Logan Couture had his first NHL hat tricks to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Tuesday. Couture put the Sharks ahead 2-1 when he scored with 11 seconds left in the second period, had a 5-on-3 power-play goal with 5:59 left in the third and hit the empty net with 16.4 seconds left to seal the Canucks' ninth straight loss.
Joe Pavelski scored in the second period and James Reimer made 23 saves for the Sharks, who moved within two points of the Anaheim Ducks for second place in the Pacific Division. San Jose is three points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the division lead. San Jose, which hosts the Canucks on Thursday, has played 77 games, one more than the Kings and two more than the Ducks.
Chris Higgins scored shorthanded and Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves for the Canucks, who are 0-8-1 in their past nine games and are tied with the Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs for the fewest points in the NHL.
San Jose clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 5-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, didn't arrive in Vancouver until 2 a.m., and was outshot 13-4 by the Canucks during the first 19 minutes. But Reimer kept the game scoreless with great glove saves on Sven Baertschi and Alexandre Burrows, and Pavelski opened the scoring 20 seconds into the second period after Markstrom punched a rebound to him in the slot with his blocker.
San Jose had a chance to extend the lead on a five-minute power play after Canucks forward Jake Virtanen was given a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct for a late hit on Roman Polak. Instead Higgins tied it on a 2-on-1 with 40 seconds left in the penalty, keeping the puck and beating Reimer over the glove from the left faceoff dot.
It was Higgins' first goal since Nov. 8 and his first point in six games since being recalled after spending two months in the American Hockey League. But Couture made it 2-1 shortly before the second period ended. He lost the puck while trying to bring it out from behind the net, but Nick Spaling, back in the lineup in place of an injured Joel Ward, kicked it right back to Couture; he kicked it from his skate to his stick, pulled it around Markstrom's right pad and tucked it inside the far post. Couture scored his second goal 44 seconds into a lengthy two-man advantage, beating Markstrom between the legs after being left alone in the slot. Ward was a late scratch but coach Peter DeBoer said it is "nothing major."
Jamie Benn scored two goals and the Dallas Stars remained in first place in the Central Division by defeating the Nashville Predators 5-2 on Tuesday at American Airlines Center.
Radek Faksa, Jason Spezza and Patrick Sharp also scored for Dallas, which has won five of its past six games. The Stars and St. Louis Blues, who defeated the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 earlier Tuesday, each have 101 points; however, the Stars own the tiebreaker with 44 regulation/overtime wins, three more than St. Louis. Each team has five games remaining. Dallas reached 100 points for the first time since 2006-07, when the Stars finished with 107.
Ryan Ellis and Viktor Arvidsson scored for Nashville, which holds the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference but failed to clinch a postseason berth for the second straight night.
Spezza made it 3-1 with 30th goal of the season at 11:49 of the second period, 46 seconds after Faksa broke a 1-1 tie. Spezza beat Pekka Rinne, who made 20 saves, high to the far post with a wrist shot from the right circle. The goal came seconds after Nashville's Mike Fisher's wrist shot on a breakaway hit the top part of Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen's stick.
Spezza reached the 30-goal mark for the fifth time in his career and the first since 2011-12, when he played for the Ottawa Senators. The Stars have three 30-goal scorers (Benn, Tyler Seguin and Spezza) for the first time since relocating to Dallas from Minnesota in 1993. Arvidsson scored a power-play goal at 14:41 to make it 3-2, but Lehtonen made 12 of his 28 saves in the third period before Sharp and Benn hit the empty net in the final two minutes. Benn has a career-high 39 goals, tying him for second in the League with Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane.
Ellis gave Nashville a 1-0 lead 6:12 into the game with a shorthanded goal off a Dallas turnover. He intercepted a pass by John Klingberg in the neutral zone, raced in and beat Lehtonen top shelf to the short side with a slap shot from the right circle. Benn tied it at 10:55 when he beat Rinne through the five-hole on a breakaway after taking a pass from Goligoski. Faksa scored off a rebound at 11:03 of the second after Rinne stopped Antoine Roussel's shot.
Arvidsson's power-play goal came on a slap shot from the left circle that went inside the near post. It was his first goal in 14 games, since Feb. 25 at Chicago.
Ellis left after playing one shift in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return. Laviolette said there are no immediate plans to recall a defenseman. After a day off on Wednesday, Nashville gets another chance to make the postseason Thursday at the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Stars Quotes
Alex Goligoski: "It's a good accomplishment. Not a lot of teams hit that [100 points], so we should feel good about that. The team's worked hard all year."
"I think they kind of bounced the puck around in the slot, and their D got caught puck-watching a little bit. I saw him hanging out up there. It was a good read by him to hop off the bench and get up there. Easy play on my part, great goal by him."
Jason Spezza: "[Valeri Nichushkin] had a pretty good gap. I probably could have slid it over early. I didn't, and [Nichushkin] did a good job of driving the back post and if a guy drives the back post, some of the times you can catch the goalie leaning, and I made a good shot."
Lindy Ruff: "I thought Kari was excellent. He made some real good saves for us. He made a big save [on Fisher] off one of our turnovers that turned into a goal going the other way, which for me was one of the turning points of the game."
"I thought we started the game off sloppy, and got better as the game went on. It was tough gaining on the ice tonight. Both teams defended pretty well."
Radek Faksa: "I'm getting more chances and I appreciate every shift, every minute because we've got a very good team."
St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott had to think for a moment. He had just allowed a goal, at Scottrade Center, but was receiving a standing ovation. The Blues were trying to match the modern NHL record of five consecutive shutouts belonging to the Phoenix Coyotes and goalie Brian Boucher (Dec. 31, 2003-Jan. 9, 2004). When Elliott allowed a first-period goal in a 3-1 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, ending the Blues shutout streak at 258:29, the longest in their history, the sellout crowd of 19,263 showed its appreciation.
Elliott said he couldn't recall something like that ever happening. The Blues have won five games in a row and 11 of 13.
David Backes and Troy Brouwer each scored on the power play, Alexander Steen had two assists in his first game since Feb. 20, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored his Blues-leading 36th goal to help St. Louis keep pace with the Dallas Stars in the race for first place in the Central Division. The Blues and Stars, who defeated the Nashville Predators 5-2, each have 101 points.
Elliott made 20 saves, but his shutout streak ended at 193:12. He is 10-0-1 in his past 12 starts and 4-0-0 with a 0.25 goals-against average and .989 save percentage since coming off injured reserve. When Colorado’s Mikhail Grigorenko scored at 18:12 of the first period, it was the first goal allowed by St. Louis with a goalie in net in 280:02 and first at 5-on-5 in 304:39. Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves.
The Avalanche are five points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Colorado and Minnesota, which defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Tuesday, each has five games remaining.
Brouwer scored the Blues' second power-play goal 9:30 into the second period off a feed from Paul Stastny, who received a long stretch pass from Steen. Stastny's saucer pass set up Brouwer in the slot for a 2-1 Blues lead.
Tarasenko took advantage of defenseman Chris Bigras’ error in the Colorado zone to give St. Louis a two-goal lead. Bigras whiffed on an attempted outlet pass, and Tarasenko beat Varlamov with a high wrist shot on the short side at 12:28 of the second.
The Blues had nine of the first 10 shots on goal, and Backes reached 20 goals for the sixth time in his NHL career and the fifth straight season to open the scoring early in the first period. Backes was in front of Varlamov and was able to tip Steen's shot from the point 1:48 of the first period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. Steen missed 15 games with an upper-body injury. Steen played 19:41
Colorado settled into the second half of the first period and tied it when Grigorenko converted Tyson Barrie's pass to the left circle to beat Elliott, who made 74 consecutive saves over four-plus games.
St. Louis rookie left wing Robby Fabbri left the game in the third period after landing awkwardly on his left leg following a check from Colorado's Jack Skille.
Hitchcock said after the game that Fabbri is day-to-day. The Blues won't practice Wednesday, so there won’t be an update on Fabbri until Thursday.
Fabbri has 18 goals and 19 assists in 71 games.
Blues Quotes
Brian Elliott: "No, not in this building. It was awesome. That's our fans. They recognize we played five hard games that we took a shutout streak in; that doesn't happen often. ... It's trying to get your mind around it. It's almost like the pressure is off now. You let the goal in and you can move on from the streak and start another one. It was a [heck of a] run; the guys played great and they continued tonight. Obviously, in this league, you're going to let in a couple goals. All the credit to our guys and our team game."
Ken Hitchcock: "It's really important (to keep winning). It could be a difference-maker. You look at the eight teams (in the Western Conference) that are going to be there, it's tough sledding for anybody right now."
David Backes: "[Elliott] was fantastic as long as he was in the net and had a chance at it. That was a defensive breakdown in front of him. It doesn't matter who you are, it's a tough one to stop backdoor after you're sold on the shot. Just a breakdown in front of him, and that was bound to happen. Maybe we can stop talking about that streak and start another one."
Alex Steen: "It was a good start. I thought we played good for the most part."
The Minnesota Wild took a big step in locking down their fourth consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday, scoring three times in the third period to defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 at Xcel Energy Center. Minnesota won all five games against Chicago this season. It’s the third time in Blackhawks history that they were swept in a season series of five or more games (Montreal Maroons, six games, 1936-37; Boston Bruins, eight, 1938-39).
Minnesota are five points ahead of the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Colorado lost 3-1 to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. The Wild, who the Blackhawks have eliminated from the playoffs the past three years, are four points behind the Nashville Predators for the first wild card. Minnesota, Colorado and Nashville each has five games remaining.
Defenseman Jared Spurgeon scored on a breakaway at 4:07 of the third to break a 1-1 tie with his 11th goal. Less than seven minutes later, forward Erik Haula scored his 13th goal for a two-goal lead. Jarret Stoll and Nino Niederreiter scored, and goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 18 saves to help the Wild extend their season-high winning streak to six games.
Marian Hossa scored for the Blackhawks, who were without their top two defensemen for most of the game. Goaltender Scott Darling made 14 saves.
Chicago, which clinched its eighth straight playoff berth Sunday, is six points behind the Dallas Stars and Blues for first place in the Central Division and four ahead of the fourth-place Predators. Dallas defeated Nashville 5-2 on Tuesday.
Minnesota took a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first period on its first shot on goal. Defenseman Mike Reilly got the play started with a nice outlet pass to spring Stoll, who beat Darling with a shot high to the blocker side for his fourth goal of the season and first since Jan. 23.
Already without defenseman Brent Seabrook, who was a late scratch because of an illness, the Blackhawks played more than 50 minutes without defenseman Duncan Keith, who was given a five-minute major and a match penalty for high sticking Charlie Coyle at 9:27 of the first period.
After an open-ice hit by Coyle knocked Keith to the ice just inside the Wild zone, the Blackhawks defenseman swung his stick and hit Coyle in the nose, opening up a large cut. Keith, who was suspended one game for high sticking Jeff Carter of the Los Angeles Kings during the 2013 Western Conference Final, faces an automatic suspension pending NHL review.
Minnesota was unable to capitalize on the five-minute power play, and Chicago instead grabbed the momentum with a shorthanded goal. Almost halfway through the Wild power play, Toews fed Hossa on a 2-on-1 for his 13th goal of the season and 499th of his NHL career to tie it 1-1 at 11:55.
Spurgeon broke the tie early in the third, taking a pass from Koivu in alone on Darling and beating him with a backhand shot under the crossbar. Haula gave the Wild a 3-1 lead later in the period, finishing off a nice backhand pass by Niederreiter from the right corner on a rush. Defenseman Matt Dumba won a puck battle along the wall in the Minnesota end and poked it to the neutral zone. Niederreiter chased the puck into the corner and centered for Haula, who scored through Darling’s five-hole.
Haula has four goals and five assists during a nine-game point streak, the longest in the NHL. Niederreiter scored an empty-net goal with 1:19 remaining.
Hawks Quotes
Jonathan Toews: “Even if we would’ve won tonight, we wouldn’t be satisfied going 1-4 [against Minnesota]. Obviously, it adds insult to injury to lose this one tonight. There were a couple that we really didn’t play well and didn’t really deserve to win. I think tonight was an improvement, and obviously the score doesn’t look that way. It’s not fun to look back and have a record like that against a team in your division, especially a team like Minnesota. It’s not something we’re happy about.”
Joel Quenneville: “I’m not going to talk about it. I couldn’t see it live because it was down on the same side as the bench. I took a quick peek at it, but I couldn’t say. We miss guys all year long, so I’m not worrying about hypotheticals.”
Wild Quotes
John Torchetti: “When it counts is the playoffs. It’s great that we got that (sweep) in the regular season. I wasn’t here for the first two (wins), but we know how to play them. They’ve played them [many] times plus the three years in the playoffs. We should know how to play them. Now if we get a chance and are fortunate enough to make the playoffs, that’s got to be our marker.”
Mikko Koivu: “Every single game is important for us right now, so I don’t think it matters who you play against. It’s good for confidence and moving forward. But there’s a lot of things that we need to prove as a team, and there’s good parts that we can still get another level, and we need to do that in order to be good moving forward.”
Jarret Stoll: “We’re playing a team game. We’re playing a fast, tight-checking style of a game, and that’s how we need to play. We can suffocate teams with our speed and checking ability and that’s what we did here tonight. We can do that against any team in this league, and that’s how you win in the playoffs, you win 2-1, 3-2, 1-0 by checking well, playing on the right side of the puck, and getting opportunities from that.”
The Pittsburgh Penguins relied on depth to fuel a come-from-behind 5-4 shootout win against the Buffalo Sabres at Consol Energy Center on Tuesday.
Kris Letang and Phil Kessel scored in the shootout after four Penguins scored in the second period to erase a three-goal deficit. After Sidney Crosby and Ryan O’Reilly failed to score in the first round, Letang scored in the second after playing a career-high 35:14. Kessel sealed the victory by going backhand to forehand in the third round. Penguins goalie Matthew Murray, who made 26 saves, stopped Jack Eichel in the second round. Murray forced the shootout by denying Eichel on a breakaway with 28.1 seconds remaining in overtime. Eichel attempted the same move on his breakaway and shootout attempts, but Murray said the situations were slightly different.
The Penguins are one point behind the New York Rangers for second place in the Metropolitan Division after handing the Sabres a second loss in as many nights. Facing a 3-0 deficit, Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy began a four-goal surge with his fourth goal of the season 1:28 into the second period to cut the Sabres’ lead to 3-1.
Conor Sheary cut into the lead further when he stole the puck away from Josh Gorges and Zemgus Girgensons, who were battling with Beau Bennett in the corner, before slowly driving to the net and shooting into the upper-left corner behind Sabres goalie Chad Johnson, making it 3-2 at 5:55 of the second.
Johnson finished with 42 saves. Tom Kuhnhackl and Nick Bonino scored shorthanded goals 24 seconds apart to give the Penguins a 4-3 lead entering the intermission.
With Eric Fehr in the penalty box for tripping, Matt Cullen and Kuhnhackl went on a 2-on-1 facing Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. Cullen set up Kuhnhackl for a one-timer that tied the game 3-3 with 1:13 remaining in the second. Shortly after the ensuing faceoff, Johnson stood with the puck behind his net and his back to Carl Hagelin, who poked the puck away from Johnson and backhanded a pass to Bonino in front of the net for an uncontested goal with 48.7 seconds left in the period. Zach Bogosian tied the game at 4-4 when he one-timed a pass from Johan Larsson by Murray’s glove 2:13 into the third period.
Matt Moulson opened the scoring when his backhander off of a rebound went past Murray 9:26 into the first period. David Legwand made it 2-0 after he backhanded a shot that trickled through Murray’s five-hole. Trevor Daley swiped the puck away just before it could cross the goal line, but his attempted save ricocheted off Kessel and to O’Reilly, who shot into an open net with 5:55 remaining in the first. McCabe scored Buffalo’s third backhanded goal of the period with 1:02 left in the first. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Pittsburgh’s response to the first period is indicative of his players’ character.
Pens Quotes
Kris Letang: “I want a rest, that’s for sure. For us, in the situation that we are in, I don’t think it really matters who we’re playing. The points are all really precious.”
Matthew Murray: “I think the backpressure makes it a bit different. You come in with a little more speed when there’s a guy riding your tail and in the shootout, you can come in slow, say like [Letang] did, and that can throw off a goalie pretty bad. So, same kind of idea, but you just want to try to stay on top of him and try to force him to make the first move.”
Mike Sullivan: “We talked about how we’ve come back and climbed back into games when we’ve been down, not just one goal but multiple goals, and that we’re capable of it. I think it galvanizes the group when you have these types of games and you’re able to defy the odds, so to speak, and climb back in and find ways to win.”
Other Results
Boston @ New Jersey 1-2
Carolina @ NY Islanders 1-2 SO
Detroit @ Montreal 3-4
Toronto @ Florida 5-2
The San Jose Sharks are headed back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, one season after their streak of 10 postseason appearances ended. Joe Thornton scored the tie-breaking goal at 4:28 of the third period, and the playoff-bound Sharks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 at SAP Center on Monday.
Justin Braun scored two goals and Joe Pavelski and Melker Karlsson each scored for the Sharks, who had lost three straight home games, squandering chances to clinch a playoff berth earlier. Martin Jones made 30 saves against his former team. The Sharks officially clinched a playoff berth minutes before they defeated the Kings when the Calgary Flames beat the Arizona Coyotes 5-2. The Sharks won the season-series 3-2-0 and defeated the Kings at SAP Center for the first time in three tries.
Vincent Lecavalier scored two goals for the Kings, and Jonathan Quick made 26 saves. The Kings' lead in the Pacific Division over the second-place Anaheim Ducks, who defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1, is one point. San Jose trails the Kings by five points.
The game was tied 2-2 entering the third period, but Thornton scored on the power play, putting the Sharks ahead for good. Brent Burns sent a wrist shot from the left circle that ricocheted off of Quick. Then Pavelski shot from close range, and the puck bounced off of Quick to Thornton, right of the crease. Thornton scored his 18th goal on a wrist shot before Quick could get up off the ice. The Sharks have won the past 29 games in which Thornton has a point.
Karlsson made it 4-2 at 16:41 of the third, taking a pass from Tommy Wingels and scoring his 10th goal of the season from close range. Braun added an empty-net goal with 18.1 seconds left.
Lecavalier gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 9:12 of a fast-paced and physical first period on the power play. With Braun in the penalty box, Lecavalier took a pass from Alec Martinez and beat Jones from the right circle with a snap shot to the short side. The goal was his ninth of the season.
The Kings had gone 1-for-22 on the power play in their previous nine games.
Braun scored his third goal of the season at 12:57 of the first period. Wingels won a battle for the puck along the right boards, sending it to Karlsson, who hit Braun with a pass in the slot. Braun beat Quick with a wrist shot to the top right corner of the net. The Kings had seven of the first eight shots, but San Jose outshot them 11-9 for the period.
San Jose took a 2-1 lead on Pavelski's' 36th goal of the season at 7:55 of the second period. Burns sent a wrist shot into traffic from the blue line near the right boards. The puck was deflected twice, first by Tomas Hertl then by Pavelski, who tipped it past Quick.
The Kings pulled even at 15:43 of the second period on Lecavalier's second of the game. He took a pass in the slot from Milan Lucic, skated to the right circle and scored on a wrist shot.
Couture had a scoring chance in the final seconds of the second period, but Quick came up with stellar save. Wide-open in the slot, Couture took a pass from Wingels and sent a wrist shot toward what looked like an empty left side of the net. Quick made a diving stick save, deflecting the puck off the crossbar and away from the net.
Sharks Bites
Peter DeBoer: "I think one, appropriately, we clinched a playoff spot with a game like that against a team like that. That's kind of been the story all year that we wanted to prove we belonged in that category of team. We feel we do. It was a solid effort, goalie out, and it was nice to win that game."
Joe Thornton: "We've been playing some good hockey, we just haven't clinched. To finally get that out of the way. Now just keep playing hard and stay healthy."
Justin Braun: "It's a good feeling beating them any time. Guys have confidence seeing them in the playoffs."
Claude Giroux scored with 13.6 seconds left in overtime as the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Jets 3-2 Monday at Wells Fargo Center. Giroux converted a pass from Shayne Gostisbehere, who dove to maintain possession, after the Jets turned the puck over in the defensive zone, rifling a shot past Ondrej Pavelec for the winner.
The Jets erased a 2-0 deficit with goals from Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler in the second and third periods, but couldn’t get the next one. Pavelec, meanwhile, had a fabulous night in the blue paint, stopping 29 in a losing cause.
The line of Scheifele, Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers were dangerous all night, combing for 15 shots and 12 scoring chances.
Mark Streit drew first blood for the home side just 41 seconds into the middle frame. Streit, pinching all the way down from the right point, took a back-door feed from Sean Couturier and popped it over the blocker for the game’s initial tally.
The Flyers took a 2-0 lead at 5:10 as Wayne Simmonds, who was robbed earlier on, got a lucky bounce off Dustin Byfuglien for goal No. 26 in what could be a career season. With not a Flyer in sight, Simmonds’ long bomb from the centre point found Byfuglien’s right knee, sending the previously off-course pill to
the back of the net.
Scheifele’s team-leading 25th cut the deficit in half just a minute and 18 seconds later. After intercepting a pass and beating Couturier, the eighth pick, one below Scheifele, in the 2011 draft, at the defensive blue line, No. 55 took it the distance, firing shot low, blocker side on Flyers goalie Steve Mason.
Shots favoured the Flyers 21-19 after two.
The Jets tied things up at 2:35 of the third asWheeler hit the 20-goal plateau for the third straight season and the fourth time in his career. And oh my, it sure was a beauty. Who else but the red-hot Scheifele threaded a beautiful backhand pass into his lap at full stride. The veteran made no mistake, deking to his left and going water bottle on Mason to bring the Jets all the way back from a two-goal deficit.
After surviving an early onslaught, thanks, in large part, to Pavelec’s Herculean-like efforts, the Jets finished the first period in a scoreless tie, trailing 12-8 in shots, but getting the better of the chances after killing off an undisciplined penalty partway through. Pavelec, who was coming off back-to-wins for the first time this season, made a couple of big saves to keep it at zeroes, including a beautiful glove grab off Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.
Jets Quotes
Paul Maurice: “That was a pretty impressive performance [The line of Scheifele, Wheeler and Ehlers ]. These guys are just starting to find out what they can do. They enjoy playing with each other. It’s the old Steve Jobs line: ‘A’ players like playing with ‘A’ players. Since Ehlers came back from that injury they’ve been dangerous almost every shift. That’s the feeling when they touch the puck, anyhow.”
“They’re starting to move off each other, and there’s so much speed on the wings. One guy’s got the puck and the other two guys are building speed as he’s carrying it. It backs people off and creates some holes and some lanes.”
Ondrej Pavelec: “We had a slow start and they jumped on us. They had a lot of energy because they’re battling for a playoff spot. But we picked it up in the second period. In this situation you have to look at the positives. It was a good game.”
“It was a different energy than the last one in Buffalo. These games are fun, because you have to find the energy to (match up). We have a lot of young guys, and for them, it’s great experience.”
Adam Lowry: “We knew they were fighting for their playoff lives and they were going to come out strong. That goal by (Scheifele) gave us some life, and then another great pass over to (Wheeler) and we were right back in it. It’s nice to see the resiliency in this room. Down 2-0 on the road, we found a way
to get back in it.”
Other Results
Columbus @ Washington 1-4
Buffalo @ Detroit 2-3
Toronto @ Tampa Bay 0-3
Colorado @ Nashville 4-3
Anaheim @ Edmonton 2-1
Calgary @ Phoenix 5-2
Andrew Ladd and Jonathan Toews played parts of three seasons together leading up to the Chicago Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup championship in 2010, so it shouldn’t be surprising they’ve had chemistry since Chicago reacquired Ladd from the Winnipeg Jets last month. Ladd scored the winning goal on a drop pass from Toews with 2:27 left in the third period, and Chicago clinched its eighth straight berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 3-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Sunday. It was Ladd’s third goal in two games and his sixth in 13 since the Feb. 25 trade with Winnipeg.
Canucks forward Sven Baertschi tied it 2-2 with 5:42 left in the third period, but the Blackhawks restored their lead a little more than two minutes later.
Toews had a 2-on-1 rush with Hossa driving to the net, but Toews pulled up, cut into the middle from the left faceoff circle and dropped the puck to Ladd, who one-timed a shot past Vancouver goalie Ryan Miller high on the blocker side.
Ladd had two goals and an assist in a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. Teuvo Teravainen and Tomas Fleischmann each scored, Trevor van Riemsdyk had two assists, and Scott Darling made 26 saves for Chicago, which won consecutive games for first time since Feb. 28 and March 2.
The Blackhawks are four points behind the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues for first place in the Central Division. They are four points ahead of the fourth-place Nashville Predators. Alexandre Burrows scored, Emerson Etem had two assists, and Miller made 29 saves for the Canucks, who have lost eight straight (0-7-1).
Vancouver was eliminated from playoff contention with a road loss to St. Louis on Friday.
Darling, who started each end of a back-to-back for the first time in his NHL career after he made 31 saves in Calgary, robbed Burrows with his glove with Chicago killing off a double-minor high-sticking penalty to Toews midway through the third period.
Fleischmann opened the scoring with 2:18 left in the first period after defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, back in the lineup for the first time in five games, kept the puck in at the Vancouver blue line. Fleischmann got it at the top of the left faceoff circle and beat Miller high on the blocker side through the screen of center Dennis Rasmussen, who replaced late scratch Artem Anisimov in the lineup. It was Fleischmann’s fourth goal in 13 games since being acquired in a Feb. 26 trade with the Montreal Canadiens. Anisimov is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
The Canucks were shut out in four of their previous five games, but Burrows scored when he batted a puck out of the air from the slot midway through the second period, and Baertschi tied it late in the third by driving the net off the rush to bat in a loose puck on the backdoor.
Hawks Quotes
Andrew Ladd: “Every game, you are getting more comfortable [playing with Toews and Marian Hossa]. You know what to expect from each other. I figured as soon as he got the middle there that would probably open up a lane and just tried to find a spot and get ready to shoot. We’re just starting to figure out exactly the way we need to play as a threesome, and hopefully it will only get better.”
“We wanted to build on last night’s win and just keep getting points. It’s still a dogfight in the standings and for position, and these are the games you need to have.”
Joel Quenneville: “I love the way he played the last couple of games. He brings that presence and has had some pace to his game and some energy, and he was rewarded with some huge goals for us.”
“[Darling] had a couple of key saves [mentioning the stop on Burrows and a similar sprawling backdoor save on Jake Virtanen late in the second period]. He was big, strong, quick, and he anticipated really well.”
Tomas Fleischmann: “I am happy I could help, that’s why I came here. We didn’t have a good stretch the last two weeks, but we are trying to figure it out before playoffs.”
The Pittsburgh Penguins are chasing the New York Rangers for second place in the Metropolitan Division, but Pittsburgh doesn't have to catch New York to feel confident about defeating the Rangers should they meet in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Penguins, at least for now, appear to have the Rangers' number.
Sidney Crosby scored his 32nd goal of the season with 29.5 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Pittsburgh to a 3-2 win against New York at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. It was the Penguins third win against the Rangers in as many games this month. The earliest they can play each other again is the Eastern Conference First Round, provided the standings hold.
Pittsburgh are three points behind New York for second place in the division. The Penguins, 8-1 in their past nine games, have a game in hand that they'll use Tuesday, when they play at home against the Buffalo Sabres.
Crosby's winner came off of a deflection of Kris Letang's wrist shot. The Penguins had the puck in the zone for most of the overtime, largely because they had a power play for the first 1:59, but a Rangers' timeout with 54 seconds left gave them a chance to get a breather and reset with Crosby, Letang and Phil Kessel on the ice. Kessel got to the puck on the wall and moved it to Letang at the point. He waited for Crosby to go to the front of the crease before putting a wrist shot toward the net.
Matt Cullen and Kessel scored in regulation for the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury made 25 saves, but he did not face a shot in overtime. Eric Staal, who was playing his second straight game at left wing on a line with center Kevin Hayes and right wing Jesper Fast, scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season, which gave New York two separate leads. Hayes and Fast had the assists on both of his goals. Staal had no goals and one assist in his previous nine games.
New York, though, couldn't hold either lead. The Rangers also never got off a shot in overtime. The Rangers have to sit on the overtime loss until Thursday, when they play at the Carolina Hurricanes. They'll play four of their last five games at home.
As happy as the Penguins were to get the second point, they were as pleased to get a second straight road win in as many nights against a quality opponent, especially because they erased two one-goal deficits in the process.
The Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings 7-2 at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday behind 12 points from their second line of Kessel, Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin. Kessel and Bonino each had five points (one goal four assists).
Kessel and Hagelin got back on the scoresheet Sunday, connecting for a game-tying goal at 8:36 of the second period after Staal gave New York a 2-1 lead with his second of the game at 2:07. Hagelin created the opportunity by stealing Lundqvist's pass from inside the trapezoid and firing the puck at the net, forcing Lundqvist to scramble. Kessel, who scored his 23rd goal of the season, got the rebound and had almost the entire net open.
Staal scored his first goal in 10 games at 4:19 of the first period. He fended off Trevor Daley with his left hand and, while holding his stick in his right hand only, still managed to redirect Hayes pass past Fleury. Cullen answered at 15:49 of the first with his 13th goal of the season. His deflection of Derrick Pouliot's shot got through Lundqvist's five-hole but rested in front of the goal line before Cullen tapped it in.
Pens Quotes
Sidney Crosby: "We've been fighting for a long time now to get into the playoffs, so I think we still have that mentality. We're trying to make sure we worry about each game and playing the right way. We trust we'll get the results and we'll see where that puts us."
"We worked hard for [the second point]. Especially after a pretty emotional game [Saturday], knowing what that meant, to come back and have a good effort and find a way to get two points on a back to back against a good team, it's nice."
Kris Letang: "I know I was not going to beat that goalie from a shot over there. I saw Sid looking at me and he's pretty good at tipping pucks, so I just laid it there for him to tip it."
Mike Sullivan: "It was a heads up play by [Hagelin] to put the puck at the net. It's not about [Hagelin] scoring, but it's about creating a next play. That's what he did."
Other Results
New Jersey @ Carolina 2-3
Andrew Ladd had two goals and an assist, and Scott Darling made 31 saves to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday. Andrew Shaw and Teuvo Teravainen scored for the Blackhawks, who won for the second time in their previous eight games (2-4-2). Chicago trails the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues by six points for first in the Central Division, and is two points ahead of the Nashville Predators for third.
Dougie Hamilton scored, and Joni Ortio made 23 saves for the Flames, who have lost three in a row. Shaw put Chicago up 2-1 with 49 seconds remaining in the second period, deflecting Michal Rozsival's slap-pass from the point by Ortio to extend his goal-scoring streak to three games. The goal came after he took minor penalties for roughing and slashing 2:20 apart.
Darling made 11 saves in the third period, including back-to-back stops on Brandon Bollig's slap shot from the point and TJ Brodie with just over seven minutes remaining.
Ladd opened the scoring at 5:51 of the second, intercepting a pass by Brodie at Calgary's blue line and skating in before shooting by Ortio's blocker for his fourth goal since rejoining to the Blackhawks via a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 25. Dougie Hamilton tied the game at 12:47. Freddie Hamilton fanned on a one-timer setup by Johnny Gaudreau in the slot but the puck skipped to Dougie Hamilton, whose shot beat Darling to make it 1-1. It's the first time in Flames history that brothers combined on a goal.
The Blackhawks continue their four-game road trip at the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. Ladd, with 1:12 left, and Teravainen, with 11.2 seconds remaining, scored into an empty net.
Hawks Quotes
Joel Quenneville: "I think we lost a ton of ground here and trying to get a win was the most important thing here. We've still got to be better. We found a way to win, which was nice. [Darling] was very instrumental in the win. I just think that scoreboard watching when you're in this position is not where we need to be. We've got to get two points and take care of our own business."
Andrew Shaw: "I needed to make up for that dumb penalty I took. I did what I could to get to the net. We had some big kills there … 5-on-3 opportunity and we killed it. Penalty kill was good tonight. To get a big goal and answer the bell after that, it's huge. Darling was huge. He made some big-time saves. He fought through traffic to find pucks. He was lights-out tonight."
Andrew Ladd: "We need to get confidence in the right areas and I thought for the most part we played the way we need to play night-in, night-out. It should give us confidence in terms of the way we need to play and having success within that system."
"Honestly, I knew [Hossa] and [Jonathan Toews] were trying to get off the ice so I was trying to hold the middle and get my stick in a lane. Fortunate enough for me, he just put it on my tape. I had a good shot."
"We know where we're at in terms of the standings and Nashville's right on our heels and St. Louis is pulling away. We understand this road trip is a big road trip for us. You take it one game at a time and take these two points and now we can focus on Vancouver."
Freddie Hamilton: "We got to do that a lot in junior. Those were some memorable times for us when we got to set each other up, on the power play or not. My parents were probably pretty happy there and it was a nice feeling."
Goaltender Jake Allen sat on the bench three games in a row and watched teammate Brian Elliott earn three consecutive shutouts. Allen just hoped he’d be able to keep up when he got his chance to play. Allen did just that Saturday, making 32 saves to help the St. Louis Blues continue their shutout streak in a 4-0 win against the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center.
Kyle Brodziak, Colton Parayko, Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrik Berglund scored for the Blues, who defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 last Saturday, the San Jose Sharks 1-0 on Tuesday and the Canucks 4-0 on Friday. It’s the 11th time in NHL history a team has had four straight shutouts. St. Louis is the first since the Phoenix Coyotes had five straight Dec. 31, 2003, through Jan. 9, 2004, to set a modern NHL record.
The Blues have not allowed a goal in 240:18, the longest shutout streak in their history. It was Allen’s sixth shutout of the season and the 11th of his NHL career. Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves for Washington, which missed an opportunity to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy. The Capitals had not been shut out since Nov. 10, a 1-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
Brodziak opened the scoring at 4:45 of the second period. The puck trickled through Grubauer’s pads into the paint, and Brodziak swatted in his fifth goal of the season and second in as many games. Parayko made it 2-0 at 11:05 of the second with a goal at 4-on-4. He went end to end, beat two Capitals defensemen and scored five-hole on Grubauer. It was the rookie defenseman’s eighth goal of the season but first in 20 games.
Tarasenko scored to make it 3-0 at 12:45 of the second. Jori Lehtera fed Tarasenko with a cross-ice pass, and Tarasenko put a wrist shot past Grubauer for his 35th goal. Berglund scored his ninth goal with 2:15 remaining in the third period to make it 4-0. The Capitals needed to earn at least a point against the Blues to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy after the Dallas Stars defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-2 earlier Saturday.
Capitals forward T.J. Oshie missed his second consecutive game with the flu. He did not play Friday in a 1-0 overtime win against the New Jersey Devils. The Blues host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. The Capitals can clinch home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs Monday when the Columbus Blue Jackets visit.
Blues Quotes
Ken Hitchcock: “The goalies have been just outstanding. They’ve been the story all year. They’re what have kept us afloat all year and they’re doing it again.”
Jake Allen: “It’s huge, and especially on a couple of shutouts, we’ve limited to the teens in the shots. That’s an aspect from mine and Brian’s standpoint where that’s a credit to all the 20 guys in front of us; that’s not just us. It goes to show we’re on the upswing right now and we’re playing well heading into the [Stanley Cup Playoffs]. We’re right where we want to be.”
Paul Stastny: “When we trust him to make that first save, he trusts us to get that rebound and get it out, and we’re good at kind of trying to keep that second or third opportunity away from him, and that’s what we did.”
Some time off turned out to be a good thing for Dallas Stars goaltender Antti Niemi and forward Mattias Janmark. Janmark scored two goals, and Niemi made 34 saves in a 4-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday. The Sharks missed their third straight chance, all at home, to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Janmark returned to the lineup after missing six games with an upper-body injury and skated on the second line with center Jason Spezza and Valeri Nichushkin. He gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 15:28 of the first period with his 14th goal of the season, deflecting defenseman Jordie Benn's shot from the point past Martin Jones, inside the left post.
Niemi, who played with the Sharks from 2010-15, started for the first time since March 12 against St. Louis. Niemi has 40 starts and Kari Lehtonen has 36, but Lehtonen has started nine of the previous 11 games.
Patrick Sharp scored a second-period goal for the Stars, who clinched a playoff spot Tuesday with a 6-2 road victory against the Chicago Blackhawks and lead the Central Division with 99 points. Joel Ward and Tomas Hertl scored third-period goals for the Sharks, who entered the final 20 minutes trailing 3-0.
Ward scored a short-handed goal at 3:44. Niemi came out of his crease to play the puck, and Ward banged into him before putting the puck into an open net for his 21st goal of the season.
Hertl scored his 19th goal at 5:48 of the third, knocking a rebound past Niemi when the Sharks cut the lead to 3-2. Niemi made a pad save on Joe Pavelski's backhand from close range but couldn't control the puck.
San Jose went on their sixth power-play of the game at 13:24 of the third, but Dallas remained perfect on the penalty kill. Pavelski had a shot from the slot, but Niemi made a glove save with more than six minutes left. Jamie Benn scored an empty-net goal with 1:08 left to play, his 37th goal of the season, to make it 4-2. Jones made 13 saves for the Sharks.
Janmark made it 2-0 at 4:22 of the second period on a wrist shot from the low slot that deflected off of Hertl's skate and past Jones. Spezza skated below the goal line and sent a pass to a wide-open Janmark, who did the rest.
Sharks second-line forward Joonas Donskoi (lower body) skated in warmups but was scratched. He was injured early in the second period against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday in a collision with Sharks center Logan Couture. Dainius Zubrus returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch against Edmonton and skated in Donskoi's spot with Couture and Melker Karlsson.
Stars Quotes
Lindy Ruff: "Maybe in some way it was a blessing having some time off. [Janmark] looks refreshed. He was skating well. He looked a little fatigued before he went out. Not only did he score a couple goals, his compete and his skating was good."
"I thought [Niemi] looked really good. He looked big all night, and he made some terrific saves for us. I want to see both of them playing well. That's a big bonus. Those two guys have been a big reason why we're at where we're at. And tonight he really helped us get a win."
Antti Niemi: "Really exciting day. Knew I'd get a game at some point this week on this road trip. Wasn't sure if it would be this game or not. Really exciting game, exciting day. It's been a while since the last game and also since the last win so it feels pretty good."
Mattias Janmark: "It was a while since I played a game, so I was kind of excited to play. When you play a lot of games you don't appreciate it as much."
Sharks Bites
Tommy Wingels: "I thought we battled hard in third period. Coming back from 3-0 and we're talking about making a push. We had just too many missed opportunities. We pressed and attacked and took pucks to net and we were physical."
Joe Pavelski: "It was a game where you come back to the room and wonder why you didn't get a couple more goals out there. It was good to see the guys respond in the third period. You never want it to get down 3-0. . But we just ran out of time in the game."
Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves and Zach Parise had two goals when the Minnesota Wild defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 4-0, at Pepsi Center on Saturday. The win was the fifth in a row for the Wild, who increased their lead to five points ahead of the Avalanche for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Wild have six games remaining and play the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday to open a two-game homestand.
The Avalanche lost each game of a two-game homestand and are 17-17-4 at home this season. Colorado has a game in hand on Minnesota with seven games remaining and play the Nashville Predators on Monday to begin a two-game road trip. Dubnyk made 11 saves in the first period when the Avalanche came out hard, but wasn't tested often after Parise opened the scoring at 11:27 of the second period.
Parise, who had a hat trick Thursday against the Calgary Flames, scored his second goal Saturday and 24th of the season on a power play at 4:55 of the third period for a 3-0 lead. Ryan Suter passed to Parise, who was high in the right circle and had plenty of time to tee up a shot that went by Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov's right shoulder.
Parise has nine points (six goals, three assists) in five games against the Avalanche this season. He has 13 goals and 17 assists in 26 career games against Colorado. Mikael Granlund scored a shorthanded, empty-net goal at 11:06 to increase the Wild lead to 4-0. The Avalanche pulled Varlamov (31 saves) for an extra skater with 9:20 left in the period.
The Wild got goals from Parise and Jordan Schroeder in the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Parise opened the scoring after a pass for Colorado's Mikhail Grigorenko didn't connect at the Avalanche blue line. Parise gained possession, passed to Granlund in the right circle, and continued unimpeded down the left side. He redirected Granlund's pass into a half-open net.
The Wild made it 2-0 on Schroeder's goal with 21.3 seconds left in the period. Marco Scandella made a long pass to Justin Fontaine, who fed Schroeder breaking in alone for a redirection that hit Varlamov and bounced into the net for his second goal. Dubnyk has five shutouts this season and 19 in his NHL career, 10 with the Wild.
Wild Quotes
John Torchetti: "Until we're in, you're never happy. That's just the bottom line, that's why it's game by game. Anyone can make up points, you've seen it all over the League. That's a great win and we're going to have a nice plane ride, then back to work."
Zach Parise: "We knew it was going to be a tough game, but I think we put ourselves in a good spot. We've still got some tough games coming up and games we've got to win, but we like the position we're in now as opposed to having come in and lost. It's far from over, we know that. A lot can happen, but at least now we can control where we go. We put ourselves in a good spot where you want to keep pushing them down."
"It's just one of those teams, I guess. I think our team has done a really good job against these guys. Going back a few years we've played some huge games against them; we've always played well here."
Devan Dubnyk: "They come out flying here, look to take the body, intimidate you a little bit. They're always talking. I don't know if they think it's scary, but we do a pretty good job of sticking to our game. We weathered the start in the first period, got right to our game and stuck with it for the rest. The more games we win down the stretch, the tougher it's going to be for them to catch us. We know they have a tough schedule, but every game is tough. We're going to be in the same boat, just have to keep winning."
Jordan Schroeder: "It was nice to get on the scoresheet and get one in the last minute to go up two. That always gives you some confidence going into the third."
Avs Quotes
Tyson Barrie: "We've done a good job on the road this year, but that means nothing if you can't get the wins at home. There's no reason we shouldn't be well above .500 at home."
Patrick Roy: "I guess when they scored that first goal, from there on we just didn't play very well. I guess we lost our focus and for some reason they dominated the play. We had something good going on and when they scored that one I thought our game went in a different direction."
The Buffalo Sabres rallied from a 2-0, first-period deficit with three unanswered goals to defeat the Jets 3-2 Saturday at First Niagara Center. After Sam Reinhart tied the game just 1:23 into the third period, rookie sensation Jack Eichel put the Sabres on top with his 23rd of the year less than three minutes later. It was all the offence they would need, as the home side held on for the victory.
After the Jets turned the puck over in the neutral zone, Reinhart made a nice feed over to Eichel, who fired it home from the top of the circle for the eventual
game winner. For the 10th time this season, the Jets were unable to extend a two-game winning streak to three. The club will day off tomorrow before finishing up this brief, two-game road trip Monday in Philadelphia.
Nikolaj Ehlers opened the scoring for the Jets at 4:27 of the first period. Mark Scheifele orchestrated the goal with a beautiful bank pass off the boards, creating a partial 2-on-1 that Sabres defenceman Jake McCabe had little hope to defend. Burning him wide, Ehlers cut to the net and beat Buffalo goalie
Chad Johnson with a chip shot over the glove. With the assist, Scheifele has now set a new career high in points with 50 (24G, 26A).
After beating former Western League all star Mark Pysyk down the right side, Andrew Copp put the Jets up by two just 44 seconds later. Copp drove the net, fired a quick shot into the pads and had the rebound bounce in off a defender for the two-nil tally.
The goal was initially credited to Nic Petan, but was later changed. The goal was reviewed, twice, the first to determine if the puck was kicked in, the other a challenge for goaltender interference initiated by the home team, but after a lengthy delay, play finally resumed with the Jets leading by two.
The Sabres cut the deficit in half at 8:37 as 2013 fourth-round pick Hudson Fasching scored his first NHL goal. Fasching, who signed his entry-level contract earlier this week after completing his junior season with University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, cut to the net and buried a shot five-hole after being his man at the far circle. Fellow NCAA alum Casey Nelson, who was also debuting for the Sabres, recorded the assist for his first big-league point. Shots on goal favoured the Sabres 10-6 after one.
In a scoreless middle frame, the Jets came up with two huge penalty kills late to preserve the lead heading into the third, but the home side came out flying. Reinhart, who had a hat trick the last time these two teams met, hammered home a bouncing puck at 1:23 and suddenly, it was all square, but not for long.
The Sabres took over, outshooting the Jets 9-5 in the final frame, helping them secure the two goals. Drew Stafford had a great chance, but didn’t score, off an incredible solo effort early on, said with some dejection.
* Stafford, Tyler Myers and Joel Armia were back in their old stomping grounds for the first time since the Feb. 11, 2015 trade that sent Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian and goaltending prospect Jason Kasdorf to the Sabres.
“I’ve got nothing but great memories here. I was here for quite a long time; my son was born here. I’ve got a lot of respect for the fans and the organization here. We had some good times and obviously some bad ones, too, but it’s good to be back.” Stafford said.
* Myers did not play after undergoing season-ending knee surgery Thursday, but did meet with the media during the second intermission.
“I always cherish my time in Buffalo, but I’ve really found a home in Winnipeg.” the defenceman said.
Jets Quotes
Paul Maurice: “It was kind of like a badly played fast game and you don’t see that very often. There was some speed in that game, so at points, there was some excitement to it. … I don’t think either team had enough sustained ‘anything’ in the game. I didn’t think either team would be excited about the number of puck battles that they won, or handled, or plays that were there that
disappeared on them… “
Andrew Copp: “We really used our speed on those two goals. We needed more shots, more pucks and bodies at the front of the net.”
Drew Stafford: “We didn’t generate much. A couple turnovers, a couple breakdowns ended up in the back of our net. That’s a tough one, especially when we play that type of game, still have the lead but give it up. It’s frustrating. This group. we might be young, but we’ve got to learn how to play with a lead and learn how to protect it. It’s a matter of skating. We weren’t doing that well enough, and were extending our shifts a little too much. That’s a recipe for disaster.”
