Results - Sat, Apr 05, 2014

Philadelphia @ Boston 2-5 - The Bruins clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 5-2 win Saturday against the Cryers at TD Garden. Johnny Boychuk and Milan Lucic scored 31 seconds apart late in the third period to help the Bruins avoid losing three in a row for the first time this season. The Bruins clinched the Atlantic Division last week and will go into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the East's top seed for the first time since 2009. Boston is 16-1-2 in its past 19 games. The Bruins played without forward Jarome Iginla for the second time in three games because of what they are calling a minor injury. Loui Eriksson filled in on right wing on a line with center David Krejci and left wing Lucic, and the trio combined for nine points. Lucic scored two goals and had three points, Eriksson had four assists, and Krejci had one goal and one assist. Ray Emery made 37 saves for the Cryers, whose winless streak reached four games (0-2-2). Philadelphia, third in the Metropolitan Division, was shut out in its prior two games and scored its two goals 1:45 apart late in the second period. Boychuk scored the go-ahead goal with 6:06 remaining with a shot from the right point after Patrice Bergeron beat Vincent Lecavalier clean on a faceoff at the right dot. A half-minute later, Lucic threw the puck toward the net and it deflected past Philadelphia goaltender Ray Emery for a 4-2 Boston lead. Chris Kelly scored an empty-net goal. The Bruins, 0-1-1 in their prior two games, haven't gone more than two games without a win since they closed last season 0-3-1 (April 23-28). Krejci scored the lone goal of the first period at 15:56 with assists from Eriksson and Lucic. Philadelphia's Wayne Simmonds started the second-period scoring when he took advantage of a fortuitous bounce of a Mark Streit shot off the end wall during a power play. Simmonds backhanded the puck past Rask at 14:36. The goal snapped a Flyers scoreless streak of 165:01 dating to Sunday against the Bruins in Philadelphia. Nineteen seconds later, Lucic put the Bruins back ahead with a one-timer from the high slot off a feed from Krejci. Jay Rosehill's second goal of the season tied the score 2-2 at 16:21. Michael Raffl found Rosehill open on the goal line to the right of the net and he spun a low shot under Rask's right pad.
Washington @ NY Islanders 4-3 SO - The Crapitals ended a five-game losing streak with a 4-3 shootout win against the Islanders on Saturday at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored in regulation and the only goal in the shootout, and goaltender Braden Holtby made 35 saves plus three stops in the tiebreaker for Washington, which remains in contention for an Eastern Conference wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was the Crapitals' fifth shootout in their past eight games; they have won twice. Washington are two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets in a five-team wild card chase with four games to play. The Islanders have not lost in regulation in their past seven games (5-0-2). Some fortunate bounces allowed the Capitals to tie the game 3-3 in the second period. Alex Ovechkin misfired at an open net with goalie Evgeni Nabokov down on the ice and out of position, but the puck struck Islanders defenseman Calvin de Haan and ricocheted right to Backstrom, who scored with 7:15 left. De Haan was injured on the play, helped off the ice, but returned in the third period. He took two shifts in the third, then left. A puck that was ping-ponging off players in the Islanders zone wound up on the stick of Joel Ward in the slot, and his shot through Nabokov's legs evened the score with 4:59 remaining. The Islanders took a 3-1 lead 9:55 into the second against Holtby, who was making his third start since March 6. The Islanders scored 12:55 into the game when forward Casey Cizikas beat Capitals defenseman Tyson Strachan to Michael Grabner's soft dump in behind the net. As Cizikas skated behind the cage, he backhanded a pass in the opposite direction right to Cal Clutterbuck, who swiped it in for his 12th goal of the season. Holtby stopped a shorthanded breakaway by Clutterbuck less than three minutes later. An errant shot by Washington resulted in its first goal and a tie game 2:36 into the period. Kuznetsov sent a pass cross ice to Marcus Johansson, whose shot missed the net but turned into a perfect pass back to Kuznetsov, who took advantage of a helpless Nabokov for his third goal of the season. It was his 13th game since arriving from the Kontinental Hockey League on March 10. New York scored twice in a 5:39 span. John Persson got the first goal of his NHL career upheld by video review at 4:16. His backhand into Holtby seemed to be kept out, but Holtby's movement allowed it to trickle over the goal line before the whistle was blown. Frans Nielsen then scored from almost on top of the faceoff dot to Holtby's left, converting a power-play pass from Josh Bailey at 9:55. Bailey extended his point streak to four games. Grabner, who returned from a concussion to play for the first time since March 10, took his last shift with 6:04 left in the first period. Capitals defenseman Mike Green did not play the final two periods because of an upper-body injury that will be evaluated Monday. Washington next plays Tuesday at the St. Louis Blues.
Winnipeg @ Toronto 4-2 - The Jets played the role of spoiler perfectly at Air Canada Centre on Saturday night. Tobias Enstrom's power-play goal with 2:58 left in the second period proved to be the game-winning goal and the Jets delivered a potentially-crushing blow to the Maple Leafs' hopes of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a 4-2 victory. Winnipeg, who were eliminated from playoff contention on Thursday, spoiled a chance for the Maple Leafs to earn two points in their pursuit of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Toronto still trails the Columbus Blue Jackets by one point with three games remaining; Columbus has two games in hand. The Jets controlled possession of the puck through the second period and drew a holding penalty from Maple Leafs defenseman Paul Ranger at 16:34. Enstrom's shot from outside the faceoff circle beat goalie James Reimer to his blocker side for his 10th goal of the season 28 seconds later to give the Jets a 3-2 lead. Olli Jokinen added to the Jets' lead with his 18th goal of the season at 7:09 of the third period. Jokinen was alone in the slot when Blake Wheeler connected with him for a one-timer that gave the Jets a 4-2 edge. After the final horn, the fans booed the home team off the ice in their last home game of the season. The Jets outshot the Maple Leafs 41-25. Phil Kessel gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead 2:45 into the first period. Kessel's 37th goal of the season came on a 2-on-1 with Bozak against Jets defenseman Mark Stuart. Stuart sprawled on the ice to try and block a crossing pass, but Bozak's pass found Kessel for the goal. The Jets tied it up at 6:22 of the first period when Bryan Little fired a wrist shot past Reimer. Michal Frolik found Little open in the faceoff circle to the right of Reimer, where he snapped it by the Leafs goaltender for his 23rd goal of the season. Nazem Kadri's power-play goal with 6:15 left in the first period gave Toronto a 2-1 lead. Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec went to play the puck behind his net on a dump around the boards and misplayed it to Kadri, who buried into an open net for his 20th goal of the season. Jacob Trouba made it 2-2 with 2.1 seconds left in the first period. Trouba batted a rebound of a Frolik shot past Reimer for his 10th goal of the season. Jets forward Dustin Byfuglien left the game in the second period and did not return after he sustained an upper-body injury. Maple Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul made his return to the lineup after missing the game Thursday against the Boston Bruins, but he left the game Saturday after two periods and did not return because of a lower-body injury. Carlyle said Lupul re-aggravated his previous injury and his status is unknown.
Detroit @ Montreal 3-5 - The Canadiens took another step toward securing home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs while dealing a minor blow to the Red Wings' chances of getting into the postseason. Brian Gionta's second goal of the game snapped a 3-3 tie at 13:13 of the third period to propel the Canadiens to a 5-3 win Saturday against the Red Wings. The win for Montreal coupled with the Tampa Bay Lightning's 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars gave the Canadiens a four-point lead on the Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division, with the Lightning holding a game in hand. The Canadiens play at the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday and finish the regular season with two home games against the New York Islanders on Thursday and the New York Rangers next Saturday. The Lightning have three games at home next week against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets before finishing the season at the Washington Capitals next Sunday. Max Pacioretty scored his 39th goal, eighth in six games, and Jarred Tinordi and Lars Eller each had two assists for the Canadiens, who have won 10 of their past 12 games. Pacioretty's line with Thomas Vanek and David Desharnais has been the offensive engine for the Canadiens, combining for 18 goals and 20 assists in 10 games, and earning all the accolades that come with that kind of production. But the Canadiens got goals from each of their other three lines in the victory, something Gionta feels is important heading into the playoffs. Something else that should help the Canadiens heading into the playoffs is their play at 5-on-5. While their power play has sputtered the past five games, going 0-for-17, the Canadiens have outscored their opponents 22-11 at even strength. Luke Glendening scored his first career goal for the Red Wings, who saw their four-game win streak come to an end. Detroit has lost in regulation three times in its past 11 games; two of those losses have been to the Canadiens. Detroit's loss coupled with the New Jersey Devils' 3-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes means there are two teams sitting outside of an Eastern Conference playoff spot within four points of the Red Wings, who hold the Eastern Conference's top wild-card spot. The Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Winnipeg Jets, leaving them four points behind Detroit as well. Last season, the Red Wings won their final four regular-season games to earn their 22nd straight trip to the postseason before upsetting the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. With four games left this season, Detroit shouldn't need to run the table, but a 23rd straight playoff spot still isn't guaranteed. Datsyuk's knee injury has bothered him since Jan. 1, when he and the Red Wings lost the 2014 Bridgeston NHL Winter Classic 3-2 in a shootout to the Maple Leafs. He missed the next 14 games, then played the final two games prior to the break for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, where he captained Russia. Datsyuk played the first two games back from the Olympics before missing the next 16. Carey Price made 34 saves. He has a save percentage of .938 over his past five starts, going 4-1-0 in that span. Jonas Gustavsson made 21 saves for Detroit. With the Canadiens ahead 3-0 after two periods, the Red Wings finally found a way to beat Price in the third. Datsyuk scored a power-play goal on Detroit's 30th shot of the game at 5:11, corralling a rebound off the end boards off Niklas Kronwall's point shot and putting in his 16th goal. After failing to score on its first 29 shots, Detroit scored on two straight when Glendening scored at 5:47 off a feed from Justin Abdelkader to pull the Red Wings within a goal. Kronwall completed the comeback with a power-play goal at 10:44, rifling a shot from the point off the post and in past screened Price to make it 3-3. But Gionta put Montreal back ahead at 13:13 when his centering pass for Rene Bourque bounced in off Red Wings defenseman Matt Lashoff's skate for his 17 th goal, second of the game. Montreal went up 5-3 at 15:40 when Tomas Plekanec banked a shot off Galchenyuk's leg. It was Galchenyuk's 13th goal. Michael Bournival opened the scoring for the Canadiens at 14:16 of the first period, a play that began when he made a nice pass in the neutral zone to Ryan White and cut to the net. White drove hard on goal while fighting off a Detroit defender and got a weak shot on Gustavsson. The Detroit goalie kicked the puck in front to Bournival, who scored his seventh goal off the rebound. Montreal made it 2-0 on a tremendous goal by Pacioretty when the puck got chipped past Kronwall at the Canadiens blue line. Pacioretty beat Kronwall to it, fended off Lashoff to protect the puck, and made a quick move to the forehand to beat Gustavsson at 8:52 of the second. Pacioretty scored on the Canadiens' first shot of the period compared to nine by the Red Wings, and they would score again two shots later. Tinordi put his point shot intentionally wide and it bounced off the end boards right to Eller, who tipped it through his legs in front of the net to set up Gionta's first goal at 13:35.
Ottawa @ NY Rangers 3-2 - Jason Spezza scored the winning goal in the second period, Robin Lehner made 41 saves and the Senators held on to defeat the Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Mats Zuccarello scored twice for the Rangers; Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves. Mark Stone and Mika Zibanejad scored in the first period for Ottawa. The win kept Ottawa's faint playoff hopes alive while spoiling New York's attempt to clinch a postseason berth. Ottawa now has 80 points and sits five points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot with four games to play; Columbus holds one game in hand. The Rangers sit second in the Metropolitan Division and could have clinched a playoff berth with a point. They can still clinch if they collect one point in their three remaining games or if the New Jersey Devils lose any of the four games left on their schedule. Down 2-0 after 20 minutes, Zuccarello brought some much-needed energy back into the building when he beat Lehner 5:25 into the second to cut the Ottawa lead to 2-1. After taking a long pass at the point, John Moore backpedaled toward the center of the ice and fired a slap shot that was first tipped by Benoit Pouliot and then by Zuccarello past Lehner for his 18th of the season. Any momentum generated by Zuccarello's first goal of the night was short-lived. Spezza gave Ottawa another two-goal lead after finding a loose puck in the crease following a hard point shot from Erik Karlsson. Diving for the rebound, Spezza earned his 20th at 8:27 to give the Senators a 3-1 lead. But Zuccarello wasn't done creating havoc in Ottawa's crease. His 19th goal of the season came off another deflection of a long shot from the left point, this one by Staal. The goal at 11:55 was Zuccarello's seventh point in the past four games and cut the Senators' advantage to 3-2. New York's best chance to pull even in the third may have come when Eric Gryba was called for slashing with 8:43 left in the period. The Rangers enjoyed strong puck possession on the man advantage, but only mustered one shot. The Rangers' rally effectively ended with 2:47 left in regulation when a slew of penalties involving five players left New York down a man after Staal was assessed an extra minor for roughing. Earning the start after sitting in Ottawa's previous three games, Lehner made the stops when he needed to and credited his defense for keeping New York's attack to the perimeter, especially in the third period. Ottawa found their stride in the first after a slow start that saw the teams combine for three shots in the opening 5:30. Stone broke the deadlock by finishing an impressive give-and-go at 12:45. The play started when Chris Philips fed Clarke MacArthur across the blue line entering the New York zone. Zuccarello missed on an attempt to break up the pass, leaving MacArthur with open ice as he streaked down the left wing. The Ottawa wing then found Stone near the slot, where he beat Lundqvist low to the glove side for his third of the season to give the Senators a 1-0 lead. The action ramped up from there with quality chances at each end. Bryan Boyle was stopped by Lehner after being sprung down the left wing by a long pass off the boards from Girardi at 16:22. Lundqvist stopped Jean-Gabriel Pageau off the rush 15 seconds later and Rick Nash couldn't beat Lehner on a breakaway with 2:49 remaining in the first. Lehner had a hand in that, making a number of big stops on high-percentage opportunities. After struggling with rebound control early, he appeared to settle down as the game progressed. Zibanejad gave the Senators a 2-0 lead 12 seconds after Nash's breakaway. The forward took the puck from Zack Smith directly off a faceoff, skated toward the slot and beat Lundqvist glove side for his 16th with 2:37 left. The goal highlighted a wild final 5:13 of the first in which the teams combined for 10 shots. After playing spoiler Saturday, the Senators can still make a last-gasp run toward the postseason. Their chances of qualifying may be slim, but they're hoping to make the most of their final four games.
New Jersey @ Carolina 3-1 - The New Jersey Devils have had reason to throw in the towel, but they kept fighting and somehow are creeping toward a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. One night after losing three forwards to injuries, the Devils held on to one-goal lead for more than half of the game before leaving with a 3-1 win against the Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Saturday night. The Devils extended their season-best point streak to seven games (4-0-3) and pulled within one point of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the race for the Eastern Conference's final wild-card berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Dainius Zubrus put the Devils on the board at 15:33 of the first period with his 12th goal. New Jersey jumped on a turnover in the neutral zone and pushed the puck to Zubrus, who drove between the faceoff circles and beat Carolina goalie Anton Khudobin with a backhand between the pads. Michael Ryder and Mark Fayne earned the assists. Carolina tied the game at 4:50 of the second on Jeff Skinner's 31st goal. Skinner's shot appeared to hit the crossbar, allowing play to continue for several seconds, but video review showed that the shot went under the cross bar and hit the back bar. New Jersey did hit the goal post in regaining the lead at 6:34 of the second. Travis Zajac deflected defenseman Marek Zidlicky's wrist shot from the top of the circles off the left post and into the net for his 17th goal. Tuomo Ruutu found Zidlicky to set up the play. The Hurricanes twice came close to tying the game midway through the third after Ruutu was whistled for tripping. Schneider had to be at his best during the ensuing Carolina power play, stopping Jordan Staal in close before denying Alexander Semin on a point-blank shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle. Schneider admitted to a little fatigue during the sequence, as Carolina maintained possession in the offensive zone for most of the power play. Zubrus sealed the win for New Jersey with an empty-net goal with 38 seconds remaining. He has 13 goals. New Jersey's work is not done. A 4-0-0 finish would give the Devils 92 points, likely enough to qualify for the playoffs. In the meantime, they will take comfort in being within striking distance.
Los Angeles @ Vancouver 1-2 - With only a slim chance of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Canucks played the third period against the Kings on Saturday night like they had nothing to lose. Defenseman Alexander Edler tied the game with a power-play goal at 1:06 of the third period, and Brad Richardson scored with 1:23 left to give the Canucks a 2-1 win against the Kings at Rogers Arena. It was Vancouver's first win against Los Angeles in five games this season (0-3-1). Richardson finished it off into a wide-open net after Zack Kassian collected a rebound in the slot and drew two defenders to him before sliding it across to Richardson. Edler had an assist on the game-winning goal, and Eddie Lack made 25 saves in his 18th straight start, one short of the Canucks rookie record, to help Vancouver snap a three-game losing streak and stay in the playoff mix. Vancouver is six points behind the Dallas Stars, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Canucks have four games left, and the Stars have five remaining. Slava Voynov scored a power-play goal with 28 seconds left in the second period to put Los Angeles up 1-0, but the lead didn't last long. Jonathan Quick made 38 saves for Los Angeles, which has lost two straight since clinching a playoff berth and third place in the Pacific Division on Wednesday. After blowing a lead in the second period of a 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, the Kings failed to close out a lead after two periods for the third time this season (26-3-0) Saturday night. The Kings played without top defenseman Drew Doughty, who is day-to-day with a left-shoulder injury sustained against San Jose. Los Angeles also rested defenseman Robyn Regehr against Vancouver. The Kings were called for three penalties in the first half of the third period, when they were outshot 20-7. Greene went to the locker room with 7:44 left in the third period. He returned to the bench with three minutes left in the game. After a good start, Quick made several great saves with the Canucks pressing late in the first period, swallowing up Shawn Matthias' shot from in front and kicking out his left pad to deny Garrison on a hard one-timer from the high slot. Quick's best stop came with four minutes left, sliding left to right to deny Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin, who returned after missing four games with a left-knee injury, on a backdoor pass. Quick was called for unsportsmanlike conduct when he smashed his stick after getting stranded atop his crease on Richardson's goal, leaving the Kings shorthanded for the final 93 seconds. But Sutter wasn't upset his goalie eliminated the chance to play with an extra attacker late. Lack matched Quick's first-period robbery of Henrik Sedin with a similar backdoor stop on Kings rookie Tyler Toffoli on a 2-on-1 pass from Jeff Carter 45 seconds into the second period, but Voynov opened the scoring on a power play late in the period. Four Canucks got caught below the goal line, leaving the Los Angeles defenseman alone inside the left hash mark for a passout by Carter. Voynov wristed a quick shot over a charging Lack and just under the cross bar for his first goal since Nov. 14, a span of 60 games. Edler tied it on a power play 1:06 into the third period, pinching down from the point to deflect a cross-ice pass from Daniel Sedin past a helpless Quick. The goal was reviewed because the puck hit Edler's stick and skate before going in, but the call on the ice stood up because there was no distinct kicking motion.