NHL Results - Fri, Mar 27, 2015

Calgary @ Minnesota 2-4 - With the score tied early in the third period, Minnesota Wild forward Justin Fontaine took a hard hit from Calgary Flames forward Joe Colborne. Fontaine was knocked to the ice and briefly went to the locker room. But he set up a goal on his next shift, and the Wild scored three times in an eight-minute span to defeat the Flames 4-2 at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild are three points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Minnesota trails the Chicago Blackhawks by one point for third place in the Central Division. Devan Dubnyk made 23 saves for the Wild, who swept the three-game season series against the Flames, allowing a total of three goals. The hit on Fontaine charged the Wild, who dominated play much of the game, especially in the second period, when they did everything but finish a number of Grade A opportunities.
Fontaine was slow to get up and went down the tunnel for a couple of moments but didn't miss a shift. His next time over the boards, he made a cross-crease pass to Thomas Vanek, who swatted the puck past Flames goaltender Karri Ramo, giving the Wild a 2-1 lead. It was Vanek's 20th goal of the season; he has scored at least 20 goals in each of his 10 NHL seasons. His eight-game point streak ended Tuesday against the New York Islanders, but he has scored six goals in his past 10 games and his 50 points are second-most on the Wild (Zach Parise, 58). Calgary took a 1-0 lead at 5:52 of the first period off a scramble in front. A loose puck near the top of the crease came free to forward Josh Jooris near the left post, where he tucked a shot under Dubnyk's arm. Minnesota tied it on a power-play goal by defenseman Matt Dumba. He received a pass from forward Mikael Granlund near the left faceoff dot and took a shot toward Ramo. The puck went under his arm but remained in the crease, where Dumba reached around Ramo and poked it into the net at 10:28. Vanek's goal at 3:36 was the first of three consecutive for the Wild. Mikko Koivu made it 3-1 at 6:59, scoring on a Chris Stewart centering feed from the right half-wall, and Parise capped a breakaway with his 30th at 11:46, driving Ramo from the game. This is the sixth 30-goal season for Parise in the NHL, his first with Minnesota after five with the New Jersey Devils. He is the fourth player in Wild history to reach 30 in a season (Marian Gaborik, Brian Rolston, Jason Pominville). Ramo made 31 saves playing 51:46. Markus Granlund scored for the Flames with 4:43 remaining.
Dallas @ Edmonton 0-4 - The Edmonton Oilers played the spoiler role perfectly against the Dallas Stars. Oilers goaltender Richard Bachman made 29 saves for his second NHL shutout, first of the season, a 4-0 victory at Rexall Place. Bachman spent four seasons in the Dallas organization before signing as a free agent with Edmonton two years ago. This was Bachman's first win of the season for the Oilers (0-2-1). Jordan Eberle, Derek Roy, Benoit Pouliot and Andrew Miller, with his first NHL goal, scored for the Oilers (22-40-13), who were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the ninth consecutive season but have won their past two games. Kari Lehtonen made 23 saves for Dallas (36-29-10), which had a four-game winning streak end. The Stars are eight points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card from the Western Conference. Each team has seven games remaining. Edmonton scored on its first shift, 33 seconds into the game. On an odd-man rush, Pouliot slid a cross-ice pass to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The Oilers center fanned on his shot but chased it behind the net and sent it to Eberle, who swept his shot past Lehtonen for a 1-0 lead. Dallas outshot Edmonton 23-16 through two periods. Bachman stopped Hemsky on a breakaway early in the third period. Tyler Seguin later was set up in front but shot over the net. Roy gave Edmonton a 2-0 lead at 9:24 of the third with his 12th goal of the season. He was first to a centering pass that bounced off the skate of Goligoski and shot past Lehtonen. Pouliot scored at 13:32 to give Edmonton a 3-0 lead, taking a cross-crease pass from Taylor Hall coming out of the corner for the tap-in. The assist gave Hall four points in four games since returning from a leg injury. Miller scored his first NHL goal on a penalty shot at 16:40; he was hooked on a breakaway.