Nashville Predators @ Calgary Flames 2-1
The Predators will take their first four-game winning streak of the season into the All-Star break. Shea Weber scored the game-winner, and Carter Hutton made 26 saves to help Nashville to a 2-1 victory against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome. The Predators were 2-5-1 to begin January. Mike Ribeiro scored for Nashville, which will host the 2016 Honda NHL All-Star Game at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday after sweeping its four-game Canadian road trip. Weber, Roman Josi and Pekka Rinne will represent the Predators on the Central Division All-Star Team. Mark Giordano scored for the Flames, who lost the first of a three-game homestand split around the break after going 1-3-1 on a five-game road trip. Giordano and Johnny Gaudreau will represent Calgary on the Pacific Division All-Star Team. Ribeiro opened the scoring in the first period. After gaining the zone off the rush, Craig Smith passed off to Ribeiro in the slot, and he beat Flames goaltender Karri Ramo with a shot under the arm at 6:21.
The goal came on Nashville's fifth shot of the game and before Calgary's first shot on Hutton, a chance in tight from Lance Bouma at 8:35. The Predators doubled their lead on a power play with 2:23 remaining in the second period. Weber one-timed a pass from the top of the circle following a set-up from Josi and Ryan Johansen to put the Predators up 2-0. Giordano cut the Predators lead to one at 5:48 of the third period. Weber blocked his initial shot, but Giordano corralled the puck and circled back to the high slot before beating Hutton with a slap shot. The goal ended Hutton's shutout streak at 106:02. Sam Bennett hit the post with a backhand shot at 11:20, and Ryan Ellis dove to swat away a backdoor pass from Gaudreau to Sean Monahan with a little more than five minutes remaining. With Johansen in the penalty box and Ramo on the bench for the extra attacker, Hutton made saves on Bennett's redirect of Giordano's point shot and Jiri Hudler's rebound attempt with 42.6 seconds remaining. He also made saves against Bennett in a crease scramble with 10.2 seconds left and on Dougie Hamilton's one-timer with 2.1 seconds remaining to preserve the win.
Shea Weber: "We battled hard. It's been a tough month for us. We're battling our way back into the playoff picture here. The last four games have really helped."
"We talked about finishing off a tough West swing. It's not easy to come out here to beat these teams in their own buildings. Trying to keep our mind on the games, too, is a big thing with the All-Star break. Minds might tend to wander, but I think everybody in here did a good job of staying focused. The games speak for themselves."
"It's going to be pretty special, obviously. I'm very honored to go to another All-Star Game, but to have it in Nashville, to have it in front of our fans and with a couple teammates as well. It's going to be very special. A great play by Johansen there getting it behind the back to [Josi], and [Josi] just set it right where I needed to hit it. I made a good shot."
Carter Hutton: "We knew they were going to come. They're too good not to. I thought we did a great job. At the end, we had a couple key blocks and we eliminated second chances. From there, we were able to hang on. It wasn't the prettiest finish, but it was back-to-back and the end of a road trip. It was a huge two points any way we look at it."
Colorado Avalanche @ Los Angeles Kings 4-3
The bass-heavy music pumping from the Avalanche dressing room was the soundtrack of a team going into the All-Star break happy. Playing the second of back-to-back games and facing a third-period deficit against the normally tight Los Angeles Kings, Gabriel Landeskog scored his second goal of the game and Nathan MacKinnon got the go-ahead goal with 9:25 remaining to rally Colorado to a 4-3 win at Staples Center. MacKinnon one-timed a pass from Mikhail Grigorenko past Jonathan Quick five seconds after a Colorado power play expired, to complete a comeback from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits. Landeskog's second goal was an easy conversion from Tyson Barrie on the power play at 7:38 that tied the game 3-3. The two-goal flurry gave the Avalanche a win one night after a 6-1 loss at the San Jose Sharks. The Kings, who outshot Colorado 38-19, lost for the fourth time this season when leading after two periods (18-4-0). King salvaged a forgettable second-period start for the Kings with a tap-in goal off a playmaker's pass from Jordan Nolan at 15:13, putting Los Angeles ahead 3-2. It came after the Avalanche erased a 2-0 deficit on goals by Duchene and Landeskog. Duchene beat Quick with a shot from the right circle 42 seconds into the second for his 23rd goal, and Landeskog converted a huge rebound left by Quick on Blake Comeau's shot at 7:10. The Kings outshot Colorado 18-5 in the first period and Avalanche goalie Calvin Pickard kept damage to a minimum with 16 saves despite playing on the second straight night. Vincent Lecavalier gave the Kings a 2-0 lead when he stickhandled between his legs, went around Barrie and drove to the net to set up Trevor Lewis at 18:40. Lecavalier has four goals and two assists in nine games with Los Angeles. Drew Doughty made a similar play when he took Anze Kopitar's pass, burst past Nick Holden and lifted a backhand over Pickard at 9:31, with Milan Lucic in the penalty box. Doughty's 10th goal of the season was the first shorthanded goal of his career. But the Kings couldn't finish. Alex Tanguay was a healthy scratch.
Gabriel Landeskog: "This was an emotional one for us. We wanted to bounce back, and every time you go into a break like this the last game you play is also fresh in everyone's minds, and you want to build off of that and feel good about yourself during the break. We wanted to make sure that we played as good as we could."
Matt Duchene: "Good teams throw those away [the loss to the Sharks]. You can't dwell on it. You can't bring it into the rink. You learn the lessons and you go from there."
Patrick Roy: "He was phenomenal in the first period. Thank God he played that well."
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