Washington @ Philadelphia 2-3 OT - In most games, I usually pick a team I want to win. Trying to pick a team I wanted to win this encounter though, was like choosing whether you would rather have shit or manure in your sandwich. Jakub Voracek's power-play goal at 1:28 of overtime. The Flyers played the final two periods without defenseman Nicklas Grossmann because of an upper-body injury sustained with 1:41 left in the first period when he was hit into the boards by the Capitals' Tom Wilson. The Flyers capitalized after Matt Niskanen was sent to the penalty box for hooking at 1:11 of overtime. Claude Giroux sent a pass from low in the Washington zone to Voracek above the circles, and Voracek's shot deflected off Backstrom's stick and past Holtby. Backstrom tipped Alzner's point shot at 3:08 of the third period to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead; the goal was upheld as video review was inconclusive in determining whether Backstrom's stick was at or below the level of the crossbar when he deflected the puck into the net. But Umberger tied the game at 4:22 when Schultz's point shot took a sharp bounce off the end boards past Holtby and went right to Umberger, who scored into a nearly empty net. The Flyers also got a lucky bounce on their first goal. After Ovechkin's shot from the left faceoff circle at 3:08 opened the scoring, Schultz's shot from the point bounced off Read and Green battling in the slot and right to an unmarked Couturier, who scored his 10th goal. Ovechkin's goal, his 21st, extended his goal streak to five games. It's his longest since he scored in five straight games from March 17-24, 2013.
Buffalo @ Carolina 2-5 - Skinner was the first to break out of a slump, scoring his ninth of the season 4:52 into the second period. He finished on the forehand after Alexander Semin made a spin move in the slot to get the puck to him. Buffalo tied the game 59 seconds later after Carolina turned over the puck in the neutral zone. Chris Stewart sent a pass to Philip Varone, who cut through the slot and slipped a forehand to the far post. The goal was Varone's first of the season and second of his NHL career. Carolina then scored three quick goals to take command. Skating 5-on-3, Tlusty set up in the slot and took a pass from Nathan Gerbe for a 2-1 lead at 13:50. The goal was Tlusty's first in 12 games. Eric Staal made it 3-1 on a wraparound 53 seconds later for his fifth goal in six games. Staal's attempt went in front of goaltender Jhonas Enroth and deflected off the right skate of defenseman Mike Weber past Enroth. Victor Rask gave the Hurricanes a 4-1 lead at 15:09 when he deflected Ron Hainsey's shot from the right point, ending a 15-game scoring drought. Varone made it 4-2 at 8:17 of the third period, redirecting Tyson Strachan's high shot through Ward's legs. Nash countered for Carolina at 10:10, battling for a rebound above the crease after Faulk's shot. Nash had one goal in his previous 27 games.
Chicago @ Minnesota 4-2 - Chicago scored first off a neutral-zone faceoff. Blackhawks defenseman David Rundblad dumped the puck into the offensive zone and it bounced off Wild defenseman Christian Folin into the air. When it landed, Chicago forward Patrick Sharp raced in, scooped it and deked goaltender Niklas Backstrom, scoring into an open net at 5:08. Chicago made it 2-0 by taking advantage of a boarding major by Thomas Vanek. With less than a minute to go in the power play, pretty passing by Jonathan Toews and Brad Richards left Kane with an open net from the bottom of the right circle for his 20th at 16:19. Minnesota owned the second period, jumping on Chicago from the first shift and outshooting the Blackhawks 19-5. The Wild capitalized at 1:03 when Jason Zucker scored his team-leading 15th goal from the slot on a feed from behind the net by Jason Pominville. The Blackhawks regained a two-goal lead on their first shot of the third period. Kane dropped a pass to Bryan Bickell at the top of the right circle, and his one-timer tucked under the crossbar for his third goal in his past five games at 6:20. Quenneville showed faith in Bickell by promoting him to the second line with Richards and Kane. Minnesota got it to 3-2 with 5:05 left, scoring seven seconds into a brief 5-on-3 advantage when Pominville shot a one-timer under the crossbar. The Wild had 1:53 more of power play to work with but were unable to tie the game before Bickell scored an empty-net goal with 1:00 remaining. The Wild were without goalie Darcy Kuemper (lower body) and defenseman Marco Scandella (upper body). Leading scorer Zach Parise also did not play as he mourns the loss of his father, former NHL player J.P. Parise, who died Wednesday at age 73.
Ottawa @ Colorado 2-5 - The Avalanche took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Iginla and Brad Stuart. Iginla took a pass from Alex Tanguay in the right circle and beat Craig Anderson to the short side at 8:20. Stuart scored his first goal as a member of the Avalanche at 17:20 after Matt Duchene won a faceoff in the left circle. Mark Stone cut the Ottawa deficit to 2-1 at 3:03 of the second period when he skated through the slot, took a pass from defenseman Erik Karlsson and shot the puck by Varlamov's right arm. Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson scored his career-high 11th goal 53 seconds later to give the Avalanche a 3-1 lead. He skated across the blue line, took a pass from forward Ryan O'Reilly and put a shot behind Anderson, who was screened on the play by Iginla. Iginla gave the Avalanche a 4-1 lead 23 seconds into the third period during a power play. Tanguay, who had two assists to reach 800 career points, passed through the slot to Iginla on the right side. Bobby Ryan drew the Senators within 4-2 at 1:05 when he intercepted Johnson's pass at the side of Varlamov's crease and swept the puck into the net. The Avalanche responded at 2:40. Defenseman Tyson Barrie sent a long pass to Daniel Briere, who scored from the right circle for a 5-2 lead.
Winnipeg @ Phoenix 1-4 - Mikkel Boedker had two goals and an assist, and captain Shane Doan scored a goal and had a season-high three points for the Coyotes, who scored two of their three power-play goals in the first 3:18 of the game in building a lead they would not relinquish. Winnipeg's Bryan Little was called for tripping Smith 23 seconds into the game, and Phoenix wasted little time capitalizing. Pavelec stopped Ekman-Larsson's shot from the point, but Antoine Vermette slid the rebound back to Boedker, who put a wrist shot from the slot through traffic at 1:10 for his first goal in 12 games. The Jets gave the Coyotes another power play when defenseman Ben Chiarot was called for hooking against Tobias Rieder at 3:09. Nine seconds later, Doan found Ekman-Larsson charging in from the point, and Ekman-Larsson beat Pavelec to make it 2-0. The goal proved to be Ekman-Larsson's sixth game-winning goal, the most in the NHL. The opening period could have been worse for the Jets, but Pavelec made big saves on Lucas Lessio and Kyle Chipchura to keep them close. The Coyotes were called for three penalties in a span of 2:17 at the end of the first to give the Jets two 5-on-3 power plays. But Winnipeg got one shot in 1:07 on the first two-man advantage and one in 36 seconds on the other, and Phoenix's two-goal lead survived the period. The Jets had an apparent power-play goal waved off during the sequence when Blake Wheeler fell down on top of Smith in the crease as a Dustin Byfuglien shot deflected off him and into the net. Chris Summers was penalized on the play, but the goal didn't stand. Phoenix made it 3-0 with another power-play goal in the second. After the Coyotes failed to convert a long 5-on-3 chance, Doan cleaned up a Michael Stone rebound at 5-on-4 at 15:35 for his ninth goal. Perreault got Winnipeg on the board at 6:49 of the third period with an extra attacker on the ice on a delayed penalty.
Boedker closed out the scoring, going end to end and beating Pavelec with a move across the crease at 8:55 for his second multigoal game of the season.
Florida @ Vancouver 3-1 - Daniel Sedin scored on Luongo 3:39 into the game, but the longtime Canucks goalie was perfect after that to move into a tie with Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hasek for 11th all-time with 389 career wins, 233 of which came with Vancouver. The crowd rose to its feet to recognize Luongo's feats after a video tribute during a television timeout seven minutes into the first period. Luongo admitted he was hesitant to watch the video, but as the ovation roared on, he lifted his mask and waved his stick to the fans, tapping his glove over his heart before play resumed. Those final two periods spoiled a pretty good start for the Canucks, who opened the scoring 3:39 into the game after a clearing attempt by former Canucks defenseman Willie Mitchell was intercepted and sent down to Henrik Sedin behind the Panthers net. Sedin passed to his brother in the slot, and Daniel Sedin's wrist shot caught Luongo moving to his right as the puck went past his glove on the left. Playing on a new top line with Barkov and Brad Boyes, Huberdeau tied the game midway through the first period with his fifth goal. He was robbed by Miller's left pad on a one-timer from the slot, but Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler knocked the rebound into his own net as he and Barkov swung at the puck. Barkov gave the Panthers the lead after he won an offensive-zone faceoff back to Huberdeau, who tipped the puck back to rookie defenseman Aaron Ekblad at the point for a hard slap shot that Barkov deflected past a screened Miller low on the glove side. Huberdeau made it 3-1 on a breakaway with 3:17 left in the period after getting behind the Vancouver defense when Canucks defenseman Luca Sbisa headed to the bench for a change. Dmitry Kulikov's pass out of his own end hit Huberdeau in stride, and Huberdeau beat Miller with a shot in tight over the glove and in off the seam of the crossbar and post.
NY Rangers @ Los Angeles 4-3 - Talbot had shutouts in three of his previous four starts, but gave up two goals on the Kings' first five shots. Pearson finished a feed from Carter at 4:12 of the first period to end an 11-game scoring slump, and Williams beat Talbot with a slap shot from above the right circle at 5:49. Boyle began the four-goal run with a power-play point shot that hit the stick of Kings center Jarret Stoll on its way to the net at 10:27 of the first period. In an impressive second period in which the Kings could not handle their speed. Klein and Stempniak scored 19 seconds apart, with heavy traffic in front of Quick, at 2:31 and 2:50, respectively, to make it 3-2. St. Louis scored into a wide-open net off Dan Boyle's pass on the power play at 8:17 to give the Rangers a 4-2 lead. The goal came during a hooking penalty to Alec Martinez, the hero of Game 5. The Kings pulled to 4-3 on Justin Williams' goal with 4:03 left and got a 6-on-4 advantage with 35.9 seconds to go when Rangers forward Rick Nash was called for tripping after Los Angeles pulled goaltender Jonathan Quick.
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