Results - Fri, Feb 28, 2014

Minnesota @ Vancouver 2-1 SO - As the shootout kept going and the pressure kept mounting, the Minnesota Wild turned to a couple of rookies to earn a valuable extra point against the Vancouver Canucks. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper stopped all seven shots he faced and fellow rookie Justin Fontaine scored the only goal in the tiebreaker to give the Wild a 2-1 win against the Canucks on Friday at Rogers Arena. Fontaine faked a shot as he cut across the crease and slid the puck back through the legs of goalie Eddie Lack. Kuemper ended the game by stopping David Booth on a spin move to give Minnesota its fourth straight win. Neither player seemed fazed by the pressure as the Wild (33-21-7) increased their wild-card cushion in the Western Conference Stanley Cup Playoff race. They have 73 points, seven more than the Dallas Stars, who hold the second wild-card berth, and the Canucks (28-24-10), who trail the Stars because they've played three more games. Zach Parise scored in the first period for the Wild, which continues to put daylight between themselves and their pursuers. Ryan Kesler scored for the Canucks, who failed to convert a power play in overtime and couldn't build on a 1-0 win against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday that snapped a seven-game losing streak. The Canucks, who play the Ottawa Senators on Sunday in the 2014 NHL Tim Hortons Heritage Classic at BC Place, have played one more game than the Wild, two more than the Coyotes, and three more than the Stars. Kesler, back after missing the first game after the 2014 Sochi Olympics because he injured his hand there, opened the scoring shorthanded 5:19 into the first period. He skated onto a chip pass from Chris Higgins at center ice and into a partial break, snapping a shot from the top of the left circle past Kuemper's blocker. Minnesota appeared to tie it a little more than three minutes later when Keith Ballard's point shot through traffic went in off the post, but referee Brad Meier immediately waved it off for goalie interference. Wild forward Erik Haula was atop the crease, but did not appear to make much, if any contact, with Lack before the puck went in. The Wild got a goal that counted on the power play with 5:48 left in the first period. Lack made a couple of great saves early, gloving Jason Pominville's shot from the left dot and kicking out the left pad to deny Jonas Brodin's one-timer. But he never saw Parise's wrist shot; Parise circled off the left boards above the circle before firing a high shot through Dany Heatley's screen and past Lack's blocker. The game tightened up during a scoreless second period, with Kuemper making a couple of tough saves, including one on Henrik Sedin in tight early, and another on a Booth deflection midway through. Kuemper made a great save early in the third period, sprawling out to get his right pad on Kesler's backhand attempt in tight after he collected a rebound and cut across the top of the crease.
St Louis @ Anaheim 0-1 - The Anaheim Ducks were the last team to resume play following the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and the 20-day break between games showed for much of Friday night. But the Ducks overcame the rust and shut down the St. Louis Blues 1-0 to snap a four-game losing streak at Honda Center and sweep the three-game series between the top two teams in the Western Conference. Andrew Cogliano matched his career-high with his 18th goal at 3:39 of the first period. He lifted a backhander past goalie Brian Elliott after Saku Koivu sent him in on a breakaway. Cam Fowler started the play when he got the puck away from Alexander Steen near Anaheim's bench. Jonas Hiller made the lead stand up with 18 saves for his 21st career shutout. But Hiller had plenty of help; the Ducks blocked 27 shots and St. Louis missed the target on 30 others. Anaheim is known for offense but it also takes pride in grinding out games, and this win included 35 hits. St. Louis made a bold move to solidify its goaltending for the stretch run when it acquired Ryan Miller from the Buffalo Sabres a few hours before puck drop. But the Blues' immediate problem is an offense that has gone cold; they've dropped back-to-back 1-0 decisions in their first two games following the Olympic break after not being shut out in 57 games. The Blues got Miller and forward Steve Ott from the Sabres for goalie Jaroslav Halak, forward Chris Stewart, prospect William Carrier, a 2015 first-round pick and a conditional pick. Halak had been scheduled to start; instead, Elliott got the late nod and kept the Blues in the game with 18 saves. After Cogliano's goal, the Blues controlled most of the rest of the first period and Jaden Schwartz hit the crossbar just before the intermission. Ryan Reaves came agonizingly close to pulling St. Louis even when he nudged a loose puck at the net and had it hit the right post, slide along the goal line and hit the left post with 59 seconds remaining in the second period. It was that kind of game for the Blues, who outplayed the Ducks for stretches but couldn't score. Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said he expected rust coming out of the break, and the Ducks looked out of sync at times, although they did get a couple of great scoring chances. Mathieu Perreault couldn't finish a 2-on-1 with Teemu Selanne, and Nick Bonino shot into Elliott's pads in the second period. Perreault left the game with what the Ducks said was an upper-body injury when he went into the boards awkwardly in the third period. Boudreau also likes the details of the game, and he was most pleased with the three blocked shots and six hits by Ben Lovejoy. Mark Fistric came off injured reserve and had five hits, two penalties and two blocks. Olympic silver medalist Jakob Silfverberg was a scratch for Anaheim.