Gameday 78 (Sat, 06 Apr) - Results

Philadelphia v Winnipeg 1-4 - The Winnipeg Jets began their Saturday-afternoon date with the Philadelphia Flyers lugging a five-game losing streak that had shoved them out of the Southeast Division lead and into a free-fall threatening their Stanley Cup Playoff aspirations. The Flyers, meanwhile, arrived in Winnipeg owning a four-game winning streak that had moved them directly into the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race after knocking off three opponents currently occupying playoff berths over the past week. Well, a four-goal second period for Winnipeg led the Jets to a 4-1 win at MTS Centre and kept their playoff hopes alive for a bit longer. The win moved the Jets (19-19-2) back into the Southeast Division lead, two points of ahead of the Washington Capitals, who meet the Florida Panthers on Saturday night. The Flyers (17-18-3) now sit three points behind Winnipeg and three points out of a playoff spot. The visit from the Flyers kicked off a six-game homestand that will go a long way toward determining the Jets' postseason fate. Winnipeg has battled home demons all season at MTS Centre, where they have only won nine of 18 contests. Winnipeg used second-period goals from Grant Clitsome and Kyle Wellwood 27 seconds apart to take away Philadelphia's 1-0 lead. Evander Kane followed 1:39 later with a goal that ended his five-game drought. Little closed out the period, striking with 54 seconds left to send the Jets up 4-1 going into the second intermission and finishing Philadelphia starter Ilya Bryzgalov's afternoon. Ondrej Pavelec turned in a 31-save afternoon for the Jets. The Jets' penalty kill, a source of trouble at various points this season, also held off the Flyers' second-ranked power play on three Philadelphia opportunities. The Flyers received a first-period goal from Ruslan Fedotenko that provided a lead they nursed deep into the second period. Bryzgalov made his 22nd consecutive start and made 12 saves. Steve Mason, whom the Flyers acquired Wednesday from the Columbus Blue Jackets, made his Philadelphia debut in third-period relief and stopped all nine shots he faced. Philadelphia struggled even with Kimmo Timonen, a question mark to dress for the game because of a foot injury. Timonen managed to remain in the Philadelphia lineup to help reinforce a blue line missing Braydon Coburn, Nicklas Grossmann and Andrej Meszaros. Desperate for a strong start in a building where they had won just eight of their first 17 home dates, the Jets failed to deliver in the first period. The Flyers buried the Jets with a 13-4 shots advantage and directed steady pressure at Pavelec, holding the home team without a shot over the final 15:04. Moments after Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd failed to convert his breakaway, the Flyers took a 1-0 lead. Kent Huskins directed a shot at Pavelec that Fedotenko deflected through a screen at 11:07. Winnipeg rebounded with a stronger second-period effort against the Flyers, and the Jets finally broke through against Bryzgalov with seven minutes to go in the period. Little sped down the right boards and centered a pass into the slot that Clitsome fired low and past Bryzgalov. Wellwood ended a 12-game stretch without a goal when he put the Jets in the lead 27 seconds later when he fished loose a rebound and dropped it behind Pavelec. The Jets then took a two-goal lead at 14:44 when Kane stormed Bryzgalov's crease and jabbed a loose puck behind Bryzgalov. Little finished the period on an odd-man rush, snapping an off-wing left-circle shot that fooled Bryzgalov for his first goal that ended a six-game run without a goal. Winnipeg's four-goal period was its second such effort this season. The Flyers face another tough week beginning Tuesday with road game against the New York Islanders, one of the slew of clubs that they are battling for a playoff spot. The win now sets up the Jets for a visit from the Buffalo Sabres, who also lurk only four points behind the Jets.

Chicago v Nashville 1-0 - In their two previous games, the Chicago Blackhawks took leads into the third period and promptly gave them up. On Saturday, they played a Stanley Cup Playoff-type of game, and this time, they successfully protected a one-goal lead. Goalie Ray Emery made 20 saves to earn his second shutout and Chicago finished with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena that dealt another blow to their Central Division rival's postseason chances. Chicago had points in three straight (2-0-1) and four out of five (3-1-1) entering the game. The Blackhawks are starting to take control of the race for the Western Conference's top seed. The win puts them five points up on the Anaheim Ducks, who have played one more game than the Blackhawks. With the win, Emery improved to 13-1-0 on the season. His lone defeat came in his last start on March 29, as Anaheim defeated him 2-1. Quenneville liked what he saw from his goalie. Nashville pulled goalie Pekka Rinne, who stopped 29 of 30 shots, twice in the last two minutes and pressured Emery for the equalizer. After the first time the Predators pulled Rinne, the big Finn had to go back in the net for a faceoff in his zone. With Rinne out for the final 90 seconds after Nashville called its timeout, Emery had some anxious moments around his crease as the Predators threw bodies at the net and tried to jam the puck in. The Blackhawks got on the board by converting a 2-on-1. The Predators got trapped in the offensive zone and Michal Handzus took advantage of a mental mistake by a Nashville forward in front of the Chicago bench as the puck bounded to Handzus. The newly acquired Slovak skated up the right wing and sent a saucer pass to a wide-open Bryan Bickell, who put it in a gaping net at 5:31 of the opening period. The net was so open because Nashville coach Barry Trotz said defenseman Jon Blum did not do a good job of taking away the pass; it's the defenseman's responsibility in that situation to take away the pass and let the goalie play the shooter. Trotz also was upset with a forward, it appeared to be Bobby Butler, who made the wrong decision when Chicago defenseman Sheldon Brookbank got the puck in the corner and shot it up the right-wing boards. From there, Quenneville said he thought the key moment of the game was when the Blackhawks were forced to kill a double minor in the third period. With 12:02 left in regulation, Daniel Carcillo high-sticked Nashville's Shea Weber. However, Chicago got as many shots as Nashville did during the four-minute power play, one, and held the Predators off the board. The Predators entered having won only one of their previous five (1-2-2). Nashville began Saturday in 12th place in the Western Conference, four points out of the eighth and final spot for the playoffs. Since trading right wing Martin Erat, one of the team's co-leaders in points when he was dealt to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, the Predators have struggled to put the puck in the net. In their first game after the trade, they lost 3-1 to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. In some ways, they have reverted to the form that hurt their playoff chances from the season's outset. For the first half of the season, the Predators averaged less than two goals per game. Trotz observed that in two meetings with Chicago this week, the Blackhawks scored three goals and Nashville two, but the Predators lost both, including a 3-2 shootout loss on Monday. But the Predators desperately need points in the standings now. Trotz also made an oblique reference to the trade of Erat and numerous injuries: to forward Colin Wilson, the team's leading scorer when he got hurt on March 9, and Gabriel Bourque, who has a team-high 11 goals. On Saturday, a new player was added to the injury list: big checking center Paul Gaustad with an upper-body injury that has plagued him throughout the season. Gaustad sat out the game, allowing Chicago's top line of Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad to control the puck at length in Nashville's zone, and Trotz said he would be out for at least the next few games. With only nine games left, Nashville is running out of time to earn its eighth playoff berth in nine seasons.

Edmonton v Los Angeles 1-4 - Speed and youth vs. methodical defense? The Los Angeles Kings threw that storyline out the window when the Edmonton Oilers came to their barn Saturday afternoon. Los Angeles won a special-teams contest with two power-play goals in a 4-1 win at Staples Center. Slava Voynov scored his first goal since March 5 and Jeff Carter helped L.A. go 2-for-5 on the man-advantage. The Kings jumped ahead of the San Jose Sharks and moved into fourth in the Western Conference playoff race. L.A. put the new defense combination of Drew Doughty and Robyn Regehr out exclusively against Edmonton's kid line of Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle, and the trio was kept scoreless. Kings coach Darryl Sutter previously said he wouldn't break up his defensive pairings but he's gone with Doughty-Regehr since the last half of Regehr's debut Thursday. Edmonton's third-ranked power play got four chances and converted on a strike from Magnus Paajarvi in the second period. It finished 1-for-4 and managed only one shot during Doughty's hooking penalty halfway through the third. The Oilers remain a bubble team at ninth, and their road trip now goes to Anaheim on Monday. Edmonton has one goal in two games after it scored 25 goals in its previous six. Voynov's slap shot from the point stayed on the ice the whole way and found the left side of the goal at 8:22 to give the Kings a 3-1 lead in a second in which L.A. outshot Edmonton, 17-5. Jeff Petry was in the penalty box for holding. That's effectively game over for Los Angeles opponents. The Kings are now 101-1-11 in their past 113 games when leading after two periods. The first 30 minutes saw a combined seven power plays. Carter was credited with his 22nd goal when Dustin Brown's pass hit Carter's leg and bounced just under the crossbar at 15:35 of the second on Eberle's hooking penalty. For the second straight game, Los Angeles struck in the opening two minutes. Edmonton left Mike Richards open at the edge of the left circle to one-time Carter's pass on the L.A.'s first shot on goal at 1:38. Jerred Smithson made his Edmonton debut and centered a line with Mike Brown and Lennart Petrell. He won seven of nine faceoffs in nearly 10 minutes of ice time, but his penalty killing wasn't enough. Quick, who made 23 saves, improved to 9-1-4 lifetime against the Oilers. His next victory will tie him with Kelly Hrudey for No.2 on the club's all-time victory list. The Kings are 12-1-6 in their last 19 meetings with the Oilers.

Boston v Montreal 1-2 - At the beginning of the season, Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said that every year there is a team considered the NHL's biggest surprise, and he wanted his club to be that team. Entering the home stretch of the 2012-13 season sitting in first place in the Northeast Division and having taken three of four from the arch rival Boston Bruins after Saturday's 2-1 win, it would be pretty safe to say that Therrien's goal has been realized. Alex Galchenyuk and Michael Ryder scored, Carey Price made 26 saves and P.K. Subban added another two assists for the Canadiens (25-8-5), who opened up a three-point lead on the Bruins (24-9-4) atop the Northeast Division with their fifth win in six games. It's a far cry from where this team was a year ago Sunday, when Montreal closed its 2011-12 season with a 4-1 win in Toronto, but still remained in last place in the Eastern Conference. Daniel Paille scored Boston's lone goal and Tuukka Rask made 27 saves for the Bruins, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. It was Boston's fifth regulation time loss in 11 games, surpassing the four regulation losses the Bruins had in their first 26 games of the season. But the most frustrating thing for the Bruins was having a 6-on-4 power play for 56.4 seconds at the end of the third period when Eller took a holding penalty in the offensive zone and not getting a shot on goal, or even attempting one for that matter. Julien was forced to juggle his lines midway through the first period after Montreal took a 1-0 lead against the trio of Tyler Seguin, Brad Marchand and the newly acquired Jaromir Jagr, with Seguin playing center in place of the injured Patrice Bergeron, perhaps the best defensive forward in the NHL. Julien replaced Seguin at center with Rich Peverley to have a better defensive player in that spot, while Jagr played the rest of the game with Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell, who usually make up two-thirds of Boston's fourth line. The Canadiens lost physical defenseman Alexei Emelin at 10:54 of the first period when he attempted to lay a big hit on Milan Lucic near center ice and took the worst of it, falling awkwardly and suffering what appeared to be an injury to his left leg, likely the knee. The goal by Ryder was his sixth in his last six games and his 10th in his past 12 games. He has 10 goals and eight assists in the 18 games he's played since being acquired from the Dallas Stars on Feb. 26. Subban's two assists gave him a goal and nine assists in six games, and gave him 32 points in 32 games this season to increase his lead on Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild as the NHL's top scoring defenseman to four points. Galchenyuk opened the scoring for Montreal on his first shift of the game at 6:49 of the first, the 26th time in 38 games this season the Canadiens have scored the game's first goal. With Rask scrambling to get back in position following a flurry around the Bruins net, Galchenyuk got the puck below the goal line and attempted to bank it in off the Boston netminder. The wound up in the crease on the other side of Rask, and defenseman Matt Bartkowski wound up kicking it into his own net. It was Galchenyuk's second goal in as many games, giving the No. 3 pick at the 2012 NHL Draft the first goal streak of his young career. Montreal continued to control the play for much of the first, but it was an ill-advised Lucic cross-checking penalty in the final minute of the period that wound up costing the Bruins when Ryder tipped home a Subban point shot at 0:57 of the second period to make it 2-0 Montreal. The Bruins were being largely outplayed until they finally got on the board at 7:10 of the second when Paille beat David Desharnais on an offensive zone draw and Johnny Boychuk took a shot from the point that hit Paille and beat Carey Price to make it 2-1. From that point onward the Bruins were a different team, controlling the play and spending entire shifts in the Canadiens' zone as Montreal attempted to manage with five defensemen. But the Bruins squandered that great opportunity to tie the game late, allowing the Canadiens to hold them off and claim the season series between the bitter rivals, marking the first time in four games between the two that the team leading after two periods went on to win the game.The Canadiens have 10 games remaining while the Bruins have 11, but building on their division lead may have made Montreal believe that finishing first in the Northeast became a lot more realistic Saturday night.

Toronto v New Jersey 2-1 - The Toronto Maple Leafs look poised to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in nine years. The New Jersey Devils look like they will miss them for the second time in three seasons. Toronto got goals from Leo Komarov and Tyler Bozak, and James Reimer made 27 saves, to defeat New Jersey 2-1 Saturday night at Prudential Center. The Maple Leafs won for the fourth time in five games and remain on track for their first postseason appearance since 2004. The Devils are winless in six games after losing forward Ilya Kovalchuk to a shoulder injury March 23 (0-3-3). From seventh place on that date, four points clear of ninth, they have fallen out three points out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference. David Clarkson got one in the third period to end New Jersey's scoreless streak at 143:36. The Devils were shut out 1-0 at the Boston Bruins on Thursday. They were 0-for-5 on the power play Saturday, including a first-period 5-on-3 that lasted for 1:04. Toronto had its three-game winning streak snapped with a 5-3 home to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, but wasted little time taking a lead Saturday. Komarov, playing his first game since March 21, scored 3:49 into the game when he deflected a shot from teammate Mark Fraser past Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. Fraser was able to handle a pass right at the blue line and his shot found Komarov in the left circle. Bozak converted a breakaway at 8:02 of the third period. He took a breakout pass from Phil Kessel at center ice and avoided the chasing defense of Peter Harrold. Bozak's shot popped up and over Brodeur, and Harrold missed a baseball swing trying to keep the airborne puck out of the net. Devils defenseman Marek Zidlicky led a rush up ice and his pass at the offensive blue line found Clarkson charging toward the circles, from where his shot trickled through Reimer with 8:23 left to play. The defending Eastern Conference champion Devils made the playoffs every season since 1996-97 before failing to do so in 2010-11. They play at the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday. Toronto played without forward Joffrey Lupul, who has an upper-body injury. He could miss a home-and-home against the Rangers on Monday and Wednesday.

Tampa Bay v NY Islanders 2-4 - The New York Islanders are inching closer to ending their six-year playoff drought. Matt Martin's goal with 6:26 remaining broke a tie as the Islanders beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Saturday night at a sold-out Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The victory assured New York of ending the week in the top eight in the Eastern Conference, where they haven't finished since 2007. Martin took a pass from rookie Anders Lee, crossed the Tampa Bay blue line and cut to the high slot before wristing a shot through a screen that went between the pads of goaltender Ben Bishop. It was his third of the season, but two have come against the Lightning, one in each of Tampa Bay's visits to the Coliseum. Andrew MacDonald hit the empty net from 150 feet away while on his knees to give the Islanders their third win this week, along with a shootout loss, giving them 42 points. Both New York teams, the Islanders and Rangers, have 42 points; the Rangers are seventh and the Islanders eighth because the Rangers have a game in hand. Both teams are two points ahead of Winnipeg and three ahead of New Jersey. It was the kind of game the Islanders have lost too many of this season, they twice gave up leads, the second time early in the third period. But instead of folding, the Islanders stepped up their game and dominated the last 15 minutes, something they hadn't been doing earlier. Even after Martin's goal put them ahead, the Islanders forechecked rather than going into a defensive shell, and held the Lightning without a shot on goal the rest of the way. Josh Bailey also scored for the Islanders. Evgeni Nabokov had to make only 19 saves as the Islanders blocked more shots (23) than they allowed to get through to their goaltender. New York plays six of its final nine games, including the last five, away from home. Bishop made 24 saves, and Richard Panik and Matt Carle had goals for the Lightning, whose faint playoff hopes grew fainter. Tampa Bay trails the eighth-place Islanders by eight points. A giveaway by former Islander Nate Thompson turned into the game's first goal. Thompson's pass was picked off just inside the Tampa Bay blue line; Grabner took the puck, raced down the middle, took a look at Tavares and decided to take a quick slap shot that went over Bishop's glove at 14:45. Tampa Bay went more than 10 minutes between shots on goal, but forced Nabokov to make his best save of the period on Brett Connolly's point-blank shot with just over two minutes remaining in the period. The Lightning continued to press until New York's Frans Nielsen was called for hooking Steven Stamkos with 1:40 left in the period. But it was Bishop who had to be sharp, he was called upon to stop Grabner's semi-breakaway and Bailey’s blast off a 2-on-1 just before the horn. Tampa Bay came out stronger in the second period, got the Islanders running around in their own zone and tied the game at 4:44. A superb behind-the-back passout from behind the net by Vincent Lecavalier set up Panik in the lower-left circle for a wide-open one-timer, and he beat Nabokov easily for his second of the season. Bailey put the Islanders back in front at 8:22, but Kyle Okposo did most of the work. Okposo carried the puck around the Lightning net out near the blue line, danced away from two defenders in the high slot and cut to the lower right circle before zipping a pass into the slot. Bailey kicked the puck into his stick and backhanded it into the net for his seventh of the season. As they did at the beginning of the second period, the Lightning again came out strong to start the third, and wasted little time tying the score at 2-2. Tampa Bay kept the play in the New York zone for the better part of a minute before Stamkos circled into the high slot and fired a shot that was stopped by Nabokov. But the goaltender had lost control of his stick and couldn't control the rebound, which came back into the slot, where Carle banged it in at the 4-minute mark. It was his fourth of the season, but first in 22 games. The Islanders played without forward Matt Moulson, their second-leading scorer, who had the flu. It was the first game Moulson had missed since joining New York at the start of the 2009-10 season, a span of 284 consecutive games. The Lightning lost in regulation for the first time in four games under new coach Jon Cooper, partly because they turned over the puck 31 times, Tampa Bay made 14 giveaways and the Islanders had 17 takeaways. The Lightning flew right out for a Sunday game at Washington, one that they cannot afford to lose.

NY Rangers v Carolina 4-1 - Henrik Lundqvist deserved a deep breath after stopping a game-long barrage of Carolina shots on Saturday night at PNC Arena. After a 2-1 shootout loss Friday night in Pittsburgh, the Rangers (19-15-4) spent their energy completely as Lundqvist turned in one of his best performances. Thanks to second-period goals by Derek Stepan, Ryan Callahan and Rick Nash, the New York goaltender played with a cushion; he needed it, particularly in the third period when the Hurricanes peppered him with 21 shots. Stepan buried Richards' feed on the power play 2:00 into the second period, and Nash needed just 29 seconds to pick the pocket of Carolina goalie Dan Ellis behind the net and set up Callahan in front for the 2-0 lead. For the Hurricanes, mired in an ugly 1-10-1 stretch, it could have spelled the beginning of a long night. Nash extended the lead to 3-0 on a nice individual effort, skating the puck across the slot, then wheeling around to fire a shot past Ellis. It marked the second power-play goal of the night for the Rangers and fifth in their past three games. Despite the big lead, the Rangers were never off the hook in the third period. The wear and tear of back-to-back games showed as Lundqvist fought off numerous bids from the Hurricanes, most of them in scoring position. In one stretch, he stopped Jordan Staal, Joe Corvo and Zac Dalpe, all from the slot. Dalpe's shot, snatched away with Lundqvist's glove, might have been the best of the night. Rangers forward Ryane Clowe, acquired Tuesday from San Jose, has played just three games in front of Lundqvist. After watching the Rangers star allow just one regulation goal in each game, he sounded a bit star struck. Not that Lundqvist minded. In fact, he seemed happy to carry the load for a night, perhaps because he has a new-found enthusiasm for the Rangers' team chemistry. The recent acquisitions of Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett and John Moore from Columbus, along with Clowe, have invigorated Lundqvist. Carolina, meanwhile, is trapped in a nightmare stretch drive. Once 15-9-1 and in control of the Southeast Division, the Hurricanes have fallen into 13th place in the Eastern Conference at 16-19-2. Despite the woes, Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller has been mostly positive after the last several losses, noting that his team played with plenty of resolve. Aside from the Rangers' strong second period, Muller's point was well-taken. The Hurricanes carried the play for extended stretches, only to be shut down by Lundqvist. The Hurricanes finally broke the shutout bid midway through the third period on a goal from Dalpe, who was recalled from the Charlotte Checkers earlier in the day.

Washington v Florida 4-3 - Alex Ovechkin's scoring surge continued Saturday night, but the Washington Capitals almost let his work go to waste. Ovechkin had three goals and an assist to help the Capitals build a 4-0 lead, then had to hold off a three-goal third period by the Florida Panthers to win 4-3 at BB&T Center. Ovechkin's 12th career hat trick gave him 13 goals in 13 games, and after a slow start he is now tied for second in the NHL with 23 goals, only two behind Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers didn't enjoy any of it. In fact, they have to be glad that Ovechkin and the Capitals won't be division opponents after this season. While helping Washington sweep the four-game series against Florida this season by a combined score of 22-8, Ovechkin had six goals and four assists. That gave him 61 points in 47 career games against Florida. Mike Ribeiro added a goal and an assist and Nicklas Backstrom had three assists for the Capitals, who have beaten Florida seven consecutive times dating back to last season. The victory kept Washington atop the Southeast Division standings. The Capitals and the Winnipeg Jets, 4-1 winners against the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday, both have 40 points but Washington has two games in hand. Washington is 7-1-1 in its past nine games. Holtby made 25 saves but had to survive a third-period rally that saw the Panthers get within a goal with 32.7 seconds left. The Panthers saw their longest winning streak of the season snapped at three games, but not without mounting a valiant comeback effort after trailing 4-0 heading into the third period. Tomas Kopecky scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season for Florida, as he passed Shawn Matthias for the team lead. Peter Mueller had the other Panthers goal. Jacob Markstrom got the start in net for Florida for the sixth consecutive game, but he struggled again against Washington. Markstrom was pulled after Ovechkin's third goal made it 4-0 at 14:22 of the second period, although he was reinserted during a TV timeout 52 seconds later. Markstrom ended with 27 saves. In a March 7 game at Washington, Markstrom was pulled in a 7-1 loss after allowing two goals on the Capitals' first two shots. Nick Bjugstad, one of Florida's three first-round picks in the 2010 draft, made his NHL debut three days after signing an entry-level contract. Bjugstad had a quiet night, although he did have a good scoring opportunity on a wraparound in the second period. The game was scoreless until late in the first period when Florida defenseman Erik Gudbranson was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding Martin Erat. Erat, acquired by the Capitals from the Nashville Predators at the trade deadline on Wednesday, sustained a lower-body injury on the play and did not return. Capitals coach Adam Oates said after the game that Erat would be evaluated Sunday morning but added that the injury didn't look serious enough to force Erat to miss many games. Washington, which came in with the best power play in the NHL, took advantage against the worst penalty-killing team in the League. Ovechkin scored his first goal at 15:45 of the first off a tic-tac-toe passing play from Backstrom to Ribeiro at the side of the net and across the crease to Ovechkin for the one-timer. It was the first of three power-play goals for the Capitals. Dineen took the blame for the second, Ribeiro's goal 43 seconds into the second period. After Gudbranson was ejected from the game for the hit on Erat, the Panthers neglected to put anyone in the penalty box to serve his major penalty. So when that penalty expired during play with 23 seconds left in the first period, after Florida had killed off the last 3:52, the Panthers were not allowed to send a fifth skater onto the ice until a whistle. That whistle came when Quinton Howden was called for hooking at 19:55. Ovechkin's third goal also came on the power play and was identical to his first, except that it was Marcus Johansson who took the pass from Backstrom and fed Ovechkin. Ovechkin's second goal, which made it 3-0 at 2:24 of the second period, was his most spectacular. After losing control of the puck to his right while attempting to deke defenseman Filip Kuba, Ovechkin lifted Kuba's stick from behind, grabbed the puck and fired a quick wrist over the left shoulder of Markstrom.

Colorado v Phoenix 0-4 - The Phoenix Coyotes have their offense clicking, their starting goalie back between the pipes and their team swagger back. The only question: Is there is still enough time for them to rescue a Stanley Cup Playoff berth? Martin Hanzal, Boyd Gordon and Shane Doan all scored during an 11:31 span of the second period Saturday and goalie Mike Smith returned to the Phoenix lineup from injury with 24 saves and his fifth shutout of the season as the Coyotes drilled the Colorado Avalanche 4-0 at Jobing.com Arena. The line of Doan, Hanzal and Radim Vrbata combined for six points and Oliver Ekman-Larsson added two assists as the Coyotes extend their points streak to a season-high six games (4-0-2) and jumped over Columbus and Edmonton and into ninth place in the Western Conference with 40 points. They trail eighth-place St. Louis by two points, the Blues have two games in hand and own the regulation win tiebreaker, heading into a crucial three-game road trip to Western Canada beginning Monday night against the Vancouver Canucks. The Coyotes play seven of their final 10 games on the road. The Coyotes swept a must-win, three-game homestand, their first three-game win streak of the season, using three different goaltenders. Jason LaBarbera beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Tuesday and Chad Johnson stopped the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 on Thursday before Smith returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury to record his 13th shutout in 94 games with Phoenix. Smith was his old feisty self from the very beginning, straying from the net to set up Hanzal's power-play goal and engaging the few Avalanche players who invaded his crease. The Coyotes have dominated Colorado on home ice over the past six years, 9-0-2 in their past 11 games here. And the Avalanche, who are a miserable 2-15-3 road on the road this season and winless in their past 14 (0-11-3) were in trouble right from the start after fighting hard in an overtime home loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Friday. Just 1:46 into play, Mikkel Boedker raced down the left side and let go a long wrist shot that beat Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov (24 saves) over his pad to the far post. It was Boedker's seventh goal and 24th point of the season, and the 44th first-period goal allowed by the Avalanche. Smith saw only five shots in the first, but became a bigger factor with big plays offensively and defensively in the second, when the Coyotes were dominant and scored three times for the second straight game. On an early Phoenix power play, Smith dashed to the faceoff circle to stop a clearing attempt and caught Colorado on a change. His long pass was right on the tape of Vrbata, who sent Hanzal and Doan in all alone. Doan returned a pass for Hanzal for the easy tap-in at 3:06, the 23rd power-play goal allowed by Colorado in 20 road games. Smith then made a more traditional goalie play, diving to smother an Aaron Palushaj rebound shot. Cody McLeod tried to jam at the puck, but Smith grabbed McLeod's stick out of his hands and tried to break it over the crossbar before tossing it away in disgust. Just 2:58 after Hanzal's 11th goal, a Colorado breakout attempt caromed off the skate of Brad Malone and gave the Coyotes another golden opportunity. David Moss pushed the puck to Gordon, who carried the puck to the goal line before banking it off Varlamov's back and in at 7:04. Gordon didn't score a goal in the first 32 games of the season, but now has three in the past six. Doan made it 4-0 at 14:37, completing and tic-tack-toe play with Ekman-Larsson and Vrbata, with both Varlamov and Johnson over committing and leaving the crease wide open. Doan's easy goal was his team-leading 13th of the season and the rout was on.

Calgary v Vancouver 2-5 - Now that the Vancouver Canucks are no longer counting on their top line to score every game, it makes it easier for them to do just that. After a week focused on the trade-deadline addition of scoring center Derek Roy and the return of a handful of injured forwards, it was the top duo of Daniel and Henrik Sedin, with a lot of help from No.1 goalie Cory Schneider, that led the Canucks to a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. Henrik scored into an empty net with 10.1 seconds left and added two assists, including the 600th of his career, and Daniel had three assists as the identical twins set up goals by Dan Hamhuis, Alexandre Burrows and Alexander Edler. Add an assist for Burrows and Vancouver's top line combined for eight points. Schneider was no slouch himself, turning aside 36 shots and several point-blank chances against a Flames team coming off a 2-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks the night before and is playing out the season after trading long-time captain Jarome Iginla and top defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. Despite all that, and even after giving up a goal to Hamhuis just 34 seconds in, the Flames actually carried the play for long stretches, especially in the first period, and outshot the Canucks 38-22. Dale Weise also scored, the only Vancouver goal that didn't directly involve the Sedins, as the Canucks won for the eighth time in 10 games to move four points ahead of the Minnesota Wild atop the Northwest Division. Most of those wins have been low-scoring, one-goal wins, but after adding Roy in a trade with the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, and also getting Zack Kassian, Weise and Mason Raymond back from injury, the Canucks have scored nine goals in consecutive wins. That matches the total from their previous five games, a figure that includes two empty-net goals in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche. The Sedins have been in on six of those nine goals this week. They did on the opening shift, with Hamhuis converting a 2-on-1 after Daniel chipped the puck past a bad pinch by Flames defenseman Mark Giordano, who rejoined the team after missing a game for the birth of his son. Weise and Dennis Wideman traded goals before the period ended, but the Canucks extended their lead with second-period goals set up by the Sedins. Burrows jammed in a rebound after Henrik set up Daniel for a wraparound 7:24 into the period, and Henrik won an offensive zone to start a power play back to Daniel, who fed across for a one-time goal with 27 seconds left in the period. It was the second straight game in which Vancouver's 28th-ranked power play scored, the first time that has happened since Feb. 21, and just the fourth goal in 22 games for the Canucks with the man advantage. Alex Tanguay also scored, and Miikka Kiprusoff, starting on consecutive nights, made 18 saves the Flames, who are 0-12-1 in their last 13 road games. Playing without first-line forward Curtis Glencross, who hurt his leg in San Jose, Calgary also lost tough guy Brian McGrattan with a shoulder injury in the second period. Yet the Flames continued to push, forcing Schneider to come up with several big saves while the result was still in question. He made a trio of great stops, and got a break when Mike Cammalleri hit the post, before Weise, in his first game back after missing six with a shoulder injury, got a piece of Jason Garrison's one-timer from the point at 6:57. Schneider also robbed Roman Cervenka from the slot early in the second, and gloved Lee Stempniak's shot from the slot on a 3-on-1 early in the third, but Tanguay, who also hit a post earlier, beat him between the legs midway through the third after being sent in alone by Stempniak off the left wing.

Sat, 06 Apr - Fixtures

Philadelphia v Winnipeg  - 3pm ET
Chicago v Nashville  - 3pm ET
Edmonton v Los Angeles  - 4pm ET
Boston v Montreal  - 7pm ET
Toronto v New Jersey  - 7pm ET
Tampa Bay v NY Islanders  - 7pm ET
NY Rangers v Carolina  - 7pm ET
Washington v Florida  - 7.30pm ET
Colorado v Phoenix  - 9pm ET
Calgary v Vancouver  - 10pm ET

Gameday 77 (Fri, 05 Apr) - Results

Ottawa v Buffalo 2-4 - In a whirlwind of 12 seconds, the Buffalo Sabres managed to pull away and take two points from the Ottawa Senators on Friday. Rookie Brian Flynn scored with 5:23 remaining in regulation, and Jochen Hecht added a goal a dozen seconds later as Buffalo defeated Ottawa 4-2 at First Niagara Center. The Sabres have won back-to-back games after gaining two points in their previous four. Buffalo, considered sellers when they traded defensemen Jordan Leopold and Robyn Regehr and captain Jason Pominville before the NHL deadline Wednesday, have not given up hope of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs despite being four points out of eighth place with 10 games to go. Luke Adam also scored for Buffalo. Defensemen Marc Methot and Eric Gryba had the goals for Ottawa. Mika Zibanejad of the Senators and Adam Pardy of the Sabres each recorded two assists. With Flynn, Adam and defenseman Mark Pysyk, the Sabres' youth movement is on. Flynn, with four goals this season, is trying to make the most of this chance. The Senators have dropped three straight and continue on to the third of a seven-game road trip Sunday against the Florida Panthers. Buffalo gained the lead when a shot from the point by Buffalo defenseman Mike Weber went wide of the net but ricocheted off the end boards onto the stick of Hecht, who threw the puck across the crease. Flynn got to it and backhanded it past Ottawa goaltender Robin Lehner. Hecht said he didn't see Flynn there, but knew center Kevin Porter was around the net for a possible tip-in. On the next shift, Hecht scored on a backhand from 32 feet out as he spun around to avoid the reach of Senators forward Kyle Turris. Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller made 35 saves. With his first of the second period, Miller set the record for saves as a member of the Sabres with 13,309. Dominik Hasek previously held that distinction. Lehner, coming off a career-high 47-save performance against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, stopped 26 shots. An early third-period goal by Gryba gave the Senators a 2-1 lead. He scored at 1:41 on a wrist shot from the point through traffic. Buffalo responded quickly when Ott, standing in front of the net, deflected in a shot from Pysyk along the wall near the top of the left faceoff circle. Ott's seventh of the season came 1:34 after Gryba scored. In the wake of Buffalo trading Pominville to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday, Ott was promoted to alternate captain. Adam put Buffalo ahead 1-0 6:21 into the game. On the forecheck, Flynn passed the puck back to Weber at the right point. He moved it over to his partner Pardy, who then swung it back cross-ice to Adam in the faceoff circle, where a one-timer beat Lehner over the right shoulder. It's been a relatively long journey back to the NHL for 22-year-old Adam. He started the 2011-12 season centering the Sabres' top line but was sent down to Rochester of the American Hockey League in February 2012 after failing to register a point in his 25 of his last 26 games. Numerous Rochester players had been brought up before Adam got the call again Monday. Adam played in his first game of the season Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He skated with Porter and Flynn, who started the season in Rochester as well. Adam's goal Friday was his first since Dec. 17, 2011 and his first at home since he scored a pair on Nov. 26, 2011 against the Washington Capitals. He has 14 goals and 11 assists in 73 NHL games. Ottawa tied the game 1-1 with 7:31 to play in the first period. As forward Jakob Silfverberg skated over the Buffalo line with new teammate Cory Conacher and Zibanejad, he dropped the puck to Methot. He wristed a shot through some traffic to beat Miller for his second goal of the season. Conacher, in his first game with Ottawa after being traded from the Tampa Bay Lightning for goaltender Ben Bishop on Wednesday, was on the ice and in front of the net for both Senators goals.

NY Rangers v Pittsburgh 1-2 - Hours after being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, Jussi Jokinen watched helplessly as his new team was torched by the opposition's newest players. Two days later, Jokinen became the latest NHL trade deadline acquisition to make an instant impact with his new team. Jokinen scored in regulation and again in the shootout during his Penguins debut, leading Pittsburgh to a 2-1 victory against the New York Rangers on Friday night. Marc-Andre Fleury held off the Rangers until Rick Nash tied it with 4:49 left in regulation, two seconds after a power play expired. That allowed the Rangers to avoid being shut out for the second time in three weeks by Fleury at Consol Energy Center. Pittsburgh's Pascal Dupuis was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct while the Penguins were seeking retribution on Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto; Pittsburgh winger James Neal left the game with about 8 1/2 minutes to play in regulation after being caught in the face by the elbow of Del Zotto. Neal stayed down for several moments and looked woozy as training personnel attended to him. But he skated off on his own power. Through coach Dan Bylsma, the team provided no update on his condition other than to say, "We'll see in the next few days how he's doing." Known for his shootout proficiency, Jokinen opened the tiebreaker by using what he called his "No. 1 move." Jokinen beat Henrik Lundqvist after skating down the right wing and cutting across the slot. He was the only shooter to score for either team, moving into a tie with Zach Parise and Pavel Datsyuk for the career lead with 32 shootout goals. Jokinen also broke a scoreless tie when he scored 30 seconds into the third period for Pittsburgh (29-10-0), which had lost its previous two games after a 15-game winning streak. The Rangers beat the Penguins 6-1 in New York on Wednesday in the first half of a home-and-home series. New York newcomers Ryane Clowe, Derick Brassard and John Moore combined for eight points against the Penguins at Madison Square Garden that night after being picked up in trades Tuesday and Wednesday. All three were shut out in the return match. The play of Jokinen played a part in that. The Finn, who turned 30 on Monday, won 13 of 15 faceoffs and was credited with a takeaway in 15:02 of ice time. Jokinen scored his seventh of the season on his ninth shift with the Penguins and his only shot on goal of the game. He one-timed a feed from Chris Kunitz as he slowly skated backwards in the left circle. Kunitz was behind the goal line and to the right of Lundqvist when he made the pass. Jokinen's line provided what appeared to be all the offense Pittsburgh would need until Nash's 14th of the season, which came three seconds after a lengthy review looking into whether the puck had crossed the goal line as Fleury sprawled out into the net. A video ruling confirmed the on-ice call of no goal, but Stepan extended his point streak to three games when he won the ensuring faceoff in the left circle back to Nash, who in one motion wristed it past Fleury for his fourth goal in six games. That ruined Fleury's chance for his second shutout of the season. At one point late in the second period, Fleury was without his glove when it got knocked off and kicked behind the net. Fleury maintained his positioning and held his bare hand out as if it was gloved while play continued. A New York shot was blocked, and an official retrieved the glove and handed it to him as play went the other way. Fleury made 34 saves during regulation and overtime and remained perfect this season in three shootouts, bouncing back after allowing a season-high six goals Wednesday. Aside from that blowout loss, Fleury has allowed a total of three goals in his past six outings, five of them starts. Still, Nash's goal earned the Rangers (18-15-4) a single point and moved them past the New York Islanders into seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Both teams have 40 points, one more than the ninth-place New Jersey Devils, two ahead of the Winnipeg Jets and three more than the Philadelphia Flyers; the Rangers are seventh because they've played fewer games. Playing in his 500th game, all with the Rangers, Lundqvist allowed fewer than three goals for the ninth consecutive start. He made 26 saves through 65 minutes, but it wasn't enough for New York to win its third straight. The Rangers play the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh on Saturday night. The incident between Del Zotto and Neal heightened an already-intense rivalry. Lundqvist was upset he got bumped by Penguins agitator Matt Cooke's stick during the third period. Coming off a season high for goals on Wednesday, the Rangers were much less potent. But as a group after the game, they were satisfied with their effort against the League's highest-scoring team. The Penguins were playing their third game without Sidney Crosby, who sustained a broken jaw in a win against the Islanders on Saturday. He is out indefinitely. Pittsburgh also was out top defensemen Paul Martin and Kris Letang. The Penguins, who have not lost three in a row all season, extended their lead in the Atlantic Division to 18 points over the Rangers and Islanders and moved up five points over the Montreal Canadiens for the Eastern Conference lead. Pittsburgh's long winning streak was snapped Tuesday by the Buffalo Sabres, the Penguins' only loss at Consol Energy Center in their past 14.

Columbus v St Louis 1-3 - The St. Louis Blues put a little space between themselves and the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Western Conference playoff race Friday night. Their captain had a lot to do with lifting his team on his shoulders to gut out a victory 24 hours after a tough road win against the Chicago Blackhawks. David Backes scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period, and his spirited play that typically includes hitting everyone in sight helped lift the Blues to a 3-1 victory over the red-hot Blue Jackets at Scottrade Center. Just nine seconds after the Blue Jackets scored late in the second period to tie the game 1-1, Backes restored the Blues' lead when Alexander Steen flipped a puck into the slot and Backes sprawled to the ice and beat a surprised Bobrovsky from the seat of his pants. Chris Stewart scored his first goal in six games and Patrik Berglund scored a shorthanded goal into an empty net with one second remaining as the Blues improved to 3-0-0 against their Central Division rival. Rookie Jake Allen was solid on goal, picking up his ninth win of the season by stopping 26 shots as the Blues (20-14-2) won their third in a row. St. Louis remained in eighth place, one point behind Detroit. But the Blues increased their over Columbus and the Edmonton Oilers in the race for the last playoff berth in the Western Conference, to three points. The Blues also have games in hand against every team they're battling in the playoff race. The Blue Jackets (16-15-7) had their three-game winning streak stopped in defenseman Adrian Aucoin's 1,100th career game. Artem Anisimov scored for Columbus and Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots one night after making 38 saves in the Blue Jackets' 3-1 road win against the Nashville Predators. St. Louis was back home after a 4-3 shootout win against the Blackhawks 24 hours earlier. The Blues, who began the night 5-for-56 on an anemic power play in the last 21 games, finally got one on their third try of the game when Stewart converted Alex Pietrangelo's feed from below the goal line with 4:02 left in the second period to break a scoreless tie. Pietrangelo maneuvered around ex-Blue Nikita Nikitin to find Stewart in the low slot, and the Blues' forward was able to slip a backhand between Bobrovsky's pads. The Blues were lifted by the play of Allen, who made a number of key stops, including one on Mark Letestu's shorthanded breakaway in the first minute of the second period. Columbus did get the equalizer when Anisimov skated out from behind the net and was able to beat Allen to the short side with 1:24 left in the second period to tie it 1-1. Marian Gaborik picked up the assist, his third point in two games since joining the Blue Jackets from the New York Rangers in a trade deadline deal. However, Allen thwarted the Blue Jackets the rest of the game. He even got the benefit of a call when the Blue Jackets thought they had the equalizer with 13:20 remaining. Cam Atkinson's shot from the slot got past Allen, but the officials immediately ruled no goal because Matt Calvert was ruled to be in the crease interfering with Allen. The first period was pretty indicative that both teams played the night before and had to travel. There were few scoring chances, Atkinson had the best ones, but he was denied twice by Allen from point-blank range with 5:17 remaining. It was Allen who had something to prove after being lifted from his last start against Edmonton on March 26 when he allowed three goals on seven shots.

Detroit v Colorado 3-2 - Qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs has become a rite of spring for the Detroit Red Wings, who have earned a berth in an NHL-record 21 consecutive seasons. The Red Wings are in position to extend their streak with 10 regular-season games remaining, but it has been more difficult than usual. They needed a goal from Pavel Datsyuk, his second of the game, with 15.4 seconds left in overtime for a 3-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on Friday night to remain in seventh place in the jam-packed Western Conference. The victory kept them one point ahead of the St. Louis Blues, who come to Joe Louis Arena on Sunday. Datsyuk reached with his stick to poke a loose puck behind Avalanche goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere after Henrik Zetterberg, who earlier in overtime was stopped on a breakaway, passed the puck in front. The victory was Detroit's second in the past five games; both have come against the Avalanche, who have lost 11 of their past 13 games and are in last place in the overall standings. The Avalanche outshot the Red Wings 16-6 in the third period and tied the game 2-2 on a goal by PA Parenteau at 6:29. Parenteau was at the base of the right circle when he redirected Jamie McGinn's diagonal pass behind goalie Jimmy Howard. Howard survived a barrage by the Avalanche in the final minutes of regulation before Datsyuk's game-winner. The Red Wings took a 2-1 lead in the first period when they sandwiched goals by Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist around one by Mark Olver, who scored on a breakaway at 11:36 off a pass from David Van Der Gulik. Nyquist scored 13 seconds later after an Avalanche turnover in their own end. Nyquist skated to the right side of the net and slipped the puck between the post and Giguere's left skate. Datsyuk was in the slot when he scored on a power play at 8:27 – 32 seconds after Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson went off for interference. Datsyuk completed a pretty passing play with Zetterberg, who controlled the puck along the left-wing boards, and Johan Franzen, who passed to Datsyuk from the left circle. Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey logged 21:40 in ice time and was minus-2 while wearing a full face shield after sitting out nine games with a fractured cheekbone. Another defenseman, Danny DeKeyser, played 16:36 in his NHL debut. A Detroit native, DeKeyser signed as a free agent with the Red Wings on March 30. He played three seasons with Western Michigan University and captained the Broncos this season.

Dallas v Anaheim 3-1 - One of the more difficult feats to achieve in hockey is beating a team three times in a row, no matter how wide a gap that exists in the standings. Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau expressed concern about doing just that in the morning skate, and his fears came true in the first 20 minutes Friday night. The Dallas Stars' nothing-to-lose energy produced three goals en route to a 3-1 victory that salvaged the finale of the three-game mini-series. Alex Chiasson scored his first NHL goal and Lane MacDermid his second in as many games with Dallas, which appropriately got the youngsters on the board in its first win since a couple of trades earlier in the week officially signaled a rebuild. The Stars lost 4-0 to the Ducks at home Monday and 5-2 at Honda Center on Wednesday. Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and four assists in the two games but missed Friday with a lower-body injury. Nystrom acknowledged that "I think we took advantage" of Getzlaf's absence, and Boudreau was blunt when asked where he missed the NHL's sixth-leading scorer. The Ducks went 0 for 4 on the power play. Anaheim still threw plenty at Dallas, specifically Teemu Selanne, who had numerous chances all game and hit the post in the third period. Matthew Lombardi made his Ducks debut and looked good early on the power play. But Kari Lehtonen got 15 blocked shots from his defense to help withstand a big push in the third and end a four-game losing streak. He finished with 27 saves, including 10 in the third period. Dallas emerged from an odd opening period with a 3-1 lead, and it could have been more after Ray Whitney hit a post and was stoned by Viktor Fasth's right leg. Chiasson, 22, bumped to the top line with Whitney and Jamie Benn in his second NHL game, drove hard to the net and finished a centering pass from Vernon Fiddler in the final minute. Nystrom scored shorthanded on a bad decision by Fasth to come out to the hash marks for a loose puck. Nystrom got to it and went around Fasth to easily put it in the open net for a 2-1 lead at 13:54. Anaheim had tied it at 1-1 on Andrew Cogliano's chip after Bryan Allen's dump-in took an odd carom at 9:23. That goal came 18 seconds after MacDermid, a 23-year-old who was part of the Jaromir Jagr return from Boston and was acquired for toughness, scored on a tight backhand to complete a great passing sequence by the fourth line. MacDermid later left with an upper-body injury and did not return. It was the only thing that dampened the night for the Stars. Drama unfolded before the game when Jonas Hiller was too ill to serve as Fasth's backup. Rob Laurie, a 43-year-old former professional roller hockey goalie, was signed to a one-day professional tryout contract and took warmups in a No. 43 jersey. His NHL career lasted less than four minutes until minor-league call-up Igor Bobkov arrived to take his place.

Calgary v San Jose 1-2 - The San Jose Sharks survived a scare from the struggling Calgary Flames on Friday night and continued their climb up the Western Conference standings with a 2-1 victory at HP Pavilion. The Sharks won their seventh straight game and moved past the Los Angeles Kings into fourth place in the West with 46 points. San Jose matched its season-high winning streak of seven games, the Sharks also won seven in a row to open the season. They also improved to 6-0-0 on their seven-game homestand, which ends Sunday against the Dallas Stars. Joe Pavelski scored the game-winner, his team-high fifth of the season, with just 2:06 left in regulation, knocking the puck past Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff from just to the left of the crease. Sharks forward TJ Galiardi dug the puck out from along the boards and sent it toward the net into a sea of bodies. Crashing to the ice, San Jose's Brent Burns knocked the puck off his skate to Pavelski, who was in the right place at the right time. Antti Niemi made 23 saves for the Sharks in his 15th consecutive start and is now 19-8-5 this season. Mikael Backlund scored Calgary's only goal late in the first period. Kiprusoff made 39 saves in one of his best performances of the season but ended up with the loss. The Flames took a 1-0 lead late in the first period on Backlund's power-play goal, but after a scoreless second period, the Sharks pulled even on Dan Boyle's seventh goal of the season at 2:40 of the third. Boyle got the puck out of San Jose's zone, sending a pass ahead to Couture along the right boards. Couture sent the puck back to Boyle in the slot, and he unleashed a shot that deflected off Kiprusoff's glove and into the net. On paper, this set up as a huge trap game for the Sharks. San Jose had won six in a row and was 13-1-4 at home. Calgary had lost three straight, including an 8-2 debacle at home Wednesday night against the Edmonton Oilers. They were 3-11-2 overall on the road and 0-11-1 in their previous 12 road games. What's more, the Sharks faced a reeling Flames that team that had a depleted roster and just 30 points. Jarome Iginla, the face of the franchise, defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and forward Blake Comeau were all traded in deals during the week before the trade deadline. The Flames were also without defenseman Mark Giordano, who remained in Calgary with his wife for the birth Thursday night of his son. Defenseman Brett Carson, called up Thursday from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League, played his first NHL since Dec. 15, 2011. Roman Horak, recalled from Abbotsford on Wednesday, played his second straight game, skating on the top line with Alex Tanguay and Cammalleri. Calgary certainly didn't play like a team that was buried in the West. San Jose outshot Calgary 17-10 in the first period, but Backlund scored the only goal at 17:55. After Couture went to the box for hooking Matt Stajan, Backlund won a faceoff with Patrick Marleau in the right circle, sending the puck to Cammalleri. Cammalleri skated to the high slot and zipped a pass to Backlund, who moved in and wristed a shot from the right circle that beat Niemi to the far side. The Sharks allowed a power play for the first time since March 23 when they lost 2-0 to the Minnesota Wild. Kiprusoff is having one of the worst seasons of his career, but he played one of his best games against San Jose, his former team. He entered Friday night's game with a 6-10-2 record, 3.64 goals-against average and .868 save percentage. He was also just a few days removed from a stressful trade deadline where he reportedly told the Flames that he wouldn't report to a new team if they traded him. Just not enough for Calgary to pull off the upset against a surging Sharks team that owns the NHL's longest current winning streak.

Fri, 05 Apr - Fixtures

Ottawa v Buffalo 7pm ET
NY Rangers v Pittsburgh 7pm ET
Columbus v St Louis 8pm ET
Detroit v Colorado 9pm ET
Dallas v Anaheim 10pm ET
Calgary v San Jose 10.30pm ET

Gameday 76 (Thu, 04 Apr) - Results

New Jersey v Boston 0-1 - The Boston Bruins thought their acquisition of Jaromir Jagr would bring them more goals. They just didn't know Jagr doesn't always have to use his stick to score them. Jagr's first goal for the Bruins, 1:20 into the second period, went in off his skate and was the only score in a 1-0 victory against the New Jersey Devils in his debut with his new team at TD Garden on Thursday. Jagr was acquired from the Dallas Stars in a trade Tuesday for two prospects and a draft pick. Jagr said he barely slept the past two nights. He was extremely hard on himself in the postgame scrum after he logged 19:12 of ice time and fired five shots on goal. Boston goalie Tuukka Rask, making his first start since backing up Anton Khudobin in the previous two games, made 40 saves for his third shutout of the season. Rask was tested early, as New Jersey outshot Boston 17-6 in the first period. He shook off any rust he might have had and turned away every New Jersey offering. The Bruins are 7-0-1 in their past eight home games and have won three in a row overall. However, they've allowed 87 shots on net in their last two games, both on home ice. That's something coach Claude Julien will be looking to rectify. The Devils are 0-4-1 in their past five games overall. They're now in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. Jagr took the ice 1:16 into the first period after a New Jersey icing. The rousing ovation from the TD Garden crowd ended only when Seguin, playing center in the absence of Patrice Bergeron, lost the faceoff. Jagr gave the Bruins fans more to cheer about as the night went on. Meanwhile, Rask was on top of his game, including one sequence in which the netminder had to flash the left pad to stop Alexei Ponikarovsky, then use the same pad to stop David Clarkson in the slot after the rebound. With the loss to the Bruins in the books, Devils coach Peter DeBoer was already looking forward to the next game; New Jersey hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, then plays at the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

Philadelphia v Toronto 5-3 - Joffrey Lupul's roller-coaster season continues. The veteran left wing of the Toronto Maple Leafs has been one of the NHL's hottest players of late, but he has a hard time staying in the lineup. Lupul missed 25 games with a broken arm after he was hit with a slap shot by teammate Dion Phaneuf on Jan. 23. Then, after scoring three goals and four points in his first two games back, Lupul was hit with a two-game suspension for a high hit. In the four games since his suspension ended, Lupul added five goals and nine points, but he was injured again Thursday night when he was sandwiched on a hit by Adam Hall and Jay Rosehill of the Philadelphia Flyers. Lupul, who had an assist on Toronto's first goal, was hit first by Hall and knocked into Rosehill, who inadvertently hit his former teammate in the head. Lupul departed after taking three shifts, looking quite wobbly as he headed to the bench, and the Maple Leafs lost 5-3 to the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. The loss snapped a streak of eight straight games the Maple Leafs had secured at least one point. It was also a night when Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer was hoping to make a statement having been anointed the team's No. 1 stopper by virtue of the fact Toronto failed to acquire a veteran at the NHL Trade Deadline. Though Carlyle didn't point the finger directly at Reimer, he wasn't thrilled with his performance. Reimer said losing Lupul was important, but added the Maple Leafs survived when he was out for 25 games, and if he is out for an extended period of time, they'll have to make due again. Reimer said he feels bad for the hard-luck forward. The Flyers did acquire a goalie at the trade deadline, bringing in Steve Mason from the Columbus Blue Jackets, but elected to start veteran Ilya Bryzgalov who, though not particularly sharp himself, did manage to secure his 17th win of the season. The Flyers, winners of four in a row, have 37 points, two behind the eighth-place New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Toronto dropped into sixth; the Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators each have 44 points but Ottawa has a game in hand. Rosehill, Simon Gagne, Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn and Luke Schenn (into an empty net) scored for the Flyers. James van Riemsdyk, John-Michael Liles and Nikolai Kulemin replied for the Maple Leafs.

NY Islanders v Washington 1-2 - Alex Ovechkin shot the Washington Capitals into first place in the Southeast Division. Ovechkin scored the only goal of the shootout as the Capitals defeated the New York Islanders 2-1 at Verizon Center on Thursday night. Ovechkin, the Capitals' second shooter, used a deke before lifting a backhander over Evgeni Nabokov. Braden Holtby made 35 saves through 65 minutes, then stopped all three New York shooters, ending the game by denying John Tavares in the crease. The victory, Washington's sixth in eight games, gives the Capitals (18-17-2) 38 points, the same as the Winnipeg Jets, who lost at the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday and have played one more game. The single point gives the Islanders (18-16-4) 40 points and moves them into seventh place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, each of whom have games in hand. The Capitals took the lead when Green scored in the final seconds of the opening period, and Holtby made it stand up until he was beaten by Kyle Okposo with 4:59 left in regulation. Okposo hammered a one-timer from the lower left circle off a slick touch pass by Frans Nielsen after Josh Bailey started the play with a takeaway at the Washington blue line. Holtby had no chance on Okposo's goal, but he preserved the tie when he got his right pad down to deny Matt Moulson on his doorstep. The Capitals also killed off a late penalty when Green was called for delay of game for shooting the puck into the crowd with 2:52 remaining. The Capitals came out and pressed the tempo after the opening faceoff, but had a hard time getting their shots through to the net, of their first 16 attempted shots, half were blocked. Each team managed five shots on goal in the opening period, but the Capitals made the most of their fifth to grab the lead just before intermission. With time running out, Green jumped off the bench on a line change, raced into the New York zone and took a feed from Marcus Johansson. He moved inside the right circle and took a wrist shot that went through the five-hole on Nabokov. It was the eighth of the season for Green and his fifth in a four-game goal-scoring run. Nabokov kept the Islanders within a goal midway through the second period with a trio of superb saves during Washington's first power play. He robbed wide-open Mathieu Perreault from the slot with 7:35 left and followed that with stops on Ovechkin and Jack Hillen. The Islanders got their first power play with 5:45 remaining in the period when Matt Hendricks was called for roughing, but New York forward Brad Boyes took a tripping penalty 65 seconds later to negate the advantage. The Islanders had their best chance of the period during the 4-on-4, but Holtby made the best of his 14 saves in the period when he scrambled to his feet to deny Andrew MacDonald's blast from the high slot. Nabokov continued to keep his team in the game, denying Ovechkin on a backhander before gloving Perreault's wide-open 15-footer on the same shift with just under eight minutes left in regulation, giving the Islanders the chance to get a point.

Tampa Bay v Carolina 5-0 - After Ben Bishop's first skate with the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday morning, the goaltender seemed completely believable when he shrugged off the possibility of being nervous before his debut. One day after leaving the Ottawa Senators at the NHL Trade Deadline, Bishop stopped 45 shots to record his third career shutout as Tampa Bay cruised to a 5-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. Tampa Bay pulled even with Carolina in points with 34, although the Hurricanes claim the 12th spot in the Eastern Conference. The teams trail the Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets, tied with 38 points, in the Southeast Division. The Lightning are hopeful Bishop can take the reins in goal, a position that has been unsettled in recent years. Though Thursday's game is a very small sample, Bishop's debut left his teammates impressed. Bishop's game was unmistakably strong, but it's difficult to overlook his frame. At 6-foot-7, he covered a lot of net and moved well. Carolina did deliver stretches of sustained play in the offensive zone. Bishop had to stop six shots by forward Jeff Skinner, three of them strong chances. Bishop also denied four shots each by Tuomo Ruutu and Alex Semin. Once the Lightning offense got under way, it stayed in gear, scoring in a variety of ways. In the second period, Teddy Purcell scored on a rebound, Tom Pyatt redirected a shot in the slot, and Keith Aulie scored on a wrister through traffic. The Lightning poured it on in the third with a highlight-reel blast between the circles from St. Louis, and Benoit Pouliot finished the scoring after taking a pass at the right doorstep from Steven Stamkos, who had two assists. Tampa Bay has dominated Carolina this season, winning all four games by a combined total of 18-3. There is no such confidence in Carolina, where the Hurricanes have slipped to 1-9-1 in their past 11 after starting the season 15-9-1. During the slide, the Hurricanes have been outscored 42-18. For Tampa Bay, all the talk centered on Bishop. The 26-year-old with the gentle smile said all the right things about his teammates, even though he stole the show in his debut. As he sat in his locker, the game puck sat alone on a shelf above him. Asked if that souvenir will provide a special memory, he allowed just a little indulgence.

Winnipeg v Montreal 1-4 - One day after the NHL Trade Deadline passed, Michael Ryder did his best to show that Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin did indeed make a move to improve his team this season, he just did it six weeks earlier. Ryder scored twice and added an assist as the Canadiens handed the Winnipeg Jets their fifth straight regulation loss, 4-1 at Bell Centre on Thursday. Ryder, acquired with a third-round draft pick on Feb. 26 from the Dallas Stars in a trade for Erik Cole, has nine goals and eight assists in his 17 games for Montreal. The nine goals have come in his past 11 games. Ryder has done exactly that, with remarkable precision. The Canadiens were 12-4-3 when Ryder was acquired, and they are 12-4-2 since. Backup goalie Peter Budaj made 33 saves to run his season record to 6-1-1 for the Canadiens (24-8-5), who won for the fourth time in five games to maintain their one-point lead atop the Northeast Division over the Boston Bruins, 1-0 winners against the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden earlier in the evening. Montreal also got goals from Brian Gionta and rookie Alex Galchenyuk, and Lars Eller and P.K. Subban each had two assists. Alexander Burmistrov scored his first in 18 games to provide all the offense for the Jets (18-19-2), who have six goals over the course of their five-game slide; three of those six have come from their forwards. Burmistrov was not the least bit relieved his scoring drought came to an end. The Jets' loss, coupled with a 2-1 shootout win by the Washington Capitals against the New York Islanders, dropped Winnipeg from the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and the Southeast Division lead all the way down to 10th in the conference standings. The Capitals and the Jets each have 38 points, but Washington has a game in hand and therefore owns the division lead. Jets coach Claude Noel used defenseman Dustin Byfuglien at right wing with Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little to start the game in an attempt to provide some sort of spark. It didn't work, and Byfuglien found himself back on defense only to be benched after Galchenyuk's goal made it 4-1 at 7:43 of the third. Subban continued his torrid production offensively for the Canadiens with his two assists, giving him seven goals and 17 assists in his past 21 games. With 30 points in 31 games, Subban took over the NHL lead in scoring by a defenseman, pending what Ryan Suter did for the Minnesota Wild at the Los Angeles Kings later Thursday night. The Jets opened the scoring on Burmistrov's goal off a nice feed from Grant Clitsome, but they relinquished that lead 2:31 later when Ryder beat Ondrej Pavelec on a power play for his first of the night off a Gionta rebound at 10:47. Ryder gave the Canadiens the lead 2-1 at 2:03 of the second period on another rebound, this time of a Subban shot, and Gionta made it 3-1 when he stood in front and had an Eller shot go in off him on a power play at 5:51. The Jets thought they had cut the deficit to 3-2 in the first minute of the third, but a Tobias Enstrom goal was immediately waved off because Wheeler was in Budaj's crease. Galchenyuk snapped an 18-game goal drought at 7:43 of the third period, his fourth of the season, to give the Canadiens a three-goal margin.

Columbus v Nashville 3-1 - Columbus Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards might have had an idea as to what Marian Gaborik would add to his squad. On Thursday, those ideas became reality. Wary of Gaborik's playmaking ability and speed, Richards noticed the Nashville Predators' defensemen allowing a bigger gap for his forwards, which provided for more space in the neutral zone. He also noticed the intangibles, like confidence spreading among Gaborik's teammates. The Gaborik Show, now an off-Broadway production, made a smashing debut on Thursday, as the three-time 40-goal scorer delivered the game-winning goal and an assist in a 3-1 win at Bridgestone Arena in his first game for Columbus. The Blue Jackets acquired Gaborik on Wednesday from the New York Rangers in exchange for Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett and John Moore. The goal, as president of hockey operations John Davidson said, in the present and the future. It was one of a flurry of moves, as Columbus also acquired forward Blake Comeau and backup goalie Michael Leighton. Gaborik skated mostly with former Rangers' teammates Artem Anisimov and Vinny Prospal, but he scored the game-winner while paired with another New York teammate, Brandon Dubinsky. Dubinsky fed a backhand pass into the goalmouth and Gaborik outbattled big checking center Paul Gaustad to touch the puck first and nudge it past Pekka Rinne at 4:16 of the third period to break a 1-1 tie. Gaborik's inability to flourish this season under Rangers coach John Tortorella was the subtext behind the deadline deal on Wednesday. Gaborik's new (and old) teammate Prospal played under Tortorella for the Tampa Bay Lightning (twice) and also in New York. Prospal is a big believer in Tortorella but had understood why the situation didn't work for Gaborik. The win was Columbus' first in regulation against its Central Division rival in this building since April 3, 2006, and moved the Blue Jackets one point ahead of Nashville in the Western Conference playoff scramble. The game was Nashville's first since trading long-time right wing Martin Erat, who ranks second in numerous offensive career categories, and the Predators struggled to score. The only Nashville player to beat goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on Thursday was a defenseman, Kevin Klein. Matt Calvert added an insurance goal with 9:10 remaining in regulation when his wrist shot fluttered off Rinne's blocker and into the net. Columbus took advantage of a 4-on-3 situation to score the game's first goal. Chris Mueller and Mark Letestu were off for coincidental minors when Nashville's Shea Weber hooked Columbus' R.J. Umberger at 8:21 of the second period. Just 15 seconds later, James Wisniewski scored on a slap shot from the high slot. With a pass from the right circle, Dubinsky earned the primary assist; the secondary one went to Gaborik. Nashville tied it with 7:46 left in the period. Bobrovsky, who finished with 38 saves was so dominant that the only way the Predators could get one past him was when he had no stick. During a goalmouth scramble, Nashville's Kevin Klein slid the puck past a stickless Bobrovsky for his third goal. Patric Hornqvist and David Legwand earned the assists. Bobrovsky, entering the game with the League's second-best save percentage, was a major factor. Trotz thought if Nashville had capitalized on one of its 13 first-period shots, it didn't, that could have made a difference. But ultimately the night belonged to one of the newest Blue Jackets. The auspicious start made Gaborik optimistic.

St Louis v Chicago 4-3 - It was another wild night at the "Madhouse on Madison Street," but this time, the St. Louis Blues finally came out on the right end. St. Louis was 0-4-4 in its last eight trips to the Windy City and couldn't buy a victory against the host Chicago Blackhawks at United Center. That changed on Thursday night with a 4-3 shootout victory for the Blues (19-14-2), but it didn't come easy. It took five minutes of overtime followed by six entertaining rounds of breakaways to decide which team got the second point. Blues goalie Brian Elliott (33 saves) stopped a wrist shot by newly-acquired forward Michal Handzus in that sixth round before Kevin Shattenkirk ended the night with a swift wrist shot to the far side that beat Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford. The win bumped St. Louis into eighth place in the Western Conference standings with 40 points. The Blues lead the Columbus Blue Jackets and Edmonton Oilers by one point and the Phoenix Coyotes and Nashville Predators by two in the race for the final Stanley Cup Playoff berth in the Western Conference. Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa, playing his first game since sitting out six straight with an upper-body injury, scored in the shootout for the Blackhawks, giving Chicago the lead each time. Chris Stewart, Andy McDonald and Alexander Steen beat Crawford before Shattenkirk's deciding goal. The Blues, who led 1-0 after one period and trailed 2-1 after two, got goals by Adam Cracknell and David Backes early in the third period to grab the lead, only to see Chicago's Viktor Stalberg force overtime by scoring with 4:31 left in regulation. Stalberg's seventh goal of the season set up a wild finish. He beat Elliott after pouncing on a loose puck in the slot. Crawford, who made 19 saves, came up with arguably his biggest just 13 seconds before the horn in overtime sounded, stopping McDonald cold on a breakaway. Cracknell, meanwhile, had a night he won't soon forget. Playing just his ninth game of the season, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound grinder scored two goals after going 463 days since his last one in the National Hockey League, that one came on Dec. 26, 2011, against the Dallas Stars. Cracknell's sudden scoring prowess capped a nice night for the Blues' fourth line. Cracknell opened the scoring with 3:57 left in the first by firing a shot that appeared to deflect off defenseman Brent Seabrook's stick and sail into the net over Crawford's shoulder. Elliott had already made several big saves against Toews and Kane, and St. Louis took momentum plus a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Chicago owned the second period, outshooting the Blues 15-5 and getting goals by Toews and Brandon Saad less than 2 1/2 minutes apart to take a quick 2-1 lead. Toews put home a rebound of Kane's shot from the left circle; then after stealing a puck from Steen along the half wall in the right circle, he zipped a tape-to-tape pass to Saad in front of the net for a quick shot that the rookie redirected past Elliott. It was Saad's eighth goal of the season, he has four of them during his current three-game scoring streak. The Blackhawks had momentum and seemed to gain even more when Blues defenseman Barret Jackman fell hard into the boards after slight contact with Stalberg late in the second. Stalberg was then jumped by Roman Polak to start a fracas, and Polak picked up the extra minor for instigating. The flare-up concluded with Blackhawks backup goalie Ray Emery exchanging words with Jackman at the benches. Chicago failed to score on the power play, which extended to the start of the third, and Cracknell beat Crawford on a breakaway to knot it 2-2 just 3:30 into the period. Chicago went 0-for-2 on the power play, which means Blues penalty-killers have now wiped out the last 11 straight advantages they've faced. The win also extended a trend that's developed in this Central Division rivalry. Cracknell's first goal gave the Blues the game's first tally, so now the team that's scored first has won the last six games.

Detroit v Phoenix 2-4 - The flu bug hit goalie Jason LaBarbera around mid-morning. David Schlemko got it around 2 p.m. By late afternoon, Phoenix Coyotes coach Dave Tippett, without a single extra player on his roster, wasn't sure if he would be able to field a full team for Thursday's must-win game against Detroit. But the Coyotes showed up for the game, in more ways than one. Michael Stone, minor league call-up Chris Conner and captain Shane Doan scored during a 14-minute span of a dominant second period and emergency goalie Chad Johnson made 34 saves as the shorthanded Coyotes ran their points streak to five games with an emotional 4-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. Keith Yandle and Mikkel Boedker had two assists each as the Coyotes improved to 3-0-2 after a seven-game winless skid that has them fighting to stay alive in the Western Conference playoff race. To complicate matters the Coyotes moved three veteran forwards at trade deadline Wednesday, Matthew Lombardi, Steve Sullivan and Raffi Torres, forcing minor-leaguers Conner and Chris Brown to make the cross-country trip from Portland early Thursday morning. Johnson didn't even get into the net at Thursday's morning skate. The Coyotes worked out Mike Smith, who missed his sixth straight game with injury, and LaBarbera, who had the flu hit him just after he got off the ice. But Johnson, who hadn't played anywhere in two weeks, showed the same steady hand he's shown in his three NHL starts this season, helping the Coyotes collect five of six points (2-0-1). Valtteri Filppula and Daniel Cleary scored for Detroit. Cleary's goal came on a 6-on-4 power play with 1:13 left in regulation and goaltender Jimmy Howard on the bench in favor of an extra attacker. Both Detroit goals came on the power play; the Coyotes took seven penalties but survived. Phoenix's Martin Hanzal scored an empty-net goal with less than a second left on the clock for the final margin. The Red Wings lost for the seventh time when scoring first, the most of any NHL team this season. Howard, who came into the game 15-3-2 in 20 starts against Phoenix (including playoffs) stopped 34 shots. The Coyote climbed to 11th place in the jam-packed playoff race, two points behind eighth-place St. Louis and three behind seventh-place Detroit. The Coyotes and Red Wings play again April 22 at Joe Louis Arena. Phoenix had a rough first five minutes, losing Schlemko, taking a bad early penalty, and giving up an easy power-play goal. Rob Klinkhammer was called for holding Cleary 54 seconds into the game, and the Red Wings cashed in 1:02 later. Johnson stopped Gustav Nyquist's shot from the left circle but couldn't control the rebound. It landed at the feet of Filppula near the right post, and he scored his first goal in eight games with an easy backhand flip. But Johnson stopped Detroit's other 14 first-period shots, and his teammates blocked 11 more to keep Phoenix close. The second period was all Coyotes. Phoenix outshot the Red Wings 20-5 and picked up its play from the first shift, tying the game at 1:47. Yandle set up Stone for a slap shot from the right circle that beat Howard cleanly for his fourth goal. After the Phoenix penalty killers shut down the Detroit power play twice, a former Red Wing put his new team ahead for good. Conner, who had 13 goals and 40 points in 60 games with Portland of the American Hockey League, took a pass from Mikkel Boedker on the rush in the right circle and beat Howard high with a wrist shot to the far post at 8:08. It was Conner's first NHL goal in more than two years, the last one came on Dec. 10, 2011, when he scored for Detroit against Winnipeg. Almost eight minutes later, Phoenix doubled its lead on a pretty play. Yandle caught the Red Wings on a bad line change and whipped the puck 130 feet to Hanzal at the Detroit blue line. Hanzal pushed the puck forward to Doan, who found plenty of room between Howard's pads at 16:01 for his team-leading 12th goal and a 3-1 lead.

Edmonton v Vancouver 0-4 - The Vancouver Canucks learned their lesson and got some revenge against the young, high-octane Edmonton Oilers. Blitzed early in a 4-0 loss to the Oilers five days earlier, the Canucks tightened up defensively in the rematch on Thursday night, with Cory Schneider needing to make just 12 saves through 40 minutes and 23 overall while backstopping a 4-0 Vancouver victory that ended Edmonton's winning streak at five games. It was a reversal of their last meeting, and newcomer Derek Roy played a big role in it. Acquired from the Dallas Stars before the trade deadline to fill a big hole at center, Roy not only set up Chris Higgins on a 2-on-1 to give the Canucks a 3-0 lead 6:47 into the third period, but he helped them escape their own end cleanly and get back on offense, generating several great chances in his debut. It was a big difference from the last meeting, when the Canucks fell behind 4-0 on the first five shots and generated little offensively the rest of the way. Roy helped kill penalties and draw them, Vancouver's struggling power play got five chances against the Oilers, more than in their last three games combined. Kevin Bieksa converted a 5-on-3 advantage late in the first period, ending a 2-for-53 slump with just the third goal in 21 games for the 29th-ranked power play. Henrik Sedin finished off a pretty passing play with twin brother Daniel to make it 2-0 late in the second period. And after Roy set up Higgins, Zack Kassian, called back up from the American Hockey League after a one-game demotion, rounded out the scoring on a rebound with 3.9 seconds left as the Canucks moved two points ahead of the Minnesota Wild atop the Northwest Division. For all the scoring, it was just the fourth time in 17 games the Canucks put more than two pucks behind a goaltender, the defense was more impressive against an Oilers team that had outscored opponents 25-7 during its winning streak. After surging into the tight Western Conference playoff race with the win streak, the loss dropped back to ninth place, one point below the playoff bar. Nikolai Khabibulin started in goal for Edmonton, the only change after an 8-2 romp over the Calgary Flames the night before, and kept it close with several great saves while the Oilers were being outshot 13-5 in the first period. After failing to record a shot on the first chance, the Canucks' struggling power play converted shortly after giving up a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush on their second. Daniel Sedin hustled back to break that up and threw it up the boards, catching the Oilers with too many men on the ice. That gave Vancouver a two-man advantage for 1:07, and Bieksa ended a couple droughts with a one-timer from the top of the left circle that beat Khabibulin on the blocker side. Henrik Sedin doubled lead with 5:34 left in the second period, passing out from behind the net to his brother atop the right circle then sneaking unnoticed to other side of the net for a nice return feed past two defenders. Schneider made his best saves on Edmonton power plays in the third period, stuffing Magnus Paajarvi early and making a gloved robbery of Taylor Hall, who came in with 15 points on a six-game streak, with five minutes left. Shortly after that first penalty kill, Roy, who was acquired from Dallas for a second-round draft pick and prospect defenseman Kevin Connauton on Tuesday, set up Higgins, who signed a four-year, $10-million extension hours later.

Minnesota v Los Angeles 0-3 - The addition of Jason Pominville is a much sexier move than that of blue-collar defenseman like Robyn Regehr, at least on paper. But plain old solid defense, backed up by a great start, equated to a more successful debut for Regehr and the Los Angeles Kings in a 3-0 victory against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. Regehr recorded an assist and was a plus-2 with six hits and two blocked shots in his Kings debut and Justin Williams scored two goals to trump anything Pominville did in his Wild debut. Los Angeles scored on its first two shots to chase Niklas Backstrom and Jonathan Bernier made 22 saves as the Kings leapfrogged the Wild for fourth in the Western Conference race. Pominville, acquired from Buffalo on Wednesday, played on a line with Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu. The trio generated time in L.A.'s zone but Minnesota couldn't get any pucks past Bernier, who is 9-0-0 with a 1.50 goals-against average in 10 starts. Minnesota has dropped four of five after it won seven straight, and has lost three in a row for the first time since Feb. 1-7. The score was deceptive because Los Angeles only put nine shots on goal through 40 minutes yet took a three-goal lead into the third period. The Kings took advantage of poor line changes by Minnesota for two of their goals. Pominville, like former Sabres teammate Regehr, comes from the Eastern Conference but knows how difficult it is to come back against a hard-closing team like the Kings. Williams beat Backstrom's replacement, Darcy Kuemper, at 3:52 of the second period with a slap shot that banked in off the crossbar from the right side as the Wild got caught on a line change. Regehr started the play when he broke up a pass to start the rush. Williams only needed 89 seconds after the opening faceoff to extend his goal-scoring streak to a career-high five games. He broke down the right side and wristed the puck far side on Backstrom for his eighth goal this season. Williams has more goals (six) in five games that he did in his previous 32. The streak started with an empty-net goal on March 28. The dynamic between Williams and Regehr was ironic because Regehr separated Williams' shoulder two seasons ago. Williams has a renewed appreciation for Regehr. Jeff Carter exposed Minnesota's right side again 1:38 later when he took a great feed from Mike Richards and slipped it through in close for his team-leading 21st goal, and ended Backstrom's night almost before it began. Kings coach Darryl Sutter changed up all his lines except for the top unit. He said in the morning that he wouldn't change his defenseman pairs but he had Regehr start with Keaton Ellerby and also see time with Slava Voynov. Minnesota was missing Dany Heatley, who is expected to remain out with a reported wrist injury.

Gameday 75 (Wed, 03 Apr) - Results

Pittsburgh v NY Rangers 1-6 - On a day when news of Marian Gaborik's trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets made waves around the League, it was the players the Rangers received just before the trade deadline who made their mark. Ryane Clowe scored twice in his Rangers debut while Brian Boyle and fellow newcomer Derick Brassard each added a goal and three assists as New York beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1 on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Ryan McDonagh and New York's third newcomer, defenseman John Moore, also scored for the Rangers (16-15-3) and Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for the win, which moved the Rangers from ninth to seventh place in the East. The Rangers, Islanders and New Jersey Devils all have 39 points, but the Rangers have more non-shootout wins than the Devils and both teams have a game in hand on the Islanders. Pascal Dupuis had the lone goal for Pittsburgh (28-10-0), which got 33 saves from Marc-Andre Fleury. The win was New York's first at home against Pittsburgh since Nov. 29, 2011, and handed the Penguins a second consecutive loss after winning 15 straight games. The final buzzer brought to a close a hectic day for Clowe, who was acquired from the San Jose Sharks late Tuesday for three draft picks. But the arrival in New York was even more manic for Brassard and Moore, who were acquired just hours before the game along with Derek Dorsett and a sixth-round pick in exchange for Gaborik and defensemen Steve Delisle and Blake Parlett. While Clowe was able to join his new teammates for their morning skate, the other additions arrived in New York less than an hour before warmups and rushed into the dressing room as the team was preparing to take the ice. Despite the late arrival, Brassard made a quick impression. Midway through the opening period, with Chris Kunitz in the penalty box for slashing, Brassard made a nifty move at the right circle before passing back to Brad Richards, whose point shot deflected off Boyle and past a screened Fleury. Just 2:18 later, Richards found the puck in the corner before feeding a perfect pass to the oncoming McDonagh, who buried his third of the season. Clowe's assist on the play gave him his first point as a Ranger, which he followed up two minutes later with his first goal of the season. The gritty winger, who spent parts of the game playing in Gaborik's old spot alongside Richards and Mats Zuccarello, tucked a backhand past Fleury after Derek Stepan batted the puck away from Brooks Orpik. In a first period that saw the Penguins go without a shot for almost 11 minutes, Clowe appeared to find instant chemistry with Richards, who like his new linemate grew up in the Maritime region of Eastern Canada. Showing no signs of rust following his late arrival, Brassard got his first goal as a Ranger 1:53 into the second while the Penguins played shorthanded. With Evgeni Malkin in the box for tripping, Brassard found the rebound off Dan Girardi's point shot and lifted a backhander over Fleury. Dupuis got the Penguins on the board 34 seconds later, but Clowe would make it a night to remember midway through the period, taking a perfect backhand pass from Brassard before scoring his second goal of the game. It was the Rangers' third power-play goal of the night, exceeding their combined total from their previous 11 games. Like most of the Rangers' offense Wednesday night, the goal came courtesy of aggressive play around the Pittsburgh net. That particular style of play was pivotal to the New York attack and appeared to give the Penguins fits all night. Not to be outdone by his fellow newcomers, Moore scored his first of the season when his third-period point shot deflected off Matt Cooke's stick and past Fleury. Playing primarily alongside veteran Steve Eminger. Looking ahead to a rematch against the Penguins on Friday night at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Tortorella was particularly intrigued by Clowe. Not so much for what the gritty forward provided on the ice Wednesday night, but for what he could potentially bring to the locker room moving forward.

Montreal v Philadelphia 3-5 - The Philadelphia Flyers made late comebacks their specialty last season. Now it appears they've rediscovered that mindset. Wayne Simmonds and Erik Gustafsson scored 90 seconds apart late in the third period as the Flyers rallied for a 5-3 victory Wednesday against the visiting Montreal Canadiens. Simon Gagne and Jakub Voracek each had a goal and an assist, and Sean Couturier snapped a 27-game goal drought as the Flyers extended their win streak to a season-best three games. The victory moved the Flyers up to 11th in the Eastern Conference, four points behind the eighth-place New Jersey Devils. They play again Thursday at the Toronto Maple Leafs. David Desharnais and Alexei Emelin each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, and Brandon Prust had a goal. The loss snapped the Canadiens' three-game win streak. The Canadiens also lost center Tomas Plekanec to a groin injury. Coach Michel Therrien said Plekanec, who is tied for the team lead with 13 goals, is day-to-day. The Canadiens have a quick turnaround, as they’ll host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Montreal looked to be in control after getting goals 20 seconds apart late in the second period to take a 3-2 lead, but Simmonds and Gustafsson scored in quick order to lead the Philadelphia comeback. At 14:54, Bruno Gervais' shot from the right circle hit Simmonds' right skate in the slot and went past Canadiens goalie Carey Price. A minute-and-a-half later, Gustafsson took a pass from Claude Giroux, skated deep into the Montreal end, faked a shot and threw the puck in front, where it bounced off Canadiens defenseman Francis Bouillon into the net. Voracek closed the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final minute. The Canadiens looked to have made their own comeback when Prust and Desharnais scored seconds apart late in the second to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Jeff Halpern forced a turnover just outside the Philadelphia zone, with the puck rolling to rookie Alex Galchenyuk, who started a 3-on-2 rush down the left side of the Flyers' end. Galchenyuk centered the puck for Halpern, who slid it on his backhand to Prust, and his shot along the ice went under the glove of Ilya Bryzgalov at 16:29 to tie the game. Seconds later, Desharnais' odd goal gave Montreal a 3-2 lead. His shot from the right circle hit Schenn's stick and rose up as it headed toward Bryzgalov. The goalie ducked and the puck fluttered over his head and into the net at 16:49. But that was as good as it would get for the Canadiens, who despite scoring twice, had just four shots in the second period, and added just two in the third. Alexei Emelin gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 13:13 of the first period when his shot from the blue line went through a screen by Brendan Gallagher and past Bryzgalov. It was Emelin's third goal of the season, but first in 11 games. The Flyers tied the game early in the second on Couturier's first goal in more than two months. The second-year center, who had 13 goals last season, scored his third, this one in unorthodox fashion. He had the puck down low in the Montreal end and threw a hard-angle shot on net that hit Price's arm and then bounced off the left leg of Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban and into the net at 4:47. The goal snapped a 27-game drought for Couturier, dating to Jan. 27. Gagne gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead when he scored his third of the season at 15:43 of the second. Luke Schenn fired a shot from the right point that went wide of the Montreal goal, but banged hard off the end boards to Gagne, who was on the post on the far side and scored from in close before Price could react. Flyers rookie defenseman Oliver Lauridsen, in his third NHL game, picked up an assist on the goal for his first NHL point.

Edmonton v Calgary 8-2 - The Edmonton Oilers showed their provincial rival what a well-done rebuild can reap. Taylor Hall, the first player taken in the 2010 NHL Draft, had a goal and four assists while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the No. 1 pick in 2011, scored once and set up three more goals as the Oilers trounced the Calgary Flames 8-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome on Wednesday. The line of Nugent-Hopkins, Hall and fellow first-round pick Jordan Eberle combined for 11 points against the Flames to help lift Edmonton (16-13-7) to its fifth straight win and into the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference. The Oilers, who scored eight unanswered goals after spotting the Flames a 2-0 lead, improved to 39 points, one more than St. Louis, though the Blues have two games in hand. The eight goals were the most scored by the Oilers in Calgary since a 10-1 win on Nov. 26, 1996. Calgary (13-18-4) was selling on Wednesday's trade deadline, dealing Blake Comeau after parting with Jarome Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester in the past week as they start what general manager Jay Feaster called a retooling. In a season gone awry, being blown out at home by their biggest rival might be the low point. Edmonton's most recent No. 1 pick broke a 2-2 tie early in the middle period. Nail Yakupov, the first player taken in the 2012 NHL Draft, put the Oilers ahead to stay by one-timing Sam Gagner's pass from the hash marks behind Flames starter Joey MacDonald for a power-play goal at 3:34 to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead. With Cory Sarich in the box for cross-checking, Hall put Edmonton up by two. Nugent-Hopkins' centering feed hit the skate of Mark Giordano and bounced onto the stick of Hall, who buried the puck behind MacDonald at 7:39. Nugent-Hopkins then completed the barrage by players taken No. 1 in the draft, slapping a Hall rebound into the back of the net for Edmonton's third power-play goal of the period at 9:51 to extend their lead to three. Eberle, who sometimes gets overshadowed by the Oilers' trio of top picks, added to the rout with a pair of goals in the third period. Nugent-Hopkins' wrist shot from the point was blocked by Hall in the slot, but the puck squirted onto the stick of Eberle, who slid it by a down-and-out MacDonald to make it 6-2 at 9:56. It became 7-2 after a nifty give-and-go on a 2-on-2 between Hall and Eberle left the 22nd player taken in the 2008 NHL Draft with another tap-in at 17:06. The final goal went to Yakupov, who scored his second of the game after taking a Ryan Smyth feed off the draw and burying it behind MacDonald with 1:03 remaining in the game. It's hard to believe looking at the final score, but the Flames led by two goals less than six minutes into the game, as Stajan scored on Calgary's first two shots. Dennis Wideman worked the puck down low and centered to Curtis Glencross in the slot, but the puck was redirected onto the stick of Stajan, who beat Oilers' goaltender Devan Dubnyk over the glove just 2:35 into the game. On his next shift, Stajan fed Glencross, who slid a backhand behind Dubnyk but off the post. Stajan fired the carom into a virtually empty net to give the Flames a 2-0 lead at 5:18. Between the two goals, Steve Begin and Mike Brown dropped the gloves in the Battle of Alberta's first bout in 12 games dating back to Oct. 26, 2010. Unlike the Flames in their 4-2 loss at Edmonton on Monday, a game that saw the Oilers score three quick goals and coast to victory, the visitors quickly chipped away at the lead. After Lennart Petrell sent a shot over the top of the net, Gagner deflected a Jeff Petry shot from the point into the net to cut the lead to one by the midway mark of the period. Ryan Whitney tied it at 12:59, finishing a nifty passing play with Hall and Nugent-Hopkins.

Dallas v Anaheim 2-5 - Hours after the Anaheim Ducks acquired a key forward for the stretch run, they reminded everyone of what they already had. Captain Ryan Getzlaf shined with a goal and two assists and Viktor Fasth continued to thrive against the Dallas Stars in a 5-2 victory Wednesday that showed two teams on distinctly different paths post-trade deadline. Getzlaf shook off what appeared to be a lower-body injury in the third period and came back to score a highlight-backhand goal, the 150th of his career, off a terrific pass from Corey Perry. Fasth, who shutout Dallas on Monday, stopped 23 shots as Anaheim took the first two games of three straight against the Stars. Anaheim is 3-0-1 since a season-high four-game losing streak and crept to two points behind the Chicago Blackhawks for the top seed in the Western Conference. When the teams meet Friday, Anaheim will have filled their second-line center spot with Matthew Lombardi, who was acquired earlier in the day for Brandon McMillan. Getzlaf highlighted the first two goals. He threaded a pass to Radek Dvorak on a delayed penalty that Dvorak one-time tapped home for his first goal as a Duck at 11:44 of the first. Getzlaf fed Teemu Selanne for a snap shot from the right side at 11:33 of the second. Selanne's 673rd career goal came after Cam Fowler kept the puck in Anaheim's zone. Dvorak has nearly 1,200 NHL games on his resume and spent last season with the Stars. He's now getting a taste of Anaheim and his new captain after signing with the club last week. Kyle Palmieri made it 3-0 late in the second when he took a pass from Peter Holland and embarrassed Aaron Rome with a drive along the goal line to stuff it in for his eighth goal. The Stars played their first game since they traded leading scorer Jaromir Jagr (Boston Bruins) and Derek Roy (Vancouver Canucks) for three prospects and two draft picks. They played two players with three games of NHL experience and another, Alex Chiasson, who made his NHL debut. It won't get any easier for Dallas, which has allowed 21 goals during a 1-4 slide. Coach Glen Gulutzan tried Loui Eriksson at center while Jamie Benn, who thrived with Jagr, played with Erik Cole and Eric Nystrom. Cole scored in the third period when he fended off Holland and put Vernon Fiddler's feed past Fasth, who saw his shutout streak against Dallas end at 1:02:48. He has stopped 49 of 51 shots against Dallas. Lane MacDermid, who arrived in the trade for Jagr, scored late in the third for his first NHL goal. Matt Beleskey was high-sticked by Chiasson in the third period and received stitches under his eye. Anaheim's Saku Koivu recorded his 800th career point.

Minnesota v San Jose 2-4 - No one has to tell the surging San Jose Sharks where they stand in the Western Conference playoff race. The Sharks won their sixth straight game, remained perfect on their current homestand and moved into fifth place with 44 points, one more than the Los Angeles Kings. Martin Havlat, Dan Boyle, Thornton and TJ Galiardi each scored a goal as the Sharks continued the NHL's longest current winning streak. They are one shy of their season-best seven-game streak, which came at the start of the season. The Sharks are 5-0-0 on their seven-game homestand with games remaining against the Calgary Flames on Friday and the Dallas Stars on Sunday. Charlie Coyle and Dany Heatley scored for the Wild. Goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who stopped all 23 shots in a 2-0 shutout of San Jose on March 23, allowed four goals on 33 shots this time around. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi made 31 saves to earn his sixth straight win. The game turned chippy at times and ended with Heatley, a former Shark, and San Jose defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic trading punches and winding up on the ice. Heatley skated off, bent over and holding his left wrist, in obvious pain. Wild coach Mike Yeo offered no update on his injury but, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, indicated that he'll be out for a while. Minnesota, coming off a 4-1 loss home loss against the St. Louis Blues on Monday, lost two straight games for the first time since Feb. 14. The Wild have lost three of their past four games after a seven-game winning streak. With 44 points, they're deadlocked with the Vancouver Canucks in the Northwest Division. The Sharks took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Havlat, a former member of the Wild, and Boyle. They entered the third period with a 3-2 edge after a wacky second. Coyle and Heatley scored goals 25 seconds apart as the Wild drew even with 10:55 left in the second. Coyle, a first-round pick by the Sharks in 2010, scored on a 2-on-2 rush, threading a pass ahead to Parise and banging the rebound into a wide-open net from close range after Parise's shot bounced off of Niemi. Heatley then made the Sharks pay for a turnover in their zone, ripping a slap shot from above the left circle that beat Niemi to the far side. The Sharks went ahead to stay with 5:18 left in the second, when Thornton banked the puck off Minnesota defenseman Clayton Stoner's skate and into the net after a turnover by Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon. Galiardi got some rare time on the power play and scored with the man advantage 6:55 into the third period to give the Sharks some breathing room. Brent Burns, another former member of the Wild, ripped a shot from near the blue line into a mass of bodies in front of the net; Galiardi knocked in the loose puck, with Havlat and Scott Gomez getting assists. Havlat put the Sharks ahead 1-0 just 1:34 into the game, taking a pass from Thornton and beating Backstrom with a laser from the left circle. Burns ignited the early offense. He won a battle for the puck with Heatley along the left boards, made a rush toward the net then dropped a pass to Thornton, who hit a wide-open Havlat. Boyle made it 2-0, going coast-to-coast to score an unassisted, 5-on-3 power-play goal fit for the Sharks' season-highlight film. Boyle headed straight up the middle, built up speed, then sidestepped Suter inside the blue line. At that point, there was nothing but open ice between Boyle and Backstrom. He faked right, went left and beat the Wild goaltender with a backhand to the stick side. San Jose went on the power play when Kyle Brodziak was sent to the penalty box for hooking at 3:55. Just over a minute later, Stoner joined him in the box after sending the puck over the glass and drawing a delay of game penalty. Seventeen seconds later, Boyle scored. The Sharks dominated the first period and had a chance to build a much bigger lead than just two goals. Sharks forward Patrick Marleau ripped a shot from the right circle that pin-balled off Backstrom's glove, the right post and the crossbar before bounding away from the crease. Galiardi had a breakaway after intercepting a poor cross-ice pass from Stoner deep in the Wild's zone, but Backstrom made a poke save. With less than three minutes left, Burns took a pass from Thornton and got the puck past Backstrom, but Suter swiped it out of the blue paint before it could trickle over the goal line. The Wild had only 11 forwards available Wednesday night after their blockbuster trade that sent Johan Larsson to the Buffalo Sabres as part of a package for Jason Pominville, who didn't have enough time to get to San Jose for the game. Center Matt Cullen also missed the game with a lower-body injury, so defenseman Nate Prosser filled in as the right wing on the fourth line, ex-Shark Torrey Mitchell's normal spot. The Sharks made a pair of deadline deals Wednesday, acquiring forward Raffi Torres from the Phoenix Coyotes and defenseman Scott Hannan from the Nashville Predators, neither one was available to play against Minnesota. They also signed rookie defenseman Matt Irwin to a two-year contract extension through the 2014-15 season and activated Tim Kennedy (upper body) from injured reserve, though he didn't dress. The Wild recalled goaltender Darcy Kuemper from Houston of the American Hockey League to back up Backstrom after sending goaltender Matt Hackett to Buffalo in the Pominville deal.

Gameday 74 (Tue, 02 Apr) - Results

Ottawa v Boston 2-3 - There's been much speculation that newly acquired Jaromir Jagr might push either Milan Lucic or Nathan Horton off David Krejci's wing in the Boston Bruins' lineup. When the Bruins needed it most Tuesday night, Krejci and his linemates came through and showed what they could do if they're kept together going forward this season. Horton scored on a rebound of a Lucic shot at 10:21 of the third period for the go-ahead goal in a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden. Krejci also assisted on the goal, which earned the Bruins a second straight win. Earlier in the day, they acquired Jagr from the Dallas Stars in a trade. But Krejci's line has now combined for six goals and eight assists in its last four games and the Bruins might want to consider keeping the trio that's been a staple for three seasons intact. Horton, who has goals in four straight games, also scored the game-winner on an assist by Krejci on Sunday night in Buffalo. The Bruins improved to 4-0-0 against Ottawa this season with each win coming by one goal. Boston leads the Senators, who were starting a seven-game road trip, by six points for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Making a rare second straight start, Anton Khudobin made a career-high 45 saves for Boston. Robin Lehner made 47 saves for Ottawa in a game that saw five goals scored on 97 shots. Boston's continuing domination, the Bruins have won 13 of the last 14 meetings, and the Bruins' ability to win one-goal games is frustrating the Senators. Ottawa tied the game in an unusual way early in the third period. After a scramble in front, the puck found its way out to Andre Benoit at the left point. The Senators defenseman fired a slap shot that deflected to the left side of the net and play went on. At the 2:46 stoppage, video review showed the puck had hit the back of the net before it rebounded out. The game was tied at 2-2 with 1:55 elapsed. Horton broke the tie after some work by his linemates and a juicy rebound. Krejci won a battle down low and passed out to Lucic at the top of the left circle. Lucic got his shot through and Horton cleaned up the loose puck at 10:21. There were three goals scored in a span of 1:41 early in the first period. Ottawa kicked off the festivities after Bruins failed on a couple of clearing attempts and Colin Greening wound up with the puck in front of the Boston net. He beat Khudobin at 2:48 for a 1-0 lead. The Bruins responded at 3:28 on a tip by Krejci, who had just won a faceoff in the Ottawa zone. After Zdeno Chara rifled a shot toward the front, Krejci tied the game with the first Bruins' first-period goal in eight games. It took the Bruins just 59 seconds to take the lead. After an Ottawa giveaway along the side wall, Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand went to the net on a 2-on-1. Seguin's one-time into a yawning net put Boston ahead, 2-1, with 4:29 elapsed in the period. The pace did not slow much in the second period but the goaltenders were up to the task, as Ottawa outshot Boston, 13-12, but the teams went to the room still separated by one goal. The Bruins endured a huge loss, however, about seven minutes into the middle period when Patrice Bergeron's head made contact with Greening's forearm or elbow while Greening was trying to shoot from the slot. Bergeron, who has had three concussions in his NHL career, left the game and did not return. The Senators have one more chance to defeat the Bruins before the regular season ends.

Winnipeg v NY Islanders 2-5 - The New York Islanders have been chasing a playoff spot all season. For one night, at least, they own one. The Islanders, who haven't made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2006-07, jumped into eighth place in the Eastern Conference race by beating the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday. The Islanders have 39 points, two more than the New York Rangers, though the Rangers have two games in hand. They are even in points with the seventh-place New Jersey Devils, who have one game in hand. Matt Moulson ended a 13-game goal drought and added some insurance at the 18-minute mark of the third period when he finished off John Tavares' pass on a 2-on-1 break. Tavares added an empty-netter to wrap up the win. Rookie Anders Lee and Colin McDonald also scored for New York, while rookie goaltender Kevin Poulin made 23 saves for his first NHL victory since Feb. 12, 2012. It was the first victory in six decisions this season by any goaltender other than Evgeni Nabokov, who got the night off after beating New Jersey, as well as the Islanders' first victory in six tries this season in the second game of a back-to-back. Pavelec stopped 34 shots for Winnipeg, which came to Long Island after a 4-2 loss to the Rangers in New York on Monday and has dropped a season-high four games in a row. Though the Jets (14-14-2) have fewer points than the Islanders, they own the third seed because they are first in the Southeast Division, two points ahead of Washington. Lee, the newest Islander, opened the scoring at 16:13 by beating Pavelec on his first NHL shot. Lee came down left wing, used defenseman Tobias Enstrom as a screen and wristed a shot that Pavelec barely moved on. Lee, a college star at Notre Dame, signed with the Islanders on Monday after his school's season ended. The lead didn't last long. Ladd drove down right wing, got to the net and fired a quick shot that Poulin stopped. But the rebound popped into the slot, where Paul Postma grabbed it and fired a quick shot over the goaltender's glove at 18:06. The Islanders dominated the early stages of the second period, but when the Jets finally got a shot, they went ahead 2-1. Postma, who entered the game with one goal in 29 NHL games, scored his second in less than 10 minutes of playing time when he went to the net and tapped home a perfect feed by Chris Thorburn. New York kept buzzing and got even at 9:56 when McDonald picked up the deflection of Mark Streit's slapper from the left point and put it through Pavelec's legs. Michael Grabner got a tip on Streit's shot and it came right to McDonald, who buried his seventh of the season. Evander Kane's hooking penalty with 1:59 remaining in the period gave the Islanders their only power play of the night, and they took advantage when Nielsen set up in the right circle and hammered home the rebound of Streit's shot for his fourth goal of the season.

Washington v Carolina 5-3 - For most of the first period, the Carolina Hurricanes appeared on their way to a convincing win over the Washington Capitals. Jiri Tlusty scored twice, first on a rebound, then on a power-play wrist shot. After 19 minutes, Carolina held a 2-0 lead and a 10-3 advantage in shots. Then Alex Ovechkin changed everything. With 39 seconds remaining in the opening period, Ovechkin stepped into a wrist shot from the top of the right circle, beating Carolina goaltender Dan Ellis high to the far post. Suddenly, the Capitals came to life. Washington struck for four more goals in the second period, riding four assists from center Nicklas Backstrom to finish off the Hurricanes 5-3. Ovechkin finished with two goals, as did defenseman Mike Green, with Backstrom assisting on all four. The Capitals pulled within two points of the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Southeast Division. The Hurricanes continue their free fall, having gone 1-8-1 in their last 10. The Capitals picked up where they left off, tying the score quickly at the start of the second period. Washington went on the power play when Jeff Skinner covered the puck with his hand, and moments later Green blasted a slap shot from the middle point past Ellis to tie the game. Hurricanes forward Jiri Tlusty gave the PNC Arena fans reason to cheer when he redirected a pass from Eric Staal past Braden Holtby for a 3-2 lead, and his first career hat trick. But Washington quickly recaptured the momentum. After setting up each of his team's first two goals, Backstrom left a drop pass for Green, whose shot over the Ellis's glove tied the game at 3-3 and chased the Carolina netminder from the game in favor of Justin Peters. Backstrom wasn't finished, as he set up Ovechkin on a beautiful 2-on-1 though the slot. With the four-point night, Backstrom has 35 points in 36 games. His 29 assists rank third in the NHL. While Washington clearly had Carolina's number in the second period, they jumped to the lead with great efficiency, managing the 5-3 lead on just 11 shots through two periods. For the Hurricanes, the loss was another critical misstep in a season that is slipping away. Once the division leader with a 15-9-1 record, Carolina now trails both Winnipeg and Washington in the Southeast and sits 11th in the Eastern Conference. Carolina coach Kirk Muller has been critical of the team's play in recent games, but not Tuesday night. While the loss was another that the Hurricanes could ill afford, the Hurricanes had stretches of the game in which they peppered Washington goaltender Braden Holtby, particularly at the end of the second period when Holtby had to stop a half-dozen quality shots. Carolina was dealt a blow in the second period. Defenseman Joni Pitkanen left the ice on a stretcher with 1:57 remaining. He was racing to make a touch for icing alongside Washington forward Troy Brouwer. Pitkanen went hard into the boards without slowing much of his impact. Muller said Pitkanen was evaluated at the arena and did not go to the hospital. Muller did not speculate on the severity of the injury, noting only that it appeared the injury was to Pitkanen's heel or ankle. With a 4-1-1 mark in its last six games, Washington is back in the thick of the playoff race, but no one is jumping to any conclusions about the team's destiny.

Buffalo v Pittsburgh 4-1 - Following a perfect month, the Pittsburgh Penguins were anything but during their first game of April. Playing without their captain and the NHL leading scorer Sidney Crosby for the first time this season, the Penguins were listless in having a 15-game winning streak snapped, 4-1 by the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday at Consol Energy Center. Kevin Porter had his first two goals of the season and Steve Ott and Cody Hodgson also scored for Buffalo, which won for the first time in five games. Amid speculation he could be traded before Wednesday afternoon's deadline, Sabres captain Jason Pominville had two assists and was a plus-3. Ryan Miller made 19 saves during his 492nd game for the Sabres, breaking the franchise record for appearances by a goalie. After the game, Miller fended off questions about the swirling trade rumors. The Sabres traded veteran defenseman Robyn Regehr for draft picks the previous night and general manager Darcy Regier has made no secret that several other players are available for trade. That includes Pominville, who upon request by Regier submitted a list of teams he'd accept a trade to on Monday. Buffalo was also without leading scorer Thomas Vanek, who tested an upper-body muscle strain at the morning skate, but missed his fourth straight game. The Penguins, who also had a team-record 12-game home winning streak snapped, fell two games short of breaking their own League record of 17 straight wins set 20 years ago. They'll have to settle with sharing the NHL's second-longest streak with the 1981-82 New York Islanders. All 15 of their wins came during March, the first undefeated and untied full month in NHL history. Jarome Iginla scored for the first time as a Penguins player in his second game for Pittsburgh, which was denied its second 5-0-0 homestand in franchise history. Crosby sustained a broken jaw when he was struck by a puck during his first shift of Pittsburgh's previous game Saturday. The Penguins were also again without top defensemen Kris Letang (lower-body injury) and Paul Martin (broken bone in the upper body). Still, the Penguins entered the game with a franchise-record opponent scoreless streak of 208:24, having shut out their three previous opponents. Tomas Vokoun, who was in the net for the final seven periods of that streak, extended it to 218:48 before Buffalo blew the game open with four goals in a span of 13:52, that's as many as Pittsburgh allowed in its previous 522:56. Porter, who hadn't scored in more than a year, picked up his first in a span of 20 NHL games when he took advantage of a broken stick and a poor pass by Pittsburgh. While playing the point on the power play, Iginla's stick snapped into two pieces, allowing Pominville to lead a rush the other way. Iginla stole the puck via a kick, however, and got it to teammate Matt Niskanen. Niskanen tried to blindly drop it back for Iginla, but Porter picked it off and quickly got off a shot that beat Vokoun. Iginla tied it at 13:27 of the first with his 10th of the season, a tap-in into an empty net off a feed from Chris Kunitz while on the power play. But Ott gave the Sabres the lead for good with 1:50 left in the first when Pominville teed it up for him to one-time from the top of the left circle. Buffalo made it 4-1 with a pair of goals 67 seconds apart among the first 3:28 of the second period. Hodgson's 13th of the season but first since March 17 was a wraparound that came off an assist from Pominville. The team's second-leading scorer, Hodgson had been demoted to the fourth line due to lack of sound defensive play during the Sabres' previous game, a 2-0 home loss to Boston on Sunday. Porter made it a three-goal cushion when he threw the puck to the net and it deflected off the skate of Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland and past Vokoun, ending the veteran goaltender's night. Fleury entered for his first action since leaving after two periods of a March 26 game against the Montreal Canadiens due to an upper-body injury and stopped all 16 shots he faced. Despite the expected sell-off at the deadline, the Sabres remained on the periphery of the Eastern Conference playoff race; they are five points behind the eighth-place New York Islanders. Brooks Orpik appeared in his 622nd game, breaking the record for most by a defenseman for the Penguins, who still lead the East by five points and the Atlantic Division by 17. They lost for the first time since Feb. 28.

Florida v Tampa Bay 3-2 - Jacob Markstrom showed Tuesday night why he's the goaltender of the future for the Florida Panthers. Markstrom stopped 39 shots through 65 minutes, then denied all three attempts in the shootout as the Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 for their season-high third win in a row, all of which have come after regulation. Peter Mueller beat Mathieu Garon for the only goal in the tiebreaker as the Panthers snapped a seven-game losing streak to their in-state rival. Markstrom stopped Teddy Purcell, Victor Hedman and Steven Stamkos in the shootout to nail down the win. He also made several acrobatic stops among his 39 saves before the tiebreaker. The Panthers (12-19-6) had to withstand Tampa Bay's third-period comeback, which saw the Lightning score twice in a span of 4:56 to tie the game. Entering the final 20 minutes trailing 2-0, Tampa Bay swarmed the Florida net, firing 13 shots and another four in overtime on Markstrom, who came up with a big save time after time. Florida opened a lead by converting both of its power-play opportunities in the game. Both goals came with Tampa Bay's Tom Pyatt in the penalty box. Tomas Kopecky began the scoring for Florida when he deflected a shot by TJ Brennan and sent the puck past Garon at 8:36 of the opening period, just 13 seconds after Pyatt was sent to the box for hooking. Kopecky's goal, his 13th of the season, came after Tomas Fleischmann cleanly won the faceoff. Greg Rallo made it 2-0 at 16:41 of the second period with his first NHL goal in his fifth career game when he deflected a shot that Brennan fired into heavy traffic from the left point past Garon. This time Pyatt was off for interference. Pyatt made some amends when he crashed the net and redirected Purcell's centering feed past Markstrom at 5:38 of the third period for his seventh goal of the season. He now has four points [two goals, two assists] in four games against Florida this season. Alex Killorn tied it at 10:32 when he got his stick on a blast by Hedman that went wide of the net and bounced out in front. Markstrom had moved out of the crease to cut down the angle and was caught as Killorn slipped the puck between the netminder and the right post for his sixth goal of the season. Purcell also assisted on Killorn's goal for his second point of the game. The Panthers enter a three-day break, their only one of the season, before they host the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. Tampa Bay (15-18-2) had its home win streak snapped at four games. The Lightning head out on the road for three games before returning home on April 9 against the Ottawa Senators. The 41 shots that the Lightning registered on net in the game was their highest total in a game since they fired 45 against Montreal on March 5, 2011. Despite the loss, new Lightning coach Jon Cooper found some positives in his second game behind the bench.

Colorado v Nashville 1-3 - With every point precious as they battle for a playoff berth, the Nashville Predators knew a game against the last-place Colorado Avalanche was one they couldn't afford to lose. Thanks to a late rally, they didn't. David Legwand broke a 1-1 tie with 1:14 remaining in regulation by stuffing his own rebound behind Jean-Sebastien Giguere as the Predators beat Colorado 3-1 on Tuesday night, avenging a 1-0 overtime loss in Denver three days earlier. The victory gives the Predators 38 points, the same as the eighth-place St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference. However, Nashville (15-14-8) has played three more games. After two scoreless periods, the Avalanche grabbed the lead 61 seconds into the third when Matt Duchene burst through four Predators near the Nashville blue line, raced in alone and beat Pekka Rinne for his 15th of the season. It was only the 11th time in 37 games that the Avalanche scored first. That "young player" was rookie Brad Malone, who was called for high-sticking at 8:01. The Predators got even 22 seconds later when Patric Hornqvist nudged home a loose puck for a power-play goal. Shea Weber's shot from the left point was stopped in front, but with players from both teams jamming away at the puck, Hornqvist was able to slide it over the goal line for his fourth goal of the season. The goal stood after a video review. Legwand, the leading scorer in franchise history, put his team in front for the first him when he outmuscled Duchene for the puck behind the Colorado net, came out to Giguere's left and put his own rebound past Giguere after the goaltender had stopped his original shot. Giguere kept the Avalanche in the game with 35 saves. Pekka Rinne stopped 25 shots to improve to 11-3-1 in his last 15 games against Colorado. The Avalanche (12-20-4) are last in the overall standings with 28 points.

Los Angeles v Phoenix 1-3 - With their playoff hopes dwindling and the trade deadline hours away, the Phoenix Coyotes wanted to show there was still some life and fire in a dressing room lobbying for a chance to prove they can still salvage the season. Backup goalie Jason LaBarbera was brilliant with 39 saves and defenseman Keith Yandle matched a career high with two goals as the Coyotes kept their flickering playoff hopes alive with a 3-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night at Jobing.com Arena. The Coyotes are 2-0-2 in the four games since a seven-game losing streak that dropped them out of the playoff pack, and they failed to hold late third-period leads in Minnesota and San Jose last week before settling for a point. But this time, Yandle's second goal with 2:53 left wrapped up two points Phoenix had to have. The 36 points still leave the Coyotes 12th in the West and two points behind the eighth-place St. Louis Blues, who have two games in hand. Kyle Chipchura had the first assist on both of Yandle's goal and Matthew Lombardi snapped a 1-1 tie with the eventual game-winner in the second period. But the real start was LaBarbera, who was very good early when the Coyotes had a listless start and continues to hold the fort while starter Mike Smith continues to rehab the injury suffered in a Mar. 21 collision with Vancouver Alexander Edler. Jonathan Quick made 27 saves for the Kings, who had been 6-2-1 in their past nine games, including a pair of home wins against Phoenix. Los Angeles got an odd first-period deflection goal from Justin Williams, but that was it. LaBarbera stopped everything else. LaBarbera made big saves on Dustin Brown and Mike Richards on an early Kings' power play, and later on Brad Richardson and Anze Kopitar, before his teammates woke up and took a brief lead. Chipchura chased his own dump-in behind the Los Angeles net, won a battle with Keaton Elllerby and found a charging Yandle storming toward the crease unmarked. Yandle punched the feed past Quick at 11:05, giving Phoenix the first goal for the fourth straight game. The lead didn't last long. The Kings caught a huge break just 1:08 later, when Williams ran down a puck at the right boards and flipped it high toward the slot. The puck hit Phoenix defenseman Michael Stone in the chest and bounced past LaBarbera at 12:12. Williams was credited with his eighth goal and his fourth in the past four games. It stayed that way until midway through the second period, when recent call-up Rob Klinkhammer, who has been an unexpected and much-needed injection of production to a wilting Phoenix offense over the last 10 games, made another big play. At the end of a long shift, Klinkhammer pushed into the Los Angeles zone and, with Kings center Tyler Toffoli draped all over him along the boards, chipped a pass that found Lombardi in stride. Lombardi went to the backhand as well and banked a shot off the far post and in at 11:05 to put Phoenix back in front. Lombardi's fourth goal extended Klinkhammer's scoring streak to five games and gives him four goals and four assists in 10 contests, more than any other Coyote during that span. It stayed that way until Yandle fired a puck from a hard angle off the side boards to give him his first two-goal game in more than three years (Jan. 26, 2010 at Detroit.).