Wild @ Detroit Red Wings 2-3 OT - Sunday, March 26, 2017
The Minnesota Wild focused on the positive after a 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. The Wild (44-24-7), who clinched a berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference on Saturday and are second in the Central Division, fell to 1-7-1 in their past nine games and 3-10-1 in their past 14. Minnesota gave up leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before Andreas Athanasiou scored 1:52 into overtime. But the Wild played from ahead and allowed 19 shots, three in the third period. The Wild have seven games left before the playoffs. They once led the Western Conference but are seven points behind the Chicago Blackhawks and eight ahead of the Nashville Predators in the division. Mike Green and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Red Wings (30-32-12), who are 15th in the Eastern Conference and on the verge of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1990. Eric Staal and Nate Prosser scored for the Wild. Staal put the Wild ahead 1-0 at 9:43 of the first period. Zach Parise chipped the puck past Danny DeKeyser in the neutral zone ahead for Staal, who outskated Frans Nielsen on the rush and beat Jimmy Howard stick side.
Green tied it 1-1 at 19:41 with a shot from the left point that flew through traffic cleanly and eluded Devan Dubnyk. Prosser put the Wild ahead 2-1 at 16:14 of the second period. He took a wrist shot from the right point. Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin stretched out his stick to knock down the puck but deflected it in off the inside of the right post instead. The goal was Prosser's first in his past 107 games. Tatar tied it 2-2 on the power play 55 seconds into the third period with a one-timer from the right circle into the top right corner of the net. Athanasiou took a lead pass from Gustav Nyquist, broke away and deked. As Dubnyk tried a diving poke check, Athanasiou stickhandled around his pads and slid the puck into the net.
* Howard stopped Erik Haula seconds before Athanasiou scored. Nyquist collected the rebound and made the pass to Athanasiou.
* Wild forward Chris Stewart was scratched for the first time this season. He has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past 25 games. … Red Wings center Darren Helm (lower body) did not play for the fourth straight game. This was the first of three games in three days for the Red Wings, who will visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday and Tuesday. Their game at Carolina on Dec. 19 was rescheduled because of problems with the ice.
* Howard stopped Staal in the final minute the third period when Staal was streaking in ahead of Green and Niklas Kronwall.
* Prosser broke up a potential breakaway in the second period with the score tied 1-1, muscling Athanasiou off the puck and preventing a shot.
Washington Capitals @ Wild 5-4 OT - Tuesday, March 28, 2017
The Washington Capitals maintained their lead in the Metropolitan Division when T.J. Oshie scored his second goal of the game 1:52 into overtime for a 5-4 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick and Marcus Johansson had four assists for Washington (50-17-8), which has won five consecutive games and remained three points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus defeated the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Tuesday. Ovechkin passed Johnny Bucyk for 26th place on the NHL's all-time scoring list with 558 career goals. He scored all three of his goals on the power play and has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past eight games. Eric Staal tied the game with 26.6 seconds left in the third period, but the Wild (44-23-8) lost their fourth straight and are 1-7-2 in their past 10 games. They are seven points behind the Blackhawks for first place in the Central Division and Western Conference. Oshie gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 11:36 of the first period. He has eight points (six goals, two assists) in his past four games. Jason Pominville made it 1-1 at 2:17 of the second period. Ovechkin gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead at 7:31 with a power-play goal. He scored another power-play goal at 12:28. Martin Hanzal made it 3-2 at 15:43 when he put a rebound past Braden Holtby. Hanzal has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 14 games. Ovechkin scored his third of the game at 12:29 of the third period, but Jared Spurgeon made it 4-3 at 15:03. Holtby made 26 saves for his 40th win of the season. He has won at least 40 games in three consecutive seasons, joining Martin Brodeur and Evgeni Nabokov as the only goaltenders in NHL history to have three straight 40-win seasons. Devan Dubnyk made 15 saves. He is 1-6-1 in his past nine games.
* Ovechkin took a cross-ice feed from along the right wall from Nicklas Backstrom and sent a low wrist shot past Dubnyk to give the Capitals a 4-2 lead.
* Wild forward Zach Parise left 12:10 into the game and did not return after Capitals forward Tom Wilson caught him in the face with a high-stick. Boudreau said Parise is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. … Backstrom had three assists, giving him 60 this season. … Staal has 11 points (eight goals, three assists) in his past 10 games.
* Dubnyk robbed Ovechkin of his fourth goal on a breakaway one minute into overtime.
* Staal found himself open in the slot to tie the game at 4-4 and force overtime.
* Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner blocked three shots in 21:46 of ice time.
Ottawa Senators @ Wild 1-5 - Thursday, March 30, 2017
The Ottawa Senators gave up ground in the Atlantic Division by losing to the Minnesota Wild 5-1 at Xcel Energy Center. Ottawa's lead for second place in the division is down to two points over the Toronto Maple Leafs and three points over the Boston Bruins with each of those teams winning. The Senators (41-26-9) are six points behind the Montreal Canadiens for first place with one game in hand; Montreal also won. Ottawa has two wins in its past nine games (2-4-3). Alex Stalock made 18 saves in his first NHL game since Feb. 11, 2016, and Minnesota (45-24-9) ended a four-game losing streak. The Wild, 2-7-2 in their past 11 games, moved within seven points of the Chicago Blackhawks for first place in the Central Division and Western Conference. Mike Hoffman gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 16:20 of the first period. Nino Niederreiter scored 47 seconds later for a 1-1 game.
Niederreiter scored his second at 7:08 of the second period for a 2-1 lead, and Joel Eriksson Ek made it 3-1 at 17:32 with his third NHL goal. Matt Dumba scored a power-play goal at 4:46 of the third period to increase the Wild lead to 4-1, and Jason Pominville made it 5-1 with a goal at 11:53. Ottawa was without defenseman Erik Karlsson, who had played 324 consecutive games. The Senators captain is day to day with an upper-body injury sustained in a 3-2 shootout loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. He leads the Senators with 15 goals and 68 points. Montreal defeated the Florida Panthers 6-2, Toronto defeated the Nashville Predators 3-1, and Boston shut out the Dallas Stars 2-0.
* Niederreiter scored his second on his backhand for his first multigoal game since Feb. 7.
* Stalock stopped a shot from Senators defenseman Cody Ceci to keep the game 0-0 at 15:45 of the first period.
* Wild forward Martin Hanzal picked off an errant Senators pass to start the play that led to Pominville's goal.
* Eriksson Ek scored off the post for his first goal in his first game since returning from playing in Sweden. He has six points (three goals, three assists) in 10 NHL games.
* Senators forward Zack Smith (upper body) did not play after leaving the game with 6:50 remaining in the first period. Boucher said he is day to day. … Hoffman has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 13 games. … Wild forward Eric Staal has 12 points (eight goals, four assists) in his past 12 games and six points (three goals, three assists) during a six-game point streak. … Pominville played his 900th NHL game. ... Karlsson had not missed a game since Feb. 16, 2013, the first game after injuring his Achilles tendon Feb. 13. His streak began April 25, 2013, when he returned from that injury.
No comments:
Post a Comment