Results - Mon, Nov 25, 2013

 
Columbus @ Toronto 6-0 - Ryan Johansen scored twice and added an assist, Ryan Murray had a goal and an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 18 shots he faced to lead Columbus to an impressive 6-0 win. Cam Atkinson broke a scoreless tie at 10:18 of the opening period. With the teams at even strength, Artem Anisimov sent a pass from behind the net in front to Matt Calvert, who backhanded to Atkinson for the easy tap-in past Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer. It was Atkinson's sixth goal of the season. R.J. Umberger doubled the Blue Jackets' lead 18 seconds later with his sixth goal of the season. Ryan Murray carried the puck around the Maple Leafs net and fired a quick shot that was denied by Reimer, but Umberger was able to poke the rebound home to make it 2-0. James van Riemsdyk had Toronto's best chance of the first period, one-timing Phil Kessel's feed through Bobrovsky's pads, but the puck trickled just wide of the Columbus net. The Blue Jackets continued to generate offense in the second period. Jack Skille scored his first goal of the season at 3:07, when he came down on a 2-on-1 with Mark Letestu, took the latter's feed and ripped it from the left circle past Reimer to give Columbus a 3-0 lead. Murray made it 4-0 at 6:25 of the second via the power play. After Jake Gardiner was whistled for hooking, James Wisniewski sent a pass from the left circle to the slot for Murray, who fired a shot past Reimer for this third goal of the season. It also gave Murray his first multipoint game in the NHL. Johansen scored the first of his two goals 9:05 into the third period. Nick Foligno collected a loose puck at the Blue Jackets blue line, which created a 2-on-1 the other way. Foligno then carried the puck into the Maple Leafs zone and sent a cross-ice feed to Johansen, who one-timed it past Reimer to make it 5-0. Johansen scored again, this time on the power play, 2:19 later, ending Reimer's night. He finished with 15 saves on 21 shots. Foligno again picked up the primary assist, his second of the game. Anisimov was forced to leave the game with 9:10 remaining in the third period following a hit from Maple Leafs defenseman Dion Phaneuf. Anisimov was carrying the puck through the neutral zone when he was struck by Toronto's captain, who was given a two-minute penalty for an illegal check to the head.
 
Winnipeg @ New Jersey 3-1 - Mark Scheifele scored his first goal in 25 games, Evander Kane connected for his first goal in 12, and Devin Setoguchi scored into an empty net, his first goal in eight games for the Jets (11-11-4), who opened a six-game road trip through the Eastern Conference. New Jersey broke through on Pavelec midway through the third period to pull within 2-1 when Patrik Elias had a marvelous backhand redirect from the high slot. Andy Greene took the shot from the left point that Elias tipped for his fifth goal of the season and second in two games at 10:44. The Jets opened a 2-0 lead when Kane scored his seventh of the season 7:16 into the second period. Two seconds earlier, a video replay was needed to determine that a Kane shot was stopped by Brodeur and didn't cross the goal line. Following the review, Olli Jokinen won an offensive-zone draw against Travis Zajac that banked off the half boards to Kane at the top of the left circle. Kane swept a shot short side on Brodeur. The Devils nearly pared the margin while shorthanded with seven minutes left in the second when Elias took a pass from Adam Henrique and lined a shot that rang off the right post. Winnipeg opened a 1-0 lead when Scheifele scored his first goal since the season opener from the right hash over the glove of Brodeur at 16:01. Michael Frolik took a pass from Dustin Byfuglien and skated down his left wing before sending a hard pass to Scheifele after crossing the blue line.
 
NY Rangers @ Tampa Bay 0-5 - Nikita Kucherov didn't waste much time making his presence felt in his first NHL game. It took 32 seconds to score his first goal on his first shot on his first shift at 2:12 of the first period, when he slipped away from a defender, took a pass from Purcell and blasted the puck from the right faceoff circle off Lundqvist's stick and into the net. Less than a minute later, it was Martin St. Louis' turn. Filppula's pass sent him in alone on the Rangers net and he flipped a shot over Lundqvist to make it 2-0 3:10 into the game. St. Louis' second goal came at 3:12 of the second period, when Valtteri Filppula's outlet pass sent him between two Ranger defenders and in alone on goalie Henrik Lundqvist. St. Louis picked the upper right corner of the net to extend the Lightning's lead to 3-0. Tampa Bay killed off 58 seconds of a 5-on-3 when Alex Killorn and B.J. Crombeen drew penalties less than a minute apart. In total, the Rangers had the man advantage six times during which they generated 12 shots. In the past 19 games, the Lightning have killed off 60 of their past 65 penalties. Purcell found a loose puck in the neutral zone and eased down the right side of the Rangers zone before scoring on a wrist shot for his first of the game. The unassisted goal came with 3:08 remaining in the second period and sent the Lightning to intermission with a 4-0 lead. Purcell would also add number five. Cam Talbot replaced Lundqvist at the beginning of the third period. Lundqvist finished with 18 saves on 22 shots. Once the Lightning (15-8-1) had established a quick two-goal lead, the spotlight fell on Bishop. The Rangers outshot Tampa Bay 17-10 in the first period, and several of New York's shots were outstanding scoring opportunities, including a point-blank slap shot from Anton Stralman that Bishop snared with his glove.
 
Philadelphia @ Florida 1-3 - Twenty-nine seconds after the end of Florida's second penalty, Sean Bergenheim opened the scoring at 3:35 of the second after a persistent effort around the Philadelphia net. Bergenheim first tried a wrap-around with his forehand, then a wrist shot from the side of the net, and finally a wrap-around to his backhand, with the puck sliding in between Mason and the post. Panthers defenseman Dylan Olsen and forward Jimmy Hayes, the players acquired in the trade that sent forward Kris Versteeg to the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 14, had the assists. Olsen was playing his first game for Florida after being recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Sunday. Bergenheim made it 2-0 at 13:59 of the second when he scored on the second of back-to-back power plays. He was standing in front of the net when he tipped Marcel Goc's wrist shot from inside the top of the left circle. Wayne Simmonds cut into the Florida lead with a power-play goal at 7:06 of the third period when he put home a rebound after Thomas stopped Scott Hartnell's one-timer from the slot. Florida defenseman Erik Gudbranson scored his first goal of the season with 4:08 left in the third period. It was the third of Gudbranson's three-year NHL career and his first since Dec. 27, 2011, snapping a 100-game drought. The insurance goal came when his slap shot from the point bounced off Flyers goalie Steve Mason and over his shoulder before rolling into the net.
 
Minnesota @ St Louis 0-3 - Minnesota thought it had a 1-0 lead 30 seconds into the game when Parise tipped Ryan Suter's shot from the left point past Halak. But the goal was immediately waved off, the call being that Parise's stick was above the crossbar, and after a lengthy review, it was determined video was inconclusive. Taking advantage of the review ruling going in their favor, the Blues jumped out a 1-0 lead on Sobotka’s goal 50 seconds later. Sobotka collected the rebound off Carlo Colaiacovo’s shot from inside the blue line and beat Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom. It was Colaiacovo's first point in his first shift since signing with St. Louis as a free agent Nov. 12. He played since defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was out with the flu. The Blues were doing a solid job getting shots from the point and putting bodies in front of Backstrom early in the game, and Steen benefited with his first goal in five games when he took in Jay Bouwmeester's shot from the left point and beat Backstrom with a backhand upstairs at 13:38 of the first period. Steen’s first goal gave the Blues a 2-0 lead. The middle period saw no scoring, but Halak made a key point-blank stop on Zenon Konopka with 1:49 left off a rebound at the top of the crease, and the Blues' Jaden Schwartz, off a 3-on-2 rush, rang a shot off the left post with 15 seconds remaining. Chris Stewart had a big chance to extend the Blues' 2-0 lead 2:15 into the third period, but he pushed his backhand breakaway high and wide. Steen's empty-netter with 1:22 remaining sealed the Blues' victory. It moved him within two points of Sidney Crosby for the overall League-lead in points. It was St. Louis' only shot of the third period after the Wild applied ample amount of pressure.

 
Los Angeles @ Vancouver 3-2 OT - The Kings ensured themselves one point when Mike Richards tied the game with 2:54 left in the third period, then added the second when Anze Kopitar scored 48 seconds into overtime for a 3-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Los Angeles was outshot 39-22, but goalie Ben Scrivens kept it close and Kopitar won it after defenseman Slava Voynov pounced on a Kevin Bieksa turnover behind the Vancouver net. Voynov centered the puck to Kopitar alone in the left slot, and the veteran center quickly fired it up and over Roberto Luongo's shoulder on the far side. Kyle Clifford opened the scoring for the Kings, who moved six points ahead of fourth-place Vancouver and four ahead of the Phoenix Coyotes in the tight Pacific Division. The Canucks have lost seven of eight games, scoring nine goals in the losses. Defenseman Christopher Tanev scored his first of the season with 2:56 left in the second period to tie the game, and the power play finally connected on its eighth chance when Henrik Sedin one-timed a scramble pass from Daniel Sedin past Scrivens. Despite outshooting their opponent, badly at times, in six of the past seven games, the Canucks have one win, in large part because of untimely breakdowns. Coach John Tortorella pleaded in the morning not to abandon their defensive responsibilities chasing scoring chances, but Vancouver gave up a half-dozen odd-man rushes in the opening period. The Kings' fourth line opened the scoring on a 2-on-1 break that ended with a tap-in goal for Clifford, who was playing his second game back after missing six with an upper-body injury. Vancouver had plenty of chances to tie the game on the power play, especially after a big hit by Kings forward Jordan Nolan on Henrik Sedin sparked a run of rough play, post-whistle scrums and a spirited fight between Nolan, who was back after missing four with an undisclosed injury, and defenseman Ryan Stanton. The Canucks were outshooting the Kings 11-1 in the second period when Tanev scored his third career goal in his 118th NHL game. Henrik Sedin put the Canucks ahead 2-1 on a power play seven minutes into the third period, but they couldn't hold on. Jeff Carter, back after missing 10 games with a broken foot, got the puck behind the net and fed it to an open Richards atop the crease for a quick shot between Luongo's legs. The goal came 12 seconds after Scrivens made three great saves on a Canucks rush, kicking out the right pad to rob Jannik Hansen after David Booth took the puck hard to the net on a backhand, then laying down to keep out two Ryan Kesler whacks at the rebound. It would have been over a lot sooner if not for Scrivens and a penalty kill that kept the Canucks from converting its first seven chances, including a two-man advantage and a pair of 4-on-3s. Scrivens, who came in leading the NHL with a .946 save percentage and 1.37 goals-against average, credited his teammates, singling out defenseman Robyn Regehr for a pair of blocked shots against hard-shooting Vancouver point man Jason Garrison.

Results - Sun, Nov 24, 2013

Detroit @ Buffalo 3-1 - Daniel Alfredsson scored an empty-net goal in the third period with 48.2 seconds remaining to seal the victory and assisted on Darren Helm's second-period goal that tied the game at 1-1. The Red Wings took the lead for good at 11:43 of the third period, when they took advantage of a cross-checking penalty to Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers. Johan Franzen scored on the following power play, his sixth goal of the season, when his shot deflected off of a Sabres defender and fluttered over Sabres goalie Ryan Miller and into the net. Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg assisted on Franzen's goal, which was the 700th point in his career. The Sabres got out to an early lead in the first when Cody Hodgson scored his eighth of the season at 7:47 of the first period. Sabres forward Drew Stafford set it up, stealing the puck from Helm in the Detroit zone. Stafford passed it Hodgson, who was wide open and slipped the puck past Red Wings goalie Jonas Gustavsson. Helm tied it when he scored his fifth goal in 11 games just 30 seconds into the second period. Helm put a spinning backhand shot past Miller after receiving a pass from behind the net from Alfredsson. At 9:39 of the second, Sabres captain Steve Ott was hooked from behind by Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot, but Gustavsson came up with the save to preserve the 1-1 tie.
 
Ottawa @ Carolina 1-4 - The Hurricanes scored three second-period goals to erase a 1-0 deficit en route to a 4-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at PNC Arena on Sunday. But the story for Carolina was in the details. With three points, Eric Staal recorded his second multi-point game of the season. Goaltender Cam Ward made 35 saves to earn his first win since missing 10 games with a lower-body injury. Rugged forward Tuomo Ruutu showed flashes of his all-around game. In short, the Hurricanes best players were their best players. And collectively, the team played well enough in the defensive zone to secure a decisive win. The Senators started the scoring at 1:07, when Jason Spezza scored his 10th of the season. Mika Zibanejad centered to Spezza, who fired a shot off Ward, then cleaned up the rebound in the crease. The goal was Spezza's 18th in 32 career games against Carolina. Colin Greening nearly put Ottawa up 2-0, but Ward dove across the crease to make a stick save on the rebound of Derek Grant's shot. Trailing 1-0 going into the second period, Carolina quickly scored a pair of hard-working goals. After a faceoff win and a strong forecheck, Patrick Dwyer tied the game, beating Ottawa goaltender Robin Lehner high to the far post at 3:10 on a shot from the right circle. Six minutes later, Staal teamed up with Ruutu for the go-ahead goal. After Erik Karlsson's shot produced a long bounce off the end boards, Staal brought the puck up ice and made a hard pass to Ruutu in stride. Ruutu buried a quick shot over the goaltender's blocker for a 2-1 lead. The Hurricanes then went to work on the power play for the first time after Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips crosschecked Nathan Gerbe. Eighteen-year-old rookie Elias Lindholm scored his second of the season at 9:03, bringing the puck out of the corner uncontested and lifting a wrister high to the far post. Staal was the catalyst again, lugging the puck through the offensive zone until he spotted Lindholm free in the corner.

Anaheim @ Phoenix 4-2 - 11/23

With eight players now out of the lineup, Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau knows he is asking the remaining healthy bodies on the bench to dig deep these days. But there seems to be no shortage of Ducks eager to grab a shovel. Dustin Penner, Corey Perry and Sami Vatanen broke open a 1-1 game with three goals in a span of 8:43 in the second period and the Ducks beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-2 Saturday night despite being outshot 44-26.

"We have a lot of depth," said Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf, who assisted on Perry's goal to extend his points streak to five games. "We had to play so many guys so many games last year and they played really well. Now we've had numerous guys go down here again and guys keep stepping in and filling those roles, and we have great goaltending."

Penner scored two goals and goalie Jonas Hiller made 42 saves to give the Ducks their second win in as many nights. Unlike the 1-0 overtime home win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, there was plenty of offense on display against the Coyotes. The Ducks, who lost defenseman Luca Sbisa for 6-8 weeks with a tendon tear in his right hand and goalie Viktor Fasth for 3-4 weeks with a lower-body injury on Friday, lost defenseman Bryan Allen to a lower-body injury in the second period. Right wing Teemu Selanne sat out the second of back-to-back games, adding to a laundry list of Ducks who remain on the sidelines.

"Players are making great sacrifices," Boudreau said. "You can see it in the blocked shots and the effort they are giving. The perseverance comes with great character and we've got a lot of really good character guys on this team that don't like to lose, even games when you should."

Phoenix has lost nine times (regulation and overtime) this season, and three of those losses have come against the Ducks, who beat the Coyotes 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 18 and again 5-2 on Nov. 6, both at Honda Center. Phoenix was 3-0-2 since the second loss. The Coyotes had a season-high 44 shots in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday and had 44 more Saturday, but lost both games. Hiller backed up his 31-save shutout against Tampa Bay with another strong effort, playing especially well during a 15-save first period. Mike Ribeiro and Shane Doan scored for the Coyotes, who lost in regulation at Jobing.com Arena for the first time this season (9-1-2). The Ducks are the only team in the League without a home regulation loss (9-0-2). Doan added an assist, extending his point streak to eight games.

"We had chances we didn't bury and when we let that team hang around, they are going to find ways to score goals," Doan said. "Give them credit … they've got some guys that can make plays, and they did."

Coyotes goalie Mike Smith made 18 saves, including one on a penalty shot by Anaheim's Emerson Etem in the second period, before being replaced by Thomas Greiss for the third. Turnovers by defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson led to both of Anaheim's even-strength goals. Phoenix not only lost the game, it lost its leading scorer. Martin Hanzal, who had produced 19 points in the first 22 games, left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury.

"I've always said Marty is our most important forward," Doan said. "He makes everything go for us, he gives us depth and he's a big body in the middle that's so good in front of the net."

The Ducks, who came into the game with three road power-play goals in 46 chances, scored on two of four chances Saturday. The first one helped turn around a slow start. The Coyotes outshot the Ducks 8-0 in the first five minutes. Keith Yandle hit the crossbar early in the first period and Radim Vrbata caught a post later, but Phoenix came up empty on three power-play chances, while the Ducks made the most of their opportunity. With Ribeiro in the penalty box for hooking, Penner got away from Phoenix forward Jeff Halpern, took a pass from Cam Fowler and put a wrist shot over Smith at 11:11 of the opening period.

"We started well, but we needed to get something out of it. We get four or five pretty good opportunities and don't score, then they get one and it's in the net," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "We kept making mistakes and they got further ahead."

After Smith stoned Etem on the penalty shot 4:55 into the second period, Ribero batted the rebound of a Derek Morris shot out of midair and past Hiller at 7:27 for his seventh goal. But Anaheim answered quickly and dominated the rest of the period. Penner got his second of the night at 8:03, going in 2-on-1 with Getzlaf and beating Smith inside the right circle. Perry made it 3-1 at 11:01 He took a pass from Getzlaf, chipped the puck past Coyotes forward Antoine Vermette, cut to the middle of the ice around a helpless Michael Stone and whistled a wrist shot high to the glove side for his 13th goal.

"That’s why he makes $8.5 million," Boudreau said with a smile.

Vatanen capped the run at 16:43 via the power play, taking a feed from Mathieu Perreault in the slot and scoring to give the Ducks a three-goal lead. It was the 13th goal allowed by the Phoenix penalty kill in the past 11 games.

"Penner's second goal was bigger than the first," Boudreau said. "I'm sure they are sitting there saying, 'We've outplayed them pretty badly in the first, we just tied it and all of a sudden they score again. What's going on?' And then before they had time to think, Corey scored and we added the other power-play goal."

Doan made it 4-2 at 4:20 of the third, deflecting an Ekman-Larsson shot past Hiller for his 32nd goal and 70th point in 95 career games against Anaheim.

Chicago @ Vancouver 2-1 - 11/23

The Chicago Blackhawks know better than most how quickly a game can turn. Chicago shocked the Boston Bruins and won the Stanley Cup in June by scoring two goals in 17 seconds. The NHL's leading offense needed all of nine seconds to beat the struggling Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Andrew Shaw tied the game on a redirection 4:40 into the third period, and Marcus Kruger put the Blackhawks ahead on a 2-on-1 break nine seconds later en route to a 2-1 victory against the Canucks at Rogers Arena.

"It can turn around pretty quick if we get some chances," said Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford, who secured the win with 14 of his 36 saves in the third period. "Especially the opportunities we got. They were A-plus chances, and usually we bury those."

Vancouver led on Ryan Kesler's 5-on-3 goal late in the first period and had just killed off a Chicago power play that included Patrick Sharp hitting both posts and the crossbar when Shaw tipped Patrick Kane's backhand shot between the legs of Roberto Luongo from the top of the crease. A miscue on the ensuing faceoff led to a 2-on-1 and Kruger kept the puck, firing it through a stunned Luongo.

"Obviously the past year we have had a lot of goals scored back-to-back quickly," Shaw said. "We stuck to it all game and it just took nine seconds, I guess."

Crawford made several great stops after taking the lead, and Kane extended his point streak to 10 games. The Blackhawks won for the seventh time in nine games despite missing top-line forward Marian Hossa, who returned to Chicago earlier in the day to attend to a family matter.

"We haven't played a low-scoring, tight game like that in a couple of weeks, but I've said before we are never out of a game," Crawford said. "We can all score goals so everyone in this room was confident we would get one, and then that was a good break to get that 2-on-1 and a nice goal by (Kruger) to get the winner there."

It didn't quite compare to the 17-second, Cup-clinching outburst, though. But it was a positive sign for a Chicago team that struggled to defend at times lately, giving up seven goals in a loss to the Nashville Predators on Nov. 16 and five in a loss to the Colorado Avalanche four days ago. Crawford was pulled from both games, but was perfect after Kesler's goal and made a couple of great saves late to preserve the lead. He threw out the left pad to deny Dale Weise from the top of the crease midway through, and gloved Brad Richardson's dangerous shot with five minutes left.

"I love the way he played," Quenneville said. "It was nice to see him really strong in the net. They had a lot of bodies and shots and traffic when the game was on the line and I liked his response."

In a battle of Canadian Olympic hopefuls, and the NHL's two busiest goaltenders, Luongo and Crawford were both good. Luongo, starting on consecutive nights for the first time in two years after making 14 saves in a 6-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, finished with 27 saves. But he was upset Kruger's shot from the faceoff dot went past him.

"I've got to come up on a save on that one," Luongo said.

The win against Columbus is Vancouver's lone victory in the past six games (1-4-2), and the only time the offense has broken out. The Canucks have scored seven goals in the six losses. Their only one against Chicago came courtesy of a two-man advantage.

"We have to put pucks away," said captain Henrik Sedin, who had his stick checked while facing an empty net on a rebound attempt in the third period. "It can't just be one game and then you're off again."

It's the 10th time in 25 games Vancouver has scored one goal. The Canucks are 12-0-1 when scoring three or more, but 0-9-3 when scoring two or fewer. For all the focus on the missing offense, Luongo said the Canucks need to find ways to win those low-scoring games.

"We have to learn how to win some games 1-0, 2-1," he said. "That's the way the League is right now. We can't just focus on the offense."

Ironically, Chicago captain Jonathan Toews was saying the same thing in the Blackhawks' dressing room.

"We've got a lot of offensive talent, but we have to remind ourselves when we play that team that we have to smarten up defensively," Toews said. "(Crawford) was huge for us."

He had little chance on Kesler's goal. With Brandon Saad already off for slashing, Shaw was called for interference on a shorthanded rush when he bumped Henrik Sedin, who was trying to catch up to the potential 2-on-1. Vancouver wasted little time converting its second 5-on-3 opportunity of the season, with Kesler feeding Jason Garrison for a one-timer at the point and then sliding the rebound through the legs of a sliding Crawford to end his seven-game goal drought. It stayed that way until shortly after Chicago's second power play, which produced several great chances, and led to the tying goal 10 seconds after the advantage ended.

"We beat ourselves, and teams like Chicago will capitalize," Canucks coach John Tortorella said. "We kill a penalty, we get our guy on the ice and we throw the puck away [and it] ends up in our net. We run how we forecheck off a faceoff every time, [but] we decide to go off the map and we give up an odd-man rush [and] it's in our net. We played a good hockey game, but we beat ourselves in those few seconds."

Dallas @ St Louis 1-6 - 11/23

Once the St. Louis Blues caught up to the Dallas Stars' speed, they were able to put the game in cruise control Saturday. In the end, the Stars' road winning streak ran into a major speed bump. The Stars came into their game against the Blues winners of six in a row away from home, but one of their new Central Division rivals and top teams in the Western Conference had other ideas. The Blues got goals from six scorers, with T.J. Oshie leading the way with a goal and an assist in a 6-1 victory at Scottrade Center.

"I thought we struggled at the start of the game to catch up to the speed," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who got his 621st career victory to move past Bryan Murray into eighth place on the all-time list. "As much as you talk about the speed of Dallas, I thought we struggled to get up to tempo in the first period. They were on us pretty hard, and I thought as the game wore on, we got more and more up to the tempo of the game and started to counterattack and get some scoring opportunities because of it."

Vladimir Sobotka, Vladimir Tarasenko, David Backes, Derek Roy and Chris Stewart also scored for the Blues, who got two assists from Alex Pietrangelo. Brenden Morrow had an assist against his former club to give him a point against all 30 NHL teams. St. Louis improved to 10-1-2 on home ice, 8-1-1 in their past 10 games overall and 11-2-1 in their past 14.

"We started trading chances there for a little bit, and that's not our game," Oshie said. "We got a hold of it pretty quick and it seemed like they had some trouble with our reloads and our tracking and our forecheck. That's what all our offense came off of. When we can go at them in waves with four lines, not just three but four, I think that's when we're at our best. Tonight, having six different scorers shows that."

Blues goalie Brian Elliott remained unbeaten in regulation, improving to 4-0-1 making 34 saves as St. Louis continued its franchise-best start. The Blues are 16-3-3 and have beaten the Stars in six of the past seven meetings. Elliott, who has a 1.79 goals-against average and .932 save percentage, and Jaroslav Halak have formed one of top duos in the NHL. It's reminiscent of the Jennings Trophy season they had in 2011-12.

"You always want to get in there and fight for the guys and be a part of it," Elliott said. "I think that's what our strength is as a tandem. We can push each other. … I think Jaro's playing well and I want to play well so we can just keep moving this train forward."

Brenden Dillon scored for the Stars and Kari Lehtonen stopped 13 shots before being pulled early in the third period in favor of Dan Ellis. Dallas (11-9-2) dropped its fourth straight in St. Louis.

"I felt I had a bad night," said Lehtonen, who came into the game 8-3-0 with a 1.62 GAA and .946 save percentage against the Blues. "They stayed patient and got a couple of opportunities and scored. There's going to be a bad game at some point and it came tonight. I just have to forget about this one."

Outshot 12-4 in the first period, the Blues scored on half of theirs to take a 2-1 lead. Sobotka's power move around Stars defenseman Sergei Gonchar, and a shove from behind by Dallas forward Jamie Benn, pushed Lehtonen deep into his net, but the puck crossed the goal line 1:39 into the game. It was the 100th career point for Sobotka, which includes 30 goals.

"We're a momentum team," Oshie said. "When nothing's going our way, I think we play really well. When we get off to a good start like that, we seem to feed off it and keep going."

The Stars tied it when Dillon's shot from the middle of the ice inside the blue line bounced past Elliott, who seemed to be screened by Pietrangelo, at 10:53. Tarasenko gave the Blues the lead nine seconds later when he powered his way past Cody Eakin and snapped a shot through Lehtonen. Vladimir Sobotka and Rich Peverley had a fight at 11:27 in the first just moments after the Blues had gone 2-1 up. at 12:09 of the same period Ryan Reaves checked Nichuskin into the Blues bench. Brenden Dillon took exception to it and a second fight ensued to give an explosive start to the game. The Stars entered the Blues' zone with speed in the second period but mishandled the puck; the play turned into a 2-on-1 for Backes and Jaden Schwartz. Backes kept the puck and wristed a shot from the slot past Lehtonen to give the Blues a 3-1 lead at 6:56. It was Backes' 10th goal in 22 games after scoring six in 48 last season. Roy, who played part of last season for the Stars, deflected a Steen shot past Lehtonen 50 seconds into the third period for a power-play goal and his sixth point in six games, to give the Blues a 4-1 lead. It was Steen's first point in four games after briefly holding the NHL lead in goals and points last week. Stewart's shot from the left dot, assisted by Morrow, gave the Blues a 5-1 lead 5:39 into the third period and chased Lehtonen. Oshie's eighth point in six games came on a deflection of Pietrangelo's right-point shot past Ellis 11:02 into the third period, making it 6-1. On the heels of a 3-2 shootout victory Thursday against the Boston Bruins, the Blues kept to their winning ways instead of going through a let down.

 

"I guess that's a good learning experience for us after an emotional win coming back trying to play the same way," Pietrangelo said. "I thought we did that tonight. It's a good answer, a good learning lesson obviously."

Pittsburgh @ Montreal 2-3 - 11/23

The Montreal Canadiens withstood a late rally by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third period and earned a 3-2 victory at Bell Centre on Saturday night to extend their winning streak to three games. Goals by Max Pacioretty, his second of the game, and Tomas Plekanec in the first 3:25 of the third period gave the Canadiens a 3-0 lead. Penguins forward James Neal scored twice to cut the Montreal lead to 3-2. But Carey Price (29 saves) held the fort once again for the Canadiens, stifling the late pressure from the Penguins. The Canadiens weren't about to let their hard work slip away after putting themselves in a position to win.

"We put ourselves in a good position to win the game and you try to work hard down the stretch," defenseman P.K. Subban said. "[Evgeni] Malkin made a great play on that second goal, but with those types of players, those goals are going to happen. You just take them off and keep playing. They're good players that will make good plays. I thought we did a good job of playing smart and managing the puck well, moving it out of our zone and not putting ourselves in a position where we let their skill determine the outcome of the game."

Despite the loss, the Penguins were happy with their effort and the fact they didn't crumble after the two quick goals by the Canadiens put them down 3-0

"We battled hard to get back into it," captain Sidney Crosby said. "But it's a tough game to play when you're fighting [from behind] like that in the third period." Crosby also liked his team's start and credited Price for withstanding the early chances. "We definitely started very well and got some really good chances. He kind of weathered the storm early on and allowed them to stay in the game and get that important first goal. He was solid all the way through."

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves in the loss. Pittsburgh's winning streak ended at three games. Each of Pacioretty's goals came off Penguins turnovers. His first was the result of an Olli Maatta mistake; the rookie defenseman threw a blind pass across the middle while breaking out of the Pittsburgh zone. Pacioretty intercepted the pass, skated across the blue line and ripped a shot past Fleury for a 1-0 lead 1:53 into the second period. His second goal was a result of another Pittsburgh turnover that Montreal defenseman Raphael Diaz was able to intercept and dish to Pacioretty.

“The coaches are always saying protect the small ice, and we're not stretching ourselves out defensively in the neutral zone," Pacioretty said. "I know on my first goal there we want to protect the lines, I mean the red line and the blue lines, and [Diaz] has gotta steer there, and then obviously I was able to step up and read the pass."

Pacioretty has seven goals, five of them in his past three games. The Canadiens were able to hold Crosby without a point, largely due to the defensive play of Plekanec, who blanketed the NHL's scoring leader throughout the night and dominated in the faceoff circle. Plekanec was 16-for-21 (76 percent), with many of those draws against Crosby. Plekanec appeared to get under Crosby's skin at times.

"Pleky can get under everybody’s skin," Subban said. "He's got that goatee and that little smirk he puts on his face. But he's a good player. Guys don't like it, but he's a good player. Look at this game, and he's probably one of our best players."

Neal's two goals extended his point streak to three games; he has three goals and three assists during that span. Meanwhile, after breaking a 15-game goal drought on Friday, Evgeni Malkin extended his point streak to four games, assisting on both goals. Malkin has a goal and six assists in his past four games, but he paid the price on his second assist. Malkin went crashing into the end boards with 2:55 remaining in regulation and needed help getting back to the bench, but he returned for his next shift and almost tied the game in the final minute on a wraparound that was denied by Price. The Penguins finished the game 1-for-3 on the power play; the Canadiens went 0-for-3 with the man advantage. Penguins forward Tanner Glass left the game after the second period and did not return. Coach Dan Bylsma said Glass has an upper-body injury and will be evaluated Sunday. Prior to the game, Bylsma announced that forward Beau Bennett, who was injured in the second period of a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders on Friday, could be out for a while.

"Longer than days now right now," Bylsma said. "Right now longer than that."

Matt D’Agostini replaced Bennett in the lineup and skated on a line with Brandon Sutter and rookie Brian Gibbons. For the Canadiens, Ryan White remained in the lineup for a second straight game, filling in for injured forward Rene Bourque (upper body). On defense, Francis Bouillon was back in and Douglas Murray was a healthy scratch.

Results - Sat, Nov 23, 2013

Carolina @ Boston 2-3 OT - David Krejci scored 1:28 into overtime after Jarome Iginla led the rush into the Hurricanes zone, and the Bruins improved to 6-0-2 in their past eight games at TD Garden with a 3-2 win Saturday afternoon. Iginla drew two defensemen to him as he drove down the right wing, and Carolina goaltender Cam Ward moved out toward his left in anticipation of a shot. Instead, Iginla passed to Krejci in the slot. The Boston center dangled until Ward went down, then roofed the game-winning shot. Prior to the overtime goal, Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk took possession of the puck in the Boston zone after forward Carl Soderberg and Hurricanes center Jordan Staal fell in the corner. Carolina coach Kirk Muller was not pleased Soderberg wasn't called for a penalty. The first period didn't start well for Carolina defenseman Andrej Sekera. He blocked a Shawn Thornton slap shot and had to be helped off the ice at 3:12. He wasn't gone long, however, and returned in time to make sure the Hurricanes' first power play was a success. With Soderberg off for hooking, Sekera took a wrist shot from the blue line that went past no fewer than four bodies and eluded Chad Johnson at 5:53 for a 1-0 Carolina lead. It was the Hurricanes' first power-play goal in four games after they went 0-for-12 in their prior three. Chara swept a rebound of a Lucic shot into the back of the net at 14:49 to tie the game 1-1. The Bruins went to the first intermission with a 14-6 advantage in shots on goal. Carolina went 22:43 without a shot on goal from near the midpoint of the first period until well into the second. The Bruins outshot Carolina 12-4 in the second period and held a 26-10 advantage through 40 minutes. Johnson held up his end of the bargain in Boston's net, and Reilly Smith gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with a goal at 13:31. Soderberg's pass from between the hash marks to the front of the net hit the skate of Hurricanes defenseman Tim Gleason and deflected to Smith, who cut across the slot and beat Ward with a backhander to the short side. Even when killing penalties, the Hurricanes were working hard to score the equalizer. During one penalty kill, Johnson stopped an Eric Staal shot on a 2-on-1. Later in the period, Patrick Dwyer scored shorthanded on a breakaway after he stole an errant Boston pass in the Carolina end. Dwyer roofed a shot past Johnson to tie the score 2-2 with 8:50 remaining in regulation.

Minnesota @ Winnipeg 3-2 SO - The Minnesota Wild survived an injury to goaltender Josh Harding' minutes before the opening faceoff of their game against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon, then overcame a third-period deficit to win 3-2 in a shootout. Harding missed his scheduled start after sustaining a lower-body injury during warm-ups. The injury forced Niklas Backstrom into emergency duty. Backstrom, activated from injured reserve before the game, made 37 saves, and Charlie Coyle won it with a goal in the fourth round of the tiebreaker. Backstrom's play set up a late comeback for the Wild. Shorthanded and trailing 2-1 late in the third period, Zach Parise tied the score with 4:55 left in the third period when captain Mikko Koivu reached him with a pass on a 3-on-2 rush into the Winnipeg zone. Parise outmaneuvered Jets forward Bryan Little before one-timing Koivu's pass behind goaltender Ondrej Pavelec. After Koivu and Little scored in the shootout, Coyle won it by beating Pavelec in the fourth round. The Wild (15-5-4), who had played eight of their past 10 games against Eastern Conference opponents, began a run of five straight games facing Western Conference foes. With 34 points in their first 24 games, the Wild are off to the best start in franchise history and have won six of their past seven games and nine of their past 11. The Jets (10-11-4), on an 0-2-2 slide, received goals from third-liners Michael Frolik and Matt Halischuk, and Pavelec stopped 33 shots. Nino Niederreiter's goal for Minnesota early in the third period made it 1-1 before Halischuk put Winnipeg ahead 2:14 later. The Jets' five shorthanded goals against are the most in the League, and their 11 power-play goals are the third-fewest. The Wild were also without forward Mikael Granlund (upper body), whom the Wild learned earlier in the day would not be available. Granlund's absence forced the Wild to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Yeo did not provide an update on Harding's health after the game. His 1.48 goals-against average ranks second in the NHL and he is tied for second in the League with 13 wins and two shutouts. His save percentage (.939) is among the top 10. Backstrom played his first game since a collision with the Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri on Nov. 13. Backstrom, who practiced once since the injury, had a 1-1-2 record in seven games, a 3.30 GAA and an .874 save percentage. Harding's injury caused the Wild to play the first period without a backup goaltender until Darcy Kuemper arrived at MTS Centre. The Wild managed to retrieve Kuemper, who was sitting on a plane at Winnipeg International Airport after Minnesota removed him from the roster and sent him to the Iowa Wild, the team's American Hockey League affiliate, a few hours before the game. Kuemper was added to the lineup as an emergency exemption. Winnipeg had four shots on Backstrom in the opening 10 minutes before becoming more active in the Minnesota zone in the latter half of the first period. The hosts finished the first period with a 14-3 shots advantage. The Jets' third line cracked Backstrom 13:07 into the second period. Halischuk drove the Minnesota net off the right side and let go a rising shot that Backstrom failed to control. Frolik crashed the net and shoved the rebound under Backstrom. The goalie held firm against the Jets over the first two periods and provided the Wild with time to settle down and find their game. The banged-up Winnipeg blue line received some relief with Mark Stuart's return after he missed 12 of the past 16 games with a hip injury, including a 10-game absence that dated to Oct. 27.

Washington @ Toronto 1-2 SO - James Reimer's heroics got the Maple Leafs into the tiebreaker, and James van Riemsdyk and Joffrey Lupul scored in the tiebreaker to give Toronto a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Air Canada Centre on Saturday night. Lupul started the fourth round of the shootout by beating Braden Holtby with a wrist shot. Troy Brouwer had a chance to extend the tiebreaker but fired his wrister over the net. Eric Fehr scored in the first round to give Washington the lead, but van Riemsdyk scored on a backhander in the second round to get the Maple Leafs even. David Clarkson scored midway through the second period for Toronto. Alex Ovechkin tied the game and became the first NHL player to reach the 20-goal mark this season when he beat Reimer with 4:10 left in regulation. Clarkson opened the scoring at 10:08 of the second when he deflected a power-play point shot from Jake Gardiner past Holtby for his second goal of the season. The goal was reviewed to see if the puck was deflected into the net with a high stick, but video replay was inconclusive and the goal was allowed to stand. With eight seconds left in the second period, Capitals forward Mikhail Grabovski was injured when he was cut in the face by Clarkson's skate blade. Grabovski was bleeding, but headed off the ice under his own power and returned six minutes into the third. It was Grabovski's first game against the Maple Leafs since being bought out by Toronto during the summer.

Ottawa @ Detroit 4-2 - The Senators broke a 2-2 tie when, on their 5-on-3, Erik Karlsson had the puck between the circles and slid a pass to Bobby Ryan low to his left. Ryan fired into an open side at 3:51. Clarke MacArthur added some insurance when he scored another power-play goal with 4:02 remaining. Detroit nearly had another 5-on-3 goal and a 3-3 tie with 8:46 left in the third period, but it was correctly ruled on the ice and confirmed by video that Johan Franzen batted the puck into the net with his hand. The Red Wings tied the game 2-2 on their 5-on-3 goal 1:08 into the third period. Pavel Datsyuk tried to send a pass across the goalmouth; Senators defenseman Jared Cowen went to the ice to block it, but the puck went off his back leg and through goalie Robin Lehner. Ottawa took a 2-1 lead with goals 1:11 apart in the first period. The first came from MacArthur, who after fanning on his first attempt was able to lift his second over goalie Jimmy Howard at 14:33. MacArthur had carried the puck into the zone and sent it behind the net to Ryan, whose pass to the front came off the skate of Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey and back to Ryan, who pushed it to MacArthur. Three fortunate bounces for Ottawa ended in a goal credited to Chris Neil at 15:44. Senators forward Cory Conacher stole the puck from Helm in the Detroit zone. Conacher passed to Neil, whose shot hit Helm then bounced off each leg of Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith into the net. Helm started the scoring at 13:23 of the first. He carried the puck through the neutral zone all the way behind the Ottawa goal, then passed to Tomas Tatar and headed to the front of the net, where he tipped Tatar's wrist shot past Lehner.

NY Islanders @ Philadelphia 2-5 - After a scoreless first period, the Flyers got goals from Read, Simmonds and Giroux in the first 3:48 of the second, but Eric Boulton's goal 2:39 into the third made it a one-goal game. Voracek played a big role in the Flyers snatching the momentum and the victory. He won a puck battle deep in the Islanders' zone and put a sharp-angled shot on net that goalie Anders Nilsson stopped, but the rebound went into the slot to Brayden Schenn, who one-timed it past Nilsson at 12:21 to make it a 4-2 game. Read opened the scoring 46 seconds into the period on a play that started when the Islanders turned over the puck deep in their zone. Sean Couturier had a chance from the slot that Islanders goalie Kevin Poulin lunged to get his blocker on. The rebound went to Read in the left circle and he fired it past Poulin for his seventh of the season. Simmonds scored his fourth of the season 59 seconds later. Vincent Lecavalier carried the puck through the center of the ice and dished it to Simmonds in the right circle. Lecavalier continued to the net, with Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic following him and creating enough of a screen for Simmonds to get a shot past Poulin to make it 2-0. The Flyers then took advantage of an offensive-zone penalty against Thomas Vanek by scoring a power-play goal against the NHL's 30th-ranked penalty-killing unit. Poulin got a piece of Voracek's shot from a sharp angle on right side. Simmonds pounced on the rebound and tried backhanding a pass through the slot to Scott Hartnell, but the puck went past him to Giroux, and the Flyers captain rifled a shot past Poulin for his third of the season at 3:48. The Islanders cut into the Flyers lead on Tavares' 10th goal of the season. Matt Donovan had the puck deep in his zone and sent a long pass up the left side of the ice to Vanek, catching the Flyers on a line change. Vanek threw a pretty saucer pass to a cutting Tavares, who had a step on Brayden Schenn and tipped the pass behind Mason at 14:04. New York made it a one-goal game early in the third on Boulton's first goal in 72 games. Casey Cizikas beat Adam Hall on a faceoff in the left circle in the Philadelphia end, pushing the puck between Hall's skates to Boulton at the right post. He lifted a shot over Mason for his first goal since April 7, 2011. Read's empty-net goal with 48.6 seconds left closed the scoring and sends the Flyers off on a two-game road trip to Florida in a positive frame of mind.

NY Rangers @ Nashville 2-0 - New York came the closest to scoring during its first power play. With Seth Jones off for high-sticking Dominic Moore at 5:31, Mats Zuccarello's backhander trickled through Mazanec's pads, but Roman Josi cleared the puck out of the crease before it could cross the goal line. Mazanec also made a fine stop midway through the period on Benoit Pouliot's backhander from the right circle after Pouliot split the defense. New York began to dominate play and opened the scoring at 13:13 on a perfect deflection by McDonagh. Zuccarello's pass from the right boards found defenseman Dan Girardi for a straightaway slap shot from just inside the blue line. McDonagh, his defense partner, went to the slot and deflected the shot between Mazanec's legs for his fifth of the season. Stepan gave the Rangers some breathing room 7:45 into the third period by starting and finishing the play that led to his fifth goal of the season. He stripped Viktor Stalberg of the puck in center ice, fed Zuccarello to trigger a 2-on-1 break, then fired the return feed past a helpless Mazanec.



Colorado @ Los Angeles 1-0 OT - Patrick Roy knows a little something about coming into Los Angeles and winning in overtime, so it resonates loud when he passes out A-plus grades to his team. The first-year Colorado Avalanche coach had his team match the Los Angeles Kings defensively every step Saturday night and come out with a 1-0 win at Staples Center on Jamie McGinn's overtime goal. McGinn one-timed a pass from John Mitchell from the right side on a rush and McGinn's shot went in off a sprawled Jarret Stoll at 2:32. Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov made 19 saves for the shutout in a duel with Ben Scrivens, who made 32 saves and is 4-0-2 in place of injured goalie Jonathan Quick. The Avalanche also improved to 3-0 in overtime road games this season. Roy, of course, famously backstopped the Montreal Canadiens to three straight overtime wins against L.A. in the 1993 Stanley Cup Final. The sequence that led to the game-winning goal started when Anze Kopitar's shot was deflected in traffic, and Mitchell carried the puck up ice on an odd-man rush. Scrivens could not be asked to do much more for L.A., which has held the opposition to two or fewer goals six straight games. He shined on a late third period penalty kill with five saves, notably one on Nathan MacKinnon on a feed from Ryan O'Reilly. Colorado spent most of the second period in L.A.'s zone, but the Kings didn't give it much to work with, and Scrivens took care of the rest. He stopped all 16 shots in the second, with the best chances by Maxime Talbot on the doorstep and by PA Parenteau from the left side. The Kings changed their lines after Kyle Clifford was activated from injured reserve and Matt Frattin was scratched with a lower-body injury. Kings coach Darryl Sutter notably broke up the Dustin Brown-Anze Kopitar duo and had Brown play the right side with Clifford and Stoll. It didn't really provide any jumpstart; L.A. failed to capitalize on its first two power plays. Kopitar broke down the right side, but Varlamov got a piece of the shot late in the second period in which Colorado had a 16-7 shot advantage. The Avalanche won 21 of 34 faceoffs through 40 minutes. The Kings escaped, though, and could have grabbed momentum when John Mitchell took a double-minor high sticking penalty on Willie Mitchell. But L.A. had two shots on goal in the four minutes. L.A. still extended its points streak to nine games (6-0-3). It typically thrives on low-scoring games and won its share of 1-0 contests with Quick, but this might have been a game where it could have used Jeff Carter, who is nearing a return from a foot injury.
 
New Jersey @ San Jose 1-2 - The San Jose Sharks got off to another blistering start Saturday night, building a 2-0 first-period lead against the New Jersey Devils on goals by Scott Hannan and Tyler Kennedy. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi made 18 saves, allowing only a third-period goal to Patrik Elias. Martin Brodeur made 28 saves for New Jersey and survived a scary incident late in the game when a shot by Brent Burns hit him in the back of his neck. Brodeur made a sprawling save on Burns shot with 1:31 left to play and remained on the ice for several minutes, but he stayed in the game after being examined by a trainer. The Sharks took a 2-0 lead into the third period, but Elias cut that advantage in half at 8:10 by scoring a power-play goal with Jason Demers in the penalty box for hooking former Shark Steve Bernier. With Bernier providing a screen, Elias sent a wrist shot from the right circle past Niemi with one second left on the Devils' only advantage of the night. Andy Greene and Eric Gelinas got the assists. With less than three minutes left, Zajac sent a rocket toward the net, but Niemi made a great pad save. He made a couple more key saves down the stretch. Hannan opened the scoring at 4:25 with his third goal of the season, beating Brodeur with a slap shot from well above the left circle. Burns set the scoring play in motion, delivering a huge hit on Devils defenseman Adam Larsson behind the net and sending the puck to Thornton. The Sharks' captain threaded a cross-ice pass to Hannan, who skated in and, with Tomas Hertl providing a screen, unloaded a shot that beat Brodeur. The Sharks increased their lead to 2-0 on Kennedy's one-timer from the right circle at 14:47. From behind the net, Martin Havlat sent a pass to a wide-open Kennedy, who beat Brodeur to his stick side for his third goal of the season and first since Nov. 5.