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.