NHL - Results - November 15-16

Sunday, November 15

Toronto @ NY Rangers 3-4
Mats Zuccarello scored the winning goal off a rebound at 19:04 of the third period after assisting on two others to help the Rangers extend their winning streak to nine games. The Rangers hadn't won nine consecutive games since the 1972-73 season (Jan. 19-Feb. 10). Prior to scoring the winner against Toronto, Zuccarello assisted on goals by Ryan McDonagh 44 seconds into the second period and Derick Brassard at 3:37 of the third. Derek Stepan scored at 13:55 of the second period on what was essentially a dump-in from center ice.
Bernier allowed an 86-foot goal by Stepan and gave up the winning goal to Zuccarello on a rebound he left in the slot because he couldn't control McDonagh's floater from the left point.

Monday, November 16

Phoenix @ NY Islanders 2-5
Two of my hockey going friends decided to miss the Whitley Warriors trip to Sheffield to take in this game, and for Dan and Rachel it was worth missing the game in South Yorkshire for. Offense has been hard to come by for the Islanders at Barclays Center, but they supplied more than enough against the Coyotes. Nielsen gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 4:51 into the game. After Coyotes center Antoine Vermette received a penalty for slashing, Tavares won a faceoff just outside the offensive zone. Okposo sent a drop pass to Tavares, who quickly sent a cross-ice feed to Nielsen for his eighth goal of the season. New York had one goal in its previous 21 power-play opportunities.

Phoenix had a chance to tie the game shorthanded 12 minutes into the second period when Connor Murphy's shot from the right circle on a 2-on-1 hit the post. Tobias Rieder collected the puck in front of the net and caught Halak out of position, but Islanders defenseman Marek Zidlicky was able to swat his chance away. Nelson scored for the third straight game 1:23 into the third period. With the teams at even strength, Casey Cizikas got the puck near the right goal post after Okposo outworked Zbynek Michalek behind the net. Cizikas sent the puck across the crease to Nelson for an easy tap-in to make it 2-0. Nelson was credited with his sixth goal of the season, but it was Okposo's strength behind the net that ultimately allowed the Islanders to double their lead. Tavares scored his eighth goal of the season at 5:38 of the third.

The Islanders capitalized when Okposo was able to get in front of a clearing attempt behind the net by Lindback and he quickly found Tavares in front to make it 3-0. It was Okposo's 200th career assist. Bernier made it 4-0 when he redirected Johnny Boychuk's shot from the right point past Lindback with 8:10 remaining for his first goal with the Islanders. Hanzal spoiled Halak's shutout bid with 4:15 left when he poked a loose puck in front of the net past the Islanders goaltender for his third goal of the season. Boedker cut the deficit in half with a power-play goal 2:08 later. Tavares sealed it with an empty-net goal with 39.8 seconds remaining to make it 5-2. It was his first two-goal game at Barclays Center.
Mikhail Grabovski sustained an upper-body injury during the second period and did not return, leaving them with 11 forwards. Capuano did not have an update on Grabovski's status after the game.
Anaheim @ Carolina 4-1
The Ducks struck first at 11:23 of the first period on Shawn Horcoff's third goal of the season. Horcoff got position on Justin Faulk in the slot and redirected Hagelin's centering pass. Andrew Cogliano started the play by holding in goalie Eddie Lack's clearing attempt along the boards. The newly-formed line of Cogliano-Horcoff-Hagelin accounted for seven points. Ryan Getzlaf scored an empty net goal, his first of the season, which sealed the win. Noah Hanifin tied the game for Carolina with his first NHL goal at 3:38 of the second period. The 18-year-old defenseman took a short pass from Joakim Nordstrom and blasted a low shot inside the left post. Hanifin was selected fifth in the 2015 NHL Draft.
Sami Vatanen put Anaheim ahead 2-1 when he beat Lack past the blocker to the far post. Getzlaf won a battle with Faulk along the boards before sending a cross-ice pass for the score. Hagelin scored his second of the season at 16:11 of the third period on a wraparound shot that went between Lack's pads.
Vancouver @ Montreal 3-4 OT
David Desharnais scored 3:25 into overtime and the Canadiens overcame a three-goal deficit for a 4-3 win against the Canucks at Bell Centre. Desharnais one-timed a pass from Subban past Jacob Markstrom to end the Canadiens' two-game losing streak. Tomas Fleischmann, who assisted on Desharnais' goal, scored with 3:08 left in the third period. Fleischmann put a wrist shot past Markstrom into the top left corner to tie the game at 3-3. Adam Cracknell and Jared McCann scored in the first period for Vancouver, and Daniel Sedin increased the lead to 3-0 with the Canucks' second power-play goal at 3:17 of the second. Lars Eller and Max Pacioretty scored goals 2:13 apart midway through the second period to draw the Canadiens within 3-2. Cracknell gave Vancouver the early lead with his third goal at 1:26. It was the fourth straight game Montreal has allowed the first goal within the first 3:26. McCann scored a power-play goal at 17:54, one second after the first penalty expired in Brendan Gallagher's double minor for high-sticking Sedin. Daniel Sedin, whose nose was bloodied after Gallagher's stick hit him in the face, made it 3-0 with his sixth goal at 3:17 of the second period. A video review was necessary to determine the puck went past Condon and lodged between the mesh and the rear bar inside the net. Eller scored a shorthanded goal at 8:40 of the second period before Pacioretty cut the lead to 3-2 with his ninth goal at 10:53.
Detroit @ Ottawa 4-3 OT
Tomas Tatar scored at 2:04 of overtime after a Senators turnover in the neutral zone to give the Red Wings the victory. He broke in and beat Senators goaltender Craig Anderson to the stick side. With the Detroit defensemen pushing to join the attack, Mike Green had two assists, and Danny DeKeyser had one, the Red Wings put the pressure on the Senators, who are allowing the most shots per game in the NHL (34.7). Mike Hoffman, on the power play, rookie defenseman Chris Wideman and Bobby Ryan scored for Ottawa. Ryan tied the game with 2:48 left in the third period on a nice individual effort. He shifted the puck under Green's stick to cut across the goal and put the puck around Howard. Wideman cut the Red Wings lead to 3-2 at 3:13 of the third when his shot from the right point found its way through a crowd in front of Howard. Sheahan put the Red Wings ahead 3-1 at 16:24 of the second. Larkin opened the scoring by victimizing the same two Senators again. Larkin avoided Karlsson's attempted hip check, cut to the net and scored on a shot off Anderson on the short side at 9:12. Nyquist finished off a nice sequence of four passes by Detroit to make it 2-0 at 11:01.
Tampa Bay @ Florida 0-1
Aaron Ekblad scored with 20.2 seconds remaining in the third period, and Roberto Luongo made 39 saves to help the Panthers sweep the home-and-home with a 1-0 victory at BB&T Center. Panthers center Nick Bjugstad and Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman were battling in front of the net when Ekblad's soft wrist shot from the point hit Hedman's skate and got past Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for the game-winner. Ekblad's power-play goal in the final minute Saturday sent the game to overtime, and the Panthers won 5-4 in a shootout. Tampa Bay played without forwards Tyler Johnson, Jonathan Drouin and Cedric Paquette, who each missed the game because of injury.

Florida was without defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, who sustained a knee injury in the game Saturday. Because of the injuries, the Lightning played 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Aleksander Barkov returned to the Panthers lineup after missing 10 games because of a broken right hand. He was reunited on a line with Jaromir Jagr and Jonathan Huberdeau. Barkov led Florida's forwards with 20:52 of ice time and led the Panthers with three takeaways. The Panthers had one shot in the final 18:08 of the period, but the best scoring chance belonged to Reilly Smith, who had a breakaway but shot wide. Luongo's best save in the first period came on a shot by Nikita Kucherov in the slot. Luongo made more big saves in the second period, including a save on Jonathan Marchessault on a rebound while he was on his stomach. Luongo earlier stopped Anton Stralman when he tried to deke him after a turnover in the Florida zone. Florida's best chances in the second period were wrist shots from the wing, one from Huberdeau and the other from Barkov.