Detroit @ NY Rangers 0-1 - With two of the NHL's best goaltenders each playing at the top of his game, the only shot that went into the net at Madison Square Garden on Thursday was actually a pass. Mats Zuccarello's pass attempt deflected off defenseman Brian Lashoff's stick and beat Jimmy Howard with 5:58 left in regulation to give the New York Rangers a 1-0 victory against the Detroit Red Wings. Taking a pass on the rush from Derick Brassard, Zuccarello glided down the left wing before attempting a cross-ice pass that skipped off Lashoff's stick. Howard was playing the pass and could not adjust in time as the puck fluttered over his right pad and just past his outstretched blocker to give New York (25-21-3) the lead. It was Zuccarello's 12th goal, tying him for the team lead with Chris Kreider and Brad Richards. With Howard on the bench for an extra attacker, Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall fired a shot from the right point that hit the near post and bounced off Lundqvist's back before sliding into the crease with 44.5 seconds remaining. Lundqvist managed to cover up just in time to preserve the win. It was a fitting way to decide an outstanding goaltending duel that saw the teams combine for 60 shots in the first 40 minutes. Each goalie made numerous big saves to keep the game scoreless, with Howard making one of his best stops 5:57 into the second. Following a scramble in the slot, Carl Hagelin found a loose puck in close in front of what appeared to be a wide-open net. But he could not lift the puck high enough to beat Howard, who stretched his left pad out to make the save. The Rangers' best chance of the second may have come with 2:52 remaining in the period, when Derek Stepan went between his own legs to leave a drop pass for Ryan Callahan in the slot. New York's captain held on to the puck long enough to take Howard out of the play, but was forced wide by Henrik Zetterberg before firing a shot that went through the crease and wide of the goal. Lundqvist and Howard, who will represent Sweden and the United States, respectively, at the upcoming 2014 Sochi Olympics, provided a possible preview of things to come when the Games begin next month. Lundqvist didn't face a shot for the first 2:47 of the game, but the Red Wings made him work hard for his first stop. After taking the puck along the right wing, recent American Hockey League call-up Cory Emmerton fed a speeding Danny DeKeyser at the lip of the crease. The defenseman's redirection was stopped by Lundqvist in what would be his first of many big saves. Stepan found space in the slot after taking a pass from Chris Kreider 30 seconds later, going to his backhand on a partial breakaway before being foiled by Howard. The Detroit goaltender was busy early, making a glove save on Richards from in close 3:56 into the first before stopping Michael Del Zotto's point shot and covering up the rebound 12 seconds later. Lundqvist also was up to the task, making four saves with the Rangers down a man after Stepan was whistled for hooking at 6:48. Lundqvist has allowed two goals or less in his past five games, going 4-1-0, and became the first Rangers goalie to shut out the Red Wings since John Davidson on Nov. 27, 1976.
Nashville @ Philadelphia 4-3 SO - Roman Josi's goal in the seventh round of the shootout gave the Predators a 4-3 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, their first win in seven tiebreakers this season. Josi, a Swiss defenseman who was 0-for-1 in shootouts, wristed a shot under goaltender Steve Mason for the win. His goal came after rookie Carter Hutton stopped Wayne Simmonds to start the seventh round. Nashville also got shootout goals by Matt Cullen and Ryan Ellis in the fifth and sixth rounds after Philadelphia's Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier had scored. The Predators came into the game 0-6 in shootouts, with one goal in 19 attempts. One of the losses came to the Flyers in Nashville on Nov. 30. Hutton made 27 saves through 65 minutes for Nashville, which also got goals from Eric Nystrom and David Legwand. It was the Predators' first game since acquiring goaltender Devan Dubnyk from the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday. Dubnyk dressed for the game and served as Hutton's backup. Philadelphia defenseman Andrej Meszaros scored his second goal of the season and set up a goal by Schenn before Simmonds tied the game with 1:24 left in regulation. Mason stopped 34 shots for the Flyers, who have lost three of four and dropped back-to-back home games after winning 10 in a row at Wells Fargo Center. Weber scored 5:10 into the third period to give the Predators a 3-2 lead. He set up at the right point, stepped into a pass from Legwand, and blasted it through a screen past Mason for his 12th of the season. The goal came with Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossmann serving a double minor for high-sticking Patrik Hornqvist. The Flyers forced overtime when Kimmo Timonen's blast hit Simmonds in front of the net and caromed past Hutton for a power-play goal. It came a few seconds after the Flyers pulled Mason to give them a 6-on-4 skating advantage. Matt Read nearly won the game 3:26 into overtime when his shot from the right circle hit the right post, caromed off Hutton and trickled toward the goal line before the Nashville goalie was able to cover the puck. The Flyers got off to a fast start when Schenn scored his 13th of the season 1:26 into the game. Meszaros worked his way around two Nashville defenders before dishing the puck to Simmonds, whose pass from the right circle found Schenn all alone at the left post for a tap-in. Nystrom tied it at 10:57 with his seventh of the season. Gabriel Bourque did a spin along the right half-wall and flung the puck at the net; it hit Nystrom's stick and caromed past Mason. The Flyers got into penalty trouble late in the period when Giroux was called for tripping at 14:30 and Timonen went off for boarding 42 seconds later. Philadelphia killed the 5-on-3, but before Giroux could get back into the play, Mike Fisher found Legwand with a left-to-right pass for a one-timer from deep in the circle into a wide-open net for his eighth of the season and a 2-1 lead. Hutton preserved the lead 7:08 into the second period with a tremendous diving save on Michael Raffl, who appeared to have an open net. Hutton went behind the net to play Giroux's dump-in, which hit a stanchion and caromed in front, but he got back to his crease in time to take away what looked like a sure goal. Nashville dominated most of the second period, outshooting the Flyers 14-8, but Philadelphia took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Predators to tie the game with 3.6 seconds remaining. Mark Streit sent Simmonds racing up the left side into the Nashville zone; Simmonds pulled up and found Meszaros coming late, and his wrister from the left circle went over Hutton's shoulder to tie the game.
Montreal @ Ottawa 5-4 OT - Carey Price gave the Montreal Canadiens a chance to win, and P.K. Subban seized the opportunity on behalf of his overworked goalie. Subban scored 23 seconds into overtime and Price stopped 40 of 44 shots to give Montreal a wild 5-4 victory against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. Subban beat Craig Anderson on the only shot in overtime in a game that saw the Canadiens jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, only to give up four unanswered goals while being outshot 38-17 in the first two periods. Price made a number of sensational saves in the second to protect Montreal's 3-2 lead before he was beaten on Ottawa's final two shots of the period. Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris scored on the Senators' 18th and 19th shots of the second period to give Ottawa its first lead at 4-3. The Canadiens recovered in the third, and Tomas Plekanec tied it 4-4 when he got credit for his second goal of the game with 8:58 remaining. Plekanec, who opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 2:04 of the first period, drove in on a breakaway and was stopped by Anderson, but the rebound went into the net off the skate of Ottawa defenseman Jared Cowen. Erik Karlsson had a goal and two assists, and Clarke MacArthur had a goal and an assist for the Senators, who defeated the Canadiens in the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs and won the first two games between the teams this season. Price, who will represent Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, made a spectacular glove save on Milan Michalek's shot from the slot, the Senators' 30th of the game, at 9:06 of the second period. Price stuck out his left pad to steal a sure goal from Ryan later in the period before making another glove grab to deny Mark Stone at 15:02. Ryan broke through to tie it 3-3 with his team-leading 19th goal at 17:16. Turris gave the Senators their first lead at 18:40 when he took a return pass from MacArthur and beat Price with a backhand for his 14th goal. Plekanec, who will captain the Czech Republic at the Olympics, fell to the ice after he was struck on the right leg by a shot by Ottawa's Cory Conacher midway through the first period. Plekanec went to the dressing room briefly before returning. Max Pacioretty made it 2-0 for Montreal with his team-leading 21st goal on a power play at 14:05. David Desharnais, who missed the Canadiens' 4-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday because of the flu, scored at 15:36 to increase Montreal's lead to three. Ottawa scored two goals 1:12 apart late in the first to draw to within 3-2. MacArthur scored his 17th goal at 17:13. Karlsson was left unmarked to score into a wide-open net at 18:25, his 11th.
NY Islanders @ Tampa Bay 2-1 SO - Kevin Poulin is making the case that he can be the New York Islanders' goaltender of the future. Poulin stopped 29 shots through 65 minutes and three more in the shootout, and Frans Nielsen scored the only goal of the tiebreaker in a 2-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. Nielsen zipped a low forehand shot past Ben Bishop on the Islanders' first attempt in the tiebreaker. Poulin denied Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman in the second and third rounds to give the Islanders their fourth win in five games on a six-game trip that ends Saturday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. Poulin, 23, has played all five games on the trip and is 5-1-0 since 38-year-old starter Evgeni Nabokov went down with a lower-body injury early in a 7-3 win against the Dallas Stars on Jan. 6. Martin St. Louis scored a first-period power-play goal for the Lightning (28-15-5). Thomas Vanek tied the game with 1:38 left in the second by scoring with Hedman in the box for high-sticking Brian Strait. The Lightning carried the play for most of the third period, at one point outshooting the Islanders 7-1, but were unable to beat Poulin. New York's best chance in the final period came when John Tavares andKyle Okposo had a 2-on-1 break with five minutes remaining, but Richard Panik disrupted Tavares' pass with a diving stop. St. Louis extended his scoring streak to six games when he opened the scoring at 5:45 of the first period with Strait in the penalty box for delay of game after he sent the puck into the stands. Valtteri Filppula, standing outside the crease to Poulin's right, sent a pass across the crease to St. Louis, who flipped the puck into an open net for his 21st goal of the season. Tyler Johnson also was credited with an assist. The Islanders had the better of play in the second period and finally tied it when Vanek took a pass from Nielsen in the low slot and fired the puck past Bishop for his 17th goal of the season. Vanek's goal came five seconds into Hedman's penalty and was the Islanders' first power-play goal in four games.
Los Angeles @ St Louis 4-1 - The Kings persevered in a tough building to snap a lengthy road losing skid. Third-line right wing Trevor Lewis had a large role in the outcome. Lewis scored his first two goals of the season 2:17 apart in the third period to snap a tie, and the Kings went on to end a five-game road losing streak with a 4-1 victory against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday at Scottrade Center. Jake Muzzin and Jeff Carter also scored for the Kings (29-14-5), whose most-recent win away from Staples Center was Dec. 14 against the Ottawa Senators. Jonathan Quick had 28 saves to pick up his fourth win in six games since coming back from a groin injury (4-1-1). Including the past two Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Kings have won 16 of 20 games against the Blues, including two of three this season. T.J. Oshie's first career penalty shot goal got the Blues (32-9-5) even in the game, and Jaroslav Halak stopped 27 shots in the 3,600th game in franchise history. The loss ended a five-game home winning streak. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock lamented his team's compete level against an elite opponent. The Blues were 10-1-1 in their previous 12 games, outscoring their opponents 47-19. They allowed more than two goals for the first time in nine games. Lewis broke a 1-1 tie when he fired a shot at Halak, who kicked out the puck, which caromed off Jaden Schwartz's skate and into the net with Dwight King in front 2:04 into the third period. The goal initially was given to King, and the play was never reviewed to see whose skate the puck hit. Officials determined no matter whose skate it was, the puck was not distinctly directed. Later, with the Blues on a power play, Halak went into the left corner to play the puck, but it hopped over his stick into the restricted area. He let the puck go; Lewis pounced and wrapped a shot into the empty side for a shorthanded goal at 4:21. Muzzin's third goal of the season at 2:31 of the first period put L.A. on top 1-0. The Kings were able to hunt a puck off the right boards, and Colin Fraser fed Muzzin. His shot from the top of the slot beat Halak, who appeared to be screened by a pair of players skating through the slot. Oshie blocked Muzzin's wrist shot from the left point in the second period and was off to the races. Muzzin pulled down Oshie as he was going in alone on Quick, creating a penalty shot. Oshie beat Quick five-hole at 5:55 to tie it 1-1. It was Oshie's ninth point (five goals) in the past six home games, and the Blues' fourth straight penalty-shot goal dating to the 2011-12 season. The Blues have a penalty-shot goal from Alexander Steen in the second game of the season, Oct. 5 against the Florida Panthers. Carter's empty-net goal with 55.5 seconds remaining sealed the win for the Kings, who lost here 5-0 on Jan. 2, without Quick.
Edmonton @ Minnesota 1-4 - Nate Prosser spent much of the first half of this season watching games from the press box. Such is the life of a seventh defenseman in the NHL. But an injury to Jared Spurgeon has put Prosser in the spotlight, and the Elk River, Minn., native has responded. Prosser's first goal in almost two years broke a 1-1 tie late in the second period Thursday and the Minnesota Wild overcame some early sloppiness to beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 at Xcel Energy Center. Prosser's goal came at the perfect time. A Jordan Eberle goal early in the second period tied the game for Edmonton, and after that, the Oilers controlled the puck and the momentum. But the Wild remained structured enough in the defensive zone to keep the puck out of their net, buying Prosser and the offense enough time to get the lead. After the Wild generated their first sustained pressure of the middle period, Prosser's blast from the right half-wall got through Oilers' goaltender Ben Scrivens' glove for his first goal since Feb. 7, 2012 - a stretch of 68 games. The goal was the first of three in a span of 3:22 over the second and third periods for Minnesota, turning a close game into a knockout. With just over a minute left in the second, the Wild made it 3-1 when Justin Fontaine cleaned up a Kyle Brodziak rebound in the crease. Fontaine's 12 goals are already the third-best total for a rookie in franchise history. Eight seconds into the third, it was 4-1, as Jason Zucker and Dany Heatley played catch into the Oilers zone. Heatley's last pass provided Zucker, who turned 22 on Thursday, with an open net for his fourth of the season. The goal was the fastest in team history to start a period in a home game. The Wild went ahead 1-0 just over 10 minutes into the game thanks to a great individual effort by Mikael Granlund, who raced in to negate an icing and then won a puck battle behind the net before passing to Pominville in front. Pominville switched from his forehand to his backhand, getting Scrivens to sprawl in the process, before flipping the puck into an open net for his team-leading 19th goal of the season. It snapped a six-game goal drought for Pominville, his longest of the season. Eberle tied the game early in the second, capitalizing on a Wild turnover. After a failed pinch by Wild defenseman Clayton Stoner, Eberle led a 2-on-1 rush, waiting out defenseman Keith Ballard and drove to the slot, where he fired a wrister over the glove of Darcy Kuemper at 2:36 for his 15th of the season. Scrivens, starting his first game for Edmonton after being traded from the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, made 29 saves. Kuemper, making his third consecutive start, stopped 20 shots for his third win of the season. Perhaps of more concern to the Oilers, forward Nail Yakupov suffered a head injury late in the second period. After being knocked off the puck at his offensive blue line by Wild forward Matt Cooke, Yakupov hit the ice hard and slid awkwardly into the boards near the Oilers bench. Yakupov, who was ruled out for the game at the start of the third period, was slow to get up and Fontaine scored on the ensuing rush. The team did not have an update on Yakupov's injury or his status for the Oilers' next game Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets.
New Jersey @ Colorado 1-2 SO - The Avalanche have gotten accustomed to putting in extra work in recent weeks. Four of their past five games and seven of the past 13 have been decided in an overtime or a shootout, including Thursday at Pepsi Center when they used a tiebreaker to defeat the New Jersey Devils 2-1. Matt Duchene and Ryan O'Reilly scored against Devils goalie Cory Schneider in the first and third rounds of the tiebreaker; Schneider made a save against Nathan MacKinnon in the second round. Duchene shot the puck between Schneider's pads and O'Reilly chipped it past his glove. Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov made a pad save against Patrick Elias and forced Adam Henrique to shoot wide before O'Reilly connected for the winner. While the Avalanche have gone 3-3 in shootouts this season, the Devils have lost all eight of their shootouts while scoring once on 25 shots. Going back to last season, they've dropped 12 in a row, an NHL record. Colorado (30-12-5) has won three in a row and is 7-1-2 in its past 10 games to pull within four points of the second-place St. Louis Blues in the Central Division.
The Avalanche matched the 2000-01 team for winning 30 times in the fewest games (47). Varlamov is 10-0-5 in his past 15 starts, one short of Peter Budaj's franchise record for consecutive decisions without a regulation loss. Budaj went 13-0-3 from Feb. 24 - April 5, 2007. Varlamov hasn't lost in regulation since Dec. 10, a 3-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes. Each goalie made five saves in overtime. Varlamov made a glove stop against Jaromir Jagr on a 2-on-1 rush at 2:13, and Schneider got his pad in front of O'Reilly with 23 seconds left on a similar rush by the Avalanche. O'Reilly scored for the third consecutive game to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 8:55 of the first period. O'Reilly, who has four goals in the streak, was in the slot when Patrick Bordeleau fed him from behind the net. O'Reilly connected on a one-timer, beating Schneider high to the stick side. The Devils tied the game at 8:59 of the third period on a goal by Reid Boucher, who tipped a shot by Andrei Loktionov from the right circle. The Devils had more shots in the third period (18) than in the first two periods combined (11). The Avalanche began the night on a 9-for-23 roll on power plays but went 0-for-3 with the man advantage. The Devils, who went 0-for-2 on power plays, have killed 33 of 37 penalties in their past 11 games. The Avalanche outshot the Devils 13-2 in the second period. Ryane Clowe had New Jersey's first shot at 9:35, and Henrique had the other while helping to kill Loktionov's slashing penalty that started at 15:42.
Winnipeg @ Calgary 5-2 - The Jets are still in the honeymoon phase with new coach Paul Maurice, but it's been a great marriage thus far. The Jets improved to 2-0-0 under Maurice with a convincing 5-2 victory against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday. Maurice replaced Claude Noel on Sunday, and the Jets beat the Phoenix Coyotes 5-1 at MTS Centre on Monday night to snap a five-game losing streak. While Maurice has been perfect in his return to the NHL, the Flames have been far from it, dropping a franchise-record seven straight on home ice while being outscored 22-4. Overall, the Flames have lost 13 of their past 16. The Flames didn't, and it didn't take long for the Jets to build on their win in Maurice's debut. Michael Frolik burst down his off wing and let go a weak backhand from below the faceoff dot that Reto Berra kicked right back onto the stick of Bryan Little in the slot. Little buried it 5:01 into the game to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead. It was the first two shots on goal recorded by the Jets. Their fifth also found its way past Berra. Just 3:10 after Little's goal, former Flames center Olli Jokinen spotted Dustin Byfuglien alone in the high slot, and he beat Berra to the blocker side for a 2-0 lead. Calgary tried to climb back into the game during a first-period power play but Ondrej Pavelec made near-identical left pad saves off Jiri Hudler and Sean Monahan seconds apart. After managing eight shots at Pavelec in the first period, the Flames managed to lob three at him in the second while allowing the Jets to take a four-goal lead. Mark Scheifele outraced Shane O'Brien to a dump-in behind the Flames net and tapped the puck to Chris Thorburn. He found Blake Wheeler, who returned the puck back to Scheifele at the far post with a back-door pass for a tap-in at 9:09 to make it 3-0. Jokinen added his 13th of the season with 2:29 remaining in the period, one-timing Andrew Ladd's pass behind Berra for a power-play goal and a 4-0 advantage through 40 minutes. Giordano ended Pavelec's shutout bid 40 seconds into the third period, snapping a shot just under the joint where the post and crossbar meet. But rookie defenseman Jacob Trouba responded at 2:57 to restore the Jets' four-goal lead. With the teams skating 4-on-4, Trouba picked up a drop pass from Wheeler at the Flames' blue line, slashed his way to the slot and ripped a shot that beat Berra. Lance Bouma's deflection of Dennis Wideman's point shot went past Pavelec with 8:01 remaining to complete the scoring.
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