Pittsburgh Penguins @ Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 - Fri, Nov 29, 2013

Marc-Andre Fleury rebounded from a poor start two days prior with 21 saves to help the Pittsburgh Penguins shut down the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 3-0 victory at Tampa Bay Times Forum on Friday. Sidney Crosby assisted on all three goals. He picked up his 700th point with the second assist, making him the fastest active player to reach the milestone (497 games). Despite Crosby's productive night on the offensive end, the Penguins captain gave Fleury much of the credit for the win.

"He was our best player tonight and a big reason why we won," he said.

Fleury was pulled 13 seconds into the second period Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a game the Penguins rallied to win 6-5 in a shootout. He responded with his third shutout of the season, which ties Ben Scrivens of the Los Angeles Kings for the League lead.

"I think we played a heck of a lot better in front of him. … Tonight, I thought Marc was extremely good," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "It was a bounce back for our team, but for Marc as well."

Chris Kunitz gave the Penguins the lone goal of the opening period on a nifty cross-ice give-and-go. Kris Letang started the play with a pass from near the defensive blue line to Kunitz along the left wall. Kunitz sent a pass across the ice to Crosby near the right wall and skated toward the net. Crosby hit him perfectly with a return feed, and Kunitz buried a shot into the top half of the net at 6:53 of the first period. He added a second with an empty-netter with 1:43 remaining in the third period. It was Kunitz's 13th goal of the season. Crosby's third assist of the game pushed his League-leading total to 36 points. Kunitz leads all NHL left wings in goals and is tied for third among Canadian-born players behind only Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, who has 14 but is out with an injury, and Anaheim Ducks right wing Corey Perry, who scored his 14th on Friday. Kunitz is one of the more fascinating cases among players trying to secure a spot on Canada's roster for the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Based purely on production, he deserves to be there, and his chemistry with Crosby could be considered a big plus. It could also be the reason he doesn't make it, Canada's management team could conclude he relies too heavily on Crosby to be successful. Brandon Sutter doubled the Penguins' advantage with a goal from behind the net on the power play at 8:27 of the third period. Sutter was trying to center the puck for Crosby, but his pass from behind the net hit Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman's skate and slipped into the net past goaltender Ben Bishop's right leg. The Lightning are now 4-4-1 since Stamkos was lost to a broken leg. They have been wildly inconsistent, routing the Anaheim Ducks and New York Rangers but losing by three goals or more three times. They've also failed to score more than one goal in four of the nine games, and counting the game Stamkos was hurt in, it is five of the past 10. Lightning coach Jon Cooper was not disappointed by his team's effort against Pittsburgh.

"It [stinks] we didn't score a goal. You kind of need those to win, but you've got to give them a little bit of credit. They dictated a little bit of what went on with us, as I thought we did with them at times," he said. "I didn't really think it was a 3-0 hockey game, to be honest."

Bishop had 26 saves for the Lightning, but Tampa Bay managed only six shots on goal in the third period and the team's best offensive chances came early in this contest.

"We did a pretty good job of tightening things up (in the third period) and of getting the next one too," Crosby said.

The victory pushed the Penguins two points clear of the Lightning and one behind the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins. Crosby seemed more pleased by his team's play than he did with reaching 700 career points. He did, however, discuss the impact missing extended time due to concussions, he sat out the majority of the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, has on his feelings about reaching such milestones.

"It's a nice number," Crosby said. "You try to be consistent. I think with missing time, you appreciate those things more. It's not why you play, but it's nice to get those."

Results - Fri, Nov 29, 2013

Winnipeg @ Philadelphia 1-2 - Ondrej Pavelec returned to the Winnipeg net after a one-game break and saw 34 Philadelphia shots, turning aside 32. Pavelec's first-period work prevented the Flyers from turning the game into a rout, but he was one of few Jets to shine. The Flyers pounced early, building a 2-0 lead by the five-minute mark of the second period with a hard forecheck and aggressive play against Jets forwards that prevented them from setting up offensively. In helping the Flyers earn their second win in six tries against the Western Conference, Hartnell's his fifth goal made it 1-0. Sean Couturier's shorthanded goal five minutes into the second period set up a two-goal lead the Flyers nursed late into the third. Left wing Evander Kane, tied for second on the Jets with seven goals, exited the game after Philadelphia defenseman Braydon Coburn hit him along the boards late in the first period. Kane did not return with what the Jets described as a lower-body injury and his status for their next game against the New York Rangers is unknown. Hartnell needed 48 seconds to put the Flyers ahead 1-0 on the their second shot of the game. Heavy pressure from Flyers forward Steve Downie pinned the Jets inside their zone. Downie's play forced a quick breakout pass by Winnipeg defenseman Dustin Byfuglien up the right side boards that kicked off Blake Wheeler's stick into the high slot, where Hartnell directed a shot into the net before Pavelec could scramble into position. Mason saw two shots in the first period, and Winnipeg went the final 15:27 of the period without one. The Jets faced early penalty trouble, taking four minors in the first. A tripping penalty to Tobias Enstrom at the horn created a two-man advantage for the Flyers that spanned the opening 1:36 of the second period. Winnipeg managed to kill off the 5-on-3, but with the visitors on their third power play shortly afterward, Couturier, whose first-period shorthanded breakaway was stopped by a Pavelec right-pad save, jumped on Byfuglien's turnover inside the Flyers' defensive zone. Couturier outraced Enstrom and put the puck between Pavelec's pads at 5:36. Jets forward Michael Frolik halved the Philadelphia lead with 7:07 remaining and ended Mason's shutout bid with his seventh goal. Wrestling away a bouncing puck from a pack of players he took it to Mason's right and fired a low shot that snuck past the goalie.

NY Rangers @ Boston 2-3 - Zdeno Chara scored the game-winning goal at 11:05 of the third period after he'd already assisted on a goal and dominated a fight with Rangers center Brian Boyle in a 3-2 win at TD Garden. The Bruins carried over their solid play from the second period into the third and tied the game at 2-2 with a fortuitous bounce. After Brad Marchand gained the New York zone with speed and stopped at the goal line, he set up a Patrice Bergeron one-timer from the right hash mark. The shot hit Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi, who was battling with Loui Eriksson in front, and eluded Lundqvist at 1:35. Bergeron snapped an eight-game goal drought. Chara gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead at 11:05. After yeoman's work by linemates David Krejci, Jarome Iginla and Milan Lucic prevented the Rangers from crossing the red line, Boston got the puck deep in the New York end. Krejci passed the puck to Chara in the high slot for a slap shot that beat Lundqvist to the glove side. Marchand's assist on the tying goal was his second point, after his first goal in seven games put the Bruins on the scoreboard first at 11:42 of the first period. Chara faked a shot from the left wall and instead passed cross ice to Marchand waiting at the bottom of the right circle for a one-timer that beat Lundqvist up high. It didn't take long for the Rangers to even the score 1-1. Brad Richards retrieved a rebound in the corner and cycled it to Rick Nash coming from behind the Boston net. Nash carried the puck to the slot while warding off Bergeron's check and then beat Rask with a low shot to the blocker side at 13:04. The Rangers took a 2-1 lead 82 seconds later on a wrist shot by McDonagh, who stepped up to the top of the right circle and beat Rask through traffic high to the blocker side at 14:26. The Rangers went on four power plays in the opening 20 minutes, including one that extended into the second period. Bruins coach Claude Julien said he wasn't concerned with their first period and was proud of his players' 60-minute effort. In the second period, the Rangers didn't land a shot on Rask until 12:26. Lundqvist kept New York in the lead with a couple of big saves on Lucic's chances in tight. Chara tried to fire up the Bruins with a fight against Boyle, but the emotion didn't translate into a goal before the second intermission.

Detroit @ NY Islanders 5-0 - It was the Red Wings' first victory against the Islanders since Jan. 30, 2007, and their first in regulation since a 6-0 win on Nov. 28, 2003. New York had been 6-0-1 in the past seven games between the teams. The Red Wings played their puck-possession style perfectly, and the Islanders struggled with their decision-making. Helm opened the scoring 7:09 into the game and added a spectacular shorthanded goal at 16:49 of the second. Alfredsson, playing in his 1,200th NHL game, sandwiched his goals around one by Gustav Nyquist in Detroit's three-goal third period. The Red Wings grabbed the lead on a quick defense-to-offense transition. Brendan Smith broke up a rush in his own zone and sent Alfredsson speeding away. Alfredsson carried the puck into the Islanders zone and dropped it for Helm, who deked past defenseman Radek Martinek, drew Poulin out of the net and slid home a backhander for his sixth goal of the season. Howard, who stopped 12 shots in the first period, had to be sharp early in the second when Tavares set up Thomas Vanek in the slot. But Howard got to the right post and took Vanek's one-timer in the crest. The Islanders got their only power play of the game when Justin Abdelkader was called for interference with 3:57 left in the second period. But it was the Red Wings who capitalized when Helm outraced Andrew MacDonald for a clearing attempt. Poulin came out of his net, but Helm got a piece of the puck before the two collided and it slid over the goal line for the first shorthanded goal allowed by the Islanders since March 29, 2012. It was Helm's seventh goal of the season; three have come against the Islanders. Alfredsson ended any speculation about the outcome when he took Smith's breakaway pass at the New York blue line, raced in alone and beat Poulin from between the hash marks 12 seconds into the third period for his fifth of the season. Six minutes later, Nyquist took a pass from Johan Franzen and beat Poulin to finish a 2-on-1 break. Alfredsson knocked in a loose puck with 3:47 remaining to complete the scoring.

Calgary @ Anaheim 2-5 - The Ducks got veteran center Saku Koivu back, and its top line provided the opening and finishing touches to set up a four-game stretch against the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues. Koivu got two assists in his first game back after he missed 15 with a concussion. He was reunited with Daniel Winnik and Andrew Cogliano and the line had a goal and four assists. Winnik took a pass from Koivu and fed Cogliano for a backhand off a rush for a 4-1 lead 8:21 into the second period. Koivu's most impressive move of the game might have been a drive around Christopher Breen in the third. Koivu also won 11 of 18 faceoffs. The Penner-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry line had three goals and three assists. Penner tipped in Getzlaf's shot-pass for a 3-0 lead 3:52 into the second period and hammered home Getzlaf's pass to make it 5-2 at 11:26 of the third. Calgary played without rookie center Sean Monahan and defenseman Dennis Wideman. Monahan is week-to-week with a hairline fracture in his foot, and Wideman is out six to eight weeks with a broken hand. Anaheim's defensemen helped build a 2-0 lead. Sami Vatanen slapped the puck into an open net 12:20 into the first period after Calgary goalie Reto Berra got out of position trying to defend Cogliano. A little less than a minute later, Ben Lovejoy sent a low shot Perry redirected under Berra for his team-leading 14th goal. Calgary got its goals in the second period from David Jones, who was credited with the first goal when he touched Smid's shot that trickled past Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen across the goal line at 5:51. Jones then took the puck from Koivu behind the net, spun around and fired it to the right side at 12:17 for an unassisted goal that made it 4-2.

St Louis @ San Jose 3-6 - Brent Burns had his first career hat trick, lifting the Sharks to a 6-3 victory against the Blues in a battle of two Western Conference powers. Burns scored twice in the first period when the Sharks built a 4-0 lead. Then one minute after the Blues closed to within 4-3 on Jaden Schwartz' 4-on-4 goal with 8:41 to play, Burns answered with a brilliant power-play goal. Skating down the left boards, Burns cut sharply to his right and snapped a shot between two Blues and past goaltender Jaroslav Halak, with Joe Pavelski providing a screen. Tomas Hertl added an empty-net goal for the Sharks at 19:14. Joe Thornton and Tommy Wingels each scored for San Jose during a four-goal first period. Defenseman Ian Cole scored for the Blues in the second period, and third-period goals by David Backes and Schwartz made it a 4-3 game. Burns scored two goals for the Minnesota Wild against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 6, 2010, but he had never scored more than one goal in a game since being traded to the Sharks before the 2011-12 season. The Sharks (17-3-5) won their fourth straight game and snapped the Blues' five-game winning streak. San Jose also ended its five-game losing streak on home ice to the Blues (18-4-3), a stretch that included two defeats in a 4-1 first-round series loss in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Sharks beat the Blues 6-2 on Oct. 15 at St. Louis and scored six more times Friday, including four quick goals in the opening period. Antti Niemi made 21 saves for the Sharks, who improved to 4-0-0 on their five-game homestand. San Jose's Logan Couture tied his career high with three assists, all in the first period. Blues backup goaltender Brian Elliott started the game and allowed four goals on 12 shots in the first period before giving way to Halak to start the second. San Jose overwhelmed the Blues in the first period, outshooting them 12-2 and building a four-goal lead. Burns gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead 35 seconds into the game, taking a pass in the slot from Patrick Marleau and ripping a shot past Elliott. Couture, who fed a pass to Marleau, earned his first assist of the night. Thornton and Hertl, Burns' regular linemates, had yet to come off the bench in the Sharks first change, but he had no trouble adjusting to Couture and Marleau. Thornton made it 2-0 at 3:01 with a power-play goal, snapping the Sharks' 0-for-14 skid with the man advantage. Couture blasted a shot from the left circle, and Pavelski tracked down the puck to the left of the crease. Pavelski made a no-look pass to Thornton in the right circle, and Thornton snapped a shot over Elliott's shoulder, inside the right post. Burns struck again at 9:15 for his third goal in four games since coming off injured reserve. Burns took a cross-ice pass from Thornton in the right circle and buried a shot past Elliott, prompting St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock to take his timeout. Just over two minutes later, Wingels scored on a breakaway, pounding a shot from the right circle that bounced off Elliott's glove and over the goal line at 11:27. Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester had turned the puck over in the neutral zone, and Wingels quickly headed the other way, racing along the right boards before scoring his eighth goal of the season and giving San Jose a 4-0 lead. Cole cut San Jose's lead to 4-1 at 11:03 of the second period, taking a pass from Schwartz and scoring his first goal of the season. Backes took a behind-the-back pass from Derek Roy in the right circle and beat Niemi to the far side on the power play at 2:02 of the third, making it 4-2. Schwartz scored at 11:19 to make it a one-goal game. The Sharks and Blues played each other for the first time since Oct. 15, a San Jose win in St. Louis that was marred by Maxim Lapierre's illegal hit from behind on Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle. Lapierre sent Boyle head-first into the boards. Boyle was knocked out, left the ice at Scottrade Center on a stretcher and missed seven games with a concussion. Lapierre was suspended by the NHL for five games. After the incident, Lapierre apologized to Boyle publicly and via text message; Boyle declined to answer his phone calls. Lapierre was greeted by a few boos from Sharks fans whenever he touched the puck, and forward Mike Brown bumped him at a stoppage during the first period, but San Jose was more intent on scoring goals than exacting retribution.

Montreal @ Washington 2-3 SO - Daniel Briere opened the scoring at 15:20 of the first period when he and Brian Gionta worked below the goal line. Gionta pushed the puck to Briere, who wrapped around the net and pushed the puck past Holtby. Despite 3:47 of consecutive power-play time before Briere's goal, the Capitals were held without a shot on goal for the final 15:40 of the period. Washington got off to a more spirited start in the second period, tying the game at 1-1 at 5:17 when Budaj mishandled the puck behind the goal, allowing Grabovski to corral it and feed a wide-open Fehr in front for his third goal of the season. Montreal regained the lead 67 seconds later. On a 3-on-1 rush, Tomas Plekanec was the beneficiary of a bouncing puck that was originally tipped by Washington defenseman Nate Schmidt's outstretched stick before ricocheting off John Carlson and back to Plekanec. It was the third goal in two games the Capitals have allowed within 80 seconds of scoring themselves. With 5:32 remaining in regulation, Mikhail Grabovski tied the game when Fehr returned the favor from his earlier goal. Shortly after Budaj stopped his backhand attempt, Fehr, who had to retrieve his stick after it was knocked from his hands, was able to chip a bouncing puck toward Grabovski, who settled it and beat the Montreal goaltender between his legs for his eighth goal. With the shootout tied at 2-2 after three rounds, Grabovski beat Budaj and Holtby stopped Plekanec to seal the victory for Washington.

New Jersey @ Carolina 5-2 - New Jersey had earned a 1-0 lead on Mark Fayne's first-period goal, but the Hurricanes got the upper hand in the second on goals by Jeff Skinner and Jordan Staal. At that point, it looked like goaltender Cory Schneider was destined for another hard-luck decision. In his eight losses this season, the Devils have scored six goals. With Carolina protecting a 2-1 lead in the third period, a shot by Devils forward Andrei Loktionov from the slot at 8:43 appeared to be stopped by Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward, but the puck leaked through and crossed the goal line. Adam Henrique put New Jersey ahead 3-2 on the power play at 12:02, scoring from the slot. Dainius Zubrus extend the lead to two goals at 13:52 on a hard shot from between the circles, and Jaromir Jagr followed his rebound for his 11th goal of the season with less than five minutes remaining. For Jagr, it was a second straight game with a milestone goal. After passing Mario Lemieux for ninth place on the all-time list, Jagr struck for the 692nd of his NHL career, tying Steve Yzerman in eighth place. With a goal and two assists against Carolina, Jagr has 22 points in 26 games, easily the Devils leading scorer. With New Jersey trailing 2-1 after two periods, he didn't anticipate his team's four-goal comeback, but his 1,417 games of experience gave him a little perspective. For the Hurricanes, their 18-shot effort was their lowest output of the season. Carolina had some momentum when Skinner fired a wrister to the far post at 1:53 of the second period, then the Hurricanes took the lead on a beautiful pass from Justin Faulk to Jordan Staal for a breakaway goal at 14:53. After that, everything came unraveled in the third period. The Hurricanes seemed to have found their game after consecutive wins over the Ottawa Senators and New Jersey. The wins, however, came on the heels of an 0-3-1 stretch. The inconsistency left coach Kirk Muller to some blunt assessments after the game.

Edmonton @ Columbus 2-4 - Ryan Johansen had a goal and an assist, Matt Calvert had two assists and the Blue Jackets scored a pair of power-play goals in the second period. They appeared poised to try and match the beating the Oilers put on them. But Sergei Bobrovsky lost his bid for a second shutout in three games when Sam Gagner scored at 10:36 of the third on a bad angle shot from the goal line to make it 4-1. Edmonton (8-17-2) made it interesting when Jordan Eberle added a power-play goal with 4:21 remaining. Bryzgalov did what he could to keep the Blue Jackets from adding to the first-period goal by Johansen when the Oilers ran into penalty problems early in the second. Nick Schultz was sent off for tripping at 1:21, followed 13 seconds later by Jeff Petry, who was called for delay of game when he inadvertently sent the puck over the glass. Richards called timeout to have a fresh first power-play unit on the ice. That's when Bryzgalov went to work, denying Johansen from in front before getting a paddle on the goalmouth attempt by Cam Atkinson. With 39 seconds left on the two-man advantage, the Oilers' Andrew Ference was whistled for holding at 2:56 and had to wait to serve his penalty. It was too much for Edmonton as Anisimov was parked alone in front while Calvert patiently waited for an opening. He fired the puck through the crease for the redirect by Anisimov at 3:34 just as the 5-on-3 expired. Columbus made it 3-0 at 10:30 when Foligno stuffed his own power-play rebound through the pads of Bryzgalov. The original shot came off a centering pass by Boone Jenner. Skille made it 4-0 at 17:06 on a breakaway after taking a long outlet pass from Corey Tropp, who was playing his first game for Columbus after being claimed off waivers from the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. Columbus managed seven shots on goal in the first period - the 18th straight regulation period with eight or fewer - but scored on the second one. Johansen took advantage of the forechecking by Atkinson and Calvert to grab a loose puck and fired a quick shot past Bryzgalov at 7:50 for his team-high ninth goal.

Toronto @ Buffalo 2-3 SO - Christian Ehrhoff scored 38 seconds into overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres a 3-2 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs at First Niagara Center. Ehrhoff's goal came just as a penalty to Toronto's Paul Ranger ended, and the shot from the point beat Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer through the five-hole. It was Ehrhoff's second goal of the season. Ehrhoff was helped out by a screen in front by the newest Sabres forward, Matt D'Agostini. The Sabres claimed D'Agostini off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. Ranger took a holding penalty with 1:32 left in the third period, giving the Sabres a power play at the end of regulation, but it was Toronto's James van Riemsdyk who had the best chance during it. With 20.4 seconds remaining, van Riemsdyk broke in on Sabres goalie Ryan Miller only to be taken out of the play by D'Agostini. Phil Kessel put the Maple Leafs ahead 1-0 beating Miller on a quick 2-on-1 rush. It developed when Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers was caught out of position. That left Mike Weber alone to defend Kessel and van Riemsdyk. The goal was Kessel's 14th of the season. Matt Moulson tied the game 1-1 on the power play with his 10th goal of the season at 7:57 of the second period. Moulson put away a loose puck from a shot by Ville Leino in front of the net with Reimer out of position. Nikolai Kulemin put the Maple Leafs ahead with his second goal of the season at 10:23 of the second period. Trevor Smith set up the play when he floated a pass over the net out in front for Kulemin, who batted the puck midair past Miller to make it 2-1. Luke Adam's first goal of the season tied the game 2-2 with 1:10 to play in the second. He scored off a rebound of a Zemgus Girgensons shot that Reimer deflected right to him. Adam was playing in his fourth game of the season since being recalled by the Sabres on Nov. 20.

Results - Thu, Nov 28, 2013 (Thanksgiving)

Vancouver @ Ottawa 5-2 - The goal-starved Vancouver Canucks feasted in the first half of the second period against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. Daniel Sedin scored his 300th career goal early in the second period and then assisted on a power-play goal by Jason Garrison, as Vancouver scored four times in a span of 8:51 to beat the Senators 5-2. Garrison and David Booth also had a goal and an assist, and Henrik Sedin had two assists. Dale Weise scored the Canucks' fourth goal on Craig Anderson. Mike Santorelli scored against Robin Lehner in the third period. Roberto Luongo made 37 saves for Vancouver, which won for the second time in nine games (2-4-3) to begin a four-game road trip. Daniel Sedin is the third player in franchise history to reach the 300-goal milestone. He trails Markus Naslund, Vancouver's all-time leader with 346 goals, and Trevor Linden (318). Ottawa's Clarke MacArthur scored his 100th NHL goal at 8:50 of the first period. Mika Zibanejad scored at 18:58 of the second to draw the Senators within 4-2. Anderson stopped 11 of 15 shots before he was pulled at 9:40 of the second. He was replaced at the first stoppage in play after Weise's goal by Lehner, who made 12 saves. It was the first of two meetings between the two Canadian teams this year. The Canucks will host Ottawa on March 2 at BC Place in the Tim Hortons 2014 Heritage Classic. The Senators overcame a two-goal deficit for a 6-4 win against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday to return from a 2-1-0 road trip. They welcome the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday in former captain Daniel Alfredsson's first game back in Ottawa. The Canucks continue their trip Saturday against the New York Rangers. It's the first regular-season game between the teams since Tortorella was fired by New York and Rangers coach Alain Vigneault was let go by the Canucks. Luongo was in pain after he was struck high on the left side of his body by Kyle Turris' one-timer from the right side at the 16-second mark of the second period. Canucks trainer Mike Burnstein came off the bench to attend to Luongo, who remained in the game. Daniel Sedin took Henrik's pass from behind the net and beat Anderson with a low shot inside the left post for his milestone goal 31 seconds into the second period, the first of three Vancouver goals in a span of 3:35. Booth scored his second goal of the season 45 seconds later to put the Canucks up 2-1 at 1:16. Garrison scored a power-play goal at 4:06 to increase the lead to 3-1. Weise made it 4-1 at 9:22.

Edmonton @ Nashville 3-0 - Upon announcing that Ilya Bryzgalov would start Thanksgiving night against the Nashville Predators, Edmonton Oilers coach Dallas Eakins noted how Bryzgalov arrived with swagger. Eleven days into his Oilers career after a seven-month absence from the NHL, Bryzgalov's swagger showed in his game and rubbed off on his teammates. Making his first NHL start since April 25 when he was with the Philadelphia Flyers, Bryzgalov stopped all 33 shots to earn his 31st NHL shutout and a 3-0 win in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena. A far cry from his usual moniker of 'Swiss Cheese'. Bryzgalov was sharp in the first period by turning away all 13 Predators shots, including two quality saves on Nashville's first power play, to keep the game scoreless after one before Edmonton's offense came alive in the second. Making his first career start against Edmonton, and ninth straight overall, Nashville rookie goaltender Marek Mazanec entered the game with two shutouts in his past five starts. But Mazanec was a victim to his opponents' slick skating and deft passing. Matching unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against Nashville's Paul Gaustad and Edmonton's David Perron led to a 4-on-4 early in the second. With more room for their fast skaters to work, the Oilers scored first when Jordan Eberle forced a turnover, skated around the boards and sent a sweet cross-ice pass to Jeff Petry, who fed a driving Ryan Nugent-Hopkins directly on the tape for a deflection past Mazanec to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead. The Oilers took a two-goal lead 51 seconds later when Sam Gagner fed Taylor Hall on a 2-on-1. After receiving the pass, Hall turned on the jets for a back-hand deke that extended his point streak to five games (2-4-6). The Predators not only lost the game, they lost defenseman Shea Weber to an upper body injury late in the second after he absorbed a wrist shot from Perron just below his right eye. Playing on Nashville's top defensive pair with Roman Josi, Weber entered the game sixth in the League in average ice time (26:33) and has seven goals and 12 points with a minus-6 rating in 25 games. Nashville played the second game of a back-to-back after winning 4-0 against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night, but failed to generate goals Thursday despite a bevy of shots against Bryzgalov. Each team had one shot through the first eight-plus minutes of the game before the Oilers generated a couple of chances. Edmonton's line of Nail Yakupov, Gagner and Ales Hemsky put some pressure on the Predators' defense but Mazanec was up to the task. Eberle added an empty-net goal at 19:03 of the third for the final margin of victory. The Predators blanked the Oilers' power play on four occasions and have killed off 20 consecutive power plays dating back to Nov. 15, but they still dropped to 3-1 all-time in games played on Thanksgiving.

Phoenix @ Minnesota 3-1 - 11/27

The Phoenix Coyotes ended a three-game losing streak by reverting to their old formula, tight checking, good goaltending and timely scoring. Radim Vrbata scored twice to back a 28-save performance by Thomas Greiss in a 3-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night. Phoenix entered the game with a 14-6-4 record, though its success came despite an uncharacteristically leaky defense. But the Coyotes tightened up in front of their backup goaltender to end the Wild's six-game winning streak at Xcel Energy Center.

"It's been coming for a while," coach Dave Tippett said of the improved defensive work. "We can go back a few weeks ago, and I didn't think we were playing well enough to win even though we were winning. We know we have to get back to playing a real tight defending game, and our offensive has been good. It hasn't been an issue. We have to defend better, and hopefully tonight was a step in that direction."

Mikkel Boedker had the other goal for the Coyotes, who are off until they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Dany Heatley had the only goal for Minnesota (15-7-4), which hosts the Colorado Avalanche on Friday to start a home-and-home series. Greiss, signed during the summer to back up Mike Smith, has won all three of his starts this season.

"He's been real solid," Tippett said. "He's really earned the respect of his teammates in practice. When he gets an opportunity to play, he's played well."

Phoenix grabbed the lead 8:13 into the game thanks to a quick defense-to-offense transition. Defenseman Derek Morris broke up a rush in his own zone and triggered a 2-on-1 break the other way. Boedker carried the puck down the left side, moved into the left circle and snapped a shot over Niklas Backstrom's glove for his sixth goal of the season. Greiss made his best stop about 4 1/2 minutes later. Heatley redirected a pass through Greiss' pads, but the goaltender got enough of the puck to deflect it just wide of the post. Aside from Heatley's chance, the Coyotes dominated play for the rest of the period. They outshot Minnesota 12-5, and only the play of Backstrom (23 saves) kept the Wild within a goal after 20 minutes.

"We're not coming out with the same force in our game, like we're going to dictate and take control." Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "We're very reactive, on our heels. We're going out there and trying to be safe. When we're at our best, we're playing an aggressive game both with and without the puck."

Phoenix doubled its lead 3:42 into the second period when Tim Kennedy carried the puck around the net and centered to Vrbata, who got off a one-timer an instant before Mikko Koivu's stick would have gotten in the way. Vrbata's shot caught the far corner. The Coyotes were outshot 10-3 in the middle period, but Minnesota generated few serious chances against Greiss. The Wild's best chance came when Heatley had a jam shot near the right post, but Greiss extended his pad to keep the puck out of the net.

"The 'D' was great all night today," Greiss said. "They played a solid game. We talked about cutting chances down, blocking more shots and helping the goalie out."

The Wild finally solved Greiss at 10:02 of the third. Greiss stopped Nino Niederreiter's slap shot, which went through a screen, but couldn't control the puck, and Heatley batted it out of the air and into the net for his fifth goal of the season. The Wild's best chance to tie the game came with just more than two minutes remaining when Charlie Coyle jabbed at a rebound with Greiss down, but the puck went over the net. Kyle Brodziak's interference penalty with 44.3 seconds remaining forced the Wild to play down a man as they tried for the equalizer, and Vrbata hit the empty net with 22.9 seconds left to seal the win.

"We managed the puck really well tonight," Vrbata said. "We want to play in the opposition's zone as much as we can, and I think we did that tonight."

Minnesota played without its leading scorer, Zach Parise, who's out with a contusion of his left foot. The Wild announced Tuesday that he would miss 2-3 weeks, but Parise skated with the team Wednesday morning, though he didn't dress for the game. The Wild also played all but 29 seconds without forward Mikael Granlund, who was returning from an upper-body injury. He took a high hit while trying to deliver a check to Phoenix defenseman Connor Murphy on the first shift of the game, left the ice and didn't return. The Wild did not disclose any details of his injury.

Chicago @ Calgary 3-2 - 11/27

Calgary Flames goaltender Reto Berra earned his first career win at the expense of the Chicago Blackhawks in early November. Patrick Kane returned the favor for Antti Raanta on Wednesday night. Kane scored twice, including the game-winner with 18 seconds left in regulation, and Raanta made 20 saves in his first NHL start as the Blackhawks rallied to beat the Flames 3-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome.

"I thought he played really good," Kane said of Raanta. "Both goals he didn't really have a chance on and made numerous saves that he's not really expected to make, but at the same time, he made them. They were big for us. He was our best player tonight for sure, 100 percent and nice to see a start like that out of him, especially his first NHL start. I know he was excited and it seems like he has a bright future, for sure.”

Raanta, who made his NHL debut in relief of starter Corey Crawford in a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 19, was pleased to earn his first win.

"It felt pretty good all game long and I got a good couple saves in the first period and got that kind of feeling," he said. "Confidence was pretty good all the time. I don't know, of course a couple goals were to the glove side. Those kind of goals you want to catch, highlight save. We take two points and that's the main thing."

Patrick Sharp also scored for the Blackhawks, who scored three times in the third period to overcome a 2-0 deficit. The victory moved them back atop the NHL standings after the St. Louis Blues temporarily overtook the Blackhawks with a 4-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche. Matt Stajan and Sean Monahan scored for the Flames. A couple of bounces went Kane's way. After kick-starting the Blackhawks' offense by scoring at 9:42 of the third period, Kane capped Chicago's comeback by sailing a backhand over Berra's glove for the winner.

"We did a lot of that last year in the playoffs," Kane said. "I think it's a group that familiar with the situation of being down going into the third. We've been good at coming back and winning games or getting a point out of those games. Tonight it was another example where we didn't quit."

The winning goal came on Kane's second lucky bounce of the period.

"It was a good draw, we got it back to the point, tried to get a shot on net," Kane said. "I know it was blocked, but it kind of came right to me. I was actually going to spin and try to pass it to [Andrew] Shaw back door, but I just tried to get one on net and I didn't see the replay or anything to be honest, so I don't even know how it went in. I didn't really see it go in. I just saw the guys celebrate. I'm pretty happy."

Kane started and finished the come-from-behind victory. He cut a 2-0 deficit in half with his first bounce midway through the final period. Breaking into the Flames' zone, Kane tried to center a pass to Shaw, but the puck deflected off the stick of Flames defenseman Kris Russell and hopped over Berra's pad to trim Calgary's lead to 2-1.

"[Shaw] was driving the net and it ended up hitting the guy's stick and I think it bounced over the guy's pad perfect," he said. "It was a lucky one, but it was nice to get us on the board."

Fifty-six seconds later, Sharp chipped Marian Hossa's pass behind Berra and into the corner of the net to tie the game.

"We had chances in the first two periods and I think it was just a matter of time before it was coming," Kane said. "That first one was kind of lucky, but at that point and time you'll take it to get yourself back in the game at 2-1. It was a great play by Hossa and Sharp on the second goal. It's what you come to expect from those guys."

Before the late rally, it looked like the Flames would beat the Blackhawks for the second time in as many tries this month. At 2:05 of the third and with a delayed penalty coming to Chicago, Jiri Hudler hauled the puck into the Blackhawks' zone and dropped a pass onto the stick of Monahan, who fired a shot over Raanta's glove to give Calgary a 2-0 lead. But the Blackhawks connected under a minute apart and Kane's 15th of the season capped the comeback for the defending Stanley Cup champions.

"That was something we were trying to guard against because, No. 1, we know the firepower of that team," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "They did basically the same trick to the Vancouver Canucks a few nights ago. You make a few mistakes and they're so skilled, they'll make you pay for it. It's too bad because we played very well and we showed up to play."

The Flames wasted no time testing Raanta's readiness. The 24-year-old goaltender made his glove save off Lee Stempniak midway through the first period look routine, and Mike Cammalleri's backhand from below the hash marks was handled with ease by his right pad. He got the better of Cammalleri again with three minutes left in the period, getting a shoulder on a shot after Stempniak spun off a hit from behind the net and found his linemate alone in the slot. He capped his 10-save period by head-butting away a long-range shot as time expired. At the other end, Berra made 10 saves, including a pad stop after Hossa skipped through two Calgary defenders, to keep the game scoreless heading into the first intermission. But the Flames got to Raanta in the second period. Jonathan Toews failed to clear the puck out of his own end and Hudler found Stajan, who one-timed a shot from the high slot past Raanta's glove at 13:32 to give Calgary a 1-0 lead.

St Louis @ Colorado 4-1 - 11/27

If the St. Louis Blues have any weaknesses, they have yet to show many while running up an 18-3-3 record and challenging for first place in the hotly contested Central Division. The Blues were solid in all aspects of the game Wednesday in a 4-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center that opened a three-game road trip. The Blues are as hot as any team in the NHL. They've won five consecutive games and are 10-1-1 in their past 12.

"We are sticking to the way we play," said left wing Alexander Steen, who scored his 20th goal in the first period to tie Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead. "Pucks are bouncing our way and we are taking care in our own end and our goaltending has been phenomenal. We have been getting our chances, and our power play has been clicking, and it helps that we are playing sound offensively."

The win was the second for the Blues in two games this season against the Avalanche (17-6-0), whose winning streak ended at three. The Blues had lost eight consecutive games here since a 1-0 win April 12, 2009.

"We haven't had good history in this building the past few years, so we needed to set the tone," said Blues captain David Backes, who had a goal and an assist in the first period when St. Louis took a 3-1 lead. "We wanted to make sure we were playing the right way and going to the net with sticks on the ice."

Avalanche center Matt Duchene returned to the lineup after missing three games because of an oblique injury; he played because center Paul Stastny was scratched after experiencing back spasms. Duchene hasn't had a full practice since he was injured Nov. 16 against the Florida Panthers and wasn't expected to play until Friday against the Minnesota Wild.

"I was going to take two more days, but when Paulie went down it was one of those situations where I need to step in and I felt good enough to do so," Duchene said. "At that point it wasn't precautionary anymore and we just went with it. I'm just thankful to get out of that game without anything more in terms of being hurt. I feel great and I'm looking forward to playing on the weekend."

The Blues scored at even strength, on a power play and while shorthanded in the first period. Chris Stewart closed the scoring with an empty-net goal with 1:44 to play. Backes opened the scoring at 2:46 when he redirected T.J. Oshie's pass behind goalie Semyon Varlamov, who on Saturday posted a 1-0 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings.

"To tell you the truth, I didn’t see the goalie," Backes said. "I saw the pass coming across and had defenders on me and just had my stick out there and [Oshie] made a great play. So I don’t think I can take much credit for putting it in the right spot, just making the hard play and finding some luck.”

Steen made it 2-0 at 6:10 on a power play. It took the Blues 36 seconds to convert after Avalanche defenseman Jan Hejda tripped Oshie. Backes slid the puck through the slot to Steen, who had inside position on defenseman Nate Guenin for a chip shot past Varlamov.

"I just came down the back side," Steen said. "The last time we played them we had a couple shots from the slot. They were sitting a little bit on it, but that opened up a back-door pass."

Avalanche coach Patrick Roy used his timeout immediately after Steen's goal to settle the team, which at that point was being outshot 9-1.

"I told the guys let's try to get one and go into the second in a one-goal game," Roy said.

The Avalanche pulled within 2-1 at 8:24 when Patrick Bordeleau scored his third goal, a career high. Brad Malone took a shot while skating along the right-wing boards that goalie Jaroslav Halak stopped. The rebound went to the Blues' Maxim Lapierre, but Hejda stole the puck for a shot on goal and Bordeleau jammed it in. Colorado had a chance to tie the game on a power play when Ian Cole went off for holding Duchene. Instead, Blues forward Jaden Schwartz scooped up the puck in his zone after the Avalanche misfired on a pass. Schwartz went end-to-end before firing the puck by Varlamov's glove at 18:12 for a shorthanded goal and a 3-1 lead.

"They had some momentum going with the puck in their end, so it was nice to put us back up by a couple of goals," Schwartz said.

Roy said, "That hurt a lot. We didn't have a good first period."

The Blues killed all four Avalanche power plays and have killed 20 of 21 penalties in the past seven games.

"Our power play was brutal," Duchene said. "It felt like at times we didn't want the puck, we were kind of shoveling off the problem to the next guy. When you're on the power play, you have to want the thing. We have to execute better and we didn't do that and that let us down for sure. We lost the game in the first 10 minutes. I think if we play a little bit better in the first 10, if we go into the second with a 2-1 deficit, I think maybe it's a different game. They're a good team and we've got a lot to learn before we can beat a team like that consistently. They do a lot of really good things and we can learn from them. We also can't give them too much respect. They're in our head a little bit probably, and we have to get rid of that and keep moving on here."

Toronto @ Pittsburgh 5-6 SO - 11/27

Winning ugly is still winning, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won't throw this one back. The Penguins spotted the Toronto Maple Leafs a three-goal lead less than a minute into the second period but rallied for a 6-5 shootout victory Wednesday night. Sidney Crosby put the Penguins ahead in the second round of the tiebreaker when he carried the puck slowly toward Toronto's net and goaltender Jonathan Bernier missed on a poke check, allowing Crosby to slide the puck past him. Evgeni Malkin ended the game by wristing a shot over Bernier's pad.

"That's not the way we draw it up, but we found a way to stick with it," Crosby said. "I think it's so ugly, it was just so bad, there's no easy way to describe it. Fortunately, we stuck with it, drew some power plays and took advantage of them."

Rookie Jeff Zatkoff, who replaced Marc-Andre Fleury 13 seconds into the second period, stopped Tyler Bozak and David Clarkson in the shootout. Pittsburgh trailed 5-3 after two periods, but the Penguins pulled even with two goals in the first 7:41 of the third. With Jerred Smithson and James van Riemsdyk in the penalty box, Malkin controlled the puck and slid a pass to a wide-open James Neal open in the right circle. Neal snapped a shot past Bernier at 3:46 to make it a one-goal game. Malkin tied it 3:55 later with his second of the game. He and Crosby converged on the puck in Toronto's crease and Malkin jabbed Bernier's right pad back to give him enough room to poke the puck over the goal line.

"After the second, we went to the locker room and said 'Just play right,'" Malkin said. "We saw we needed to spend time in the offensive zone and we saw they did not have a shot [in the third]."

The Penguins outshot the Maple Leafs 48-24, including 17-0 in the third period and 2-0 in overtime.

"We will take the point and move forward," Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf said. "It was a back-and-forth game. We took a lot of the momentum in the second and they obviously took it to us in the third. We did a lot of good things, but we did some things that we would like back and that's in a back-and-forth game against a team that has that much skill. With a team like that, you can't receive the whole night."

Van Riemsdyk's second goal of the game sent Fleury to the bench and gave Toronto a 3-1 lead. Fleury retrieved the puck behind his net and attempted to send it to Jayson Megna, but van Riemsdyk picked off the pass and scored into an open net 13 seconds into the middle period. Fleury, who allowed three goals on 11 shots, entered the game with a 3.15 goals-against average in 26 games against Toronto, his third-worst against any team he has faced in at least 20 games behind the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens. He was replaced by Zatkoff, who surrendered a goal 29 seconds later. Bozak knocked Kris Letang off the puck in Pittsburgh's zone and fed Phil Kessel, who fired a one-timer past a diving Zatkoff to make it 4-1.

"I think we played in two parts," Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "I don't think we had a very good start to the game, but then we got out game going and then we played more of what we are capable of doing and then we got ourselves into penalty problems early in the third period and gave them all the momentum."

Malkin and Letang scored to cut the deficit to one with 4:40 remaining in the period, but the 18,660 in attendance for the Penguins' 300th consecutive sellout voiced their displeasure after the Maple Leafs regained their two-goal lead with 4.3 seconds left. Brooks Orpik turned the puck over in the neutral zone and van Riemsdyk's shot dribbled off Zatkoff's left pad to Bozak, who tapped it in to put Toronto up 5-3 entering the third period.

"With a team like that, if you give them an inch, they're going to take it all," van Riemsdyk said. "We have to regroup. We have two big games coming up and we'll go from there."

The Penguins recorded the game's first eight shots and took a 1-0 lead 1:57 into the game when Chris Conner buried a cross-crease feed from Andrew Ebbett for his first goal in his return to the Penguins. Pittsburgh finished the period with a 17-10 shot advantage, but the Maple Leafs controlled much of the action after the first five minutes. Simon Despres was called for interference at 5:01 and van Riemsdyk tipped Phaneuf's slap shot past Fleury eight seconds into the power play to tie the game. Nazem Kadri scored off a 3-on-1 break at 11:41 to put Toronto ahead. Penguins coach Dan Bylsma was happy with the outcome, if not the way his team got there.

"Some of the adjectives [used to describe the game], I'm not going to use right now," Bylsma said. "I think we started that game playing well, getting in the offensive zone and you look up and seven shots and they don't have one yet. But I think you can look at four specific mistakes that we made, whether it's with the puck or mental mistakes, that gave them goals. We felt like we could come out and we were going to get opportunities to win the game."