NHL Results - Mon, Apr 06, 2015

Carolina @ Buffalo 3-4 - Tyler Ennis scored his 20th goal to make it 4-0 with 3:12 left in the second period. Ennis, alone by the left post, received a pass from Johan Larsson across the slot and put a wrist shot past Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward. Lindback and the Sabres hung on after the Ennis goal. The Hurricanes scored three goals in the final 21:54 but could not get the equalizer. Carolina cut the Buffalo lead in half with highlight-reel goals from Patrick Dwyer with 1:54 left in the second period and Alexander Semin at 2:31 of the third period. Dwyer deked around Cody Hodgson and lifted a backhand over Lindback's blocker for his fifth goal. Semin's sixth goal came on a 2-on-1 with Jordan Staal against Tyson Strachan. Semin deked and slid the puck past Lindback as the Buffalo goalie tried to poke-check it away. Eric Staal cut the Buffalo lead to 4-3 with 5:22 left in the third after a scramble in front of the Sabres net. He picked up a loose puck and put a wrist shot past Lindback for his 23rd goal after the Hurricanes pulled Ward for the extra attacker. Grigorenko opened the scoring at 5:41 of the first period. He received a pass from Gionta and chopped at the puck as he was knocked off balance. The puck fluttered past Ward for his second goal of the season. Gionta made it 2-0 when he stole the puck from Brett Bellemore in the neutral zone and skated in against Ward before he beat him with a wrist shot to the short side for his 12th goal. Larsson gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead 1:18 into the second period with his sixth goal. He put a rebound of an Ennis shot past Ward after the Hurricanes were unable to clear the puck out of the zone. Andre Benoit left the game early in second period with an undisclosed injury and did not return. The Sabres announced before the game that Mike Weber will undergo surgery later this week for a lower-body injury and will miss the rest of the season. He had one goal and six assists in 64 games.
Columbus @ NY Rangers 3-4 OT - Stepan scored in the final minute of regulation to tie the game and in the final minute of overtime to lift the Rangers to a 4-3 win. He scored the winner from below the left circle with 49.6 seconds remaining in overtime. He tied the game with 27.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Brandon Dubinsky scored the go-ahead goal at 8:14. Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (38 saves) made his best save of the night with 57 seconds left in regulation, when he robbed Dan Girardi with a sprawling pad save on an open shot from inches in front of the top of the crease. Vigneault used his timeout following that save by Bobrovsky. Stepan scored with a one-timer from the lower left circle less than 30 seconds later off a forehanded pass from Chris Kreider, who was in front of the net with his back to Bobrovsky. Stepan scored the overtime winner from a similar spot on the opposite end of the ice, but created the chance by forcing a turnover by Dalton Prout with a strong stick check along the left-wing half wall. Bobrovsky saved Keith Yandle's shot from the point, but Kreider tied up Justin Falk in front of the crease, allowing Stepan room to collect the puck and time to skate with it, make a forehand to backhand move before beating Bobrovsky on the glove side. Henrik Lundqvist (29 saves) was spot on in the second period even though he gave up the tying goal to Marko Dano off a rebound at 14:42. Girardi gave the Rangers the 2-1 lead with his fourth goal of the season at 36 seconds of the second period. It came off a strong cycle play by J.T. Miller and Kreider and a crisp circle-to-circle pass from Stepan. Matt Calvert tied the game at 1-1 late in the first by converting for his 12th goal of the season off a defensive zone turnover by McDonagh. Martin St. Louis got a fortunate bounce off a rush with Kevin Hayes to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 5:38 of the first.
Winnipeg @ Minnesota 2-0 - Winnipeg’s refusal to take part in extracurricular activities played a starring role. Less than four minutes into the game, Mark Stuart got into a shoving match with Chris Stewart in the corner. Stewart connected on a jab and was assessed a penalty for roughing. Winnipeg scored on the power play at 4:12 when Blake Wheeler’s centering pass deflected off Marco Scandella’s skate and past Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk. That goal ended up being the game-winner. Drew Stafford provided some extra help for Pavelec in the second when a rebound of a shot by Tyler Myers came right to Stafford in the slot, where he quickly put it past Dubnyk at 13:10. Pavelec stopped nine shots in the first period, 12 in the second and 11 more in the third as the Wild made a push. Minnesota pulled Dubnyk with 2:04 remaining but had few quality looks.
Los Angeles @ Vancouver 1-2 SO - Lack made 36 saves through overtime and stopped all three Kings in the shootout to move the Canucks closer to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After Dwight King beat him 1:13 into the game, Lack kept it close with a couple great saves, and Daniel Sedin tied the game midway through the third period on brother Henrik Sedin's 700th NHL assist. Chris Higgins scored the only goal of the shootout on a patient backhand deke that beat Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick, and the Canucks moved four points ahead of the Kings and Calgary Flames for second place in the Pacific Division. After Lack made pad saves on Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar, Higgins patiently outwaited Quick before lifting a sharp-angled backhand high over his outstretched glove. Lack got his glove on Marian Gaborik's shot to seal the comeback win. After Dustin Brown drove the net and forced Lack to make a good right-pad save after a pass out of the corner in the opening minute, King scored on a similar chance 1:13 into the game. Jeff Carter drove wide around Dan Hamhuis off the rush and centered from below the goal line to King, who fought off a check from Christopher Tanev and managed to get his stick on the puck in the crease and tap it in past Lack's far pad. It was the seventh time in eight games Vancouver has allowed the first goal. For a while it looked like one goal might be enough for Quick, who was making his 18th straight start. Daniel Sedin finally tied it shortly after a power play expired midway through the third period. Henrik Sedin cut in off the left side on his forehand and was behind the net when he threw a blind backhand pass back the way he came to Daniel for a one-timer from the left faceoff dot that beat Quick high to the glove side.
Dallas @ San Jose 5-1 - Jamie Benn scored two goals and led the Dallas Stars to a 5-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center, but he was in no mood to celebrate. The Stars and Sharks were eliminated from contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Winnipeg Jets completed a 2-0 win against the Minnesota Wild a few minutes after the opening faceoff. Patrick Eaves, Colton Sceviour and Ryan Garbutt scored for Dallas (39-31-10), and Jhonas Enroth made 23 saves. Joe Thornton scored for San Jose (39-32-9). One season after the Sharks squandered a 3-0 series lead and lost in seven games to the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference First Round, their streak of 10 consecutive playoff berths ended. The Sharks lost their final home game of the season and finished 19-17-5 at SAP Center, where they have typically had one of the NHL's best home-ice advantages. Sceviour gave Dallas a 1-0 lead 28 seconds into the game when he put a rebound past Alex Stalock from close range. Defenseman Jason Demers, playing in San Jose for the first time since the Sharks traded him to Dallas for Brenden Dillon on Nov. 21, had the primary assist. The Stars made it 2-0 on Patrick Eaves' power play goal at 17:32 with Barclay Goodrow in the penalty box for elbowing Tyler Seguin. Twenty-two seconds into the power play, Benn took two whacks at a rebound from right of crease. The puck caromed across the crease and bounced off Eaves' skate and past Stalock. Dallas extended its lead at 7:53 of the second period when Benn scored a 5-on-3 power-play goal from point-blank range to make it 3-0. Sharks forward Joe Pavelski went to the penalty box at 6:12 for hooking, and Brent Burns joined him at 7:27 for slashing. Twenty-six seconds later, Benn scored his 31st goal of the season, lifting the puck over Stalock's glove. The Stars have gone 12-5 over their past 17 games. Thornton answered with a goal at 13:27, putting the puck between Enroth's pads on a rush with two seconds left on a power play. The goal was Thornton's 16th, five more than he had last season.
Benn scored his 32nd goal of the season at 15:08 of the third period, taking a pass in the slot from Seguin and sending the puck into a wide-open net. That goal gave Benn 80 points, breaking his high of 79 set last season.
Garbutt scored on a breakaway with two minutes remaining.

NHL Results - Sun, Apr 05, 2015

Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia 1-4 - The Flyers, already mathematically eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention, could only play spoilers. They did, and it left their cross-state rivals reeling and potentially locked in a much closer race than they thought they'd be in. Goalie Steve Mason tied his season high with 46 saves, and the Flyers offense was powered by goals from forwards Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn and Ryan White and defenseman Michael Del Zotto in a 4-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Wells Fargo Center. Voracek, Schenn, and Del Zotto scored power-play goals; White scored at even strength in the third period. The Flyers (32-29-18) have won eight in a row against the Penguins dating to last season. They swept the season series against the Penguins for the first time since 1983-84. Philadelphia also defeated Pittsburgh 4-1 the previous Wednesday at Consol Energy Center. The Penguins (42-26-11), losers of three straight and playing without defensemen Kris Letang and Christian Ehrhoff, might have spoken too soon. They're in a race that they couldn't have fathomed being in on March 14, when they lost to the Boston Bruins 2-0. That started what has turned into a 3-8-1 stretch for the Penguins, who have entered dangerous territory when it comes to making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins (95 points) are tied with the Bruins and Detroit Red Wings in the race for a wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference, and the Ottawa Senators pulled within two points with their shootout loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Penguins had 47 shots against the Flyers, including 22 in the first period. Sutter had their only goal on the power play at 16:21 of the first. Nick Spaling and Evgeni Malkin, who played after missing the past two games with an undisclosed injury, had shots that rang off the post when the Penguins were trailing 2-1. Penguins coach Mike Johnston also took the measured approach, saying there were things he liked about how the Penguins played Sunday, just as there were things he liked about their game Saturday, when they lost 5-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The problem, as Johnston noted, is it's hard to be content with taking positives out of losses at this time of the season when you haven't clinched a playoff berth yet. Voracek scored the game-tying power-play goal at 19:18 of the first period. Schenn gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead at 12:20 of the second. White scored off a feed from Sean Couturier at 15:05 of the third period to make it 3-1. Del Zotto capped the scoring at 19:50 of the third. Couturier drew the penalties that led to the Flyers' first two goals. He was cross-checked in the back by Daniel Winnik at 18:31 of the first period and hooked by Blake Comeau at 12:02 of the second. Philadelphia's power play was 3-for-4. Johnston felt a turning point was Winnik's penalty on Couturier. To that point the Flyers were being outshot 22-3, but Mark Streit found Voracek in the right circle and he hammered a one-timer past Penguins goalie Thomas Greiss (16 saves) with 42 seconds to play in the first period. Except the Flyers were in the game the game again, and they started to tighten up. Schenn gave Philadelphia the lead when his redirection of Voracek's pass chipped up and over the defense before dropping into the crease and sliding into the net.


Further evidence that the Flyers really are scum, one question who will you be playing in the playoffs? that's right no one, after having another classic season:

Steve Mason: "They have something to play for, and we were happy to take it away from them. Our fate is sealed, but that doesn't mean we can't ruin other people's."
Ryan White: "From being here one year, you realize that we don't like the Penguins. It's good to beat them twice in the same week. That's the only thing we can play for right now, is try to put a damper on other teams' things. They had a few guys last week saying that they're going to playoffs, chirping after the game. So it was a good win for us."


Washington @ Detroit 2-1 - Kuznetsov opened the scoring 3:38 into the game with a power-play goal. His shot from the right circle hit Detroit forward Drew Miller, changed direction, and went past Mrazek. It was Kuznetsov's 11th goal and came with Dan Cleary in the penalty box for high sticking. Marek Zidlicky got a clipping penalty against Wilson with 9:32 left in the second period. Detroit killed it off and seemed to get a spark, out-shooting the Capitals 16-6 in the second period. Green stretched Washington's lead to 2-0, 4:42 into the second. His slap shot from the top of the right circle went in off the top of Mrazek's glove. It was Green's 10th goal. Helm's power-play goal put Detroit on the board and made it 2-1 with 7:01 left in the second period. He tipped Pavel Datsyuk's pass into an open net for his 14th goal. Holtby stopped Datsyuk's backhand shot, cutting across the top of the crease from left to right with under five minutes left in the third period. Tom Wilson was helped off the ice with 6:18 remaining in the game after he got hit in the head, while blocking Danny DeKeyser's shot.


Montreal @ Florida 4-1 - Goalie Carey Price tied the Canadiens record with his 42nd victory of the season, Michel Therrien got his 200th win with Montreal in his 400th game as head coach, and Devante Smith-Pelly scored his first goal since being acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. Max Pacioretty, who leads the Canadiens with 37 goals and 67 points, left the game at 5:48 of the first period when he hit his head against the boards after being checked by Dmitry Kulikov and then getting his feet tangled with Panthers defenseman Alex Petrovic. Pacioretty appeared wobbly as he was accompanied off the ice by a trainer. Therrien had no update on Pacioretty's status after the game. Price finished with 24 saves to tie the Canadiens' single-season wins record first set by Jacques Plante in 1955-56, then matched by Plante in 1961-62 and by Ken Dryden in 1975-76. Plekanec opened the scoring at 6:36 of the first period on a 5-on-3 power play. With Kulikov in the box for interference on the play Pacioretty was injured and Erik Gudbranson serving a minor for high sticking, Plekanec scored his 200th NHL goal from a sharp angle when he beat Ellis through the five-hole. Ekblad tied the game at 6:20 of the second period with his 12th goal, the most in the NHL among rookie defensemen. After Florida won the faceoff immediately following Dale Wiese's penalty for delay of game, Ekblad got the puck at the point and was allowed to skate in before firing a slap shot from the top of the left circle that beat Price low to the glove side. Florida almost took the lead less than a minute later when Petrovic's slap shot from the point hit the post. Instead, Montreal turned the near-miss into a breakout opportunity and scored 46 seconds after Ekblad's goal. P.K. Subban chased down an errant lead pass in the Florida zone and sent the puck across the ice to Gallagher, who one-timed it past Ellis for his 24th goal. It was Gallagher's fourth goal against Florida this season. Parenteau broke a nine-game goal drought at 11:27 with a spectacular individual effort. He skated with the puck the length of the ice before crossing the blue line and firing a wrist shot while surrounded by three Florida players. Parenteau then beat everybody to the rebound and shot the puck past Ellis. Parenteau also was instrumental in Montreal's fourth goal at 17:42 of the second after he stole the puck from Willie Mitchell to the side of the Florida net. Parenteau fed Smith-Pelly for a one-timer.


Ottawa @ Toronto 2-3 SO - Joffrey Lupul gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 3:10 of the first period when he scored his 10th goal of the season. The veteran right wing took a pass in front of the net and escaped the loose coverage of Erik Condra before stuffing a shot past Hammond. It was Lupul's first goal since Dec. 31, a span of 28 games. The Senators tied it at 7:15 of the second period on a power play when Erik Karlsson hopped on a rebound and scored his 21st goal of the season. It came nine seconds after Andrew MacWilliam was sent off for tripping. The Maple Leafs restored their lead at 12:42 when James van Riemsdyk scored his 27th goal of the season and his third in as many games. Holland was driving hard to the net and suddenly jammed on the breaks. He spotted van Riemsdyk in front and made a pinpoint pass that led to the goal. Stone tied the score 2-2 at 1:09 of the third period with a power-play goal. With Toronto's Richard Panik off for holding, Stone took a pass from Kyle Turris in the high slot and one-timed a shot past Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier for his 22nd goal of the season. Holland, playing his first game since March 13 becausef of a lower-body injury, was Toronto's seventh shooter in the shootout and sent a shot high past Hammond. Toronto coach Peter Horachek suggested he might monitor Holland's ice time, especially early in the game, but he said afterward he was impressed with the center's effort.


St Louis @ Chicago 2-1 - It was a game reminiscent of the hard-hitting series between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference First Round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Only this time the Blues found a way to win a big game in Chicago. Led by 38 saves from Jake Allen, St. Louis defeated Chicago 2-1 at United Center to move into first place of the Central Division. The Blues (105 points) have won three in a row; they lead the Nashville Predators by one point and the Blackhawks by three, with three games left for each team. Chicago will host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday before heading to Scottrade Center for a rematch with St. Louis on Thursday. It was the first regular-season regulation victory in Chicago since Feb. 3, 2010, for the Blues (49-23-7), who also lost all three games of last season's playoff series here. The first of those goals, by captain David Backes, tied it 1-1 on a power play at 6:07 of the second period. Jaden Schwartz got the puck in the low slot and feathered a pass to Backes for a tip-in goal at the right side of the net.
The puck traveled through a narrow gap between the skates of Duncan Keith and goalie Corey Crawford. The second goal, scored 9:05 later, was again the result of Blues forwards buzzing the net. Jori Lehtera won a faceoff back Alex Pietrangelo at the right point, and he sent a shot toward the net that hit Ty Rattie in front of Crawford. The puck caromed to the low slot, where Jokinen batted it in to give St. Louis the lead. Rattie's right skate made contact with Crawford's left pad during the play, upsetting the Chicago goaltender, but goalie interference wasn't called. The Blackhawks (48-25-6) had a number of opportunities to score the equalizing goal, but they couldn't get another shot past Allen and saw their four-game winning streak come to an end as a result.
Kris Versteeg gave Chicago a 1-0 lead late in the first with his first goal since Feb. 24 against the Florida Panthers, the game right wing Patrick Kane sustained a fractured left clavicle. Marian Hossa intercepted a backhand pass from T.J. Oshie at the St. Louis blue line, carried the puck into the left faceoff circle and slid a pass to Versteeg in front of the net. Versteeg redirected the puck through Allen's pads at 14:12 for his 14th goal. Robert Bortuzzo was injured trying to check Toews during the play, and he wasn't able to break up the pass. Bortuzzo didn't return because of an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. Chicago also lost a defenseman in the first period. Kimmo Timonen was driven hard into the boards by St. Louis forward Ryan Reaves midway through the period and did not return. Quenneville said Timonen is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Chicago's 1-0 lead held up the rest of the first thanks mostly to Crawford, who received a standing ovation after making saves on a couple good scoring chances by Rattie and Jokinen with less than three minutes remaining in the period. The Blues came out ahead in a second period that featured some hard hits. They then used a strategy that wins games in the postseason, staving off the Blackhawks' push to tie it in the third. Veteran defenseman Barret Jackman, a healthy scratch Friday at the Dallas Stars, returned to the lineup for St. Louis and played his 800th NHL game. Only Bernie Federko has played more games for the Blues.

#9 Detroit Red Wings @ Minnesota Wild 3-2 SO - Sat, Apr 04, 2015

And so I was down to my last NHL game on this trip. It was sad knowing I would be heading home the following day. However I still had another game to enjoy. It started when I met Doug at the Arena Bar. I had got to know him and his buddy Andy the night before at the Timberwolves game and he promised me a Minnesotan Beer to try as he was working behind the bar. While supping on the local brew I got chatting to a couple from Northern Michigan who were Wings fans. It was closer for them to get to St Paul to watch the Wings play the Wild than it is to get to Detroit. Much of the conversation centered around Mike Babcock, and how he used to play for my local English team the Whitley Warriors and where he might be heading if rumors are to be believed and he is leaving the Wings. We all think the Leafs!

The Wild may have the most points in the NHL since mid-January, but this is still the Wild. Historically, the franchise rarely makes things easy, so it should come as no shock that with a chance to put themselves in the playoffs, the Wild has lost two games in a row for the first time since Jan. 19-20. But this loss to the desperate Detroit Red Wings came in a marathon, eight-round shoot-out. A video review confirmed Darren Helm's shot hit the inside of Devan Dubnyk's left pad just over the goal line.
It didn't help that captain Mikko Koivu, tied for second in NHL history with 39 shootout goals, was a late scratch with a scratched cornea. He made it through warmups but couldn't play due to what sounds like an off-ice injury. The Wild said Koivu is day-to-day. His absence sent his line with Nino Niederreiter abd Chris Stewart into flux. Erik Haula, scratched Thursday, started in Koivu's 5-on-5 spot and Mikael Granlund took Koivu's top power-play unit spot. By the second, Haula and Charlie Coyle changed places. By the third, Haula was demoted to the fourth line and ultimately benched.

Parise got things started with 5:53 left in the first period, but was just 1:52 later, Riley Sheahan tied it. The Wild had a chance to take the lead in the second when Detroit took back-to-back penalties, which included a Wild two-man advantage. Parise, Pominville, Granlund, Ryan Suter and Matt Dumba stayed on for two-plus minutes and didn't record a shot. Gustav Nyquist ironically gave Detroit a 2-1 lead on a power play. The Wild's power play ranks 28th, connecting 15.6% of the time. Regardless, Parise tied the game at 2-2 in the third with his team-leading 32nd goal and team-leading 10th power-play goal. The Wild failed on two power plays to win the game after.
Former Buffalo Sabres teammates Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek are second and third on the Wild's scoring. Both reached the 50 point mark in the week leading up to this game. Vanek has flourished since he stopped moving around the lineup, finding stability at left wing and excellent chemistry with linemates Charlie Coyle and Justin Fontaine.

Game in a Nutshell
Darren Helm was caught off guard as the seventh round of a shootout went to the eighth. With a chance to win, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock called Helm's number, and the veteran came through. His backhand-forehand move got Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk on his belly, giving Helm an open net to shoot at, helping Detroit to a 3-2 victory at Xcel Energy Center. Helm's shot was ruled no goal on the ice after Dubnyk appeared to make a save with the back of his left pad. But it was determined by video review that the puck had already crossed the goal line. Dubnyk made 20 saves.

Wild Quotes

Mike Yeo: "Any point you get right now is big. That's the frustrating thing about the shootout. It's a loss. It feels like a loss, but I don't  want to say it's a coin flip, but it can go either way. It's not like we were that bad; let's not paint that picture. We played a pretty darn good hockey team tonight and we knew they were going to play their best game. [Koivu] scratched his cornea, but he should be fine by Monday. I thought Haula looked tired tonight. I'm not sure why. We've spent considerable amount of time on our power play. I will say that for sure. I will also say that because of that we've also lost other areas of our game in that practice."
Zach Parise: "They were better than us the first two periods, no question. I thought we started to play a little simpler and a little smarter in the third and I thought that's when we started to feel a little better about how we were playing. It's not going to do any good for me to say anything. it wasn't good enough. We've got to practice it."
Ryan Suter: [power play] been a struggle all year. We have to get it going. It doesn't do any good to talk about the past chances. We have to focus moving forward. We have to practice it more for sure and we have to be better at it.

Red Wings Quotes

Darren Helm: "I wasn't really thinking my number was going to be called quite yet. I thought [Justin Abdelkader] had a chance; he's been pretty hot lately. I thought he could go, a couple other guys, so I was pretty calm. I wasn't thinking about it too much. Luckily, it went in. It was questionable there for a little bit. I thought it might have [gone in] because I got it past that first pad."
Mike Babcock: didn't know he was going to go with Helm either. After the first three or four shooters, Babcock went with an unconventional method to decide who jumped over the boards next.
"I just asked (backup goaltender) Pete Mrazek who he thought was any good. He's the guy who's faced them; I don't face them. [Assistant coach Andrew Brewer] has all the math on everybody, and so we go based on that, but you get to a point and I just ask Mrazek who should shoot."
Jimmy Howard: "I just wanted to go out there and give the guys a chance to win and to have fun. That's why we do this; it's fun to us. That's what I tried to get back to."

Stars of the Game
1 Darren Helm - netted the shoot-out winner.
2 Zach Parise - scored two goals, including a key power-play goal, his team-leading 10th.
3 Gustav Nyquist - scored a power-play goal and scored in the shoot-out.


Special mention to Riley Sheahan, who scored one goal and drew the penalty that led to a goal.

Goals
1-0 - 14:07 - EHG Zach Parise Asst: Mikael Granlund, Jason Pominville - Zach
Parise scored the game's first goal at 14:07 of the first period following a Detroit turnover at their own blue line.  
1-1 - 15:59 - EHG Riley Sheahan Asst: Stephen Weiss, Danny DeKeyser - Detroit tied the score when Riley Sheahan pounced on a rebound and beat Dubnyk at 15:59.
2-1 - 37:13 - PPG Gustav Nyquist Asst: Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall - The Red Wings took advantage of their first power play of the night late in the second when Gustav Nyquist fired a shot from a sharp angle over Dubnyk's shoulder at 17:13, giving Detroit a 2-1 lead.
2-2 - 46:33 - PPG Zach Parise Asst: Jason Pominville, Ryan Suter - Zach Parise scored a between-the-legs redirection for his second goal of the night with 13:27 remaining in the third period to tie the score 2-2.
Shootout
1 Z. Parise X                 P. Datsyuk X
2 C. Coyle X                 G. Nyquist [Scored]
3 J. Pominville [Scored] T.Tatar X
4 T. Vanek [Scored]      R. Sheahan [Scored]
5 N. Niederreiter X        H. Zetterberg X
6 C. Stewart X              S. Weiss X
7 M. Granlund X            N. Kronwall X
8  J. Fontaine X             D. Helm [Scored]

Stats
- The Red Wings (41-24-13) remain tied with the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division; Detroit has played one fewer game. Detroit and Boston are three points ahead of the Ottawa Senators. The teams are also competing for a wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.- Jimmy Howard made 22 saves through overtime, and then denied six Wild shooters in the tiebreaker for his first win since March 22.
- Minnesota (44-26-8) has lost consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 19 and 20, but the Wild remain four points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets for the first wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. Minnesota had a chance to clinch a playoff berth with a win and other results.
- Parise's 32 goals lead the Wild.
- Wild scored 30 third-period goals since Feb. 22, a stretch of 20 games. The most in NHL during that time. Also allowed 8 third-period goals during the same time, the fewest in the NHL.

Penalties

1st Period
04:27 DET	Niklas Kronwall  Tripping against  Chris Stewart
2nd Period
06:24 DET	Niklas Kronwall  Interference against  Chris Stewart
07:36 DET	Kyle Quincey  Interference against  Jason Pominville
15:22 MIN	Erik Haula  Holding against  Riley Sheahan
3rd Period
05:59 DET	Danny DeKeyser  Concealing puck
08:31 MIN	Justin Fontaine  Holding against  Tomas Tatar
10:25 DET	Stephen Weiss  Too many men/ice - bench
17:29 DET	Stephen Weiss  Tripping against  Ryan Suter

NHL Results - Sat, Apr 04, 2015

Philadelphia @ Carolina 2-3 SO - Jordan Staal set up Elias Lindholm for a goal in the first period before scoring in the second to give the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead. Michael Raffl scored in the second period and Sean Couturier tied the game with 1:50 remaining in the third. From there, Nathan Gerbe and Chris Terry scored in the shootout to end Carolina's three-game losing streak.
Lindholm's 17th goal gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 11:00 of the first period. Emery kicked out Staal's shot, but Lindholm was waiting at the right faceoff dot to finish with a one-timer. Staal scored an unassisted goal early in the second period to give the Hurricanes a two-goal lead. After poking the puck away from Nicklas Grossmann in the neutral zone, Staal held the puck on a 2-on-1 with Eric Staal before beating Emery to the glove side at 3:27 for his fifth goal of the season. After a sluggish first period, the Flyers came alive on their first power play. With Alexander Semin off for hooking, Philadelphia worked the puck around to Couturier, whose shot through traffic was tipped by Raffl for his 21st goal at 9:46 of the second. Couturier tied the game when he gathered Michael Del Zotto's pass in front of Ward and scored on a backhand. Gerbe and Terry scored on Carolina's first two shootout attempts, giving Ward a bit of breathing room after stopping Jakub Voracek on Philadelphia's first attempt. After Nick Cousins scored for the Flyers, Ward stopped Claude Giroux for the victory.
Pittsburgh @ Columbus 3-5 - The Pittsburgh Penguins are battling for second place in the Metropolitan Division, but a second straight loss and seventh in the past 11 games has them worried about making the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Pittsburgh led by two goals, but the Columbus Blue Jackets, with three goals from Nick Foligno, defeated the Penguins 5-3 at Nationwide Arena. The Penguins (42-25-11), who possess the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, are three points behind the New York Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division and two behind the third-place Washington Capitals. The Penguins have a game in hand on each. Columbus (39-35-4) has won a Blue Jackets-record nine straight games. Foligno got his first NHL hat trick in his 541st NHL game with an empty-net goal with 57 seconds left. Brandon Dubinsky assisted on the three goals, which gave Foligno 30 this season. Matt Calvert and Scott Hartnell scored for Columbus. Crosby, Brandon Sutter and Ben Lovejoy scored for Pittsburgh. Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves; Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves for the Penguins. It was the Blue Jackets' third hat trick in the past six games. The others were Hartnell against the Anaheim Ducks on March 24, and Cam Atkinson three days later at the Chicago Blackhawks. The Penguins were sloppy defensively, leading directly to two Blue Jackets goals. The Penguins lost after holding a two-goal lead for the third time in past six games. The Blue Jackets rallied from two down Thursday to defeat the Islanders 4-3 in a shootout.
Foligno's second goal put the Blue Jackets ahead 3-2 at 6:46 of the third period. He stole the puck from Pittsburgh defenseman Derrick Pouliot at center ice and passed ahead to Dubinsky. His shot was saved by Fleury, but Foligno drove the net and scored on the rebound. Hartnell made it 4-2 at 9:29 by jamming in the puck during a scramble while Fleury tried to smother it. Marko Dano got his second assist of the game on Hartnell's 26th goal of the season. The Penguins needed 35 seconds to respond when Lovejoy got his second of the season with a shot from the right point to make it 4-3. The Columbus rally started with goals by Foligno and Calvert 2:03 apart late in the second period. Foligno finished a tic-tac-toe play at 16:25. The Penguins were careless leaving the zone, and Artem Anisimov got the loose puck to Dubinsky, who fed Foligno at the left side of the crease. Calvert scored at 18:28, his 11th goal of the season. Crosby, who leads the NHL with 81 points, scored his 27th goal at 8:21 of the first period. Sutter made it 2-0 at 11:07 of the second, taking a slick backhand pass by Cole that eluded three Blue Jackets. Sutter has 18 goals. The Penguins play the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. The Blue Jackets go for 10 wins in a row Monday against the New York Rangers.
Vancouver @ Winnipeg 4-5 - The Jets reached 40 wins for the first time since the 2006-07 season, when it was known as the Atlanta Thrashers. Two goals from Lee Stempniak and three assists from Mathieu Perreault carried the Jets, who ended a two-game losing streak. Stempniak, an acquisition from the New York Rangers on March 1, has scored three goals in his past two games; he has five goals and three assists in 14 games with Winnipeg. Goals 50 seconds apart gave the Jets a 2-0 lead 5:24 into the first period. Jim Slater scored at 4:34, his fifth goal, and Michael Frolik scored his 18th. Henrik Sedin's 18th goal on Vancouver's first power play made it 2-1 at 9:37. Daniel Sedin tied the game at 17:37 on his 17th goal. Thirty-six seconds after Vancouver tied the game, Stempniak gave the lead back to Winnipeg. Mark Scheifele made it 4-2 Winnipeg with 55.6 seconds left in the second period, but Burrows scored his 17th goal on a breakaway seven seconds later. Stempniak's second goal with 9:36 left in the third period made it 5-3. Burrows scored his second of the game with 2:05 left with Lack off for a sixth skater. In the Canucks' final push, Chris Higgins hit the right post. The Jets played without defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, who began a four-game BS suspension for his cross-check of J.T. Miller of the New York Rangers on March 31. Slater scored for the third time in the past four games off a cross-slot pass from Jiri Tlusty. On the next shift, Frolik jammed a loose puck under Lack. Frolik's 18 goals are his most in a season since he scored 21 in 2009-10 with the Florida Panthers. Bryan Little's offensive-zone tripping penalty put Vancouver on its first power play. Alexander Edler's point shot ricocheted off the end boards into the crease, where Henrik Sedin stuffed it into the net. Eight minutes later, Daniel Sedin took Vrbata's pass from behind the Winnipeg net and slipped it past Pavelec. Winnipeg's line of Stempniak, Perreault and center Adam Lowry combined for nine shots. They started to build another two-goal lead by scoring late in the first period when Stempniak tipped in Perreault's pass through the slot past Lack at 18:13. In the final minute of the second period, Scheifele snuck a right-circle shot past Lack. But off the faceoff, Burrows beat Winnipeg defenseman Toby Enstrom and tucked a shot around Pavelec for his third goal in the past four games. The Canucks finished their road trip 2-2-0, losing the final two games. Lack has allowed 12 goals in the past three games. The Winnipeg franchise has not reached the playoffs since 2007, but Stempniak said his teammates are adjusting well to the pressures of the race.
Toronto @ Boston 1-2 SO - Patrice Bergeron scored in regulation and had the only goal in the shootout to give the Bruins a 2-1 win against the Maple Leafs at TD Garden. Bergeron beat Toronto goaltender James Reimer by dragging the puck from his backhand to his forehand in the third round of the shootout. Boston is 4-9 in shootouts. Toronto had six shots in the scoreless first period; forward David Booth hit the left post on one partial breakaway. Bergeron gave Boston a 1-0 lead 19 seconds into the second period. His wrist shot from in front came after Reimer made a save on Bergeron's initial one-timer from the right hash mark. James van Riemsdyk tied it 1-1 at 14:31 of the second period. Defenseman Morgan Rielly's shot required a Rask blocker save, and van Riemsdyk got a piece of the rebound before Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid banked the puck in off Rask's back. Joffrey Lupul had the best chances to break the tie with two wrist shots from in tight at 12:25. Rask went down and stacked his pads to keep the shots out of the net.
Washington @ Ottawa 3-4 OT - The Senators were unable to turn a three-goal first-period lead into a regulation victory, but Turris scored on a breakaway at 3:14 of overtime to give Ottawa a 4-3 win. The Senators led 3-0 less than 10 minutes into the game. But the Capitals dominated for most of the final 50 minutes to force the game past regulation. However, Turris gave the Senators the win when he poked the puck away in the Ottawa zone, raced in alone and beat Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby. Clarke MacArthur and Mika Zibanejad scored during 5-on-3 advantages, and rookie Mark Stone scored his 21st of the season for the Senators, who won their third game in a row, two in overtime and one in a shootout. The Capitals completed their comeback at 15:50 of the third period on Brouwer's 21st of the season. The puck was chipped past Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson in the neutral zone and Brouwer skated in and beat Hammond to the stick side to make it 3-3. The Capitals cut the deficit to 3-2 at 7:18 of the third period on Green's ninth goal of the season. With Brouwer, who was a presence all night around the Ottawa net, battling with defenseman Eric Gryba in the crease, Green skated in and put a shot past Hammond. The Capitals scored the only goal of the second period and held a significant edge in play. Down 11-3 in shots 10 minutes into the game, the Capitals outshot the Senators 16-9 during the next 30 minutes. Johansson scored his 19th goal of the season at 6:26 of the second, beating Hammond high to the glove side with Brouwer screening the goaltender. Stone opened the scoring at 3:31 of the first period. It was his fourth goal and 12th point in his past 10 games. The Capitals then paid a big price for their parade to the penalty box. The Senators' power play was 6-for-55 in the past 17 games but took advantage of three Washington penalties that resulted in overlapping 5-on-3 advantages. Eric Fehr was called for hooking MacArthur with 50 seconds left in Joel Ward's interference penalty at 7:17. Holtby then swiped the puck out of his crease and into the protective netting 28 seconds after Fehr was sent off and was given a delay of game penalty. MacArthur scored his 15th of the season at 9:03 with a shot to the glove side, and with the Capitals still down two men, Zibanejad scored his 20th of the season at 9:56 to increase the lead to 3-0.
Zibanejad became the fifth Senator to score 20 goals this season joining Stone, Karlsson, Turris and Mike Hoffman. Karlsson's assist on MacArthur's goal was the 300th point of his NHL career. He has played 393 games
Tampa Bay @ Florida 4-0 - Cedric Paquette hit the crossbar at the end of Florida power play early in the second before Stamkos opened the scoring at 6:10. Stamkos scored on the power play from below the top of the left circle when he one-timed Johnson's cross-ice pass. He scored again at 11:19 of the second after a Florida turnover in its defensive zone. After stealing the puck, Callahan fed Stamkos at the right dot and his wrist shot beat Luongo high to the short side. Callahan made it 3-0 at 1:03 of the third when his wrist shot from the right dot trickled through between Luongo's body and his right arm. Johnson made it 4-0 at 18:13.
Buffalo @ NY Islanders 0-3 - Okposo scored a power-play goal at 6:37 of the first period. Brian Strait took a double-minor for high-sticking at 16:33. Halak made two saves during the power play, including stopping a Zach Bogosian slap shot from the left circle with 1:39 left. New York has allowed one power-play goal on 34 chances in its past 15 games. Nelson scored at 9:32 of the third period to give the Islanders. Bogosian tried to clear the puck and it ricocheted off a stick that was on the ice and went to Nelson near the left circle, where he sent a wrist shot past Sabres goalie Andrey Makarov for his 20th goal. Kulemin, playing his 500th NHL game, scored his 14th goal off a rebound of a Hamonic shot from the right side at 13:13 of the third period.
New Jersey @ NY Rangers 1-6 - Lundqvist's shutout bid ended with 3:30 remaining when Tuomo Ruutu scored, but it didn’t have an impact on the outcome. Keith Kinkaid made 23 saves on 26 shots in relief of Cory Schneider, who allowed three goals on six shots in the opening 12:24. It marked the eighth time this season that Schneider was pulled. The Rangers became the fourth team in their history to win at least 50 games (1991-92, 1993-94, 2011-12).
New York took a 4-0 lead with 2.7 seconds left in the second period when Stepan scored his 14th of the season on a shorthanded breakaway. Stepan took a lead pass from Nash and broke in 1-on-1 against Kinkaid before backhanding a shot over the goal line. It was the ninth shorthanded goal for the Rangers this season. Brassard made it 5-0 on a centering attempt from the left circle that deflected off the skate of defenseman Adam Larsson and past Kinkaid 1:55 into the third. Moore scored his second of the game at 12:00. The Rangers opened a 3-0 lead in the first on goals by Nash, Yandle and Moore. Lundqvist was sharp, making 13 saves and looking very comfortable in his crease. Nash scored his career-high 42nd of the season off a deflection in the slot off a pass from the left circle by Mats Zuccarello at 5:10. Nash put his stick on the ice and between the skates of defenseman Jon Merrill before Zuccarello put the puck right off his tape. Yandle made it 2-0 when scored his first goal as a Ranger at Madison Square Garden after sending a shot from the point that beat a screened Schneider at 11:59. Moore scored 25 seconds after Yandle's goal when he took a pass from Tanner Glass down the middle and drove a shot past Schneider at 12:24. Devils co-coach Lou Lamoriello decided to replace Schneider with Kinkaid after Moore's goal. Schneider entered the game 0-1-1 with a 2.94 goals-against average and .885 save-percentage in two games against the Rangers this season.
Dallas @ Nashville 4-3 OT - Cody Eakin scored on a penalty shot with 55.7 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 4-3 win. Mattias Ekholm slashed Eakin's stick out of his hands on a breakaway, setting up the game-winning penalty shot. Dallas (38-31-10) remained alive in the Stanley Cup Playoff race with its first win against Nashville this season. The Stars (86 points) trail the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets by six points in the race for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference; they have played one more game than the Jets and Kings, who hold the tiebreaker with more regulation/overtime wins (37-33). Nashville (47-22-10) has lost its past three games (0-1-2), all at home, and leads the St. Louis Blues by one point for first place in the Central Division. James Neal tied the game 3-3 with 1:55 remaining in the third period with goalie Pekka Rinne pulled for an extra attacker, one-timing Mike Ribeiro's pass by Stars goaltender Jhonas Enroth for his 23rd goal. The assist was Ribeiro's 500th in the NHL. Neal, Shea Weber and Matt Cullen returned to the Predators lineup. Weber missed three games because of a lower-body injury, Neal nine games because of an upper-body injury, and Cullen five games because of a lower-body injury. Ryan Ellis made it 3-2 at 10:46 of the third on a wrist shot from the slot that beat Enroth on the glove side for his eighth goal. Colton Sceviour gave Dallas a 3-1 lead at 7:28 of the third with his eighth goal. He crashed the net and shot the puck into a scrum in front, and the puck trickled past the Nashville defenders and Rinne.

Tyler Seguin put the Stars up 2-1 on the power play at 3:23 of the third on a slap shot from the faceoff circle. He took a pass from defenseman John Klingberg and beat Rinne for his 37th goal. The Predators took a 1-0 lead at 9:59 of the first period on a Forsberg wrist shot that got past Enroth. Ekholm took the original shot that bounced off of a body in front and went to Forsberg, who put it in an open net for his 24th goal. It was Nashville's only lead of the game. The Stars scored the next three before the Predators rallied in the second half of the third period to tie it. Moen tied the game 1-1 at 4:09 of the second period with a wrist shot that got past Rinne.
San Jose @ Phoenix 3-5 - The Coyotes hadn't won a home game in regulation in nearly three months. As far as the San Jose Sharks are concerned, the Coyotes picked an awful time to break that streak. Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored twice and had an assist, leading the Coyotes to a 5-3 win Saturday at Gila River Arena. The Coyotes were 0-7-1 in their past eight home games and hadn't won in regulation in their own building since a 4-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 8. They had been 1-15-2 in 18 home games since; the lone win was a shootout victory against the Vancouver Canucks on March 5. The loss was a huge one for the Sharks (39-31-9), who fell five points behind the Los Angeles Kings and the Jets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. San Jose has three games remaining. At age 23, Ekman-Larsson leads all NHL defensemen with 23 goals. He now shares a franchise record as well; defenseman Phil Housley had 23 goals in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons for the Winnipeg Jets before they moved to Phoenix in 1996. Mike Smith made 42 saves for the Coyotes (24-47-8) and is 8-2-2 in his past 12 games against San Jose. Mark Arcobello also scored for Phoenix and Sam Gagner hit the empty net with 10.7 seconds left. Tomas Hertl, Joe Thornton and Chris Tierney scored for the Sharks, who are facing the prospect of missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons. Only the Detroit Red Wings (23 straight seasons) have a longer active streak of reaching the playoffs.
San Jose goalie Antti Niemi made 28 saves. The Coyotes used two power-play goals in the first period to take the lead for good. With San Jose's Karl Stollery in the penalty box, Ekman-Larsson took a crisp cross-ice pass from Arcobello at the left point, waited for David Moss to set a screen and picked the far corner at 11:59. It was Ekman-Larsson's 10th power-play goal this season, which also leads all NHL defensemen. The Sharks got even after Ekman-Larsson took down San Jose's Tommy Wingels and was called for interference. Hertl chased down a rebound, carried the puck to the right circle and flipped a backhand past Smith at 16:36 for his 13th goal. The Coyotes' seventh-ranked power play went back to work after Barclay Goodrow went off for tripping at 17:50. Doan got a stick on Michael Stone's shot from the point; the deflection hit the post and bounced back through Niemi's legs before the goalie inadvertently kicked the puck into the net at 18:37. Doan's 14th goal of the season was his 368th (yes wow! 368 goals in 19 seasons! Wayne Gretzky would have scored that many in 3 seasons) as a Coyote, leaving him 11 shy of Dale Hawerchuk's franchise record. Smith made a number of acrobatic stops among his 13 saves in the second period, including a Pavelski deflection, a Patrick Marleau wraparound and Tierney's redirect. Ekman-Larsson made it 3-1 at 17:46 when he picked up his own rebound with Niemi down and out and wristed it into the wide-open net to tie Housley's record. But the two-goal lead lasted all of 19 seconds. Thornton's bad-angled shot from the left corner near the goal line somehow went behind Smith's head and off the far post at 18:05 to bring the Sharks back to 3-2. It was Thornton's 15th goal but his first in 10 games. The Coyotes regained their two-goal lead 5:30 into the third period when Doan found Arcobello charging down the slot for a wrist shot over Niemi's glove and under the crossbar. It was Arcobello's 17th goal of the season and his ninth in 24 games with Phoenix. He has scored a goal in each of Phoenix's three games against San Jose since joining the Coyotes. Once again, the Sharks answered almost immediately. With Stone in the penalty box, Tierney got a stick on Matt Irwin's power-play shot and deflected it past Smith at 6:48. Tierney scored his sixth goal of the season and fourth in the past seven games.
Calgary @ Edmonton 4-0 - Jonas Hiller entered at 58 seconds after starting goaltender Karri Ramo sustained a lower-body injury and made 27 saves in relief to help the Calgary Flames to a 4-0 win. It was the longest relief appearance in a team-shared shutout in NHL history. Ramo did not face a shot before leaving the game. The Flames goaltender was favoring his left leg after going down on a shot attempt that went wide. Ramo had to be helped off the ice and did not return. Colborne opened the scoring 1:59 into the first period when his shot bounced off his skate and past Scrivens. Mason Raymond took the initial shot, which was kicked away, but then hit Colborne and bounced into the net. The Oilers had their opportunities to tie the game in the period and had 11 shots against Hiller. Forward Taylor Hall hit the goal post on an attempt from the edge of the faceoff circle. Hall centered the Oilers’ top line after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was a late scratch due to a lower-body injury. Granlund gave Calgary a 2-0 lead at 17:56 of the second period, taking a cross-crease pass from Josh Jooris and lifting a shot over Scrivens. Wideman scored a power-play goal at 2:16 of the third period to give Calgary a 3-0 lead. The Flames defenseman one-timed a shot from the point that beat Scrivens in off the goal post. The goal was scored five seconds into a cross-checking penalty to Oilers Keith Aulie. Granlund scored at 18:52 of the third period to round out the scoring, catching Scrivens out of his net and shooting the puck past him before he was able to scramble back.
Colorado @ Los Angeles 1-3 - Alec Martinez scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period and Los Angeles limited Colorado to 10 shots, matching the single-game low in the NHL this season. This was the type of shutdown game the Kings needed to get into the postseason. The Avalanche were eliminated from playoff contention before the game when Winnipeg defeated the Vancouver Canucks. That was tough to swallow for a team that won the Central Division with 112 points last season. Martinez broke a 1-1 tie at 10:09 of the second when he scored on a shot from the right circle that went in and out of the net so fast that he briefly celebrated before shooting the puck into the net again. Jeff Carter threw the puck on net and it bounced out to a pinching Martinez, who scored his first goal since Jan. 17. He missed 19 games during that span with a concussion. Marian Gaborik scored an insurance goal on a wrist shot that beat Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov from the top of the left circle with 1:56 left in regulation. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick made nine saves, allowing only a goal by Ryan O'Reilly 1:12 into the second period. The 10 shots allowed equaled the Kings' franchise record from Jan.11, 1994, against the San Jose Sharks for fewest by an opponent. Dwight King opened the scoring when he put home Carter's rebound at 13:56 of the first period. O'Reilly tied it 72 seconds into the middle period when he knocked in a loose puck after Quick could not glove Landeskog's shot. The Kings won their 24th home game, two shy of the franchise single-season record.

Amy Farrah Fowler of the Big Bang Theory spotted taking Photos of Pizza Boy Mike Smith.

NHL Results - Fri, Apr 03, 2015

Chicago @ Buffalo 4-3 - Jonathan Toews again came through when the Blackhawks needed him most. The Chicago captain scored twice in the final 1:43 to lead the Blackhawks to a 4-3 win. The Sabres had scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead with 7:18 remaining. Toews' two goals came 47 seconds apart. With Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling pulled for the extra attacker, Toews put a rebound of Duncan Keith's point shot past Sabres goalie Anders Lindback with 1:43 left to tie the game 3-3. Toews scored the game-winning goal with 56 seconds left. After receiving a drop pass from Brandon Saad, his wrist shot went over Lindback's glove hand for his 28th goal, which leads the Blackhawks. Marcus Foligno scored two goals to lead the Buffalo rally from an early 2-0 deficit. On his second goal of the night, eighth of the season, Foligno poked a loose puck past Darling after it was deflected by Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook to give Buffalo a 3-2 lead at 12:42 of the third period. Foligno scored to make it 2-1 with 6:50 left in the second period when he picked up a rebound off Rasmus Ristolainen's shot from the point and put a backhand shot past Darling. Larsson tied the game on the power play when he tipped in Ristolainen's shot from the blue line for his fifth goal. Keith gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead with his 10th goal. His slap shot from the blue line got through traffic and beat Lindback 2:16 into the first period. Patrick Sharp made it 2-0 with his 15th goal. He received a pass from David Rundblad and entered the Sabres zone, where he took a wrist shot that glanced off Lindback into the net 8:36 into the first period.


Montreal @ New Jersey 2-3 SO - P.K. Subban knows one key to success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is making certain the power play is at least providing momentum in tight games. That hasn't been the case for Montreal of late.
Jacob Josefson and Patrik Elias scored in the shootout to give the Devils their first win in seven games (1-4-2). Kinkaid stopped Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais in the shootout. Josefson scored in the second round and Elias in the third. The Canadiens failed to take advantage of a five-minute power play in the second period when Scott Gomez was given a major and a game misconduct for elbowing Alexei Emelin at 14:38. The defenseman knocked Gomez to the ice on a legal hit with his shoulder, and Gomez retaliated with his elbow a few seconds later in front of Tokarski. The Devils penalty-killers limited the Canadiens to one shot on the advantage. The Canadiens also failed on a 5-on-3 for 33 seconds late in the third period with Matteau (delay of game) and Andy Greene (tripping) in the penalty box. The Devils then denied the Canadiens during a 4-on-3 power play in overtime after another Greene tripping penalty at 2:39. The Devils tied it 2-2 in the second period when Boucher scored his first goal in eight NHL games this season. He deflected a shot from the left point by Jon Merrill past Tokarski at 4:37. The goal came less than a minute after Tokarski made a great save with his left pad against Damon Severson. Plekanec and Petry scored in a span of 2:03 to give Montreal a 2-1 first-period lead. Plekanec scored seven seconds into a power play after Merrill was whistled for interference at 14:39. With Brendan Gallagher providing a screen, Plekanec shot from the top of the right circle. Petry scored with a snap shot from the right circle at 16:42. The goal was the defenseman's third in 16 games with the Canadiens since being acquired from the Oilers in a trade March 2. The Devils took a 1-0 lead when Matteau scored his second NHL goal off a rebound at the right post at 9:51. It was his first in the League since Feb. 9, 2013 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Montreal coach Michel Therrien also opted to scratch veteran defenseman Andrei Markov. Markov, who hadn't missed a game this season and usually plays on the first power-play unit with Subban, was replaced by veteran Sergei Gonchar, coming off a nine-game absence.


St Louis @ Dallas 7-5 - The St. Louis Blues have been strong in back-to-back situations this season. Thanks largely to a hat trick from Jaden Schwartz, the Blues rallied for a 7-5 victory against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center, their second win in as many nights. Brian Elliott made 27 saves and the Blues (48-23-7) pulled even with the Nashville Predators for first place in the Central Division. Each team has 103 points and four games remaining; the Predators own the tiebreaker with two more regulation/overtime wins (ROW).
It was the fifth time this season the Blues have won both ends of a back-to-back. St. Louis clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth consecutive year by defeating the Calgary Flames 4-1 the previous night. In a game that saw each team blow a two-goal lead, Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo broke a 5-5 tie 9:57 into the third period. Pietrangelo fired a wrist shot from the slot over the blocker of goaltender Kari Lehtonen for his seventh goal of the season. The goal also ended Lehtonen's night; he was replaced by Jhonas Enroth. Schwartz completed his hat trick by hitting the empty net with 22 seconds remaining. Patrik Berglund scored two goals for the Blues. Jay Bouwmeester, T.J. Oshie and Kevin Shattenkirk each had two assists, and Pietrangelo and Zbynek Michalek a goal and an assist each. Dallas captain Jamie Benn scored twice and had an assist; linemate Tyler Seguin scored a goal and assisted on each of Benn's goals. Travis Moen and Antoine Roussel also scored for Dallas (37-31-10), which remained six points behind the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference; the Kings hold the ROW tiebreaker over the Jets 36-32. It was another night of frustration for the Stars, who have four games remaining. The Stars appeared to take an early lead when Patrick Eaves scored 6:15 into the first period. However, the goal was immediately waved off because center Jason Spezza caught Elliott's right skate at the top edge of the paint, upending the goaltender. Seguin hit the post with a one-timer from the left circle at 8:46, and Elliott stopped him on a breakaway at 16:27. Berglund gave St. Louis the lead with 2:11 remaining in the first when he redirected a David Backes one-timer into the net. Backes played the carom off the boards on the near side of the ice and took a shot that Berglund got his stick on, deflecting it top shelf past Lehtonen at the near post. Dallas answered with 11 seconds left in the period when Moen scored on a penalty shot after being taken down in front of the net by Michalek. Moen skated up the right side of the ice and scored his second goal of the season with a wrist shot from the slot that went under Elliott's blocker. It was Moen's first NHL penalty shot. Seeing his first action in 20 games, Moen last played on Feb. 17 at the Blues. St. Louis scored twice in the first 32 seconds of the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Berglund got his second of the game 15 seconds into the period, redirecting a wrist shot by Shattenkirk from the left point past Lehtonen for his 12th goal of the season. Schwartz backhanded his own rebound past Lehtonen 17 seconds later. But the Stars scored the next four goals, two by Benn and one each by Seguin and Roussel, to take a 5-3 lead. Six seconds after Schwartz's goal, Benn's wrist shot from the slot went under Elliott's blocker. Counting Moen's goal late in the first period and the three goals early in the second, the Blues and Stars scored four goals in 49 seconds, the fastest four goals in NHL history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Stars tied it at 10:01 when Seguin scored his 36th of the season. His wrist shot from the slot struck Elliott's stick, bounced up and deflected off Shattenkirk's upper body and into the net. Benn's second of the game and 30th of the season came at 14:40. He tipped in a pass from Seguin to give Dallas their first lead. Roussel made it a two-goal game at 15:23 with his first goal in 15 games on a wraparound at the near post. It was Roussel's first goal since Feb. 27 against the Colorado Avalanche. But Schwartz gave the Blues a spark with 26 seconds left in the period when he scored his second of the game and 27th of the season to make it 5-4. His wrist shot from the left circle went under Lehtonen's glove. The Blues tied it 5-5 when Michalek scored his fourth of the season 4:44 into the third period. Michalek's wrist shot from the right circle deflected off both skates of Dallas defenseman Jason Demers and into the net. Pietrangelo's game-winner came after he got the puck inside the right circle, skated around freely in the slot and spun around before beating Lehtonen to the far post.




Colorado @ Anaheim 4-2 - Matt Duchene scored on a breakaway at 9:08 of the third period to help Colorado stave off elimination with a 4-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks. Duchene slipped the puck five-hole on Ducks goalie John Gibson with Sami Vatanen closing in after the puck had bounced to center ice off a blocked shot. The game-winner was Duchene's 21st goal. The Avalanche, who would have been eliminated with a regulation loss, got an empty-net goal from Dennis Everberg with 1:24 left. They are six points behind the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets in the race for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. Anaheim gave the Avalanche three power plays in the second period, and Colorado's 29th-ranked man-advantage unit broke through with Gabriel Landeskog's 23rd goal to tie it 2-2. Landeskog buried a shot high from the slot at 16:52 after Alex Tanguay collected the puck and set him up with Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski serving a holding penalty.
Sekac grabbed a Tanguay turnover in neutral ice, skated past Avalanche forward Marc-Andre Cliche and beat Berra with a quick backhand at 7:31. Corey Perry misdirected Berra from behind the net and flubbed a pass that Rakell scored on from the right side at 17:58. John Mitchell scored for Colorado on a one-timer from Jarome Iginla on a rush at 6:33 of the first to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead. Anaheim right wing Stefan Noesen made his NHL debut. He drew a holding penalty against Iginla and nearly scored from the slot in the third period. Boudreau said he probably should have played Noesen more than 6:54, but Noesen wasn't complaining.


Phoenix @ San Jose 1-3 - The San Jose Sharks know they still need lots of help if they're going to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 11th straight season. The Sharks defeated the Coyotes 3-1, winning for the fourth time in five games. The Sharks (39-30-9) have 87 points and moved within three of the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card from the Western Conference; the Kings hold the tiebreaker with 36 regulation/overtime wins to 32 for the Jets. The Sharks are also four points behind the third-place Calgary Flames in the Pacific Division. Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Matt Nieto scored for the Sharks, and Antti Niemi made 20 saves. The Sharks will probably have to win their final four games to have a chance of making the playoffs. The Sharks and Coyotes finish the home-and-home set Saturday at Gila River Arena.
The Coyotes (23-47-8) lost for the ninth time in 11 games. They have 54 points, fewer than every other NHL team except the Buffalo Sabres, who have 52. Mark Arcobello had the lone goal for Phoenix, and backup goaltender Louis Domingue made 34 saves. The Sharks outshot Phoenix 37-21, but they owned a slim 2-1 lead late in the third period before Nieto hammered a rebound past Domingue with 5:50 left in regulation. Domingue stopped Chris Tierney's shot from the left circle but couldn't control the puck, and Nieto scored his ninth goal of the season, all but sealing the win. The Sharks outshot Phoenix 16-3 in the first period and built a 2-0 lead on early goals by Couture and Pavelski. Couture scored 58 seconds into the game on a rush, snapping a shot from the right circle over Domingue's glove and into the upper left corner. Tomas Hertl sent a cross-ice pass to Couture, who controlled the puck with his left skate and quickly fired, scoring his 27th goal of the season. Pavelski made it 2-0 at 5:00 with his team-high 37th goal, which came just seconds after San Jose's first power play expired. Patrick Marleau threaded a pass from below the goal line to Pavelski, who scored on a slap shot from the low slot. David Moss put the puck past Niemi at 5:50 of the first period, but the goal was immediately waived off by the referees. A video review confirmed that Moss directed the puck over the goal line with his left hand. Phoenix cut San Jose's lead in half at 2:34 of the second period when Arcobello scored his 16th goal of the season. On a 2-on-1 rush, Arcobello sent a cross-ice pass from the right circle toward Tobias Rieder, who was a step behind Sharks defenseman Brent Burns. Burns reached out and got his stick on the puck, but he deflected it past Niemi. The Coyotes nearly pulled even with under a minute left in the second period when cheap shot Shane Doan fired a sharp-angled shot from the left of the crease. Niemi deflected the puck into the air and snagged it with his glove. Niemi stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third period, and the Sharks held on for the win.

Whoosh Its behind ya!

#8 Calgary Flames @ St Louis Blues 1-4 - Thu, Mar 02, 2015

Going to St Louis was the part of the trip I was looking forward to the most. It meant a road trip with my friend Dan, climbing the Gateway Arch and finally getting to see Vladimir Tarasenko. Well two out three isn't bad eh?
Dan although living in Columbus grew up in St Louis and we set off from Ohio the day before the game. It got a tour of everything that is cool in the Mid-West. I thought I had tried every type of fast food there was to try in 'Merica but Dan introduced me to Steak n Shake and Lion's Choice (Like Arbys but only better). We headed up to visit his Pop, who is a great character and full of jokes and shared a few beers in Debz Corner (a bar I compared to Moe's Tavern from the Simpsons, and Dan found hilarious).
St Louis is full of little surprises and cool places to check out. McGurk's Irish bar was one of those places and has to go down as being the largest Pub I have ever been too. With far too much alcohol consumed it was time to head back to the hotel, but not before Dan gave us his best rendition of a song that involved going swimming with broad-legged women. I couldn't sleep for laughing!
The next morning's newspapers confirmed my worst fears. Vladimir Tarasenko was out. He took a bad hit against Vancouver and Hitchcock was taking no chances before the playoffs. Alexander Steen would also be out. With that really killing my mood it was time to go up the Gateway Arch and look at Busch Stadium before the game started.

As long as Tarasenko and Steen are out of the lineup, no one will think things are back to normal for the Blues. St Louis snapped a two-game losing streak, reached 100 points for the seventh time in franchise history and clinched a spot in the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. While clinching a playoff spot has been inevitable for some time, coach Ken Hitchcock said the team could now redirect their gaze. With five games to play, starting in Dallas the following night, the Blues are two points behind Central Division-leading Nashville, with a game in hand. They needed the win to stay one point ahead of Chicago, who the Blues play on Sunday.
The Blues scored a rare first period goal, snapping a 10-game drought. Jaden Schwartz scored that one, just 1:16 into the game, and he had an assist as well. Jake Allen got the win, making the Blues just the second team in the league to have two goalies with 20 wins this season. he had a quiet first two periods, facing just 10 shots, then had to make eight saves in the third, including a few acrobatic ones. Jori Lehtera and Patrik Berglund each had a goal and an assist in the final four minutes as the Blues used a late spurt to make the game safe.
The Blues brought more energy to the game right from the start, dominating the first two periods though the lead was just one goal until late in the third. In a run where they went 1-3-2 in six games, and had dropped the first two games of a three-game homestand, this was their best game in a while.
The Blues had to work for it, killing four minutes of Calgary power play in the middle of the third period before finally giving themselves some badly needed breathing room when Lehtera put in a pass from Berglund with 3:15 to go in the third. After going 10 games without scoring in the first period, the Blues finally found a way to break through. Schwartz dug out the puck behind the goal line, skated to the corner of the crease, and on the backhand flipped the puck up and across the face of the goal and past goalie Jonas Hiller.

It was the first time the Blues had scored in the first period since March 10 (when, coincidentally, it was Schwartz who scored), and they held that lead at the break thanks to some nice saves by Allen, including a shot from Dennis Wideman that he blocked with his mask. The blues got a scare when Dirty Dog Brandon Bollig slammed Barret Jackman into the boards late in the period. Jackman was down for a while, and when he got up, he left a mosaic of blood on the ice and a river running down his face and onto his jersey. Defensive partner Robert Bortuzzo jumped in and started pummeling Bollig. The Flames goon got a five-minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct for drawing blood on the hit. The Blues ended up with a three-minute power play at the start of the second period, and used it to take a 2-0 lead when David Backes passed to an open Paul Stastny in front of the net for the goal.
The Blues still had more than two minutes of power play to go on the major penalty, but couldn't take advantage and less than a minute after Calgary killed the penalty, the Flames scored, with Sean Monahan beautifully redirecting a shot from Jiri Hudler into the goal as he skated through the slot. After two periods, the Blues had a whopping 32-10 edge in shots on goal. They almost had a goal early in the third when Dmitrij Jaskin took a shot that beat Hiller but caught the far post and caromed away. The third period then got a lot scarier. Kevin Shattenkirk was called for tripping, and 21 seconds after killing off that penalty, Berglund was called for high sticking, The Blues killed that one too, and actually had the best goal-scoring chance when a turnover at mid-ice sprung Backes on a breakaway, but his shot was into Hiller's pads. Lehtera got the Blues some breathing space when he put in a pass from Berglund from behind the net with 3:15 to play and Berglund clinched it with an empty-net goal. In the absence of Tarasenko and Steen, the Blues were forced to find a few new line combinations. Hitchcock used a line of Paul Stastny, Jaden Schwartz and T.J. Oshie, a trio that had seen only one period together this season. It took them only one 76 seconds to get on board, with Schwartz scoring his 25th goal f the season and Oshie picking up an assist. Stastny has spent much of the season on what would be considered the Blues' third line, playing with Dmitrij Jaskin and Patrik Berglund. But for the foreseeable future, he'll be playing with Schwartz, who's now tied for second on the team in goals, and Oshie, who's third in assists.
I was going to the game to watch Tarasenko and Steen not Ty Rattie, but the  Alberta native was recalled from the AHL's Chicago Wolves and placed on a line with Lehtera and Olli Jokinen.

Game in a Nutshell
The St. Louis Blues knew they eventually would clinch a berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But the way they did it, with a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Scottrade Center, had them feeling good. Tarasenko and Steen are first and second in points for St. Louis. Each is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Playing without their top scorers, the Blues' new top line of Jaden Schwartz, Paul Stastny and T.J. Oshie combined for five points. Schwartz, Stastny, Patrik Berglund and Jori Lehtera each had a goal and an assist; Oshie had an assist.
Allen preserved the 2-1 lead with two saves with St. Louis shorthanded in the third period. He stopped Dennis Wideman from the slot at 8:12, then denied Hudler from the side of the goal on the rebound. The Blues had some key penalty kills in the third period, continued to press with a one-goal lead, and were rewarded in the end.

Jake Allen: "That was impressive to watch from my end. It could have been a lot higher score, but their goaltender (Jonas Hiller) played great. What an effort from the guys. Coming down to the wire, clinching a playoff spot, a couple of our key players (Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko) out, guys stepped up tonight. It was impressive."
Paul Stastny: "It's nice [clinching] on home ice. Now the next step for us is get better until April 15, or whenever the playoffs start, but our focus is trying to get home ice. We worked hard at both ends. I know it's cliche-ish, but we held on to the puck a little more. We tried making some plays throughout all four lines, and I think as a team we played pretty sound hockey, and then even when it was a one-goal game, just kept going. [The new line] had one period in Buffalo and it was fun. Two guys that play that give-and-go game, smart guys that you can read off each other and always support each other."
Ken Hitchcock: "We were the much better team in the first two periods; their goalie kept them in it, and then we needed our goalie in the third. Calgary just hangs around and Calgary had some great chances in the third, and our goalie held us in that first 10-12 minutes. We stop looking at standings below us. Until the x is beside your name, you're always counting below you. Now we're looking above. So it's an important game tomorrow for us because before Nashville plays, we can tie them. We can really put pressure on them, and we're getting the heat from behind. It sets up the two games with the Hawks as unbelievable competition. If we can get those two points [against Dallas], we'll keep the pressure on Nashville. That's going to be good. This is an awesome opportunity for [Stastny] and that line to show us what we think they're capable of. If I was him, I would look at this, 'man what an opportunity' and I think he'll take advantage of it. We've lean on [Stastny] more defensively because him doing what he's done has allowed Lehtera's line to terrorize teams. So now he gets the chance to have the matchup and we'll use the other two lines to hunker it down. Stas' gets the prime-time now and we'll use another line to get them the space that they need."
Jaden Schwartz: "It was nice breaking that streak. It's not always fun chasing games all the time. It got the crowd into it early."

Flames Quotes

Bob Hartley: "I think St. Louis has the number of many teams. Looking at the size and the strength of that team, they're not easy to play against. They were better than us. They fully deserved the victory."
Sean Monahan: "Obviously, it doesn't mean much right now after a game like that, but I guess putting the puck in the net in this League is tough, so it's pretty cool to get 30. But it doesn't mean much after a game like that."
Stars of the Game
1 Paul Stastny
2 Alex Pietrangelo
3 Jaden Schwartz

Goals
1-0 - 01:16 - EHG Jaden Schwartz Asst: T.J. Oshie - Schwartz came out of the corner with the puck after Oshie won a board battle with TJ Brodie and flipped a backhand past Hiller 1:16 into the game.
2-0 - 20:23 - PPG Paul Stastny Asst: David Backes, Jaden Schwartz - St. Louis began the second period with 2:48 of power-play time after Brandon Bollig's major for boarding Barret Jackman late in the first period, and they went ahead 2-0 on Stastny's 15th goal. David Backes patiently waited out a sliding Mikael Backlund before sending a pass to Stastny in front. Stastny redirected the puck through Hiller from in tight 24 seconds into the period.
2-1 - 23:35 - EHG Sean Monahan Asst: Jiri Hudler, Johnny Gaudreau - Monahan's 30th of the season made it 2-1. He redirected Jiri Hudler's centering feed into the high slot, beating Allen high over his left shoulder 3:35 into the second.
3-1 - 56:45 - EHG Jori Lehtera Asst: Patrik Berglund - Lehtera gave the Blues a 3-1 lead after taking a wraparound pass from Berglund and beating Hiller with a backhand with 3:15 remaining.
4-1 - 57:55 - EN Patrik Berglund Asst: Jori Lehtera, Paul Stastny - Berglund scored an empty-net goal with 2:05 left.





Stats
- Paul Stastny has 51 points in 43 games against the Flames.
- St. Louis (47-23-7) is one of four Western Conference teams to clinch a playoff berth; the Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks are the others. The Blues trail the Predators by two points for first place in the Central Division and are one point ahead of the Blackhawks, who are third. St. Louis and Chicago each has a game in hand on Nashville.
- Allen made 17 saves for his 20th win. He and Brian Elliott (24) joined the New York Rangers' Cam Talbot (20) and Henrik Lundqvist (27) as the only NHL tandems with each goalie having 20 victories.
- The Flames (42-29-7), who got a goal from Sean Monahan and 39 saves from Hiller, are in third place in the Pacific Division. They lead the Los Angeles Kings, who defeated the Edmonton Oilers 8-2, by one point.
- It was Calgary's sixth straight loss in St. Louis, dating to April 1, 2011. The Blues are 9-1-1 against the Flames in the past 11, and they've outscored Calgary 17-2 in the past four. St. Louis swept the three-game season series for its first sweep of Calgary since 2002-03, when it went 4-0-0.
- When Schwartz beat Hiller for his 25th goal, it ended the Blues' first-period goal drought at 10 games and 206:56. St. Louis had not scored in the first period since Schwartz did against the Winnipeg Jets on March 10.
- Monahan, in his second season, is the first Calgary player to score 30 goals since Jarome Iginla in 2011-12.
- The Blues outshot the Flames 43-18 and won for the second time in their past seven games (2-3-2).

Penalties

1st Period
08:31 CGY	Joe Colborne  Tripping against  Patrik Berglund
17:48 CGY	Brandon Bollig  Fighting (maj) against  Robert Bortuzzo
17:48 STL	Robert Bortuzzo  Misconduct (10 min) against  Brandon Bollig
17:48 STL	Robert Bortuzzo  Fighting (maj) against  Brandon Bollig
17:48 STL	Robert Bortuzzo  Instigator against  Brandon Bollig
17:48 CGY	Brandon Bollig  Game misconduct against  Barret Jackman
17:48 CGY	Brandon Bollig  Boarding (maj) against  Barret Jackman
2nd Period
09:03 STL	David Backes  Slashing against  Matt Stajan
3rd Period
06:58 STL	Kevin Shattenkirk  Tripping against  Mason Raymond
09:19 STL	Patrik Berglund  Hi-sticking against  Johnny Gaudreau