Results - Fri, Apr 04, 2014

Montreal @ Ottawa 7-4 - This time around, the Canadiens gave themselves more than 54 minutes to overcome a three-goal lead by the Senators. Max Pacioretty had five points, including his third hat trick of the season, and Montreal scored seven unanswered goals in a 7-4 win against Ottawa on Friday. Andrei Markov, Mike Weaver, Lars Eller and David Desharnais also scored for the Canadiens, who trailed 3-0 at 5:50 of the first period after the Senators scored three times in 2:22. Pacioretty is now tied with Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars and Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks for the most hat tricks in the NHL this season. In their prior game against the Senators on March 15, the Canadiens scored three times in the final 3:22 of the third period to erase a 4-1 lead in a 5-4 overtime win at Bell Centre. Friday, Pacioretty assisted on Weaver's first goal in more than a year, and on Desharnais' goal at 9:14 of the third period, which increased the lead to 7-3. Peter Budaj made 39 saves for Montreal. The Canadiens, with four games left to play, moved into second place in the Atlantic Division with 95 points, two ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have one game in hand. Zack Smith scored twice and Ales Hemsky got his first goal in eight games for Ottawa in the first period. Mika Zibanejad scored with 5:53 left in the third. Craig Anderson stopped 16 of 23 shots for the Senators, whose faint Stanley Cup Playoffs hopes are slipping away. Ottawa has 78 points, seven points out of an Eastern Conference wild card with five games remaining. Markov got this Canadiens comeback underway at 7:22 of the first period when his shot from behind the goal line went in off Anderson's left skate to draw Montreal within 3-1. Thomas Vanek provided a screen when the Canadiens made it 3-2 at 9:17 on a shot by Weaver, who scored his first goal in 79 games dating to Feb. 22, 2013 for the Florida Panthers. Weaver, who has eight goals in 598 NHL games, was well aware it had been a while since he scored. Pacioretty tied it 3-3 with his first goal of the game at 15:52. Eller gave Montreal a 4-3 lead with his 12th goal of the season at 4:09 of the second. Referee Francois St. Laurent waved off a potential tying goal by Ottawa at 4:17 before Pacioretty made it 5-3 with his second of the game on a breakaway at 15:25. He increased the lead to 6-3 when he completed his hat trick at 1:09 of the third period. Ottawa took a 1-0 lead 2:28 into the game off a faceoff in the Canadiens zone. Smith, who won the draw back to Chris Phillips at the left point, beat Budaj with a backhand on a rebound of the defenseman's shot. Hemsky made it 2-0 at 4:35 when he deflected Patrick Wiercioch's shot from the left point before it struck Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban's stick on its way past Budaj. Zibanejad broke down the right side on a 2-on-1 and passed to Smith, who scored his second goal of the period into a wide open left side to put Ottawa up 3-0. Hemsky did not play in the third period because of an upper-body injury.
Washington @ New Jersey 1-2 - New Jersey forward Ryan Carter acknowledged there was little talk and plenty of heavy breathing on the bench during the third period of his team's 2-1 victory against the Crapitals at Prudential Center on Friday. Injuries will do that, particularly when your team is down to eight forwards in the third period of a tie game in a must-win situation. It was a time when Carter and his teammates knew they had to dig deep. After collecting a pass from Marek Zidlicky down the middle of the ice inside the Capitals' blue line, Carter did just that. He used defenseman Mike Green as a screen before firing a shot from between the circles under the left pad of Jaroslav Halak with 4:54 remaining to snap a 1-1 tie. The Devils then held off a furious late charge by the Capitals to keep alive their hope of qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They are three points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Devils opted to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen, but Patrik Elias was injured in the first period, Adam Henrique did not finish the second and Jacob Josefson played two shifts in the third. Defenseman Andy Greene led the Devils in ice time (28:35), followed by Jagr (25:28), Zajac (23:36) and Marek Zidlicky (20:40). Throughout the final 20 minutes, there was little talking on the Devils bench except from their coach. It was a scene that will be remembered for quite some time if New Jersey qualifies for the playoffs. To compensate for the players lost to injury, DeBoer had defenseman Eric Gelinas playing left wing, shifted Carter to center and used Dainius Zubrus at center and on the wing. The only constant was the top line of Travis Zajac centering left wing Tuomo Ruutu and right wing Jagr. On Carter's winning goal, the Devils were actually playing with only seven forwards since Damien Brunner was forced to leave for some maintenance on his skates for a four-minute stretch. The Devils (33-28-16; 82 points), who have five games remaining, play the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh on Saturday. The Capitals (34-30-13; 81 points) also have five games left and play the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. Devils goalie Cory Schneider finished with 24 saves, including a glove stop against Marcus Johansson with 2:23 remaining. DeBoer had no update on the injured players and wouldn't reveal his starting goaltender against the Hurricanes during his post-game conference. Schneider robbed Mikhail Grabovski in the slot while moving right to left 4:16 into the third to keep the game tied. It was one of 10 saves by Schneider (15-14-11) in the period. New Jersey pulled into a 1-1 tie in the second when Ruutu deflected a hard wrist shot from the left point by Gelinas past Halak at 12:21. Ruutu gained position in the slot and Gelinas collected a pass from Zajac before firing from inside the blue line. The Devils lost Elias with 8:13 remaining in the first after he was hit hard in the neutral zone by 6-foot-4, 210-pound rookie forward Tom Wilson. Washington's Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring 10:12 into the first period on a quick snap shot from the left hash following a turnover. The play was set up when Nicklas Backstrom deflected an attempted pass by Devils defenseman Mark Fayne in the Devils' end. Ovechkin took control of the puck and appeared to have his pass stolen by Elias; instead, Grabovski controlled the puck and fed Ovechkin at the top of the left circle. He skated toward the net and drove home his 49th of the season; it was Ovechkin's first even-strength goal since Feb. 27, a span of 17 games. Ovechkin, who was on a line with Backstrom for the first time since March 16, is trying for his fifth 50-goal season and first since 2009-10.
Buffalo @ Detroit 2-3 - A big first period helped the Red Wings move two points closer to their 23rd consecutive appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Darren Helm, Tomas Jurco and Daniel Alfredsson scored in a span of less than 10 minutes, and the Red Wings rode their fast start to a 3-2 victory against the Sabres at Joe Louis Arena on Friday. The Red Wings have won four in a row and hold the first wild-card playoff position in the Eastern Conference. They are three points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who hold the second wild-card spot, and four ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the closest of the teams outside the playoffs in the East. Detroit and Columbus, who lost 4-3 at home to the Chicago Blackhawks, each has a game in hand on Toronto. Jimmy Howard made 21 saves and is 5-0-0 against the Sabres. The Red Wings are 13-0-1 against the Sabres at home since Buffalo's regulation victory in Detroit on March 6, 1994. It was coach Mike Babcock's 413th win for Detroit, tying him with Jack Adams for most in Red Wings history. Last-place Buffalo, which didn't arrive in Detroit until nearly 4 a.m. Friday following a 2-1 road loss to the St. Louis Blues the night before, got a goal each from defenseman Jamie McBain and rookie Nicolas Deslauriers, his first in the NHL. Detroit jumped in front 5:47 into the first period. Danny DeKeyser's shot from the top of the right circle caromed off the end boards to Luke Glendening in front of the crease. Hackett stopped Glendening's shot but was helpless to prevent Helm from roofing the rebound for his 11th goal of the season. It became 2-0 at 14:12, when DeKeyser's power-play slap shot from the right point was tipped by Jurco in the high slot and sailed past Hackett. Alfredsson, who had the second assist on Jurco's goal, made it 3-0 at 15:28 when he was left alone to hammer the rebound of Jakub Kindl's right-point slap shot. Buffalo, the NHL's lowest-scoring team, made it 3-1 at 12:28 of the second period when McBain scored 11 seconds into a power play. After Brendan Smith went off for holding the stick of Cory Conacher, the Sabres won the draw and McBain zipped a shot from the left faceoff dot that beat Howard to the short side for his fifth of the season. Chad Ruhwedel, who made the pass that set up McBain's goal, earned his first NHL point. Deslauriers, another of the Sabres' many call-ups this season, made it a one-goal game at 6:40 of the third period when he picked up a loose puck off a faceoff in the Detroit zone and whipped a shot from between the circles that beat Howard cleanly. The Sabres pressed for the tying goal in the final minutes but were able to get few clean attempts on Howard. The Red Wings, who've battled injuries all season, got back center Pavel Datsyuk after he missed 16 games with an injured left knee. Datsyuk was plus-1 in 17:45 of ice time. Referee Don Van Massenhoven worked the final game of his career. Retiring after more than two decades in the NHL, he was named the game's honorary First Star.
Calgary @ Florida 2-1 - The Flames continued their strong late-season play Friday and in the process spoiled Roberto Luongo's return to action on his 35th birthday. Mike Cammalleri scored a goal for his 500th NHL point, Kenny Agostino scored his first NHL goal, and Joey MacDonald made 34 saves when the Flames defeated the Panthers 2-1 at BB&T Center. Luongo, who missed the previous three games because of a concussion, finished with 15 saves in his 800th NHL game. He joined Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils as the only active goalies to have reached that number. Vincent Trocheck scored for the Panthers, who have lost eight of nine. They have scored 13 goals in the eight losses. MacDonald got some help stopping shots. Calgary was credited with 20 blocks, and Lance Bouma and Mark Giordano each blocked one in the final five seconds. Agostino, one of two players acquired in the trade that sent Jarome Iginla to the Pittsburgh Penguins last March, was playing in his fifth NHL game after wrapping up his senior season at Yale University. He had been a healthy scratch for Calgary's previous three games. He scored 1:34 into the second period after jumping on a loose puck at the top of the left circle and firing a wrist shot that beat Luongo to the blocker side. Trocheck tied it 47 seconds later with a rare power-play goal for the Panthers. After MacDonald stopped Jimmy Hayes' wrist shot from the wing, Trocheck put home the rebound from the slot. Florida came in with the worst power play in the League (10.1 percent). Cammalleri gave Calgary a 2-1 lead at 6:09 with some hustle and a feed from Jiri Hudler. Cammalleri fell to his knees firing a shot that was deflected wide but quickly got up and skated to the side of the net, where he redirected Hudler's cross-ice pass, and has now scored the game-winning goal in six of Calgary's past eight victories. He has 236 goals and 264 assists in a career that began in 2002-03 with the Los Angeles Kings. He has 176 points in two stints with the Flames after getting 205 with Los Angeles and 119 with the Montreal Canadiens. Cammalleri came close to getting point No. 501 in the third period when he deked Luongo on a breakaway before the goalie got his stick on the shot into the open net. But it was MacDonald who made the tougher saves. He also got a break in the final 20 seconds of the first period when Scott Gomez's shot from a sharp angle bounced off both posts.
Nashville @ Anaheim 5-2 - It took fewer than 18 minutes for the Anaheim Sucks to have a full-blown goalie controversy on their hands. After three games off to get some rest, Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller allowed four goals on nine shots and was briefly replaced by Frederik Andersen in a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Friday night at Honda Center. The drama turned serious when Hiller went back in net to start the third period because of Andersen had what the team termed an upper-body injury. Coach Bruce Boudreau said Andersen had "a little bit of a headache" from a shot by Nashville defenseman Shea Weber and that "I think he's going to be fine." Boudreau acknowledged concern about Hiller's play but also placed fault on his defense. The Ducks have five games remaining, beginning Sunday on the road against the Edmonton Oilers, to figure out their goalie for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"Right now it's hard to determine," Boudreau said. "We've got five more games. Let's say how everything [plays] out. [It's] a lot like baseball, who the opposition is going to be and what the records of the goalies are against them. How they're playing going into the playoffs is obviously going to be a factor but, I mean, it's too early to tell."
The Ducks came back from 4-0 and 2-0 deficits against the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers, respectively, to win their previous two games, but could not rally for another come-from-behind victory. At 50-19-8, the Ducks lead the San Jose Sharks by one point in the race for first place in the Pacific Division; Anaheim also has a game in hand but it won't matter if the Ducks keep falling behind.
"We can't let this happen," Boudreau said."We have to find a way. Sometimes, for one reason or another, we're not getting the job done early. We're a really good team with the lead, but we just haven't had the lead lately."
Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne tied Tomas Vokoun for the franchise record with 161 wins. Mike Fisher and Colin Wilson each scored two goals and Matt Cullen had three assists for the Predators, who are holding on to slim hopes of making the playoffs.
"I knew it was close but I didn't realize that it's this one," Rinne said of the team record. "He's obviously a really good goalie. He was one of their franchise players when the team came into Nashville. He had a successful career in Nashville. It's obviously a nice accomplishment, but hopefully there's plenty more to come. Since my comeback [from a hip injury], there's been ups and downs and I haven't really found a solid consistency. I think that's the one thing: I just want to feel comfortable and feel confident on the ice and just feel like I'm on the right track. That's my goal for these last few games."
Hiller wasn't available after the game. Boudreau said he looked "very sharp" in two prior days of practice and that they needed a big game from him, but Hiller was shaky from the start and wasn't aided by his defense. Andersen went 3-0-0 during Hiller's break and, at 19-5-0 on the season, can make a case to be No. 1. A combination of Hiller's inability to cover the post and poor defensive coverage in front of him resulted in a 4-1 lead for Nashville 17:05 into the game. Wilson drove three-quarters the length of the ice and scored on a second whack at the puck at 5:36 of the first period, then was open to knock in a loose puck from the goalmouth at 12:41. Consecutive goals from behind the net by Fisher at 13:52 and Patric Hornqvist at 17:05 forced Boudreau to remove Hiller for Andersen as the crowd cheered. Boudreau said he hoped the fans were voicing their opinion for the team, and Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin, who was minus-4 on the night, said the defense let Hiller down.
"That's how it's been the last few games - we haven't been good defensively and that's one aspect of our game that we have to get better at for the playoffs," Beauchemin said. "I don't have an [explanation]. Every single guy has got to be sharp mentally and make those mistakes. We all know what we have to do."
Beauchemin and Stephane Robidas were on the ice for three of Nashville's first four goals. Kyle Palmieri's goal at 15:00 salvaged a disconcerting first 20 minutes for Anaheim. Daniel Winnik banged the puck into the net off Rickard Rakell's try at 3:18 of the second period to make it 4-2, but Fisher restored Nashville's three-goal lead with a tap-in goal at 16:00 after Andersen had a shot trickle through his legs. Anaheim had two goals disallowed late in the second. Nashville held it two shots on goal in the first 13 minutes of the third. The Ducks actually had energy in the first five minutes but Nashville worked through it.
"They just played hard," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We looked a little rusty in the first five minutes and there were some dangerous pucks bouncing around in front of Pekka. He was really sharp. Wilson had some great shifts and he got us rolling in the right way."
It was Fisher's first multiple-goal game since Dec. 28. Wilson's goals were his second and third in 2014. Nashville is 4-1-1 in its past six games in Anaheim and has 40 points in 38 road games this season.