New Jersey @ Buffalo 2-0
Lee Stempniak scored with 2:23 left in the second period. Cammalleri received a cross-zone pass from Henrique and took a slap shot that was saved by Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark, but Stempniak followed and put the rebound in for his eighth goal of the season. The assist was Cammalleri's first point in three games.
Florida @ NY Islanders 5-1
Luongo was tested early and often by the Islanders, who had five shots less than 4½ minutes into the game. He kept New York off the board when he snared Kyle Okposo's wrist shot from between the circles with a dazzling glove save at 4:15. Smith opened the scoring 1:51 into the second period with his ninth goal of the season. With the teams at even strength, Smith one-timed a pass from Dylan Olsen at the right circle to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead. It was Smith's third goal in four games. Casey Cizikas nearly tied it for the Islanders about four minutes later, but his redirection from the slot off a pass from Matt Martin was denied by Luongo. Barkov, who hadn't scored in nine games, gave Florida a 2-0 lead at 7:25. Frans Nielsen attempted to chip the puck to himself behind the net, but it deflected off Travis Hamonic and came to Barkov in front, where he quickly backhanded a shot past Halak for his seventh goal of the season. New York finally solved Luongo when Nelson scored with 7:23 left in the second period. With Nelson and Mikhail Grabovski driving to the net, Nelson redirected Marek Zidlicky's feed from inside the right point past Luongo to make it 2-1. It was Nelson's 10th goal of the season. But Florida restored its two-goal lead 20 seconds later when Ekblad scored his seventh goal. Ekblad, who extended his point streak to three games, took a pass from Brandon Pirri and let go a soft wrist shot from the left circle that managed to get between Halak's skates. Trocheck made it 4-1 at 1:23 of the third period when he one-timed a pass from Jussi Jokinen at the right circle past Halak for his ninth goal of the season. Huberdeau sealed the victory with a shorthanded empty-net goal at 16:17.
Edmonton @ NY Rangers 2-4
Rick Nash scored the game-winning goal on the power play late in the second period, the Rangers killed three penalties within the first 8:46 of the third period, and they got contributions from rookie defensemen Dylan McIlrath and Brady Skjei to end a three-game losing streak. The Oilers had their chances to recover after Nash's power-play goal at 19:21 of the second period gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead. His goal came 61 seconds after Eberle scored on a breakaway to tie the game at 2-2. The Rangers, though, held the lead despite the Oilers having three power-play chances in the first 8:46 of the third period.
Defenseman Marc Staal was called for slashing at 2:40 and high sticking at 5:03, putting one of New York's most effective penalty-killers in the box for the first two kills. McIlrath and Skjei, who was making his NHL debut after being called up from Hartford of the American Hockey League earlier in the day, were thrust into prominent roles on the PK and didn't look out of place. Skjei even had two takeaways on the Oilers' second power play. It was even more impressive for Skjei because it was his turnover that led to Eberle's game-tying goal at 18:20 of the second period. He didn't let it affect the rest of his game.
J.T. Miller went to the box for high sticking at 8:46 of the third period, but New York's sixth-ranked penalty kill did the job again. All told, the Oilers had two shots on goal in the six minutes of power-play time. It was a dramatically different look from the Rangers' penalty kill in the third period than in the second, when Hall had lots of time and plenty of space after receiving the puck from center Leon Draisaitl on the left side. He beat Lundqvist at 5:12 to tie the game at 1-1.
Carolina @ Philadelphia 3-4 OT
Flyers coach Dave Hakstol shifted Jakub Voracek from his natural right wing to the left side on a line with center Sean Couturier and right wing Wayne Simmonds to try to get Voracek some better looks offensively. It paid off 23 seconds into the second period when Voracek got to the front of the net and redirected a point shot by Radko Gudas past Lack. Voracek set up Couturier's goal at 16:29 of the second that gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead, and then in overtime he led a 2-on-1 breakout and centered the puck to Gostisbehere, who tipped it past Lack. Skinner started the scoring 1:56 into the first period, batted in the rebound of a Jordan Staal shot for a power-play goal at 3:37 of the second for a 2-1 lead, and then scored at 9:07 of the third to force overtime. Simmonds unsurprisingly got a penalty for instigating a fight. And yes there are morons out there who believe the Flyers are not a dirty side.
Tampa Bay @ Toronto 5-4 OT
Vladislav Namestnikov's goal 2:01 into overtime gave the Lightning a 5-4 win. It was his sixth goal of the season and first in 13 games. He last scored Nov. 14 against the Florida Panthers. He skated in 2-on-1 with Alex Killorn and shot short-side over goalie Jonathan Bernier's blocker. Much of the attention leading up to the game was on Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos, who will be an unrestricted free agent after this season if he does not sign with the Lightning beforehand. Stamkos stirred the pot recently when he "liked" a TSN post on Twitter regarding the possibility of him signing with the Maple Leafs next summer. Stamkos is from nearby Markham, Ontario. The Lightning got to Bernier early when Kucherov broke in alone and scored with a backhand deke at 2:59. The Maple Leafs tied it 1-1 at 10:40 with a power-play goal. James van Riemsdyk took a 20-foot snap shot that hit Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy in the chest and popped into the air. Tyler Bozak swatted it into the goal for his fifth of the season and 100th of his NHL career. Van Riemsdyk gave Toronto a 2-1 lead at 18:03 when he took a pass from Bozak in front of the Lightning net, escaped the coverage of Matthew Carle and slipped a shot past Vasilevskiy for his ninth of the season. The Maple Leafs made it 3-1 at 11:34 of the second period when Morgan Rielly and center Nick Spaling broke in 2-on-1. Rielly took a wrist shot that Vasilevskiy got a piece of only to have the puck fall to the ice and crawl over the goal line. The goal came four seconds after Toronto killed back-to-back penalties which included playing two men short for 1:16. Tampa Bay got that goal back in the final minute when Anton Stralman cruised into the slot with the puck and beat Bernier with a wrist shot for his third goal of the season with 36 seconds left. The Lightning tied it 3-3 when Mike Blunden, playing his fifth game of the season, was allowed to drive the net unimpeded and snap a shot past Bernier for his first goal at 5:56 of the third period. Jonathan Marchessault got the next shot through a crowd and past Bernier for his fourth goal of the season to give the Lightning a 4-3 lead 36 seconds after Blunden's goal. Daniel Winnik tied it 4-4 at 13:28 when he redirected a slap pass by Roman Polak past Vasilevskiy for his third of the season after Spaling won a faceoff in the Tampa Bay end.
No comments:
Post a Comment