Results - Sun, Mar 31, 2014

Boston @ Philadelphia 4-3 SO - The Bruins knew they had a beastly schedule in March, with 17 games in 30 days, including five sets of back-to-back games. Just surviving that stretch with a strong spot in the standings was the hope. Hope turned into a reality better than anyone in the Bruins organization could have scripted, as their 4-3 shootout win Sunday against the Flyers ran their March record to 15-1-1. Sunday saw the Bruins' Reilly Smith score in the fifth round of the shootout to clinch the win. Patrice Bergeron also scored in the tiebreaker for the Bruins and goalie Tuukka Rask stopped four of five shooters. Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Andrej Meszaros scored in regulation for Boston and Rask finished with a season-high 49 saves. It was the 100th win of his career. The victory also was the Bruins' club-record ninth straight away from home, and gave them a three-point lead on the St. Louis Blues in the race for the Presidents' Trophy, as well as an 11-point bulge on the Pittsburgh Penguins for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers' Vincent Lecavalier scored two goals, including the 400th of his NHL career, and Kimmo Timonen also scored. Goalie Steve Mason made 27 saves in regulation and overtime. The Flyers did their best to make it two points rather than one. Trailing 3-2 after two periods they outshot the Bruins 17-6 in the third period, but it took until the final minute of regulation for them to be rewarded. Boston's Loui Eriksson tried to skate it out of the zone, but Timonen whacked it off his stick at the blue line. The puck bounced past Bergeron and then Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk whiffed on a clearing attempt. It slid to Voracek, and when Rask came out to play the angle, Voracek sent the puck through the crease to Lecavalier, who tapped it into an open net to tie the game with 24.1 seconds remaining. The Flyers continued to force the play in overtime, outshooting the Bruins 5-1 in the five-minute session. While the Flyers are left to lament what could have been, the Bruins are looking forward to two days before they play next, Wednesday at the Detroit Red Wings. As well as Bergeron is playing, he'd probably like to keep going. His goal midway through the second gave him one in seven straight, tied for the third-longest streak in team history. The score was 2-2 when Bergeron's spin-and-fire shot from the left circle appeared to surprise Mason as it zipped under his pads. The goal was Bergeron's 27th, and with seven games left he's close to his second 30-goal season. Combine that with his plus-36 rating, and Bergeron is having a season worthy of a second Frank J. Selke Trophy for best defensive forward in the League; he previously won the award in 2012. Knowing the Bruins were playing one day after a 4-2 win at the Washington Capitals, the Flyers came out fast and took a 1-0 lead on Lecavalier's goal 5:25 into the game, the 400th of his career. Lecavalier is the 90th player in League history with 400 goals and the eighth active. It also was his second in as many games since being shifted to the fourth line. Mezsaros, a former Flyer, tied the game at 10:43, scoring his second goal in nine games since Philadelphia traded him to the Bruins on March 5. But the Flyers regained the lead with 41.7 seconds left in the first when Timonen scored his fifth goal of the season off a spectacular cross-ice pass from Voracek. Off the rush, he made a backhand pass under the stick of Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton and between the skates of Boychuk to Timonen, who was pinching in from the far side of the ice and one-timed a shot past Rask. After goals by Chara and Bergeron put the Bruins ahead, the Flyers had ample chances to tie it up early in the third, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:47. But they managed one shot on goal and had two other attempts blocked.
Calgary @ Ottawa 3-6 - The Senators are putting a late run together to keep their faint Stanley Cup Playoffs hopes alive. Milan Michalek scored twice in the first period and Jared Cowen gave the Senators their third one-goal lead at 1:12 of the third in a 6-3 win against the Flames at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday. Ottawa center Mika Zibanejad took advantage of Calgary goalie Karri Ramo's turnover behind the net to set up Cowen, who scored his sixth goal from the slot to put the Senators ahead 4-3. Clarke MacArthur gave the Senators a two-goal lead at 12:22, and Kyle Turris scored his second of the game, his team-leading 25th, into an empty net with 1:21 remaining. Turris, who also had an assist, drew the Senators even at 3-3 with first goal of the game at 16:47 of the second period. Ottawa has points in four straight games (3-0-1) following a 2-12-2 skid that sent them plummeting out of playoff contention. The Senators held a 15-6 advantage in shots in the third after being outshot 21-9 by Calgary in the second. Robin Lehner stopped 37 shots in his eighth start in nine games for the Senators, who are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference with 76 points. Ottawa, which has eight games remaining, is six points out of a wild-card spot. Lehner started over Craig Anderson, who made 46 saves Friday in a 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks in his first game since he sustained an upper-body injury on Mar. 10. Paul Byron and Sean Monahan scored earlier in the second to put Calgary up 3-2. Matt Stajan scored his 12th goal to tie it at 1-1 in the first and Ramo made 31 saves for the Flames, who had won six of their previous nine games. Erik Karlsson got his 50th assist on Michalek's first goal, his 15th of the season, at 10:42 of the first. Karlsson became the first NHL defenseman with at least 20 goals and 50 assists in the same season since Hall of Famer Brian Leetch had 21 goals and 58 assists for the New York Rangers in 2001-02. After Stajan scored at 13:23, Michalek restored Ottawa's lead at 2-1 with his 16th goal, his second of the period, to finish off a dazzling setup by Jason Spezza at 19:23. Byron tied it at 2-2 with his seventh goal at 3:59 of the second. Monahan came out of the right corner and fired a wrist shot over Lehner's left shoulder for his 20th goal at 7:05 to give the Flames a 3-2 lead. The 19-year-old rookie scored his first goal in 12 games to reach the plateau. Ramo came way out of his net in the second to deny MacArthur a breakaway opportunity and the Calgary goalie sprawled to the ice to win a race to the puck. Senators defenseman Chris Phillips returned after missing the previous two games because of an undisclosed injury. Rookie Cody Ceci was out of the lineup for the first time in 41 games since he was recalled from Binghamton of the American Hockey League, originally on an emergency basis. Defenseman Ladislav Smid did not accompany the Flames to Ottawa because of a lower-body injury he sustained Friday during a 4-3 win against the New York Rangers.
Tampa Bay @ Detroit 2-3 - Gustav Nyquist keeps scoring goals for the Red Wings and their hopes of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a 23rd consecutive season look better off for it. Nyquist scored his 27th goal Sunday in a 3-2 victory against the Lightning at Joe Louis Arena and the Red Wings won each half of a back-to-back set this weekend. It was Nyquist's second goal in as many games, 22nd in the past 27 games and 11th in the past nine. The Red Wings (84 points) are 5-3-1 in that nine-game stretch and surged into the Eastern Conference's first wild-card spot ahead of the idle Columbus Blue Jackets (82 points). Joakim Andersson and David Legwand also scored for the Red Wings, who received a strong performance in net by Jonas Gustavsson (26 saves). Gustavsson picked up the win in his first action since March 7 against the New Jersey Devils and made several outstanding saves. The Red Wings also got another lineup regular back from injury Sunday with the return of Justin Abdelkader. The rugged forward finished with four shots on goal and three hits, while another recent returner to the lineup, center Darren Helm, impacted the game with his speed and aggressiveness. Helm extended his point streak to three games with an assist on Andersson's goal and his presence is a reminder of just how much the Red Wings are missing some talented players. While they appear headed in the right direction with seven games left in the regular season, Detroit is still without its top forwards, captain Henrik Zetterberg and center Pavel Datsyuk. Each plan to rejoin the fray in the postseason, if not sooner in Datsyuk's case, and it's starting to look like things might come together just in the nick of time for the Red Wings. The loss snapped a string of 11 straight games with at least a point for the Lightning, who'd gone 7-0-4 during that stretch. Former Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula and defenseman Sami Salo scored goals for Tampa Bay, with Filppula extending his point streak to 12 straight games. Ben Bishop (27 saves) took the loss after starting each end of a back-to-back set, but gave credit to Nyquist on a memorable goal scored with 4:36 left in the first period to give Detroit a 2-1 lead. After taking a pass from Legwand at center ice, the shifty 5-foot-11, 185-pound forward started to break free and drew a penalty by eluding Lightning defenseman Matt Carle's grasp. He kept his balance and deked Bishop to the ice with a backhand shot off the rush. Seconds later, after collecting the rebound, Nyquist whirled around and sent the puck into the net off the far post. The goal extended Nyquist's point streak to nine games, which is Detroit's longest since an 11-game streak by Henrik Zetterberg during the 2010-11 season. It also pulled him within three goals of becoming the first Red Wings 30-goal scorer since 2008-09, when they had four players reach that plateau. Filppula's goal put Detroit behind first for the fourth straight game thanks to a costly turnover. After scooping a loose puck in the offensive zone, Filppula rifled a wrist shot from the slot that beat Gustavsson 8:40 into the game over the right pad. The only difference from the previous three games was how long it took to respond. Andersson scored less than three minutes later to tie it up 1-1 at 11:08 with his eighth goal and the Red Wings got a lift from it. They controlled the puck more and wound up with a 12-6 advantage in shots after the opening period. More importantly, they held a 2-1 lead. Tampa Bay closed the gap in shots in the second, aided by two unsuccessful power plays, but Detroit widened its lead to 3-1 on Legwand's power-play goal with 3:24 left in the period. He got his stick on a shot from the point by Johan Franzen and Bishop couldn't stop it. That turned out to be the goal that decided the game. Gustavsson played a key role at the other end by stopping all 13 shots the Lightning put on goal in the second, including back-to-back attempts by defenseman Mark Barberio that could've tied the game at 8:00. The Red Wings killed off two more Tampa Bay power plays in the third to keep their lead intact until Salo scored at 15:31 to make things interesting right to the end. The win was the 411th for coach Mike Babcock with the Red Wings, which moved him past legendary former coach Scotty Bowman into second in franchise history. He's two away from tying Jack Adams for the top spot.
Washington @ Nashville 3-4 SO - Patric Hornqvist's parents flew into Nashville from his native Sweden for three days to see his first child. They got a bonus on Sunday when they saw their son score two goals in the Predators' 4-3 shootout victory against the Crapitals at Bridgestone Arena. Hornqvist missed the Predators' 2-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 23 so he could be present when his wife Malin gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter. It was good timing for Nashville, which improved to 7-4-1 in its past 12 games, but bad timing for Washington. The loss hurt the Crapitals in terms of the Eastern Conference's wild-card race to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Capitals, who have seven games left, are one point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second-wild card spot; Columbus has a game in hand. Craig Smith scored on a wrist shot to the stick side for Nashville in the second round of the shootout to win it. Predators goalie Carter Hutton (23 saves) picked up his 18th win when he made a right pad save on Nicklas Backstrom in the third round. Backstrom earlier had tied the game 3-3 at 12:20 of the third period with a wrist shot from the right circle on the man advantage. Troy Brouwer scored two power-play goals for the Capitals. Washington's even-strength play has not been what it needs it to be of late. Center Marcus Johansson was minus-3 Sunday. Nashville's five-man unit of defensemen Shea Weber and Roman Josi along with Hornqvist's line, which includes center Mike Fisher and Matt Cullen at left wing, were on ice for three even-strength goals and gave up one. Nashville kept its slim postseason hopes alive. The Predators are seven points behind the Phoenix Coyotes for the Western Conference's second wild-card spot. Weber scored on a slap shot low to Capitals goalie Jaroslav Halak's blocker side to put the Predators up 3-2 at 8:23 of the third period. Cullen entered Washington's zone, dropped the puck for Fisher and then drove to the net. Fisher left the puck for Weber, whose goal was his 21st of the season, tops among NHL defensemen. Weber is two goals shy of his career high. The Predators took a succession of penalties in the second period that allowed Washington to even the score at 2-2. Nashville was called for too many men on the ice at 11:43, which the Predators killed. Josi was then called for interference at 13:53, and Washington converted. Brouwer scored his second goal of the game and 23rd on the season by backhanding a loose puck from the slot over Hutton at 14:22. Weber proved to be a catalyst on a key sequence at the end of the first period that allowed Nashville to take a 2-1 lead into first intermission. Weber sprawled to break up a 2-on-1 led by Capitals wing Alex Ovechkin. Then he got up off the ice and cleared the puck out of the zone. Hornqvist scored his second goal of the game 18 seconds later on a breakaway, roofing a shot past Halak from close range with 90 seconds left in the period. The goal was Hornqvist's 17th of the season. Washington took a 1-0 lead as a result of Backstrom's strip of Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm in the Predators' zone. Backstrom fed Mike Green and the latter found Brouwer, who blasted a one-timer into an open net at 4:17. The goal was Brouwer's 22nd of the season. Nashvillle answered 98 seconds later. Weber unleashed one of his trademark slap shots and Halak could not control the rebound. Hornqvist beat defenseman Patrick Wey to the puck and shoveled it in for his 16th goal. Wey later fought Nashville's Rich Clune at 8:16 of the first; Wey took an uppercut that left him needing a few moments on the ice before regain his bearings. He did not return and Washington played with five defensemen for the remainder of the game. Oates said the Capitals removed Wey from the game for precautionary reasons. Oates said Wey had not been tested for a concussion. Halak's play was crucial in keeping Washington in the game. He stopped Smith with a stick save on a breakaway early in the second period and then in a 4-on-4 situation, he gloved Hornqvist's attempt at a hat trick when Hornqvist broke in alone and was denied on a wrist shot. Halak, who started the season in the Central Division as a member of the St. Louis Blues, entered the game 10-3-3 against Nashville. The Predators narrowly got the best of him Sunday and continued its long-shot push with six games remaining.
NY Rangers @ Edmonton 5-0 - After a misstep against the Calgary Flames on Friday, the Rangers returned to their winning ways with a 5-0 victory against the Oilers at Rexall Place on Sunday night. Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello each scored two goals and Derek Stepan added three assists in the win. Derick Brassard also scored for the Rangers and rookie goaltender Cam Talbot made 26 saves for his third shutout of the season. The Rangers scored two shorthanded goals in the victory, giving them six wins in their past seven games, the lone blemish the 4-3 loss to the Flames. The win tied a franchise record for road victories with 24. It also gave the Rangers sole possession of second place in the Metropolitan Division, two points up on the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers have two games in hand. Goalie Ben Scrivens stopped 27 shots for the Oilers, who have lost four of their past five games. Sunday marked the ninth time Edmonton has been shut out this season and the sixth time at home. The Oilers have allowed a League-high 13 shorthanded goals and will finish with at least 40 losses for the fourth consecutive season. Zuccarello scored at 16:30 of the first period to give the Rangers the lead, tipping an Anton Stralman point shot over Scrivens. The goal was reviewed, but it was determined Zuccarello's stick was below the height of the crossbar when making contact with the puck. The Rangers then took control of the game with three goals in the second period. Brassard increased the Rangers' lead at 4:38 after his centering attempt bounced off the stick of Oilers defenseman Martin Marincin and past Scrivens. Nash put the Rangers up 3-0 at 9:07 benefiting from another fortunate bounce. The Rangers forward had his centering attempt from behind the net bounce in off Scrivens' pad. Nash scored his second of the game at 13:26, on a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush. Nash broke out with Stepan, after an ill-advised pinch by Oilers defenseman Justin Schultz. Nash took a pass from Stepan and fired a shot past Scrivens. Zuccarello scored his second goal of the night at 3:39 of the third period, also shorthanded. Zuccarello was left alone in front of the net and converted a Stepan feed, firing a shot over the shoulder of Scrivens. Later in the third, Nash came close to scoring his third goal of the night, but was denied on a glove save by Scrivens. The Oilers registered 10 shots in the third period against Talbot, but never really threatened to score.