Results - Fri, Jan 31, 2014

NY Islanders @ NY Rangers 1-4 - Two nights after beating the Islanders outdoors, the Rangers didn't make too many changes when they faced off against them indoors. And like their Coors Light Stadium Series game at Yankee Stadium, they came away with an important division win. Derick Brassard's goal with 7:46 left in regulation broke a tie and Henrik Lundqvist made 38 saves to lead the Rangers to a 4-1 victory at Madison Square Garden on Friday night. Brian Boyle opened the scoring for the Rangers (30-23-3), who got an insurance goal from Brad Richards with 5:01 remaining and an empty-netter from Ryan McDonagh with one second left. They are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, four points ahead of the third-place Carolina Hurricanes. Kyle Okposo scored in the second period for the Islanders (21-28-8), who have lost five in a row and are last in the division. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 33 shots. The game featured a lot more scoring chances than their meeting on Wednesday, when the Rangers edged the Islanders 2-1 in the cold at Yankee Stadium. Sporting the same special uniforms they wore in the Bronx, the Rangers executed their game plan against a team they were facing for the third time in five games. The Garden crowd erupted when the Rangers took the lead with the teams tied 1-1 and playing 4-on-4. Forward Mats Zuccarello drew a delayed penalty on Cal Clutterbuck, but before the Islanders could touch the puck Brassard fired home a cross-ice pass from Marc Staal to break the tie on his ninth of the season. The assist was Staal's second of the game and highlighted a stretch that has seen him play some of his best hockey all season. Richards provided one of those plays when he gave the Rangers some breathing room 2:45 later. He took a feed from Ryan Callahan at the blue line, raced in on a partial breakaway and beat Nabokov between the legs from inside the left circle for his 14th of the season. McDonagh found the empty net just before the final buzzer. The three late goals came after the Islanders dominated the second period, outshooting the Rangers 19-6 and tying the game on Okposo's goal. The Rangers survived a penalty to McDonagh at 12:23 but were unable to clear the zone after the defenseman returned to the ice and Calvin De Haan's point shot was deflected high by Callahan's stick, catching Lundqvist off-guard. The goaltender got a piece of the shot with his glove but couldn't control the puck, which bounced directly to Okposo at the left side of the crease. He quickly rifled a shot into an open net for his team-high 24th of the season with 5:32 left in the period. The Islanders managed to even the score in the second, but they went into the second intermission wishing they could have put more past Lundqvist. Nabokov was tested early. A minute into the game, Rick Nash fought off defenseman Brian Strait curling around the right faceoff dot before firing a shot from the slot. Nabokov was able to stop and smother the puck before a spirited scrum ensued. He then stoned Callahan point-blank from the slot 38 seconds later and wound up stopping a hot Rangers team that registered the game's first six shots in the opening 1:38. There was little Nabokov could do on Boyle's opening goal. After retrieving the puck at the blue line and drifting toward the middle, Staal fired a hard wrister that Boyle deflected to beat Nabokov high to the glove side at 3:29 for his first goal in 12 games. The play in front of the net was one Boyle admitted he's been practicing for some time. Lundqvist kept the Rangers in front with 11 minutes remaining in the first. After skating down the right wing, Frans Nielsen found Josh Bailey all alone streaking down the left side. Lundqvist appeared to be out of the play, but he went post-to-post and stretched out his right pad to stone Bailey at the lip of the crease. It was just one of countless saves that earned the goaltender praise from his coach.
St Louis @ Carolina 1-3 - Andrej Sekera and Nathan Gerbe joined the Carolina Hurricanes without much fanfare last summer. They each came from the Buffalo Sabres, Sekera in a trade for defenseman Jamie McBain, Gerbe as a free agent on a two-way contract. Sekera set up Gerbe for the first goal Friday, and the Hurricanes played a high-tempo game to defeat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 at PNC Arena. Sekera, whose 31 points have already eclipsed his career best, leads Carolina in points among defenseman and is second in ice time to Justin Faulk, his partner on the blue line. The teams traded power-play goals in the first period. Sekera made a perfect cross-ice pass to Gerbe, who one-timed a shot for his 12th goal of the season at 3:46. St. Louis answered 12 seconds into its first opportunity with the man-advantage. David Backes took a pass from Derek Roy in the slot and beat Carolina goaltender Anton Khudobin to the stick side at 9:23. T.J Oshie won the puck along the boards to earn the second assist. Jeff Skinner gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead at 1:51 of the second period. Jordan Staal won a faceoff back to Skinner, who quickly moved between the circles and shot low to the far post for his 23rd of the season. Khudobin, appearing in his 14th straight game, was sharp. He went post-to-post to rob Chris Stewart in the second period, then stopped Magnus Paajarvi on the back door in the third. Khudobin relied on the post twice in the final two minutes, when Jay Bouwmeester and Jaden Schwartz sent shots off the iron. Alexander Semin scored into an empty net with 1:04 remaining. The Hurricanes have relied heavily on the offensive contributions of Skinner, Semin and Eric Staal lately, but Gerbe is writing his own chapter of the Hurricanes' offensive playbook. He has played in all 54 of Carolina's games this season, avoiding the injuries that have plagued him in recent years. With 12 goals and 26 points, he is on his way to surpassing his career-high of 31 points.
Washington @ Detroit 3-4 SO - Patrick Eaves' goal in the seventh round of the tiebreaker Friday gave the Red Wings a 4-3 victory against the Capitals. Eaves snapped a shot from between the hash marks past the glove of Michal Neuvirth. Jimmy Howard then stopped Jay Beagle to give the Red Wings the win. It was the 3,000th home game in Red Wings history. The past 1,324 of those games have been played at Joe Louis Arena, which opened in 1979 and where they are 760-392-119-53. Detroit took a 3-2 lead when Gustav Nyquist scored an unassisted goal with 9:45 left in regulation. Washington defenseman John Erskine lost the puck in his skates at the left point. Nyquist fished it out and took off, racing into the slot as teammate Justin Abdelkader drove to the net. Nyquist elected to shoot and fired past Neuvirth for his 10th of the season. But Joel Ward gave the Capitals a point when he scored with seven seconds left in regulation and Neuvirth on the bench for an extra attacker; the goal was originally given to Alex Ovechkin but was changed after the game. Neuvirth kept Washington close with 42 saves. Detroit grabbed a 2-1 lead on second-period goals by Drew Miller and Danny DeKeyser, offsetting Jason Chimera's first-period goal for Washington. Outshot 31-13 through two periods, the Capitals got even at 8:09 of the third when recent call-up Casey Wellman refused to quit after Howard stopped him twice and rifled his third shot into the net. Ovechkin assisted on the goal, giving him at least one point in all 10 career games he's played against the Red Wings. Detroit got a boost from the return of captain Henrik Zetterberg, whose back injury forced him to miss a week, and came out dominating play. The Red Wings took 15 of the first 19 shots, earned the first two power plays, and forced Neuvirth to make a terrific glove save on Nyquist midway through the period. The Capitals got their first power play when DeKeyser went off for tripping at 14:18 and grabbed the lead 66 seconds later. With the Red Wings paying extra attention to Ovechkin, Chimera snuck out from behind the net to the left post and was wide-open when Nicklas Backstrom put a pass right on his tape for a tap-in at 15:24. It was Chimera's 11th of the season and the Capitals' final shot on goal of the period. Neuvirth kept the Capitals in front with a little more than two minutes left when he got his arm on a wide-open shot from the slot by Abdelkader and finished the period with 22 saves and a 1-0 lead. Miller scored 2:09 into the second period on a play he helped start. Neuvirth came out to spoil a break-in after Miller chased down a clearing attempt. But Neuvirth got caught out of his crease, and after a scramble, Miller whacked his sixth of the season into a half-empty net to get Detroit even. Red Wings rookie Riley Sheahan lost six of 10 faceoffs through the first two periods, but one of the four he won turned into the second goal. Sheahan won a left-circle draw in the offensive zone back to DeKeyser, whose straightaway 55-foot slap shot hit Chimera just enough to change direction and sail past Neuvirth at 18:39. It was his third of the season but second in as many games against the Capitals.
New Jersey @ Nashville 2-3 OT - Predators coach Barry Trotz said he's been telling anyone who will listen that defenseman Shea Weber is having his best season and is deserving of consideration for the Norris Trophy. After Weber scored two goals, including the game-winner, in the Predators' 3-2 overtime victory against the New Jersey Devils on Friday, it's getting harder and harder to argue with Trotz. Weber scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season, tops in the NHL among defensemen, after being a game-time decision because of an upper-body injury. He did not practice Thursday after missing most of the third period of a 4-3 win Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets. Friday he scored 1:29 into overtime on a wrist shot from close range following an odd-man-rush led by Colin Wilson. It came moments after Predators goalie Carter Hutton stopped Devils forward Michael Ryder on a breakaway. The Predators tied the game with 10.8 seconds remaining in the third period on a goal by David Legwand. Nashville (25-23-8) was playing its first home game after ending a four-game road trip to Western Canada 2-1-1. Weber is one off the team lead in goals, which is held by Craig Smith. They tied the game with Hutton pulled for an extra attacker. Seth Jones worked the puck at the right point to Roman Josi at the left. Josi unleashed a slap shot that deflected off a player in front and caromed to Legwand, wide open on the right side, where he slammed it in for his 10th of the season. Jones was on the ice in place of Weber, who was gassed after playing a shift that lasted 1: 44. Weber went for a change with 32 seconds left. New Jersey's Patrik Elias tied the game 1-1 at 13:00 of the second period when his mild wrist shot from the left side, which looked as if it were going wide, deflected off the top of Hutton's catching glove and fluttered into the net. It was Elias' second straight night with two points, after he scored the overtime winner at Dallas. Elias then assisted on Jaromir Jagr's go-ahead goal. In trademark fashion, Jagr skated out from behind the net, turned and hit Hutton in the chest with the puck, which then dribbled under Hutton's catching glove into the net with 61 seconds left in the second. With career goal No. 698, Jagr had his second straight two-point night; the third member of the line, Travis Zajac, had two assists. Weber showed he wasn't ailing by scoring 6:45 into the game. Devils goalie Cory Schneider mishandled the puck behind his net and Nashville's Patric Hornqvist shoveled it high in the zone to Weber. Schneider got back in his crease and set himself but only briefly before Weber rocketed in a 32-foot slap shot. Nashville is 2-22-2 this season when trailing after two periods. They were down 2-1 at the second intermission Friday.
Vancouver @ Winnipeg 3-4 - The Vancouver Canucks ran out of comebacks in their first visit to Winnipeg since 1996. Devin Setoguchi scored his second goal of the game with 2:56 remaining in regulation and gave the Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 victory against the Canucks, who were making their first appearance at MTS Centre since the former Atlanta Thrashers relocated here in 2011. They had not played in Winnipeg since the first edition of the Jets moved to Phoenix after the 1995-96 season. Setoguchi fired a shot from the right side past goaltender Eddie Lack during a delayed penalty for his 10th of the season. He came into the game with one goal in his previous 25 games. Setoguchi's penalty Tuesday night also helped set up a 4-3 loss against the Nashville Predators, and he has found himself on the Jets' third line for several weeks. The Canucks (27-20-9) had overcome 2-0 and 3-2 deficits, finally tying the game on a goal by defenseman Jason Garrison at 11:50 of the third period. They pressured Winnipeg heavily throughout the third period but left the ice with their third consecutive loss. The Canucks own the second of the two wild-card playoff berths in the Western Conference with 63 points, three ahead of the Phoenix Coyotes, who have two games in hand. Vancouver began a five-game trip with two major losses on their blue line in Kevin Bieksa (foot) and Christopher Tanev (hand). In addition, captain Henrik Sedin (ribs), who missed his sixth consecutive game. Defenseman Yannick Weber left the game with an injury in the first period after playing 3:25. Weber's status was not immediately known. The Jets, now 7-2-0 with Maurice after he replaced Claude Noel on Jan. 12, are one of those four teams pursuing Vancouver and pulled within six points of the Canucks. A four-game road trip that begins Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens will take them into the break for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Alexander Edler's fourth goal and Ryan Kesler's team-leading 19th got the Canucks even after they fell behind 2-0. Kesler also had up two assists. Jets defenseman Zach Bogosian scored his third goal of the season, and Michael Frolik added his 11th. Jets captain Andrew Ladd had two assists. Lack, who played his first season in North America in 2010-11 as a Winnipeg farmhand with the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose, started for the Canucks and made 31 saves. Ondrej Pavelec made his 10th start in the Jets' past 11 games and stopped 23 shots. The Jets used two goals in a 1:05 span early in the first period to put Vancouver in a quick hole. Bogosian ripped a left-point shot past Lack at 5:02. Setoguchi's backhanded tip at 6:07 made it 2-0. However, the Canucks' 29th-ranked power play went to work after Winnipeg's Chris Thorburn took an offensive-zone holding penalty. Eight seconds into Thorburn's minor, Edler snuck into a scramble in front of the Winnipeg net and jabbed a loose puck past Pavelec's right pad at 10:27. Kesler tied the game at 4:48 of the second period on the Canucks' ninth shot of the game, stepping into the slot and backhanding a rising shot that fluttered past Pavelec's glove. Frolik restored the Jets' one-goal advantage 1:53 later when he one-timed Ladd's behind-the-net feed into the slot past Lack at 6:41. Coach John Tortorella will return from his six-game, 15-day suspension in time for the Canucks' game Monday against the Detroit Red Wings. For Maurice, the learning process continues. The veteran of 1,093 games behind NHL benches has provided a measured and calm tone for a young team that was prone to breakdowns and erratic play before his arrival.