NY Rangers @ Boston 2-4 - It was Lundqvist's first game since Feb. 2. Rask left the game 10 seconds into the second period after stoppage of play. Rask, who later was said to have been dehydrated, made his way directly to the dressing room and was replaced by Niklas Svedberg. Lucic ended a six-game goal drought at 1:41 of the first period with a little help from video review. The rebound of a Patrice Bergeron shot went off Lucic's skate and past Lundqvist. The goal was disallowed on the ice but the NHL Situation Room overturned the call because in accordance with Rule 49.2: "A puck that deflects into the net off an attacking player's skate who does not use a distinct kicking motion is a legitimate goal." Lucic gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead at 9:26 when he beat Lundqvist with a wrist shot from the left circle after Torey Krug gained the zone and dished off during a drive to the net. Soderberg extended the lead to 3-0 at 14:27. Soderberg stole the puck from Matt Hunwick outside the New York blue line and then beat Lundqvist with a forehand from in tight. Smith's first goal in 15 games put the Bruins ahead 4-0 at 5:53 of the second period. He tracked down a rebound of a Loui Eriksson stuff attempt and scored into the open net.
It took the Rangers 4:37 to get their first shot on Svedberg, who stopped a Rick Nash attempt from the top of the right circle for his first save. Nash beat Svedberg with a backhand with 3:11 left in the second period that cut the Bruins' lead to 4-1. It was Nash's 40th goal of the season, the third time he has scored that many in the NHL. Matt Hunwick scored for the Rangers with 23 seconds remaining in the third period.
Anaheim @ NY Islanders 3-2 - The Ducks took a 1-0 lead at 8:23 of the first period after the Islanders failed to clear their zone. Patrick Maroon stretched to keep an attempted pass in the zone and set up Rakell for a shot from the slot that Neuvirth stopped. Rakell got to the rebound in the right corner and threw a pass into the crease, where Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy poked the puck into his net. Rakell was credited with his eighth goal of the season. Anaheim dominated play for the next few minutes before New York began to generate some offensive-zone time. After a good forechecking sequence, the Islanders tied the game 1-1 at 17:08 when Visnovsky stepped into a slap shot from the left point that hit Anaheim defenseman Simon Despres and deflected into the net. It was the fifth goal of the season for Visnovsky, who missed the previous four games with a lower-body injury. The Ducks took a 2-1 lead 1:46 into the second period on another fortunate bounce. Tavares failed to clear his zone, and James Wisniewski's slap shot from the right point was deflected by Leddy's stick right onto the stick of Palmieri, who spun free in front of the net and slid a backhand past Neuvirth for his 14th goal of the season. Rakell made a superb defensive play seven minutes later when he raced back to keep Cizikas from getting off a good shot on a breakaway. Andersen preserved the lead two minutes after that by robbing Tavares and Ryan Strome on back-to-back shots during a long 5-on-3 power play for the Islanders, who went 0-for-4 in the period. Cogliano made it 3-1 at 15:11 of the second when a pass by Cam Fowler sprung him past the defense, and he beat Neuvirth with a backhand deke for his 14th goal of the season. Cizikas made it 3-2 with 5:36 remaining in the third period when Ducks defenseman Clayton Stoner gave away the puck off the left post and Cizikas stuffed it past a surprised Andersen for his eighth of the season.
San Jose @ Philadelphia 3-2 SO - The San Jose Sharks were running out of defensemen Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers but managed to put together one of their better defensive performances of the season. Playing most of the game with five defensemen, and then the latter parts of the game with four, the Sharks allowed 18 shots on goal and defeated the Flyers 3-2 in a shootout. Brent Burns, one of four remaining defensemen, scored the game-deciding goal in the fifth round of the tiebreaker. He carried the puck down the middle of the ice, deked the puck from his forehand to his backhand and flipped it over the glove of Flyers goalie Steve Mason. Melker Karlsson also scored in the shootout for the Sharks, who improved to 4-5 in the tiebreaker. Matt Irwin and Joe Pavelski scored in regulation for the Sharks, and goaltender Alex Stalock made 16 saves. The 18 shots were the third fewest the Sharks have allowed in a game this season. The Sharks (37-30-8) won their second straight and moved within six points of the Los Angeles Kings for third place in the Pacific Division with seven games remaining, starting with a game Sunday at the Pittsburgh Penguins. San Jose won't have defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic against Pittsburgh. Vlasic left Saturday with 4:15 left in the first period because of a lower-body injury. Sharks coach Todd McLellan said Vlasic would be re-evaluated when they return to San Jose after the game Sunday. San Jose also played the final 7:23 of the third period and all of overtime without Scott Hannan, who was cut under his eye when he was hit into the boards by the Flyers' Nick Cousins. McLellan said Hannan was questionable for Sunday. It's the second straight game the Sharks have lost a defenseman during a game; rookie Mirco Mueller sustained an injury to his left hand Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings. He already had been ruled out of the weekend games on Friday. The remaining defensemen weren't complaining. Burns led the way with 27:33 of ice time, with Justin Braun playing 27:09, Brendan Dillon 23:57, and Irwin 22:11. The Flyers also were playing shorthanded on defense. With Mark Streit and Carlo Colaiacovo missing the game because of the flu, defensemen Mark Alt and Oliver Lauridsen were recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League. Alt was minus-1 in 9:25 in his first NHL game, and Lauridsen was minus-1 in 10:26 in his first NHL game since the 2012-13 season. After the game, Alt, Lauridsen and forward Jason Akeson, who also was called up Saturday morning, were returned to the AHL. With the Flyers playing two rookie defensemen and another, Brandon Manning, who spent most of the season in the AHL, Michael Del Zotto played a career-high 30:18. Michael Raffl and Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers (30-29-17), and goaltender Steve Mason made 41 saves. Jakub Voracek had two assists and scored Philadelphia's only goal in the shootout. The Flyers dropped to 3-10 in the tiebreaker this season. Voracek has 76 points, two behind League-leader Sidney Crosby of the Penguins. The point Philadelphia received for reaching overtime, combined with the Boston Bruins' defeat of the New York Rangers, leaves the Flyers 10 points out of the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with six games remaining. The Flyers trailed 2-1 after two periods but Giroux's power-play goal at 8:37 of the third tied the game. The Sharks had chances to win the game later in the third and in overtime, including a power play when the Flyers' Brayden Schenn was called for boarding for a hit on Irwin. Despite outshooting the Flyers 44-18 and out-attempting them 83-47, the Sharks said they never got frustrated. Pavelski gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 16:43 of the first period on a goal that he banked off Manning's skate and under Mason. Referees had blown the play dead but video review determined that the puck crossed the goal line as the culmination of a continuous play that was unaffected by the whistle, and the goal was allowed to stand. The Sharks and Flyers each scored a goal early in the first period. Irwin opened the scoring at 4:38 when he intercepted a clearing attempt by Voracek and scored on a shot from above the right circle. Then at 6:44 the Flyers responded with Raffl's 20th goal. A shot from the point by Nicklas Grossmann hit off two Sharks and bounced to Stalock, who knocked it off the post and to Raffl, who was in front to knock it in.
Phoenix @ Pittsburgh 2-3 - When the Pittsburgh Penguins looked to their captain, Sidney Crosby answered. Pittsburgh scored three straight third-period goals, with Crosby factoring on each, to defeat the Coyotes 3-2 at Consol Energy Center. Daniel Winnik, Steve Downie and Crosby scored in a span of 4:08 for the Penguins after forward Tye McGinn opened the scoring for the Coyotes early in the third. Crosby's goal turned out to be the game-winner as Tobias Rieder scored late for Phoenix. Thomas Greiss made 22 saves for the Penguins (41-23-11). Mike Smith made 43 saves for the Coyotes (23-45-8).
Each goalie was working on a shutout headed into the third. After the puck was cycled to Coyotes defenseman Klas Dahlbeck at the point, he sent a slap shot through traffic that was deflected by McGinn and through a screen by former Penguins forward Joe Vitale and past Greiss at 4:52. Pittsburgh's rally began 2:24 later with Winnik's first goal as a Penguin. Crosby won a faceoff cleanly to defenseman Paul Martin, whose slap shot hit off Smith's pads before bouncing out directly in front of the crease. Winnik scored on the rebound with a snap shot past Smith's blocker to tie the game 1-1. Downie received a pass from Crosby and put a slap shot behind Smith 9:19 into the third. Crosby scored with 8:36 remaining to extend the Penguins' lead to two goals. Crosby's goal was reviewed and upheld. He leads the NHL with 78 points, two ahead of Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakub Voracek. Rieder scored with 1:51 remaining and Smith pulled for an extra skater. Pittsburgh moved into a tie with the New York Islanders for second in the Metropolitan Division and is six points ahead of the Boston Bruins, who hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Penguins had lost six of their past seven games entering Saturday.
Penguins defenseman Kris Letang left the game after sustaining an apparent upper-body injury with 4:45 remaining in the second period. Coyotes forward Shane Doan shoved Letang to the ice with a cheap late hit, after the defenseman chipped the puck into the neutral zone. Letang fell onto his back, causing the back of his head to hit into the end boards. Letang remained seated on the ice with his back against the end boards for several minutes while being treated. Downie and Rob Scuderi helped him to the runway.
Penguins coach Mike Johnston said Letang was taken to the hospital and Pittsburgh will receive an evaluation on his health Sunday morning. In what has been considered a rebound season, Letang is third on Pittsburgh with 54 points in 68 games, trailing Crosby and forward Evgeni Malkin. Letang played 37 games last season because of various injuries, including a stroke in January 2014. It is surely time for Shane Doan to call it a day, if all he has left are late hits that injure opponents. To say Doan is a 'has been' would be unfair, he would have had to have been a player of note for him to be classed as that.
Doan never quite made it at the top level, he was just happy to see out a 'career' at a joke of a franchise. While all the top players like Keith Tkachuk, Jeremy Roenick and Teppo Numminen moved onto bigger and better stages, Doan was left behind as the 'franchise' player for the Coyotes, as they lurched from one losing season to the next. Never able to lead his team with a serious amount of goals to ever be taken seriously even when he was in his prime, he has spent the latter part of his career delivering dirty hits. At 38, its time for this old man to give up before he seriously injures a player with actual talent. Losing Letang is going to be costly for the Pens who have a growing injury list, particularly amongst their defensemen. Steve Downie fought Doan following the hit, earning both roughing calls.
Pittsburgh had the better scoring chances in a scoreless first period. The best opportunity came midway through the first, when Crosby fed a pass from behind the net to Patric Hornqvist, who held onto the puck instead of one-timing a shot from in front of the crease. The hesitation allowed Smith to adjust and make a pad save with 8:54 remaining in the period. The Penguins went down a man after forward Blake Comeau received a five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding Coyotes forward Andrew Campbell with 6:47 left in the first. Campbell stayed down on the ice for about a minute before heading to the locker room. He returned in the second period. Pittsburgh allowed five shots during a successful kill. Malkin missed six games after sustaining the injury during his first shift in the Penguins' 2-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on March 14.
Hornqvist, who last played against the Detroit Red Wings on March 15, also returned, but forward David Perron was unavailable because of an undisclosed illness.
Penalties
| 1st Period | ||
|---|---|---|
| 02:47 PIT | Maxim Lapierre Roughing against B.J. Crombeen | |
| 02:47 ARI | B.J. Crombeen Roughing against Maxim Lapierre | |
| 11:45 ARI | Shane Doan Roughing against Patric Hornqvist | |
| 11:45 PIT | Patric Hornqvist Hooking against Mark Arcobello | |
| 13:13 PIT | Blake Comeau Boarding (maj) against Andrew Campbell | |
| 13:13 PIT | Blake Comeau Game misconduct | |
| 2nd Period | ||
| 03:15 ARI | John Moore Tripping against Maxim Lapierre | |
| 12:50 ARI | Michael Stone Delaying Game-Puck over glass | |
| 13:08 PIT | Chris Kunitz Hooking against Joe Vitale | |
| 15:22 ARI | Tye McGinn Slashing against Patric Hornqvist | |
| 16:29 ARI | Shane Doan Fighting (maj) against Steve Downie | |
| 16:29 PIT | Steve Downie Fighting (maj) against Shane Doan | |
| 3rd Period | ||
| 08:18 ARI | Andrew Campbell Hi-sticking against Brandon Sutter | |
| 10:34 ARI | Michael Stone Hi stick - double minor against Brandon Sutter | |
Tampa Bay @ Detroit 0-4 - The Lightning lost defenseman Jason Garrison early in the game because of an upper-body injury, and center Cedric Paquette was helped off the ice late in the game after sliding awkwardly into the goal post with his left leg. Garrison was injured on a check from behind, behind the Lightning net by Abdelkader, 3:43 into the game. Abdelkader got a minor penalty for boarding. Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk returned after missing five games with a lower-body injury. Detroit was without center Riley Sheahan because of an upper-body injury, and right wing Erik Cole missed his second game with an upper-body injury. Detroit scored three goals in the second period. Andersson's was first at 5:25; he batted a puck out of midair from in front of the net down and off the ice between Bishop's pads for his second goal, first in 28 games. Abdelkader made it 2-0 with a breakaway at 7:19. He picked up a puck that bounced off the stick of Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman inside the Lightning blue line, skated in and beat Bishop high on the stick side. It was Abdelkader's 23rd goal, 10th in his past 13 games. Nyquist beat Tampa Bay Matthew Carle to the puck on a non-icing call and chipped the carom off the end boards over Bishop's shoulder for his 24th goal at 9:19. Glendening scored into an empty net with 1:39 left in the third period, his 11th goal. Mrazek, playing instead of Jimmy Howard, stopped center Brian Boyle's one-time shot from the bottom of the right circle 6:15 into the game. Callahan hit the crossbar during a power play late in the second period.
Ottawa @ Toronto 3-4 OT - Tyler Bozak had the hat trick and assisted on the overtime winner by Eric Brewer. The defenseman scored with 1:43 remaining after Bozak hit the post. Ottawa led 3-1 with 11:29 remaining. Bozak tied the game with 1:24 to go in the third period, tipping in a James van Riemsdyk pass.
Brewer's game-winner came on a scramble in front of the net. It was his first goal in 12 games with the Maple Leafs after being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks prior to the NHL Trade Deadline. Anderson made his mark stopping Toronto's Joakim Lindstrom on a penalty shot at 11:14 of the first period. After Lindstrom was cut down driving to the net, he tried to deke to his forehand, but Anderson made the save look easy. The Senators took the lead with two goals in 1:34 of the second period. Mark Stone scored his 19th of the season at 4:25, beating Toronto goalie James Reimer with a wrist shot to the stick side after taking a drop pass in the slot from former Maple Leafs forward Clarke MacArthur. Curtis Lazar made it 2-0 at 5:59 with a shot to Reimer's stick side from the slot. Bozak scored his 20th of the season at 4:13 of the third period. Van Riemsdyk drove hard to the net and spotted Bozak in front of the net. Bozak escaped the checking of Mark Borowiecki and tapped the puck past Anderson. Nine seconds after Toronto's Trevor Smith was sent off for boarding Ottawa's Eric Gryba, the Senators took a 3-1 lead with Kyle Turris beating Reimer with a wrist shot through a screen at 9:30. With MacArthur off for boarding, Bozak scored his second from the side of the net to make it 3-2 at 11:29.
Florida @ Montreal 2-3 OT - Pacioretty scored his team-leading 36th goal with 2:01 remaining in overtime when he sent a pass from David Desharnais past Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo seven seconds after Florida center Vincent Trocheck was called for high-sticking Montreal's Lars Eller. Price, whose nine shutouts are tied with Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the League lead, was shaken up when Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban upended him in a collision behind the net late in the third period. Price did not speak to reporters after the game, but Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said he had no concerns about the collision. Luongo made 22 saves, none more sensational than the one he made on Tomas Plekanec with 2:46 remaining in the third period to allow the Panthers to gain a crucial point. Luongo reached behind himself with his glove and swatted the puck out of the air and clear of the goal line after Plekanec's shot from the right side on a pass from Alex Galchenyuk hit him on the left side above his hip and fell back toward the net. Florida center Aleksander Barkov scored twice in the second period for his first multi-goal game in the NHL. Huberdeau assisted on both goals, which gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead. Galchenyuk scored his 20th goal on a power play at 14:35 of the second to tie the game 2-2. Galchenyuk stepped up at the right side of the net and sent a wrist shot over Luongo inside the right post for his first goal in 13 games. Eller gave Montreal a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal at 17:37 of the first, one second after Panthers forward Jimmy Hayes' unsportsmanlike conduct penalty expired. Barkov was left unmarked to take a pass from Huberdeau and drive the slot before putting a backhand shot over Price's glove for his 13th goal to tie the game 1-1 at 6:09 of the first. Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr got his 1,076th NHL assist and 1,794th point on Barkov's first goal of the game at 6:09 of the second. Jagr, who was acquired in a trade with the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 26, is three assists behind Adam Oates (1,079) for sixth place in League history. He is four points behind Ron Francis (1,798) for fourth place. Barkov made it 2-1 at 13:11 of the second when he scored on Florida's first power-play opportunity. He deflected Huberdeau's low shot up and past Price for his 14th goal and second in a span of 7:02.
New Jersey @ Carolina 1-3 - The Devils connected on their first power-play shot to open a 1-0 lead in the first period. Mike Cammalleri held in Hurricanes defenseman Ron Hainsey's clearing attempt and sent a wrist shot toward the net, where Patrik Elias re-directed it past Ward at 11:12 for his 11th of the season. The Hurricanes found that play late in the second, tying the game 1-1 on Jeff Skinner's cross-ice pass to Chris Terry at 18:33. Terry kicked the puck to his stick and shot high to the far post as Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid overplayed the shot to the near side. Carolina took a 2-1 lead nine seconds after the opening faceoff of the third period. Kinkaid mishandled Ryan Murphy's long shot from the boards with his blocker, leaving a rebound at the top of the crease for Staal to tap in. It was his 21st goal. Carolina's second-period goal, followed by the quick strike early in the third proved to be the Devils' undoing. Faulk then gave the Hurricanes some breathing room with a shot from inside the blue line at 4:58.
Columbus @ St Louis 4-2 - The Blue Jackets continue to make life miserable for Western Conference opponents. Cam Atkinson and Boone Jenner each had a goal and an assist, and the Blue Jackets won a franchise-best eighth straight road game. Columbus (35-34-4) won its sixth game in a row, all against Western teams, and for the ninth time in 10 games. The win was their 22nd on the road, a Blue Jackets record. The Blues (46-22-7) remained three points behind the Nashville Predators for first place in the Central Division. Patrik Berglund had a goal and an assist, his first multi-point game since Jan. 6, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored his team-leading 36th goal. The second-place Blues, who were without right wing T.J. Oshie because of an illness and lost left wing Alexander Steen to a lower-body injury in the first period, lead the Minnesota Wild by four points and the Blackhawks by five in the Central Division. The Blues were aided by the return of all-star defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who missed 25 games following abdominal surgery. Shattenkirk finished with 21:34 ice time.
The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead on Karlsson's first goal in 19 games. Columbus broke out with a rush, and Karlsson took a cross-ice pass from Scott Hartnell and beat Blues goalie Brian Elliott 7:06 into the first period. Ryan Johansen nearly gave Columbus a two-goal lead near the end of the first period when he went in on a breakaway from the left after Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo fell down and lost the puck. But Johansen's backhand was wide of the goal.
St. Louis went scoreless in the first period for the ninth straight game. The Blues have gone 185:40 without a first-period goal. The most-recent one came March 10 against the Winnipeg Jets. The Blue Jackets and Blues traded goals in the second period. St. Louis tied the game twice, but Columbus retook the lead each time. Berglund's first goal in 13 games tied the game 52 seconds into the second period after Jay Bouwmeester poke-checked the puck away from Columbus' Nick Foligno and Jori Lehtera sprung Jaden Schwartz and Berglund on a 2-on-0. Berglund finished Schwartz's pass to make it 1-1. Johnson's power-play goal gave Columbus a 2-1 lead when his slap shot from the blue line beat a screened Elliott at 11:39. It was Johnson's first goal in 28 games. The Blues had been 44-for-47 killing penalties before the goal. Tarasenko scored a power-play goal for the Blues to tie the game 2-2. He took a Berglund pass into the left circle and his wrist shot beat a screened Bobrovsky, who had David Backes in front of him at 14:44. But for the third time in the game, Columbus restored the lead when Jenner was all alone in front after taking a Johansen pass with 20.1 seconds remaining. The puck deflected off Pietrangelo right to Johansen, who fed Jenner and he finished the shot on Columbus' 14th shot of the game. It was the kind of goal that can deflate a team at the end of the period, especially after allowing the go-ahead goal at that time. Atkinson, who had a hat trick Friday, secured the win with an empty-net goal with 1:18 remaining. It was his seventh point in three games. Columbus won for the fourth time in the past 20 games in St. Louis.
Los Angeles @ Minnesota 1-4 - Minnesota's second line scored twice in the first period for a 2-0 lead. A pretty passing play set up Niederreiter alone in front of the net, and he put the puck on his backhand and waited out Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick at 3:15. Koivu and Chris Stewart worked a perfect give-and-go for Minnesota's second goal. Koivu got the puck back from Stewart and roofed a backhand at 13:39. For Koivu, who assisted on Niederreiter's first goal, it was his 115th multipoint game, a new Wild record. Los Angeles scored on Dwight King's 11th goal at 3:20 and put 17 shots on goal in the period.
But Dubnyk was steady. He also got some help from Jonas Brodin on one close call late in the period. With the Kings on a power play after Ryan Suter was called for slashing, Drew Doughty blasted a one-timer that was kicked away by Dubnyk right to Tyler Toffoli alone near the left post. With a wide-open net in front of him, Brodin reached his stick out just in time to deflect Toffoli's shot wide and keep the Wild in front. Each team slogged through the third period until Niederreiter scored his second of the night, 24th of the season, on the power play at 16:57 to give the Wild some breathing room. Koivu scored an empty-net goal with 1:22 left.
Buffalo @ Colorado 3-5 - Duchene was upset at himself for taking a shot at the empty net with 2:03 remaining in regulation, he hit the right goal post, rather than passing to Jarome Iginla, who had three assists to pass Jean Beliveau into 40th place on the NHL's all-time points list with 1,222 but needs four goals for 30 this season. The Mitchell-Duchene-Iginla line accounted for two goals, five assists and six shots. Each player was plus-3. The Avalanche killed two first-period penalties and grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals by Cliche and Mitchell, who scored on consecutive shots 32 seconds apart. Barrie drove to the net and beat Hackett to the glove side at 3:29 for his 12th goal, one short of his NHL high set last season, and his 100th NHL point. Ryan O'Reilly was between the faceoff circles when he spun around to feed Barrie and stretch his point streak to seven games (four goals, eight assists). Duchene increased the lead to 4-0 when he took a pass from Iginla, accelerated into the Sabres end and overpowered Hackett with a shot. Meszaros scored his first goal of the night at 3:09 when he came from behind the net and poked the puck behind Varlamov.
Stuart got that one back for Colorado at 4:48 with a shot from the right point, but Meszaros scored his fifth goal at 5:29 with a long shot from near the left-wing boards after an Avalanche turnover. Rasmus Ristolainen cut the deficit to 5-3 by scoring into an open net at 8:43 after Varlamov and defenseman Nate Guenin collided outside the crease.
Dallas @ Vancouver 4-3 OT - Jamie Benn and the Dallas Stars kept their slim Stanley Cup Playoff hopes alive, but not before the Vancouver Canucks helped their own postseason odds at Rogers Arena. After Vancouver tied it on a power play with 1:12 left in regulation, Stars defenseman John Klingberg scored the winning goal on a 3-on-2 rush with 46.2 seconds left in overtime, beating Canucks goalie Eddie Lack with a shot over the blocker to help the Stars to a 4-3 win. Benn was obviously not pleased following the Stars' 4-0 loss against the Edmonton Oilers, but was happy they had a chance to respond quickly. The Stars stayed alive in the playoff race, moving six points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. Dallas (37-29-10) has six games remaining; Winnipeg has seven games left. The single point was good enough for the Canucks after tying the game with Lack pulled for an extra attacker to create a 6-on-4 power play. That outweighed surrendering a 2-1 lead of their own in the third. Radim Vrbata tied the game after Tyler Seguin, who put the Stars ahead on a breakaway with 5:35 left, was penalized for knocking the stick out of defenseman Alexander Edler's hands with 1:32 left. Vrbata jumped on a loose puck in the slot, spun and fired a perfect shot over Lehtonen's blocker to tie the game. Christopher Tanev had two assists and Lack made 36 saves for the Canucks (43-27-5), who lost two straight for the second time in two months. Despite the loss, Vancouver moved three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for second place in the Pacific Division and four up on the fourth-place Calgary Flames. All three teams have seven games remaining. Stars coach Lindy Ruff first appeared upset with the call against Seguin that led to the late tying goal, but said his forward had to take some blame too. Seguin was just happy it ended well in overtime. They can thank Klingberg, a 22-year-old rookie who was going to get off the ice in overtime until he saw the Canucks changing, which created a 3-on-2 rush. So Klingberg stayed on and scored his 11th goal, his first since Feb. 5, over Lack's blocker. Nick Bonino and Chris Higgins scored in the second period to put the Canucks ahead 2-1, but Lehtonen made a spectacular save on Vrbata early in the third to keep it close and Patrick Eaves jammed in the tying goal after a questionable icing 7:55 into the third period. Dallas dominated the opening minutes, with Benn forcing Lack to make a great right pad save 30 seconds into the game and scoring on his next shift, deflecting Seguin's high shot down off Lack and knocking in his rebound. After a couple great saves by Lehtonen, Bonino tied it on a 2-on-1 rush with 8:42 left in the first period. Higgins put the Canucks ahead midway through the second period with Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski in the penalty box for slashing Horvat on a breakaway that he shot wide. Lehtonen lost his goal stick in a collision with Daley, and the Canucks worked the puck up to Dan Hamhuis for a point shot that Higgins tipped past the goalie's glove. Lehtonen made the spectacular right pad save off Vrbata on a perfect backdoor pass from Tanev early in the third period. The Stars tied it after a debated icing call three minutes later. Klingberg appeared to touch the puck as it reached the goal line, but icing was called. After Vancouver missed two chances to clear its zone on the ensuing faceoff, Jason Spezza's failed wraparound was jammed between Lack's skate and the post by Patrick Eaves.
That disappointment will linger if the Canucks struggle on a four-game road trip that starts against the St. Louis Blues. It continues against the Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets, teams that are currently in the playoffs.
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