Buffalo Sabres @ Minnesota Wild 3-2
The Sabres have scored five goals in the first period in their past two games, each a win. They had 15 first-period goals in their first 42 games. Jamie McGinn, Rasmus Ristolainen and Brian Gionta scored for the Sabres, who went 2-1-0 on a three-game road trip against Central Division teams; Buffalo opened the trip with a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday before defeating the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 on Sunday. Ullmark made 28 saves Tuesday and 70 on 74 shots (.946 save percentage) in back-to-back wins against the Wild and Jets. He has allowed two goals or fewer in six of his past seven starts. With goaltender Robin Lehner on the verge of returning after missing most of the season with an ankle injury, Ullmark could be headed back to Rochester of the American Hockey League before the end of the week. Slow starts have haunted the Wild lately, especially at home, where they are 6-6-2 in their past 14 games. Suter had a goal and an assist for the Wild, and Thomas Vanek scored in the final minute of the third period to make it 3-2. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 20 saves for the Wild, who have lost three straight at home, all against Eastern Conference teams. McGinn outmuscled Suter in front of the net, tapping in a rebound of an Evander Kane shot for his ninth goal and a 1-0 Sabres lead at 9:37 of the first. Ristolainen's shot from the right point appeared to hit a defenseman's stick in front of Dubnyk and went over the Wild goalie's shoulder at 17:30. On the next shift, Gionta deflected Josh Gorges' shot from the left point past Dubnyk at 17:50. Gionta, who had three points in his previous 14 games, had two points in 20 seconds; he had the lone assist on Ristolainen's goal. Buffalo entered the game with 17 first-period goals in 42 games, tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for fewest in the NHL. Minnesota outshot Buffalo 14-5 in the second period, and Suter's shorthanded goal at 12:57 made it 3-1. Following a goaltender interference penalty on Wild forward Thomas Vanek, Suter worked a give-and-go with Erik Haula near center and skated into the zone. He took a backhand shot that hit Ullmark's mask, bounced off the crossbar and went into the net off Ullmark's back. Vanek scored his 14th goal with Dubnyk pulled in favor of the extra attacker and 51.8 seconds left, tapping in a backdoor pass from Suter at the point to make it 3-2. Minnesota had a 30-23 advantage in shots but was out-chanced 7-6 in the third period. With 3:23 remaining in the third, the Sabres had limited the Wild to two shots. The Wild will conclude their three-game homestand Friday against the Jets before opening a four-game road trip Saturday against the Nashville Predators.
Ryan Suter: "We were starting to play the way we needed to play to build and get ready for the next step. Then it seems we kind of took the foot off the pedal and we haven't been playing well; we're back to the inconsistency. We took the first period off, and it showed."
Mike Yeo: "It's a humbling league. A couple of games ago, we were feeling pretty good about ourselves; obviously, not so much today."
Nashville Predators @ Chicago Blackhawks 2-3
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville earned his 782nd NHL victory to tie Al Arbour for second all-time in a 3-2 win against the Predators at United Center.
Quenneville, who signed a three-year contract extension Tuesday, is 782-451-110 with 77 ties in his 19th season. It was his 344th win as Blackhawks coach; he had 307 wins with the St. Louis Blues (1996-2004) and 131 with the Coloroado Avalanche (2005-08). The Blackhawks got a scare at the end of the game, after Filip Forsberg scored a power-play goal with 36.3 seconds left to pull Nashville within one. Ryan Johansen got off a hard wrist shot from the right wing with four seconds left, but Chicago goalie Corey Crawford made his 41st save to prevent overtime. Andrew Shaw (two goals) and Marian Hossa (two assists) each had a two-point game to help the Blackhawks extend their season-high win streak to eight games. Hossa celebrated his 37th birthday by helping the Blackhawks pull within two points of the Dallas Stars for the top spot in the Central Division. Chicago, which has won its past five home games, trailed Dallas by 13 points when this winning streak began with a 7-5 victory at the Coyotes on Dec. 29. Brent Seabrook scored his seventh goal, and right wing Patrick Kane had an assist; he leads the NHL with 63 points. Nashville went 1-for-5 on the power play and lost its fourth consecutive game. Pekka Rinne made 20 saves, and center Mike Ribeiro scored his fifth goal for the Predators, who outshot the Blackhawks 20-6 in the second period and 43-23 overall.
Quenneville had unexpected lineup decisions to make about 90 minutes before the game. Artem Anisimov became ill and was a late scratch. Teuvo Teravainen moved from right wing of the third line to center the second line, and recently acquired Richard Panik, 24, made his Blackhawks debut. Panik, acquired in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 3, didn't arrive in Chicago until Tuesday, after waiting to get his U.S. work visa approved. He was supposed to be a healthy scratch but played left wing on the third line. Shaw opened the scoring with 58 seconds left in the first period to put the Blackhawks up 1-0. Hossa's wraparound was blocked, but Shaw got the puck just outside the left post, and his shot deflected off Rinne's left leg and slid into the net. Shaw's second goal of the night and eighth of the season made it 2-0 at 6:14 of the second period, after Hossa fed him a pass in front of the net with Rinne caught out of position. It was the second game in a row Chicago's top line scored multiple goals, after struggling to consistently produce all season. Seabrook made it 3-0 at 13:18 of the second, and it looked like the Blackhawks might win by a comfortable margin. But Ribeiro countered 18 seconds later to make it 3-1, and Forsberg swatted the puck out of midair past Crawford to make it 3-2 late in the third. That set the stage for Johansen's final shot and Crawford's save to give Quenneville a milestone victory. Crawford is 24-10-2.
Corey Crawford: "I forgot who it was who came into the middle and I had to challenge him. I got a pretty good read that he was passing it, so I got over there pretty quick, sat and then I was able to get another step and just challenge him. I had a good read on his shot too. I just got it with my arm."
Joel Quenneville: "It took a little scariness there at the end. [Crawford] had to make a big save in the dying seconds, but [we] did some good things to get the lead. We went [into Dallas] before Christmas there, [and] had to win to even think of closing the gap. They beat us, and [it was like], 'OK, that's a distant thought.' Things change quickly in our division, in our league and in our game, but [it's] certainly a great achievement winning this home stretch and taking advantage of some of the teams. All of a sudden, we've put ourselves in a much better spot. You're thinking playoff spot, [and] now you're thinking first place."
Marian Hossa: "So far, the last few games it's been working out well for us. We just need to keep doing what we're doing right now."
Peter Laviolette: There were parts of it I thought we played hard. We played hard until the end. There were parts of it I thought we could've played better. A lot of games have been like tonight. They're hard-fought. We're coming out on the wrong side of the stick of it; not scoring."
Tampa Bay Lightning @ Colorado Avalanche 4-0
Steven Stamkos scored two goals, and Ben Bishop had 21 saves to help the Lightning defeat the Avalanche 4-0 at Pepsi Center for their third consecutive win. Stamkos' linemates had multipoint games; Ondrej Palat had a goal and two assists, and Vladislav Namestnikov had two assists. Victor Hedman also had two assists. The Lightning went 3-1-0 on their four-game road trip and are 11-6-1 since Dec. 2. Bishop had a relatively easy time in his second shutout of the season and 14th of his NHL career. The Lightning outshot the Avalanche 23-12 in the second and third period, and 38-21 for the game. The loss was the second in a row for the Avalanche, who are 9-10-3 at home. They've been shut out four times this season, including three times at home. Stamkos, who had four goals on the road trip, scored twice in a 3:37 span early in the second period to give the Lightning a 3-0 lead. He has nine goals in the past 11 games.
Tyler Johnson put in the rebound of Hedman's shot at 11:55 of the third period for a 4-0 advantage. The goal was Johnson's fifth of the season and his first in seven games after missing seven games because of an upper-body injury.
Stamkos scored his first goal at 1:39 of the second to complete a tic-tac-toe passing play with Palat and Namestnikov. He was at the bottom of the left circle when he one-timed Namestnikov's pass inside the near post. Stamkos was in the slot and beat goalie Semyon Varlamov from point-blank range at 5:16 off Palat's pass from the left corner for his fifth two-goal game of the season and 20th goal overall. Palat gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 10:29 of the first period, six seconds after the Avalanche finished killing Alex Tanguay's hooking penalty. After Hedman took a shot from the high slot that Varlamov knocked down with his glove, Palat gained possession, skated through the goal mouth and chipped the puck inside the left post. The goal was Palat's third of the season and his first in five games since he returned from a lower-body injury that caused him to miss eight games.
Nathan MacKinnon: "Getting shut out at home, it's just tough. We didn't generate anything tonight. It was a pretty bad game for us. They were in the (Stanley) Cup Final for a reason last year. They're a good team, but this was one of our worst games of the season."
Patrick Roy: "That was a beautiful play by them, but we didn't defend well. The reason why we won some games is because we played well defensively, and we got away from that. They have a very well-balanced lineup and they were better than us."
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