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.