NY Rangers @ Ottawa 4-1 - Derek Stepan found his scoring touch and the New York Rangers took advantage of a pair of glaring turnovers by Ottawa Senators defensemen to secure a win in their only true road game in a four-week stretch. Stepan scored with 11.5 seconds left in the second period after assisting on goals by Brad Richards and Rick Nash to lead the Rangers to a 4-1 victory Saturday. Nash scored his 12th goal at 12:45 of the second period to put the Rangers up 2-1. Stepan, who had one assist in his previous six games, got his third point when he took advantage of a turnover by Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson to make it 3-1. Stepan snapped a shot past Anderson for his first goal in 14 games after he pounced on a blind backhand pass from behind the net by Karlsson. Zuccarello increased the lead to 4-1 with 3:10 to go in the third when he took advantage of a turnover by Senators defenseman Chris Phillips in the neutral zone to score unassisted. Methot drove a slap shot past Talbot from the left side to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 3:37 of the first period. It was the defenseman's fourth goal of the season. Richards drew the Rangers even at 1-1 at 9:50 with his 13th goal during a 5-on-3 advantage. Senators goon Chris Neil made his presence felt in his first game since Dec. 30. Neil, who missed six games with a lower-body injury, followed up Ottawa center Zack Smith's hit on Dominic Moore in front of the Senators bench with a head-on check on the Rangers forward. Moore drew a roughing penalty after he and teammate Daniel Carcillo confronted Neil after the hit. Rangers left wing Carl Hagelin was struck above the left knee by Richards' slap shot dump-in attempt at 8:15 of the third period. Hagelin was in pain on the bench but returned to the game.
Edmonton @ Winnipeg 2-3 OT - The Jets are still perfect undefeated under new coach Paul Maurice. Rookie defenseman Jacob Trouba scored his second goal of the game 1:10 into overtime to give Winnipeg a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday at MTS Centre. The win was the Jets' third in a row since Maurice replaced Claude Noel this past Sunday and pushed the Oilers' winless streak to four games. The Jets used third-period goals from Trouba and fellow rookie Mark Scheifele to erase a 1-0 lead after Edmonton's Jordan Eberle had opened the scoring 6:59 into second period. But David Perron forced overtime when he scored with exactly two minutes remaining in regulation. Early in overtime, Blake Wheeler's partial breakaway did not beat Edmonton goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. But the U.S. Olympian grabbed the loose puck and fed Trouba in the slot, where he stuffed the puck into the net for the winner. After firing 24 shots at Bryzgalov through 40 minutes, the Jets finally solved him 5:48 into the third period on Trouba's sixth goal, which tied the game 1-1. Scheifele put the Jets up 4:49 later with his ninth goal and his first career home tally before Perron's 18th goal. The loss spoiled a strong effort from Bryzgalov, who held the Oilers in a game in which they were outshot 39-22. With one win in their past five games and a 2-6-2 mark in their past 10, the Oilers' defensive struggles had cost them dearly before they arrived in Winnipeg. The Oilers had allowed 14 goals in their past three games, the most recent of which was a 4-1 road loss Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. With the Jets, Maurice has undertaken the task of repairing some of the defensive issues for a team that began the game ranked 22nd in the NHL with 2.94 goals allowed per game. Since Maurice's arrival, Winnipeg has now allowed five goals in three games. A tendency to allow opponents to dictate a game's style and a habit of straying from the game plan depending on the score had plagued the Jets long before Maurice arrived. Eberle put the Oilers up 1-0 after a hooking minor to Winnipeg's Eric O'Dell set up their third power play of the game early in the second period. The Oilers needed 15 seconds to crack the Winnipeg penalty kill when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins reached Eberle with a cross-ice pass through the bottom of the slot to the left circle that the wing snapped over Pavelec's left shoulder for his 16th goal at 6:59. Before Trouba's first goal, Bryzgalov had sparkled during the second period, fending off 13 Winnipeg shots. That included two big in-close stops on Jets forward Dustin Byfuglien. But with Jets defenseman Tobias Enstrom off for hooking early in the third period, Little broke through the Edmonton defense and cruised to the left circle before sending a pass across the slot that Trouba tipped past Bryzgalov. Trouba's goal was the ninth shorthanded goal the Oilers have allowed this season, the most in the NHL. Scheifele's go-ahead goal came off another scramble at the edge of Bryzgalov's crease.
Columbus @ Buffalo 4-3 SO - Ryan Johansen scored the winner in the shootout, and Brandon Dubinsky had a goal and an assist to lead the Blue Jackets to a 4-3 victory against the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center on Saturday. It was the sixth consecutive win for Columbus, which tied a franchise record and moved it into a virtual tie with the Washington Capitals for a wild-card berth in the race for a Stanley Cup Playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. David Savard and Matt Calvert also scored for the Blue Jackets, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves before denying all three shooters in the shootout. Columbus was 24.9 seconds away from a regulation victory, but Tyler Myers scored on the power play to send the game to overtime. Buffalo needed 59 seconds after the opening faceoff to score. Matt Moulson fed a streaking Myers in the slot and the hulking defenseman ripped a wrist shot past Bobrovsky for his fifth goal of the season and second in seven games. Savard tied it for Columbus at 6:19. Derek MacKenzie took a drop pass from Mark Letestu and fired a slap shot from the left wing that missed the net and went around the boards. Savard collected it at the right circle and let go a slap shot that beat Miller to make it 1-1. It was Savard's third goal of the season. Stafford restored Buffalo's lead 28 seconds later. With the teams at even strength, Blue Jackets defenseman James Wisniewski tried to make a pass from behind his own net through the slot, but the puck went off Dubinsky's skate right to Tyler Ennis, who quickly fed Stafford for an easy tap-in. Columbus tied it again on Calvert's fifth goal of the season at 12:44. Nikita Nikitin fired a shot from the point that Miller was able to stop with his left skate, but Calvert was on the doorstep for the rebound and put it home for a 2-2 game. Buffalo thought they restored the lead again 24 seconds into the second period, when Ennis wristed a shot from the slot that eluded Bobrovsky. But replays concluded Moulson kicked the puck into the net, and the game remained tied. Dubinsky gave Columbus its first lead via the power play at 11:21 of the second period. After Zenon Konopka was penalized for goalie interference, Wisniewski fired a slap shot from the left point that was denied by Miller, who then stopped Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson on rebound attempts before Dubinsky collected the loose puck in front and wristed it into the net for his 10th goal of the season. Buffalo tied it on Myers' second goal in the final minute of regulation. With Savard in the box for tripping, Myers took a pass from Cody Hodgson and ripped a wrist shot from the circle past Bobrovsky to make it 3-3.
Montreal @ Toronto 3-5 - James Van Riemsdyk scored with 5:33 left in the third period, breaking a tie and helping the Maple Leafs to a 5-3 win against the Canadiens at Air Canada Centre. He tipped a pass from Tyler Bozak past Canadiens goalie Carey Price for his 19th of the season. Van Riemsdyk celebrated by grabbing the front of his jersey to show off the Maple Leafs logo, something he said he did after Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher chirped at the Toronto bench after he scored in the first period. Montreal's David Desharnais tied the game 3-3 at 9:06 of the third with his eighth goal of the season. He tipped a shot from the blue line by P.K. Subban and sent the puck wobbling past goalie Jonathan Bernier. Toronto's Joffrey Lupul was awarded a goal when he was hauled down by Montreal forward Lars Eller while breaking away on the empty net with four seconds remaining. It was Lupul's 15th goal of the season. Toronto took a 1-0 lead 4:49 into the first period with a highlight-reel goal. Defenseman Cody Franson scored his third of the season when Kadri faked out Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin to get by him and centered a pass to Franson. Price kept it a one-goal game at 13:16 of the first when he made a kick save against Maple Leafs forward Mason Raymond. With Toronto on the power play, Raymond was at the far side of the goal and had an open net to put the loose puck past Price, but Price kicked out his right leg. Gallagher scored his 12th goal of the season on a rebound to tie the game 1-1 with 2:31 left in the period. Carl Gunnarsson was in the box for holding, and the Canadiens put a barrage of shots on Bernier. Gallagher's goal came when Markov fired a shot that glanced off forward Max Pacioretty to Gallagher. Price came up big again at 11:06 of the second period when Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel came in on a breakaway. Kessel deked and got Price to go down in the splits, but Price made a lunging save to keep the game tied. Kessel gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead at 13:21 of the period when he took a pass from Raymond and put a snap shot past Price. The goal was Kessel's 23rd of the season and his 300th point as a member of the Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs made it 3-1 with 2:13 left to play in the period on the power play when Kadri found Raymond for his 13th goal of the season with a cross-zone pass and snap shot to beat Price. Montreal cut the Toronto lead to 3-2 with 11.2 seconds left in the second when Gionta took advantage of the Maple Leafs' inability to clear the zone and put a rebound of a Francis Bouillon shot past Bernier for his eighth goal of the season.
Los Angeles @ Detroit 2-3 SO - Even Niklas Kronwall conceded his game-tying goal shouldn't have counted. Not that he was about to give it back. Kronwall scored with 26.1 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime, and Tomas Tatar scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday. Kronwall was credited with the tying goal when his deflected point shot appeared to hit high up in the netting behind the goal, then caromed off the back of goaltender Jonathan Quick and rolled into the net. None of the officials saw the puck hit the netting, which would have resulted in a whistle. The play was called a goal on the ice, and the NHL said in a statement that although "video of the play appears to show the puck hitting the protective mesh above the glass before deflecting off goaltender Jonathan Quick and into the Los Angeles net. While the Situation Room examined the video, this is not a reviewable play therefore the referee's call on the ice stands. The goal was redemption for Kronwall, whose holding penalty with 3:08 remaining in the third period led to Jeff Carter's go-ahead power-play goal with 2:15 to play. Carter picked up the carom of Drew Doughty's point shot and zipped it past Jimmy Howard from the slot for the Kings' second power-play goal of the night. Tatar opened the shootout by snapping a shot from between the circles past Quick, and Howard denied all three L.A. shooters, ending the game by getting the knob of his stick on a wrister by Richards. It was the second win in nine shootouts this season for Detroit and the first in six tiebreakers for Howard, who finished with 30 saves to beat Quick (33 saves) for the second time in a week in a battle of U.S. Olympic goaltenders. Quick and Howard bumped into each other and had a heated exchange during a stoppage in play midway through the second period, though Howard joked afterward that, "we were just discussing what we were going to do in Sochi." Before the frantic final minutes, the only scoring came 41 seconds apart in the second period. Richards scored for Los Angeles at 9:06, but Henrik Zetterberg tied the game at 9:47. Neither team generated a lot of offense during a scoreless first period. Each team had eight shots on goal and a power play. Detroit won 13 of the 19 faceoffs; the Kings, one of the NHL's most physical teams, were credited with 20 hits to 10 for the Red Wings. The Red Wings killed a penalty to Jakub Kindl early in the second period, but the Kings opened the scoring after Brendan Smith was sent off for cross-checking at 8:17. Richards scored his first goal in 24 games when his shot from just above the right faceoff dot zipped off the jaw of Howard's mask and deflected into the net at 9:06. It was Richards' seventh goal of the season and first since Nov. 25. But Detroit ended a scoring drought of more than seven periods by tying the game 41 seconds later. Gustav Nyquist's pass from the right corner found Zetterberg alone in the slot for a one-timer into a half-empty net. It was the Red Wings' first goal in 152:21, since Daniel Cleary scored at 17:16 of the third period against Los Angeles last Saturday.
NY Islanders @ Philadelphia 4-6 - Michael Raffl's goal with 4:15 left in the third period capped a Philadelphia comeback from a 4-3 deficit entering the third. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Flyers tied a team record with their ninth victory this season when trailing at any point in the third. The Flyers also won for the fifth time when trailing after two periods. Claude Giroux set up the Flyers' first two goals in the third, Raffl's game-winner and Jakub Voracek's game-tying goal. Philadelphia outshot New York 15-2 in the final period. Although the Flyers played well in the final 20 minutes, they were not good during the first 40. Those two points allowed them to remain solidly in the hunt for a Stanley Cup Playoffs berth. The victory kept them in second place in the Metropolitan Division with 55 points, the same as the third-place New York Rangers but in one fewer game. They're three points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals. The Islanders led 4-3 after two periods after goals by Nelson and Strait 2:55 apart in the second. But the Flyers came out fast in the third period and never let up. Voracek tied it at 7:14 of the third with his 14th of the season. Philadelphia held the puck in the New York end and worked it around the top of the zone. Kimmo Timonen ended up with the puck at the left point and centered a pass to Giroux between the circles. Giroux made a nice backhand pass to Voracek, and his one-timer from the right circle beat Poulin over his glove. Moments later, it was another great play by Giroux. Carrying the puck into the New York end, he tried putting a shot on net off the rush, but Islanders defenseman Matt Donovan blocked it. The puck came right back to Giroux, who dropped it between Donovan's skates to a trailing Raffl, and the Austrian rookie buried it behind Poulin for his fourth of the season. Raffl made no mistake finishing this play after what happened Thursday against the Nashville Predators, when he had an open net after a miscue by Predators goalie Carter Hutton but Hutton recovered to make a spectacular sliding glove save. Read closed the scoring with an empty-net goal with 55.4 seconds left, his 11th of the season. The Islanders had turned in their own rally to get ahead after 40 minutes. Hall's redirection of a Mark Streit shot 3:45 into the middle period gave Philadelphia a 3-2 lead, but hard work by Nelson helped the Islanders get ahead. The 22-year-old center tied the game at 11:05 with his seventh of the season. Josh Bailey pushed the puck to defenseman Calvin de Haan at the Philadelphia blue line, and De Haan fired a shot into traffic in front that Nelson redirected past Mason. Moments later, Strait was credited with his third goal of the season. Nelson beat Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossmann to a dump-in behind the Philadelphia net. He spun it to Michael Grabner in the right corner and Grabner spotted Strait at the blue line on the left side and hit him with a long pass. Strait got to the top of the left circle and fired a shot that appeared to hit something in front and go past Mason at 14:00. Berube pulled Mason after the Strait goal. Mason, whom the Flyers signed to a three-year, $12.3 million contract extension Saturday, made 20 saves on 24 shots. The game started just the way the Islanders hoped as they turned a Flyers defensive-zone turnover into Tavares' 22nd goal of the season at 7:43 of the first period and got a shorthanded goal from Clutterbuck at 11:54. Meszaros brought the Flyers back by scoring twice in the second half of the first period. It was his first two-goal game since April 9, 2011, also against the Islanders. He has three goals and six assists in his past six games. Hall's goal early in the second put the Flyers ahead for the first time. He beat Nelson on a faceoff on the right side of the New York zone. He won the puck back to Streit, who slid to his left and fired a shot that Hall redirected from above the hashmarks past a screened Poulin. Replay review upheld the goal. Things looked better for the Islanders after the back-to-back goals later in the second, but then things went south in the third.
Florida @ Carolina 2-3 - One day after Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford called out forward Alexander Semin, the Russian forward was the difference in Carolina's 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers. Semin scored off a third-period faceoff to break a 1-1 tie and later beat goaltender Tim Thomas on a shorthanded breakaway. Semin had scored three goals in his previous 24 games, and six in 34 this season. Rutherford told a local TV station on Friday that Semin needed to find his offensive game. Carolina could use some confidence; it was coming off consecutive shutout losses. With that in mind, coach Kirk Muller reunited its top line from last season: Staal, Semin and Jiri Tlusty. The three entered the game with 22 goals total. Carolina scored first at 3:37 of the second period when Riley Nash finished a rebound for his fifth goal of the season. Radek Dvorak started the play by knocking down a clearing attempt at the blue line before putting a shot on net. Marcel Goc tied the game at 15:05 after Florida put in a hard-working shift in the offensive zone. Jonathan Huberdeau sent a pass across the crease for Goc's ninth of the season. Tomas Kopecky had the second assist. The Panthers had a four-minute power play early in the period, but looked sloppy and generated two shots. Florida's best opportunity came from Dmitry Kulikov, who hit the left post. The Panthers were 0-for-4, extending a streak to 0-for-32. A short time later, Semin found his scoring touch. After Staal won an offensive-zone draw, Semin fired a wrist shot from the top of the circle just inside the far post at 2:31. Then, with the Hurricanes killing a penalty, Staal found Semin through the neutral zone for a breakaway at 8:57. It was Carolina's NHL-leading ninth shorthanded goal. Florida closed to 3-2 at 14:21 when Kulikov's shot from the left point went in off Kopecky, but the Panthers couldn't muster the tying goal.
Anaheim @ St Louis 3-2 - It didn't take long for the Anaheim Ducks to wipe the slate clean and get back to winning. Just 24 hours, as a matter of fact. A night after a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks snapped their eight-game winning streak, the Ducks were off and running again against the St. Louis Blues. Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist, Nick Bonino had a pair of assists and Frederik Andersen stopped 34 shots in a 3-2 win against the Blues before 19,910 at Scottrade Center. The Ducks (37-9-5) are 19-2-0 in their past 21 games and have beaten the Blues (32-10-5) twice this season at home. Andersen improved to 12-2-0 in his rookie season for the Ducks, who jumped out to a 3-0 lead before holding off the Blues. Matt Beleskey and Cam Fowler also scored for the Ducks, who rebounded following a 4-2 loss to the Blackhawks that slightly derailed a team that had won 18 of 19 games. The Ducks had their way with the Blues for the first 40 minutes before St. Louis made a strong push in the third period. The Blues, who came into the game on a 10-2-1 run, dropped back-to-back games in regulation for the second time this season, and both sets have come against California teams. The Blues are 1-for-California this season, they are a combined 1-7-0 against the Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings. Those teams have outscored the Blues 31-19. Before this recent four-game stretch in which the Blues have six goals over 12 periods, they scored 21 goals in four games, winning all of those games and scoring five or more goals in each game. Barret Jackman and Jaden Schwartz scored third-period goals to get the Blues close. St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott made 18 saves, but his 13-game home winning streak came to an end. Elliott's last loss at Scottrade Center was a 2-0 loss to the Blackhawks on April 14, 2013. Getzlaf picked up where he's left off in the past eight games. His sixth goal in nine games gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead on a bit of a busted play when Corey Perry attempted to center the puck only to have it roll off his stick. Fortunately for the Ducks, it went right to Getzlaf in the slot, and he beat Elliott with a wrister 5:27 into the game. The Ducks could have had a larger lead, but Elliott was able to keep Saku Koivu's breakaway attempt out 10:55 into the game and Perry hit the post in the final minute of the period, during which Anaheim outshot St. Louis 8-7. After a Blues turnover early in the second period, Elliott appeared to stop Beleskey's shot from the left circle, but the puck crawled over him and trickled into the net at 2:27 for a 2-0 Anaheim advantage. Alexander Steen's interference penalty led to Fowler's power-play goal, a slap shot from the left circle 9:13 into the period to make it 3-0. Getzlaf earned an assist with his cross-ice pass, his 14th point in nine games. Jackman thwarted Andersen's bid for his first career shutout by firing a wrister through a screen and into the near side at 9:12 to make it 3-1. Schwartz scored his 16th of the season when he banked a puck from the side of the net off Andersen on the power play with 5:29 remaining, but the Ducks were able to hold on after Andersen stopped T.J. Oshie's shot from the right circle with 2.6 seconds to play.
Colorado @ Nashville 5-4 - Nick Holden was the last, and perhaps most unlikely, member of the Colorado Avalanche to get undressed on Saturday after his team's 5-4 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Holden, a defenseman who entered the game with two goals in 27 NHL games, first had to do a postgame interview with local television after scoring twice and adding an assist. He then entered the locker room to good-natured ribbing from his teammates for the crowd of media members who awaited him. The 26-year-old Holden played only two years of major junior and was never drafted but worked his way up through the American Hockey League. He played five games with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010-11 and two more last season before breaking through with Colorado this season. He has four goals, six assists and an even rating in 21 games. Holden earned the primary assist on Matt Duchene's power-play goal at 6:31 of the third period that ended up being the game-winner, as Nashville rallied for three late goals late but came up one short. Holden's teammates noted that he almost scored on that power play, which would have given him a hat trick. Colorado jumped on Nashville for three quick goals in the first period, spoiling the Predators debut of goalie Devan Dubnyk, who was acquired on Wednesday in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers. Dubnyk finished with 24 saves but trailed 3-0 12:05 into the game. The Avalanche took advantage of some defensive confusion by the Predators to score at 6:21 of the first period. Colorado unleashed three shots in a span of 12 seconds, the first a 50-foot slap shot from Holden. Later, Holden skated in from the point and put in a rebound of Nathan MacKinnon's backhander, which deflected to the opposite side of the ice and left the goal wide open. The secondary assist went to Stastny, who missed the previous two games with a leg injury. Another Colorado defenseman, Jan Hejda, scored to make it 2-0 with 8:33 left in the first. Hejda's slap shot from near the right boards eluded Dubnyk to the wide side, looking as if it deflected off Nashville's Eric Nystrom. Colorado capitalized on more sloppy defensive play by Nashville and took a three-goal lead 38 seconds later. Gabriel Landeskog scored his 14th goal from below the right faceoff dot after Nashville had full control but could not clear the zone. Again, assists went to MacKinnon and Stastny. Rookie defensemen Seth Jones and Mattias Ekholm, who played as a pairing, each finished minus-3. Trotz also was not pleased with the play of the forward line of Colin Wilson, Mike Fisher and Patric Hornqvist, who finished a combined minus-5. Nashville pulled within 3-1 late in the second period with the help of a two-minute 5-on-3 power play. Landeskog received a an elbowing penalty for a high hit on Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis, and Erik Johnson went off for roughing after he intervened when Nashville's Paul Gaustad went after Landeskog. The Predators got on the board 35 later when Fisher fed Hornqvist in the goalmouth for Hornqvist's 10th. The Predators could not score on the second half of the power play. Nashville thought they scored its second goal before the end of the period, but a video review confirmed that time had run out. Holden scored his second of the game at 2:31 of the third period with a slap shot that trickled through Dubnyk's left pad. Four minutes later, Duchene made it 5-1 when he fired from a steep angle and his shot went between Dubnyk's back and the post. Nashville's rally began with 11:46 left when Craig Smith stuffed home the rebound of Roman Josi's shot for his team-leading 15th goal to make it 5-2. Ellis scored on a slap shot from the point with 7:15 to go, and Josi scored his fifth of the season with 2:57 remaining on a rebound to pull the Predators within one.
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