Results - Sat, Mar 08, 2014

Ottawa @ Winnipeg 5-3 - The newly formed line of Milan Michalek, Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky combined with goaltender Craig Anderson's 46 saves to push the Ottawa Senators to a 5-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. Three assists from Hemsky, whom the Senators acquired Wednesday from the Edmonton Oilers before the NHL Trade Deadline, tied his career high. Spezza had three assists, and Michalek had a goal and an assist. The win pulled the Senators to within four points of the Detroit Red Wings for the second Stanley Cup Playoff wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa wrapped up a four-game road trip 2-2-0. The Michalek-Spezza-Hemsky trio could provide the Senators a strong first line as they push for a postseason berth, although playoff hockey has eluded Hemsky since the Oilers' run to the 2006 Stanley Cup Final. The Jets are on an 0-2-1 slide at home and remained three points behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild-card berth in the Western Conference. Anderson started his fourth consecutive game and stopped 21 of 22 shots in the third period. Winnipeg goalie Ondrej Pavelec started for the fifth straight game and made 15 saves before Ottawa's fifth goal 9:36 into the second period ended his afternoon. Al Montoya made 12 saves in relief in his first game since Feb. 8. Michalek opened the scoring with his 10th goal of the season before Jets center Bryan Little's 20th, on a power play, tied the game. The Senators answered 38 seconds later on Jared Cowen's fourth goal. Ottawa scored three second-period goals to break open the game. Eric Gryba's second of the season moved the Senators' lead to 3-1 at 2:01. Tobias Enstrom got the Jets within a goal 2:14 later with his seventh on a left-point slap shot. Kyle Turris rebuilt the Senators' two-goal lead with his 21st at 8:58. Another Ottawa power play ended with Mike Hoffman's first NHL goal 38 seconds after Turris scored for a 5-2 game. Winnipeg's Dustin Byfuglien's 14th goal, off a slap shot 2:13 into the third period, made it 5-3. The Senators' road power play ranked first in the NHL entering the game and went 2-for-4. The Jets' power play, 27th overall in the NHL, scored two goals in a game for the first time since Jan. 25. The Senators power play was on a 2-for-29 skid but awakened Saturday. Shortly after the Senators killed a 1:10, 5-on-3 Jets advantage, and 20 seconds into Winnipeg defenseman Zach Bogosian's holding minor, Michalek directed Hemsky's centering pass off the right side and swatted a loose puck that managed to trickle over the goal line at 9:54. The Jets, stuck in a 2-for-27 slide on their power play, tied the game 1-1 with Ottawa's Chris Neil off for interference. Little corralled the rebound of Byfuglien's right-point shot and swept the puck into the net while falling to the ice at 16:59. Cowen's long left-point shot 38 seconds later beat Pavelec short-side for a 2-1 lead. The goal marked the second time in the Jets' past two games they have allowed a goal within a minute after scoring. A Hemsky-Spezza rush into the Winnipeg zone led to a collision between Pavelec and defenseman Mark Stuart that set up Ottawa's third goal. With Pavelec out of position, Gryba won a race to the loose puck and put it in an open net. Jets forward Evander Kane won a draw back to Enstrom, who drilled a rising shot past Anderson at 4:15 for a 3-2 game. Hoffman drove down the right side toward Pavelec before sending a pass into the slot to Turris, who lifted a shot over Pavelec for a 4-2 lead. With Winnipeg's Devin Setoguchi off for boarding, Spezza sent a left-side pass across the slot to Hoffman, who stuffed it past Pavelec. Though the .500 road trip did not please the Senators, they took solace in finishing it with a win prior to returning home Monday to play the Nashville Predators. The Jets, who are trying to push aside the Stars, Phoenix Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks, face a challenge next week that begins with a road game against the Colorado Avalanche. Trying to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2007, the Jets are 11-5-2 since Maurice replaced Claude Noel on Jan. 12.
Philadelphia @ Toronto 3-4 OT - The Toronto Maple Leafs blew another third-period lead but were able to overcome that on the way to a victory against the Philadelphia Flyers. Joffrey Lupul scored at 2:21 of overtime to give the Maple Leafs the 4-3 win at Air Canada Centre on Saturday. The Maple Leafs have blown a third-period lead in four of five games since returning from the break for the 2014 Sochi Olympics (2-1-2). Lupul's 19th goal of the season came on the only shot of overtime after Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf fed a pass across the crease of Flyers goalie Steve Mason. The Flyers tied it 3-3 with 2:32 remaining in the third period on defenseman Braydon Coburn's fifth goal of the season. Toronto blew a two-goal lead in the third period against the New York Rangers on Wednesday before winning 3-2 in overtime at Madison Square Garden. Philadelphia trailed 2-0 less than four minutes into the game before rallying. Coburn tied the game from just inside the blue line. Mason Raymond gave the Maple Leafs a 3-2 leads at 13:34 with his 18th goal of the season. Troy Bodie had his second assist of the game on Raymond's goal and was greeted by Maple Leafs president, and father-in-law, Tim Leiweke in the locker room after the game. The Flyers made it 2-2 at 7:19 of the third period when Kimmo Timonen scored his second goal of the game. Philadelphia scrambled Toronto in its end and Jakub Voracek's shot rebounded to Timonen, who backhanded a shot past goalie Jonathan Bernier. Timonen's goals broke a 30-game drought and doubled his season total to four. The Maple Leafs started quickly when Jake Gardiner scored 2:21 into the game. The defenseman had lots of time to gather the puck and fire a low wrist shot through traffic to beat Mason for his sixth goal of the season, first since Jan. 21, a span of 12 games. Nazem Kadri gave the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead 1:17 later when he scored his 17th goal of the season. Kardi streaked in through the slot and fired a wrist shot over Mason's glove. The Flyers cut into the lead when Timonen scored with 1:58 remaining in the second period. The play started when the Flyers broke into the zone and, with players from each team crashing the net, Voracek found Timonen alone as he skated into the slot and snapped a wrist shot past Bernier to make it 2-1.
Boston @ Tampa Bay 4-3 SO - The Lightning picked the wrong time of the season to hit a slump. The Lightning's losing streak reached four games when Reilly Smith scored the only goal of the shootout in the seventh round, giving the Bruins a 4-3 victory on Saturday night. Smith deked Ben Bishop and slid a shot through the five-hole to win the game after Tampa Bay's Richard Panik drilled the crossbar to start the seventh round. Boston, the leader in the Atlantic Division, moved within one point of the Pittsburgh Penguins for first place in the Eastern Conference after completing a four-game sweep of the season series against the Lightning. Tampa Bay still owns the first of two wild-card berths in the Eastern Conference despite losing its fourth game in a row, including the first two of a six-game homestand. But the Lightning saw their lead over the Columbus Blue Jackets, the leader among the teams outside a playoff berth, reduced to three points. The Lightning led 2-0 early in the second period and 3-2 in the third before Johnny Boychuk forced overtime at 8:11 by beating Bishop with a slap shot from the point that the goalie lost track of. It was the defenseman's third goal of the season and first in 21 games. Rask made 17 saves through 65 minutes but was perfect in the tiebreaker. Bishop finished with 29 saves. After a scoreless first period, Tampa Bay opened the scoring 27 seconds into the second, triggering a burst of five goals in just over nine minutes. The Lightning scored their eighth shorthanded goal of the season when Tyler Johnson chased a loose puck into the Boston zone. Rask came out to play the puck but Ondrej Palat trailed the play and found the net with his second attempt for his 15th goal of the season. The Lightning made it 2-0 at 4:13 when defenseman Mark Barberio sent a shot from just inside the blue line that trickled between Rask's pads. Tom Pyatt and Ryan Callahan earned assists; for Callahan, it was his first point since being acquired by the Lightning from the New York Rangers at the NHL Trade Deadline on Wednesday. Daniel Paille cut Tampa Bay's lead in half at 6:58 with his ninth goal of the season, converting his own rebound. Carl Soderberg tied the game at 8:29 when he took a long pass from Chris Kelly, skated in alone and beat Bishop with a backhander for his 11th goal of the season. But the Lightning went back in front 62 seconds later when Palat centered a pass to Valtteri Filppula in the slot. Filppula hit the half-empty net for his 21st of the season. Smith got the shootout winner but hasn't scored a goal since Jan 28 against the Florida Panthers, a total of 10 games. The victory marked the first time this season the Bruins were able to win after trailing by two goals. They had been 0-15-2 before Saturday.
Carolina @ New Jersey 4-5 - Tuomo Ruutu managed to fit a game-winning goal against his former team into his frantic schedule. Ruutu scored his first goal with the New Jersey Devils with 6:30 remaining in regulation to lift his new team to a 5-4 win against his old one, the Carolina Hurricanes, on Saturday at Prudential Center. Ruutu's sixth goal of the season capped a hectic two weeks for the 31-year-old forward. After capturing a bronze medal for Finland at the 2014 Sochi Olympics on Feb. 23, Ruutu returned to the Hurricanes just in time to leave on a five-game, cross-country road trip that included three games in California. The West Coast swing ended Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks; he flew back to Raleigh with the Hurricanes and was dealt to New Jersey on Wednesday at the NHL Trade Deadline for forward Andrei Loktionov and a draft pick. Ruutu flew to Newark on Thursday for practice, flew with the Devils to play in a 7-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, then returned to Newark and scored the winning goal in a game the Devils had to have; they moved within two points of Detroit for the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. All that travel hasn't slowed Ruutu. DeBoer even had him on the top line against the Hurricanes on the left of center Travis Zajac and Jaromir Jagr, and he rewarded his coach with his first multipoint performance in 21 games. Ruutu broke a 4-4 tie when he fired a wrist shot from between the circles through a maze of bodies and past Cam Ward. The play was set up when defenseman Marek Zidlicky fed him off Zajac's offensive-zone faceoff win. Fans began chanting, "Ruutu! Ruutu!" after he was named the game's first star. Goalie Martin Brodeur finished with 29 saves to earn his 16th win of the season, although he was unable to hold a 4-1 lead. Adam Henrique continued his torrid scoring pace with two goals, and Zajac and Damien Brunner also scored. The victory was the fourth in six games for the Devils (28-24-13), who embark on a three-game road swing against the Philadelphia Flyers, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. The Hurricanes (27-28-9) fell to 1-7-0 in their past eight games. Ruutu's goal negated Carolina's rally, which saw the Hurricanes score three unanswered goals to get even. Alexander Semin tied the game at 4-4 when he skated past Zajac and Jagr before twirling with the puck between the circles and beating Brodeur inside the right post with 7:21 left in regulation. Carolina's Nathan Gerbe scored a shorthanded goal 4:41 into the third to cut the deficit to 4-3. Jordan Staal stole an ill-advised pass by Brunner at the Carolina blue line and sent Gerbe on a breakaway. Gerbe roofed his second shorthanded goal of the season into the right corner. The Devils had scored three times in the second to grab a 4-1 lead. After Carolina's Jeff Skinner had pulled the visitors into a 1-1 tie at 6:21, Brunner executed a great backhand attempt from low in the left circle that beat goalie Anton Khudobin high to the long side at 8:34 with his team on the power play. Zidlicky ripped a shot from the left point that caromed off the end boards to Brunner in the circle. Henrique then connected for two straight goals, marking his second straight two-goal game and third in the past six. He gave the Devils a 3-1 lead when he deposited a highlight-reel backhand from in tight on Khudobin off a feed from Ryane Clowe at 8:57. He scored his team-leading 23rd of the season at 12:51 when he took a drop pass from Patrik Elias in the high slot and unleashed a wrist shot that beat Khudobin into the top left corner with his team shorthanded. Henrique's two-point performance extended his season-high point streak to six games, during which he's struck for nine goals and two assists. The Hurricanes got one back 33 seconds after the goaltending change when Jay Harrison ripped a shot from between the circles for his team's first power-play goal in 28 chances spanning eight games. The Devils took a 1-0 lead when Zajac slammed home a shot at the right post after getting a pass from Ruutu at 4:25. Jagr won a battle along the left-wing boards to Ruutu, who carried the puck low in the left circle before feeding Zajac for his 11th of the season.
Columbus @ Nashville 1-0 - Blue Jackets center Artem Anisimov was making small talk after the morning skate about how his pregnant wife is due with the couple's first child any day. As soon as she texts him that she's going into labor, he's getting on a plane and flying home. With one game left on a three-game road trip, the Blue Jackets might not want to let him leave. Columbus has won four out of its past five games, including a 1-0 victory against the Predators on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena. Anisimov has scored the game-winning goal in each. Anisimov's goal Saturday was his sixth in six games and 19th of the season, a career high. Anisimov, who declined to speak with reporters after the game, had scored a goal in four straight games, a streak that was snapped in a 6-1 loss Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks. Columbus got the game's only goal with 6:25 left in regulation. Anisimov led a 3-on-2 rush, dropped the puck for defenseman James Wisniewski and headed to the net. Anisimov got the puck back and stuffed it around 6-foot-5 Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne. Columbus' Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves in his first shutout since Jan. 10, his third of the season. With 28.8 seconds left and Rinne pulled for an extra attacker, Bobrovsky, coming from the far post, robbed Colin Wilson as he attempted to stuff the puck at the goalmouth. Wilson, who has not scored in 24 games, had the net open to the near side but instead shot at an angle into Bobrovsky, who gloved it just in front of the goal line. Two of the NHL's best goaltenders were on top of their game. Bobrovsky, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, stopped 18 shots through two periods, and Rinne, a Vezina finalist in 2011 and 2012, stopped 20; he finished with 35 saves. Rinne, playing his third straight game after returning from a hip infection, had to be at his best when Viktor Stalberg took a double-minor penalty for high-sticking RJ Umberger at 6:55 of the second period. One of Rinne's best saves came on a slap shot by Boone Jenner that Rinne got a piece of with his blocker. The penalty on Stalberg helped turn the momentum of the game, the coaches said. Nashville had four shots in the second period to Columbus' 15; the Predators then had two through the first 10 minutes of the third. Nashville's Barry Trotz said as a result of that penalty Columbus "ground [us] down a bit." Nashville, which did not have more than 21 shots on goal in either of its past two games, had 14 in the first period. The Predators did not connect on their lone power-play chance, continuing a streak of futility to 15 straight with the extra man in the past four games. One of the best scoring chances of the first period came with 5:43 left when Columbus center Ryan Johansen, the Blue Jackets' leader in goals with 25, broke in on a 2-on-1. Rinne knocked down Johansen's wrist shot with his glove. Columbus is even with the Detroit Red Wings in the race for the final Stanley Cup Playoff wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, though the Red Wings own the berth because they've played one fewer game. The Blue Jackets were playing without three injured regular defensemen: Fedor Tyutin (ankle), Nikita Nikitin (upper body), and rookie Ryan Murray (knee), who will miss at least the remainder of the regular season. The coach opted for more physical players, Blake Comeau and Corey Tropp, and the change appeared to work. Tropp had a second-period fight with Nashville's Eric Nystrom. The Predators are 1-5-2 in their past eight and have lost four straight in regulation. Nashville had one goal in each of its past three games.
Calgary @ Vancouver 1-2 - Canucks coach John Tortorella wasn't worried about his struggling team putting together a masterpiece against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. All Tortorella wanted was two points. Thanks to a couple of unlikely scorers, he got them. After falling behind on Brian McGrattan's goal from center ice, fourth-line forward Darren Archibald tied the game with his first NHL goal early in the second period and defenseman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal five minutes into the third to lead the Canucks to a 2-1 win at Rogers Arena. It was the second win in 13 games for the Canucks, who remained four points behind the Dallas Stars in the race for the final Western Conference wild-card berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Coming in after a 12-game stretch in which they went 1-10-1, Tortorella didn't care that this win wasn't poetic. After managing eight shots in the first two periods, Vancouver came out with more jump in the third, creating a couple of excellent scoring chances before Weber finally scored on the fourth shot. Shawn Matthias, playing his second game since being acquired in the trade that sent No.1 goalie Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers, took the puck hard to the net on his backhand, and Weber pinched down from the point to jam in the rebound for his third goal this season. Canucks goalie Eddie Lack bounced back to make a couple of great saves late in the game after he allowed McGrattan's goal from center ice early in the second period. The rookie finished with 22 stops for his first win since Luongo was traded and he became the No. 1 goalie. It helped when Archibald tied the game a few minutes later. Lack then erased any doubts about his composure by sprawling to rob Joe Colborne of a backdoor tap-in on a 2-on-1 midway through the period. Vancouver, which had scored nine goals in its previous nine games, registered 14 shots on goal against the Flames, who blocked 17 in the first period and 32 overall. Despite their offensive woes continuing, the win allowed the Canucks to leapfrog the Winnipeg Jets into 10th place in the West and move one point behind the Phoenix Coyotes. Rookie Joni Ortio finished with 12 saves for the Flames, who were coming off a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders on Friday and trying to win three straight for the second time this season. McGrattan opened the scoring 2:13 into the second period with a shot from center ice that skipped in front of Lack and bounced in between the goalie's blocker and arm. It was McGrattan's second goal of the season and the eighth of his eight-year NHL career. Called up from the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League earlier in the week and playing his 14th NHL game, Archibald tied the game 3:32 later. He brought the puck to the net from behind the goal line and knocked a rebound past a sprawling Ortio with three Canucks around the crease on the ensuing scramble. The game opened up early in the third period. Ortio robbed Chris Higgins on a point-blank chance in front and turned away another good chance for Ryan Kesler. At the other end, Lance Bouma had an empty net as the trailer on an odd-man rush but hit the post from a sharp angle before Weber put the Canucks ahead two minutes later. Other than a slow first period in which Calgary generated three shots to Vancouver's two, Hartley liked what he saw from his injury-riddled team, which had eight rookies playing back-to-back games. The Flames forced Lack to make a couple great saves late. He denied Bouma alone in front midway through the third period and got a glove on Sean Monahan's point shot as the Canucks killed off two power plays in the final five minutes, including a 6-on-4 with Ortio pulled for an extra attacker in the last 98 seconds.