Calgary @ Boston 0-2 - Zdeno Chara scored two goals, both from his position up front in a man-advantage alignment the Bruins started using this season, and Tuukka Rask made 21 saves for his third shutout in Boston's 2-0 victory against the Calgary Flames at TD Garden on Tuesday night. Chara has nine goals on the season, six on the power play. The Bruins had struggled on the power play for several seasons, and this year decided to move the 6-foot-9 defenseman to a position down low. The Bruins' power play is clicking at 19.6 percent, a significant improvement. At 4:13 of the second period, Chara was hit with a high stick by Calgary center Matt Stajan in front of Boston's net, but there was no penalty. Chara left the ice but returned soon enough to make sure the Bruins didn't waste a power play when Kevan Miller was hit with Lance Bouma's high stick at 5:23. Chara scored his eighth goal of the season at 7:38 on a one-timer from just outside the right faceoff dot after a cross-ice slap pass from David Krejci. Jarome Iginla picked up the second assist, but the goal was possible only because Milan Lucic made a nifty play to stall Calgary's attempted breakout at the blue line just before the Bruins moved the puck around the Flames' zone. It was déjà vu in the third period, when the Bruins doubled their lead with Bouma again in the box for high sticking Miller. Chara scored his second power-play goal of the game at 3:19 on a snap shot for a 2-0 lead. Iginla's shot from the left dot deflected off two Flames before it landed on Chara's stick. The Bruins outshot the Flames 10-9 in the first period, but neither team could find the back of the net. Flames forward Brian McGrattan had the best scoring opportunity when he was open for a one-timer near the right post with Rask out of position but slapped the puck wide.
Winnipeg @ Buffalo 2-4 - Matt Moulson's power-play goal at 2:31 of the third period broke a tie and the Buffalo Sabres rallied to beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 at First Niagara Center on Tuesday night. Moulson tipped in a shot from the point by Christian Ehrhoff for his 12th goal of the season. The Sabres went on the power play when Jets rookie forward Eric O'Dell, making his NHL debut, was called for hooking. After a scoreless first period in which the Sabres outshot the Jets 19-7, Winnipeg grabbed the lead at 1:02 of the second. Mark Scheifele scored when he sent a wrist shot by Ryan Miller. Scheifele scored his second of the game and sixth of the season 36 seconds later to give the Jets a 2-0 lead. He stole the puck at center ice from Sabres forward Matt D'Agostini, skated in and sent a wrist shot past Miller. The Sabres made it 2-1 when captain Steve Ott scored his fourth of the season at 10:16 of the second. The play started when defenseman Mike Weber's pass from the blue line went to forward Drew Stafford; his shot bounced off Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec to Ott, who scored on the rebound. The Sabres tied the game 50 seconds into the third period when Marcus Foligno scored his fourth of the season. He knocked in a pass from Cody Hodgson as he cut in behind the Jets defense. Sabres forward Matt Ellis made it 4-2 at 13:38 with his first of the season. Ellis batted a rebound of a Kevin Porter shot out of midair and past Pavelec. Ellis was called up from Rochester of the American Hockey League on Dec. 14, and Porter was recalled from the minors before the game. The goal was Ellis' first in the NHL since Jan. 13, 2012. Ellis was on a line with Porter and another former Rochester teammate, Brian Flynn.
Florida @ Toronto 3-1 - Scott Clemmensen stopped 28 shots for his third consecutive victory, and the Panthers made it four wins in a row by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Tuesday at Air Canada Centre. Tomas Fleischmann, Sean Bergenheim and Brad Boyes scored for the Panthers (13-17-5), who've won back-to-back games to start a four-game swing through Canada this week. Florida improved to 10-8-1 since Peter Horachek was named interim coach after Kevin Dineen was fired. Mason Raymond scored for the slumping Maple Leafs (17-16-3), who've dropped two in a row and five of their past six games. James Reimer stopped 20 shots for Toronto, which was home after a 3-1 road loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday. The Panthers used a quick transition play to grab an early lead. Defenseman Dylan Olsen broke up a play in his zone and Aleksander Barkov picked up the loose puck. The second player taken in the 2013 NHL Draft sprung Fleischmann, who got a step on the defense and ripped a wrist shot from well inside the left circle that went past Reimer's glove at 3:29 of the first period for his fifth goal of the season. Bergenheim had two great scoring chances in a half-minute early in the second period and capitalized on the second to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. After a turnover by Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner, Boyes sent Bergenheim in alone, but Reimer stopped his wrist shot from between the hash marks. Bergenheim didn't miss at 5:52 when he backhanded a rebound into the net for his fourth of the season. Dmitry Kulikov kept the puck in at the left point, slid to the middle and fed Barkov in the left circle for a shot Reimer stopped. But no one checked Bergenheim, who swatted the puck into the net. Boyes followed Bergenheim's example and made the most of a second chance to score for the first time in 12 games. He picked the pocket of Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf inside the Maple Leafs' blue line and went in alone, only to have Reimer stop his quick wrist shot. Bergenheim crashed the net and nudged the rebound back to Boyes, who beat a defenseless Reimer at 16:50 for his ninth of the season. Clemmensen wasn't severely tested through the first 39 minutes, but made his best stop of the night with 56.6 seconds left in the second period when he used his glove to rob Nazem Kadri, who was alone in the slot. Toronto finally broke through 3:43 into the third period when Peter Holland circled toward the high slot and fired a shot Raymond deflected past Clemmensen for his 11th of the season. Clemmensen made a pair of big saves just before the nine-minute mark, including one on McClement that hit him in the mask.
Tampa Bay @ NY Islanders 3-2 SO - Valtteri Filppula scored twice late in the third period and again in the shootout to help the Tampa Bay Lightning rally from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 shootout victory at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday night. Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen scored for the Islanders, who've lost five games this season in which they've led by two goals, most in the NHL. Evgeni Nabokov was 2:53 away from a shutout, but instead finished with 34 saves in the loss. Filppula and Nikita Kucherov scored in the shootout for the Lightning, who received 32 saves from goalie Ben Bishop. Tampa Bay (20-11-3) returns home to face the Nashville Predators on Thursday. The Lightning finished their three-game road trip with two wins. Okposo broke a scoreless tie with a power-play goal 11 seconds into the second period. With Radko Gudas in the penalty box, Okposo one-timed John Tavares' feed from the point that found its way through a crowd in front and past Bishop to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. It was Okposo's 11th goal of the season and ended New York's scoring drought at 108:57. Nielsen doubled New York's lead with his first goal in 13 games at 10:21 of the third period. Nielsen came down on a 2-on-1 with Michael Grabner, took a pass from the latter and ripped a wrist shot past Bishop to make it 2-0. With the assist, Grabner recorded his first point since Oct. 17, a span of 25 games. Josh Bailey had the second assist, his first point in 12 games. The Lightning solved Nabokov with 2:53 remaining in regulation on Filppula's 11th goal of the season. With the teams at even strength, Nielsen sent a blind backhand pass in his own zone that landed right on Filppula's stick, and the Lightning forward wristed a shot from the right circle past Nabokov to make it 2-1. Filppula then tied it with 3.8 seconds left and Bishop on the bench for an extra attacker. The puck squirted loose during a scramble in front, and Filppula quickly backhanded it over the goal line to tie the game.
Anaheim @ Detroit 5-2 - Red Wings rookie Tomas Jurco scored the first goal of his NHL career for a 1-0 lead 3:15 into the game, but Anaheim stormed back with four unanswered goals to take a commanding 4-1 lead into the second. Jakob Silfverberg, playing for the first time following a 24-game injury absence, got the Ducks even 25 seconds after Jurco's goal and that opened the floodgates. Nick Bonino made it 2-1 at 5:29, Corey Perry upped it to 3-1 at 18:16 with his 22nd goal and Sami Vatanen made it 4-1 by launching a hard slapper that crossed the goal line with 1.2 seconds left on the clock. Detroit, playing with three rookies and a lineup full of replacements, never recovered. Vatanen and Saku Koivu finished with a goal and assist each, Andrew Cogliano logged three assists and Jonas Hiller (16 saves) earned the win. The Ducks outshot Detroit 30-18 in a building where that rarely occurs. Anaheim did get a scare when center Ryan Getzlaf left the game with a facial injury at 14:20 of the first. A hit by Kyle Quincey in the offensive zone threw Getzlaf into the boards face-first and he left holding a towel over his mouth. Getzlaf needed stitches to close a cut at the corner of his mouth and missed the rest of the period, although it never stopped him from whining to the officials. He also sat out the first 6:55 of the second, but didn't lose any teeth and finished the game. Quincey was assessed a boarding major and game misconduct. The Ducks lost the ensuing man-advantage when Dustin Penner was called for high-sticking 3:25 into it, but Perry scored during 4-on-4 play with Mikael Samuelsson still serving Quincey's penalty. Perry's goal, a wrist shot to the far side from inside the right dot, chased Detroit starting goalie Jonas Gustavsson (eight saves). Rookie Petr Mrazek (17 saves) relieved him and allowed Vatanen's goal, a last-second slapper. Vatanen's shot came from the top of the right circle after a drop pass by Cogliano, who then picked up his third assist of the night on Koivu's goal at 12:26 of the second, which made it 5-1. Cogliano's shot led to a loose puck in the right circle that Koivu backhanded past Mrazek, who couldn't glove the fluttering puck after it nicked the inside of Brendan Smith's left skate. Daniel Cleary scored his third goal with 1:58 left in the third for the final margin, coming much too late to salvage a miserable night for the Red Wings. Detroit has lost three straight, is winless in its past six games and fell to 5-9-6 on home ice.
Washington @ Philadelphia 2-5 - No surprises in this game, when two traditionally dirty teams met. On this occasion it turned late in the second period when Washington forward Tom Wilson was assessed a five-minute major for charging after a hit from behind on the Flyers' Brayden Schenn that sent the Philadelphia center face-first into the boards. Wilson also received a five-minute major for fighting and a game misconduct at 15:17. Schenn needed help leaving the ice and did not return to the game due to an upper-body injury. The Flyers scored twice in 1:12 on the power play to break a 2-2 tie. Defenseman Mark Streit started the run when his long shot from the right point went through a screen and got past Holtby at 17:04 of the second. Voracek scored his second of the game when he took a pass from defenseman Kimmo Timonen in the right circle, cut to the middle of the ice and sent a low shot through a Wayne Simmonds screen past Holtby at 18:16 to make it 4-2. Philadelphia added a goal in the third when Simmonds took advantage of a mistake by Capitals defenseman John Carlson, who let a Scott Hartnell pass go through his skates. Simmonds stepped around him, pulled the puck away from Holtby on a poke-check, and scored his sixth of the season at 7:29. Philadelphia held a three-goal, third-period lead against Washington for the second straight game. The Flyers were up 4-1 with 8:40 left Sunday but managed to give that away. After a scoreless first period the teams opened things up in the second, combining for six goals. Ovechkin scored his League-high 28th of the season 40 seconds into the period. Washington started on a power play and took advantage when Nicklas Backstrom's centering pass out of the corner was kicked by Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossmann and mishandled by Mason, allowing Ovechkin to poke the puck into the net. It was the 399th goal of Ovechkin's career, leaving him one shy of becoming the 89th player in NHL history, and seventh active player, with 400 goals. The Flyers responded 58 seconds later when Voracek scored his seventh of the season, ripping a shot from the right circle past Holtby on a 2-on-1 rush with Giroux. Fehr's fifth goal of the season put Washington ahead. Brouwer won a race for a puck in the Philadelphia end and found Fehr trailing the play; his one-timer beat Mason at 5:31. Philadelphia tied the game on Read's 10th of the season. Holtby couldn't corral Grossman's point shot, and Steve Downie's rebound attempt bounced off the skates of the Capitals' Karl Alzner to Read at the hashmarks for a goal at 11:54. The second period was marred by the Wilson hit on Schenn, which left the Philadelphia center struggling and falling as he tried to get back to his feet. The teams were split on the legality of the hit but in agreement that it was the pivotal moment of the game. The Flyers didn't update Schenn's condition after the game, and with the team already missing center Vincent Lecavalier, Schenn's absence could push the limit of the Flyers' depth. Chris VandeVelde, signed Dec. 12, was moved up from the fourth line to the second after the injury and saw time in Schenn's spot on the second power-play unit.
Edmonton @ Los Angeles 0-3 - Jones made three outstanding saves in the second period to preserve a 1-0 lead. He made a right pad stop on Ryan Smyth, a left leg save on Ales Hemsky's wraparound attempt and a denial of Nail Yakupov on a backhand. Jones also held off Taylor Hall on a third-period breakaway, although Hall didn't get all of a backhand try. Jones' saves were critical as L.A. looked tired in the second period of its third game in four nights. The Kings did little with two power plays in the second period, including one after Yakupov's holding the stick penalty in the offensive zone, and put four shots on goal in the final 10 minutes. Edmonton was shut out for the second time in three games and could not take advantage of another solid start by Ilya 'Swiss Cheese' Bryzgalov. The Oilers did not make a third-period push as they failed to put a shot on goal in the first 10 minutes and managed five in the final 20 minutes. The top line set a dominant tone at the start and produced the 1-0 lead on King's ninth goal. King was left alone on the right side after Philip Larsen laid out to stop a pass and had extra time to slip the puck under Bryzgalov at 16:38 of the first period. Drew Doughty facilitated the sequence with some fine stickhandling to get the puck to King. Eakins said the dump-in on L.A.'s second goal deflected off a shaft and took an odd bounce but acknowledged that "we shouldn't be changing there. Both our d-men have got to stay. Our one d-man changed, and that puck hit the ice like a balata [golf] ball hitting a wet green. It was a gift for their guy." Bryzgalov also stopped Carter on a breakaway with a poke check early in the third.
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