Results - Sun, Dec 01, 2013

Vancouver @ Carolina 3-2 - The Canucks killed all 11:33 of the Carolina Hurricanes' power-play time, including a stretch of 5:33 consecutively, in a 3-2 win Sunday. Protecting the 3-2 lead in the second, Vancouver killed off a high-sticking double minor to Daniel Sedin and Brad Richardson's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The long stretch included 27 seconds of a two-man advantage for Carolina, but the Canucks were solid throughout. Vancouver managed to clear the defensive zone 13 times. The power play cashed in quickly at the start of the game. Skating 5-on-3, Ryan Kesler struck 10 seconds into the man advantage at 3:24 with his 11th goal. Hurricanes defenseman Mike Komisarek had put the Hurricanes down two skaters when his clearing pass sailed over the glass behind the Vancouver goal. The Canucks extended the lead to 2-0 at 15:48 when Tom Sestito redirected a shot from the point by Jason Garrison, who earned an assist on each of the first two goals. The Hurricanes struck twice in the first minute of the second period. Jordan Staal jammed home a loose puck in the crease at 39 seconds and Nathan Gerbe beat Vancouver goalie Eddie Lack with a short-side goal 10 seconds later. Vancouver reclaimed the lead 27 seconds later when Kesler scored his second goal of the game. Chris Higgins carried the puck behind the net and shoveled it in front, where Kesler scored again, this time at the top of the crease. A short time later, the Vancouver penalty kill went to work. Dan Hamhuis led the Canucks with 7:23 of short-handed ice time and contributed three blocked shots.

Detroit @ Ottawa 4-2 - Daniel Alfredsson scored into an empty net with 1:03 left in the third period in his first game back in Ottawa, and Drew Miller scored twice in the Detroit Red Wings' 4-2 win against the Senators on Sunday at Canadian Tire Centre. Alfredsson, who left Ottawa during the summer after 17 seasons to sign a one-year contract with Detroit, was given a standing ovation by the capacity crowd of 20,011 prior to the game during the Senators' video tribute to their former captain. The 40-year-old Swede said he really appreciated the gesture by the Senators and their fans, and found it a bit of a challenge to express his feelings in that moment. Alfredsson walked into the arena with Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson prior to the game. The two Swedes shook hands and embraced before Alfredsson turned to go into Detroit's dressing room, while Karlsson continued down the hall to Ottawa's room. Chants of "Alfie! Alfie!" during the video tribute gave way to boos for Alfredsson by late in the second period, when he carried the puck down the right side into the Senators' zone. Clarke MacArthur and Mika Zibanejad scored, and Robin Lehner stopped 19 shots for the Senators, who won their past two games against Detroit, including a 4-2 win at Joe Louis Arena on Nov. 23. Alfredsson was booed again when his name was announced after he restored Detroit's two-goal lead, 18 seconds after Zibanejad drew Ottawa to within 3-2 at 18:39. The crowd's response was more ambiguous when Alfredsson took the first shot of the game, a wrister on Lehner 18 seconds into the opening period, as well as when his name was announced for his 14th assist of the season on Franzen's seventh goal at 8:22 of the second. He was in the neutral zone when he passed back to defenseman Jakub Kindl, who sent a cross-ice feed to Franzen at the Senators' blue line. Franzen, who had a five-goal game in Ottawa on Feb. 2, 2011, beat Lehner with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle for his ninth goal in eight games against the Senators. Miller made it 2-0 at 11:13 when he finished off a centering pass from Tomas Tatar. MacArthur drew Ottawa to within 2-1 with his eighth goal at 14:14. Miller restored Detroit's two-goal lead at 3-1 with his second goal of the game at 1:58 of the third.

Chicago Bandwagons @ Phoenix Coyotes 5-2 - 11/30

Its official!! The Chicago Blackhawks are the new Detroit Red Wings. Back in the late 1990s when the Wings were dominating the NHL fans would follow them in their droves, meaning arena's such as the Jobing.com in Glendale were full of local Arizonans 'supporting' the winning team rather than their own local side. Fast-forward 15 years and now its the Hawks who bring along a band of numpties, knackas and dumb-asses. Let me start by saying I have met some real-genuine guys from Chicago who have supported the hawks throughout the hard times and now they are getting some just rewards in seeing their team finally win something, and to them I say enjoy it you deserve it. My annoyance comes from the tools I had the mis-fortune to be sat in-front of at this game. It started with three drunken-tools (2 guys and a girl) who would not stop talking, which included throughout the whole of US national Anthem. At one point I felt like turning around and shouting 'I'm listening to the fucking song' much like the Hanson's did on Slapshot, but somehow I think that would have been too humorous for this occasion and the dim-wits doing the talking wouldn't have had a clue what I meant anyway.

So here we go then, they continue talking but it isn't anything of any importance anyway, its utter BS.

'Oh well I like the Yotes to do well and all but you know you sit with the hawks fans you have to want the hawks to win'

I assume Patrick 'Kaner' Kane and Jonathan 'Totes' Toews were the only two players they ever heard of. 'Ooooh look at Kaner that is raw talent right there' as he turned possession over. With a 5-on-3 Power-play to the hawks they invented the new term '2PP'. But best of all whenever a Yotes player was in the crease they not only thought the goal should be allowed but that they should get an interference penalty for it, DUMB-ASS!!

It was something of a surprise to see the hawks fans behave like they had just been handed another Stanley Cup that evening. I mean is a routine victory in the desert really that important to them? There was me thinking the Stanley Cup was handed over in June not November. Once again my rant is not directed at any real hawks fans who are from Chicago, the ones I have met have been very knowledgeable and passionate supporters, I myself admire this current Hawks team with the skill they have, and put in possibly the best performance I have seen by an NHL team. Granted I have only been to ten, but still. They dominated the first-period and were ruthless in their finishing as the Yotes still looked half-asleep. One positive about having a sell-out crowd full of Hawks fans, it means more money coming in, to help the Yotes and keeping them in Glendale.

 

The Blackhawks finished their annual extended "Circus Trip" with their first six-win journey ever. Patrick Kane, Andrew Shaw and Niklas Hjalmarsson scored in the first 11:04 amid a series of penalties, missed assignments and poor play by Phoenix. The Blackhawks then withstood a second-period rally and closed the game strong to defeat the Coyotes 5-2 Saturday at Jobing.com Arena. Brandon Bollig iced the game with a third-period goal, backup goalie Antti Raanta made 31 saves and Chicago finished a 12-day, seven-game road trip with six straight wins and a 6-1-0 record, improving to an NHL-best 11-3-1 away from home. Marian Hossa scored into an empty net with 45.4 seconds left. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus annually occupies United Center in Chicago in late November.

"It's a long time to be away from home, but we heard it's the best 'Circus Trip' in the history of the Hawks," said Kane, who scored his 16th goal one night after his career-high 12-game scoring streak was snapped in a 2-1 shootout win against the Dallas Stars. If you told us before the trip that we'd be 6-1, I think we'd all be happy with that. We didn't start off the way we wanted to [with a Nov. 19 loss at the Colorado Avalanche] but it definitely finished the way we wanted to."

Rob Klinkhammer and Martin Hanzal scored in the second period for the Coyotes, who are 0-2-1 in their past three home games after a 9-0-1 start. This one came before an over-capacity crowd of 17,321 that included plenty of Blackhawks jerseys.

"They came back on us but we weathered the storm and [Raanta] played a great game and made some saves that he probably shouldn't have," Bollig said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we had more fans than them. It's always like that here. It's crazy how many fans we have on the road and it helps us out with momentum in games like this."

Coyotes goalie Mike Smith made 31 saves but has allowed at least three goals in six straight starts and eight of the past nine. The first period continues to be a problem for the Coyotes, who have been outscored 28-16 in the first 20 minutes. For the second time in the past three games, mistakes and a listless effort put them in a quick three-goal hole.

"I don't know what it is," Hanzal said. "It's not acceptable though, and we've got to get it turned around. Once in a while we come out strong and keep it going, but it seems like we have to battle back too much, and you're not going to win against good team. That's exactly what happened."

Phoenix took two penalties in the first 1:14: a too many men on the ice call on the first shift change of the game followed by a Derek Morris holding call as Chicago attacked the Phoenix net. With a 5-on-3 power play for 1:35, the Blackhawks cashed in when Kane deflected a Hossa shot out of midair at 2:34. Duncan Keith assisted on Kane's goal, giving him a point in all seven stops on the trip, eight in all. At 8:56, Smith couldn't handle Shaw's weak backhander from the slot that dribbled between his skate and the post to make it 2-0. Just 2:08 later, Kane squeezed a pretty pass into the slot that Hjalmarsson fired under Smith's blocker, and the Blackhawks had three goals in their first 13 shots.

"First shift of the game, and you have two right defensemen playing at the same time?" Tippett said. "This is a big game ... you know they are coming in tired and will try to play a heck of a first period to see if they can push back, and we just say 'Here, go ahead.' We take penalties, make mistakes; we give them a 5-on-3 just to make sure they really get going. Then we give up a poor goal that should be stopped and then poor defensive zone coverage on the next one. You can push back after 3-0, but let's start the game on time. That's frustrating. It's so foreign from how you want to play if you're going to be able to compete with a team like that. It's almost inconceivable we could do it, but we did."

Phoenix regrouped in the second period, pressuring Chicago and getting on the board at 5:52. Michael Stone put a shot-pass off the back boards that found Klinkhammer waiting at the post for the stuff-in. It was the first assist of the season for Stone (he has seven goals) and the fifth goal for Klinkhammer, a one-time Chicago minor leaguer. The Blackhawks were called for four penalties in the period, and with Hjalmarsson serving a double minor after arguing his slashing call, the Coyotes inched closer. Mike Ribeiro's cross-ice pass found Radim Vrbata, who set up Hanzal in front of the crease for a tip-in at 15:56 to make it 3-2. The Coyotes earned more than a minute of 5-on-3 penalty time less than a minute later, but the Blackhawks killed it off and carried their lead to the third period. Raanta admitted to a few nightmares before his first NHL start against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday but said he felt much more comfortable Saturday.

"It was much easier to play today than in Calgary, straight from the beginning," he said. "I made a couple of saves from the start. Maybe I had too much energy in the second period, too many splits, but I forgive myself. It was a pretty good game."

 

Antoine Vermette resisting the temptation to crawl up Totes' butt along with the sell out Glendale Crowd.



Minnesota Wild @ Colordao Avalanche 2-3 SO - 11/30

It could have been better, but Colorado Avalanche coach Patrick Roy had few complaints after his team defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 Saturday in a shootout at Pepsi Center to complete a sweep of the home-and-home series. Ryan O'Reilly scored the lone goal in the shootout against goalie Josh Harding after the Avalanche squandered a 2-0 lead in the final 3:27 of regulation, allowing the Wild to escape with a valuable point.

"I knew if I came in on an angle I'd have a lot of options," O'Reilly said. "I was going to read off him and see what he did. If he gives me upstairs, I take a quick shot. If not, try to make a move to see if he opens up. It worked out for me."

O'Reilly was the Avalanche's third shooter. Harding made a save against PA Parenteau and Nathan MacKinnon shot wide. Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov stopped Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Jason Pominville in the tiebreaker.

"I was nervous, same as usual," Varlamov said of the Avalanche's first shootout this season. "None of the goalies, nobody, likes the shootouts. There's too much pressure on you. When O'Reilly scored, that one was real nice."

Varlamov has a 14-7 career record in shootouts and has stopped 58 of 74 shots for a .784 save percentage.

"I never had a shootout when I was playing, but I've been told that Varly is pretty solid in a shootout," Roy said. "I guess I was pretty confident that we could win that game. Ryan scored a super-nice goal, and Varly was outstanding. They sent their three best shooters, and I thought he was outstanding from the start of the game."

The Avalanche gained three points against the Wild in the Central Division standings over the teams' home-and-home series and are in third place with a 19-6-0 record and 38 points in 25 games. The Wild, who have gone 0-3-1 in their past four games, have a 15-8-5 record in 28 games.

"This is certainly good for us," Roy said. "If someone had said to me we would pick up three points on them on the weekend, I would be very happy. We would take it in a heartbeat. Now we are three points ahead of them, and we have three games in hand. That's pretty good."

Koivu forced overtime when he scored from the slot with 4.3 seconds remaining in regulation after Harding went to the bench for a sixth attacker. Koivu gained possession after Pominville prevented Avalanche defenseman Jan Hejda from clearing the puck around the boards.

"He made a good play along the wall," Koivu said. "I got the loose puck and tried to make a quick shot. Just a couple of seconds to go and it happens fast. I had a chance like that earlier in the period, and I got another chance and it went in."

The Wild dominated the third period. They outshot the Avalanche 11-3 in the period and 37-25 for the game.

"We knew we were in for a battle," Roy said. "The game is 60 minutes, sometimes longer than that. This is why we play 60 minutes, and you have to finish it. We battled hard. It was two really good games. Both teams played well, and we came out with four points and they got one."

Wild coach Mike Yeo was happy to salvage a point when it looked like his team would come away empty-handed.

"That's a huge point for us," he said. "It was great the way we played the game. We probably out-chanced them 2-1. We lost the skill competition at the end of the game, the shootout, whatever you want to call it. Bottom line, I really believe we deserved the win in regulation. You could tell we were really getting into our game and starting to play the right way. It kept building as the game went on. Even when they scored that second goal, we were all over them. We couldn't get the equalizer and next thing you know it's 2-0. We did everything we could have, but their goalie was great."

The Wild pulled within 2-1 with 3:27 to play on a goal by Matt Cooke, who skated down the slot untouched and shot the puck by Varlamov's right arm. Varlamov was under siege throughout the period and made big saves against Koivu and Nino Niederreiter.

"What I like about him is he never lost his focus despite the fact that I didn't think we played as well defensively as I was hoping," Roy said of Varlamov. "I have to give credit to [the Wild], because I thought they played a really good game. They certainly deserved that point, to be honest with you."

MacKinnon put the Avalanche in front 2-0 at 12:56 of the second period shortly after Varlamov stopped Dany Heatley in the slot with a pad save. It was the first time the rookie has scored in back-to-back games. MacKinnon scored what proved to be the winning goal Friday in the Avalanche's 3-1 win against the Wild in Minnesota. John Mitchell, who set up Gabriel Landeskog's first-period goal, knocked the puck away from Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin along the right boards. The puck slid into the slot, where Wild defenseman Marco Scandella fanned on a clearing attempt. That enabled Mitchell to pass to MacKinnon, who was alone in the left circle for a quick shot that sailed past Harding. Varlamov made a save against Torrey Mitchell on 2-on-1 rush earlier in the period to keep the Avalanche ahead. The Avalanche took a 1-0 lead at 2:22 of the first period on Landeskog's goal. Mitchell won a battle for the puck with Wild defenseman Clayton Stoner behind the net and passed to Landeskog, who beat Harding from a sharp angle on the left side. The Wild nearly tied the game at 14:00 of the first on a wraparound attempt by Cooke. The puck slid behind Varlamov and lay on the goal line. Varlamov looked behind him, but Hejda, who was at the side of the net, managed to push the puck into the crease and Varlamov knocked it away. Play continued for another 56 seconds before the next whistle, at which time a video review confirmed the puck never completely crossed the line.

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Florida Panthers 5-1 - 11/30

Seven weeks after a less-than-memorable NHL debut, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Jeff Zatkoff had a lot more success in his second visit to BB&T Center. It helps to have Evgeni Malkin in the midst of a hot streak. Zatkoff made 39 saves, and Malkin had a goal and three assists to lead the Penguins to a 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Zatkoff gave up six goals on 30 shots in a 6-3 loss to the Panthers in his first NHL appearance on Oct. 11. Malkin has four goals and 13 assists during an eight-game scoring streak.

"Having a few games under your belt, I feel like I'm getting better every game, feeling a little more comfortable every game, feeling the puck," Zatkoff said. "It's nice to get a second crack at these guys."

Zatkoff is 4-2-0 and raised his save percentage from .877 to .901. He was particularly strong in the first and third periods, when he stopped all 31 shots he faced.

"I can reference his first game in this building, but it's been a while between those starts and he's had some success," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "But tonight, I thought he was very good, came up big for us on numerous occasions, the first period in particular. I think our best player [was] Jeff Zatkoff."

Without question, Malkin was Pittsburgh's best offensive player. His four points were a season high and give him 35 on the season, one behind teammate Sidney Crosby for the NHL scoring lead.

"I'd love to see them both at the top at the end of the year," Bylsma said. "[Evgeni] did it a lot of ways tonight. ... His effort has been pretty consistent for a long stretch of games here. Pretty remarkable night in the duty he did get."

James Neal had a goal and an assist, and Chris Kunitz and Joe Vitale scored for the Penguins, who completed a sweep of their back-to-back Florida games against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Panthers. Neal has seven goals and six assists in his past seven games. Pittsburgh defeated Tampa Bay 3-0 Friday, when Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 21 shots for his third shutout of the season. Scottie Upshall scored for the Panthers, who are 1-2-0 on their five-game homestand, which includes games against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday and the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Florida outshot Pittsburgh 40-22. Tim Thomas, making his 11th consecutive start for the Panthers, gave up four goals on 13 shots before being replaced by Scott Clemmensen to start the third period. Thomas gave up two goals on the first four shots he faced and the Penguins took a 2-0 lead. Clemmensen made his first appearance since starting Nov. 7 in a 4-1 road loss against the Boston Bruins, the last game coached by Kevin Dineen before he was fired by the Panthers the next morning. Florida outshot Pittsburgh 15-6 in the first period, but trailed in part because Zatkoff outplayed Thomas and because the Panthers were 0-for-3 on the power play. Kunitz, who scored twice against Tampa Bay on Friday, opened the scoring at 10:45 of the first period with a power-play goal. After Malkin dumped the puck behind the Florida net, he intercepted Thomas' clearing attempt along the boards and fired a pass toward the goal. The puck bounced to the front, and Kunitz was able to score into an open net, even though he misfired on the shot.

"We're battling through adversity," Thomas said. "We're working hard. We got 40 shots tonight. Their goalie played extremely well. The Penguins were opportunistic, but we're shooting ourselves in the foot, myself included. That first goal shot the big toe off, and a couple of the other goals we shot a couple of the other toes off. That's happening on a relatively consistent basis. That's something that we have to find a way to eliminate. I'm almost tired of saying it, but it's true … we're doing a lot of good things in a lot of areas, but then when we do make mistakes, they seem to be huge mistakes and they end up in the back of our net."

Vitale added to the lead 32 seconds later with his first goal of the season with a rebound from a sharp angle. He hadn't scored since March 22 against the New York Islanders.

"It was a long time coming," Vitale said. "[I'm] happy to contribute and get on the board finally. The puck was kind of sitting there by the goal line and I just threw my whole body at it and crashed it in. I think it hit my stick and my knee pad. Anytime they go to the scorer's box, you get nervous."

Malkin made it 3-0 at 7:23 of the second period when he skated with the puck across the blue line, took a return pass from defenseman Olli Maatta and beat Thomas with a slick forehand-to-backhand deke. Florida appeared to get on the scoreboard midway through the period, but the apparent goal by Brad Boyes was disallowed after video replay determined he kicked the puck into the net.

"I didn't even see the puck," Boyes said. "I know I didn't do that on purpose. I was just going to the net. I saw the replay. I don't know, it could have gone either way. But they called a goal [and] I didn't think it was enough to overturn it. But the bounces, we didn't get them tonight."

The Panthers did score at 17:53 of the second period when Upshall beat Zatkoff with a short backhander after streaking in on the left side. But Pittsburgh restored its three-goal lead 29 seconds later, when Malkin backhanded a pass from behind the net and Neal one-timed it past Thomas from the bottom of the right circle. Jokinen scored at 6:10 of the third period, when he one-timed Malkin's pass in the slot after a turnover in the Florida zone. Zatkoff did the rest to help the Penguins match their biggest margin of victory of the season on a night when they had their worst shot differential.

"You always want to play well, especially against a team that put up six on you the last time," Zatkoff said. "I know that wasn't my best the first time around; to be able to come back and get that second opportunity is nice."

Results - Sat, Nov 30, 2013

Vancouver v NY Rangers 2-5 - Much of the attention Saturday afternoon was on Vancouver Canucks coach John Tortorella, who was returning to Madison Square Garden for the first time since being fired as New York Rangers coach after more than four seasons behind their bench. That New York's current coach, Alain Vigneault, was fired by the Canucks last summer after seven seasons in Vancouver only magnified the matchup. But it was one of the players Tortorella helped groom in New York who ended up stealing the show. Chris Kreider scored three goals as the Rangers defeated the Canucks 5-2. It was a difficult return for Tortorella, who admitted it was initially awkward going against his former team. But once the game began, those feelings were quickly forgotten. Rangers goalie Cam Talbot made a career-high 35 saves in his first career start at MSG, Rick Nash added a goal and two assists, and Michael Del Zotto scored for the Rangers, who bounced back from a 3-2 road loss to the Boston Bruins on Friday. David Booth and Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver (13-10-5), which got 12 saves in relief from Eddie Lack. Roberto Luongo made seven saves before being pulled in the second period. Playing on a new line with Derek Stepan and Nash, Kreider opened the scoring with 7:23 remaining in the first period after being sent in on Luongo with a pass from the blue line by Nash. Kreider snapped the puck past Luongo's blocker for his fourth of the season to give New York a 1-0 lead. The play started with a failed clearing attempt along the boards by Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler, who was benched for the remainder of the first period. With Nash and Kreider using their size and speed to their advantage, New York's refashioned top line found open passing and shooting lanes throughout the game. Vigneault put the trio on the power play when Zack Kassian was whistled for delay of game after he shot the puck over the glass with 3:28 left in the period. Kreider doubled New York's lead 22 seconds later by redirecting Ryan McDonagh's shot from the right circle past Luongo. Vancouver's inability to capitalize on its chances was mostly due to Talbot, who made some big saves when it counted. In a sequence that began with 9:16 remaining in the first, Talbot stopped Alexandre Burrows in front of the net, then made a toe save off a spinning shot from Kevin Bieksa five seconds later. The 26-year-old also perfectly played an odd-man rush in which Daniel Sedin fed brother Henrik for a scoring chance with 8:50 remaining in the first. Those saves appeared to spark the home crowd and the Rangers (14-13-0), who opened the scoring 87 seconds after Talbot's stop on the Sedins. Kreider completed his first NHL hat trick with 10:22 remaining in the third period when he deflected Anton Stralman's wrist shot from the point past Lack. Nash expanded the Rangers' lead 17 seconds into the second. After Dan Girardi's point shot was blocked by Daniel Sedin, Stepan found the puck in the slot and fired toward the net, where Nash got a piece of the puck for his fourth of the season. The 3-0 lead gave Nash a goal in three straight games and spelled the end for Luongo, who was replaced by Lack after allowing three goals on 10 shots. Del Zotto, a healthy scratch in five of the Rangers' previous eight games, made it 4-0 when he scored on the power play as Christopher Tanev sat out for holding. Following some quick passing between Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello, Del Zotto was left alone at the left point. His blast from the top of the circle beat Lack for his second of the season at 11:04. Booth got Vancouver on the board with 4:10 remaining in the second. He was streaking toward the net from the left side when Mike Santorelli found him with a one-touch pass; Booth went to the backhand to beat Talbot between the legs for his third of the season. Daniel Sedin scored with 2:35 remaining and Kreider off for roughing.
 
Columbus v Boston 1-3 - Milan Lucic scored twice to help Boston defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 at TD Garden on Saturday night. He scored a first-period power-play goal, then fought Blue Jackets defenseman Dalton Prout in the second period. Lucic capped his big night with a goal at 2:15 of the third period to put the Bruins (18-7-2) ahead 3-0. Chara recorded a Gordie Howe Hat Trick on Friday in a win against the New York Rangers. At first glance, Lucic appeared to get the assist he needed for his own Gordie Howe Hat Trick when Jarome Iginla took a swing at Lucic's shot early in the third period, but Iginla didn't touch the puck and Lucic was credited with his second goal of the night. Ryan Johansen scored a power-play goal for Columbus (10-14-3) at 6:16 of the third period to spoil Chad Johnson's shutout bid and cut the lead to 3-1. Patrice Bergeron carried over his hot hand from the Bruins' win Friday against the Rangers, when he snapped an eight-game goalless drought, by scoring the first goal against the Blue Jackets. The center's wrist shot from the right wall eluded McElhinney, who was screened by Loui Eriksson, and settled inside the far post at 9:02. Twenty-two seconds into the Bruins' first power play, they doubled their lead. Lucic tipped a Torey Krug slap shot past McElhinney at 14:58 of the first period.

Toronto v Montreal 2-4 - Max Pacioretty scored twice, had an assist and had a game-high 10 shots on goal in the Montreal Canadiens' 4-2 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. P.K. Subban and Tomas Plekanec also scored for the Canadiens (15-9-3), who are undefeated in regulation in their past six games (5-0-1). Montreal also allowed two goals or fewer in a 10th straight game; it's 7-1-2 during that span. James Van Riemsdyk and Mason Raymond scored late in the second for Toronto, but the Maple Leafs weren't able to carry that momentum into the final period. The game couldn't have started much worse for the Maple Leafs, with Carl Gunnarsson called for interference 20 seconds after the opening faceoff. Toronto's top penalty-killing unit then allowed Pacioretty to get in behind them to take a long stretch pass from Subban and go in alone on goal. Bernier stopped his first, second and third shots before Pacioretty finally scored on his fourth attempt at 58 seconds. Toronto appeared to tie the game at 5:35 when Dion Phaneuf beat Price with a shot from the blue line, but referee Chris Rooney immediately waved off the goal for incidental contact by van Riemsdyk, who was just inside the blue paint. Though van Riemsdyk didn't appear to make contact with Price, the NHL rulebook states a goal will be disallowed if "an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper's ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal." The Canadiens made it 2-0 at 16:13 of the first when Subban moved in from the blue line off a faceoff, deked around Phil Kessel and beat Bernier high to the stick side for his fourth goal of the season. Kessel came within an inch of making up for the error in the first minute of the second period when he had Price completely out of position and backhanded the puck toward an open net, only to have it hit the inside of the post and bounce out. The Canadiens went up 3-0 at 15:05 when Plekanec, Daniel Briere and Brian Gionta had a dominant shift in the Toronto zone, resulting in Briere setting Plekanec up for his ninth goal of the season. Pacioretty made it 4-0 with a shorthanded goal at 17:22, deking Gunnarsson to the middle and sliding a backhand through Bernier's legs. The Maple Leafs got a big lift late in the period by scoring two goals in 22 seconds. The first, at 18:10, was a beautiful flip shot under the crossbar by van Riemsdyk for his 12th goal of the season, the second came when Raymond found a rebound to the right of Price at 18:38 to make it 4-2.
 
Buffalo v New Jersey 0-1 OT - Steve Bernier connected for his first goal in 20 games with 40.2 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Devils a 1-0 victory against the Buffalo Sabres at Prudential Center. It was the first overtime goal of Bernier's career. Bernier broke into the Sabres zone with defenseman Andy Greene before entering the left circle and unleashing a shot that beat Jhonas Enroth to the long side. Bernier waited until Sabres defenseman Mark Pysyk backed into his zone to partially screen Enroth before scoring his second of the season. The Devils had plenty of opportunities to end the game in regulation. Travis Zajac, who generated a game-high four shots, couldn't solve Enroth, who made 23 saves in his first start since a 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 16. Greene barely missed scoring 7:10 into the third when he collected a feed from Adam Henrique between the circles but fired wide of the net. Henrique rang the short-side post from the left circle at 11:58, and Zajac saw his quick wrist shot from the slot scooped up by Enroth at 12:42. The best scoring opportunity in the first period came at 10:25 when Zajac stole an attempted pass by Alexander Sulzer between the circles and unloaded a slap shot Enroth denied with his right pad. Zajac had another opportunity with less than two minutes remaining when he broke in on a 2-on-1 but whiffed on the pass at the right post. Patrik Elias rang a shot off the left post with 38 seconds left, and Pysyk cleared a puck near the goal line that Bernier would have easily tapped home five seconds later. Elias made a nice move to get into prime position 3:27 into the second before unleashing a wrist shot from the right hash that Enroth stopped with his pad.

Washington v NY Islanders 3-2 OT - Vanek scored what looked like it would be the game-winner with 1:51 left in regulation. Holtby stopped Vanek's initial shot from the left circle, but Vanek followed the play and ended up poking a loose puck on the doorstep over the goal line for his eighth goal. Moments later, Capitals defenseman Mike Green was whistled for interference while trying to prevent an empty-net goal, putting the Islanders on the power play for the remainder of regulation. All they had to do was protect their one-goal lead. That's where Nicklas Backstrom tied it with a shorthanded goal, one-timing Jason Chimera's feed past Nilsson at 19:11 to send the game to overtime. Aaron Volpatti broke a scoreless tie 8:58 into the second period. With the teams at even strength, Martin Erat skated behind the net with the puck before sending it out in front to Tom Wilson, who was denied by Nilsson. But Volpatti was also in front of the net and swatted the rebound over the goal line to give Washington a 1-0 lead. It was Volpatti's second goal of the season. Cal Clutterbuck ended the Islanders' scoring drought at 109 minutes and 58 seconds with a shorthanded goal at 3:59 of the third period. With Pierre-Marc Bouchard off for interference, Andrew MacDonald sent Clutterbuck on a breakaway, and the latter fired a wrist shot past Holtby to make it 1-1. Alex Ovechkin won it for the Capitals with his 21st goal of the season. He took a pass from Mikhail Grabovski, got around Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic at the left circle and ripped a shot past goalie Anders Nilsson.

Philadelphia v Nashville 3-2 SO - Vincent Lecavalier scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Flyers a 3-2 victory against the Nashville Predators on Saturday night. Lecavalier deked goaltender Marek Mazanec and beat him with a wrist shot in Philadelphia's first attempt. Goaltender Steve Mason stopped Craig Smith before Lecavalier's attempt and made a sprawling stop on Matt Hendricks' backhander in the second round. Matt Cullen, Nashville's third shooter, fired wide to end the game. Both teams had chances in the first few minutes after the opening faceoff. At 1:41, Mazanec denied Matt Read, who was alone in front after a pass from Couturier. A little more than three minutes later, Mason had to be sharp to stop Patric Hornqvist's wide-open one-timer from the slot. Giroux opened the scoring at 16:49 when he picked a loose puck after a blocked slot, stepped into a slap shot from the high slot and blew it past Mazanec for his fourth of the season. Fisher tied it at 17:49 with his sixth of the season when he took Hornqvist's pass from the left corner and snapped a shot from the faceoff dot that beat Mason. Mason kept the game tied through 40 minutes by stopping 10 shots in the middle period, including a pair of superb stops on deflections by Bourque. Wilson also barely missed the far post with another deflection. Nashville (13-11-3) broke a 1-1 tie 5:05 into the third period when Colin Wilson bulled his way past Jakub Voracek and chased down a dump pass by Gabriel Bourque, then put a backhander from the right circle through Mason's legs. But Philadelphia (12-12-2) got even at 13:07 when Sean Couturier was left all alone near the right post and snapped home a cross-slot pass by Andrej Meszaros. It was Couturier's third goal of the season and his second in as many days. Mason earned the Flyers a point when he denied David Legwand from the slot with 30 seconds left in regulation after a coast-to-coast rush by rookie defenseman Seth Jones. Wilson had two chances to win the game in overtime, but his blast from the high slot midway through the extra period hit the right post and Mason stopped his backhander on a breakaway with 35 seconds remaining.

Calgary v Los Angeles 2-1 - The Kings had won four straight games in overtime or the shootout, but Cammalleri made sure it didn't get that far. He surprisingly got open in front of the net for Mikael Backlund's pass and backhanded the puck past goalie Ben Scrivens. Justin Williams tied it with 4:31 left on a wrist shot from the right side that beat Ramo for Williams' 200th career goal and Anze Kopitar's 500th career point. The Flames goalie got a piece of the shot, but it found the upper portion of the net. Scrivens has been masterful in place of Quick, but his gaffe allowed Calgary to take a 1-0 lead into the third period. During a five-minute power play, Scrivens fell trying to grab the puck. Paul Byron beat him to it from behind the goal line and from a prone position passed it to Blair Jones for an open-net shorthanded goal at 15:50 of the second.

Anaheim v San Jose 3-4 SO - After scoring three times in the second period to take a 3-1 lead against the Anaheim Ducks, the San Jose Sharks appeared headed for an easy victory Saturday night at SAP Center. Then the Sharks were reminded yet again that nothing comes easily in the powerful Pacific Division. Anaheim rallied to force overtime, and the Sharks finally prevailed 4-3 in a shootout. Joe Pavelski scored in the second round of the shootout, lifting San Jose into sole possession of first place in the Pacific. Pavelski gave Sharks fans a thrill on Saturday night. Opening the second round, Pavelski skated in hard, came to a quick stop then wristed a shot past Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller, just inside the right post. When Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi stopped Corey Perry in the second round and Kyle Palmieri in the third, San Jose had its hard-fought victory. The Sharks weren't happy about losing their two-goal lead in the third, but that didn't take away much from their perfect homestand and victories against three heavyweights from the West. Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau and Martin Havlat scored second period goals for the Sharks. Perry scored in the first period for Anaheim. Defensemen Alex Grant, making his NHL debut, and Ben Lovejoy scored in the third for Anaheim to send the game past regulation and assure the Ducks of at least a point. The Sharks went on a power play at 1:26 of OT when Perry went to the box for holding Couture. But the Sharks didn't get a shot on goal during that power play and finished the night 0-fo-5 with the man advantage. The Ducks had a power play for the final 31.4 seconds of overtime with Jason Demers in the box for holding Sami Vatanen, but they came up empty and finished 0-for-3. Niemi made 28 saves in the first meeting this season between San Jose and Anaheim. Hiller made 32 saves. After Perry gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead in the first period, the Sharks roared back to score three times in the second. The Sharks pulled even on Couture's ninth goal of the season at 4:16. Marc-Edouard Vlasic ripped a shot from above the left circle and Couture tipped it past Hiller from close range, snapping his seven-game goalless streak. San Jose took advantage of a huge mistake by Hiller to take a 2-1 lead at 10:02 on Marleau's shorthanded goal. Hiller skated far out of the crease to his right to get a slow-moving puck that the Sharks had cleared, even though two Ducks were in pursuit. Hiller's pass intended for defenseman Cam Fowler in the slot was off-target, and Marleau picked it off. Marleau passed the puck left to Joe Thornton, got it back and put it into a wide-open net before Hiller could recover. Havlat increased the Sharks' lead to 3-1 with 57 seconds left in the period. Scott Hannan rifled a shot from the left circle into heavy traffic, and forward Mike Brown, planted in front of the net, knocked the puck loose into the low slot. Havlat knifed in and beat Hiller with a backhand shot from 12 feet. Even though the Ducks were trailing by two goals, Boudreau was confident they would rally in the third period. Grant cut the Sharks' lead to 3-2 at 12:50 of the third, hammering a shot from the left point that deflected off of Niemi's chest then bounced over his shoulder and over the goal line. With 3:06 left in regulation, Lovejoy ripped a shot from above the left circle that went through traffic and past Niemi to tie the score. The Ducks were outshot 12-8 in the first period, but Perry scored the only goal at 5:56. Dustin Penner sent an outlet pass to Ryan Getzlaf, who quickly sent the puck ahead to Perry near the blue line. Perry raced in and wristed a shot that went over Niemi's glove and inside the right post. The goal was Perry's team-leading 15th, while Getzlaf got his team-high 18th assist and Penner his 12th assist. The Sharks got a scare early in the first when Thornton was hit in the face with a puck that was deflected by linemate Tomas Hertl near the Ducks' crease. Thornton immediately went to the dressing room, but he was back on the ice at 10:26 of the first. He had a swollen left eye, stitches above that eye and a cut on the side of his nose. Thornton played most of the game with fuzzy vision in his left eye, caused by a blood clot. The Ducks played without four of their top six defensemen due to injuries. Francois Beauchemin, Luca Sbisa and Sheldon Souray are on injured reserve, and Bryan Allen missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. Former Shark forward Teemu Selanne, who has 96 points in 89 career games against San Jose, was not in the lineup and didn't travel with the team to San Jose. Selanne, who turned 43 on July 3, has been getting the second night of back-to-back games off in an attempt to keep him fresh.

Chicago Blackhawks @ Dallas Stars 2-1 SO - 11/29

The true mark of a champion is finding a way to win when that appears unlikely. That's exactly what the reigning Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks have been doing during their current road trip. The Blackhawks won their fifth straight game by beating the Dallas Stars 2-1 Friday night when Ben Smith delivered the clinching goal as Chicago's 11th shooter in the shootout.

"It was fun," Smith said. "A great opportunity, it was awesome. I just knew I was going to try and keep it simple, shoot the puck, and I was fortunate that it went in."

Smith beat Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen with a wrister over the glove after Lehtonen had stopped the Blackhawks' previous eight attempts.

"Pretty remarkable we've had three games out of the last four down 1-0 in the third and we find a way to win. That showed great character tonight," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said.

Patrick Sharp tied the game for Chicago in the third period and scored the Blackhawks' first shootout goal in the second round of the tiebreaker. Rich Peverley, who had Dallas' lone goal in regulation, tied the shootout by beating Corey Crawford in the third round. Crawford stopped 10 of 11 shots in the shootout and 28 of 29 through 65 minutes to earn his 17th win. Quenneville lauded not just Smith's effort in the win, but that of his entire fourth line, a trio that also includes Brandon Bollig and Marcus Kruger.

"That line has been very effective. I think they had another good game. You look in the last four wins, they've been outstanding," Quenneville said. "They start in their own end almost every shift, and they end up in the other team's end at the end of it. So, that's what we look for. I think we had that success with that group last year and been a staple with that this year. I think it really makes us a better team."

Both teams showcased their pace early, but it was the Stars who struck first when Peverley scored his fifth of the season into an open net at 16:40 of the first period. Stars center Shawn Horcoff won a battle for the puck with Crawford and flipped a backhand pass to Peverley, who finished with a wrister from the low slot to make it 1-0. Crawford made a valiant effort to get back in the crease to make a play on Peverley's shot, but was a bit late. He slapped his stick to the ice in disgust after the puck went into the net. Peverley also had another of Dallas' better scoring chances in the first period. At 9:49, he cranked a slap shot from the right point, forcing Crawford to make the stop and scramble to cover the puck as it rolled toward the goal. Dallas outshot Chicago 11-9 in the first period and 29-26 for the game. At 2:39 of the second, the Stars had a great chance to make it a two-goal game after rookie right wing Alex Chiasson was hooked by Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook on a breakaway, resulting in a penalty shot. However, Chiasson's low wrister clanged off the left post, and it remained 1-0. Crawford remains perfect on penalty shots in his career at 9-for-9. Dallas is 1-for-3 on penalty shots this season, with the lone goal coming from Vernon Fiddler on Nov. 5 at the Boston Bruins.

"We work on it sometimes in practice," Crawford said. "It's a key situation in the game. It's important if we go down by two goals. I was just trying to come up with a save and keep our team in it."

The Blackhawks earned the first power play of the game at 11:31 of the second period when Peverley was whistled for tripping. With Dallas on the penalty kill, veteran defenseman Stephane Robidas left the ice on a stretcher at 12:34 with a broken leg. Robidas was attempting to impede Chicago's Jonathan Toews near the left circle when he fell to the ice before going into the end boards.

"It didn't look good," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said of Robidas' injury. "He's been playing real well. [He and Brenden Dillon] have been a big pair for us. That was probably one of the only real big negatives. Robi is a battler and he's really played hard and played well this year for us."

Dallas went on the power play for the first time in the game at 13:57 when Niklas Hjalmarsson was called for tripping, but the Chicago penalty kill was strong and killed off the opportunity. With 3:05 remaining before the second intermission, Sharp was called for slashing and Dallas' Trevor Daley for cross-checking, making it 4-on-4. However, neither team was able to capitalize with the extra space. The Blackhawks got even at 7:21 of the third when Sharp scored his 10th of the season, deflecting a pass from Duncan Keith behind Lehtonen.

"It was a heck of a game. The pace was incredible," Quenneville said. "The first period was tremendous pace. They work hard, and they've got a lot of speed on you. They keep pressure on you. I thought we hung in there well."

Dallas defenseman Alex Goligoski started the sequence by trying to clear the puck from the Dallas zone with a backhand from the left corner. However, Keith corralled the attempted clear and sent the puck toward the Dallas net, and Sharp redirected it from dead center for the equalizer. Ray Whitney tested Crawford from the left circle with 3:46 remaining in regulation, but Crawford stopped play with a solid glove save on Whitney's slapper from the left circle. At 4:58 of overtime, Goligoski attempted to connect with a wrister from the left point, but Crawford denied his effort. Chiasson tried to flip in the rebound, but his shot went wide of the net just before the horn sounded. Chicago concludes its seven-game road trip Saturday against the Phoenix Coyotes. Dallas hosts the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday afternoon to finish a three-game homestand. Blackhawks center Patrick Kane saw his 11-game point streak, which equaled the longest of his career, come to end against the Stars.

Shootout
RND	DAL		CHI		TOTAL
1	J. Benn		J. Toews		0 - 0
2	T. Seguin		P. Sharp		0 - 1
3	R. Peverley		P. Kane		1 - 1
4	A. Chiasson		B. Pirri		1 - 1
5	S. Horcoff		M. Hossa		1 - 1
6	R. Whitney		B. Saad		1 - 1
7	C. Eakin		K. Versteeg		1 - 1
8	R. Garbutt		M. Handzus		1 - 1
9	V. Fiddler		A. Shaw		1 - 1
10	J. Benn		M. Kruger		1 - 1
11	V. Nichushkin		B. Smith		1 - 2

Colorado @ Minnesota 3-1 - 11/29

When trying to decide his starting goaltender for the front half of a back-to-back against the Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche coach Patrick Roy got some sage advice from Avs goaltending coach Francois Allaire. Allaire's suggestion to go with Jean-Sebastien Giguere paid off when the 36-year-old made 16 of his 27 saves in the third period Friday to help the Avalanche beat the Wild 3-1 at Xcel Energy Center. Giguere is a perfect 6-0-0 this season. He's the first goaltender in franchise history to start a season by winning his first six decisions.

"Obviously, I've been a bit disconnected the last 10 years, but Francois said, 'He can do no wrong in [Minnesota],'" Roy said. "He played outstanding again tonight."

Watching Giguere in the third period must have been like traveling back in time for many Wild fans. Ten years ago, it was Giguere who allowed one goal in a four-game sweep of Minnesota in the 2003 Western Conference Final as a member of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks - a series that ended what is still the Wild's most successful Stanley Cup Playoff run.

"I've always said it's a great building," Giguere said. "Especially this year, they have a real good team, [Wild goaltender Josh] Harding's been playing well, for me, I had to make sure I would come in here and compete and keep the game as tight as possible."

Colorado was able to give Giguere some early support by scoring 3:45 into the game when defenseman Jan Hejda fired a shot from the point through traffic that beat Harding for his third of the season. Perhaps the game's biggest turning point came towards the end of the period when Colorado's Cody McLeod was assessed a major penalty for boarding Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin at 17:24, giving Minnesota a five-minute power play. But the Wild mustered one shot during the long advantage, and less than two minutes after it expired, Gabriel Landeskog's shot from the point was tipped in front by Nathan MacKinnon and went past Harding at 4:34 of the second period. It was the fourth goal of the season for the first player taken in the 2013 NHL Draft.

"It was great to kill that one because certainly things could have turned in their favor if they would score," Roy said.

Colorado had the best scoring chance during the major penalty, but John Mitchell's tap-in shot on a 2-on-1 break was turned away by a sprawling Harding. The Wild's power play, once one of the best in the NHL, is in a 3-for-29 slump.

"It's huge. It's huge. I don't even think we brought enough momentum out of it," said Wild coach Mike Yeo. "It's one thing not to score on it, you come out it with not a good feeling. It's one thing if their goalie robs you or you hit a couple pipes. We sunk down a little bit after that and they rose up."

Dany Heatley pulled the Wild within one at 15:02, taking a backdoor feed from Nino Niederreiter and scoring his sixth of the season. After a slow start, Heatley has scored four goals and five points in Minnesota's last six games.

"It seems to take us a 2-0 deficit right now to find the urgency level to be effective in the game," Yeo said. "We seem to think we're pretty good and we don't need to do things that brought us success. Hopefully we're taking a lesson, we're taking notes."

Heatley's goal galvanized the Wild in the third as they peppered Giguere with chances from in close, but he was up to the task. Landeskog sealed the win by hitting the empty net with 20 seconds remaining.

"I remember, my dad had season tickets here," Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson, a native of nearby Bloomington, Minn., said of the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs. "That's kind of fun to watch that and then play with him now. To see him do well, it's pretty fun."

The Wild lost despite the return of forward Zach Parise, who played four days after taking a puck off his left foot in a loss to the St. Louis Blues. The team said Tuesday that Parise was expected to miss at least two weeks. Parise had four shots on goal and was minus-2 in 23:03 of ice time. Colorado will look to extend Minnesota's losing streak to four when the two teams play again in Denver on Saturday.

"The home-and-homes are fun," Johnson said. "That's how rivalries are built."

The victory pulled the Avalanche ahead of the Wild in the standings. Colorado is third in the Central with 36 points but has three games in hand on fourth-place Minnesota, which has 34 points.