Ottawa @ Carolina 3-6 - The Carolina Hurricanes owe much of their recent success to Alexander Semin, Eric Staal and Jiri Tlusty. The Hurricanes put their top line from last season back together, and it quickly led to three wins in four games. Saturday, the Hurricanes' other forwards made the difference. Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, and Nathan Gerbe had three points when the Hurricanes defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-3 for their third straight win. Most of the action was confined to the second period. After Gerbe scored to put Carolina up 1-0 in the first, the teams combined for seven second-period goals, some of them the result of sloppy defensive coverage. Carolina scored 23 seconds apart in the second period, beginning when Semin made a perfect lead pass through the neutral zone to Staal, who beat goalie Robin Lehner through the legs at 6:05. Malhotra made it 3-0 when he buried Gerbe's pass from the left wing. Malhotra finished from the top of the crease after Gerbe lifted a saucer pass across the slot. Riley Nash pushed the score to 4-0 at 13:23 after Sekera held a puck in at the blue line before circling and finding Nash in the slot. The Senators left Nash plenty of time to pick a spot with Lehner on his knees. A little more than two minutes later, Kyle Turris put the Senators on the board. Clarke MacArthur gathered the rebound of Eric Gryba's shot and slid it to Turris, who had a wide-open net at 13:58. Turris scored his second of the game at 17:45 with the Senators shorthanded. With Chris Neil in the box on a four-minute high-sticking penalty, MacArthur fed a diagonal pass to Turris, who scored his 17th of the season. Turris has 10 goals in his past 15 games. The Hurricanes extended the lead to 5-2 when Tuomo Ruutu beat Lehner off the glove at 19:27. The Senators answered 10 seconds later; Carolina goaltender Anton Khudobin fumbled a rebound in the crease, and Mika Zibanejad popped the loose puck into the net. Lehner was replaced by Craig Anderson to start the third period after allowing five goals on 22 shots. Anderson stopped the nine shots he faced. Malhotra provided the only score of the third period, an empty-net goal at 18:19. The game was originally scheduled for Friday but was moved to Saturday after Carolina's Tuesday night game against the Philadelphia Flyers was postponed by bad weather and played Wednesday.
St Louis @ NY Islanders 4-3 SO - The Blues erased 2-0 and 3-2 deficits and Kevin Shattenkirk scored in the third round of the shootout to lift St. Louis to a 4-3 victory against the New York Islanders. Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and T.J. Oshie erased a 3-2 deficit with 26.7 seconds left in regulation for St. Louis, which went 3-1-0 on the trip. The Islanders were awarded a power play with 2:16 left in overtime when Blues forward Jaden Schwartz tripped Thomas Hickey in the neutral zone. They thought they had the game won with 1:15 left when Vanek redirected a shot past Halak. But after a lengthy video review, it was determined Vanek had kicked the puck over the goal line with his left skate. New York got on the board first when Vanek scored 4:01 into the game. With the teams at even strength, Okposo seized control of the puck from Steen and chipped it in front to Vanek. The Isles sniper quickly fired a wrister past Halak for his 19th goal of the season. Okposo doubled the Islanders' lead with 4:49 remaining in the first period. Vanek sent the puck off left wing around the net for Okposo, who caught Halak moving to his left and quickly stuffed the puck past the Blues goaltender on a wraparound to make it 2-0. It was Okposo's 22nd goal of the season. Tarasenko cut New York's lead in half during a 4-on-4 situation at 17:17 of the first. The 22-year-old took a pass from Maxim Lapierre and let go what seemed to be a harmless wrist shot from the slot that found its way past Poulin to make it 2-1. Tarasenko tied things up 1:17 into the second with his 17th goal of the season. Shattenkirk one-timed a shot from the top of the right circle that Poulin denied with his pads, but Steen collected the rebound and fed Tarasenko in the slot, where he beat Poulin with a wrister to make it 2-2. Martin put the Islanders back in front with his fourth goal of the season at 3:58 of the second. The rugged forward cruised into the slot and completed a tic-tac-toe passing display with Casey Cizikas and Colin McDonald by one-timing McDonald's feed past Halak for his second goal in the past three games. Poulin preserved the one-goal lead midway through the second, when he fought off a crowd of players in front, stretched across the crease and robbed Steen with his right pad. St. Louis was inches away from tying the game nine minutes into the third period when Steen collected a rebound right in front and caught Poulin out of position, but his wrist shot hit each goal post and failed to cross the goal line. Oshie had a golden opportunity about eight minutes later, but his wrister from the slot also hit each goal post without going in. The play was reviewed at the next whistle, but replays concluded the puck never crossed the goal line. Oshie had a second chance in the final minute of regulation and didn't miss again. The U.S. Olympian took a pass from Alex Pietrangelo, spun around and fired a wrist shot from the slot past Poulin to make it 3-3 at 19:33.
Boston @ Philadelphia 6-1 - The Flyers, who not-surprisingly lead the NHL in penalty minutes per game, took a pair of minor penalties early in the first period. They killed a boarding penalty to Nicklas Grossmann at 3:07, but when Giroux was sent off for tripping at 5:32, the Bruins were able to capitalize. Iginla found Chara down low and his shot from the right side of the net deflected off Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn past Mason at 6:30. Chara hadn't scored since a two-goal game against the Calgary Flames on Dec. 17. Midway through the first, the Bruins kept the Flyers hemmed in their end for a shift lasting longer than a minute, but Mason stonewalled them. He also made a glove save to rob David Krejci with 35.1 seconds remaining in the period. But the Bruins kept buzzing and Iginla doubled their lead with 17.1 seconds left, ripping the puck past Mason from the right circle off a feed from Milan Lucic. That snapped an eight-game goal drought for Iginla. Evidence of that was Smith extending the lead to 3-0 with a brilliant play at 6:59 of the second period. The Bruins had been controlling the offensive flow again when Smith burst through the middle, split Grossmann and defense partner Mark Streit, and got off a shot while losing his balance. The puck hit the post, then caromed off the back of Mason's leg into the net. It was Smith's 16th goal, tying him with Brad Marchand for the team lead. Rask kept the Flyers off the scoreboard moments later by sliding across his crease to snag a Jakub Voracek one-timer off a 3-on-2 rush. The win was Rask's career-high 23rd of the season. Bergeron's rebound goal at 13:10 chased Mason. Bergeron spun off the boards in the left corner and found Marchand for a shot from the left circle that Mason stopped. But the rebound ended up right on the stick of Bergeron, who snapped it into the net for his 13th goal of the season and brought Ray Emery off the Philadelphia bench. Rask's shutout ended on Giroux's power-play goal 7:55 into the third. Chara was in the box for holding when Voracek set up Giroux for a one-time blast from the left circle. The Bruins got the four-goal lead right back when Iginla scored his 15th by one-timing Torey Krug's feed for a power-play goal 10 seconds after Grossmann was whistled for a four-minute high-sticking penalty against Boston forward Jordan Caron. He left the game briefly but returned to play three more shifts. Chara scored his 11th of the season and second of the game on the back end of the double minor, converting a pass from Iginla who moved down low and sent the puck across the crease for the easy tap in past Emery, who made 11 saves.
Washington @ Montreal 5-0 - Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring with his NHL-leading 36th goal of the season in his return to the lineup and the Capitals scored more goals in the second period than they did in their four previous games in a 5-0 win against a listless Canadiens team Saturday at Bell Centre. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby made 21 saves for his second shutout of the season and the ninth of his career. It may have been his easiest one, with Montreal registering the great majority of its shots long after the game was out of reach, and few of them were very dangerous. The Canadiens were being outshot 26-3 when John Carlson made it 4-0 for the Capitals at 10:31 of the second period. Montreal coach Michel Therrien then pulled goaltender Carey Price for the second time in three games. The Canadiens got their first shot on goal in the second period about two minutes later when Daniel Briere took a shot from the top of the faceoff circle at 12:45, triggering a big round of sarcastic applause from the Bell Centre crowd. The Canadiens were second in the Atlantic Division back in December, one point behind the Boston Bruins and 10 points clear of the top non-playoff team in the Eastern Conference. They had won five games in a row and nine of their previous 10, and they appeared to be placing themselves in position to battle for first in the East. In spite of the poor play since that game, the Canadiens have only dropped to fourth in the Atlantic Division, but they are now four points away from being out of a playoff spot. The Capitals entered the game with three goals in their four previous games and eight goals during their seven-game losing streak (0-5-2), one that has pushed them out of a playoff spot in the East. But four goals in less than nine minutes of the second period allowed them to start the climb back in the standings to where they once were. Ovechkin's goal at 1:46 of the second showed off his tremendous hands, something the Capitals were lacking while he sat out the previous two games with a lower-body injury. After Price made a blocker save on Jason Chimera from in tight, the puck bounced off to the side of the net. Ovechkin juggled the puck with his stick to settle it down before banking it in off Price to get the Capitals on the board. John Erskine scored his first goal of the season at 3:05 of the second on a slow roller that squeaked through Price's legs as Brooks Laich and P.K. Subban were engaged in a battle for position in front of him. Jay Beagle also scored his first of the season at 6:21 on a nice tic-tac-toe play that began when Mike Green sent a pass through the slot to Tom Wilson, who immediately found Beagle on the other side of the net for an easy tap-in. Carlson's ninth of the season at 10:31 was a soft shot from the point that Montreal defenseman Nathan Beaulieu inadvertently tipped past Price. Wellman, who was called up from Hershey of the American Hockey League earlier in the day, made it 5-0 when he beat Budaj off an Ovechkin feed on a 2-on-1 break in the third for his first goal with the Capitals.
Colorado @ Tampa Bay 2-5 - The game matched the NHL's two leading first-year scorers, Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, the first player taken in the 2013 NHL Draft, and Tyler Johnson, an undrafted free agent. MacKinnon took a 33-31 lead in points into the game and had an assist, but Johnson pulled even for the rookie scoring lead with his three-goal night. Johnson opened the scoring 7:15 into the second period when he tapped in the carom of Victor Hedman's shot off goal post for his 14th goal of the season. He made it 4-2 with 5:22 remaining in regulation by batting in the rebound of Martin St. Louis' shot, and completed the hat trick by deflecting Hedman's shot past Semyon Varlamov with 3:05 to play. The Lightning made it 2-0 just 98 seconds after Johnson's first goal when a shot from the left point by Mark Barberio snuck between Aittokallio's right arm and his body for the defenseman's third goal of the season. Valtteri Filppula and Alex Killorn assisted. Filppula stretched the lead to 3-0 at 18:04 when J.T. Brown found him alone to Aittokallio's left. Aittokallio stopped the first shot, but Filppula popped the rebound behind him for his 19th of the season. But Colorado got back in the game by scoring twice in 30 seconds before the period ended, and coach Patrick Roy decided to have Varlamov play the third period after rookie Sami Aittokallio allowed three goals on 18 shots through 40 minutes. John Mitchell deflected a shot by Gabriel Landeskog from the left point past Ben Bishop at 18:33. Mitchell's goal was his fifth of the season and his first in his past 28 games. Some sloppy play in front of the Lightning net then allowed Tyson Barrie to grab the puck alone in the slot and beat Ben Bishop a half-minute later for his sixth goal of the season. Colorado nearly tied it in the final seconds when Matt Duchene came in alone on Bishop, but his shot went over the net. Colorado pressured the Lightning early in the second period, keeping the puck in the Tampa Bay zone and firing the first six shots of the period on Bishop, who stopped Ryan O'Reilly alone in front of the net and seconds later gloved a shot by Duchene.
Buffalo @ Columbus 5-2 - Columbus hit the post twice, including with a little more than two minutes left and the score 4-2. A James Wisniewski shot bounced off several bodies in front, then was put off the pipe by Blue Jackets forward Matt Calvert. Cody Hodgson then scored into an empty net from the boards in front of the Blue Jackets bench with 51 seconds remaining for his 12th goal. Bobrovsky, a winner in his prior nine starts with a 1.80 goals-against average and .940 save percentage, allowed three soft goals to his glove side, two of them with Columbus on the power play, before being pulled. The second of the man-down goals came off an odd-man rush and was scored by Marcus Foligno at 3:28 of the second period for his fifth goal of the season and a 3-1 lead. Foligno's shot went off Bobrovsky's glove before trickling past him. An Ellis goal and a late shorthanded goal by Ehrhoff gave Buffalo a 2-1 lead after one period. Ehrhoff scored with 29.5 seconds left after miscommunication between Bobrovsky and his defensemen. Ehrhoff circled back to pick up the loose puck and fired a slap shot from the left point that hit the right post on the way in for his third goal of the season. Ellis scored on the game's first shot at 2:21, an innocent-looking backhand from about 40 feet that eluded Bobrovsky through traffic and smacked the post before going across the line for his third goal. After Ellis scored, Miller denied Cam Atkinson on a breakaway and made a pad save on the rebound try by Jack Johnson. Miller was finally beaten at 12:53 when MacKenzie scored his fourth goal (second in as many games). Columbus pressured in the second period but luck wasn't on its side. Hoping to cut the two-goal deficit in half, the Blue Jackets went on the power play in the final two minutes and set up Johnson for a shot from the blue line. It clanged the base of the right post and skimmed underneath Miller at the top of the crease. Columbus used five defensemen because David Savard was ill and emergency call-up Cody Goloubef did not arrive from the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League in time. Instead, forward Cody Bass made his Blue Jackets season debut. He was reassigned to Springfield after the game. The Sabres also had personnel issues after left wing Ville Leino missed the third period with an injury; right wing Drew Stafford was injured and played two minutes in the third. Nolan said their status for a game Monday at the Pittsburgh Penguins is uncertain. But that didn't stop the Sabres from their second road win in regulation this season. It was the first time they scored five times in regulation and was their largest margin of victory.
Toronto @ Winnipeg 4-5 OT - Paul Maurice continues his rehabilitation of the Winnipeg Jets. Maurice's team blew a three-goal lead but defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 Saturday at MTS Centre when Dustin Byfuglien ripped a high shot past Jonathan Bernier with 2:16 left in overtime. It was the fifth win in six games for the Jets since Maurice replaced Claude Noel on Jan. 12, but it didn't come easily. The Jets led 4-1 in the second period but couldn't put away the Maple Leafs in regulation. Goals by Troy Bodie and Tim Gleason before the end of the second period made it 4-3, and Phil Kessel tied it by beating Ondrej Pavelec with 1:33 left in regulation, his 27th goal of the season. Rookie center Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler gave the Jets a 2-0 lead 6:34 into the game. Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf scored a power-play goal 6:13 into the second period, but Bryan Little restored Winnipeg's two-goal lead 1:23 later, and Zach Bogosian scored his second of the season at 8:13 to make it 4-1. The Little and Wheeler goals came on the power play for the Jets, who began the game ranked 27th in the NHL before scoring on two of their three man-advantages Saturday. Little's goal ended the night for Toronto goalie James Reimer; it's the second time in as many games Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle pulled his starter. Reimer stopped 15 shots; Bernier made 12 saves. Pavelec, making his eighth consecutive start, finished with 24 saves. Scheifele gave the Jets a quick lead by scoring his 10th of the season. Evander Kane forced a turnover from Gleason before working the puck to Scheifele, who snapped a shot from the high slot that snuck past Reimer. Wheeler's 19th, the Jets' first power-play goal in four games, made it 2-0. He broke down the left side on his off-wing and directed a wrist shot through Reimer's pads. The Maple Leafs' fourth-ranked power play scored early in the second period. Fifty-five seconds after Winnipeg defenseman Keaton Ellerby's boarding minor gave the Toronto its second man-advantage, Phaneuf ripped a shot from just inside the blue line that beat Pavelec. Bodie's goal at 9:14 cut the margin to 4-2, and Gleason made it a one-goal game at 16:44 when his low snap shot went through Pavelec's pads. Gleason broke his 117-game goalless streak that dated to Dec. 18, 2011. Since taking over as Jets coach, Maurice has worked on a calmer approach and emphasized a need to adhere to an established game plan rather than playing to the game's score. Maurice has been tasked with repairing the outlook of a club that remains last in the Central Division and had lost five consecutive games before general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff dismissed Noel.
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