Results - Thu, Feb 06, 2014

Calgary @ NY Islanders 4-2 - For the first time in his NHL career, Calgary Flames goaltender Reto Berra didn't have to work overtime to earn a victory. Berra stopped 28 shots Thursday night in a 4-2 victory against the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. It was the Swiss rookie's eighth victory, but the first one that didn't come in overtime or a shootout. David Jones scored the go-ahead goal with 5:32 remaining. Matt Stajan's shot from along the goal line to the left of goaltender Evgeni Nabokov leaked through the goaltender's pads after it went off the shin pad of Jones, who was in the crease, breaking a 2-2 tie. It was Jones' ninth goal of the season. Mikael Backlund hit the empty net with three seconds remaining for the Flames (22-28-7), who've won six of their past seven games. Nabokov stopped 18 shots for the Islanders, who have dropped six of seven. New York (22-29-8) failed to score on five power plays, extending its drought with the extra man to 0-for-30. New York trailed 2-1 after two periods but tied the score 7:31 into the third when rookie defenseman Calvin de Haan scored his second of the season. John Tavares' passout found de Haan at the top of the left circle, and the defenseman's wrister caught the far corner past Berra. Rookie Sean Monahan and Dennis Wideman scored late in the second period to give the Flames a 2-0 lead. Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey halved the margin with 6.1 seconds remaining before intermission. The Islanders outshot Calgary 11-5, out-attempted the Flames 25-12 and had both power plays in the scoreless first period. They held the Flames without a shot on goal for a span of 11:42 and controlled most of the play, but managed few good scoring chances. Berra's best save came near the midpoint of the period when he got his body in front of Kyle Okposo's wrister from the slot; the rebound fluttered toward the goal line but was cleared by the defense. It was more of the same over the first 14-plus minutes of the second period, with the Islanders dominating play but unable to get a puck past Berra. The Flames finally took advantage of a rare incursion into the New York zone to open the scoring at 14:15. Kris Russell's straightaway slapper from just inside the blue line hit someone in front as players from both teams jockeyed for position in front of the net. The puck bounced onto the stick of Monahan, who chopped a high shot that Nabokov never saw for his 16th of the season. It came on the Flames' eighth shot of the game. Berra made his best save of the period with 3:20 left when he denied Tavares' one-timer after a perfect passout from Thomas Vanek. The Flames got their first power play 21 seconds later when Hickey was called for holding the stick, and Calgary turned it into a 2-0 lead. Wideman scored his fourth of the season with 1:52 remaining by picking the top corner from the slot after a weak clearing attempt by Frans Nielsen didn't get out of the zone. Hickey made amends by getting the Islanders on the board before the second period ended. Colin McDonald fed Josh Bailey, whose attempted shot from in tight rolled across the crease and was put home by the second-year defenseman for his fourth goal of the season.
Edmonton @ NY Rangers 2-1 - The Rangers played the 6,000th regular-season game in franchise history, but it was Scrivens who stole the show at the Garden for the second time in less than three months. Ben Scrivens stopped 34 of 35 shots and Nail Yakupov scored the go-ahead goal with 1:38 remaining in Edmonton's 2-1 win on Thursday. Tied 1-1 midway through the third period Thursday, Scrivens was especially sharp when the Rangers aggressively peppered him, at one point outshooting Edmonton 7-2 in a 3:29 span. Scrivens gave Edmonton the opportunity to take the lead late in the third period. Sam Gagner backhanded a pass from the left corner that found Yakupov in the high slot for a one-timer that beat Talbot to the glove side. It was the 11th of the season for the first player taken in the 2012 NHL Draft. Scrivens stopped all 11 shots he faced in the first period to extend his shutout streak against the Rangers to 80 minutes and 48 saves. It lasted another 22 seconds before Brassard tied the game. Taylor Hall's clearing attempt along the half wall was deflected and the puck went to Benoit Pouliot at the point. He fed linemate Mats Zuccarello, who sent a quick pass to Brassard near the right faceoff dot, where he wired a one-timer past a stretching Scrivens for his 11th of the season. The play extended Brassard and Zuccarello's point streaks to five games. Edmonton got an opportunity to retake the lead when New York forward Daniel Carcillo was called for slashing at 10:22. The Oilers thought they had the go-ahead goal 35 seconds into the power play when Talbot lost the puck in his equipment following a shot by Jordan Eberle. The puck trickled behind Talbot, but referee Chris Lee blew the whistle before it crossed the line. A video review upheld the call. The Oilers didn't have much time to get rattled. Seconds after Edmonton's goal was waved off, New York captain Ryan Callahan gathered a loose puck and went in alone on Scrivens. Callahan deked from his backhand to his forehand but was stopped by Scrivens' left skate. Smyth opened the scoring while battling in front of the net, where so many of his 384 career goals have come. David Perron got the puck in the slot and fired Edmonton's first shot of the game, which hit Talbot's chest before deflecting into the air. Numerous players swatted at the puck as it bounced in the crease, but Smyth managed to knock it into the net to give the Oilers a lead 2:56 into the game.
Colorado @ Philadelphia 1-3 - Steve Mason was 2:50 away from his third shutout in five games when MacKinnon, the first pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, beat him from a sharp angle for his rookie-best 21st goal of the season. But that was all the offense Colorado could manage; Mason preserved the 2-1 lead with his best stop of the night, going post-to-post to deny PA Parenteau from the left side with 2:00 left. That Mason was able to get into that correct position was impressive considering his discomfort with cramp. Giroux scored into an empty net with 19.8 seconds left. The goal was his 19th of the season and third in the past three games. The Philadelphia captain was impressed by the effort of his goaltender. Mason was strong while his teammates were slow at the start. He made impressive saves on Paul Stastny and Gabriel Landeskog from in close in the first minute then stopped MacKinnon alone in front after the puck took an odd bounce off the glass above the end boards 4:20 into the game. Mason also backstopped a pair of penalty kills when the Avalanche generated a combined five shots on goal. Streit helped start the Flyers offense with a power-play goal at 6:21 of the second period. Philadelphia worked the puck high in the Colorado zone until Streit found a shooting lane straightaway from just inside the blue line. His shot hit the leg of Avalanche forward Marc-Andre Cliche above the circles, and with Steve Downie and Avalanche defenseman Jan Hejda battling in front of Varlamov, the goalie never had a chance to make a save. The goal was Streit's eighth of the season and gave him a power-play goal in two straight games. Raffl made it 2-0 with his seventh goal of the season thanks in part to a strong forecheck by Sean Couturier. Downie dumped the puck into the Colorado end and Avalanche defenseman Nick Holden got to it first, but Couturier arrived a split-second later and knocked him off the puck behind the net. He found Raffl in front; the rookie skated through the crease and beat Varlamov with a quick shot between his pads at 7:05. Colorado continued to push as Mason slowed; the goaltender was taking time when play was at the other end or during stoppages to stretch his legs. At one point he skated to the bench to take an electrolyte pill from the training staff. The Avalanche made a big push in the final minutes but all they had to show for it was MacKinnon's goal and regret over some missed opportunities.
Winnipeg @ Washington 2-4 - Alex Ovechkin's NHL-leading 40th goal stood up as the game-winner and Troy Brouwer scored twice for Washington (26-23-9), which defeated its former Southeast Division opponent for the sixth straight time dating to last season. With 12:14 remaining, Ovechkin swooped in after Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec stopped Nicklas Backstrom's two shots from in tight, pouncing on a loose puck and backhanding it into the net. The Capitals, shut out in two of their previous three games at home, wasted little time making sure that was not the case again when Brouwer scored at 4:56 of the first period. Casey Wellman and Marcus Johansson worked below the goal line with Johansson getting the better of Olli Jokinen in a battle along the end boards. Wellman corralled the loose puck and fed it back to Johansson, who passed across the crease to Brouwer for his 12th goal of the season. Winnipeg tied the game at 13:02 as the result of a strong forecheck by Michael Frolik and Andrew Ladd. Frolik pressured Capitals defenseman John Carlson as the latter went to retrieve the puck, forcing a turnover Ladd collected. The Jets captain threw the puck toward the middle of the ice to a streaking Little, whose shot was stopped by Holtby. But the rebound ricocheted off Capitals forward Martin Erat and into the net. The Jets carried the play in the second period, outshooting the Capitals 16-7, and Byfuglien gave them the lead at 5:41. As Winnipeg rushed up ice, Jokinen carried the puck into the Washington zone and left a drop pass for Devin Setoguchi. Byfuglien, cutting down the center of the ice undetected, received Setoguchi's pass in the high slot, skated to the hash marks and roofed his 13th goal of the season over Holtby's glove. In the third period, the determined Capitals tied the game on a play from a combination of unlikely sources. Defenseman Julien Brouillette, making his NHL debut, purposely passed wide of the net, and the puck caromed back to the middle, where Tom Wilson was waiting to beat Pavelec at 3:38. It was Wilson's second goal of the season. Defenseman Patrick Wey, who had the secondary assist, also earned his first NHL point. After Ovechkin scored to give the Capitals a 3-2 lead, Brouwer scored an insurance goal at 15:15, driving hard to the net on a pass from Johansson and deking around Pavelec for another backhand goal.
Vancouver @ Montreal 2-5 - Max Pacioretty stole the spotlight from the much-anticipated pre-Olympic battle between Carey Price and Roberto Luongo. Pacioretty failed to convert two second-period penalty shots but still scored three goals to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 5-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. The U.S. Olympian scored a power-play goal 14:59 into the game, then failed to beat Luongo twice after becoming the first player in NHL history to be awarded two penalty shots in the same period. But he scored again 4:45 into the third period and capped his second hat trick of the season by hitting the empty net with 1:08 to play. Price made a better case than Luongo to be named as Canada's starter when the 2014 Sochi Games begin next week by stopping 42 shots. Afterward, Price was still more focused on the Canadiens and the fact his team had one game remaining before the Olympic break. He was also heaping praise on his teammates. Luongo denied Pacioretty's penalty-shot attempts but allowed four goals on 28 shots for the Canucks, who lost their sixth in a row despite getting 44 shots at Price. Luongo allowed goals to Pacioretty and White in a 63-second span late in the first period. After Higgins scored the lone goal of the second period, Pacioretty and Plekanec beat Luongo in a 3:29 span of the third period to make it 4-1. At the other end, Price came up big throughout but his solid play was crucial in the first two periods when the Canucks outshot the Canadiens 27-17. The Canucks were again without captain Henrik Sedin, who will miss the Sochi Games with a rib injury. The team said Sedin is "very confident" he'll be ready to go when the Canucks resume play on Feb. 26.
Buffalo @ Ottawa 2-3 - Milan Michalek scored his second goal of the game with 20.9 seconds left in regulation and the Ottawa Senators recovered after blowing a two-goal lead to beat Buffalo 3-2 on Thursday. Buffalo rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game at 2-2 on third-period goals by Tyler Ennis and Drew Stafford. Michalek scored the game-winner after taking a feed from Jason Spezza. His wrist shot from the left hash marks beat Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth high to the blocker side. Karlsson, who had a goal and an assist in the Senators' 5-4 shootout win against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, scored his 15th goal at 3:12 of the second period to put Ottawa up 1-0. He fired a wrist shot past Enroth into the top right corner from the top of the far side of the right faceoff circle. Michalek, who also scored Tuesday, made it 2-0 with his ninth goal 10 seconds into the third period. He slipped behind Buffalo defenseman Jamie McBain to tip home a pass from Spezza on an odd-man rush off the opening faceoff in the third. Ennis scored at 10:25 of the third period to pull Buffalo within one. Stafford drew the Sabres even at 2-2 at 15:46 with his 10th goal. Karlsson, who will make his first Olympic appearance for Sweden in Sochi, leads all NHL defensemen with 54 points. Michalek's first goal was not the fastest to open a period in Ottawa franchise history. That mark is held by Alexandre Daigle, who scored seven seconds into the second period of a 3-3 tie against the New York Islanders on Jan. 22, 1995. Stafford just failed to click with Ville Leino on the Sabres' best scoring chance of the first period near the 12-minute mark. Leino, who was a healthy scratch for Buffalo's previous two games, fed a pass to Stafford, who got tangled up with McBain as his tipped shot went wide of an open right side. Enroth and Tallinder will be joined in Sochi by two Sabres teammates, United States goalie Ryan Miller and Latvian center Zemgus Girgensons. All six Olympians from both teams were introduced to the crowd at the end of the game along with Nolan, who will coach Latvia.
Toronto @ Tampa Bay 4-1 - The Lightning began the third period with Cedric Desjardins in goal after Ben Bishop sustained an upper-body injury. Bishop, who has 27 wins this season, finished two periods with 21 saves and the Lightning trailing 1-0. Forward Valtteri Filppula sustained a lower-body injury in the third period. At 2:19 into the third, Desjardins found himself face-to-face with Toronto forward Jay McClement, who was holding the puck alone in front of the crease. McClement faked to his left and drew Desjardins along with him while he slipped the puck into the vacated right side of the net. McClement's goal, his third of the season, was assisted by David Clarkson and Joffrey Lupul for the 2-0 lead. Toronto took a 3-0 lead when James van Riemsdyk twice batted a rebound out of the air. His first swing sent the puck onto Desjardins' shoulder but the forward managed to get his stick blade on it again before the puck could land on the ice. Goal No. 22 for van Riemsdyk came at 8:10. Ondrej Palat cut the lead to 3-1 when he split the Toronto defense and lifted the puck over Bernier. Martin St. Louis, named to the Canada Olympic team earlier in the day to replace injured teammate Steven Stamkos, and Tyler Johnson assisted. Tyler Bozak scored an empty-net goal with 2:52 remaining. Bernier made several great stops on the way to his 21st win. The Maple Leafs scored first at 7:57 of the second period when Mason Raymond took advantage of a sloppy player change by Tampa Bay and broke away along the left boards. His high backhand shot beat Bishop for his 15th goal of the season. The Toronto defense held the top three Tampa Bay goal-scorers, St. Louis, Filppula and Johnson, without a shot.
Detroit @ Florida 3-1 - Gustav Nyquist scored his ninth goal in nine games to break a 1-1 tie in the second period and Howard made 23 saves, 16 of them in the third period, in a 3-1 victory against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night at BB&T Center. Howard made his biggest save with 3:40 left in regulation when he made a pad stop on Sean Bergenheim's breakaway, preserving a 2-1 lead. Brian Lashoff scored an empty-net goal with 19.1 seconds left. Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk returned to the lineup after missing 14 games because of a lower-body injury but was held off the scoresheet. He got 13:34 of ice time and had one shot on goal. He also played left wing instead of his normal spot at center, with Darren Helm playing in the middle. Nyquist, named Monday to Sweden's team for the 2014 Sochi Olympics as a replacement for injured Red Wings teammate Johan Franzen, scored his 14th goal of the season at 13:22 of the middle period. After grabbing a loose puck in his own zone, Nyquist raced over the Florida blue line and beat Thomas with a high wrist shot to the short side from the outside edge of the left circle. Thomas robbed Nyquist in the third period to keep the score 2-1 when he snagged a one-timer from a sharp angle with his glove. The game was the fifth and final of the season between these new Atlantic Division foes. Florida won three, including two victories in Detroit. After recording a season-high 48 shots in their 4-1 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, the Panthers managed a season-low two in the first period against Detroit and then only six in the second. Despite being outshot 11-2 in the first period, the Panthers led 1-0 thanks to Thomas' goaltending and Upshall's goal in the final minute. After serving a penalty for slashing, Upshall came out of the box and got behind the defense before he batted Tomas Kopecky's breaking pass out of midair. Upshall then beat Howard with a quick shot through the five-hole. Alfredsson tied the score 1-1 at 6:30 of the second. Thomas stopped Niklas Kronwall's shot from the point, but the puck bounced off Justin Abdelkader and went to Alfredsson, standing all alone to the side of the net. Detroit had a great chance to pad its 2-1 lead late in the second period when Kopecky was assessed minor penalties for hooking and for unsportsmanlike conduct after he flipped the puck at the referee. The Red Wings managed two shots on goal during the four-minute man advantage.
Boston @ St Louis 2-3 OT - After squandering a two-goal lead on home ice for the third consecutive game, T.J. Oshie's goal 3:29 into overtime gave the Blues a 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Thursday night at Scottrade Center. Oshie blocked Carl Soderberg’s attempt to rim the puck around the boards behind the Boston goal, causing the puck to pop out to the right of goalie Tuukka Rask. Oshie got to the loose puck and jammed it inside the near post for the first overtime goal of his career. Rask never could quite get a firm grasp of where the puck wound up after Soderberg's failed clearing attempt. The Blues nearly lost the game early in overtime, but Alex Pietrangelo, who blamed himself for the Bruins' tying goal, was able to thwart Jarome Iginla's effort on a wide-open net with 3:09 remaining. After the puck came into the crease, Pietrangelo was able to turn and throw his stick in the direction of Iginla, who tried to corral a bouncing puck before knocking it into an empty side. The Blues moved within two points of the Chicago Blackhawks for first place in the Central Division and three points of the NHL-leading Anaheim Ducks.

The Blues are 42-11-7 against Eastern Conference teams since 2010-11, the League's best record in interconference play during that span. They're 18-4-2 against the East this season, 10-0-1 at home. The win was Hitchcock’s 110th as Blues coach, tying him with Scotty Bowman for fourth on the franchise's all-time list. St. Louis led 2-0 after 40 minutes, but Boston came on strong in the third period. Krejci finally got the Bruins on the board with a wrist shot from the high slot past a screened Halak at 9:16. Milan Lucic was in front providing the screen. Marchand scored his 18th goal 2:08 later after Johnny Boychuk's blast from the point caromed fast off the boards and Marchand snapped home a shot from a sharp angle to tie the game. Steen scored his 28th of the season when he stepped into a slap shot just inside the right circle and beat Rask with 4:12 left in the first for the lone goal of the period. Julien was upset on the play because the officials missed a high stick on Blues forward Maxim Lapierre, who clipped Loui Eriksson moments before the goal. Eriksson went to the dressing room and did not return for the remainder of the period. The Blues doubled their lead when Schwartz scored his 18th goal 3:32 into the second.
Nashville @ Minnesota 2-3 OT - Wild forward Nino Niederreiter will head to the 2014 Sochi Games with bragging rights on Swiss roommate Roman Josi. Niederreiter's goal 2:16 into overtime gave the Wild a 3-2 victory against Josi and the Predators on Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. After Nashville defenseman Shea Weber snapped his stick on a shot attempt in the Wild zone, Minnesota's Kyle Brodziak cleared the puck to the neutral zone where it was gobbled up by Niederreiter. He cruised down the right wing and dangled around his Sochi roommate before ripping a shot past Carter Hutton for his 11th goal of the season and first career game-winner. The Wild are in firm control of the first of the two wild-card berths in the Western Conference. With the win, they have 69 points and are six points ahead of the Vancouver Canucks and seven in front of the Phoenix Coyotes and Dallas Stars. Nashville is another two points back. Minnesota opened the scoring 4:05 into the game when Nashville defenseman Michael Del Zotto couldn't clear the zone. The puck came to Niederreiter at the right half-wall, and he found a pinching Jonas Brodin in the slot. Brodin fired a wrister over Hutton's blocker for his eighth of the season and first since Dec. 29, a span of 18 games. The Predators got a lucky bounce less than two minutes later when a seemingly harmless shot by Craig Smith from the blue line handcuffed Darcy Kuemper in the crease. Kuemper thought he had the puck secured, but it laid in the crease long enough for Smith to skate in and poke it into an open net for his 17th. The Wild regained the lead at 13:27 when Parise took a great feed from Dany Heatley in the left circle and fired the puck short-side past Hutton for his 19th of the season. The power-play goal was Parise's 10th, third-best in the NHL. But Smith got Nashville even again at 7:40 of the second period, redirecting a Victor Bartley shot in the high slot past Kuemper for his second of the night. Smith's bid for the hat trick early in the third ricocheted off the right post, Nashville's third pipe of the night. While Kuemper seemed to be fighting the puck, especially early, Hutton was on his game. He stopped several prime chances by the Wild, including Jason Zucker in the first period and close-in tries by Jason Pominville and Matt Cooke in the second. Hutton also stopped six shots during a Wild power play with less than four minutes to play. He finished with 33 saves; Kuemper stopped 16 shots. The loss ended a surreal day for the Predators, who battled through their fair share of adversity Thursday. Prior to the team's morning skate, play-by-play voice Pete Weber suffered a heart attack and was rushed from the arena by ambulance to a hospital. A short time later, Nashville general manager David Poile, who will serve the same role for the United States in Sochi, was struck in the face by a puck during the morning skate. He was also taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Columbus @ Los Angeles 1-2 OT - Robyn Regehr scored on a slap shot from the left side 2:33 into overtime to give the Kings a come-from-behind 2-1 win against the Blue Jackets on Thursday night at Staples Center. It was his second goal of the season, both against Columbus, and his first career overtime goal. Regehr's shot sailed over the left shoulder of screened Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to complete a gritty comeback by the Kings, who overcame an awful start. They also got a win for goalie Jonathan Quick, who had allowed two or fewer goals four times in his previous seven starts but had a 1-3 record to show for it. The Blue Jackets played a great puck-possession game and had a 1-0 lead going into the third. They are 11-3-1 in the past 15 games with a visit to the San Jose Sharks one game to go before the break, but this one stung some. Columbus practically handed Los Angeles the keys to the game by giving it six power plays of various length, but the tying goal came during 4-on-4 play. Muzzin snuck behind the defense to nudge in Kopitar's pass at 3:09 of the third to make it 1-1. It was Muzzin's fourth goal. Quick and Bobrovsky, who could face each other in Sochi, were stellar in L.A. Bobrovsky, who will play for Russia, helped Columbus kill three penalties in the second period. He got his left leg over to stop Justin Williams on a wraparound, stopped Trevor Lewis on a shorthanded attempt and denied Tyler Toffoli on a backhand. Quick, who will play for the U.S., also held his ground, stopping Brandon Dubinsky's shorthanded breakaway try late in the second. Columbus pounced on the seemingly disinterested Kings and took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by ex-King defenseman Jack Johnson 1:40 into the game. Johnson scored his fourth of the season when he took a pass from Johansen at the right circle and beat Quick with a wrist shot as defenseman Willie Mitchell kneeled down to try to block the shot. Toffoli was in the penalty box for a hooking penalty in the Blue Jackets' zone. Columbus defenseman Ryan Murray left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury from a hit by Dustin Brown but returned in the third. Brown was given a minor for charging, a call that left neither side happy. The Kings looked out of synch at the beginning of the game and were assessed two penalties for too many men; the latter came when the puck was 70 feet from their bench. Even during its slump, Los Angeles played with the puck a lot but that wasn't the case in the first two periods when Columbus won 27 of 40 faceoffs and had a 20-13 shot advantage.