NHL - Results - Saturday, December 12, 2015

Florida @ Boston 1-3
Ryan Spooner gave the Bruins the lead in the first period. After Torey Krug intercepted a pass at the blue line, he took a wrist shot Spooner tipped past  Roberto Luongo at 11:35. The goal was reviewed and upheld when it was ruled Spooner did not hit the puck with a high stick. Spooner's second goal came on a power play eight minutes into the second period, when he beat Luongo through the five-hole to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. Panthers coach Gerard Gallant shuffled his lines in the third period, and his players responded. Florida scored when a slap shot by former Bruins forward Reilly Smith beat Rask through the five-hole at 13:56 to cut the lead to 2-1. Florida kept the pressure on, but Brad Marchand's empty-net goal provided the Bruins insurance with 1:23 remaining. The Panthers, who began a four-game road trip, have lost three of their past four.
Los Angeles @ Buffalo 1-2 OT
Ryan O'Reilly scored his 100th NHL goal with 1:41 left in overtime to give the Sabres a 2-1 win. O'Reilly received a pass from Jake McCabe and went in on a 2-on-1 with Evander Kane against Alec Martinez. O'Reilly settled the puck and skated around Martinez, who went down to block a shot. O'Reilly tripped on Martinez's stick and took a wrist shot as he fell that went high over the shoulder of Kings goalie Jhonas Enroth for his 10th goal of the season. McCabe nearly gave the Sabres a 2-1 lead with 11.8 seconds left in the second period, but Kings coach Darryl Sutter challenged the play. After review, it was determined Brian Gionta entered the zone ahead of the puck and was offside. Marian Gaborik gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 4:47 into the first period. He received a pass from Anze Kopitar on a 2-on-1 against Mike Weber and took a one-timer that got past goalie Linus Ullmark for his sixth goal of the season. Ullmark made up for it in the second period when Gaborik and Kopitar had another 2-on-1, this time against McCabe. After McCabe slid toward Kopitar, he passed to Gaborik, but Ullmark got across his crease and made the save with his leg. Jamie McGinn made it 1-1 7:19 into the first period with a power-play goal. McGinn picked up loose puck from an attempted pass by O'Reilly that bounced off Pearson and Brayden McNabb and his no-look backhand between his legs beat Enroth for his sixth goal of the season.

Ottawa @ Montreal 1-3

Brian Flynn and Max Pacioretty scored when Montreal tied a team record for shots in one period on its way to a 3-1 win. Jeff Petry scored in the second period to make it 3-0. Craig Anderson, who made his 14th consecutive start, was replaced by Chris Driedger after the Canadiens appeared to have scored a fourth goal at 6:25. The goal was disallowed after a video review determined Pacioretty used his hand to bat the puck past Anderson into the net. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored at 11:24 of the second for Ottawa. Beaulieu assisted on Montreal's first goal at 2:48 when he drove behind the Senators net and put a shot off Anderson's pad. Flynn was open on the left side of the goalmouth to put in the rebound for his fourth goal. Plekanec was reunited with Pacioretty, who he set up for Montreal's second goal off a turnover inside the Ottawa blue line. Plekanec got his 20th assist with a pass to Pacioretty, who beat Anderson from the right faceoff circle on the Canadiens' 26th shot with 33 seconds remaining. Pageau drew Ottawa within 3-1 with his eighth goal on a rebound of Alex Chiasson's shot from the slot.


Washington @ Tampa Bay 2-1

Nikita Kucherov scored a third-period power-play goal, and Ben Bishop made 18 saves for the Lightning. The Capitals opened the scoring 2:09 into the game when Beagle scored his fourth goal of the season and first since Nov. 13. Stanislav Galiev threw the puck toward the net; it hit Bishop's blocker and came to Beagle, who was just to the side of the left post. Beagle banked the puck off Bishop's back and into the net on Washington's first shot of the game. Kuznetsov made it 2-0 at 11:16 of the second period with a highlight-reel goal. After the Lightning failed to clear their zone, Kuznetsov picked up the puck inside the Tampa Bay blue line and raced down the right side. It looked as if he would go behind the net; instead, he pivoted and tucked the puck between Bishop and the right post for his ninth goal. Holtby preserved the two-goal lead when he stopped Vladislav Namestnikov from in close with 1:16 remaining in the period after Namestnikov got behind the Washington defense. Kucherov scored his 11th goal at 8:05 of the third period, one-timing Anton Stralman's pass behind Holtby with Matt Niskanen serving a tripping penalty. It was Kucherov's fifth goal in four games. The Lightning controlled play for the final 11 minutes but couldn't solve Holtby again. With Tyler Johnson already out with an undisclosed injury and Jonathan Drouin (lower body) a late scratch, the Lightning dressed 11 forwards, including minor league call-up Mike Blunden, and seven defensemen. They were reduced to 10 forwards after the first period because Ondrej Palat, who played Thursday after missing 12 games with an ankle injury, did not return due to an undisclosed injury.

NY Islanders @ Columbus 3-2 OT

Kyle Okposo's second goal of the game with 2:44 left in overtime capped the Islanders' fifth consecutive overtime game, a franchise record. Okposo completed a 2-on-0 when Josh Bailey passed to him in the low slot and Okposo scored on a backhand shot for his eighth goal. Atkinson got his ninth goal and third in two games at 8:20 of the third period on a one-timer set up by David Savard. After Saad tied the score 1-1 early in the second period, Nielsen regained the lead for New York 2:02 later. The power-play goal score at 7:10 came off a Nick Leddy shot. Saad scored at 5:08 by converting a goalmouth pass from Jenner for his 10th goal. Jenner pulled the puck out of a pileup behind the net and skate to the left of goal before finding Saad, who hadn't scored in 11 games, one shy of the longest drought of his career. Okposo opened the scoring 15:21 into the game when he took advantage of a turnover by Gregory Campbell and put a shot past McElhinney, which came on New York's fourth and final shot of the period.


Columbus coach John Tortorella continued his whining:
"We played better. We found a way to come back, but we've got to find the extra point. Coming out of our end zone was much better tonight. We're trying to keep it positive and build on it. I was really happy with our back pressure and coming out together. We're not going to get down. Our record is what it is. I suggest we don't look at it and worry about getting better each day." It's their call. We just play the game. We just line up and whenever they make the call we go from there."


Carolina @ Phoenix 5-4 OT

The Hurricanes gave back a three-goal lead in the third, but Victor Rask scored 53 seconds into overtime to lift them to a 5-4 win. The Coyotes stormed back on goals by Anthony Duclair and Kyle Chipchura 1:40 apart to get within one. Then, after Elias Lindholm and Eric Staal each missed a chance at an empty net, Connor Murphy scored his second goal of the season with 15.7 seconds left to tie it 4-4. Rask scored the overtime winner off a set play. Lindholm passed the puck back to goalie Eddie Lack, who sent it up ice to Rask for a wrist shot from between the circles that beat Anders Lindback for his ninth goal. The Coyotes challenged the goal, claiming the Hurricanes were offside, but it was upheld after video review. Kris Versteeg and Andrej Nestrasil each scored in the first period, and Phillip Di Giuseppe scored in the second period to help the Hurricanes build a 3-0 lead. Lack made 24 saves for his second win in as many nights and third of the season. Duclair scored twice, and Max Domi had two assists for the Coyotes, who had their five-game home winning streak end and lost for the fifth time in six games. The Hurricanes opened the scoring at 8:37 of the first period on Versteeg's fourth goal. Ater Ron Hainsey hit Lindback in the mask with a slap shot, Lindholm chased down the rebound behind the net and found Faulk along the boards. Faulk's wrist shot deflected off Versteeg and past Lindback. The Hurricanes doubled their lead late in the first after Jordan Martinook was called for a delay of game for putting the puck over the glass from his own zone. Lindback made a big save on a Brett Pesce one-timer, but Jordan Staal chased down the rebound and his nifty pass across the crease left Nestrasil a half-empty net to shoot at with 3.7 seconds left. Carolina made it 3-0 at 15:24 of the second period when Jaccob Slavin sent Skinner and Di Giuseppe down the ice 2-on-1. Skinner maneuvered around Klas Dahlbeck and centered the puck to Di Giuseppe, who banged it home at the far post. The Coyotes pulled to within 3-1 at 18:22 of the second, with Domi forcing a turnover at center ice and finding the trailing Duclair in the high slot for a wrist shot past Lack. It was Duclair's first goal in nine games. Carolina regained its three-goal lead when Faulk shot a Lindholm feed off the post and past Lindback for his 12th goal, all of them on the power play, to make it 4-1. But the Coyotes weren't finished and quickly tightened the game. Viktor Tikhonov sent Duclair down the ice with a long pass, and Duclair scored his 10th goal by pushing the puck in with Noah Hanifin draped all over him at 1:43. Then at 3:23, Chipchura was waiting for the rebound of a Nicklas Grossmann shot in the left circle and beat Lack to the short side to make it 4-3.

NY Rangers @ Calgary 4-5 OT

Skating down his off wing, Brodie let go a shot that beat Rangers goaltender Antti Raanta far side to continue Calgary's streak. Colborne chipped a shot over Raanta's shoulder at 4:57 to momentarily extend Calgary's lead to 4-1, but Glass beat Hiller from in close after taking a pass from Dominic Moore 16 seconds later. Boyle cut the lead to one, cutting out from below the goal line and sliding a backhand by Hiller's pad to make it 4-3 at 15:06. Zuccarello tied the game with 1:12 remaining in the third period. On a power play and with Raanta on the bench for the extra attacker, Zuccarello sent a shot over Hiller's shoulder to tie the game 4-4. Miller scored on New York's third shot of the game, tapping a pass from Viktor Stalberg over Hiller to complete a tic-tac-toe play started by Kevin Hayes at 10:56 of the first period to put the Rangers up 1-0. Gaudreau tied the game 1-1 at 17:41 of the second period, intercepting a breakout pass up the middle by Keith Yandle before skating in and putting a shot over Raanta's glove. Raymond put Calgary up 17 seconds later with his first goal in 15 games. Breaking in on a 2-on-1, Raymond took a pass from Michael Frolik and beat Raanta for his second goal of the season. Gaudreau doubled Calgary's lead 2:32 into the third, taking a breakaway pass from David Jones before beating Raanta with a forehand-to-backhand deke.