Carolina Hurricanes @ Dallas Stars

If Jamie Benn was feeling fatigued after helping Canada win gold at the Sochi Olympics and making the long trip back to Texas, he didn't show it Thursday night. Benn scored a shorthanded goal and had two assists to lead the Dallas Stars to a 4-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes night at American Airlines Center. It was Benn's first game since helping Canada win the gold medal by beating Sweden on Sunday. He helped the Stars get off to a fast start by assisting on two goals in the first 6:13 as Dallas (28-21-10) regained the second wild-card berth in the Western Conference. The Stars found the back of the net on their first two shots. Tyler Seguin beat Carolina goaltender Anton Khudobin to the short side with a one-timer from the left circle 3:18 into the game after a backhand cross-ice pass from Valeri Nichushkin.

"I thought our team played great," Benn said. "We came out in the first and I thought we took it to them. We got the first goal and we kept rolling from there."

"I thought [Nichushkin] skated really well, and he had a nice set-up on the first goal," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said.

Dallas doubled the lead at 6:13 when Brenden Dillon scored his sixth of the season, firing with a wrister from the high slot over Khudobin's glove for a shorthanded goal. Carolina was on the power play after Cody Eakin was called for delay of game at 4:57 for shooting the puck over the boards.

"Anytime Jamie Benn is going up the ice, you've got to expect a goal," Dillon said.

Carolina coach Kirk Muller was less than pleased with his team's slow start. "You know we weren't happy with our first period tonight. When you give a team like that the opportunity and advantage, it's hard to come back and for whatever reason we didn't have enough guys ready to go to start this game and we just chased things after that."

Carolina center Elias Lindholm, who returned after being a healthy scratch Tuesday night in Buffalo, agreed with his coach that he and his teammates weren't ready to play. "I don't think we were ready to go from the beginning. In the third, we started playing a little bit better, but it was too late," Lindholm said.

The Hurricanes lost forward Alexander Semin for the rest of the game after he sustained a lower-body injury during his first shift of the second period. Semin will be evaluated on Friday. Muller said losing one of his team's hottest scorers made chasing the game even harder. "It's tough because he's been our hottest forward in the last 15-20 games. He's a big part of this team and we miss that firepower from him."

Benn gave Dallas a three-goal lead by scoring a shorthanded goal with 1:25 left in second period. The Stars' captain gained possession deep in his own end after Carolina's Nathan Gerbe fanned on an attempted pass. He raced up the middle of the ice and split defensemen Andrej Sekera and Justin Faulk before firing a wrister under an outstretched Khudobin near the far post for his 23rd goal of the season.

"On the whole I thought we skated well. We executed for the most part," Ruff said. "I'd give our team an A-plus tonight, for their skating, their compete level and being able to get down in the trenches."

The Stars scored two shorthanded goals in a game for the first time since an 8-2 win over the San Jose Sharks in Dallas on March 16, 2010.

"We really very seldom get scored on the power play. It's a couple of mistakes early on that cost us," Muller said. "We gave them those first couple of goals and like I said you've got to fight back after that."

Carolina got on the board 2:42 into the final period when Eric Staal fired a wrister from along the goal line to the right of Lehtonen that deflected off his left pad and into the net for Staal's 16th of the season. It was the only Carolina shot to beat Lehtonen, who finished with 29 saves.

"I was thinking what kind of passing options he had from the corner," Lehtonen said. "I think he sensed that. I was looking up the ice."

Eakin hit the empty net with 56 seconds remaining. Dallas' Antoine Roussel earned a charging major and a game misconduct at 5:36 of the third period after going hard into Khudobin. Carolina's Ron Hainsey earned an instigating minor, a fighting major and a 10-minute misconduct after dropping the gloves with Roussel. Khudobin made 30 saves for the Hurricanes (26-24-9), who have lost the first two games of a five-game trip that continues against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, the same day Dallas hosts the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"He's an elite goalie," Muller said of Khudobin. "He's doing the job every night. He gave us the chance again to stay in this game. He made some huge saves."

Phoenix Coyotes @ Winnipeg Jets 2-3 SO - 02/27

The new Winnipeg Jets beat the old Winnipeg Jets 3-2 in a shootout at MTS Centre on Thursday in a game between two teams trying to break out of the crowded pack of Western Conference teams chasing a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the win, the Jets have 64 points, one point behind the Coyotes, who hold two games in hand and currently sit one point back of the Dallas Stars for the second of two wild-card spots in the West. The game began a stretch of nine of 12 games on home ice for the Jets, who are attempting to reach the postseason for the first time since 2007 when the organization was based in Atlanta. Given the Jets' position in the playoff hunt, coach Paul Maurice was happy to get that extra point Thursday.

"That's the way that our games are going to look now, and if you can get two points on teams that are scratching and clawing at this point, absolutely [the Jets will take the win]," he said.

Martin Hanzal's power-play goal early in the third period pulled Phoenix even at 2-2 before the teams clamped down defensively for the remainder of regulation time. Shootout goals from Olli Jokinen and Devin Setoguchi carried the Jets to the extra point; Antoine Vermette hit the net for the Coyotes in the tiebreaker.

"Coming out of the break, we wanted to make sure that we came out with energy," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "For the most part, I didn't mind our game."

Tippett's team managed to scratch out a point against a Winnipeg team that has been hot since Maurice took over for Claude Noel on Jan. 13. The Jets are now 10-3-1 and own the NHL's second-best points percentage since the coaching change.

"We'll take the two points, move on and try to get sharper from here," Jets captain Andrew Ladd said.

Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson opened the scoring with his ninth goal of the season. Jets right wing Blake Wheeler countered with his team-leading 23rd goal in the first period, and center Bryan Little added his 19th goal during a second-period power play. The game featured a matchup of goaltenders from the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Smith, who won a gold medal with Canada, started for the Coyotes in making his League-leading 50th appearance and stopped 27 shots. Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec, a member of the Czech Republic team, made 34 saves. Smith did not play for Canada during Olympic competition, and he welcomed the opportunity to resume his heavy workload in the Phoenix net.

"It's tough," Smith said of his lack of recent game competition. "It's exciting to get back in there and playing again. Obviously, it was an unbelievable experience, and I'll have those memories for the rest of my life and I wouldn't give [them] back for anything. It was tough to watch, tough to not be in games. But I accepted that role and knew when I came back that I'd get a lot of ice time, so I'm well-rested."

Pavelec countered with strong work late in the regulation and overtime as Phoenix pressed for the winning goal.

"To win that game, Ondrej really had to compete hard in the net," Maurice said.

The Coyotes took a 1-0 lead when Radim Vrbata's pass reached Ekman-Larsson alone in the slot, and the Swedish defenseman snapped a shot that went over Pavelec's left glove with 7:43 left in the first period. Wheeler answered for the Jets 2:38 later. After Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien jostled with Smith in close, Wheeler sent a shot from the right boards that snuck through the goaltender's pads as he attempted to regain his footing. Little broke a 1-1 tie late in the second period when he pounced on Phoenix defenseman Zbynek Michalek's turnover in the slot and lifted a shot over Smith. The power-play goal with 1:59 remaining in the period came as Winnipeg was on a 1-for-15 slide and tied for 25th in the League entering the game with the man advantage. After killing off an Ekman-Larsson slashing minor to start the third period, the Coyotes' eighth-ranked power play went to work with Winnipeg center Jim Slater off for hooking. With 28 seconds left on the minor, Hanzal jabbed a rebound behind Pavelec at 6:40 for a 2-2 game. Each team battled rust, especially in the game's first half, and knows that it will need to sharpen its game as the Western Conference race intensifies. The Coyotes departed Winnipeg after the game for a road game Friday against the Colorado Avalanche. Tippett found reasons for optimism in his team's play against Winnipeg. After playing the Avalanche, the Coyotes settle back in Phoenix for three consecutive home games next week.

"There are certainly some positive things from our group to build on there," Tippett said. "We just came back, so we [knew] it [was] going to be a little bit choppy. But I liked the effort, I liked some of the structure we played with, and now we have to continue to bring that night in and night out. There was lots of urgency and intensity. There were some turnovers I didn't like in the game; those are things that we have to continue to clean up. But the will we played with and the desperation, that's going to have to be there every night."

The Jets will play Saturday afternoon at the Nashville Predators, another team they are trying to fend off in the playoff chase.

"It's a positive to maybe not play your A game and still get two points," Wheeler said. "You know that it's not going to be the last time we have to do that this year. It's an all-out sprint. There is no time to think about being tired. You've got to lay it on the line. If [we] want to be a playoff team, which we want to be, there's going to be a lot more hard hockey ahead of us."

Olympian and gold-medal hockey player Jocelyne Larocque drops the puck for Winnipeg Jets' Olli Jokinen (12) and Phoenix Coyotes' Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23) before the Winnipeg Jets game against the Phoenix Coyotes at MTS Centre Thursday night.

Montreal Canadiens @ Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 SO - 02/27

The Montreal Canadiens prefer to rely on defense and goaltending to win games. However, they showed Thursday night that they can win run-and-gun games as well. David Desharnais scored the only goal in the shootout and the Canadiens overcame four one-goal deficits to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 at Consol Energy Center. Desharnais deked to his right and stretched his stick back to the left to wrap the puck around Marc-Andre Fleury's right pad for the lone goal in the tiebreaker. Peter Budaj ended the game by stopping a slap shot by Evgeni Malkin in the third round. Montreal wanted to avoid a high-scoring game against the Eastern Conference-leading Penguins, but Desharnais said they are confident they can win that way if they have to.

"It seems to be that way against them a lot," Desharnais said. "The open the play a lot and you don't want to play that way against these guys. They have way too much skill and we got lucky today, but it's fun to play that game once in a while too."

The Canadiens rebounded from a 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. Forward Daniel Briere said his team doesn't want to rely on scoring six goals to win, but he's satisfied with earning three out of four points in a two-day span.

"It's a fun way to win a game," Briere said. "I'm sure the coaches won't like that, all the goals scored against, but it's good for us and I know it sounds cliché, but what matters is we get a win. Our schedule is not easy. To come in here in Pittsburgh and get two points, that's huge for us."

Montreal forced overtime when Briere scored a power-play goal with 5:54 remaining in regulation. Penguins forward Tanner Glass was ejected after elbowing Alexei Emelin and Montreal was awarded a five-minute power play. Briere scored his second goal of the game by banking the puck off defenseman Olli Maatta's skate and past Marc-Andre Fleury. Glass said he understood why the penalty was called, but disagreed with its timing. Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said he thought it was an incorrect call but did not fault the referee.

"I have seen the replay; unfortunately for the referee I think, he doesn't get to see the replay," Bylsma said. "The Montreal player, Emelin, has his stick in front of his face when Tanner hits him and his stick comes back and smacks him in the helmet. We gave up the goal there and still had a substantial amount of time to kill off and I thought we did a good job there."

Budaj started and was backed up by minor-league callup Dustin Tokarski. Carey Price, who led Canada to the gold medal at the Sochi Olympics, aggravated a lower-body injury during the morning skate and didn't dress. Crosby scored his team-leading 29th goal of the season on Pittsburgh's fifth power-play opportunity of the game to put Pittsburgh up 5-4 with 7:21 remaining. Budaj stopped Malkin's slap shot, but Crosby fired home the rebound. Brandon Sutter scored on a shorthanded breakaway 7:16 into the third to put Pittsburgh up 4-3. After Malkin was called for slashing Budaj, Sutter stripped P.K. Subban of the puck near Montreal's blue line and held the puck on his forehand before switching to his backhand and firing a shot over Budaj's right pad. But Emelin beat Fleury with a wrister 24 seconds later to get the Canadiens even again. Pittsburgh led 2-1 after one period, but Briere tied the game 6:17 into the second. Josh Gorges banked a pass off the end boards to Briere, who drifted backward and fired a wrist shot over the shoulder of an out-of-position Fleury. Canadiens coach Michel Therrien was impressed with the play of Briere, who has struggled for much of the season.

"We made some adjustments and Danny made a good game," Therrien said. "I really liked the way he produced tonight, for sure."

Pittsburgh went back in front at 10:38. With Montreal's Lars Eller in the penalty box for hooking, Maatta slapped a shot from the point past Budaj. Jokinen assisted on the goal for his 400th career point. Montreal got a power-play goal of its own 57 seconds later to make it 3-3 when Max Pacioretty one-timed a feed from Desharnais past Fleury for his team-leading 27th goal of the season. Montreal's Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring 4:57 into the game with his 15th goal of the season, tucking a deflected puck past Fleury's left pad. Pittsburgh tied it 3:26 later when Malkin carried the puck into Montreal's end and sent a pass between Tomas Plekanec and P.K. Subban in the left circle to James Neal, who wristed a shot past Budaj for his 300th career point. Deryk Engelland's slap shot beat Budaj at 15:48 to make it 2-1. But the Penguins could not hold a lead throughout the ensuing two periods, which resulted in their second consecutive shootout loss after not losing a tiebreaker in two years.

"I expected better," Fleury said. "Give up five goals and in the shootout, I wasn't in the right spot. I was crooked, not square. I don't know, just disappointing."

San Jose Sharks @ Philadelphia Flyers 7-3 - 02/27

Wells Fargo Center continues to be a home away from home for the Sharks. San Jose scored five times in the second period, including a hat trick by Joe Pavelski, in a 7-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. The Sharks have won their past six visits to Philadelphia and haven't lost there since Dec. 21, 2000. Logan Couture and Raffi Torres each scored two goals for the Sharks on their return to the team, who are 4-1-0 in their past five games and moved within five points of the Anaheim Ducks for the Pacific Division lead. Pavelski scored three goals in a 9:47 span of the second period. His career-high 32nd goal completed his second hat trick of the season and put the Sharks ahead 5-2. Couture, playing his first game since Jan. 5 because of a hand injury, scored with the Sharks shorthanded between Pavelski's second and third goals. Torres, playing his first game since last season's Western Conference Semifinals, scored his second goal with 2.2 seconds left in the second period for a 6-2 lead. Eleven Sharks had at least one point during the period, when San Jose outshot Philadelphia 16-8.

"It was just a lot of guys looked like they were pretty fresh out there," Pavelski said. "We had some good looks throughout the team, and then you look at a couple goals, they were just going in tonight."

Couture scored a shorthanded goal at 4:20 of the third to put San Jose up 7-2. The loss snapped Philadelphia's four-game winning streak.

"We had a full week of practice to make sure we were ready for this, and I thought our effort was pretty crappy overall," goalie Steve Mason said.

The game was each team's first since the 2014 Sochi Olympics ended. Four Sharks and five Flyers participated in the Olympics, and of the nine Olympians, Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen was the only healthy scratch. The Sharks' outburst in the second period was similar to the Flyers' rally in San Jose on Feb. 3, when Philadelphia scored four unanswered goals in the third period for a 5-2 win. Torres, who injured his knee in a preseason game against the Ducks, got the Sharks on the board when he knocked home a rebound from the top of the crease 4:25 into the first period. He beat Flyers forward Michael Raffl to the puck after it fluttered in the air following a save by Mason on Jason Demers' point shot.

"I feel good. It's a good feeling to get on the board early there," Torres said.

The Flyers controlled the rest of the period. Andrej Meszaros tied it at 10:36 on a nice feed by Steve Downie following a rebound of Meszaros' initial wrist shot from the left circle. It was the Slovakian defenseman's fifth goal, his fourth in nine games. Philadelphia grabbed a 2-1 lead 22 seconds later when Brayden Schenn backhanded the puck off Demers' skate into the net at 10:58. The Flyers outshot the Sharks 10-5 in the first. Philadelphia carried the play for the first few minutes of the second period too, but then San Jose took over.

''We didn't have a lot of purpose in our game in the first period, especially in their zone,'' Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. ''Kind of skating around waiting for something to happen. We got our forecheck going in the second (and) a lot more pucks to the goaltender, which created second and third chances."

Pavelski tied it 2-2 on a power-play goal with Raffl in the penalty box for tripping Sharks forward Adam Burish. He beat Mason with a wrist shot after a smooth move in tight at 4:23. Pavelski put the Sharks on top for good a little less than six minutes later when he deflected a point shot by Marc-Edouard Vlasic past Mason following a turnover by Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossmann.

"We almost looked like we stopped competing after they tied the game up," Flyers coach Craig Berube said.

Berube pulled Mason in favor of Ray Emery after Couture's first goal put the Sharks ahead 4-2 with 9:13 left in the second. Mason stopped nine of 13 shots before being pulled in the second, then stopped all three shots he faced after he was put back in the game with less than 10 minutes left in the third when Emery had what Berube labeled an "issue." Pavelski completed the hat trick at 14:10 of the second with a snap shot past Emery, who stopped 11 of the 14 shots he faced in 20:02. Pavelski scored four goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5-4 win on Jan. 18, his first career hat trick. Couture nearly joined Pavelski with a hat trick when he appeared to tuck the puck in to Emery's right at 8:49 of the third, but a video review was inconclusive in determining whether the puck completely crossed the goal line.

"I saw a goal. I'm not sure how that's not a goal," Couture said. "I'll have to find out."

Matt Read snapped San Jose's string of six unanswered goals when he beat Alex Stalock with 7:48 left for his 16th goal. Stalock stopped 27 of 30 shots and is 9-4-0. Mason was 4-1-0 with a 1.41 goals-against average and .955 save percentage in his five prior games. The Sharks look re-energised with several important players returning to the line-up. Torres and Burish made their seasonal debuts and Logan Couture was making his comeback from injury. Once everyone is available it will be interesting to see what the first-choice line-up will be. Tomas Hertl, Tyler Kennedy and James Sheppard are all yet to return to the forward lines while, Brad Stuart can bolster the defense.

Chicago Blackhawks @ New York Rangers 1-2 - 02/27

The New York Rangers were looking for a strong start to their post-Olympic push toward the Stanley Cup Playoffs. A win against the defending Stanley Cup champions certainly qualifies. Rick Nash's 19th goal of the season with 4:07 left was the difference Thursday at Madison Square Garden, where the Rangers held on for a 2-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks in the first game for either team since Feb. 7. Peter Regin scored his first goal for Chicago with 11.6 seconds left to go, but New York goalie Cam Talbot shut the door in the waning seconds, stoning Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane at the doorstep with his left pad as time expired. Talbot finished with 31 saves in his first win since Jan. 18. The Rangers are 11-4-0 since winning at Chicago on Jan. 8. They are 6-1-0 in their past seven games and have a three-point cushion over the Philadelphia Flyers for second place in the Metropolitan Division. New York plays at Philadelphia on Saturday before hosting the Boston Bruins on Sunday.

"First game at home after the break, Chicago, it was important to win," Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. "Obviously the ending of the game is not the way we wanted to do it, but I thought we played pretty well, pretty smart with the puck for most of the game. It was big for us just to get that. We were playing so well going into the break, and having that feeling come back to the room I think is pretty big."

The Blackhawks have to try to find that winning feeling in the frigid Windy City air Saturday night, when they play the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field in the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series. They'll have to be crisper than they were Thursday, when they were rusty and out of sync. Chicago looked particularly sleepy on the power play; it went 0-for-3 with five shots on goal, none on two of its opportunities. New York's first goal was off a rare defensive-zone turnover by captain Jonathan Toews.

"I thought we were a little off, our timing, some of our passing and maybe looking for one extra play," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "Certainly we need to be sharper than that."

Quenneville didn't seem surprised his team struggled. Nine of Chicago's 18 skaters played in the 2014 Sochi Olympics; six played in the gold-medal game Sunday. Patrick Sharp, who won a gold medal with Canada, mentioned Thursday morning he was trying to get over jet lag from the trip home earlier in the week. The Rangers didn't do the Blackhawks any favors by clogging the middle of the ice, particularly in the first two periods. New York's game plan was to essentially play a smart road game at home so it could work out its own kinks after a 20-day layoff.

"We're playing against the Stanley Cup champions and we're playing against the No. 1 offensive in the League; I believe that trading chances is probably not the way to go," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We were really solid. We really backchecked hard. Their shift lengths were good, so we were able to keep a smart, high pace, and we didn't give them very much in the first two periods."

New York gave Chicago so little it looked like Derick Brassard's goal 10:14 into the first period might stand up. J.T. Miller, who was in the lineup for Mats Zuccarello, New York's leading scorer with 43 points who was injured playing for Norway at the Olympics, refused to give up on the puck despite losing it deep in the attacking zone. He came from behind Toews and knocked the puck away as the Chicago captain was trying to skate it out of the defensive zone. Miller hit the puck toward the left-wing wall, where Benoit Pouliot picked it up. Pouliot moved into the corner before finding Brassard at the left hash marks. Chicago goalie Corey Crawford stopped Brassard's initial shot, but the rebound was loose in the slot at the feet of defenseman Nick Leddy. Brassard was able to get to it first, and his shot from in close didn't miss. It was Brassard's 12th goal of the season and fourth in five games.

"I just kind of back-pressured and the guy was standing there so I tried to lift the stick," Miller said. "Pouliot and [Brassard] took care of the rest."

The Rangers were inches from making it 2-0 five minutes later, but Brad Richards' shot off the rush hit the crossbar. The Blackhawks got five shots on goal during a power play late in the first period, but Talbot stopped them all, including a wraparound attempt from Toews. New York appeared in complete control once Nash beat Crawford with a low, blocker-side wrist shot at 15:53 of the third period, but even on a night when they look out of sorts, it's never a good idea to count out the defending champs.

"We've had some crazy finishes," Quenneville said.

Regin, acquired Feb. 6 in a trade with the New York Islanders, beat Talbot off a give-and-go with Ben Smith with 11.6 seconds left to give Chicago a chance. Toews won the faceoff and the Blackhawks quickly got the puck in front of the net, but Talbot made two bang-bang saves on Hossa and Kane to preserve the victory.

"Maybe 2-0 would have been better, but a win is a win," Nash said. "It's two points at the end of the day. I don't think anybody expected it to be that tight [at the end], but it's a huge win, huge two points."

Results - Thu, Feb 27, 2014

Columbus @ New Jersey 2-5 - New Jersey emerged from the Olympic break with an offense. They scored three times in the first nine minutes and defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 Thursday at Prudential Center. Ryane Clowe, Jaromir Jagr and Adam Henrique scored in a 2:45 span for the Devils, who did not have three goals in regulation in any of the six games leading into the NHL hiatus for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. New Jersey entered play ranked 27th in the League in goals scored. Henrique made it 4-2 when he added a shorthanded goal with 19 seconds to go in the second period, and Patrik Elias scored into an empty net for the Devils, who won in regulation for the first time since Jan. 24. It was Henrique's third career two-goal game. Marian Gaborik scored in his return to the Columbus lineup, and Artem Anisimov had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, who lost their third in a row and are 3-5-1 since an eight-game winning streak. New Jersey and Columbus are tied with 63 points competing for third place in the Metropolitan Division or a possible wild-card berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Devils held the Blue Jackets to three shots in the third period and defeated them for the first time in four games. New Jersey outshot Columbus 35-19. Jagr's goal was the 699th of his NHL career. It came on a power play when his shot from behind the goal line went into the net off the leg of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky 7:31 into the game. Bobrovsky, playing for the first time since participating in the Olympics for Russia, could not secure a hard shot by Eric Gelinas, giving Jagr his opportunity. Clowe gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 6:09. Andrei Loktionov stole the puck to keep it in the offensive zone and his shot ricocheted to Clowe in the high slot. Clowe got two more deflections back to him and sent his third attempt stick-side past Bobrovsky. Henrique was given credit for making it 3-0 when a power-play wrist shot taken by Andy Greene from near the center of the blue line deflected off him into the net at 8:54. Anisimov scored at 11:36 of the first. Skating along the right-wing boards at the goal line, his zero-angle attempt toward the net went in off Schneider's stick. Gaborik made it 3-2 at 11:42 of the second period. Defenseman Jack Johnson's pass from behind the Devils net bounced high to Gaborik in front, where he tapped it down before flicking it for his sixth goal in 19 games this season. Gaborik was playing after missing 22 games with a broken collarbone, which he sustained after missing 18 games with a knee injury. Henrique extended New Jersey's lead after Elias sent a loose puck high into the air into the offensive zone. It landed at Henrique's skates, and he went in alone to beat Bobrovsky five-hole at 19:41. Elias was away from the team Wednesday for the birth of his daughter. He had two assists and was trying for a third, but his attempt to get Henrique a hat trick deflected in off a Columbus defender and into the empty net. Elias kept the puck from the goal as a memento. The Devils finished the game without captain Bryce Salvador after the defenseman was hit with a slap shot near his right shoulder in the first minute of the third period. Forward Damien Brunner left the game with a lower-body injury after playing two shifts in the first period. DeBoer did not have an update on either after the game.
Toronto @ NY Islanders 4-5 OT - The New York Islanders' offense looked just fine without injured captain John Tavares. Lubomir Visnovsky scored 1:55 into overtime to give the Islanders a 5-4 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Nassau Coliseum on Thursday night. Brock Nelson, who took Tavares' place on New York's first line, outworked three Toronto players in the corner and slid a pass toward the slot. James van Riemsdyk tried to clear it but deflected the puck right to Visnovsky, who snapped a shot past Jonathan Bernier for his third of the season. It was the last in a series of sloppy plays by the Maple Leafs that included two shorthanded goals by New York's Michael Grabner during the same Toronto power play. The victory ended New York's six-game losing streak at the Coliseum and came in their first game without Tavares, who will miss the rest of the season after injuring his left knee while playing for Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. At 9-14-8, the Islanders have the worst home record in the NHL. Rookie Anders Lee scored his second goal of the game with 2:40 left in regulation to force overtime and cap a wild third period that saw the teams combine for five goals in a span of 8:30. The Maple Leafs trailed 2-1 after two periods but tied the game 8:50 into the third when defenseman Paul Ranger tapped the carom of van Riemsdyk's shot off the post past Nabokov for his third of the season. Dion Phaneuf put Toronto ahead at 11:26, blasting a one-timer from the right circle past Nabokov after a turnover by Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic. But New York tied it at 12:52 on the first goal by Lee, one of three players called up by the Islanders from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, due to injuries. In addition to Tavares, the Islanders were missing second-line center Frans Nielsen, who's sidelined with a broken hand, and forward Matt Martin. Joffrey Lupul put Toronto back in front 62 seconds later, but Lee tied it again when he deflected the puck past Bernier after Strome tried to bank the puck into the net off the goaltender. Phil Kessel, who had the second assist on Ranger's goal, scored in the first period. Bernier made 30 saves for Toronto (32-22-7), which is 11-2-2 in its past 15 games and holds the first of the two wild-card playoff berths in the Eastern Conference. Nabokov stopped 18 shots for New York. Kessel, the leading scorer for the United States in Sochi with five goals, gave Toronto the lead 6:53 into the game. He drifted into the slot, took a feed from Tyler Bozak and snapped a shot off the far post and into the net for his 32nd of the season. Kessel is second in the League in goals behind Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, who has 41. Grabner, who scored five goals in four Olympic games playing for Austria, put the Islanders in front late in the period by scoring twice in 48 seconds during the same Toronto power play. Grabner tied the game at 15:53, finishing off a pass from Casey Cizikas, who had picked the pocket of Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner. He put New York ahead at 16:01 when Bernier fielded Andrew MacDonald's clearing pass but bounced his pass off the skate of defenseman Morgan Rielly; the puck came right to Grabner, who quickly put it into the unguarded net. The two goals gave Grabner 11 for the season and matched his output in 30 previous games at Nassau Coliseum this season. The last Islander to score two shorthanded goals on the same power play was Zigmund Palffy, on April 17, 1999. Neither team mustered a lot of offense during a scoreless second period. Nabokov made his best save midway through the period when he stopped van Riemsdyk's backhander on a 2-on-1 break. Bernier stopped Grabner's wide-open wrister a few minutes later.
Detroit @ Ottawa 6-1 - Johan Franzen scored his sixth career hat trick, and Tomas Tatar and Tomas Jurco each had a goal and an assist to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 6-1 win against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. Jonas Gustavsson made 37 saves for the Red Wings, who beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in overtime Wednesday in their first game following the break for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Pavel Datsyuk, who is playing through a knee injury, sat out the third period. The Red Wings said it was for precautionary reasons. Andrew Hammond made his NHL debut when he came on to replace Lehner after Tatar scored at 5:04 to restore Detroit's five-goal lead at 6-1. Hammond, who made 11 saves, was recalled from Binghamton of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. Sheahan took advantage of a turnover by Cody Ceci in the Senators' zone to open the scoring. The Ottawa rookie put a backhand pass directly onto the stick of Sheahan, who beat Lehner at 10:59. Public address announcer Stuart Schwartz was still announcing Sheahan's goal when Franzen scored 29 seconds later to make it 2-0 at 11:28. Former Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson set up Franzen's second goal of the game on a power play at 13:27, and Jurco scored the Red Wings' fourth goal of the period at 18:00. Franzen, who has five points in two games after missing 22 of 23 games prior to the Olympic break because of a concussion, made it 5-0 with his third goal of the game at 3:49 of the second. He nearly added a fourth, putting a shot off the right post in the third. He and Senators right wing Chris Neil were given 10-minute misconduct penalties following a skirmish at 14:05 of the third. Neil was also given minors for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct. Ryan got the Senators on the board to make it 5-1 at 4:19 of the second with his team-leading 22nd goal after having a goal disallowed in the first. A video review upheld referee Dave Jackson's ruling that the Senators right wing kicked the puck into the net at 3:04 of the opening period. Babcock elected to leave Todd Bertuzzi out of the lineup for the second of back-to-back games. The veteran forward scored his first goal since Dec. 10 on Wednesday in his return to the lineup after he was a healthy scratch for eight games in a row prior to the Olympic break.
Washington @ Florida 5-4 - After Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom experienced disappointment at the Sochi Olympics, the Washington Capitals' big guns were dominant in their return to NHL action. Ovechkin and Backstrom each had a goal and two assists, with Ovechkin breaking a tie by scoring his NHL-leading 41st goal with 4:17 left in regulation in a 5-4 victory against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Thursday. Ovechkin, who didn't have a point in his final four games at the Olympics as Russia failed to earn a medal, helped the Capitals win after they twice had failed to hold two-goal leads. He scored the game-winner after a Florida turnover at the blue line when he one-timed Brooks Laich's saucer pass over the stick of defenseman Mike Weaver and past Tim Thomas. Laich, playing on a line with Ovechkin and Backstrom, also had a goal and two assists. Troy Brouwer scored two power-play goals, his fifth and sixth goals in the past five games, as Washington beat Florida for the ninth time in the teams' past 10 meetings. Braden Holtby, who had two shutouts in his previous five starts, made 30 saves for Washington, which is 6-2-1 in its past nine games. Holtby took a penalty for shooting the puck over the glass in the third period and Florida capitalized by scoring a power-play goal that cut Washington's lead to 4-3. Defenseman Mike Green returned to action after missing the last five games before the Olympic break with a concussion, and center Mikhail Grabovski returned after missing eight games with an ankle injury. But Grabovski played only 2:20 before leaving the game in the first period. Oates said Grabovski reinjured the ankle after someone fell on him and is scheduled to be evaluated Friday morning. Green had a glorious chance to break a 4-4 tie with 4:33 left in the third period when he came in on a breakaway and Thomas lost his balance and fell backward. But Thomas snared Green's wrist shot with his glove while on his back. The Capitals were without center Marcus Johansson, who had to fly to Sweden after the Olympics and rejoined his Capitals teammates in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. Johansson took part in the morning skate and pregame warm-up but was scratched because Oates said he was "feeling lousy." Brad Boyes had two goals for Florida, extending his team-leading total to 17. Tomas Fleischmann and Drew Shore had the other goals for the Panthers, who have lost six of seven. Fleischmann's goal was his first in 23 games. Thomas finished with 27 saves for the Panthers. Florida began its post-Olympic schedule without forwards Aleksander Barkov and Tomas Kopecky, both of whom were injured while competing in Sochi. Brouwer, who also had a two-goal game on against the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 6 in Washington's next-to-last game before the Olympic break, opened the scoring at 5:48 of the first period. With Fleischmann in the box for tripping, Brouwer scored on a backhand rebound from the front of the net. His second goal came with 46.3 seconds left in the second period and made the score 4-2. It also came on a rebound, this one after Thomas stopped Ovechkin's one-timer off a feed from Backstrom. Florida scored twice in 74 seconds midway through the third period to tie the game. Shore, recalled from the American Hockey League's San Antonio Rampage on Monday for his third stint with the Panthers this season, scored a rare power-play goal for the Panthers at 8:09 with a one-timer from the wing. Florida came in ranked last in the NHL in power-play efficiency at 8.9 percent. Boyes tied it at 9:23 after a turnover in the Washington zone. Nick Bjugstad fed Boyes in the slot and Boyes then tried a quick pass to Sean Bergenheim. But the puck bounced off Bergenheim's stick and came right back to Boyes, who put it in past Holtby. Backstrom, who was banned from Sweden's Olympic gold-medal from Canada because of a failed doping-control test that he said was the result of taking allergy medicine. broke a 2-2 tie at 3:44 of the second period. He scored after Martin Erat's pass across the net went off the stick of Panthers defenseman Ed Jovanovski, forcing Thomas to make a spectacular pad save. The puck bounced right back to Backstrom at the front for an easy put-away. Laich's one-timer off a nice cross-ice feed from Ovechkin gave Washington a 2-0 lead at 8:10 of the first period before the Panthers rallied. Fleischmann made it 2-1 at 15:27 with his first goal since Dec. 17. He beat Holtby with a one-timer from the slot off a nice feed by Jesse Winchester from the corner. Boyes tied the score 40 seconds into the second period when he backhanded a rebound from the side of the net past Holtby.

Tampa Bay @ Nashville 2-3 - Patric Hornqvist experienced pain and gain in the Predators' 3-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night. He scored the game-winning goal about three minutes after taking a slap shot off his leg and skating to the bench. Hornqvist's 11th of the season came with 6:04 remaining. He took a feed from Mike Fisher on the doorstep and somehow threaded it through Lightning goalie Ben Bishop. It came with three seconds left in a penalty to Ryan Malone for hooking. Predators captain Shea Weber, with one practice under his belt after helping Canada win a gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, had two assists on the power play, which entered the night ranked seventh in the NHL. Nashville remained four points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference after the Dallas Stars defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1. Predators goalie Carter Hutton, who has carried the load for Nashville since the middle of January but is poised to yield the net once Pekka Rinne returns from a conditioning assignment with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League, improved to 7-2-2 in his past 11 games. Hutton made 14 saves; the Predators yielded seven shots in the final two periods combined. Tampa Bay was second in the Atlantic Division but fell two points behind the Montreal Canadiens, a 6-5 shootout winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Lightning are tied at 71 points with the Toronto Maple Leafs, which lost 5-4 in overtime to the New York Islanders, and are three points from eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The Predators' comeback began when the Lightning were penalized for too many men on the ice at 10:31 of the second period. Ellis faked a slap shot and fed Matt Cullen down low. Cullen roofed a shot into a wide-open net at 12:05 for his first goal since Nov. 27, a span of 29 games. Nashville scored their second power-play goal 71 seconds later. Lightning center Vladislav Namestnikov, playing his second NHL game, was called for hooking, and Predators defenseman Roman Josi took advantage of some open ice, skating in from the left point and ripping a slap shot past Bishop's glove side. The goal was the Swiss Olympian's ninth of the season. Tampa Bay's Ondrej Palat set up the game's first goal, which came at 5:26 of the first period. He faked out Nashville defenseman Seth Jones, forcing Hutton to make a difficult save that drew him far out of the crease to his left. Martin St. Louis was alone in front of the net and tapped in the rebound for his 26th goal. St. Louis scored his second of the game less than four minutes later, taking advantage of a tripping penalty on Ellis. Standing at the right faceoff dot, St. Louis wristed a shot at Hutton that handcuffed the goalie and trickled through his legs over the goal line at 9:13.
Los Angeles @ Calgary 2-0 - There was no Olympic hangover for Jonathan Quick. In his first start since returning from the Sochi Olympics, Quick turned aside 25 shots Thursday night to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-0 victory against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.Dustin Brown, who played with Quick on the U.S. team that finished fourth in Sochi, scored 3:00 into the game. Dwight King added an insurance goal 3:30 into the third period. Quick, who backed up Martin Jones in the Kings' 6-4 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Wednesday, went 2-2 with a 2.17 goals against average and .923 save percentage in Sochi. He was flawless against the Flames, helping Los Angeles snap Calgary's five-game winning streak at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary hadn't been beaten in its own building since a 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 16. The win gives the Kings back-to-back victories coming out of the Olympics. Los Angeles stumbled heading into the break, winning just two of 10. They have a five-point lead on the Phoenix Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks for third in the Pacific Division. Calgary rookie Joni Ortio made 22 saves in his first NHL game. Ortio, a 22-year-old who was recalled last week from the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League and has also seen time with the Alaska Aces of the ECHL, is the youngest goalie to debut for the Flames since Jean-Sebastien Giguere on Feb. 12, 2000. The Kings wasted little time welcoming Ortio to the NHL. Brown jabbed the puck between his legs and into the net on L.A.'s second shot of the game after Kris Russell coughed up the puck. Quick kept Calgary scoreless through the opening 20 minutes. He used his right pad to stop Mikael Backlund's redirection of Giordano's point shot five minutes into the game, got his left pad on Chris Butler's one-timer off a feed from Jiri Hudler seven minutes later and stopped Hudler's tip with four minutes remaining in the period. After eight saves in the first period, Quick made 15 in a scoreless second period. His best stops came midway through the period with the teams skating 4-on-4. Giordano slid down from the point but couldn't beat Quick, but Matt Stajan corralled the rebound. He fired a slap shot from the slot that Quick got a piece of before Anze Kopitar batted the rebound out of mid-air and out of harm's way. The Kings, who improved to 17-0-0 when leading after two periods, extended their lead when Brown's pass from below the goal line found an open King alone in the slot. Ortio stopped his initial shot, but King poked the rebound across the goal line to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead. The Kings made life easier for Quick the rest of the way, outshooting Calgary 11-2 in the final 20 minutes.
Minnesota @ Edmonton 3-0 - It didn't take Mikael Granlund long to get back into the swing of things in the NHL following his successful run at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The center, who won a bronze medal with Finland, scored in his first game back from Russia, helping the Minnesota Wild to a 3-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place on Thursday. Stephane Veilleux and Dany Heatley also scored for the Wild, who extended their winning streak to three games. Granlund was more than all right in Sochi, where he scored three goals and added four assists. Darcy Kuemper made 21 save to earn the second shutout of his career. The Oilers have been shut out in eight games this season, including five times at home. Ben Scrivens made 18 saves for the Oilers. Granlund scored at 2:04 of the first period on the Wild's first shot, converting a pass from Parise as the teams played 4-on-4. The lead stood up through the first period as the Oilers struggled to find their skating legs, managing six shots in the period. The Oilers' best chance in the first period came from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who fired a shot that bounced up over Kuemper but was cleared off the goal line by defenseman Jared Spurgeon. In the second, Veilleux increased the Wild lead to 2-0 with his second goal of the season at 9:37. Veilleux took a pass just inside the blue line and was able to get his shot through a screen and past Scrivens. Prior to the goal, Kuemper made a nice stop on Jordan Eberle with the Oilers on the power play. The puck found its way through a crowd to Eberle, who had taken a spot at the side of the net, but Kuemper slid across and turned away the Oilers right wing. Heatley extended the Wild lead to 3-0 at 9:29 of the third period, lifting a rebound over Scrivens following a scramble in front. It was Heatley's 26th point in 26 career games against the Oilers. Earlier in the period, Oilers right wing Nail Yakupov was hit in the right foot with a shot from teammate Justin Schultz. Yakupov left the game and did not return.

Results - Wed, Feb 26, 2014

Boston @ Buffalo 4-5 OT - Matt D'Agostini scored 22 seconds into overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres a 5-4 comeback victory against the Boston Bruins at First Niagara Center on Wednesday. D'Agostini eluded Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and broke in on goalie Chad Johnson after forward Loui Eriksson turned over the puck out of the zone. D'Agostini slipped the puck underneath Johnson's right leg to give the Sabres their second win in as many nights. The Sabres got to overtime when Matt Moulson tied the game with 53 seconds left in the third period with his 16th goal of the season. Moulson pounced on a rebound of a Zemgus Girgensons shot and slipped the puck underneath Johnson. Moulson put the Sabres in a hole when he was whistled for a double-minor high-sticking 9:11 into the third period. Milan Lucic gave the Bruins a 4-3 lead 32 seconds later when he ripped a slap shot from the slot to beat Enroth for his 18th of the season. Enroth was scrambling after the Bruins buzzed his net, and Torey Krug connected with Lucic out high for the open look and shot. Enroth stopped 29 shots playing instead of Ryan Miller, who was in net for a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. It was Enroth's second victory of the season, first since Oct. 25 against the Florida Panthers, in his 19th start. Buffalo took a 1-0 lead when Girgensons scored 3:32 into the first period. He was parked in front of the net when Brian Flynn connected with him on a centering pass from the corner. Girgensons' shot squeezed through Johnson for his sixth goal of the season. Bruins forward Chris Kelly tied the game at 10:47 of the first with his fifth goal of the season. Kelly was set up in the faceoff circle to the right of Enroth when Carl Soderberg passed to him from behind the net. Kelly's shot beat Enroth over his right shoulder. The Sabres held a 3-1 lead in the second period after a power-play goal from Tyler Myers at 6:25 and a wrist shot from Flynn at 9:10. Myers' goal came after he drew a slashing penalty against Bruins forward Brad Marchand. The Bruins came back late in the second. Chara scored a power-play goal at 11:01, his ninth on the man-advantage this season. Marchand scored his 20th of the season to make it 3-3 with 2:14 remaining. He took a pass from Reilly Smith after the forward stole the puck from Sabres defenseman John Scott. Johnson made 21 saves playing instead of Tuukka Rask, who was given the night off in the Bruins' first game after he played for Finland at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Detroit @ Montreal 2-1 OT - Gustav Nyquist scored with 27.3 seconds left in overtime to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday in each team's first game back from the break for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Montreal goalie Peter Budaj was able to make a save on Johan Franzen's deflection of Danny DeKeyser's wrist shot from the point, but Nyquist slammed home the rebound for his 15th goal and the Detroit win. The Red Wings (27-20-12) hold a three-point lead for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. With the point for the overtime loss, the Canadiens (32-21-7) tied the idle Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division. With the Red Wings holding on to a 1-0 lead, Canadiens captain Brian Gionta scored the game-tying goal with 28 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. The Red Wings carried the one-goal lead deep into the third after Todd Bertuzzi scored on the power play at 14:01 of the first period. It was Bertuzzi's seventh goal, the first in his past 18 games. Bertuzzi had been a healthy scratch for Detroit's past eight games, but he wasted no time burying Franzen's feed to the doorstep past Budaj. Daniel Alfredsson had the secondary assist on the goal, which came after a roughing penalty to P.K. Subban nullified the final 14 seconds to a Canadiens power play. The Red Wings finished 1-for-1 on the power play, and the Canadiens were 0-for-3 with the man advantage. Montreal's struggles weren't limited to the power play against Detroit's suffocating defense. If not for Budaj, who was playing for injured Carey Price, Montreal would have had a much tougher road to climb coming into the third period. The Slovakian Olympian stopped all nine shots in the second period and finished with 28 saves in his first start since Jan. 30, when he made 34 saves in a 4-1 win at the Boston Bruins. Price was pulled from the Canadiens' morning skate after he sustained a lower-body injury. Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov, who has been the subject of trade rumors, assisted on Gionta's goal to extend his point streak to three games; he has three assists over that span. With his game-winner, Nyquist has six goals and two assists in his past eight games. In a pregame ceremony, the Canadiens honored local members of the Canadian women's gold-medal team, as well as members of the Canadian men's hockey team that captured a second straight gold medal Sunday with a 3-0 win against Sweden in Sochi. Red Wings general manager Ken Holland and coach Mike Babcock were brought out on a red carpet along with Subban, Price and Canadiens public relations director Dominick Saillant and trainer Pierre Gervais.

Los Angeles @ Colorado 6-4 - Starved for goals before the break for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the Los Angeles Kings offense came to life Wednesday in a 6-4 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center. Anze Kopitar collected two goals and an assist, and Justin Williams scored into an empty net with 11.1 seconds remaining to complete a comeback from a 4-2 deficit. Kopitar scored a power-play goal at 3:13 of the third period to give the Kings their 5-4 lead. He batted the puck out of the air and inside the right post after Jeff Carter deflected a shot by Tyler Toffoli with Avalanche defenseman Nick Holden serving a boarding penalty. Holden was assessed the penalty 10 seconds after the Avalanche killed off an interference penalty taken by Cody McLeod with 25.8 seconds left in the second period. Kings goalie Martin Jones stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third period, including big saves against Gabriel Landeskog and Jamie McGinn. Jones made a stop against McGinn driving to the net shortly after Kopitar put the Kings ahead and he made a stick save against Landeskog in the slot with six minutes to play. The Kings also killed off what turned into a 6-on-4 Avalanche power play that started with 3:24 remaining. Giguere eventually left the ice for an extra skater after Greene was penalized for kneeing McGinn. Kopitar and Carter scored 2:04 apart late in the second to tie the game 4-4. Kopitar scored at 16:49 after his wraparound attempt went to Justin Williams in the slot. Williams passed back to Kopitar for a tap inside the post. Carter scored at 18:53 after Mike Richards carried the puck from the right corner to the faceoff circle. He shot the puck and Carter tipped it by Giguere, who was screened on the play. Jarret Stoll tied the game 2-2 for the Kings 24 seconds into the second period when he drove to the net ahead of Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie to convert a pass from Dustin Brown, who retrieved the puck after shooting wide on a breakaway. The Avalanche went ahead 4-2 on power-play goals by McGinn and Andre Benoit. McGinn skated down the slot and redirected Ryan O'Reilly's pass behind Jones at 8:57. The rebound off Nathan MacKinnon's shot hit Benoit and bounced into the net at 15:42. O'Reilly and PA Parenteau scored goals 5:15 apart in the first period to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead. Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr opened the scoring at 5:48 with a shot from the left point. All three of Regehr's goals this season have come in the past three games. O'Reilly shot the puck off the left post shortly after Regehr scored and he tied the game with a power-play goal at 11:17 with Regehr in the penalty box for cross-checking MacKinnon. Holden was between the faceoff circles when he passed to O'Reilly skating through the goalmouth. O'Reilly lifted the puck over Jones' right arm for his 22nd goal, tying MacKinnon for the team lead. Parenteau broke the 1-1 tie at 16:32. Matt Duchene skated away from Kings forward Tanner Pearson, came from behind the net and slid the puck through the slot for a chip shot by Jones. Avalanche left wing Maxime Talbot was scratched because his fiancee went into labor with their first child earlier Wednesday. Defenseman Cory Sarich dressed as the seventh defenseman.

St Louis @ Vancouver 0-1 - Mired in their worst losing streak in 15 years, the Vancouver Canucks would have been happy with a win against any team. Snapping the skid against the St. Louis Blues was a confidence-boosting bonus. Jannik Hansen scored on a breakaway with 8:47 left in the third period, Eddie Lack stopped 20 shots and the Canucks snapped a seven game losing streak with a 1-0 win against the Central Division-leading Blues on Wednesday at Rogers Arena. The Canucks swept the three-game season series against St. Louis, and Lack was in goal for all three. The rookie backup was at his best when he made 11 saves in the second period, but needed three stops in the third to secure his third shutout of the season, giving the Canucks their first win since Jan. 26 and their fifth in 20 games in 2014. Hansen provided all the offense Lack needed after fourth-line forward Tom Sestito flipped a backhand high out of his own zone. Hansen skated after it at center ice, outracing defensemen Roman Polak and Carlo Colaiacovo before snapping a quick shot between the blocker and body of Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak. The win moves Vancouver into the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, leapfrogging the idle Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes by a point, though each has played three fewer games. Halak finished with 34 saves for the Blues, who remained tied with the Chicago Blackhawks atop the Central Division with 84 points. It was the first time the Blues have been shut out all season. Lack kept it scoreless in the second by turning aside Vladimir Tarasenko on a tip alone in tight early, making a good left pad save off a David Backes one-timer in the slot on a delayed penalty midway through and stopping Chris Stewart on a 2-on-1 opportunity with three minutes left. He got a break when Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler kicked away T.J. Oshie's shot at an open net during a late power-play scramble. So was getting Henrik Sedin back. The Canucks captain missed six of eight games and the Olympics with a rib injury, then had to fly to Sweden early this week after his father-in-law passed away. He flew back on Wednesday morning, and provided a big lift to a team that lost center Ryan Kesler to a hand injury at the Olympics. The 16 players who took part in the 2014 Sochi Olympics were honored in a pre-game ceremony. Thirteen played, not counting Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, who watched from the bench. St. Louis started five of their nine Olympians, with the gold medal-winning pairing of Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo on defense and a new top forward line of Americans Backes and Oshie with Swede Patrik Berglund, who moved to left wing. By the third period, all the travel appeared to catch up to the Blues' Olympians. The Canucks went into the Olympic break on their worst losing streak since 1999, but came out outshooting the Blues 14-6 in the first period, forcing Halak to make a handful of good stops on rebounds and scrambles. Another win against the Blues was a good first step, especially since it was settled in the third period, a time when the Canucks have struggled mightily all season, blowing leads and scoring the fewest goals in the NHL.

Results - Tue, Feb 25, 2014

Carolina @ Buffalo 2-3 - Christian Ehrhoff scored twice, including the game-winner with 43.4 seconds left in the third period, and Ryan Miller made 36 saves to give the Buffalo Sabres a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at First Niagara Center on Tuesday. Ehrhoff circled the Hurricanes net and fired a wrist shot that glanced off defenseman Justin Faulk into the goal in the NHL's first game after the break for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Ehrhoff gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead on a second-period power play. His fifth goal of the season was a shot from the blue line that glanced off goalie Cam Ward's glove and trickled over the goal line at 5:54. Ward was screened on the shot by Sabres forward Matt Moulson. Drew Stafford assisted for his 10th point in the past eight games. Miller had an assist on each of Ehrhoff's goals, the goaltender's first two points of the season. Miller's performance came on a night when Sabres general manager Tim Murray spoke before the game about the likelihood of the goaltender being traded by the March 5 NHL Trade Deadline. Hurricanes captain Eric Staal tied the game 1-1 with 3:08 to go in the second period. Staal broke in 3-on-2 with Alexander Semin and Faulk but never passed and shot through Miller's five-hole for his 15th goal of the season. Carolina held a 21-9 shot advantage through two periods. That trend continued into the third, but Buffalo grabbed the lead with 7:47 left when Tyler Ennis poked a loose puck in the crease into the net to make it 2-1. A shot from Moulson squirted through Ward's pads and slid unattended before Ennis tapped it in for his 14th goal of the season. The Hurricanes tied it 2-2 with 4:00 left when Semin fired a wrist shot by Miller for his 15th goal of the season.

Sochi 2014: Olympic Review

The whole Hockey world expected, and Canada were able to deliver, as they marched off with a second successive Olympic gold. Not since the days of the USSR/CIS in 1988/1992 has a nation won back-to-back Olympic gold medals. Canada quietly set about their job clearing every hurdle put in their way, as the media hype centered over their main opponents.


The first to fall were the minnows of Norway and Austria. The Scandinavians relied on physical, even dirty play at times to keep themselves in games and not even their one and only NHL-star Mats Zuccarello could conjure up some magic to get passed the hosts. A lot was expected of the Austrians with their NHL line of Grabner, Vanek and Raffl, but they too were humbled in the playoff round. Switzerland were another team who had enough NHL-ers on their roster to make people think they were a dark horse. They relied on shutting teams down, only three goals were scored in games involving the Swiss during the group stages. They played a brand of hockey that saw them steal a lead and then defend it, if they once fell behind in a game they were screwed as there was no plan B, and so it proved crashing out to Latvia. Slovakia were a disappointment right from the off. Thoroughly embarrassed by USA they only decided to play in the final, meaningless group game against Russia. They were duly silenced by their near neighbors, the Czechs in the playoff game. Considering they had Stanley Cup winners Marian Hossa and Michal Handzus it was surprising to see one of the so called big-seven nations go out of the tournament with a whimper.


If some of the big names struggled it was a breath of fresh air watching both Slovenia and Latvia play. Not much was expected of either of the two smallest nations at these finals, but in former Stanley Cup winners Anze Kopitar and Sandis Ozolinsh both teams were able to advance to the quarter finals and gave great accounts of themselves. The Czechs arrived looking old and lacking an offensive punch, that being said it was 42-year old Jaromir Jagr who rolled back the years to lead his team. Petr Nedved however looked like a woeful selection, especially considering the likes of Radim Vrbata were left behind, who would have offered so much more offensively, especially if he was paired with his Phoenix Coyotes line mate Martin Hanzal.


The biggest disappointment were the hosts, Russia. Having watched Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin both score on their opening two shifts against Slovenia, it looked like it would be a walk in the park. How wrong I was. Slovenia woke up and shut down the hosts and even came back at them during the game before Russia eventually ground out a win. The Russians then gave their best performance in the grudge match against USA, losing a penalty shoot-out that never should have happened after a dubious disallowed goal and a power player goal that should never have happened for the Americans. Perhaps feeling the disappointment of the loss to USA and the pressure of President Vladimir Putin's declaration of only being interested in an Olympic Gold for the Hockey team, Russia found it hard to beat a Slovakia team on penalty shots in the final group game, who themselves had a very disappointing tournament. Another hard-fought win over Norway ensued, before they left the competition, surrendering meekly to Finland.


A lot of questions need to be asked. Ovechkin who should really be named Ovi-Rated once again went missing in the big games, when his country needed him the most. In fact most of the big stars failed to impress. Malkin was only marginally better and former New Jersey sniper Ilya Kovalchuk was also quiet. In fact at times it was almost as if those three players were not even there. It was left to a semi-fit Pavel Datsyuk to carry his country. Not many people probably realised the Detroit Red Wings forward was carrying an injury going into the tournament, but that made his goal scoring exploits against America all the more amazing. Another big issue for a lot of people was the inclusion of so many KHL based players. Firstly there were only four of them in the forwards line-up so hardy an excuse. One of which was Kovulchuk who up until last May was an NHL player. Radulov, who was much maligned during the tournament actually was the most productive player for his country and linked up well with Datsyuk. In fact he was one of only a few players who came out of these Olympics with any credit for Russia. The fourth line of KHL-ers Popov and Tereschenko complimented the youthful force of Valeri Nichushkin of the Dallas Stars and they proved to be another plus point, but the likes of Anisimov, Kulemin and Tarasenko (all NHL stars) were invisible throughout. For me though a lot of the blame has to fall at Ovechkin. He was the poster boy of this Russia team, and although a proven NHL goal-scorer he seems to lack the leadership to carry a team to success. I am still of the opinion he will never win a Stanley Cup while at the Washington Crapitals, and if indeed he ever wants to win one should do so by signing for a team such as the Boston Bruins or the New York Rangers. Having watched him myself this season in Glendale, AZ. I am surprised why he generates such adulation. He is quite possibly the most over-rated hockey player I have ever seen in the NHL, and his performances in Sochi further backed that up.


Finland surprised me the most. I know they have a rich international history but with both Saku and Mikko Koivu missing along with Valteri Filppula I thought this might be a struggle. Shows how much I know, as Finland were the most entertaining team to watch, scoring goals for fun and led by Teemu Selanne who was awesome at times. From a personal point of view it was great to see two guys from my teams win bronze. Step forward teenage defensive sensation Olli Maatta of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Lauri 'Korpido' Korpikoski of the Phoenix Coyotes.


America had a lot of talent, and was one of the more likeable teams they have brought to an Olympic Games. The line of Joe Pavelski, James van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel combined for most of the teams points, but Ryan Kesler and Patrick Kane also showed their 'raw' talent at times. USA arrived at Sochi with revenge on their minds from four years ago in Vancouver, and despite their offensive talents just could not break down a resolute Canadian team in the semi finals. In the bronze medal game with Finland, USA looked like a team who didn't want to be there and the 5-0 scoreline to the Finns seemed to back that up.


Sweden worked wonders to make it to the final. It was a case of the missing Henriks, as Sedin pulled out on the eve of the games having not recovered from an injury sustained playing for the Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings star Zetterberg who suffered a serious back injury after the Swedes opening game against the Czechs, putting him out of the tournament. Zetterberg's team mate at Detroit, Johan Franzen was another who missed out due to an untimely injury. Despite these set backs Sweden easily progressed to the gold medal match, looking to add a third straight tournament success on European Ice after Lillehammer 1994 and Torino in 2006.


Canada took a roster full of talent. Even with captain Sidney Crosby having another quiet tournament he was ably assisted by having a group of Centers to help him. If Ovechkin is Ovi-Rated, then Patrice Bergeron is massively underrated. The Bruins star was one of the hardest working guys on this Canadian team. If that wasn't enough Ryan Getzlaf and Jonathan Toews created a fine quartet of Centermen. A lot of club partnerships helped, Crosby had Chris Kunitz from Pittsburgh, Toews had Chicago line-mate Patrick Sharp, and Corey Perry of Anaheim linked up with Getzlaf. When you add the quality of Patrick Marleau (San Jose), the rugged work-horse Jeff Carter (Los Angeles) and the never say die attitude of Tamba Bay's Marty St. Louis it made for an exciting line-up. Not to mention Dallas' Jamie Benn who wasn't even invited to join the summer training camp last year, yet formed such a great partnership with Tyler Seguin that it was impossible to ignore him. Benn's winning goal against USA was the reward for his hard work. Corey Price lead the goaltending for Team Canada and formed a formidable last line of defense to breach.


From a personal viewpoint, it was great to see Mike Babcock, win his second-straight Olympic gold as coach. Babcock started off his coaching career at my local team, the Whitley Warriors, who were at the time in the British Premier League. Babcock combined assistant coaching duties with patrolling the blue-line and helped the team to a runner-up spot in 1987-88, scoring 34 goals and 98 assists for a points total of 132 in just 36 regular-season games. Having realised how good he was at the coaching side of the game, Babcock worked his way up though the Junior Canadian program before landing his first NHL job in Anaheim and took the Ducks to their first Stanley Cup final in his first season in 2003. By 2009 he had taken the biggest job in hockey, and lead the Detroit Red Wings to back-to-back finals, beating Pittsburgh in 2008 and losing to them a year later. In 2010 he lead Canada to Olympic Gold on home ice in Vancouver and completed a remarkable double in Sochi 2014.


Although born in Saskatchewan and sporting a strong Canadian accent eh? Babcock is rightly claimed as one of our own on the wrong side of the pond, giving our small team some amount of fame from his time here. It is great to see his success given he came from such humble begins in the hockey world. It was also great to hear that having won a Stanley Cup it didn't turn him into a big-time Charlie like say Jeremy Roenick would have been. He returned to Whitley Bay and met up with some of his former team-mates at a meal celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the 1988 season. You can take the man out of Whitley but you can't take the Whitley out of the man.