Toronto @ Philadelphia 2-4 - With more than 1,000 games, a Stanley Cup, a Rocket Richard Trophy and four All-Star Games in 15 NHL seasons, Flyers forward Vincent Lecavalier has crafted an impressive resume. But with zero goals in six games entering Friday against the Maple Leafs, and 15 in 59 games this season, Philadelphia coach Craig Berube tried a new approach with Lecavalier, granting him his wish of returning to his natural center position. It came with a drop to the fourth line, where he would be centering Zac Rinaldo and Adam Hall. Lecavalier responded to the demotion with one of his best games of the season, scoring the first goal for the Flyers, who rode the early momentum to a 4-2 win that ended a two-game losing streak. Claude Giroux had a goal and two assists, Scott Hartnell had a goal and an assist, and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers. Kimmo Timonen had two assists, and Steve Mason made 32 saves for Philadelphia, which moved within one point of the New York Rangers for second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers pushed their lead on the fourth-place Columbus Blue Jackets to five points. James van Riemsdyk and Dave Bolland scored for the Maple Leafs, who lost their seventh straight game, all in regulation. The Flyers were on their first power play when Nikolai Kulemin was called for tripping, giving Philadelphia a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:36. They needed three seconds to score the first goal. Giroux won a faceoff on the left side back to Timonen, who moved the puck to Lecavalier in the right circle. He fired a one-timer past Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier at 5:35. The goal was the 399th of Lecavalier's career; he would be the 90th player in NHL history with 400 goals, and eighth active. Toronto forward Jay McClement was kicked out of the circle, which forced defenseman Dion Phaneuf to take the first faceoff of his nine-season NHL career. The Maple Leafs tied it 1-1 in the second when van Riemsdyk equaled a League record by scoring four seconds into a period. When the puck was dropped, Toronto's Tyler Bozak pushed it between the skates of Sean Couturier and stepped around him. He found van Riemsdyk streaking down the left side and shoved the puck to him. Van Riemsdyk got to the left circle and fired a shot that beat Mason for his 29th goal of the season. Claude Provost of the Montreal Canadiens scored four seconds into the second period against the Boston Bruins on Nov. 9, 1957, and Denis Savard of the Chicago Blackhawks scored four seconds into the third period against the Hartford Whalers on Jan. 12, 1986. Hartnell gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead on a power-play goal at 11:03 of the second, this time five seconds into a man-advantage. With Bolland in the box for interference, Giroux beat McClement on a faceoff, winning it back to Timonen, who took a shot from the center of the blue line. Hartnell, stationed in the high slot, tipped the puck down and it bounced past Bernier, who had slid to his right and couldn't reach back for the puck. The goal was Hartnell's 20th, the seventh time in 13 seasons he's reached that mark. Giroux pushed the lead to 3-1 when he turned a van Riemsdyk turnover into his 25th goal of the season at 4:55 of the third. Bolland responded with his first goal since Oct. 26 to get the Maple Leafs back to within 3-2. He was tripped behind the Philadelphia net by Luke Schenn, and Toronto was able to cycle the puck on the delayed penalty. Jake Gardiner ended up with the puck at the blue line and passed to Mason Raymond. Mason stopped Raymond's shot from the right side, but Bolland jumped into the slot to bang in the rebound at 6:18. Toronto continued to push, but Simmonds added the insurance goal when he scored his 25th of the season at 12:39 of the third period. Andrew MacDonald lofted a dump-in that bounced on Phaneuf. He couldn't control it, and Brayden Schenn was able to knock it away from him. Maple Leafs center Nazem Kadri was back to help, but Simmonds lifted his stick, controlled the puck and fired a quick shot past Bernier. The Maple Leafs lost a chance to make a move in the race for one of the Eastern Conference wild-card spots for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and remain tied with three teams with 80 points. The Maple Leafs have played more games than the others; they have seven remaining.
NY Rangers @ Calgary 3-4 - It was a tough Friday in the Eastern Conference playoff race for the Rangers. Karri Ramo made 38 saves, and Mike Cammalleri's goal late in a wild second period was the difference in the Flames' 4-3 win against the Rangers at Scotiabank Saddledome. The loss, which ended the Rangers' five-game winning streak, allowed the Philadelphia Flyers to pull within one point of New York for second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 earlier in the evening. The Flyers hold two games in hand on the Rangers, who remained six points ahead of the four teams tied for the two wild cards in the East. Cammalleri's goal came with 7.8 seconds remaining in the second period. After Chris Butler kicked a pass up to Cammalleri in the neutral zone, the Flames' leading scorer fired a shot from the top of the right circle that beat Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist for his fifth game-deciding goal since the NHL Trade Deadline. The goal capped a period that had two lead changes and five goals scored, including three unanswered by the Rangers that gave them a one-goal lead. After Brian Boyle's initial tap-in attempt on Derek Dorsett's feed hit the post, he calmly gathered his rebound and poked it across the goal line 2:12 into the period. Thirty-nine seconds later, Raphael Diaz's point shot struck Flames defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon and redirected by Ramo to tie the game 2-2. The goal was Diaz's first for the Rangers. New York took its first lead of the game at 5:39. Carl Hagelin picked off Kris Russell's neutral-zone pass and fed Richards, who beat Ramo over the glove for his 18th of the season. That lead held for eight minutes until Kevin Westgarth poked a Matt Stajan pass behind Lundqvist on his third attempt to draw Calgary even at 13:49. After Cammalleri's 24th goal of the season, Ramo made 11 saves in the third period. Rick Nash fed Martin St. Louis on the doorstep seven minutes into the period, but Ramo sprawled across to glove down the attempt. St. Louis remains without a goal in 13 games played since being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning at the NHL Trade Deadline. The Flames, winners of 11 of their past 15 on home ice, wasted no time getting the jump. On a power play 4:51 into the game, Curtis Glencross skated in on Lundqvist before ringing a shot off the post. Corralling the rebound, TJ Brodie shoveled a pass to Joe Colborne, who lifted his 10th of the season over Lundqvist for a 1-0 lead. St. Louis thought he answered two minutes later, when Nash's pass ricocheted off his skate and behind Ramo. After review, the goal was waved off. Mark Giordano put Calgary up 2-0 with 3:11 remaining. Cammalleri found the trailing defenseman, who skated in before snapping a shot off the post for his 13th of the season. Nash's wraparound attempt landed square on the stick of Derek Stepan on the doorstep, but Ramo swatted the point-blank attempt down with his glove with 26.2 seconds remaining in the first, one of his 18 saves in the period. The stop came shortly after defenseman Ladislav Smid left the game for the Flames with an upper-body injury. He didn't return.
Anaheim @ Edmonton 3-4 OT - Goaltender Ben Scrivens picked an appropriate night to have another outstanding game for Edmonton, as the Oilers did the Sharks a favor in beating the Sucks. After former Oilers goalie Curtis Joseph was honored prior to the game, Scrivens made 48 saves and set the stage for defenseman Andrew Ference to score 3:51 into overtime to give Edmonton a 4-3 victory against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. With the teams playing 3-on-3 in OT, Ference picked off a pass at center ice, raced into the Anaheim zone, used Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf as a screen and beat goaltender Jonas Hiller with a blast from the high slot for the win. Scrivens' best save of the night resembled a famous stop made by Joseph in the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Dallas Stars. In the second period, with Anaheim pressing, Scrivens dove across his net to rob Ducks right wing Jakob Silfverberg with the paddle of his goalie stick. Scrivens survived a barrage of 51 shots, including seven in overtime, to help the Oilers end a three-game losing skid. The single point left the Ducks one behind the San Jose Sharks in the race for first place in the Pacific Division. Anaheim has two games in hand. Sam Gagner, Jordan Eberle and Oscar Klefbom, with his first NHL goal, also scored for the Oilers. Nick Bonino, Patrick Maroon and Mathieu Perreault scored for Anaheim, with Perreault's goal at 15:30 of the third period forcing overtime. Hiller stopped 19 shots. Bonino opened the scoring 35 seconds into the game on the first shot of the night. He took a pass from Getzlaf in front and snapped a shot over the shoulder of Scrivens. Gagner tied the game at 4:43 with the 100th goal of his career. Sent in by David Perron, Gagner went in on Hiller and lifted a backhand over the goaltender, giving the Oilers a goal on their first shot of the game. The Ducks had a number of quality chances to take the lead early in the second period, but were unable to beat Scrivens, who got a little help from the post and his teammates. Oilers left wing Taylor Hall was first to a puck that squeezed through Scrivens, just in time to knock it off the goal line. Just over three minutes later, Ducks left wing Matt Beleskey fired a shot that rang off the post. Despite their territorial advantage in the period, the Ducks found themselves down 2-1 after Eberle took a pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in front and snapped a shot past Hiller at 10:22. But Anaheim tied the game at 15:23 when Maroon had a rebound bounce towards him and was able to bat it past Scrivens. Klefbom put the Oilers up 3-2 at 8:26 of the third period, jumping into the play and firing a shot past Hiller from the slot. Klefbom, playing his ninth NHL game, was called up by the Oilers from their AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City on March 5. Perreault tied the game with 4:30 left in regulation when he took a pass from Maroon in front, got a fortunate deflection off Hall's stick and lifted the puck over Scrivens. In overtime, Anaheim had a rare 5-on-3 power play but could not take advantage. Ference took a hooking penalty to give the Ducks a 4-on-3 advantage, and with 21 seconds left in that penalty, Jeff Petry was sent off for delay of game after he batted the puck over the glass. The Oilers killed off both penalties. They were set to go on a power play of their own when Ference scored.
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