Thu, 04 Apr - Fixtures

New Jersey v Boston 7pm ET
Philadelphia v Toronto 7pm ET
NY Islanders v Washington 7pm ET
Tampa Bay v Carolina 7pm ET
Winnipeg v Montreal 7.30pm ET
Columbus v Nashville 7pm ET
St Louis v Chicago 8.30pm ET
Detroit v Phoenix 10pm ET
Edmonton v Vancouver 10.30pm ET
Minnesota v Los Angeles 10.30pm ET

Wed, 03 Apr - Fixtures

Pittsburgh v NY Rangers 7.30pm ET
Montreal v Philadelphia 7.30pm ET
Edmonton v Calgary 10pm ET
Dallas v Anaheim 10pm ET
Minnesota v San Jose 10.30pm ET

Jaromir Jagr Traded to Boston

After losing out on Jarome Iginla last week, the Boston Bruins have landed another veteran right wing bound for the Hall of Fame in a trade Tuesday. The Dallas Stars have traded 41-year-old Jaromir Jagr to the Bruins in exchange for a conditional second-round draft pick in 2013 and two prospects. The conditional second-round pick becomes a first-round selection in the 2013 NHL Draft if Boston advances to the Eastern Conference Final in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.
 
"Jaromir Jagr produced as a consistent scorer for our team all year and we would like to thank him for his contributions to our hockey club," Dallas Stars general manager Joe Nieuwendyk said. "With our eye to the future, we have acquired some valuable assets that we believe strengthen our organization."

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli believed he had a deal in place to acquire Iginla from the Calgary Flames on Thursday, but the deal never happened and Iginla was sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins instead. In 34 games this season, Jagr, 41, leads the Stars with 14 goals and 26 points. He has 679 goals and 1,000 assists in 1,380 career games. The prospects headed to Dallas are forwards Lane MacDermid and Cody Payne. MacDermid, 23, has played eight games with the Bruins over the past two seasons and has not registered a point. He has four goals, two assists and 82 penalty minutes in 37 games with Providence of the AHL. Payne, 19, was the Bruins' fifth-round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. In 66 games with the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, he had 24 goals and 45 points.

Tue, 02 Apr - Fixtures

Ottawa v Boston 7pm ET
Winnipeg v NY Islanders 7pm ET
Washington v Carolina 7pm ET
Buffalo v Pittsburgh 7.30pm ET
Florida v Tampa Bay 7.30pm ET
Colorado v Nashville 8pm ET
Los Angeles v Phoenix 10pm ET

Gameday 73 (Mon, 01 Apr) - Results

NY Islanders v New Jersey 3-1 -  New York Islanders coach Jack Capuano feels it isn't so much about X's and O's this time of the year, but more about the will and compete level exhibited by your hockey club down the stretch. In other words, the intestinal fortitude and competitiveness that Capuano witnessed from his charges on Monday against the New Jersey Devils in a workmanlike 3-1 victory before 17,625 at Prudential Center. The gritty Islanders received goals from Josh Bailey, Travis Hamonic and John Tavares while getting 24 saves from goalie Evgeni Nabokov to continue their late-season surge in an attempt to secure a Stanley Cup Playoff berth for the first time in six seasons. Tavares' 22nd goal of the season at the 9:13 mark of the third gave the Islanders (17-16-3) a 3-1 lead. With his team on the power play, Lubomir Visnovsky centered a pass through the crease from the left circle that deflected off Martin Brodeur's stick to Tavares in the right circle. The center then easily ripped a shot over a fallen Brodeur. The goal was the eighth for the Islanders with the man advantage against the Devils in five games this season. The Devils would pull Brodeur with just under two minutes remaining in the third, but the Islanders defense, backstopped by Nabokov, denied New Jersey's final push. Nabokov, who was making his sixth start in 11 days, recorded his 17th victory of the season. The 37-year-old kept his team ahead, 2-1, on a splendid left pad save 6:57 into the third when he denied Patrik Elias off a ticketed tip-in at the right post. The victory moves the Islanders two points closer to the Devils in the tight Eastern Conference playoff race. The Devils are currently seventh in the conference with 15 wins and 39 points. The Islanders, seeking their first playoff berth since 2006-07, are ninth with 17 wins and 37 points. DeBoer was referring to the fact the Devils found themselves behind, 2-0, just 7:14 into the first when Bailey and Hamonic connected for first-period goals. The Devils, who are 8-4-2 against the Atlantic Division this season, dropped to 3-11-5 when allowing the first goal of the game. On the contrary, New Jersey is 12-1-4 when scoring first. The Islanders, who closed out their four-game road swing with a 3-1-0 record, will face the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Brodeur, who finished with 18 saves, dropped to 2-1-3 since returning to the lineup from a pinched nerve in his neck on March 21. The Devils were basically two players short for much of the game. Tom Kostopoulos was forced to exit the game 11:22 into the first after taking a tremendous right punch to the chin from Islanders forward Matt Martin during a fight in the neutral zone. DeBoer informed the media after the game that Kostopoulos, who was sticking up for teammate Stephen Gionta at the time he dropped the gloves with Martin, was "going to be all right." Following a lackluster start, the Devils showed some desperation in the second and were rewarded as Alexei Ponikarovsky pulled his team within 2-1 after backhanding a pass from Patrik Elias past Nabokov at the 8:01 mark. Elias made the play possible when he took a pass from Zajac in the neutral zone and skated hard down his left wing before curling toward the net and feathering a pass to Ponikarovsky in the slot. The goal by Ponikarovsky, who hit the crossbar on a big shot 4:42 into the second, was his first since Feb. 15. The Islanders extended their lead to 2-0 at the 7:14 mark of the first when Hamonic collected a faceoff win by Frans Nielsen in the left circle and skated just above the opposite circle before unleashing a wrist shot from 50 feet that beat an apparently screened Brodeur high on the short side. Bailey opened the scoring just 52 seconds into the first when he took a feed from Nielsen off a 2-on-1 breakout against Devils defenseman Marek Zidlicky before backhanding an attempt past Brodeur.

Winnipeg v NY Rangers 2-4 - After going more than two full games without a goal, the New York Rangers appeared to be back on track after scoring on the first shift of the game. But it took a huge performance from the team's captain to rally back for a big win Monday. Derek Stepan scored two goals, including the game-winner, and captain Ryan Callahan collected four points as the Rangers beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-2 at Madison Square Garden. Callahan and Rick Nash also scored for the Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for the win. Nik Antropov and Zach Bogosian provided the Jets’ scoring, while Ondrej Pavelec finished with 31 stops. The win pulled the eighth-place Rangers within two points of the New Jersey Devils for seventh place in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers own a game in hand on their cross-Hudson River rivals. Despite the loss, the Jets maintained their four-point lead in the Southeast Division over the Carolina Hurricanes, who hold three games in hand. New York appeared to overcome its recent scoring futility when Stepan took a feed from Callahan and beat Pavelec just 19 seconds into the contest. But that momentum wouldn't last, as Antropov replied 56 seconds later, finding the puck alone in front of the net before beating Lundqvist between the legs. Although it took more than seven minutes for the Rangers to record a second shot after their early goal, Stepan made a big defensive play midway through the period, stopping a shot by Kyle Wellwood as Lundqvist lay out of position. It was yet another big moment for the line of Stepan, Callahan and Nash, who combined for eight points and a plus-11 rating. That chemistry proved vital when the Jets took a 2-1 lead despite losing Grant Clitsome after the defenseman took a stick to the eye early in the first and did not return. With just over seven minutes to play in the opening period, Zach Bogosian's point shot deflected past Lundqvist, marking just the third time all season that the Jets have scored multiple goals in the first period. New York came out firing in the second, out-shooting Winnipeg 10-1 to open the period and mounting a ferocious fore-check that wore down the Jets' depleted defense. When the Rangers needed it most, they got a highlight-reel play from Callahan that tied the game. With Dan Girardi in the box for tripping and Mats Zuccarello having just finished serving a high-sticking penalty, Callahan came in from the right side and deked Pavelec before backhanding the puck into the net to give the Rangers’ captain his first goal in nine games. Lundqvist kept the score tied late in the period when he made a remarkable toe save on Bryan Little and the Rangers never looked back. Stepan notched the game-winner 5:46 into the third when he found a rebound off Anton Stralman's shot and gave New York a lead it would not relinquish. Just seconds before the goal, Bogosian was momentarily hobbled after taking a Callahan shot off the foot, giving Stepan just a little extra space beside the net. Nash put the game away with 6:53 remaining in the period, pivoting with the puck at the left faceoff circle before notching his 13th of the season. It was a big goal for the All-Star, who came into the game with three goals in his previous 11 games; well off his early-season scoring pace. Even before scoring, Nash showed signs of life playing alongside Stepan and Callahan. His finest scoring chance may have come three minutes into the third, when he stole the puck at the blue line and went to his backhand, only to be stopped by Pavelec. The Rangers scoring slump may be over, but their path to the postseason doesn't get any easier. They next play a home-and-home series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who with a win Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres will face off against the Rangers on Wednesday night just one win shy of tying the NHL record of 17 straight wins, set by the Penguins in 1992-93.

Carolina v Montreal 1-4 - Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien hasn't had much to complain about this season, but one area he felt his team needed to improve was on the penalty kill. Like just about everything else their coach has asked them to do, the Canadiens have responded to that request. The Carolina Hurricanes were shut out on five power play opportunities and dropped the third of three meetings this season with the Canadiens by a 4-1 score at Bell Centre on Monday. The Canadiens played six games over those 10 days, and their penalty killers were successful on 17 of 19 opportunities, a rate of 89.5 percent. Also over that span, the Canadiens picked up center Jeff Halpern off waivers from the New York Rangers and right wing Brandon Prust came back from a separated shoulder, and the two have greatly helped improve that area of Montreal's game. Max Pacioretty scored twice and Andrei Markov and Halpern also scored for the Canadiens (23-7-5), who won their third straight to open a three-point gap between themselves and the Boston Bruins atop the Northeast Division. Pacioretty snapped a five-game goal drought and his line with David Desharnais and Brendan Gallagher combined to register 15 of Montreal's 29 shots in the game. Carey Price made 18 saves for Montreal in his 300th career game. The Hurricanes (16-16-2) got the game's first goal from Jordan Staal and a second straight strong performance from goaltender Justin Peters, but it wasn't enough to prevent the team's eighth loss in nine games. Peters stopped 25 shots one game after a 34-save performance in a 3-1 win in Winnipeg on Saturday. The loss was made all the more painful by the victories of the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, as the eighth- and ninth-place teams in the East moved three points ahead of Carolina in the fight for the final playoff spot in the conference. The Rangers did beat the Winnipeg Jets in regulation; however, Carolina remains four points behind the Southeast Division leaders. The game could have had a different outcome were it not for an anemic Carolina power play that had just two shots on goal on five chances, and which has connected just once in its last 17 opportunities over four games. The Canadiens' power play did indeed score once on three chances. It has now converted at least once in five of Montreal's last six games and is 6-for-20 over that span, a success rate of 30 percent. Staal opened the scoring at 3:38 of the first on a Carolina 3-on-2 rush for his ninth of the season, but the Canadiens tied it when Markov scored a power-play goal on a blast from the point at 15:03 of the first. Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban earned an assist on the Markov goal, giving him a goal and six assists in his last three games. Halpern scored his first goal since Feb. 25, 2012 at 1:46 of the second period on a wrist shot from the slot, with defenseman Nathan Beaulieu earning his first career NHL point with an assist. Pacioretty got an insurance goal for Montreal at 10:58 of the third when he drove hard to the net and put in his own rebound for his first goal in six games and his second in the last 13 to make it 3-1 Montreal. Pacioretty added an empty-netter with 29.4 seconds to play for his 11th of the season.

Colorado v Detroit 2-3 - The Detroit Red Wings were seeking a confidence-boosting win coming off a lopsided loss. Damien Brunner ended his 15-game scoring drought to give Detroit a three-goal lead, and the Red Wings needed the cushion to hold off the Colorado Avalanche for a 3-2 win Monday at Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings were routed 7-1 by Chicago on Sunday for a second straight setback. Detroit looked as though it was going to roll to an easy victory against the Avs, but the two-point victory didn't come easy. Jimmy Howard had to make a save, getting his glove on PA Parenteau's shot with 7 seconds to seal the win and prevent the game from going into overtime. The Avs are tied with Florida for the fewest points in the NHL and have lost nine of their last 11 games. They're 6-17-2 when an opponent scores first, 3-17-1 when trailing after two periods and 7-6-4 in one-goal games. Justin Abdelkader scored late in the first period, Danny Cleary put Detroit ahead by two at 6:28 of the second and Brunner had a one-timer a few minutes later. Colorado avoided a shutout with a power-play goal at 14:08 of the third period when Jamie McGinn's backhander from between the circles sailed over a sprawling Howard. Avalanche forward Cody McLeod checked Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith into Howard, who couldn't get off the ice in time to stop McGinn's shot. Colorado pulled goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who had replaced starting goalie Semyon Varlamov, and the extra skater helped. Matt Duchene scored to make it 3-2 with 1:18 left, but the Avs couldn't score again to earn a rare point. Varlamov, coming off a 1-0 shutout win over Nashville, gave up two goals on four shots in the pivotal second period and finished with 10 saves. Giguere stopped each of the seven shots he faced, including three in the second period when he relieved Varlamov. Against the Blackhawks on Sunday, Howard gave up four goals on 14 shots. Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg missed his second straight game with a groin injury and is day-to-day. Abdelkader hit a hip-high rebound out of the air and into the net to put the Red Wings up 1-0 with 4:03 left in the first period. It was his seventh point in eight games but his first since his first three-goal, four-point game March 22 against the Anaheim Ducks. Cleary scored on a power play from the front of the crease off a behind-the-net pass from Johan Franzen, who also assisted on the first goal. Brunner's 11th goal was his first since Feb. 24, when he had two goals and four points against Vancouver. The 27-year-old, first-year player is too old to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, but he doesn't have any regrets about not coming to play in the League sooner.

St Louis v Minnesota 4-1 - One of the best home teams in the NHL, the Minnesota Wild laid an egg Monday against the St. Louis Blues. Jaden Schwartz scored a goal midway through the first and Andy McDonald and Kevin Shattenkirk added tallies in the second en route to a 4-1 victory at Xcel Energy Center. Entering Monday's game, Minnesota was 13-3-1 at home this season, including a 9-1-1 mark in its last 11 games. But from the drop of the puck Monday, the Wild could not find traction against a big, strong Blues team that physically took it to Minnesota all night long. Some in the Minnesota room said afterwards the game was reminiscent of the Wild's early-season struggles, which saw the team get off to a 6-6-2 start. It's been hot lately, winning more games in the month of March than any other team in the Western Conference and entered Monday winners in eight of nine overall. Minnesota has needed third period comebacks in each of its last two victories, however, and Parise said that early-season sloppiness had started to creep back into the Wild's game. While it got away with it in wins over the Phoenix Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings last week, the Blues made it pay Monday. The Blues never trailed, going ahead 1-0 at 12:32 in the first period when Schwartz took advantage of a Minnesota turnover at its own blue line, skated to the right hash and snapped a shot past Niklas Backstrom for his fourth of the season. St. Louis outshot Minnesota 12-5 in the opening period. Tied at one midway through the second, McDonald gave St. Louis the lead for good when he gathered in a rebound of his own shot in front, went to the left post and beat Backstrom at 12:17. The tally was McDonald's fourth of the season and first since Feb. 17. The Blues extended their lead to 3-1 less than two minutes later when a blast from the point by Shattenkirk found its way through traffic for his third of the season. Minnesota had a heavy shot advantage in the third period, but the Blues were able to keep a majority of the Grade-A chances away from Elliott, who entered the game in the final minute of the opening period after starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak suffered a lower-body injury. Elliott, who just rejoined the Blues on Saturday after a conditioning stint with Peoria of the American Hockey League, stopped 19 of 20 shots in his first action since Mar. 5 to improve to 4-6-1 on the season. Asked about entering the game cold, especially after a long layoff, Elliott said it's simply a part of the job. The Blues were only able to put two shots on Backstrom in the final 20 minutes, but scored an insurance marker with 50 seconds left in regulation on a snap shot by Barret Jackman. Minnesota went 0-for-5 on the power play and gained little momentum from any of its chances. Dany Heatley scored the lone goal for Minnesota, his 10th of the season, as one chance expired. But even the advantage that led to the goal was out of sync. Heatley buried a rebound of a shot from the point by Jonas Brodin that, at first, Elliott had appeared to glove. While the Blues lost Halak early on, Minnesota also lost Koivu for a stretch in the first period after he got high-sticked in the face. He returned to the game after missing a couple of shifts. The Wild are more concerned about the immediate future of second-line center Matt Cullen, who left the game in the final minutes of the second period and did not return. Yeo would not elaborate after the game on Cullen's injury or status and said he would provide an update Tuesday. Backstrom made 20 saves and saw his personal eight-game winning streak snapped with the loss. The defeat was also Minnesota's first by more than two goals since Feb. 7.

Nashville v Chicago 2-3 - It could've been one of those sequences that led to a complete unraveling for Corey Crawford. Instead, the Chicago Blackhawks goalie shook off a pair of shaky goals he allowed early in the third period on Monday at United Center and helped his team grind out a gritty 3-2 shootout win against the Nashville Predators. Chicago won the shootout in the fifth round when, of all people, defenseman Michal Rozsival beat Pekka Rinne with a backhand and Crawford stopped Taylor Beck to end it. That's because of what happened in the first 10 minutes of the third, when Nashville stormed back into the game after trailing 2-0 heading into the final period. David Legwand cut Chicago's lead to 2-1 just 3:56 into the third by jabbing a loose puck underneath a diving Crawford on an otherwise harmless play and the Predators came to life after being dominated. They swarmed the Blackhawks net and tied it 2-2 on a goal by Beck at 7:26 of the third, with Crawford making the initial stop on that one and watching helplessly as the puck slid over the goal line behind him. Instead of melting down, Crawford stiffened his resolve and made a number of key saves down the stretch to help get the game to overtime and then the breakaways. As a result, the Blackhawks didn't have to stew about blowing another late lead and "leaving points on the table," as Quenneville calls it. It looked like a Chicago victory was going to come pretty easily after 40 minutes. Brandon Saad scored his third goal in two games with just 11.3 seconds left in the first to make it 1-0 and Patrick Kane scored his 19th goal of the season in the second for a 2-0 lead. Chicago (27-5-3) led 27-11 in shots after two periods and could've been ahead by a lot more than two goals were it not for the stellar goaltending of Rinne (38 saves). Then came the third, when Legwand's goal flipped everything around. And it wasn't all Crawford's doing. The Predators were literally skating circles around the Blackhawks at times in the offensive zone, making 5-on-5 play look like a Nashville power play. The Predators (14-14-8) made sure of it and, though disappointed not to win, were satisfied with getting a point out of this game. They now have 36 points and sit in 11th place in the Western Conference, just two points back of the St. Louis Blues who are currently clinging to the eighth and final qualifying spot for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nashville has now earned points in five of its last six games despite not winning in three straight. The Predators also have seven of their next eight games at home and get two more cracks at the Blackhawks this coming weekend, once in the Music City and one more time in Chicago.

Anaheim v Dallas 4-0 - One day after Dallas Stars coach Glen Gulutzan called his team's effort "embarrassing" in a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, his club delivered another less-than-memorable performance in a 4-0 defeat to the Anaheim Ducks before 13,748 at American Airlines Center on Monday. After a scoreless first period, Anaheim victimized Dallas for three goals within 4:49 in the second. Bobby Ryan, Corey Perry, Matt Beleskey and Teemu Selanne each scored for the Ducks, while Viktor Fasth stopped all 26 shots he faced for his third career shutout and 12th win of the season. Selanne added an empty-netter with 32 seconds left, his ninth goal of the season, to make it a 4-0 final. Ryan Getzlaf, Perry and Ryan each had two points for the Ducks, who are now 11-3-5 on the road. Dallas was shut out for the fourth time this season and for the first time in nine games, since a 4-0 home loss to the Nashville Predators on March 12. The Stars finished their season-long five-game homestand with a disappointing mark of 2-3-0. The Stars looked to get on the board early when wing Loui Eriksson attempted to slip a wrister into the left side of the Anaheim net, but his 21-foot attempt from the left faceoff circle whistled off the crossbar. Dallas had another quality chance right before the first intermission when Jamie Benn had a nice look at the Anaheim net at 19:24, but Fasth was able to get his blocker in front of Benn's wrist shot and send it wide. Perry concurred with his coach that Fasth's big saves in the opening 20 minutes went a long way in he and his teammates having some momentum in the second period. After a penalty-free opening period, Dallas went on the power play at 1:48 of the second when Selanne was whistled for high sticking on Stars center Cody Eakin. At 5:43, the Stars gained the man advantage for a second time after Bryan Allen was called for elbowing Dallas' Francis Wathier. Just seven seconds into the power play, Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski took a 35-foot slapper from the left circle, but Fasth came up with a glove save to stop play at 5:50. The Ducks went on the power play for the first time at 8:57 when Dallas defenseman Stephane Robidas was called for hooking on Ryan. And at 10:13, it was Ryan who put the visitors ahead, beating Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen short side with a 28-foot wrister. Getzlaf got the primary assist after a pinpoint cross-ice pass from the left circle to Ryan, who converted for his 10th of the season. Anaheim then made it a 2-0 game when Perry tapped in a rebound at 12:52 for his 12th of the season. Getzlaf's initial shot was deflected by Ryan. Perry had a step on Robidas and quickly flipped in a wrister for the Ducks' second of the period. The Ducks added a third goal in the middle period when Beleskey knocked in his own rebound at 15:02. Former Stars defenseman Sheldon Souray flipped a high-flying pass from behind the Anaheim net that teammate Kyle Palmieri controlled near the Dallas blue line. Palmieri then flipped the puck to Beleskey, whose first backhand was denied at the near post by Lehtonen. However, Beleskey stuck with it and flipped in the rebound from in front of the Dallas net, beating Lehtonen with a backhand for his sixth of the season, making it 3-0. Dallas did go on the power play twice more in the third, the first time at 6:49 when Ben Lovejoy was guilty of high sticking on Eric Nystrom, and the second at 10:25 when Francois Beauchemin tripped Eriksson. However, the Stars were unable to convert on the first opportunity and saw their second man advantage of the period cut short when Jaromir Jagr was guilty of hooking just 33 seconds after the Beauchemin penalty. The Stars pulled Lehtonen with 1:18 remaining, but were unable to muster any additional chances with the extra skater. Selanne's empty-netter with 32 seconds left sealed the deal. With the loss, the Stars fall to 8-9-2 at home. Lehtonen stopped 27 of the 30 shots he faced in a losing effort. These same two clubs will meet twice more this week, with the Ducks hosting the Stars on Wednesday and Friday at Honda Center.

Calgary v Edmonton 1-4 - The Edmonton Oilers continued their push for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday. Justin Schultz had a goal and two assists as the Oilers cruised to a 4-1 victory against the Calgary Flames at Rexall Place. Taylor Hall, Ryan Jones and Nail Yakupov also scored for the Oilers (15-13-7) who have won four straight and have gone 7-2-2 in their past 11 games. With the win, the Oilers kept pace in the tight Western Conference playoff race, sitting in a tie with the Columbus Blue Jackets, one point back of the eighth-place St. Louis Blues. Dubnyk had 33 saves for the win. Brian McGratton scored the lone goal for the Flames (13-17-4), who dealt veteran defenseman Jay Bouwmeester to St. Louis shortly before the contest. The Flames have lost two in a row and six of their past eight games. Edmonton struck first just before the four-minute mark to start the opening period as Hall spotted Schultz creeping in from the point and fed him the puck in the slot where the rookie was able to beat Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff for his sixth of the season. The pair reversed spots on the scoresheet midway through the first as Schultz picked off a pass in the Calgary zone and sent it to Hall in front. Hall was able to freeze Kiprusoff with a deft move and then lift in a backhand for his fourth goal in the past two games. Edmonton scored on both of its first two shots in the game, similar to what happened in their 4-0 blanking of the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. The Oilers went up 3-0 with three-and-a-half minutes to play in the first as Jones beat Cory Sarich to a puck along the boards and muscled a one-handed backhand shot that somehow got through Kiprusoff. The veteran goalie, who many believe may have been playing in his final game as a Flame, was yanked in favor of backup Joey MacDonald after allowing three goals on six shots. The game slowed considerably in the scoreless second period with the best chances belonging to the Flames, however Dubnyk was able to come up with a pair of big saves on a tip by Curtis Glencross and a nice move by McGratton. The Oilers put the game away for good midway through the third as MacDonald got a piece of a Yakupov shot from the slot, only to see it dribble in behind him. It was the first goal in 17 games and seventh on the season for the 2012 first-overall draft pick. Calgary spoiled Dubnyk's hopes of earning a second consecutive shutout with just 1:32 left as McGrattan scored. The teams will face each other again in Calgary on Wednesday.

Vancouver v San Jose 2-3 - Make it five in a row for the surging San Jose Sharks. Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist during a second-period scoring flurry and the Sharks edged the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 at HP Pavilion on Monday for their fifth straight victory. San Jose broke a scoreless tie with three goals in a span of 2:13 against Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider, then held on and completed a season sweep of Vancouver. It didn't come easy, as the Canucks got goals from Chris Higgins and Alexandre Burrows to pull within one. But the Sharks prevailed and extended their longest win streak since taking seven straight to open the season. Trade speculation continues to swirl around Sharks forward Ryane Clowe, who was a healthy scratch, but the Sharks are grabbing enough attention for what's happening on the ice. They remain in the No. 6 playoff position in the Western Conference, but trail the Los Angeles Kings by just one point for the fifth spot. The Sharks dominated the first period, outshooting Vancouver 14-6, but they couldn't convert a couple of prime opportunities. Things changed quickly in the second period. Andrew Desjardins beat Schneider from the left side at the 7:41 mark to break a scoreless tie, and less than a minute later Thornton outfought a Canucks player for a loose puck just inside the blue line and blasted a wrister that found the net for a 2-0 lead. The Sharks then sent a sellout home crowd into hysterics with an electrifying sequence after a penalty to Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa. San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi made a terrific save on a shorthanded breakaway opportunity for Jannik Hansen, and the Sharks immediately headed back the other way. Patrick Marleau sent a pass to Logan Couture in front of the net, and Couture appeared to knock the puck into the net with his skate at 9:54. The play was reviewed but the goal was upheld, as it was ruled that Couture didn't intentionally kick the puck in. Just like that, the Canucks were behind 3-0, and the Sharks' scoring blitz had to provide a bad case of déjà vu. On Saturday, the Canucks allowed four goals on their first five shots allowed in a 4-0 loss to Edmonton. Vancouver, currently holding the No. 4 seed in the West, tried to shake its recent offensive slump, calling up highly touted winger Nicklas Jensen. The 20-year-old made his NHL debut and played on the top line alongside Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Winger Bill Sweatt also was called up from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League and played in just his third NHL game.

Mon, 01 Apr - Fixtures

NY Islanders v New Jersey 7pm ET
Winnipeg v NY Rangers 7pm ET
Carolina v Montreal 7.30pm ET
Colorado v Detroit 7.30pm ET
St Louis v Minnesota 8pm ET
Nashville v Chicago 8.30pm ET
Anaheim v Dallas 8.30pm ET
Calgary v Edmonton 9.30pm ET
Vancouver v San Jose 10pm ET

Gameday 72 (Sun, 31 Mar) - Results

Chicago v Detroit 7-1 - Just when it started to look like the Chicago Blackhawks might be slipping a little, they came out on Sunday afternoon and blasted the rival Detroit Red Wings on the road. They didn’t just win comfortably at Joe Louis Arena in NBC’s Game of the Week. The Blackhawks (26-5-3) routed the Red Wings 7-1, without injured star forwards Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa, to send a stark reminder to the rest of the National Hockey League of why they’re atop the Western Conference. Sharp and Hossa are expected back soon, possibly on Monday night against the Nashville Predators at United Center, but they didn’t make this trip and it didn’t matter. Their teammates simply overwhelmed Detroit (17-13-5) with three straight goals in the first 4:12 of the game, all scored on Red Wings starting goalie Jimmy Howard by rookie Jeremy Morin, Saad and center Dave Bolland. Saad’s second of the game made it 5-0 just 4:00 into the second period and came just eight seconds after he’d set up a Toews’ goal. Saad had tallied points in 10 of the previous 14 games, but hadn’t found the back of the net since March 5 against the Minnesota Wild. He’s been the left winger next to Toews for all but one of Chicago’s 34 games and is finally getting stats to show it. Saad said it’s been equally important for his confidence to remain with Toews and, when healthy, Hossa. It was also a good day on defense for the Blackhawks, who nearly helped goalie Corey Crawford pick up a shutout before Cory Emmerton’s goal with 33 seconds left in the third spoiled it. Crawford did break a personal two-game losing skid and was great yet again playing against the Red Wings, whom he’d previously beaten 2-1 in overtime Jan. 27 in Chicago and 2-1 in a shootout March 3 in Detroit. Bolland, meanwhile, added a second goal at 7:55 of the third and his offensive presence was also a welcome sight to the Hawks. His first, which was credited to him after Detroit’s Jakub Kindl intercepted his pass and accidentally scored into his own net, was Bolland’s first goal in 16 games. He’d last scored on Feb. 15 against the San Jose Sharks and had just five assists during that stretch, while also sitting out five games with an upper-body injury. If Bolland’s offense picks up, the Blackhawks might not need to trade for a second-line center for Sharp and Patrick Kane. Chicago could also get back to dominating games again, which is something Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville wants to see in the remaining 14 games. Detroit, on the other hand, continues to have a turbulent season. This game started terribly with news that captain Henrik Zetterberg wouldn’t play because of a groin injury and is day-to-day. It continued to get worse as the game progressed, including an upper-body injury that knocked Mikael Samuelsson from the game after two periods in his first game back after an extended absence because of a fractured finger. And that’s just the injury report. What happened on the scoreboard also stung. Detroit outshot Chicago 34-26, outhit the Blackhawks 29-11 and still lost by six goals. Morin’s goal opened the scoring. After scooping the puck in front of the crease off a carom from the end boards, the rookie buried it with Howard out of position. Saad’s first goal came next, which he scored while streaking to the net uncovered 48 seconds later. Bolland’s first goal made it 3-0 41 seconds after that and Chicago had a 3-0 lead that it carried into the first intermission, reminiscent of the way the Edmonton Oilers put four goals on the Vancouver Canucks in a 4-0 win on Saturday night at Rexall Place. Toews and Saad scored their back-to-back markers early in the second, while Nick Leddy and Bolland beat Jonas Gustavsson in the third.

Anaheim v Columbus 1-2 - The Columbus Blue Jackets are now in playoff position. The worst team in the NHL just over a month ago, the Blue Jackets, led by goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, have now gone on a remarkable tear that has lifted them into the midst of the postseason race. Mark Letestu set up the only goal in regulation and then scored the game-winner in overtime and Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 30 shots to lead the Blue Jackets to a 2-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Nationwide Arena. The victory improved the Blue Jackets to 9-0-3 in their last 12 games on home ice and gave them points in 15 of their last 17 games (10-2-5) to creep into the No. 8 spot in the West. Other teams have more remaining games, but that doesn't change the point totals. For at least a day, the Blue Jackets are vying to make the playoffs for only the second time in their 12 seasons as a franchise. The game pitted two of the NHL's hottest teams over the past few weeks. The Ducks came in 16-5-3 for 35 points in their last 24 games. In the overtime, Nikita Nikitin settled a high pass from rookie Dalton Prout at the right boards, then slid a pass to Letestu at the left circle. Letestu collected the pass and then beat goalie Jonas Hiller with a forehand on his stick side for the winner with 1 minute left in overtime. Columbus was playing its third game in four nights and Anaheim its third on a four-game road trip. It showed it, with neither team doing much on tired legs, although the Ducks outshot Columbus 17-1 in the third period. But Bobrovsky stood tall. Emerson Etem had the only goal for the Pacific Division-leading Ducks, who had lost four in a row until winning 2-1 in Chicago on Friday. Down 1-0, Anaheim pulled even 5:55 into the third. Columbus failed to clear the puck and Bryan Allen took it away from R.J. Umberger. Andrew Cogliano then fed Etem, who waded in and tucked a wrister inside the near post past Bobrovsky. In the second period, Letestu fired the puck wide of the cage and it bounded off the back boards to Brassard at the left doorstep. Hiller had it pinned between his right skate and the near post, but Brassard punched it into the net with two whacks.

Los Angeles v Dallas 3-2 - After not scoring in the third period in either of their first two meetings of the season with the Dallas Stars, the Los Angeles Kings erupted for a pair of goals in the final 20 minutes to hand the Stars a 3-2 defeat before 15,719 at American Airlines Center on Sunday. Los Angeles got third-period goals from Brad Richardson, his first tally in exactly one year, and from Justin Williams within 1:09 to break a 1-1 deadlock after two periods. Jonathan Bernier stopped 13 of 15 Dallas shots he faced for his eighth win of the season. Richardson was appearing in just his third game of the season for the Kings and first since Feb. 10 against the Detroit Red Wings. He had been a healthy scratch in the past 24 games for Los Angeles. Richardson beat Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen with a 15-foot wrister over his right shoulder at 5:40 of the third for his first goal of the season and first tally since March 31, 2012, which came on the road against the Minnesota Wild. And just 1:09 later, Williams netted his seventh goal of the season, collecting his own rebound to make it 3-1. After Dustin Brown fed him the puck from the left side, Williams' initial shot was denied by Lehtonen. However, he got his own rebound and flipped it in to give the visitors a two-goal cushion. However, Dallas responded when Ray Whitney scored on the power play at 11:04 of the third to make it 3-2. Bernier appeared to be screened by Stars winger Eric Nystrom at the far post, which was where Whitney's long slapper from the left point landed. The Stars had gone on the power play at 9:18 when Dallas' Loui Eriksson drew a hooking penalty on the Kings' Mike Richards. After peppering Lehtonen with shots early on, Los Angeles forward Jeff Carter put his team ahead with a backhander from the edge of the left faceoff circle just 25 seconds in to give the visitors an early lead. Lehtonen was potentially screened on the play by the Kings' Dustin Penner, who returned to the ice after being a healthy scratch in Los Angeles' past three games. Lehtonen never saw Carter's somewhat soft backhand, which appeared to deflect off Stars rookie defenseman Brenden Dillon before fluttering into the left side of the net. The Dallas goaltender had denied efforts from Penner just nine seconds in and a slapper from Drew Doughty 14 seconds into the game prior to Carter's tally, his 20th of the season. Los Angeles went with Bernier in net for the first time since March 19 against the Phoenix Coyotes. Lehtonen made his 14th consecutive start in goal for Dallas. The Kings drew the first power play of the game when Whitney was whistled for hooking at 13:55 of the first and Jake Muzzin nearly converted for Los Angeles at 15:49, but Lehtonen stopped his slap shot with a spectacular glove save. Dallas got its first power play with 2:52 left before the opening intermission, when Kings defenseman Alec Martinez earned a minor after interfering with Stars forward Erik Cole. However, Dallas was unable to convert. After not logging a single shot in the second period, the Stars drew things level at 13:16 when Jamie Benn flipped a backhand shot past Bernier for his eighth goal of the season. Alex Goligoski spotted Benn streaking toward the Kings' blue line and hit him in stride with a pass from just inside the Stars' zone. Benn had a step on Los Angeles defenseman Slava Voynov and skated in for the equalizer. Lehtonen stopped 37 of the 40 shots he faced in a losing effort. Dallas also got a two-assist performance from Alex Goligoski, who now leads the Stars with 19 helpers on the season. Dallas pulled Lehtonen with about a minute remaining, but the Stars were unable to generate any additional shots with the extra attacker. The Stars fell to .500 at home (8-8-2). Dallas concludes a season-long five-game homestand on Monday against the Anaheim Ducks. The Stars are 2-2-0 thus far on the homestand. Los Angeles outshot Dallas 40-15 and are now 14-1-2 when scoring first. They're also 5-1-0 in the second of back-to-back games.

Washington v Philadelphia 4-5 - Jakub Voracek stuck up for his captain, putting the Philadelphia Flyers in a hole. His teammates bailed him out in a big way. Ruslan Fedotenko scored 94 seconds into overtime after Kimmo Timonen got the tying goal with 9.5 seconds left in regulation and the Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 5-4 on Sunday at Wells Fargo Center. Maxime Talbot, Matt Read and Claude Giroux also scored for the Flyers, who moved within two points of the idle New York Rangers and New York Islanders for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals are a point ahead of Philadelphia in a jumbled East. Desperate to get a point, the Flyers tied it at 4 when Timonen ripped a slap shot past Braden Holtby after several chances in front. Timonen lifted his arms in the air and pointed toward the sky in celebration. Timonen then set up Fedotenko with a perfect crossing pass in overtime to cap off a remarkable comeback and set off a wild celebration. Marcus Johansson and Alex Ovechkin scored power-play goals 26 seconds apart in the third period to give the Capitals a 4-2 lead. Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green also scored for the Capitals. The Flyers have won two in a row and are trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and second in 18 years. The Capitals took advantage of a four-minute power play in the third period after Voracek pounded Steve Olesky with a barrage of rights and left him with a bloody face. Voracek went after Olesky after his hard check on Giroux. He got two minutes for instigating and two minutes for fighting with a visor. Voracek hadn't fought all season and said he wasn't aware of the visor rule. A minute into the man-advantage, Johansson took advantage of a turnover and fired a shot from inside the left circle past Ilya Bryzgalov to give the Capitals a 3-2 lead. Then, Ovechkin ripped a slap shot from above the left faceoff circle past Bryzgalov for his eighth goal in eight games to make it 4-2. Giroux got the Flyers within one on a power-play goal with 7:12 left. The depleted Flyers lost Talbot to a lower-body injury late in the second. They're already missing center Danny Briere and defensemen Braydon Coburn, Nicklas Grossmann and Andrej Meszaros. Washington tied it at 2 late in the second period right after denying the Flyers on a power play. Green came out of the penalty box, took an outlet pass from Brooks Laich and beat Bryzgalov on the breakaway. The Flyers didn't register their first shot on Holtby until midway through the first. Seconds later, Talbot shot one between Holtby's legs to tie it at 1. Read took a long pass from Giroux, broke in alone on Holtby and ripped it past him to give Philadelphia a 2-1 lead late in the first. Shortly afterward, the Flyers had a goal negated because of a goaltender interference penalty on Wayne Simmonds. Giroux was called for a face-off violation before the puck dropped, giving the Capitals a 5-on-3 advantage for two minutes. But Bryzgalov made an outstanding left-to-right sliding save on Troy Brouwer's stuffer in front and Philadelphia killed it off. Backstrom deflected Jack Hillen's slap shot past Bryzgalov to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead 4:29 into the first. It was Hillen's first point since an assist on Jan. 1, 2012.

Boston v Buffalo 2-0 - It took the Boston Bruins over two-and-a-half periods Sunday to find the back of the net, but the line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton scored twice in the third period to provide all the offense necessary. Meanwhile, Anton Khudobin made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season and the second of his career. With 7:06 to play in regulation, Krejci broke a scoreless tie as the Bruins earned a 2-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center. Horton added the second goal 3:10 later to seal the victory and put the Bruins within one point of the Montreal Canadiens for first place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins' offense, which has now been held to three or less goals in seven of their past eight games, stuck to their game plan and didn't press, even though their chances weren't being converted. On the first goal, Horton took two shots on Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, and Krejci was able to knock home the second rebound from the top of the goal crease. Boston then quickly extended its lead to two goals as Horton knocked in a cross-ice feed from Krejci through Miller and Sabres defenseman Andrej Sekera at 15:44. Sekera, who was on the ice for both Bruins goals said he did not know Horton was standing next to him at the top of the crease. Khudobin kept the Bruins in the game early on and throughout the game to earn the shutout. He stoned Tyler Ennis midway through the first period, making a right pad save as Ennis tried to stickhandle around him alone. The Lucic-Krejci-Horton line recorded Boston's only goal in a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Lucic said that these two games are something they can build on moving forward. While Sabres interim coach Ron Rolston was generally happy with his team's performance, he understands that Buffalo has a long way to go in terms of being able to finish out games, especially against a team like Boston. Miller reached a milestone when the puck dropped for the opening faceoff as he tied Dominik Hasek's franchise record of 491 games played with the Sabres. Miller is 263-162-1-53 with 28 shutouts in his career. He made 29 saves in the loss. The Bruins entered the contest looking to end a 4-5-1 skid over their past 10 games. The Sabres are 3-1-2 in their past six home games, but are now 0-2-2 in their past four overall. Buffalo now trails the New York Rangers by three points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have two games in hand. Sitting in 13th place, however, the Sabres are also four points from being in dead last. The Sabres played without both forward Ville Leino and leading scorer Thomas Vanek. Leino did not partake in the pregame skate and the team announced after warmups that he is day-to-day with an upper-body muscle strain. Vanek missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury.