Calgary @ New Jersey 1-0 - Flames goalie Karri Ramo put a significant crimp in those plans the New Jersey Devils had of possibly qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs when he made 31 saves in a 1-0 victory at Prudential Center on Monday night. Flames captain Mark Giordano gave his goalie all the support he would need on a power-play goal 23 seconds into the third period. New Jersey remain three points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second of two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference with three games remaining in the regular season. The Blue Jackets begin a stretch of four games in five nights beginning Tuesday at home against the Phoenix Coyotes. The Devils close out the regular season at the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and home to the New York Islanders on Friday and Boston Bruins on Sunday. On Giordano's game-winner, he took a pass from Jiri Hudler at the point between the circles and blasted a shot that beat Schneider inside the right post. At the time of the goal, Devils defenseman Jon Merrill was off for slashing. The goal ended a streak of 11 straight successful penalty kills by the Devils spanning three games. For the second straight game, the Devils were without injured forwards Patrik Elias (head), Adam Henrique (groin), Ryane Clowe (head) and Jacob Josefson (left foot/ankle). Devils forward Ryan Carter thought he had given the Devils the lead with 1:26 left in the first from the slot, but referee Wes McCauley ruled that the momentum of the shot was caused via a kicking motion and quickly waved off the goal. A subsequent video review supported McCauley's call and the game remained scoreless. The gritty Flames, who entered the game 26th in the League, improved to 18-11 in the past 29 games. The team closed out a five-game road swing with three straight victories (3-2-0) and has three regular-season games remaining. Ramo was fantastic in the second when he made 10 saves. He stopped Andy Greene's point blast on a Devils power-play at 1:23 and snared Steve Bernier's wicked wrist shot from the left circle that was ticketed for the far corner with his glove at 5:45. He stopped Travis Zajac's slap shot at 6:11 and Jagr's snap shot 21 seconds later. Schneider made nine saves in the second, including a stop against New Jersey native Kenny Agostino off a breakaway at 18:26. Agostino, twice named state high school player of the year at Delbarton School in Morristown, N.J., took a lead pass from TJ Brodie off a Devils turnover at the Calgary blue line and wanted to go between the legs, but Schneider got his stick down in time. While he didn't score, Agostino did draw the penalty on Merrill that led to Giordano's game-winner to begin the third. Ramo, who was making his eighth start in the past nine games, made 12 saves in the first. Schneider, who was making his fourth straight start, stopped seven.
Anaheim @ Vancouver 3-0 - Seeing rookie goaltender John Gibson play his first NHL game helped the Sucks refocus on defensive play that had slipped of late. They returned the favor by easing the young goalie into the League. The Sucks tightened up defensively in front of the 20-year-old, blocking 22 shots and leaving 18 for Gibson to stop in a 3-0 win against the Canucks at Rogers Arena on Monday night. Daniel Winnik scored the winning goal on a shorthanded breakaway 6:26 into the first period and Anaheim increased their lead atop the Pacific Division, three points ahead of the San Jose Sharks. Anaheim, which matched the franchise record 110 points set in 2006-07, can clinch the division when they host the Sharks at the Honda Center on Wednesday. San Jose should have had the division wrapped up by now themselves. But first, the Sucks were enjoying knocking the Canucks out of the race to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Winnik was one of several Ducks to credit Gibson's presence for helping narrow the team's defensive focus. Gibson, a highly-touted prospect in his first pro season, got the start after No. 1 goalie Jonas Hiller struggled in a 4-2 loss against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, and backup Frederik Andersen was injured by a shot off his mask on Friday. Kyle Palmieri put the Ducks ahead 2-0 late in the second period and Matt Beleskey added another insurance goal for the Ducks, who snapped a two-game skid. Coach Bruce Boudreau was most impressed with the defensive execution after giving up 15 goals the past four games. Eddie Lack stopped 20 of 23 shots for the Canucks, who will miss the playoffs for the first time in six seasons. Vancouver remained six points behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild-card spot; the Canucks have three games left and the Stars have the tiebreaker. Gibson wasn't tested often until the Ducks were up 3-0, but made a great right pad save to take a sure backdoor goal away from fellow rookie Nicklas Jensen with seven minutes left and stuffed Jensen in tight on a power-play rush around the defense a couple of minutes later. After overcoming some early nerves, Gibson admitted he started to thinking about the shutout in the third period. At 20 years and 297 days, Gibson became the youngest goaltender since Darren Puppa of the Buffalo Sabres (20 years, 223 days) to record a shutout in the NHL debut. Boudreau said he didn't act like a 20-year-old. Needing at least a point to keep their slim postseason hopes alive, the Canucks coughed up a breakaway to Andrew Cogliano 15 seconds into the game. Lack stopped that, but was beaten after another turnover at the Vancouver blue line by captain Henrik Sedin on a power play six minutes later. Winnik stole the puck and skated in alone and fired a quick wrist shot over Lack's blocker. Despite playing the night before, Anaheim outshot the Canucks 23-18, improving to 10-1-2 in the second half of back-to-back games this season. That includes two wins in Vancouver in the past nine days for the Ducks, who won all five games against the Canucks this season. Gibson, who won a World Junior Championship gold medal and World Championship bronze with the United States last season, faced three shots in the second period. The Canucks failed to get a shot on consecutive 2-on-1 breaks late in the second period, and Palmieri doubled the Ducks lead a short while later, deflecting Ben Lovejoy's point shot through Lack from atop the crease. Any hopes of a Vancouver rally ended early in the third period. Lack again stopped Cogliano on a breakaway (it was actually a 2-on-0 with a Ducks player trailing) 30 seconds into the period, but Beleskey finished some nice passing from Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry off the rush to make it 3-0 less than a minute later. Until the late saves on Jensen, Gibson's most difficult task was staying alert. That wasn't a problem given the circumstances.
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