The Anaheim Sucks lead the NHL with 70 points, but the San Jose Sharks still have their number. The Sharks scored five goals in the second period and cruised to a 6-3 victory against the Sucks at SAP Center on Thursday. The Sharks finished their season series against Anaheim with a 4-0-1 record after ending the Sucks' six-game winning streak. The second-place Sharks moved within 12 points of front-running Anaheim in the Pacific Division. Barclay Goodrow, Patrick Marleau, Matt Irwin, James Sheppard and Brenden Dillon each scored a goal for San Jose (26-17-6) in the second period. The five goals fell one shy of matching the franchise record for most in a period. Joe Pavelski also scored and goaltender Antti Niemi made 25 saves for the Sharks, who played their first game after the All-Star break and picked up where they left off on Jan. 21 when they beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2. Sucks backup goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov made his fourth start of the season but was pulled for Frederik Anderson at 16:07 of the second period after giving up six goals on 25 shots. Andersen is expected to make his 13th start in the past 15 games Friday when the Sucks play the Chicago Blackhawks at Honda Center. Andrew Cogliano, Matt Beleskey and Patrick Maroon scored for the Sucks (32-11-6). The Sucks and Sharks skated to a 1-1 tie in the first period; Cogliano scored at 4:57 and Pavelski connected during a power play at 7:23. But in the second period, the Sharks dominated the Sucks. Goodrow and Sheppard, who skate together on the third line with Tomas Hertl, scored two of the five goals in the period. Defensemen Irwin and Dillon also scored. Going into the game they had combined for nine goals all season. Goodrow started the onslaught when he took a pass from Sheppard along the right boards, skated past Hampus Lindholm and beat Bryzgalov with a wrist shot at 2:15. It was Goodrow's third goal of the season and ended a 14-game goalless streak. Marleau made 3-1 at 6:16, deflecting Brent Burns' long blast past Bryzgalov from the slot. At 12:37, Irwin ended his 22-game goalless streak, taking a pass in the slot from Logan Couture and ripping a shot over Bryzgalov's right shoulder. The goal was Irwin's third of season and first since Oct. 14, when he scored twice against the Washington Crapitals in his first game of the season. The Sharks increased their lead to 5-1 at 14:30 when Sheppard scored his fifth goal of the season, ending a 15-game drought. Sheppard took a pass from Goodrow on a 3-on-2 rush and scored from the low slot. Dillon made it 6-1 at 16:07 with a shorthanded goal. His cross-ice pass toward Matt Nieto banked off a sliding Beleskey in the slot and went past Bryzgalov for his second goal of the season. The Sucks had allowed a combined six goals in their past five games before facing the Sharks. Beleskey and Maroon scored in the third period for Anaheim. Anaheim took a 1-0 lead on Cogliano's sixth goal of the season. Rickard Rakell fired a sharp-angled shot from along the right boards that bounced off Niemi's pads, and Cogliano buried the rebound from close range. Going into the game, Anaheim was 23-0-5 when scoring first. They Sucks entered Thursday as the lone team that hadn't lost in regulation after getting the first goal. The Sharks were 7-for-20 on the power play in their first four games against Anaheim, and they struck again with the man advantage to pull even on Pavelski's team-high 25th goal. After five more unanswered goals, the Sharks were well on their way to another victory over Anaheim.
Sharks Quotes
Andrew Desjardins: "You start off good against a team the first few times playing them and you feel like you maybe have their number. You feel like you're playing good against them. Sometimes that's just the way it goes. They're ahead of us too, so it's like we get up for these games. ... I think the last few games that we've played them they've been a little frustrated. We like that."
James Sheppard: "They're huge games. They're basically rival games. They've got some great players. We're really proud of our guys showing up and hopefully we keep going from here."
Todd McLellan: "The unusual suspects came up big, and when you win as a team you need that too. Barclay, Shep, Dillon, Irwin, those are all guys who haven't really put the puck in the net. To get the monkey off their back is a big thing."
Joe Pavelski: "Everyone was going [the second period]. That third line and second line, all the guys were carrying the play. Obviously when we had our chances we scored, and that's big. You get those nights when you can finish on a few of your odd-man rushes, and they just kept coming. We've had everyone show up. That's the bottom line. Guys have played well, all four lines up and down. [Niemi] has been great in those games. It's pretty simple. It's a simple recipe. When we have all four lines going and playing hard and doing things the right way, we can give ourselves a good shot to win."
Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk made the most of his 26th birthday, and his father Pat was on hand to see his son step up in a crucial moment for the St. Louis Blues. Shattenkirk scored in the fourth round of the shootout to give the Blues a 5-4 victory against the Nashville Predators at Scottrade Center on Thursday. Shattenkirk is 6-for-14 in career shootouts with five deciding goals. Shattenkirk beat Nashville goalie Carter Hutton with a forehand, and Brian Elliott stopped James Neal to give the Blues their eighth win in nine games (8-0-1). St. Louis (30-13-4) ended a seven-game homestand 6-0-1. Jaden Schwartz, T.J. Oshie, Steve Ott and Ryan Reaves scored in the second period for the Blues, who trailed 2-0 and moved within four points of first-place Nashville (31-10-6) in the Central Division. Oshie scored in the shootout. Elliott made 33 saves for the Blues, who play at the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. He allowed a Roman Josi shootout goal and got a bit of a break on Neal, who seemed to lose the puck before Elliott stopped it to end the game. St. Louis lost left wing Patrik Berglund to an upper-body injury late in the second period, and center Jori Lehtera early in the third period to an upper-body injury. Mike Fisher scored twice and had an assist, Neal and Filip Forsberg scored, and Josi had two assists for Nashville. Hutton made 31 saves for the Predators, who play at the Colorado Avalanche on Friday. Neal beat Elliott from the slot off a pass from Fisher with 2:38 remaining in the third period to tie it 4-4. The Predators outshot the Blues 15-6 in the third period. The Blues took the lead with three goals in a 4:40 span of the second period, including two in 26 seconds. Schwartz made it 2-1 when he followed Vladimir Tarasenko's shot at 8:22. Oshie tied it 2-2 when he followed Paul Stastny's shot at 12:36, then Ott's second goal with the Blues, off another rebound, gave the Blues a 3-2 lead at 13:02. Fisher's second of the game, a shorthanded goal, after a Schwartz turnover and when Elliott gave up a rebound of Josi's shot from the left point, tied the game 3-3 at 15:32. Reaves' slap shot from the right circle, after he stripped Predators defenseman Seth Jones in the neutral zone, beat Hutton with 1:45 remaining and gave the Blues a 4-3 lead. Fisher gave the Predators a 1-0 lead, his 500th point in the NHL, on the strangest of goals. He tipped Josi's point shot, and the puck caromed off the glass behind Elliott, came back over the goal and went in off the goalie at 12:49 of the first period. The play was reviewed to determine that it did not hit the protective netting above the glass. Blues goaltender Martin Brodeur, who officially announced his retirement earlier Thursday, took part in a ceremonial faceoff before the game.
Blues Quotes
Kevin Shattenkirk: "You kind of go into it and think to yourself, 'There's no way you can get gypped on your birthday. It was a nice little present and happy we had the fathers here. My dad was here to see it too. Luckily I get to go when there's an opportunity to go ahead by a goal and not have to tie it up. I think that's mentally a huge break when you have that opportunity. It's nice when you get to go later after the other guys go so you can see what their goalie's doing a little bit."
Brian Elliott: "[Neal's] usually a shooter. I don't think it settled down for him at the right time. [It] just kind of floated in on me. One point gained on them, but we definitely wanted the two-point game. That's why it's tough gaining ground. It looked like we ran out of gas in the third there. Obviously they kept ragging it, ragging it, ragging it until they got that shot to score the fourth goal. We held in there."
Ken Hitchcock: "That third period, they showed they had one more game under their belt [Nashville playing Tuesday after the All-Star break]. That showed up. We looked like we had missed eight or nine days. That showed up also. We were much better than they were in the first [period] and they were much better than we were in the third, and the second was probably from a play standpoint a draw. The first period we played was terrific. We had eight scoring chances or seven scoring chances to one or two or whatever. Couldn't get ourselves any gap in it, couldn't finish there."
T.J. Oshie: "I thought we played hard. They're a great team and they made a pretty strong push at the end there. Unfortunately, they got a point out of us, but when a team puts that much pressure on you, one's bound to go in. I thought we recovered really well, I thought we did well in OT."
Rookie defenseman John Klingberg scored off the rush at 10:51 of the third period to break a tie and help the Dallas Stars to a 6-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday. Klingberg poke-checked the puck away from Senators rookie forward Mike Hoffman inside the Stars blue line and streaked away alone down the right wing. He cut in and put a shot over Ottawa goalie Robin Lehner's left shoulder. Lehner, who got the start after No. 1 goaltender Craig Anderson sustained a hand injury in the Senators' final game before the All-Star break, made 35 saves. Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves for the Stars (22-19-7), who ended a two-game skid. Dallas got two goals from captain Jamie Benn. Klingberg, 22, also had an assist to go with his game-winner. Selected by Dallas in the fifth round (No. 131) at the 2010 NHL Draft, he was called up in November after starting the season with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League. In 34 games, Klingberg has 20 points, second in the NHL among rookie defensemen to the Florida Panthers' Aaron Ekblad (28). Ottawa rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game early in the third period on former Dallas forward Alex Chiasson's eighth goal. The Senators (19-19-9), playing their first game after an eight-day All-Star break, lost for the seventh time in their past 10 games (3-5-2). Stars defenseman Trevor Daley and Benn each scored into an empty net in the final minute with Dallas shorthanded. Daley also had two assists. Stars center Jason Spezza, who was playing his first game at Canadian Tire Centre since asking for and receiving a trade from the Senators last summer, was booed the first time he handled the puck, but received an ovation when a tribute on the scoreboard was shown during the first television timeout of the first period. The 31-year-old former Senators captain was traded to the Stars on July 1 along with forward Ludwig Karlsson for Chiasson, prospects Nick Paul and Alex Guptill and a second-round pick at the 2015 NHL Draft. For a couple of days at practice, it looked like Chiasson might be a scratch Thursday against his former team, but Senators coach Dave Cameron decided to have him in the lineup. Chiasson tied the game 3-3 at 2:45 of the third period to complete Ottawa's comeback from the three-goal deficit. Chiasson beat Klingberg to the left post and scored on a pass from Kyle Turris for his first goal in 17 games. Senators forward Bobby Ryan helped set up Mika Zibanejad for his 12th goal with 3:58 left in the first, and then scored his 13th with 1:30 remaining to make it 3-2 after the first period. The Stars scored three times in a 4:21 span of the first period to jump ahead. Benn scored at 7:37 on the power play to open the scoring. The key was a nice feed by Klingberg, who found Benn with a pass from the point to the front of the net. Dallas forward Colton Sceviour picked up his first of two points on the night when he scored his sixth goal at 8:36. Daley made the important play, outskating Erik Karlsson around the net and passing to Vernon Fiddler. Sceviour tipped Fiddler's shot by Lehner. The Stars scored with the man-advantage for a second time, it was the fifth time in 48 games Dallas has scored more than one power-play goal, when Ales Hemsky scored over Lehner's glove at 11:58. Anderson is day-to-day with the hand injury. The Senators, who are 11 points behind the New York Rangers for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, will host the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday afternoon. The Stars wrap up a three-game trip to Canada at the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
Stars Quotes
John Klingberg: "I saw I had a lot of ice to skate and I wanted to go five-hole first, but I saw their D-man came back pretty fast, so I just tried to go high first corner and got a good goal there. It feels good. I think I've taken huge steps every game. I learn a lot."
Lindy Ruff: "He's an impressive kid. That was one heck of a goal he scored. You have to have a special talent to pull that off. He has scored some special goals for us … for a kid that's played 35 games in this league, it's pretty impressive."
Jason Spezza: "I'm happy to have it over. It was an emotional game. I was really thankful to the Senators organization for having a little tribute for me there, the reception and the fans' acknowledgment. It was a great chapter in my career being here. For me, this gives me a little bit of a closing of a chapter and looking forward to the future with the Stars. Yeah, but that's hockey. I expected it a little bit [the booing]. I did ask for a trade. The organization and myself had good talks at the end of the year. These things are never easy break-ups, but I think it was as amicable as it could be. They respected where I was coming from. I think it gives them a chance to move forward too."
Boston @ NY Islanders 5-2 - Boston scored 13:59 into the game when Lucic skated along the left boards and passed the puck to Smith, who was in front of New York goalie Jaroslav Halak and tipped it in for his 10th goal. The Bruins scored less than three minutes later on their only power play. With Islanders defenseman Calvin de Haan in the box for tripping, Patrice Bergeron took a shot from inside the right point which beat Halak for his 12th goal at 16:09. John Tavares scored his 23rd goal at 8:25 of the second period. He chipped the puck into the Boston zone, the puck hit Rask's pad, and Tavares put the rebound in the net. Grabner tied it 2-2 off a deflection of Johnny Boychuk's shot from the slot through traffic at 4:48. It appeared the teams would head into the third period tied, but Halak went behind his net to clear the puck and his attempt went to Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller at the right point. His shot eluded the goalie for a 3-2 Bruins lead with 3.4 seconds left. Boston extended the lead 1:45 into the third period. Smith passed the puck back to Krug, who took a shot through traffic that deflected off an Islanders player in front. Lucic scored an empty-net goal at 17:54.
Montreal @ NY Rangers 1-0 - Max Pacioretty scored on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle with 4:17 left in the third period to provide the only offense Price needed in a 1-0 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Pacioretty said he saw linemates Tomas Plekanec and Dale Weise driving toward the net, so he wanted to try to use Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh as a screen to hopefully surprise Lundqvist with the shot.
It worked, because Lundqvist said he didn't expect Pacioretty to shoot, and as a result he got caught too deep and wound up stuck near the post. The Rangers had several chances to take the lead before Pacioretty scored. Martin St. Louis hit the crossbar with a point shot at 13:18 of the second period and was robbed by Price at 6:21 of the third, when he tried to bat the rebound of center Derek Stepan's shot into the net from the slot. Derick Brassard was close to scoring with 6:07 remaining in the third period, but his shot off a rebound went wide left. He had an open net to shoot at with Price recovering from making the initial save on forward Rick Nash. Brassard reacted as if he was slashed on the hands, but there was no call from referee Steve Kozari, who was closest to the play. Nash had a shorthanded breakaway 46 seconds into the third period, but he was disrupted by a pokecheck from Price.
Winnipeg @ Philadelphia 2-5 - The game was tied 2-2 early in the second when Schultz saw a puck bounce out of a pile-up in front of the Winnipeg net. Schenn's 11th goal gave the Flyers a 4-2 lead at 4:12 of the third period. Simmonds made a great individual play to tip a puck past Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom in the Flyers end and then beat him to the loose puck. He got a shot on net off the rush that Hutchinson stopped, but Simmonds beat the Jets' Zach Bogosian to the rebound, circled behind the Winnipeg net and found Schenn alone in the slot. Couturier closed the scoring with an empty-net goal with 1:41 left in the third.
Phoenix @ Toronto 3-1 - With the Maple Leafs leading 1-0 and starting the third period on a power play, the Coyotes got a huge break. Toronto's Tyler Bozak pushed the puck ahead on the faceoff and it went to Oliver Ekman-Larsson. He lofted the puck down the ice from his blue line and the shot caught Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier napping, going into the bottom corner of the net at 5 seconds. The Coyotes took a 2-1 lead at 3:47 when Martin Hanzal slipped a low shot from a sharp angle past Bernier. With Toronto right wing David Clarkson off for roughing, Sam Gagner scored his eighth of the season at 16:30. Phil Kessel scored his 20th goal of the season at 16:33 of the first period to give the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead. Sent in alone on a pass from James van Riemsdyk, Kessel's snap shot was partially stopped by Mike Smith, but the puck trickled in for Kessel's first goal in eight games and his third in 19.
Detroit @ Tampa Bay 1-5 - With the Lightning leading 3-1 and facing a shorthanded situation in the second period, Paquette recovered a loose puck in the neutral zone to generate a 2-on-1 opportunity with center Brian Boyle. Paquette faked the pass and snapped a wrist shot past Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek at 11:03 for his third goal of the game. Paquette scored 2:03 into the game. Jason Garrison took a shot from the point that was redirected by Alex Killorn toward the goal, and Paquette got his stick on the loose puck and sent the rebound past Mrazek. Red Wings center Darren Helm tied the game at 11:59 of the first when he scored on a wraparound, using Lightning defensemen Nikita Nesterov and Garrison as a shield to slip the puck past goalie Ben Bishop on the stick side. Paquette’s second goal came at 19:23 of the first when he fought off the defense of Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Tatar and scored with a wrist shot from the right circle to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead. Stamkos’ 27th goal came on a power play at 4:18 of the second period on a one-timer from the left circle past the glove of Mrazek, who was pulled after the second period for backup Tom McCollum.
Columbus @ Florida 2-3 - Sean Bergenheim scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:52 left in the third period snapping a 10-game losing streak in the series.
Bergenheim missed the last 7:40 of the second period and the first 6:20 of the third after being assessed minor penalties for slashing and unsportsmanlike conduct and a 10-minute misconduct. He broke a 2-2 tie when he tipped Dmitry Kulikov's wrist shot from the point past goalie Curtis McElhinney. The goal was confirmed after video review determined the deflection occurred at or below the crossbar. Bergenheim made the deflection just before being hit in the mouth by the stick of defenseman Jack Johnson. Johnson was assessed a double minor when he drew blood, though one of the penalties was erased because the Panthers scored on the play. Bergenheim said he likely wouldn't need any stitches. Florida, who hadn't beaten Columbus since a 5-2 victory Nov. 21, 2007, ended the second-longest active streak by one opponent against another. The Boston Bruins have a 13-game winning streak against the Edmonton Oilers.
More important, the Panthers ended a season-worst five-game losing streak and won at home for the first time in seven games. The six-game home losing streak was their longest since a six-game slide from Dec. 22, 2007-Jan. 13, 2008, and was one off the franchise record set between Feb. 26 and March 24, 2003. Johnson and Alexander Wennberg scored for the Blue Jackets. The game was tied 2-2 entering the third period after Wennberg's goal at 18:34 of the second also was confirmed by a video review. Anisimov's pass across the crease went off the stick of defenseman Alex Petrovic and high into the air, and Wennberg basically cross-checked the puck into the net an instant after it floated below the crossbar. After a scoreless first period, Johnson opened the scoring 1:08 into the second when he one-timed a slap shot from the point high to the glove side past Luongo. Huberdeau tied it at 2:49 with a backhand from close range, and Ekblad gave Florida a 2-1 lead at 11:36 with a high shot from the point through a screen.
Minnesota @ Calgary 1-0 - Zach Parise scored 8:59 into the game. Parise capitalized on a rare misplay by Flames captain Mark Giordano to score the game's lone goal. Thomas Vanek knocked Giordano's clearing attempt to Parise in front of the net. Parise made a quick deke and slipped the puck between the legs of goaltender Jonas Hiller for his 20th goal of the season. The combination of Jason Zucker and Jason Pominville nearly extended the Wild's lead to two with 5:43 remaining in the first. Zucker and Pominville got behind the defense, but Zucker fanned on the initial attempt and Pominville's follow-up was denied by the pad of Hiller, who made 13 first-period saves. Pominville had another opportunity 5:17 into the second period, but was stopped by Hiller again after taking a cross-crease pass from Mikko Koivu. On the next shift, Hiller made back-to-back saves on Wild forward Nino Niederreiter, including one with the toe of his skate. Just over a minute after Pominville's attempt, Johnny Gaudreau dashed through the slot and around a sliding Jared Spurgeon, but Dubnyk flashed the glove to keep Calgary off the scoreboard. He showed a quick pad on Giordano near the midway mark of the period after Jiri Hudler spotted the Flames' captain trailing off the rush. Dubnyk also stopped Paul Byron on a breakaway with his pad with 7:15 remaining, the best of his eight third-period saves, to preserve the regulation victory.
Buffalo @ Edmonton 2-3 - Recalled from the Oklahoma City Barons of the American Hockey League on Jan. 1, Lander has become a regular in the Oilers lineup. He set up Edmonton's first two goals, then scored the eventual winner in the third period. The goal, at 7:52, was Lander's first of the season. He and Oilers forward Teddy Purcell broke in on a 2-on-0 break following a poor line change by Buffalo. Purcell slid the puck over to Lander, who lifted a shot over Sabres goaltender Jhonas Enroth, who made 31 saves. Tyler Myers scored for the Sabres 2:22 in the first period for a 1-0 lead. He took a centering pass from forward Torrey Mitchell and fired a shot past Oilers goaltender Ben Scrivens.
Mitchell beat three Oilers to the puck behind the Edmonton net, then spotted Myers unattended, coming in from the point. Fraser tied the game 1-1 at 12:27, converting a pass from Lander and beating Enroth from in tight. Klefbom put Edmonton up 2-1 with his first goal of the season at 15:02 of the first period, also on a feed from Lander, who beat Myers to the puck behind the Sabres net and spotted the Oilers defenseman in front. Buffalo had a good chance to tie the game in the second period off a scramble in front, but Mitchell was unable to get his stick on a loose puck with Scrivens out of position. Prior to the Oilers' third goal, they went down to five defensemen when Nikita Nikitin was driven into the boards by Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons. Nikitin left the game with a shoulder injury. Ristolainen cut the Oilers lead to 3-2 with 2:02 left, getting to a rebound in front and shooting the puck past Scrivens.
In preparing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Washington Crapitals were in the midst of experiencing a swift reversal of fortune. Between Dec. 4 and Jan. 14, Washington's 14-1-4 record was the NHL's best. The Capitals followed that stretch by losing four straight (0-3-1), a slump that exposed flaws previously masked by their success. The Capitals certainly welcomed a game against a longstanding rival to work through their struggles, doing so in a 4-0 victory against the Penguins at Verizon Center on Wednesday. Alex Ovechkin scored twice for Washington (25-14-9), overtaking New York Rangers forward Rick Nash and Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin for the NHL goal-scoring lead with 29. He has 13 goals in his past 13 games. Eric Fehr and Mike Green also scored for the Capitals, who trail the Penguins by three points for second place in the Metropolitan Division. Washington has trimmed that deficit by nine points since Dec. 4. In his return from a lower-body injury, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby skated 19:42 with three shots on goal. He lost 17 of 24 faceoffs. Pittsburgh (27-13-8) has not scored in two games against Washington this season. Among the Capitals' identified problem areas as of late was puck management. A strong offensive-zone effort led to their first goal. After Nicklas Backstrom retrieved the puck from Jay Beagle near the right half-wall, he sent a cross-ice pass to Karl Alzner at the left point. Alzner flung the puck toward the net, where Ovechkin deflected it underneath Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury's right arm at 4:50 of the first period. With Washington on the power play late in the second period, Ovechkin received a set-up pass from Green and shot a one-timer from his customary left-circle position past Fleury at 17:19 for his League-leading 13th power-play goal of the season. It gave Ovechkin his 93rd career multi-goal game, tying Peter Bondra for the Capitals record. In the third period, Fehr scored his 15th goal of the season at 11:02 when Washington's third line applied heavy pressure in the offensive zone. Fehr scooped up a loose puck and beat Fleury in tight. Green scored his fifth shortly after at 12:24, finishing a 2-on-1 with Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Penguins Quotes
Sidney Crosby: "We had a few opportunities, but we need to create more if we want to win a game. We just didn't do that, so ultimately it comes down to us and finding ways to either [get] guys in front or make plays. But we've got to compete more. … It was a fairly close game throughout until the second half of the third [period] there, but we didn't generate enough, obviously, to score [and] to gain enough momentum pretty consistently. Just for whatever reason, [we] didn't execute."
Mike Johnston: "I thought coming [into] the second period, it played out the same way [as the first period]. It was hard for us to generate, but it wasn't like we were giving up a lot. Then that power play goal [by Ovechkin], I thought was a key goal for them. They got some momentum off the two power plays in the second period."
Toronto @ New Jersey 1-2 SO - Adam Larsson tied the game at 1-1 with 2:50 remaining in regulation when he fired a wrist shot from the right point that ticked off the right post and past Bernier. It was Larsson's first goal in 27 games. James van Riemsdyk had given the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead midway through the third on his eighth shot of the game. The native of Middletown, N.J., took a pass from Bozak in stride at the Devils' blue line, broke in against Schneider and backhanded a shot between his pads on a breakaway at 11:49. Bernier preserved the lead with less than five minutes remaining in the third when he got his left pad on Mike Cammalleri's solo break-in. If not for Schneider, the Maple Leafs might have been able to turn their five power-play opportunities into an early lead. The Maple Leafs, who went 0-for-5 with the man-advantage, had 12 power-play shots stopped by Schneider; many of them came off the stick of van Riemsdyk and Bozak from close or point-blank range. Schneider also received a bit of luck when a blast by Leo Komarov from the left hash hit the far post midway through the second period. Jacob Josefson and Patrik Elias scored in the tiebreaker to give the Devils their second straight win.
Chicago @ Los Angeles 3-4 - Carter scored twice and assisted on the game-tying goal as the Kings erased deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 before Jake Muzzin's game-winner with 3:37 remaining. Muzzin's wrist shot through traffic appeared to hit Niklas Hjalmarsson on its way into the net. The Blackhawks nearly tied the game in the final minute when they hit the post and could not score with the extra attacker after lifting goaltender Corey Crawford. Carter's big night came in the Kings' first game without center Mike Richards, a close friend of Carter's who was assigned to the American Hockey League earlier this week because of underperformance. Tyler Toffoli, who missed the previous six games with mononucleosis, made his presence felt when he tied it at 3-3 with 6:10 left in regulation, beating Crawford with a wrist shot from the high slot.
Toffoli kept the puck in and was left open for Dwight King's pass. The goal brought the sellout crowd of 18,525 to a roar. Chicago was set up for a regulation win when Andrew Shaw's 50th career goal gave the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead 2:25 into the third period. Shaw beat Kings goalie Jonathan Quick to the glove side to finish a rush after Teuvo Teravainen slid the puck to him at the right faceoff dot. Chicago would have won its fifth straight regular-season game against the Kings and fourth straight at Staples Center if not for the late-squandered lead.
Carter's second goal came on the power play 1:45 into the second period. He kept the puck away from Toews in the corner and beat Crawford to the glove side with a wrist shot. Chicago's top line of Toews, Brandon Saad and Marian Hossa was on the ice for the Kings' third and fourth goals. Carter tied it at 1-1 at 8:42 of the first period with a turnaround wrist shot from the slot, set up by defenseman Brayden McNabb. Carter nearly completed the hat trick in the second period when he stripped Toews and went in for a shorthanded breakaway but was stopped by Crawford. Chicago took a 2-1 lead in the first on goals by Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane. Sharp grabbed Kane's cross-ice pass and scored on a slap shot from the left side at 11:42. It came with Drew Doughty serving a tripping penalty, one of two by penalties by Doughty and three by the Kings in the first period. Kane scored his 23rd goal 1:58 into the game. David Rundblad's shot hit McNabb and bounced to Kane for an open-net slap shot from the right side.
Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price played in the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, which warmed him up for his first game after the break. Price made 40 saves Tuesday, and Alex Galchenyuk scored for a third game in a row to give Montreal a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars at Bell Centre. Price wasn't the least bit fazed by his workload. Playing for Team Foligno in Columbus, he faced 16 shots and allowed four goals in the first period of a 17-12 loss to Team Toews that set a record for goals in an All-Star Game. The Canadiens (30-13-3) have won three straight games. Alexei Emelin scored Montreal's first goal at 6:07 of the first period. Emelin was ejected from the game at 5:21 of the second after he was assessed a boarding major and a game misconduct for his hit from behind on Dallas center Jason Spezza. Galchenyuk gave the Canadiens a 2-0 lead with his 13th goal 9:53 into the first period. Stars captain Jamie Benn scored with 2.1 seconds remaining in the first to draw Dallas within 2-1 after Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban was called for an intentional offside. Lehtonen was pulled for an extra attacker for the faceoff in the Canadiens zone with 2.7 seconds remaining. Montreal center Manny Malhotra and Dallas center Tyler Seguin were thrown out of the first faceoff attempt. The scoreboard clock was reset from 1.3 seconds to 2.7, and Spezza won the draw against Gallagher and got the puck to Benn, who snapped a shot past Price. Therrien said he argued the offside ruling and bristled at being asked about his decision to have only one center, Malhotra, on the ice for the faceoff along with right wing Gallagher and left wing Michael Bournival. Gallagher restored the Canadiens' two-goal lead with Montreal's eighth power-play goal in four games at 4:37 of the second period. Patrick Eaves scored, and Kari Lehtonen made 23 saves for Dallas (21-19-7), which lost 3-1 at the Boston Bruins a week ago in its last game before the All-Star break. Stars coach Lindy Ruff said he thought Price was fabulous. Spezza went to the dressing room after the hit by Emelin left him bleeding from his face, which struck the end boards behind the Montreal net. Spezza returned and finished the game wearing a longer visor. Eaves, who returned after missing 21 games because of a lower-body injury, scored with 16 seconds remaining in Emelin's major to draw Dallas within one for the second time at 10:05. Former Ottawa Senators captain Spezza will play his first game at Ottawa on Thursday since he was traded to Dallas on July 1. The Canadiens play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
Stars Quotes
Kari Lehtonen: "It's tough. The last two games have gone the same way, the other goalie has stolen the show, and it's frustrating, but it's easy always to tell yourself that we're playing better, we should have won these two, but when you don't, it's tough. I have to do a better job and our guys have to score when they have that many opportunities. It's as simple as that, I have to be a better goalie than the other goalie, then we have a better chance to win."
Lindy Ruff: "I thought as a team we really skated well. I don't know if we maybe had more than three or four even-strength shifts that we spend any time in our end, anything more than five or 10 seconds, and in this building that's pretty good."
Without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins had no trouble finding the back of the net. Defenseman Kris Letang had five assists to help the Penguins overcome two one-goal deficits and defeat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 at Consol Energy Center on Tuesday. The Penguins (27-12-8) won despite playing without Crosby and Malkin, who each missed the game with a lower-body injury. Brandon Sutter gave Pittsburgh a 4-3 lead 7:52 into the third period, and forward Patric Hornqvist scored an empty-net goal with 27.3 seconds remaining. Hornqvist returned after missing the past 11 games because of a lower-body injury and tied Chris Kunitz for third on Pittsburgh with 14 goals. Letang returned after missing one game because of a concussion and said returning in the way he did was "pretty cool." The Jets (26-15-8) had a five-game winning streak end. Winnipeg/Atlanta has lost 14 consecutive games at Pittsburgh. The Penguins trailed 3-2 early in the third period, but forward David Perron scored his sixth goal in nine games with Pittsburgh to tie it. With Blake Wheeler in the penalty box for slashing, Perron dug a rebound off a Letang slap shot past Pavelec at 4:23. Penguins coach Mike Johnston said he was impressed with Letang's performance, especially against a physical team. After surrendering a one-goal lead late in the second period, Winnipeg reestablished that lead within the first minute of the third. Jets forward Chris Thorburn received a stretch pass from Evander Kane and had the puck poked off his stick by Penguins defenseman Christian Ehrhoff to Lowry, who got a wrist shot by Thomas Greiss to give the Jets a 3-2 lead 59 seconds into the third.
Lowry and Thorburn each had one goal and one assist. Thorburn's goal came early in the second period to tie the game 1-1, following a lackluster first period for Winnipeg. Shortly after being released from the penalty box, Thorburn beat Kunitz to a pass from Lowry and tipped the puck over Greiss' blocker 2:13 into the second. Thorburn has scored one goal in three of his past four games after scoring one goal through his first 44 games. He credited playing with Lowry and Kane for the recent boost in his play. The Jets had a chance to take a 2-1 lead about two minutes later when Jim Slater rung a slap shot off of the left post, but would eventually take a one-goal lead when Jacob Trouba's slap shot avoided the post and made its way through a screen by Mathieu Perreault to get by Greiss with 7:13 remaining in the first. Winnipeg seemed poised to carry the lead into the third, but Steve Downie's goal with 4.6 seconds remaining in the second tied the game 2-2. Downie slid a pass to defenseman to the right faceoff circle, where Letang one-timed a slap shot off of Pavelec's pads. The rebound bounced to Downie, who pushed a wrist shot into the net for his ninth goal. The Penguins dominated the first period, in large part because of Perron's performance. A few minutes after stick-handling through two defensemen and sending a wrist shot wide of the Winnipeg net, Perron played a key role in setting up Pittsburgh's first goal. He carried the puck past the goal line to the right of the net, drawing Pavelec toward the right post, and sent a pass out in front, where forwards Nick Spaling and Beau Bennett were converging.
Spaling beat Perreault to the pass and tipped it into the open net to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead 7:09 into the first.
Pens Quotes
Patric Hornqvist: "It's nice to get the first one out of the way. Obviously, missing a month, you lose a lot of details in your game and it's nice to get the first out of the way and get the big win and hopefully we get better here every game."
Kris Letang: "The main thing is the win. I think the last time we played against them, they banged us pretty hard. They were finishing all of their checks, and again that's what they tried to do. They tried to be physical on us and get us off our game, but everybody stuck to it."
Mike Johnston: "When he's skating like that, he can jump up into the play and then he can get back. That's what he did tonight. He had a great balance to his game, and when he was going back for a couple of pucks there in the third period, they're a heavy forechecking team, it's tough when you're going back for pucks like that, and I just thought every decision he made, he made with speed and he made it quick."
NY Rangers @ NY Islanders 1-4 - Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves for the Rangers, who saw their three-game winning streak end and were serenaded with chants of "You can't beat us!" from a capacity crowd that made its way to the Coliseum hours after a massive snowstorm hit the region. Grabovski opened the scoring with 1:55 remaining in the first period. Grabovski, who hadn't played since Jan. 9 because of a lower-body injury, finished off a gorgeous passing display with Johnny Boychuk and Josh Bailey, redirecting Bailey's feed past Lundqvist for his seventh goal of the season. Martin doubled the Islanders' lead at 4:11 of the second period. Casey Cizikas had an initial chance from the slot, where his wrist shot was denied by Lundqvist. Cal Clutterbuck backhanded the rebound to the right side of the net and Martin quickly put it home to make it 2-0. It was Martin's seventh goal of the season. Strome nearly put the Islanders up by three midway through the second period, when he collected a Tavares rebound in front and quickly backhanded a shot past Lundqvist, but it hit the crossbar cleanly. Strome got a bounce to go his way at 6:12 of the third period when he scored his ninth goal of the season. With the teams at even strength, Strome tried to send a cross-ice feed to Frans Nielsen, but the puck went off McDonagh's stick and floated past Lundqvist to make it 3-0. Tavares made it 4-0 with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 16:47 when he took a pass from Travis Hamonic and put a wrist shot past Lundqvist. It was Tavares' 22nd goal of the season and extended his point streak to four games (three goals, four assists). Hagelin spoiled the shutout for Halak when he stuffed the puck past him from the right post in the final seconds of a power play. It was Hagelin's ninth goal of the season.
Phoenix @ Philadelphia 3-4 SO - The Coyotes scored two goals on four shots against Emery 5:50 into the game, and that was enough for Berube to make a change in net. Wayne Simmonds scored the only goal of the shootout and also had a goal in regulation. R.J. Umberger and Michael Del Zotto each had a goal for the Flyers. Matin Erat had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes, who lost their seventh straight. Connor Murphy and Tobias Rieder also scored. Goalie Mike Smith made 39 saves through overtime, and then stopped two of three shooters in the tiebreaker. After early goals by Murphy and Erat, the Flyers scored three straight goals, starting with Simmonds' power-play goal at 9:02 of the first. It was his 17th of the season but first in nine games. Umberger tied the game 2-2 at 13:55 of the second when he beat Smith up high, and then Del Zotto scored a nice goal off the rush, beating Smith with a shot that pinged off the underside of the crossbar with 1:01 left in the second. The Coyotes tied the game 23 seconds later when Rieder finished a breakaway by scoring over Mason's glove. The Coyotes' Sam Gagner, who missed the net on odd-man rushes in the third period and overtime, shot wide of the net to start the shootout, and then Smith stopped Jakub Voracek, the NHL scoring leader.
After all-stars Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Coyotes and Claude Giroux of the Flyers each was stopped on his chance, Mason made a nice save on Antoine Vermette. Simmonds, the Flyers' third shooter, skated through the middle of the ice, slowed down in the slot, and when Smith dropped Simmonds shot over him for the winner.
Washington @ Columbus 3-4 - Ryan Johansen, MVP of the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game, held in the same building Sunday, had a goal, and Nick Foligno, also an all-star, had two assists to help the Blue Jackets win for the third time in four games. Cam Atkinson scored his first goal in 18 games, giving Columbus a 4-2 lead 5:20 into the third period. Mark Letestu hadn't scored in the previous eight games until he was set up by Corey Tropp. Fedor Tyutin scored his first goal in 10 games and had an assist. Atkinson opened the season on a line with Foligno and Johansen but had been dropped to the third line until being promoted Tuesday in the first game after the All-Star break. On the goal, Atkinson took a pass from Tyutin, and the puck went off his stick to the face of Washington center Nicklas Backstrom. Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, and defenseman Matt Niskanen assisted on each of the first two goals in the second period by Andre Burakovsky and Troy Brouwer.
Washington drew to within 4-3 with 7:51 left in regulation when Kuznetsov was at the edge of the crease for a rebound goal, his fifth, but Columbus was able to close out the game with a strong defensive effort. Four goals were scored in the final 4:21 of the second period. Columbus scored twice, but Washington responded quickly each time. The Blue Jackets had a 3-2 lead after the second period. Johansen made it 2-0 with a one-timer from the high slot that eluded the glove of Holtby. Kevin Connauton fed Johansen out of the right corner for his 18th goal. The Capitals needed 33 seconds to pull to within a goal. Burakovsky redirected a shot from the right point by Niskanen into the net with Backstrom getting his 400th NHL assist on the goal. Columbus regained a two-goal advantage with 56 seconds remaining in the second when a Tyutin slap shot near the blue line skimmed past the left pad of Holtby to make it 3-1.
Brouwer scored for Washington 36 seconds later with another tipped goal of a Niskanen shot.
Tampa Bay @ Carolina 2-4 - Eric Staal got the Hurricanes on the board early Tuesday. On the first shift of the game, he took a pass from Jordan and worked through the right circle before lifting a backhand shot that deflected off Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman's stick and past goalie Ben Bishop. Nathan Gerbe gave the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead with his fifth goal at 6:05. Brett Bellemore's shot from the right point came off the end boards to the left side of the net, where Gerbe finished into an open net. Tampa Bay did cut the lead in half before the end of the first on Cedric Paquette's sixth of the season. He fought off Carolina forward Elias Lindholm in the right circle and scored when the rebound of his shot went in off Bellemore's skate at 14:05. In the second period, the Hurricanes extended their lead to 3-1 on their first power-play opportunity of the night. Justin Faulk threaded a wrist shot from the center point past Bishop at 8:26 for his ninth goal. Tampa Bay made it 3-2 with a shorthanded goal from Brian Boyle at 14:06. Victor Rask fanned on a pass inside the Lightning blue line, leaving Boyle to break out and slip a backhand between Khudobin's legs. Carolina took a third two-goal lead at 7:53 of the third period when Faulk started a 2-on-1 with Jiri Tlusty, who beat Bishop to the short-side post. The goal was the 12th of the season for Tlusty, who had left the game in the second period after going head-first into the boards. After falling behind 2-0, the Lightning seized momentum, but it was too big of a hole for the highest-scoring team in the NHL.
Detroit @ Florida 5-4 - Looking to change their luck on the power play, the Panthers used four forwards. The move initially backfired with Drew Miller scoring a shorthanded goal 8:06 into the game. Miller beat Luongo on a breakaway through the five-hole after a deke to his backhand. The Panthers took advantage of a 5-on-3 situation to get goals from Barkov and Pirri in a span of 1:08 to take a 2-1 lead. Detroit scored four unanswered goals in the second period to take a 5-2 lead. The last three came from the Weiss-Sheahan-Glendening line and were scored less than five minutes apart. Zetterberg began the Detroit outburst 32 seconds into the period when he was left alone in the slot and took a pass from Gustav Nyquist from behind the net and beat Luongo with a shot to the stick side. Glendening scored his first goal at 7:07 of the second period to give the Red Wings a 3-2 lead after Panthers defenseman Dylan Olsen’s misplay behind the net. Weiss made it 4-2 at 8:26 after Sheahan skated around Olsen and fed a pass across the crease. Glendening’s second goal came at 11:19 after Florida forward Jussi Jokinen tried to glove Weiss’ soft shot toward the net. Glendening controlled the puck and his shot went over Luongo's left shoulder. Bjugstad cut the lead to 5-3 at 15:30 of the second period after Ekblad’s slap shot from the point went wide. Bjugstad backhanded the loose puck behind Mrazek from the side of the net. Boyes made it 5-4 with 9:06 remaining in the third when he redirected a pass across the crease. The Panthers pulled their goalie with 1:51 left after getting a late power play, but Mrazek made five saves in the last 2:32.
Colorado @ Nashville 3-4 OT - Cody McLeod gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 11:52 of the first period when he redirected a shot past Hutton. Zach Redmond took a shot from the point that McLeod tipped in front of the net. Roman Josi tied the game 1-1 at 3:33 of the second period on a one-timer from the point. Josi one-timed a pass from defense partner Shea Weber that made its way through traffic and past Varlamov. Colin Wilson gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 13:21 of the second period with a power-play goal. Seth Jones took a shot from the point that missed the net, but Wilson was able to corral the rebound and shoot it past Varlamov. It was Wilson's 19th point in the past 15 games. Colorado forward Jarome Iginla tied the game 2-2 at 16:05 of the second period on a one-timer from the faceoff circle. Forward Matt Duchene delivered a drop pass that Iginla was able to place over Hutton's shoulder for his 15th goal of the season. Filip Forsberg gave Nashville a 3-2 lead 32 seconds into the third period. He took a wrist shot that Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov paddled away, but Forsberg got to the rebound and was able to convert from a tough angle. The goal was Forsberg's 16th of the season, and his 41st point in 46 games, best among NHL rookies. Colorado defenseman Nick Holden tied the game 3-3 with 36 seconds remaining in the third period while the Avalanche had six skaters. Holden was left alone in front of Hutton and placed the puck under the crossbar. Craig Smith scored with 2:14 remaining in overtime to give the Predators a 4-3 win. Smith was able to convert on a breakaway after taking a pass from Mike Ribeiro. The goal was Smith's 14th of the season. 
Buffalo @ Calgary 1-4 - The Sabres’ first shot on goal came at 9:03, by Cody Hodgson. Their first goal came 1:30 later. Early in a hooking minor to Colborne, Stewart redirected Tyler Ennis’ centering pass by the blocker of Hiller for his seventh of the season to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 10:33. Gaudreau responded with a power-play goal three minutes later, taking a pass from Hudler, pulling himself off the goal line and tucking a shot under Enroth’s arm. Colborne’s blocked-shot attempt off a rush skipped to Jooris, who beat Jhonas Enroth to break a 1-1 tie at 9:05. The goal was Jooris’ 10th of the season and Flames-leading fourth game-winning goal. Colborne scored his sixth goal of the season at 14:06 to give the Flames a cushion, swatting a rebound off Raphael Diaz’s initial point shot through Enroth’s pads with Sabres defenseman Mike Weber serving a delay of game penalty. Gaudreau scored his 15th of the season, tapping a passing play set up by linemates Sean Monahan and Jiri Hudler past Enroth with 2:32 remaining to extend Calgary’s lead to 4-1.
Minnesota @ Edmonton 2-1 - Charlie Coyle scored the winning goal on an excellent individual effort with 4:23 remaining in regulation to give the Wild a 2-1 victory. Coyle took an errant pass by Oilers right wing Jordan Eberle at his own blue line, raced in, skated around goaltender Viktor Fasth and tucked the puck into the net to break a 1-1 tie and help Minnesota end its two-game losing streak. Niederreiter scored 9:09 into the first period to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead, capitalizing on a turnover in front by Oilers forward Nail Yakupov. Wild right wing Justin Fontaine created the turnover, stripping Yakupov of the puck in front of the Oilers' net. Yakupov had spun away from a check at the faceoff circle and skated out with the puck but then fanned on a pass. Fontaine took the puck and spotted Niederreiter, who lifted a shot over Fasth. Oilers center Boyd Gordon tied the game at 17:16 of the second period. He gained control of the puck beside the Wild net and tried to wrap it around Dubnyk. The puck went off the skate of Wild center Kyle Brodziak in front and into the net.
Anaheim @ Vancouver 4-0 - With scoring from three lines and tight defense, Anaheim looked every bit a League leader against the Canucks. Beleskey opened the scoring with a fluttering slap shot that bounced into the net off the glove of Ryan Miller with 6:17 left in the first period. Andersen started the play that led to Palmieri's power-play goal after a wild sequence 7:19 into the second period. Andersen outwaited fellow Dane Jannik Hansen, who lost the puck on a shorthanded breakaway, and the goalie moved the loose puck to Rakell before being knocked over by Hansen. As Andersen skated off on the delayed penalty to Hansen, Palmieri raced down the ice and surprised Miller with a 25-foot shot between the legs. Beleskey's slap shot of a rolling puck from the top of the left circle deflected in off his glove after dipping and fluttering on its way to the net. Miller also dropped awkwardly and late to one knee, using a technique normally reserved for sharp-angle shots, when Palmieri's shot went between his legs off the rush. Rakell, who also had an assist, made it 3-0 on another rush midway through the third period. His shot from just inside the blue line hit the stick of Canucks defenseman Frank Corrado, who was taking the place of injured Kevin Bieksa, and went over Miller's blocker. Maroon hit the empty net with 31.9 seconds left. The Canucks, who are rolling four lines under first-year coach Willie Desjardins, were getting similar contributions earlier this season, but the scoring has dried up, especially at home. Vancouver also lost forward Derek Dorsett, who left early in the second period after getting hit in the head during a collision with Kesler. Dorsett did not return, but Kesler, who was not penalized on the play, wasn't worried about supplemental discipline because he never saw Dorsett.
The main event of the 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend featured record goal-scoring, hometown players shining, and goalies struggling yet still smiling. Team Toews outlasted Team Foligno 17-12 in a record-setting 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game at Nationwide Arena on Sunday. The 29 goals are an NHL All-Star Game record, topping the 26 scored in the 2001 North America vs. the World game in Denver. Team Toews' 17 goals set an All-Star Game record for most goals by one team, topping the 16 scored by the Wales Conference in 1993 in Montreal. And the 11 total goals in the second period broke the record for goals in one period; the previous high of 10 goals had been achieved four times, with the latest coming in the 2009 game in Montreal. Roberto Luongo allowed four goals on 17 shots in the first period playing for Team Toews. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Ryan Johansen was named most valuable player, as voted by fans in the arena on Twitter. He scored two goals and had two assists for four points to lead Team Foligno. The Blue Jackets' infamous goal cannon went off 11 times, for all but one of Team Foligno's 12 goals, but it didn't scare Team Toews the way it likely did some of the fans in the stands and the media in the press box. New York Islanders center John Tavares and Philadelphia Goons forward Jakub Voracek joined some exclusive company with their all-star performances. Tavares became the sixth player in All-Star Game history to score four goals in a game, joining a list that includes Wayne Gretzky (1983) and Mario Lemieux (1990), as well as Mike Gartner (1991), Vincent Damphousse (1993) and Dany Heatley (2003). Voracek, who played for the Blue Jackets from 2008-11, tied Lemieux's record for most points in an All-Star Game with six on a hat trick and three assists. Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron had five points on a goal and four assists, and Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews also had five points on a goal and four assists. Florida Panthers rookie defenseman Aaron Ekblad and St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko each had four assists for Team Toews, which also got two goals and two assists from Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin. Every skater on Team Toews had at least one point. Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane, Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos, Flyers center Claude Giroux and Washington Capitals right wing Alex Ovechkin each had three points for Team Foligno. The cannon surprisingly did not go off when Kane scored at 13:09 of the third period. Maybe it was out of ammo by that point. That was the consensus among the players following the game. The all-stars got into town Thursday or Friday without knowing what to expect; they left with a handful of memories to take into the stretch run of the season and beyond. The weekend kicked off with Ovechkin's comedic performance during the 2015 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft presented by DraftKings. He begged and pleaded to be picked last so he could win a new Honda, but his wish was not granted; he was selected third to last. Ovechkin, though, got his wish after the game Sunday when Honda gave him a car so he could donate it to the Washington Ice Dogs hockey program. Saturday night belonged to Johansen, who stole the show with his performance in the Honda NHL Breakaway Challenge, which was part of the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Skills Competition. Johansen played to the crowd on his first attempt by stripping off his Blue Jackets sweater to reveal an Ohio State football jersey. He had the heartwarming moment of the night on his second attempt when he used Cole Vogt, the 7-year-old son of Columbus trainer Mike Vogt, to score a goal. He had several players join him in forming the Flying V for his third attempt. The fans will remember the offense (and the cannon) that was on display Sunday. Team Toews scored four goals in the first period, seven in the second and six more in the third. The seven goals it scored in the second period tied an All-Star Game record for most goals by one team in a period (Wales Conference, 1990). Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who played the second period for Team Foligno, finished his second All-Star Game appearance with a .562 save percentage (seven goals on 16 shots). Tavares finished off the first hat trick of the game with one minute remaining in the second period, when he scored his second goal against Fleury from the right hash marks. Bergeron had the assist on Tavares' hat-trick goal, giving him a game-high four points through 40 minutes. Bergeron said he was hoping to get Tavares a fifth goal late in the game so he could have the record. Team Toews and Team Foligno started the second period by setting another record, quickest back-to-back goals. Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter and Giroux scored eight seconds apart. Suter scored for Team Toews at 24 seconds, and Giroux at 32 seconds for Team Foligno. Forsberg became the first Predators player in franchise history to score in an All-Star Game, potting not just one, but two goals on the evening.
Roberto Luongo (Florida): "As a goalie you can't be happy about that. It was obviously focused on offense, which was nice. Fans come to see goals. Some fans come to see nice saves too. We mixed in a few of those, and it was a good day all in all."
John Tavares (NY Fishsticks): "Yeah, I'll take it, [Gretzky and Lemieux] are two of the best to ever play, probably one and two, so yes, it's pretty cool."
Jakub Voracek (Goon Town Dirty Dogs): "I think it's a little different, Voracek and Lemieux, right? I had three secondary assists, so I wouldn't get too excited about that."
Jonathan Toews (Chicago): "It was fun to just have the puck and make some plays. That's what we were trying to do, and it ended up in the back of the net more often than not. [Rick Nash] and Jake [Voracek] were doing a great job of finishing off plays, and I was lucky enough to be in on those plays too. We were just having fun out there."
Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay): "Obviously feel bad for the goalies with that many goals. The fans love it, and it looked like they were having fun. It was great to see this city. They had been waiting a couple years for this game. They did it right."
Alex Ovechkin (Washington): "I'm pretty sure they're going to use [the car] all the time," Ovechkin said. "Obviously for them it's going to be a great present from my side, from Honda's side and from all the NHL's side."
Ryan Johansen (Columbus): "It's been really cool. It hasn't hit me yet for sure, and this is something I'll remember for a very long time. We've just been really enjoying every moment of this weekend, and just being in Columbus and in front of our fans and our first game, it really has been a very special weekend and something we'll remember for a long time. To me felt like I was playing a road hockey game with my buddies and I was pretending to be Ovechkin and Foligno's trying to be Toews or Gretzky. It's so surreal. You never expect this to happen when you're growing up as a kid, and it hasn't been an easy road for both of us. A lot of hard work goes into this, and to share it with all our friends and family who made it into town, special is just the word that comes for me. It's something that we've had such a privilege to be a part of."
Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh): "It was so long, probably the longest 20 minutes of my career. We are at this game to have fun, but at one time, it was frustrating. Normally I'll be quick out of the game way before giving up seven goals."
Patrice Bergeron (Boston): "He deserved it. Everything was going in for him. He's such a good player, so it's so much fun to play with him."
Filip Forsberg (Nashville): “The Preds have been in the League for a long time now, so it’s very cool that I was the first one to score a goal here.”
Shea Weber (Nashville): “He [Forsberg] wasn’t even supposed to be in the game at first, so to see him come in and have a good game at his age is fun to watch. Overall, it was a great event; if there’s one thing I would change it would just be having Peks here. We missed him for sure.”
Peter Laviolette (Nashville): “Any of the players could have all played a full 60 [minutes]. There was a lot of skill out there and guys making great plays. You can see their talent and it’s just amazing out there. Everybody had fun, nobody got hurt and everybody goes back to their normal work now.”
Rosters
Team Toews
Centers - 19 Jonathan Toews (CHI), 15 Ryan Getzlaf (ANA), Tyler Seguin (DAL), 91 John Tavares (NYI), 37 Patrice Bergeron (BOS), 26 Patrik Elias (NYJ), 9 Filip Forsberg (NSH).
Left Wing - 61 Rick Nash (NYR), 13 Johnny Gaudreau (CGY), 68 Mike Hoffman (OTW) [Rookie].
Right Wing - 93 Jakub Voracek (PHI), 91 Vladimir Tarasenko (STL).
Defensemen - 6 Shea Weber (NSH), 7 Brent Seabrook (CHI), 5 Aaron Ekblad (FLA), 20 Ryan Suter (MIN), 5 Mark Giordano (CGY), 27 Justin Faulk (CAR).
Goaltenders - 50 Corey Crawford (CHI), 1 Roberto Luongo (FLA), 41 Jaroslav Halak (NYI).
Coach - Peter Laviolette (NSH)
Dropped Out - 70 Tanner Pearson (LAK) LW, 35 Pekka Rinne (NSH) G, 71 Evgeni Malkin (PIT) C, 6 Erik Johnson (COL) D.
Team Foligno
Centers - 19 Ryan Johansen (CBJ), 11 Anze Kopitar (LAK), 91 Steven Stamkos (TBL), 28 Claude Giroux (PHI), 28 Zemgus Girgensons (BUF), 93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM).
Left Wing - 71 Nick Foligno (CBJ), 8 Alex Ovechkin (WSH), 27 Jonathan Drouin (TBL), 26 Jiri Sekac (MTL).
Right Wing - 88 Patrick Kane (CHI), 81 Phil Kessel (TOR), 6 Bobby Ryan (OTW), 17 Radim Vrbata (VAN).
Defensemen - 8 Drew Doughty (LAK), 2 Duncan Keith (CHI), 33 Dustin Byfuglien (WPG), 88 Brent Burns (SJS), 22 Kevin Shattenkirk (STL), 23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson (PHX).
Goaltenders - 31 Carey Price (MTL), 29 Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT), 1 Brian Elliott (STL).
Coach - Darryl Sutter (LAK)
Dropped Out - 35 Jimmy Howard (DET) G, 72 Sergei Bobrovsky (CBJ) G, 87 Sidney Crosby (PIT) C, 9 Tyler Johnson (TBL) C.
The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired forward Maxim Lapierre from the St. Louis Blues for forward Marcel Goc, the teams announced Tuesday. Lapierre, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound center, had two goals and nine points in 45 games with St. Louis this season. He has 65 goals and 137 points in 579 games of his 10-year NHL career. The 29-year-old could add a bit of size and grit to a Penguins lineup that general manager Jim Rutherford said could benefit from those assets the rest of the season. Lapierre has seven goals and 15 points in 75 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He scored three goals in each postseason while with the Montreal Canadiens in 2010 and Vancouver Canucks in 2011. Goc, 31, was a key member of Pittsburgh’s penalty kill but has not produced the level of offense the Penguins hoped he would bring to their bottom six when he was acquired from the Florida Panthers in March of last season. He scored two goals and seven points in 54 games with Pittsburgh.
Jim Rutherford: "He’s a big guy. He plays with energy. He plays with an edge at times. And he’s averaged roughly nine, 10 goals a year, so he’s capable of scoring a little bit. So I think this is a good addition for us … It certainly seems we’re getting into more physical games than I would’ve expected [especiaslly against the dirty flyers], so he will help that group of guys that we already have. The [Steve] Downies, the [Zach] Sills and [Robert] Bortuzzos and those guys. That factored in. He’s had a couple of real good runs in the playoffs and he’s a hard guy to play against, especially when you get into those playoff series. It’s never easy when you lose a player, especially like him. He’s such a good guy. But Lapierre also kills penalties, so it’s not like we’re moving out a guy that does something for us and not getting us back."
San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan says he's usually a little scared about how his team will play in the final game before a long break in the schedule. McLellan had no such fear Wednesday at SAP Center. Not with the rival Los Angeles Kings in town and the Sharks looking to make amends for a poor showing in a loss to the New Jersey Devils two nights earlier. The Sharks ramped up their effort and rolled to a 4-2 victory against the Kings in both teams' final game before the All-Star break. Logan Couture had two goals, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski each scored on the power play, and Antti Niemi made 26 saves for the Sharks (25-17-6), who are off until the Anaheim Ducks come to San Jose on Jan. 29. Dustin Brown and Jeff Carter scored for the Kings (20-15-12), who lost for the seventh time in eight games. Goaltender Jonathan Quick made 21 saves and took the loss on his 29th birthday. The Kings are off until they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 28. The Sharks enter the break in second place in the Pacific Division with 56 points. The Kings have 52 points and are one point behind the Calgary Flames, who own the second Western Conference wild-card position for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Couture said it's always easy to get up to play the Kings. For this game, he and many of the sellout crowd of 17,562 fans had an extra boost of energy on Metallica Night at SAP, with members of the heavy metal band dropping the ceremonial first puck and revving up the crowd. The Sharks tied their franchise record with 42 hits, and the Kings delivered 45 hits in a typically physical and emotional game between San Jose and Los Angeles. The Sharks took a 2-1 lead into the third period, and Pavelski made it 3-1 at 11:33 with his 12th power play goal of the season and team-high 24th goal overall. Pavelski moved into a tie with the Washington Capitals Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead in power-play goals. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was in the penalty box for high sticking Couture, and Pavelski capitalized. Matt Greene blocked his first shot, but Pavelski got to the loose puck and hammered a shot past Quick from close range. Carter scored a power-play goal with 22.4 seconds left to play, cutting San Jose's lead to 3-2, but Couture was credited with an empty-net goal with three seconds left. The last time the Kings and Sharks played at SAP Center, Los Angeles beat San Jose 5-1 on April 30 in Game 7 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series to complete a historic comeback after losing the first three games. The Sharks took a 2-1-0 lead in the season series. The next time they'll play is Feb. 21 at Levi's Stadium, home of San Francisco 49ers, in the 2015 Coors Light Stadium Series. The Sharks grabbed a 1-0 lead at 10:44 of the first period on Couture's 17th goal of the season. Couture got the puck at San Jose's blue line, raced down the left boards past defenseman Alec Martinez and drove to the net before beating Quick to the short side with a wrist shot. Matt Irwin and Niemi got the assists. For Niemi, it was his second assist of the season and seventh of his career. The Sharks outshot the Kings 10-6 in a first period that included a combined 32 hits and four penalties, including fighting majors to San Jose's Brenden Dillon and Los Angeles' Kyle Clifford. The fighting penalty was San Jose's first of 2015. The Kings pulled even at 11:39 of the second period when Brown scored on a wraparound. Niemi stumbled as he tried to move from the left to the right post while Brown skated behind the net. Brown, who skated on the top line with Kopitar and Marian Gaborik, scored his eighth goal of the season and second in four games after a 17-game goalless streak. The Sharks regained the lead at 16:39 when Marleau scored on the power play. He has nine goals for the season and 39 against the Kings in his career. With Doughty in the penalty box for hooking Pavelski, Couture fired the puck from above the left circle toward the net, and Marleau knifed in from the other side to redirect the puck past Quick.
The Sharks easily could have built a bigger lead in the second, but they couldn't capitalize on multiple prime scoring chances. Couture had a breakaway midway through the period, but Quick made a brilliant pad save. Moments later, Kings defenseman Brayden McNabb, who turned 24 on Wednesday, saved a possible goal by breaking up a give-and-go pass from James Sheppard to Tomas Hertl on a 2-on-1 rush. With less than five minutes left, Quick robbed Pavelski, who redirected a Brent Burns blast. After Brown tied the game, the Sharks didn't blink. Dean Lombardi served his 669th game as Kings general manager, passing Rogie Vachon for the most in franchise history. Greene played his 400th game for the Kings and 551st in the NHL.
Sharks Quotes
Todd McLellan: "The win, the score, everything we're happy with, but what's most satisfying is the competitiveness that we showed up with. We shouldn't need to talk about it, but now that it was there throughout 20 players, it should go recognized. We have to capture that and be prepared to bring it to the rink after the break every night because it's shaping up to be a very tight conference. Foot on the gas pedal. They're a big, hard team and you have to play big and hard against them to have any chance of success. You can't play safe. You have to get your nose involved, but you have to play smart. That was the message for the whole night."
Logan Couture: "Being the Kings, the building has a different feel to it. The fans, it has different excitement and then the start of the game, when Metallica was doing the starting announcement, that was wicked. That was one of the best experiences I've had during hockey. It was so cool. I got lucky. It hit the linesman and Martinez was flat-footed so I was able to get a step on him. (Quick) poke-checked me a little bit and I was able to get it to the side of the blocker."
Joe Pavelski: "We needed this game. The rivalry, it's there. We know it's going to be a competitive game when we play them and it needs to be that way. But it needs to be that way every night. Guys shored up and did that. We've got to bottle it every night, we've got to compete."
In a game full of star power, the Chicago Blackhawks' most notable stars shined brightest. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane scored in a shootout to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center on Wednesday. Following a scoreless overtime when Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa had the best chance to end the game, Toews and Kane scored nearly identical shootout goals by placing wrist shots past Marc-Andre Fleury's blocker. Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford stopped David Perron and Sidney Crosby. The Blackhawks (30-15-2) enter the 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend on a two-game win streak following two consecutive losses. The Penguins (26-12-8) have lost four consecutive games, which is tied for their longest losing streak of the season. Pittsburgh lost 3-2 in overtime to the Philadelphia Bullies on Tuesday.
The teams traded chances early in the third period when Perron gained control of the puck after it caromed off the end boards with Crawford out of the net. Perron tucked the puck behind Crawford but slid it wide of the net about five minutes into the period. Toews had a chance to give the Blackhawks a one-goal lead shortly after when he received a pass from Brandon Saad in front of Fleury, but was denied by a kick save at 6:31. The Penguins played without forward Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang, two of their top three scorers, because of undisclosed injuries, but overcame a two-goal deficit with two unanswered goals in the second period scored by their third and fourth lines.
After Hossa sent a wrist shot through a screen by Bryan Bickell and past Fleury 2:41 into the second to put the Blackhawks up 2-0, forward Zach Sill made it 2-1 with his first NHL goal 2:40 later. Sill's snap shot went past Crawford glove-side for his second point in 51 NHL games. Forward Andrew Ebbett, who has one goal and five assists this season, assisted on the goal. Penguins third-line right wing Steve Downie tied the game after defenseman Scott Harrington's slap shot bounced from player to player in the crease before Downie got the rebound and flipped a wrist shot over a fallen Crawford with 7:38 left in the second. Forward Mark Arcobello earned the secondary assist for his first point in four games with Pittsburgh. Crosby nearly gave the Penguins a one-goal lead entering the third period when he one-timed a pass from Chris Kunitz past Crawford from the faceoff circle, but the puck hit the post with 46.4 seconds left. The Blackhawks had a 1-0 lead following an evenly played first period.
After a slap shot from Blackhawks defenseman David Rundblad went wide, Hossa gained possession and held off Crosby while controlling the puck with one hand on his stick along the blue line. Hossa one-armed a pass to Rundblad, who sent another slap shot into the Penguins crease. The puck got through a screen by Saad and past Fleury for Rundblad's third goal 6:56 into the first. Pittsburgh held a 9-6 shot advantage in the period but failed to create the quality scoring chances the Blackhawks benefited from. Each team failed to score on one power play in the first, but Chicago generated traffic in front of Fleury while possessing the puck for lengthy stretches on its chance. The Penguins' power play went 0-for-2 after failing to score on six opportunities against the Flyers. Pittsburgh coach Mike Johnston said he thought the power play was more potent on Wednesday but it needs to result in goals.
Pens Quotes
Marc-Andre Fleury: "It was disappointing to lose those two games. But I thought tonight we were a little better. We had some good chances. We missed a few … a post or an open net there. But I thought it was a good game. They're a good team and we had a good battle."
Mike Johnston: "We were so hot to begin the year, then we went very cold. I've thought lately it's actually picked up. You saw last night, it was a deciding factor in the game that we didn't score on the power play. We need to score on the power play."
Toronto @ Ottawa 3-4 - The Maple Leafs got a rare offensive spark with David Clarkson scoring his first goal in 15 games and Nazem Kadri adding a power-play goal early in the third period that cut the lead to 3-2. After Karlsson’s goal at 15:20 of the third gave the Senators a 4-2 lead, Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk scored off a rebound with 1:23 remaining. Clarkson scored the only goal of the second period to make it 3-1 and was screening Senators goaltender Craig Anderson when Kadri scored on the power play at 2:36 of the third. It looked like the Maple Leafs might get the start they were looking for when All-Star forward Phil Kessel broke in alone on Anderson early in the first period. But Kessel, who hasn’t scored in six games, shot wide. On the next rush up the ice, Hoffman scored when his wrist shot got through a screen by Maple Leafs defenseman Roman Polak and past Reimer high to his glove side at 2:02.
The goal was Hoffman’s 16th of the season to lead NHL rookies. Hoffman and Karlsson then worked a beautiful give-and-go off a 3-on-1 to put Ottawa ahead 2-0. Toronto defenseman Cody Franson pinched on Ryan, but Ryan got the puck out, setting up the 3-on-1. Karlsson passed across the slot to Hoffman, who quickly returned the pass, leaving Karlsson for the open side of the net to Reimer’s right for his 10th goal. Zibanejad took advantage of another odd-man situation to score his 11th goal off a pass from Ryan with 20 seconds left in the first period.
Columbus @ Winnipeg 0-4 - The Blue Jackets were shut out for the fourth time this season and go into the break unsure about the health of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. The All-Star selection left the game 7:44 into the second period with a lower-body injury. He was replaced by Curtis McElhinney. Bobrovsky, who allowed a goal on each of the first two shots he faced, stretched his left pad to make a save and remained on the ice. He needed assistance leaving the ice, putting no weight on his right leg, and went directly to the dressing room. Bobrovsky is one of three players named to represent the Blue Jackets in the 2015 Honda NHL All-Game in Columbus. Forwards Nick Foligno and Ryan Johansen are the others. The Blue Jackets also lost left wing Jeremy Morin with an upper-body injury in the second period. If Bobrovsky and Morin are out of the lineup after the break, they would join a list of injured Columbus players that includes defenseman Ryan Murray, plus forwards Artem Anisimov, Boone Jenner and Nathan Horton. One shot and 68 seconds were all the Jets needed to take a 1-0 lead. Andrew Ladd reached Wheeler with a pass into the slot that Wheeler backhanded past Bobrovsky for his 13th goal. Kane followed at 6:06 with his 10th, a right-side shot from inside the blue line that slipped through Bobrovsky's pads. But the Blue Jackets went down 3-0 moments after Winnipeg killed a Columbus power play early in the second period. Slater tipped defenseman Jay Harrison's long left-point slap shot through a screen past Bobrovsky at 4:45 for his second goal of the season. After McElhinney replaced Bobrovsky, Thorburn's fourth goal made it 4-0 at 14:10 of the second period.
The Blue Jackets and Jets play a similar style, based around speed and using their size to dictate play. Columbus and Winnipeg are third and fourth in hits in the League, respectively, but the Jets dictated the pace through much of the game.
Boston @ Colorado 2-3 SO - Goalie Semyon Varlamov stopped all three shooters he faced after Nathan MacKinnon scored in the shootout and the Avalanche defeated the Bruins 3-2. MacKinnon scored against Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask in the first round for the only goal in the tiebreaker. Rask stopped Matt Duchene and Alex Tanguay, while Varlamov made saves against Reilly Smith, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron. The Avalanche tied the game with 1:45 left in the third period on a goal by Ryan O'Reilly after Varlamov went to the bench for an extra attacker. O'Reilly was in the slot when he put a backhander over a prone Rask after John Mitchell took a shot that deflected off teammate Dennis Everberg's stick. Varlamov forced overtime by making a save against Loui Eriksson on a 2-on-1 Boston rush off a pass from Carl Soderberg in the waning seconds of regulation. The Avalanche outshot the Bruins 4-0 in overtime and defenseman Brad Stuart rang a shot off the right post 30 seconds into the extra period. Marchand's goal came after the Bruins killed off the Avalanche's fifth power play of the game. Boston has killed 38 of 40 opposition power plays in its past 10 games. The Avalanche took a 1-0 lead with :00.4 remaining in the first period on a goal by former Bruins forward Jarome Iginla. Tanguay took a shot from the left side and Duchene, while he was in front of the net with Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara, deflected the puck to Iginla at the bottom of the right circle. Iginla scored into a half-open net and video replay confirmed the puck crossed the goal line in time. The goal was Iginla's team-leading 14th of the season and the 574th of his NHL career, moving him past Hall of Famer Mike Bossy into sole possession of 20th place on the all-time list.
Calgary @ Anaheim 3-6 - Ortio gave up three goals on eight shots in the first period, although two came on deflections. He made a toe save on Getzlaf's shorthanded breakaway attempt in the first. It was Ortio's first experience with the streak but he is aware of it. Mikael Backlund and Sean Monahan brought Calgary to 4-2 with goals in a 7:59 span of the second. Backlund whacked home a puck in traffic at 11:13 for his fifth goal in seven games. Monahan extended his goal-scoring streak to four games with a snap shot to finish a pretty sequence at 19:12. Getzlaf scored with 10:16 remaining, but Joe Colborne made it 5-3 with 9:18 to play. Kesler hit the empty net with 19 seconds left to complete the scoring after Calgary lifted Hiller for an extra attacker. Jackman scored on a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot to put Anaheim ahead 4-0 at 9:37 of the second period. Lovejoy's first goal this season made it 3-0 after the first period. Calgary had sustained pressure in Anaheim's end before Lovejoy's point shot hit Flames defenseman Kris Russell on its way in at 17:04. Maroon deflected Lovejoy's point shot into the net at 14:59 of the first for his third goal. Maroon has two goals in his past three games after he had two in his first 36 games. Palmieri opened the scoring when he took a threaded pass from Matt Beleskey from behind the net and shot into an open net at 4:41.
The Boston Bruins wanted to limit the number of quality chances the Dallas Stars had. They did just that, and combined with 36 saves by Tuukka Rask and a goal and assist by Dougie Hamilton, the Bruins defeated the Stars 3-1 on Tuesday at American Airlines Center. Boston (25-16-6), trailed 1-0 after Vernon Fiddler scored 6:46 into the second period of his 700th NHL game, but the Bruins responded with goals by Loui Eriksson, Gregory Campbell and Hamilton. Rask stopped the final 24 shots he faced after Fiddler scored his sixth of the season on a backhander. Campbell broke a 1-1 tie late in the second period, and Hamilton scored a power-play goal in the third. Boston generated the first quality chance when a snap from Patrice Bergeron 6:58 into the first period deflected off the crossbar. The Bruins apparently scored at 10:38 of the first when Campbell beat Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen with a wrister from the slot. However, the goal was nullified after Boston's Jordan Caron was called for hooking Dallas defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, an infraction that forced Oleksiak to turn the puck over to Campbell. The Stars lost left wing Erik Cole late in the first period with an upper-body injury. He did not return. Dallas (21-18-7), which saw its two-game winning streak ended, took the lead when Fiddler flicked a backhander over Rask's glove. Fiddler had a great opportunity for a second goal at 13:22, but his wrist shot from the right circle instead found the near post.
Boston tied it at 14:17 when ex-Star forward Eriksson scored his 11th goal of the season, a wrist shot from the slot that beat a diving Lehtonen. Eriksson had plenty of room to shoot after taking a backhand pass from Carl Soderberg.
The Bruins went ahead to stay when Campbell tapped in a rebound with 1:33 remaining in the middle period. Lehtonen stopped Craig Cunningham's wrist shot from the right point with his pad, but the rebound fell to the near post and Campbell capitalized for his fifth goal of the season and first of 2015. Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski felt the end of the second period was where Boston took control of what had been an even game to that point. Dallas came close to tying the game 1:29 into the third period when Tyler Seguin fired a rising wrist shot from the left circle during a power play. The shot beat Rask but rang loudly off the crossbar. Boston made it a two-goal game at 7:41 when Hamilton beat Lehtonen to his short side for a power-play goal. Lehtonen was screened by Soderberg and didn't see Hamilton's wrist shot from the right circle until the last moment. The Bruins were on the power play after Dallas defenseman Jason Demers was called for elbowing Soderberg at 7:04. Dallas forward Colton Sceviour rang the near post with a wrist shot from the left circle with 6:25 remaining in regulation. Lehtonen finished with 24 saves. Boston killed off all six Dallas power plays.
Stars Quotes
Lindy Ruff: "He's going to be out for a period of time by the looks of it. I can't give you a time frame, but it looks a little bit longer than shorter, this one. I wouldn't expect him back post-break." Ruff called Fiddler's near-miss the turning point in the game for Dallas. "They come down the other way and we lose coverage, and they end up scoring. I think that really kind of turned the game in their favor, just for maybe 4 or 5 minutes. We didn't make a lot of mistakes, but we made one there and made a coverage mistake on the point shot. Posts haven't been very friendly to us this year."
Vern Fiddler: "You try to just play it as another game. But 700 games for a guy that's like me is pretty good, it's a pretty big accomplishment. I've had great teammates and great coaches and my family's helped me out. It's more of an accomplishment for all of them than myself."
Alex Goligoski: "We got away from our game a little bit and they hemmed us in [our defensive zone] a couple of shifts. That's how they got momentum. They got a couple [goals] there and that was the difference."
Tyler Seguin: "It's a tough one to swallow, it's pretty comparable to that game against Winnipeg (last Thursday). We did enough to win the game so it's difficult to swallow that one. We have got to get our rest here on the break and get ready to be the best team out there."
