Detroit @ Buffalo 3-1 - On a night when the Buffalo Sabres honored Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hasek, it was the Detroit Red Wings who came away victorious. The Sabres retired Hasek's No. 39 in a pregame ceremony. Hasek won the Hart Trophy twice and Vezina Trophy six times when he played for the Sabres from 1992-2001. He also led Buffalo to the 1999 Stanley Cup Final against the Dallas Stars. Like Hasek, who played for the Red Wings from 2001-2004 and again from 2006-2008, the starting goalies Tuesday, Detroit's Petr Mrazek and Buffalo's Michal Neuvirth, are natives of the Czech Republic. Mrazek kept a game puck with a special emblem recognizing Hasek's number was retired.
The Red Wings took a 2-0 lead on goals from Helm and Nyquist. Helm made it 1-0 with a shorthanded goal 9:42 into the first period. He picked up a loose puck and skated in on a 2-on-1 with Joakim Andersson against Sabres defenseman Andrej Meszaros. Helm held on to the puck and took a wrist shot that beat Neuvirth for his eighth goal. Nyquist made it 2-0 with a power-play goal 7:34 into the second period, 17 seconds after Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was assessed a double minor for high sticking on Riley Sheahan. Nyquist scored his 16th goal on a rebound from a Justin Abdelkader deflection of Pavel Datsyuk's shot. Mike Weber cut the Detroit lead to 2-1 with his first goal of the season. He was set up by passes from Brian Flynn and Drew Stafford. Weber took Flynn's pass and beat Mrazek with a low wrist shot. Tatar made it 3-1 with 4:51 left in the second period when he put a rebound of a Quincey shot past Neuvirth for his 17th goal. Tatar was untouched in front of the net between Meszaros and Weber and had a clear shot at the puck.
NY Islanders @ NY Rangers 3-0 - Lundqvist was pulled after making 29 saves on 32 shots, center Derek Stepan was unable to return to the game for the third period because of an upper-body injury and the Rangers as a whole were getting dominated for the first time in a long time. As a result, the attention, at least in New York, has to turn to the once-again red-hot Islanders, who have won at least three in a row for the seventh time this season. The Islanders were sloppy in their own end, but lucky because the Rangers had three shots go off the post, including back-to-back shots by Nash and Derick Brassard at 16:31 and 16:32. The Islanders cleaned up their game in the intermission and clearly had a shoot-first mentality at the start of the second period. It allowed them to wear down the Rangers early in the period. The Islanders pressure forced the Rangers to use their timeout at 3:22. They had a goal waved off at 4:19 because of goalie interference, but they continued to pour on relentless pressure in the Rangers' end. Eventually, the Islanders broke through when Lee scored from the slot at 8:49 with a backhanded shot through Lundqvist's five-hole. Their one-goal lead grew when Kulemin took advantage of a turnover in the defensive zone by the Rangers to score his eighth goal of the season at 16:31. Nielsen's shorthanded goal at 19:19 was the dagger. Stepan turned the puck over to Nielsen, who used his speed while carrying the puck to create a 2-on-1 with Kulemin. Nielsen kept the puck and sent a wrist shot from the right circle through Lundqvist to make it 3-0.
Colorado @ Carolina 2-3 SO - The Hurricanes dominated the period before Staal scored at 14:05. The play started when Ryan Murphy sent Staal streaking through center ice. He passed back to Murphy, who delivered a perfect setup from the right faceoff circle to Staal in the slot. The Hurricanes pushed the lead to 2-0 early in the second period on Patrick Dwyer's fourth goal of the season. Brad Malone fed Dwyer, who made a move in the slot and used defenseman Nate Guenin as a screen to beat Pickard at 6:03. Colorado chipped away at the lead 25 second into the third period. Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla worked the puck behind the net before Matt Duchene's shot near the right post fluttered over Khudobin's blocker. Forward John Mitchell tied the game at 10:05 with an unassisted goal. After Carolina's defense collapsed to the slot, Mitchell sent a wrist shot under Khudobin. Carolina had the best opportunity of the overtime when defenseman Justin Faulk's shot hit the left post. The Hurricanes countered with the two shootout goals, plus saves from Khudobin on Nathan MacKinnon and Duchene, who each hit a post in regulation. The Hurricanes' improved play can be attributed in large part to strong play from Jordan Staal's line, playing alongside his brother Eric Staal and Lindolm. Eric has six goals in eight games, and Jordan has four points in eight games since his return.
Vancouver @ Nashville 1-5 - Rinne left the game after Anton Volchenkov and Chris Higgins collided into the net. Rinne was knocked backward into the boards along with the net. He stretched on the ice after the play and then went to the locker room and did not return. Craig Smith gave Nashville a 1-0 lead at 4:07 of the first period on a power-play goal from the slot. Smith one-timed a pass from forward Colin Wilson past Vancouver goaltender Eddie Lack. Wilson gave the Predators a 2-0 lead at 6:22 of the period on a wrist shot that beat Lack on the blocker side. Wilson led a 2-on-1 rush with forward Mike Fisher and placed his shot under the crossbar on the far side for his second point of the game.
Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler made it 2-1 at 2:47 of the second period on a one-timer from the point that beat Rinne through traffic. Rookie Filip Forsberg gave the Predators a 3-1 lead at 13:32 of the third period on a quick wrist shot from the corner. Forsberg's shot surprised Lack and squeezed through the pads and across the goal line. Fisher gave Nashville a 4-1 lead with 4:29 remaining. James Neal, who returned to the lineup after missing the past five games because of a lower-body injury, made a lead pass that Fisher was able to collect and slide past Lack. Wilson scored his second of the game on the power play with 2:21 remaining. The goal was originally credited to Smith, but his shot deflected off Wilson past Lack.
Florida @ Winnipeg 2-8 - Perreault scored twice in the first 11:24 to help the Jets to an early lead before Winnipeg's four-goal second period turned the game into a rout. Perreault's four goals tied a franchise record. Most recently, Ilya Kovalchuk scored four on Nov. 11, 2005, when the franchise was the Atlanta Thrashers. The eight goals on home ice also tied a franchise record. Perreault's linemates, center Mark Scheifele and right wing Michael Frolik, each had two assists, as did Jim Slater and Toby Enstrom. An offseason signing as a free agent from the Anaheim Sucks expected to be the Jets' third-line center, Perreault had two goals and three assists in his first 24 games with Winnipeg.
Maurice experimented with Perreault at left wing early in the season before he eventually moved him to a line with Scheifele and Frolik, and Perreault has 13 goals and nine assists in his past 19 games. Winnipeg took a 1-0 lead 7:24 into the game when Perreault finished a centering a pass from Zach Bogosian. At 11:24, Perreault's snap shot from the right circle on the power play made it 2-0. Byfuglien's 10th goal moved Winnipeg's lead to 3-0 early in the second period.
His left-circle snap shot off a rush beat Luongo glove side at 3:39. Bolland's first goal of the season 1:36 later made it 3-1. However, Byfuglien's second goal of the game at 6:23 put the Jets back up by three goals. In 18 games since moving to defense after a rash of injuries struck the Winnipeg blue line in late November and December, Byfuglien has six goals and 10 assists. Perreault completed his second career hat trick when he tipped Enstrom's shot through Montoya's pads at 15:23 of the second period. The other came against the Boston Bruins on Jan. 24, 2012, when he played for the Washington Capitals. Perreault's fourth of the game at 16:32 made it 6-1. Harrison's goal at 4:26 of the third period, a goal from Boyes at 5:39 and a power-play goal from Kane with 6:12 left in the game finished the scoring. Perreault's hat trick was the second this season for the Jets. Against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 5, center Bryan Little had the franchise's first hat trick since Dec. 18, 2010.
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