski and Okposo rifled a shot from above the left circle through a screen by Vanek that beat Niemi on his stick side. Marleau gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 5:26 of the second, 10 seconds after Islanders defenseman Matt Carkner was penalized for roughing Tomas Hertl. Marleau ripped a rebound from the left circle past Poulin for his 14th goal of the season. Dan Boyle and Couture got the assists. The Islanders nearly pulled even midway through the period on their only power play, but Vanek's shot from close range clanked off the right post and Tavares couldn't make solid contact with the bouncing puck in front of the net. Pavelski increased San Jose's lead to 2-0 at 15:24, wristing a shot from the left circle past Poulin. Pavelski made a cross-ice pass to Boyle, who ripped a shot that Poulin stopped but couldn't control. The rebound went straight to Pavelski, who scored his 10th goal of the season. Boyle earned his second assist of the night. Poulin, who was on the bench Monday night during a 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, stopped every shot that came his way in the first, making a handful of spectacular saves. Late in the first, Marleau ripped a shot from close range, but Poulin made a sprawling save with his right pad. Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov missed the game against his former team with a groin injury he suffered on Nov. 16 against Detroit. But with just under 14 minutes left in the first period, Sharks fans gave him a long standing ovation when his image appeared on the big screen above center ice, chanting, "Nabby! Nabby! Nabby!" Nabokov, standing in the tunnel that leads to the opposing team's dressing room, waved to the crowd, acknowledging the ovation.
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