Results - Wed, Apr 02, 2014

NY Islanders @ Ottawa 2-1 - Though the Islanders are out of the Stanley Cup Playoff picture, their latest win on a late-season roll dealt a blow to the Senators' hopes. Josh Bailey had a hand in two Islanders power-play goals in his 400th NHL game, and Anders Nilsson made 35 saves in a 2-1 win against the Senators on Wednesday. Bailey, who scored his eighth of the season at 17:09 of the first period, helped New York restore its one-goal lead with an assist on Casey Cizikas' sixth at 9:31 of the third. Milan Michalek scored his fourth goal in four games to draw Ottawa even at 1-1 on a power play at 6:41 of the third period. Craig Anderson made 25 saves for the Senators, whose three-game winning streak ended. Ottawa was on a 4-0-1 run that revived its playoff hopes. Michalek found a loose puck during a goalmouth scramble and shot into the right side of the net to spoil Nilsson's bid for his first shutout in more than two years. Cizikas restored the Islanders' lead when he drove the net to put home Bailey's pass into the crease from behind the goal line. Senators defenseman Eric Gryba was penalized for slashing 1:17 earlier. Ottawa was without captain Jason Spezza, defenseman Jared Cowen and left wing Colin Greening, who are each sidelined because of a lower-body injury. New York's Cal Clutterbuck failed to convert two shorthanded breakaways. He put a backhand over the net in the dying seconds of the second period after he was stopped by Anderson on a chance early in the first. Ottawa's Mark Stone shot wide of the left post with a chance at an open net earlier in the Senators' power play after Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey was called for tripping at 2:30 of the first.
Boston @ Detroit 2-3 - As he prepared his team to face the Red Wings on Wednesday, Bruins coach Claude Julien had a plan for defending red-hot forward Gustav Nyquist. Asked after the morning skate what the Bruins needed to take away from Nyquist's arsenal, Julien gave a one-word answer; "Breakaways." His response drew some chuckles from reporters because Nyquist had torched the Tampa Bay Lightning three days earlier for an electrifying breakaway goal in a big win. After he did it again, this time to the Bruins in Detroit's 3-2 victory at Joe Louis Arena, it was no laughing matter. Nyquist's breakaway goal with 7:12 left in the third period provided the winning margin, and was just as pretty as the one he scored against the Lightning. It was the third straight win for the Red Wings, who pushed their season point total to 86 and helped their own cause in the chase to make a 23rd straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Detroit owns the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference; the Red Wings are three points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets and four in front of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was the first loss in regulation for the Bruins since March 1, ending a string of 16 straight games recording at least a point. The loss also snapped a nine-game win streak on the road and a 16-game string of recording at least a point away from TD Garden. Nyquist's game-winner and Howard's play in goal weren't the only examples of the Red Wings' scrappy effort amid a slew of injuries to regulars. There was also the game-tying goal scored at 11:06 of the third period by rookie Tomas Jurco, which came as the result of Tomas Tatar's kicked pass during a goalmouth scramble. That happened about 10 minutes after Carl Soderberg gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead during a power play 1:10 into the third. Boston actually carried the play for most of the game, but the Red Wings found a way to earn the two points for the third time in four head-to-head meetings. The Bruins outshot Detroit 35-20 and missed the net 10 times, including several chances in the second period with Howard out of position after making a save. They were shaking their heads in disbelief afterward. Just as they've been doing of late, the Red Wings' youth movement helped them capitalize on a few mistakes. The goals by Jurco and Nyquist were great examples. Jurco scored his off a pass that Tatar kicked across the crease to end a wild scramble that featured the puck disappearing at one point. Nyquist scored less than two minutes later. After picking up a loose puck off a turnover by Soderberg in the Detroit defensive zone, the speedy Nyquist turned on the jets through the neutral zone and created a one-man rush after zipping around 6-foot-9 defenseman Zdeno Chara at the Boston blue line. He fended off a couple whacks by Chara, then beat Rask for his 23rd goal in the past 28 games by roofing a shot into the upper right corner of the net. Johnny Boychuk scored the first goal for the Bruins, who played without first-line right wing Jarome Iginla for the first time. Iginla was a late scratch due to what the team called a lower-body injury. Julien said Iginla was day-to-day but that the injury wasn't serious. Boston forward Patrice Bergeron had his seven-game goal streak come to a halt, while Nyquist extended his own goal-scoring streak to three games. He has scored in nine of his past 10 games. Tatar scored Detroit's first goal, finishing with a two-point night in another step toward the postseason. Jurco, who had four shots and finished with a plus-2 rating, is just enjoying the ride.
Edmonton @ Anaheim 2-3 - This time, the Sucks only had to dig out of a two-goal hole. Two days after the Sucks overcame a four-goal deficit to beat the Winnipeg Jets in overtime, they spotted the Oilers a two-goal advantage before rallying in the third period for a 3-2 victory at Honda Center on Wednesday night. Corey Perry, whose last-minute goal Monday sent that game into overtime, scored twice in a 7:57 span of the final period to tie the game, then set up Francois Beauchemin's one-timer from the top of the left circle that beat Viktor Fasth with 1:21 left in regulation. The Ducks stretched their lead over the idle San Jose Sharks in the race for first place in the Pacific Division to three points. Anaheim still has a game in hand. The 50 wins are the most in franchise history. Phillip Larsson and Jordan Eberle scored for the Oilers, last in the Western Conference. Fasth, playing for the first time against the team that traded him to Edmonton last month, made 23 saves. Rookie Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots for the Ducks for his 19th win in 24 decisions. It was the second tough road loss for the Oilers in as many nights. They overcame a 3-1 deficit against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, but couldn't hold a third-period lead and lost 5-4. The Oilers came out firing. Edmonton outshot the Ducks 7-1 in the first 10:33, forcing Andersen to be sharp. He stopped Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at the post before the five-minute mark and denied him again from the slot three minutes later. The Ducks began to push the tempo in the second half of the period, earning the game's first two power plays, but were unable to beat Fasth. The period ended scoreless, with the Oilers outshooting the Ducks 11-9. Edmonton finally got on the board at 16:04 of the second period thanks to a great power-play shot by Larsson. With Mathieu Perreault off for tripping, Larsson eased down through the right circle before firing a shot from wide of the faceoff dot that found a tiny spot in the top corner. It was Larsson's third of the season. The Oilers' big line, which combined for 10 points in the loss at San Jose, made it 2-0 at 2;51 of the third period. Nugent-Hopkins got the puck to Taylor Hall, setting up a 2-on-1 break entering the Ducks' zone. Hall found Eberle cutting to the net, and Eberle flicked the puck into the net for his 26th of the season and a 2-0 lead. But Andersen kept the Ducks in the game seconds later when he twice robbed Nugent-Hopkins, and Anaheim beat Fasth on the return rush. Instead, Anaheim's Matt Beleskey bounced off a check along the left half-wall, kept the puck and found Perry racing down the middle. Perry took Beleskey's pass and rocketed a shot from between the circle past Fasth at 3:28 to become the NHL's second 40-goal scorer this season. Only Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (48 goals) has scored more. Perry scored his 41st and tied the game at 11:25 with a midair deflection of Stephane Robidas' right-point shot after the Oilers failed to clear their zone.