#9 Detroit Red Wings @ Minnesota Wild 3-2 SO - Sat, Apr 04, 2015

And so I was down to my last NHL game on this trip. It was sad knowing I would be heading home the following day. However I still had another game to enjoy. It started when I met Doug at the Arena Bar. I had got to know him and his buddy Andy the night before at the Timberwolves game and he promised me a Minnesotan Beer to try as he was working behind the bar. While supping on the local brew I got chatting to a couple from Northern Michigan who were Wings fans. It was closer for them to get to St Paul to watch the Wings play the Wild than it is to get to Detroit. Much of the conversation centered around Mike Babcock, and how he used to play for my local English team the Whitley Warriors and where he might be heading if rumors are to be believed and he is leaving the Wings. We all think the Leafs!

The Wild may have the most points in the NHL since mid-January, but this is still the Wild. Historically, the franchise rarely makes things easy, so it should come as no shock that with a chance to put themselves in the playoffs, the Wild has lost two games in a row for the first time since Jan. 19-20. But this loss to the desperate Detroit Red Wings came in a marathon, eight-round shoot-out. A video review confirmed Darren Helm's shot hit the inside of Devan Dubnyk's left pad just over the goal line.
It didn't help that captain Mikko Koivu, tied for second in NHL history with 39 shootout goals, was a late scratch with a scratched cornea. He made it through warmups but couldn't play due to what sounds like an off-ice injury. The Wild said Koivu is day-to-day. His absence sent his line with Nino Niederreiter abd Chris Stewart into flux. Erik Haula, scratched Thursday, started in Koivu's 5-on-5 spot and Mikael Granlund took Koivu's top power-play unit spot. By the second, Haula and Charlie Coyle changed places. By the third, Haula was demoted to the fourth line and ultimately benched.

Parise got things started with 5:53 left in the first period, but was just 1:52 later, Riley Sheahan tied it. The Wild had a chance to take the lead in the second when Detroit took back-to-back penalties, which included a Wild two-man advantage. Parise, Pominville, Granlund, Ryan Suter and Matt Dumba stayed on for two-plus minutes and didn't record a shot. Gustav Nyquist ironically gave Detroit a 2-1 lead on a power play. The Wild's power play ranks 28th, connecting 15.6% of the time. Regardless, Parise tied the game at 2-2 in the third with his team-leading 32nd goal and team-leading 10th power-play goal. The Wild failed on two power plays to win the game after.
Former Buffalo Sabres teammates Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek are second and third on the Wild's scoring. Both reached the 50 point mark in the week leading up to this game. Vanek has flourished since he stopped moving around the lineup, finding stability at left wing and excellent chemistry with linemates Charlie Coyle and Justin Fontaine.

Game in a Nutshell
Darren Helm was caught off guard as the seventh round of a shootout went to the eighth. With a chance to win, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock called Helm's number, and the veteran came through. His backhand-forehand move got Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk on his belly, giving Helm an open net to shoot at, helping Detroit to a 3-2 victory at Xcel Energy Center. Helm's shot was ruled no goal on the ice after Dubnyk appeared to make a save with the back of his left pad. But it was determined by video review that the puck had already crossed the goal line. Dubnyk made 20 saves.

Wild Quotes

Mike Yeo: "Any point you get right now is big. That's the frustrating thing about the shootout. It's a loss. It feels like a loss, but I don't  want to say it's a coin flip, but it can go either way. It's not like we were that bad; let's not paint that picture. We played a pretty darn good hockey team tonight and we knew they were going to play their best game. [Koivu] scratched his cornea, but he should be fine by Monday. I thought Haula looked tired tonight. I'm not sure why. We've spent considerable amount of time on our power play. I will say that for sure. I will also say that because of that we've also lost other areas of our game in that practice."
Zach Parise: "They were better than us the first two periods, no question. I thought we started to play a little simpler and a little smarter in the third and I thought that's when we started to feel a little better about how we were playing. It's not going to do any good for me to say anything. it wasn't good enough. We've got to practice it."
Ryan Suter: [power play] been a struggle all year. We have to get it going. It doesn't do any good to talk about the past chances. We have to focus moving forward. We have to practice it more for sure and we have to be better at it.

Red Wings Quotes

Darren Helm: "I wasn't really thinking my number was going to be called quite yet. I thought [Justin Abdelkader] had a chance; he's been pretty hot lately. I thought he could go, a couple other guys, so I was pretty calm. I wasn't thinking about it too much. Luckily, it went in. It was questionable there for a little bit. I thought it might have [gone in] because I got it past that first pad."
Mike Babcock: didn't know he was going to go with Helm either. After the first three or four shooters, Babcock went with an unconventional method to decide who jumped over the boards next.
"I just asked (backup goaltender) Pete Mrazek who he thought was any good. He's the guy who's faced them; I don't face them. [Assistant coach Andrew Brewer] has all the math on everybody, and so we go based on that, but you get to a point and I just ask Mrazek who should shoot."
Jimmy Howard: "I just wanted to go out there and give the guys a chance to win and to have fun. That's why we do this; it's fun to us. That's what I tried to get back to."

Stars of the Game
1 Darren Helm - netted the shoot-out winner.
2 Zach Parise - scored two goals, including a key power-play goal, his team-leading 10th.
3 Gustav Nyquist - scored a power-play goal and scored in the shoot-out.


Special mention to Riley Sheahan, who scored one goal and drew the penalty that led to a goal.

Goals
1-0 - 14:07 - EHG Zach Parise Asst: Mikael Granlund, Jason Pominville - Zach
Parise scored the game's first goal at 14:07 of the first period following a Detroit turnover at their own blue line.  
1-1 - 15:59 - EHG Riley Sheahan Asst: Stephen Weiss, Danny DeKeyser - Detroit tied the score when Riley Sheahan pounced on a rebound and beat Dubnyk at 15:59.
2-1 - 37:13 - PPG Gustav Nyquist Asst: Henrik Zetterberg, Niklas Kronwall - The Red Wings took advantage of their first power play of the night late in the second when Gustav Nyquist fired a shot from a sharp angle over Dubnyk's shoulder at 17:13, giving Detroit a 2-1 lead.
2-2 - 46:33 - PPG Zach Parise Asst: Jason Pominville, Ryan Suter - Zach Parise scored a between-the-legs redirection for his second goal of the night with 13:27 remaining in the third period to tie the score 2-2.
Shootout
1 Z. Parise X                 P. Datsyuk X
2 C. Coyle X                 G. Nyquist [Scored]
3 J. Pominville [Scored] T.Tatar X
4 T. Vanek [Scored]      R. Sheahan [Scored]
5 N. Niederreiter X        H. Zetterberg X
6 C. Stewart X              S. Weiss X
7 M. Granlund X            N. Kronwall X
8  J. Fontaine X             D. Helm [Scored]

Stats
- The Red Wings (41-24-13) remain tied with the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division; Detroit has played one fewer game. Detroit and Boston are three points ahead of the Ottawa Senators. The teams are also competing for a wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.- Jimmy Howard made 22 saves through overtime, and then denied six Wild shooters in the tiebreaker for his first win since March 22.
- Minnesota (44-26-8) has lost consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 19 and 20, but the Wild remain four points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets for the first wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. Minnesota had a chance to clinch a playoff berth with a win and other results.
- Parise's 32 goals lead the Wild.
- Wild scored 30 third-period goals since Feb. 22, a stretch of 20 games. The most in NHL during that time. Also allowed 8 third-period goals during the same time, the fewest in the NHL.

Penalties

1st Period
04:27 DET	Niklas Kronwall  Tripping against  Chris Stewart
2nd Period
06:24 DET	Niklas Kronwall  Interference against  Chris Stewart
07:36 DET	Kyle Quincey  Interference against  Jason Pominville
15:22 MIN	Erik Haula  Holding against  Riley Sheahan
3rd Period
05:59 DET	Danny DeKeyser  Concealing puck
08:31 MIN	Justin Fontaine  Holding against  Tomas Tatar
10:25 DET	Stephen Weiss  Too many men/ice - bench
17:29 DET	Stephen Weiss  Tripping against  Ryan Suter

NHL Results - Sat, Apr 04, 2015

Philadelphia @ Carolina 2-3 SO - Jordan Staal set up Elias Lindholm for a goal in the first period before scoring in the second to give the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead. Michael Raffl scored in the second period and Sean Couturier tied the game with 1:50 remaining in the third. From there, Nathan Gerbe and Chris Terry scored in the shootout to end Carolina's three-game losing streak.
Lindholm's 17th goal gave Carolina a 1-0 lead at 11:00 of the first period. Emery kicked out Staal's shot, but Lindholm was waiting at the right faceoff dot to finish with a one-timer. Staal scored an unassisted goal early in the second period to give the Hurricanes a two-goal lead. After poking the puck away from Nicklas Grossmann in the neutral zone, Staal held the puck on a 2-on-1 with Eric Staal before beating Emery to the glove side at 3:27 for his fifth goal of the season. After a sluggish first period, the Flyers came alive on their first power play. With Alexander Semin off for hooking, Philadelphia worked the puck around to Couturier, whose shot through traffic was tipped by Raffl for his 21st goal at 9:46 of the second. Couturier tied the game when he gathered Michael Del Zotto's pass in front of Ward and scored on a backhand. Gerbe and Terry scored on Carolina's first two shootout attempts, giving Ward a bit of breathing room after stopping Jakub Voracek on Philadelphia's first attempt. After Nick Cousins scored for the Flyers, Ward stopped Claude Giroux for the victory.
Pittsburgh @ Columbus 3-5 - The Pittsburgh Penguins are battling for second place in the Metropolitan Division, but a second straight loss and seventh in the past 11 games has them worried about making the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Pittsburgh led by two goals, but the Columbus Blue Jackets, with three goals from Nick Foligno, defeated the Penguins 5-3 at Nationwide Arena. The Penguins (42-25-11), who possess the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, are three points behind the New York Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division and two behind the third-place Washington Capitals. The Penguins have a game in hand on each. Columbus (39-35-4) has won a Blue Jackets-record nine straight games. Foligno got his first NHL hat trick in his 541st NHL game with an empty-net goal with 57 seconds left. Brandon Dubinsky assisted on the three goals, which gave Foligno 30 this season. Matt Calvert and Scott Hartnell scored for Columbus. Crosby, Brandon Sutter and Ben Lovejoy scored for Pittsburgh. Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves; Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves for the Penguins. It was the Blue Jackets' third hat trick in the past six games. The others were Hartnell against the Anaheim Ducks on March 24, and Cam Atkinson three days later at the Chicago Blackhawks. The Penguins were sloppy defensively, leading directly to two Blue Jackets goals. The Penguins lost after holding a two-goal lead for the third time in past six games. The Blue Jackets rallied from two down Thursday to defeat the Islanders 4-3 in a shootout.
Foligno's second goal put the Blue Jackets ahead 3-2 at 6:46 of the third period. He stole the puck from Pittsburgh defenseman Derrick Pouliot at center ice and passed ahead to Dubinsky. His shot was saved by Fleury, but Foligno drove the net and scored on the rebound. Hartnell made it 4-2 at 9:29 by jamming in the puck during a scramble while Fleury tried to smother it. Marko Dano got his second assist of the game on Hartnell's 26th goal of the season. The Penguins needed 35 seconds to respond when Lovejoy got his second of the season with a shot from the right point to make it 4-3. The Columbus rally started with goals by Foligno and Calvert 2:03 apart late in the second period. Foligno finished a tic-tac-toe play at 16:25. The Penguins were careless leaving the zone, and Artem Anisimov got the loose puck to Dubinsky, who fed Foligno at the left side of the crease. Calvert scored at 18:28, his 11th goal of the season. Crosby, who leads the NHL with 81 points, scored his 27th goal at 8:21 of the first period. Sutter made it 2-0 at 11:07 of the second, taking a slick backhand pass by Cole that eluded three Blue Jackets. Sutter has 18 goals. The Penguins play the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. The Blue Jackets go for 10 wins in a row Monday against the New York Rangers.
Vancouver @ Winnipeg 4-5 - The Jets reached 40 wins for the first time since the 2006-07 season, when it was known as the Atlanta Thrashers. Two goals from Lee Stempniak and three assists from Mathieu Perreault carried the Jets, who ended a two-game losing streak. Stempniak, an acquisition from the New York Rangers on March 1, has scored three goals in his past two games; he has five goals and three assists in 14 games with Winnipeg. Goals 50 seconds apart gave the Jets a 2-0 lead 5:24 into the first period. Jim Slater scored at 4:34, his fifth goal, and Michael Frolik scored his 18th. Henrik Sedin's 18th goal on Vancouver's first power play made it 2-1 at 9:37. Daniel Sedin tied the game at 17:37 on his 17th goal. Thirty-six seconds after Vancouver tied the game, Stempniak gave the lead back to Winnipeg. Mark Scheifele made it 4-2 Winnipeg with 55.6 seconds left in the second period, but Burrows scored his 17th goal on a breakaway seven seconds later. Stempniak's second goal with 9:36 left in the third period made it 5-3. Burrows scored his second of the game with 2:05 left with Lack off for a sixth skater. In the Canucks' final push, Chris Higgins hit the right post. The Jets played without defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, who began a four-game BS suspension for his cross-check of J.T. Miller of the New York Rangers on March 31. Slater scored for the third time in the past four games off a cross-slot pass from Jiri Tlusty. On the next shift, Frolik jammed a loose puck under Lack. Frolik's 18 goals are his most in a season since he scored 21 in 2009-10 with the Florida Panthers. Bryan Little's offensive-zone tripping penalty put Vancouver on its first power play. Alexander Edler's point shot ricocheted off the end boards into the crease, where Henrik Sedin stuffed it into the net. Eight minutes later, Daniel Sedin took Vrbata's pass from behind the Winnipeg net and slipped it past Pavelec. Winnipeg's line of Stempniak, Perreault and center Adam Lowry combined for nine shots. They started to build another two-goal lead by scoring late in the first period when Stempniak tipped in Perreault's pass through the slot past Lack at 18:13. In the final minute of the second period, Scheifele snuck a right-circle shot past Lack. But off the faceoff, Burrows beat Winnipeg defenseman Toby Enstrom and tucked a shot around Pavelec for his third goal in the past four games. The Canucks finished their road trip 2-2-0, losing the final two games. Lack has allowed 12 goals in the past three games. The Winnipeg franchise has not reached the playoffs since 2007, but Stempniak said his teammates are adjusting well to the pressures of the race.
Toronto @ Boston 1-2 SO - Patrice Bergeron scored in regulation and had the only goal in the shootout to give the Bruins a 2-1 win against the Maple Leafs at TD Garden. Bergeron beat Toronto goaltender James Reimer by dragging the puck from his backhand to his forehand in the third round of the shootout. Boston is 4-9 in shootouts. Toronto had six shots in the scoreless first period; forward David Booth hit the left post on one partial breakaway. Bergeron gave Boston a 1-0 lead 19 seconds into the second period. His wrist shot from in front came after Reimer made a save on Bergeron's initial one-timer from the right hash mark. James van Riemsdyk tied it 1-1 at 14:31 of the second period. Defenseman Morgan Rielly's shot required a Rask blocker save, and van Riemsdyk got a piece of the rebound before Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid banked the puck in off Rask's back. Joffrey Lupul had the best chances to break the tie with two wrist shots from in tight at 12:25. Rask went down and stacked his pads to keep the shots out of the net.
Washington @ Ottawa 3-4 OT - The Senators were unable to turn a three-goal first-period lead into a regulation victory, but Turris scored on a breakaway at 3:14 of overtime to give Ottawa a 4-3 win. The Senators led 3-0 less than 10 minutes into the game. But the Capitals dominated for most of the final 50 minutes to force the game past regulation. However, Turris gave the Senators the win when he poked the puck away in the Ottawa zone, raced in alone and beat Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby. Clarke MacArthur and Mika Zibanejad scored during 5-on-3 advantages, and rookie Mark Stone scored his 21st of the season for the Senators, who won their third game in a row, two in overtime and one in a shootout. The Capitals completed their comeback at 15:50 of the third period on Brouwer's 21st of the season. The puck was chipped past Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson in the neutral zone and Brouwer skated in and beat Hammond to the stick side to make it 3-3. The Capitals cut the deficit to 3-2 at 7:18 of the third period on Green's ninth goal of the season. With Brouwer, who was a presence all night around the Ottawa net, battling with defenseman Eric Gryba in the crease, Green skated in and put a shot past Hammond. The Capitals scored the only goal of the second period and held a significant edge in play. Down 11-3 in shots 10 minutes into the game, the Capitals outshot the Senators 16-9 during the next 30 minutes. Johansson scored his 19th goal of the season at 6:26 of the second, beating Hammond high to the glove side with Brouwer screening the goaltender. Stone opened the scoring at 3:31 of the first period. It was his fourth goal and 12th point in his past 10 games. The Capitals then paid a big price for their parade to the penalty box. The Senators' power play was 6-for-55 in the past 17 games but took advantage of three Washington penalties that resulted in overlapping 5-on-3 advantages. Eric Fehr was called for hooking MacArthur with 50 seconds left in Joel Ward's interference penalty at 7:17. Holtby then swiped the puck out of his crease and into the protective netting 28 seconds after Fehr was sent off and was given a delay of game penalty. MacArthur scored his 15th of the season at 9:03 with a shot to the glove side, and with the Capitals still down two men, Zibanejad scored his 20th of the season at 9:56 to increase the lead to 3-0.
Zibanejad became the fifth Senator to score 20 goals this season joining Stone, Karlsson, Turris and Mike Hoffman. Karlsson's assist on MacArthur's goal was the 300th point of his NHL career. He has played 393 games
Tampa Bay @ Florida 4-0 - Cedric Paquette hit the crossbar at the end of Florida power play early in the second before Stamkos opened the scoring at 6:10. Stamkos scored on the power play from below the top of the left circle when he one-timed Johnson's cross-ice pass. He scored again at 11:19 of the second after a Florida turnover in its defensive zone. After stealing the puck, Callahan fed Stamkos at the right dot and his wrist shot beat Luongo high to the short side. Callahan made it 3-0 at 1:03 of the third when his wrist shot from the right dot trickled through between Luongo's body and his right arm. Johnson made it 4-0 at 18:13.
Buffalo @ NY Islanders 0-3 - Okposo scored a power-play goal at 6:37 of the first period. Brian Strait took a double-minor for high-sticking at 16:33. Halak made two saves during the power play, including stopping a Zach Bogosian slap shot from the left circle with 1:39 left. New York has allowed one power-play goal on 34 chances in its past 15 games. Nelson scored at 9:32 of the third period to give the Islanders. Bogosian tried to clear the puck and it ricocheted off a stick that was on the ice and went to Nelson near the left circle, where he sent a wrist shot past Sabres goalie Andrey Makarov for his 20th goal. Kulemin, playing his 500th NHL game, scored his 14th goal off a rebound of a Hamonic shot from the right side at 13:13 of the third period.
New Jersey @ NY Rangers 1-6 - Lundqvist's shutout bid ended with 3:30 remaining when Tuomo Ruutu scored, but it didn’t have an impact on the outcome. Keith Kinkaid made 23 saves on 26 shots in relief of Cory Schneider, who allowed three goals on six shots in the opening 12:24. It marked the eighth time this season that Schneider was pulled. The Rangers became the fourth team in their history to win at least 50 games (1991-92, 1993-94, 2011-12).
New York took a 4-0 lead with 2.7 seconds left in the second period when Stepan scored his 14th of the season on a shorthanded breakaway. Stepan took a lead pass from Nash and broke in 1-on-1 against Kinkaid before backhanding a shot over the goal line. It was the ninth shorthanded goal for the Rangers this season. Brassard made it 5-0 on a centering attempt from the left circle that deflected off the skate of defenseman Adam Larsson and past Kinkaid 1:55 into the third. Moore scored his second of the game at 12:00. The Rangers opened a 3-0 lead in the first on goals by Nash, Yandle and Moore. Lundqvist was sharp, making 13 saves and looking very comfortable in his crease. Nash scored his career-high 42nd of the season off a deflection in the slot off a pass from the left circle by Mats Zuccarello at 5:10. Nash put his stick on the ice and between the skates of defenseman Jon Merrill before Zuccarello put the puck right off his tape. Yandle made it 2-0 when scored his first goal as a Ranger at Madison Square Garden after sending a shot from the point that beat a screened Schneider at 11:59. Moore scored 25 seconds after Yandle's goal when he took a pass from Tanner Glass down the middle and drove a shot past Schneider at 12:24. Devils co-coach Lou Lamoriello decided to replace Schneider with Kinkaid after Moore's goal. Schneider entered the game 0-1-1 with a 2.94 goals-against average and .885 save-percentage in two games against the Rangers this season.
Dallas @ Nashville 4-3 OT - Cody Eakin scored on a penalty shot with 55.7 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 4-3 win. Mattias Ekholm slashed Eakin's stick out of his hands on a breakaway, setting up the game-winning penalty shot. Dallas (38-31-10) remained alive in the Stanley Cup Playoff race with its first win against Nashville this season. The Stars (86 points) trail the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets by six points in the race for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference; they have played one more game than the Jets and Kings, who hold the tiebreaker with more regulation/overtime wins (37-33). Nashville (47-22-10) has lost its past three games (0-1-2), all at home, and leads the St. Louis Blues by one point for first place in the Central Division. James Neal tied the game 3-3 with 1:55 remaining in the third period with goalie Pekka Rinne pulled for an extra attacker, one-timing Mike Ribeiro's pass by Stars goaltender Jhonas Enroth for his 23rd goal. The assist was Ribeiro's 500th in the NHL. Neal, Shea Weber and Matt Cullen returned to the Predators lineup. Weber missed three games because of a lower-body injury, Neal nine games because of an upper-body injury, and Cullen five games because of a lower-body injury. Ryan Ellis made it 3-2 at 10:46 of the third on a wrist shot from the slot that beat Enroth on the glove side for his eighth goal. Colton Sceviour gave Dallas a 3-1 lead at 7:28 of the third with his eighth goal. He crashed the net and shot the puck into a scrum in front, and the puck trickled past the Nashville defenders and Rinne.

Tyler Seguin put the Stars up 2-1 on the power play at 3:23 of the third on a slap shot from the faceoff circle. He took a pass from defenseman John Klingberg and beat Rinne for his 37th goal. The Predators took a 1-0 lead at 9:59 of the first period on a Forsberg wrist shot that got past Enroth. Ekholm took the original shot that bounced off of a body in front and went to Forsberg, who put it in an open net for his 24th goal. It was Nashville's only lead of the game. The Stars scored the next three before the Predators rallied in the second half of the third period to tie it. Moen tied the game 1-1 at 4:09 of the second period with a wrist shot that got past Rinne.
San Jose @ Phoenix 3-5 - The Coyotes hadn't won a home game in regulation in nearly three months. As far as the San Jose Sharks are concerned, the Coyotes picked an awful time to break that streak. Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored twice and had an assist, leading the Coyotes to a 5-3 win Saturday at Gila River Arena. The Coyotes were 0-7-1 in their past eight home games and hadn't won in regulation in their own building since a 4-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 8. They had been 1-15-2 in 18 home games since; the lone win was a shootout victory against the Vancouver Canucks on March 5. The loss was a huge one for the Sharks (39-31-9), who fell five points behind the Los Angeles Kings and the Jets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. San Jose has three games remaining. At age 23, Ekman-Larsson leads all NHL defensemen with 23 goals. He now shares a franchise record as well; defenseman Phil Housley had 23 goals in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons for the Winnipeg Jets before they moved to Phoenix in 1996. Mike Smith made 42 saves for the Coyotes (24-47-8) and is 8-2-2 in his past 12 games against San Jose. Mark Arcobello also scored for Phoenix and Sam Gagner hit the empty net with 10.7 seconds left. Tomas Hertl, Joe Thornton and Chris Tierney scored for the Sharks, who are facing the prospect of missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 seasons. Only the Detroit Red Wings (23 straight seasons) have a longer active streak of reaching the playoffs.
San Jose goalie Antti Niemi made 28 saves. The Coyotes used two power-play goals in the first period to take the lead for good. With San Jose's Karl Stollery in the penalty box, Ekman-Larsson took a crisp cross-ice pass from Arcobello at the left point, waited for David Moss to set a screen and picked the far corner at 11:59. It was Ekman-Larsson's 10th power-play goal this season, which also leads all NHL defensemen. The Sharks got even after Ekman-Larsson took down San Jose's Tommy Wingels and was called for interference. Hertl chased down a rebound, carried the puck to the right circle and flipped a backhand past Smith at 16:36 for his 13th goal. The Coyotes' seventh-ranked power play went back to work after Barclay Goodrow went off for tripping at 17:50. Doan got a stick on Michael Stone's shot from the point; the deflection hit the post and bounced back through Niemi's legs before the goalie inadvertently kicked the puck into the net at 18:37. Doan's 14th goal of the season was his 368th (yes wow! 368 goals in 19 seasons! Wayne Gretzky would have scored that many in 3 seasons) as a Coyote, leaving him 11 shy of Dale Hawerchuk's franchise record. Smith made a number of acrobatic stops among his 13 saves in the second period, including a Pavelski deflection, a Patrick Marleau wraparound and Tierney's redirect. Ekman-Larsson made it 3-1 at 17:46 when he picked up his own rebound with Niemi down and out and wristed it into the wide-open net to tie Housley's record. But the two-goal lead lasted all of 19 seconds. Thornton's bad-angled shot from the left corner near the goal line somehow went behind Smith's head and off the far post at 18:05 to bring the Sharks back to 3-2. It was Thornton's 15th goal but his first in 10 games. The Coyotes regained their two-goal lead 5:30 into the third period when Doan found Arcobello charging down the slot for a wrist shot over Niemi's glove and under the crossbar. It was Arcobello's 17th goal of the season and his ninth in 24 games with Phoenix. He has scored a goal in each of Phoenix's three games against San Jose since joining the Coyotes. Once again, the Sharks answered almost immediately. With Stone in the penalty box, Tierney got a stick on Matt Irwin's power-play shot and deflected it past Smith at 6:48. Tierney scored his sixth goal of the season and fourth in the past seven games.
Calgary @ Edmonton 4-0 - Jonas Hiller entered at 58 seconds after starting goaltender Karri Ramo sustained a lower-body injury and made 27 saves in relief to help the Calgary Flames to a 4-0 win. It was the longest relief appearance in a team-shared shutout in NHL history. Ramo did not face a shot before leaving the game. The Flames goaltender was favoring his left leg after going down on a shot attempt that went wide. Ramo had to be helped off the ice and did not return. Colborne opened the scoring 1:59 into the first period when his shot bounced off his skate and past Scrivens. Mason Raymond took the initial shot, which was kicked away, but then hit Colborne and bounced into the net. The Oilers had their opportunities to tie the game in the period and had 11 shots against Hiller. Forward Taylor Hall hit the goal post on an attempt from the edge of the faceoff circle. Hall centered the Oilers’ top line after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was a late scratch due to a lower-body injury. Granlund gave Calgary a 2-0 lead at 17:56 of the second period, taking a cross-crease pass from Josh Jooris and lifting a shot over Scrivens. Wideman scored a power-play goal at 2:16 of the third period to give Calgary a 3-0 lead. The Flames defenseman one-timed a shot from the point that beat Scrivens in off the goal post. The goal was scored five seconds into a cross-checking penalty to Oilers Keith Aulie. Granlund scored at 18:52 of the third period to round out the scoring, catching Scrivens out of his net and shooting the puck past him before he was able to scramble back.
Colorado @ Los Angeles 1-3 - Alec Martinez scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period and Los Angeles limited Colorado to 10 shots, matching the single-game low in the NHL this season. This was the type of shutdown game the Kings needed to get into the postseason. The Avalanche were eliminated from playoff contention before the game when Winnipeg defeated the Vancouver Canucks. That was tough to swallow for a team that won the Central Division with 112 points last season. Martinez broke a 1-1 tie at 10:09 of the second when he scored on a shot from the right circle that went in and out of the net so fast that he briefly celebrated before shooting the puck into the net again. Jeff Carter threw the puck on net and it bounced out to a pinching Martinez, who scored his first goal since Jan. 17. He missed 19 games during that span with a concussion. Marian Gaborik scored an insurance goal on a wrist shot that beat Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov from the top of the left circle with 1:56 left in regulation. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick made nine saves, allowing only a goal by Ryan O'Reilly 1:12 into the second period. The 10 shots allowed equaled the Kings' franchise record from Jan.11, 1994, against the San Jose Sharks for fewest by an opponent. Dwight King opened the scoring when he put home Carter's rebound at 13:56 of the first period. O'Reilly tied it 72 seconds into the middle period when he knocked in a loose puck after Quick could not glove Landeskog's shot. The Kings won their 24th home game, two shy of the franchise single-season record.

Amy Farrah Fowler of the Big Bang Theory spotted taking Photos of Pizza Boy Mike Smith.

NHL Results - Fri, Apr 03, 2015

Chicago @ Buffalo 4-3 - Jonathan Toews again came through when the Blackhawks needed him most. The Chicago captain scored twice in the final 1:43 to lead the Blackhawks to a 4-3 win. The Sabres had scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead with 7:18 remaining. Toews' two goals came 47 seconds apart. With Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling pulled for the extra attacker, Toews put a rebound of Duncan Keith's point shot past Sabres goalie Anders Lindback with 1:43 left to tie the game 3-3. Toews scored the game-winning goal with 56 seconds left. After receiving a drop pass from Brandon Saad, his wrist shot went over Lindback's glove hand for his 28th goal, which leads the Blackhawks. Marcus Foligno scored two goals to lead the Buffalo rally from an early 2-0 deficit. On his second goal of the night, eighth of the season, Foligno poked a loose puck past Darling after it was deflected by Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook to give Buffalo a 3-2 lead at 12:42 of the third period. Foligno scored to make it 2-1 with 6:50 left in the second period when he picked up a rebound off Rasmus Ristolainen's shot from the point and put a backhand shot past Darling. Larsson tied the game on the power play when he tipped in Ristolainen's shot from the blue line for his fifth goal. Keith gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead with his 10th goal. His slap shot from the blue line got through traffic and beat Lindback 2:16 into the first period. Patrick Sharp made it 2-0 with his 15th goal. He received a pass from David Rundblad and entered the Sabres zone, where he took a wrist shot that glanced off Lindback into the net 8:36 into the first period.


Montreal @ New Jersey 2-3 SO - P.K. Subban knows one key to success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is making certain the power play is at least providing momentum in tight games. That hasn't been the case for Montreal of late.
Jacob Josefson and Patrik Elias scored in the shootout to give the Devils their first win in seven games (1-4-2). Kinkaid stopped Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais in the shootout. Josefson scored in the second round and Elias in the third. The Canadiens failed to take advantage of a five-minute power play in the second period when Scott Gomez was given a major and a game misconduct for elbowing Alexei Emelin at 14:38. The defenseman knocked Gomez to the ice on a legal hit with his shoulder, and Gomez retaliated with his elbow a few seconds later in front of Tokarski. The Devils penalty-killers limited the Canadiens to one shot on the advantage. The Canadiens also failed on a 5-on-3 for 33 seconds late in the third period with Matteau (delay of game) and Andy Greene (tripping) in the penalty box. The Devils then denied the Canadiens during a 4-on-3 power play in overtime after another Greene tripping penalty at 2:39. The Devils tied it 2-2 in the second period when Boucher scored his first goal in eight NHL games this season. He deflected a shot from the left point by Jon Merrill past Tokarski at 4:37. The goal came less than a minute after Tokarski made a great save with his left pad against Damon Severson. Plekanec and Petry scored in a span of 2:03 to give Montreal a 2-1 first-period lead. Plekanec scored seven seconds into a power play after Merrill was whistled for interference at 14:39. With Brendan Gallagher providing a screen, Plekanec shot from the top of the right circle. Petry scored with a snap shot from the right circle at 16:42. The goal was the defenseman's third in 16 games with the Canadiens since being acquired from the Oilers in a trade March 2. The Devils took a 1-0 lead when Matteau scored his second NHL goal off a rebound at the right post at 9:51. It was his first in the League since Feb. 9, 2013 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Montreal coach Michel Therrien also opted to scratch veteran defenseman Andrei Markov. Markov, who hadn't missed a game this season and usually plays on the first power-play unit with Subban, was replaced by veteran Sergei Gonchar, coming off a nine-game absence.


St Louis @ Dallas 7-5 - The St. Louis Blues have been strong in back-to-back situations this season. Thanks largely to a hat trick from Jaden Schwartz, the Blues rallied for a 7-5 victory against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center, their second win in as many nights. Brian Elliott made 27 saves and the Blues (48-23-7) pulled even with the Nashville Predators for first place in the Central Division. Each team has 103 points and four games remaining; the Predators own the tiebreaker with two more regulation/overtime wins (ROW).
It was the fifth time this season the Blues have won both ends of a back-to-back. St. Louis clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth consecutive year by defeating the Calgary Flames 4-1 the previous night. In a game that saw each team blow a two-goal lead, Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo broke a 5-5 tie 9:57 into the third period. Pietrangelo fired a wrist shot from the slot over the blocker of goaltender Kari Lehtonen for his seventh goal of the season. The goal also ended Lehtonen's night; he was replaced by Jhonas Enroth. Schwartz completed his hat trick by hitting the empty net with 22 seconds remaining. Patrik Berglund scored two goals for the Blues. Jay Bouwmeester, T.J. Oshie and Kevin Shattenkirk each had two assists, and Pietrangelo and Zbynek Michalek a goal and an assist each. Dallas captain Jamie Benn scored twice and had an assist; linemate Tyler Seguin scored a goal and assisted on each of Benn's goals. Travis Moen and Antoine Roussel also scored for Dallas (37-31-10), which remained six points behind the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference; the Kings hold the ROW tiebreaker over the Jets 36-32. It was another night of frustration for the Stars, who have four games remaining. The Stars appeared to take an early lead when Patrick Eaves scored 6:15 into the first period. However, the goal was immediately waved off because center Jason Spezza caught Elliott's right skate at the top edge of the paint, upending the goaltender. Seguin hit the post with a one-timer from the left circle at 8:46, and Elliott stopped him on a breakaway at 16:27. Berglund gave St. Louis the lead with 2:11 remaining in the first when he redirected a David Backes one-timer into the net. Backes played the carom off the boards on the near side of the ice and took a shot that Berglund got his stick on, deflecting it top shelf past Lehtonen at the near post. Dallas answered with 11 seconds left in the period when Moen scored on a penalty shot after being taken down in front of the net by Michalek. Moen skated up the right side of the ice and scored his second goal of the season with a wrist shot from the slot that went under Elliott's blocker. It was Moen's first NHL penalty shot. Seeing his first action in 20 games, Moen last played on Feb. 17 at the Blues. St. Louis scored twice in the first 32 seconds of the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Berglund got his second of the game 15 seconds into the period, redirecting a wrist shot by Shattenkirk from the left point past Lehtonen for his 12th goal of the season. Schwartz backhanded his own rebound past Lehtonen 17 seconds later. But the Stars scored the next four goals, two by Benn and one each by Seguin and Roussel, to take a 5-3 lead. Six seconds after Schwartz's goal, Benn's wrist shot from the slot went under Elliott's blocker. Counting Moen's goal late in the first period and the three goals early in the second, the Blues and Stars scored four goals in 49 seconds, the fastest four goals in NHL history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Stars tied it at 10:01 when Seguin scored his 36th of the season. His wrist shot from the slot struck Elliott's stick, bounced up and deflected off Shattenkirk's upper body and into the net. Benn's second of the game and 30th of the season came at 14:40. He tipped in a pass from Seguin to give Dallas their first lead. Roussel made it a two-goal game at 15:23 with his first goal in 15 games on a wraparound at the near post. It was Roussel's first goal since Feb. 27 against the Colorado Avalanche. But Schwartz gave the Blues a spark with 26 seconds left in the period when he scored his second of the game and 27th of the season to make it 5-4. His wrist shot from the left circle went under Lehtonen's glove. The Blues tied it 5-5 when Michalek scored his fourth of the season 4:44 into the third period. Michalek's wrist shot from the right circle deflected off both skates of Dallas defenseman Jason Demers and into the net. Pietrangelo's game-winner came after he got the puck inside the right circle, skated around freely in the slot and spun around before beating Lehtonen to the far post.




Colorado @ Anaheim 4-2 - Matt Duchene scored on a breakaway at 9:08 of the third period to help Colorado stave off elimination with a 4-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks. Duchene slipped the puck five-hole on Ducks goalie John Gibson with Sami Vatanen closing in after the puck had bounced to center ice off a blocked shot. The game-winner was Duchene's 21st goal. The Avalanche, who would have been eliminated with a regulation loss, got an empty-net goal from Dennis Everberg with 1:24 left. They are six points behind the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets in the race for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. Anaheim gave the Avalanche three power plays in the second period, and Colorado's 29th-ranked man-advantage unit broke through with Gabriel Landeskog's 23rd goal to tie it 2-2. Landeskog buried a shot high from the slot at 16:52 after Alex Tanguay collected the puck and set him up with Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski serving a holding penalty.
Sekac grabbed a Tanguay turnover in neutral ice, skated past Avalanche forward Marc-Andre Cliche and beat Berra with a quick backhand at 7:31. Corey Perry misdirected Berra from behind the net and flubbed a pass that Rakell scored on from the right side at 17:58. John Mitchell scored for Colorado on a one-timer from Jarome Iginla on a rush at 6:33 of the first to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead. Anaheim right wing Stefan Noesen made his NHL debut. He drew a holding penalty against Iginla and nearly scored from the slot in the third period. Boudreau said he probably should have played Noesen more than 6:54, but Noesen wasn't complaining.


Phoenix @ San Jose 1-3 - The San Jose Sharks know they still need lots of help if they're going to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 11th straight season. The Sharks defeated the Coyotes 3-1, winning for the fourth time in five games. The Sharks (39-30-9) have 87 points and moved within three of the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card from the Western Conference; the Kings hold the tiebreaker with 36 regulation/overtime wins to 32 for the Jets. The Sharks are also four points behind the third-place Calgary Flames in the Pacific Division. Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski and Matt Nieto scored for the Sharks, and Antti Niemi made 20 saves. The Sharks will probably have to win their final four games to have a chance of making the playoffs. The Sharks and Coyotes finish the home-and-home set Saturday at Gila River Arena.
The Coyotes (23-47-8) lost for the ninth time in 11 games. They have 54 points, fewer than every other NHL team except the Buffalo Sabres, who have 52. Mark Arcobello had the lone goal for Phoenix, and backup goaltender Louis Domingue made 34 saves. The Sharks outshot Phoenix 37-21, but they owned a slim 2-1 lead late in the third period before Nieto hammered a rebound past Domingue with 5:50 left in regulation. Domingue stopped Chris Tierney's shot from the left circle but couldn't control the puck, and Nieto scored his ninth goal of the season, all but sealing the win. The Sharks outshot Phoenix 16-3 in the first period and built a 2-0 lead on early goals by Couture and Pavelski. Couture scored 58 seconds into the game on a rush, snapping a shot from the right circle over Domingue's glove and into the upper left corner. Tomas Hertl sent a cross-ice pass to Couture, who controlled the puck with his left skate and quickly fired, scoring his 27th goal of the season. Pavelski made it 2-0 at 5:00 with his team-high 37th goal, which came just seconds after San Jose's first power play expired. Patrick Marleau threaded a pass from below the goal line to Pavelski, who scored on a slap shot from the low slot. David Moss put the puck past Niemi at 5:50 of the first period, but the goal was immediately waived off by the referees. A video review confirmed that Moss directed the puck over the goal line with his left hand. Phoenix cut San Jose's lead in half at 2:34 of the second period when Arcobello scored his 16th goal of the season. On a 2-on-1 rush, Arcobello sent a cross-ice pass from the right circle toward Tobias Rieder, who was a step behind Sharks defenseman Brent Burns. Burns reached out and got his stick on the puck, but he deflected it past Niemi. The Coyotes nearly pulled even with under a minute left in the second period when cheap shot Shane Doan fired a sharp-angled shot from the left of the crease. Niemi deflected the puck into the air and snagged it with his glove. Niemi stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third period, and the Sharks held on for the win.

Whoosh Its behind ya!

#8 Calgary Flames @ St Louis Blues 1-4 - Thu, Mar 02, 2015

Going to St Louis was the part of the trip I was looking forward to the most. It meant a road trip with my friend Dan, climbing the Gateway Arch and finally getting to see Vladimir Tarasenko. Well two out three isn't bad eh?
Dan although living in Columbus grew up in St Louis and we set off from Ohio the day before the game. It got a tour of everything that is cool in the Mid-West. I thought I had tried every type of fast food there was to try in 'Merica but Dan introduced me to Steak n Shake and Lion's Choice (Like Arbys but only better). We headed up to visit his Pop, who is a great character and full of jokes and shared a few beers in Debz Corner (a bar I compared to Moe's Tavern from the Simpsons, and Dan found hilarious).
St Louis is full of little surprises and cool places to check out. McGurk's Irish bar was one of those places and has to go down as being the largest Pub I have ever been too. With far too much alcohol consumed it was time to head back to the hotel, but not before Dan gave us his best rendition of a song that involved going swimming with broad-legged women. I couldn't sleep for laughing!
The next morning's newspapers confirmed my worst fears. Vladimir Tarasenko was out. He took a bad hit against Vancouver and Hitchcock was taking no chances before the playoffs. Alexander Steen would also be out. With that really killing my mood it was time to go up the Gateway Arch and look at Busch Stadium before the game started.

As long as Tarasenko and Steen are out of the lineup, no one will think things are back to normal for the Blues. St Louis snapped a two-game losing streak, reached 100 points for the seventh time in franchise history and clinched a spot in the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. While clinching a playoff spot has been inevitable for some time, coach Ken Hitchcock said the team could now redirect their gaze. With five games to play, starting in Dallas the following night, the Blues are two points behind Central Division-leading Nashville, with a game in hand. They needed the win to stay one point ahead of Chicago, who the Blues play on Sunday.
The Blues scored a rare first period goal, snapping a 10-game drought. Jaden Schwartz scored that one, just 1:16 into the game, and he had an assist as well. Jake Allen got the win, making the Blues just the second team in the league to have two goalies with 20 wins this season. he had a quiet first two periods, facing just 10 shots, then had to make eight saves in the third, including a few acrobatic ones. Jori Lehtera and Patrik Berglund each had a goal and an assist in the final four minutes as the Blues used a late spurt to make the game safe.
The Blues brought more energy to the game right from the start, dominating the first two periods though the lead was just one goal until late in the third. In a run where they went 1-3-2 in six games, and had dropped the first two games of a three-game homestand, this was their best game in a while.
The Blues had to work for it, killing four minutes of Calgary power play in the middle of the third period before finally giving themselves some badly needed breathing room when Lehtera put in a pass from Berglund with 3:15 to go in the third. After going 10 games without scoring in the first period, the Blues finally found a way to break through. Schwartz dug out the puck behind the goal line, skated to the corner of the crease, and on the backhand flipped the puck up and across the face of the goal and past goalie Jonas Hiller.

It was the first time the Blues had scored in the first period since March 10 (when, coincidentally, it was Schwartz who scored), and they held that lead at the break thanks to some nice saves by Allen, including a shot from Dennis Wideman that he blocked with his mask. The blues got a scare when Dirty Dog Brandon Bollig slammed Barret Jackman into the boards late in the period. Jackman was down for a while, and when he got up, he left a mosaic of blood on the ice and a river running down his face and onto his jersey. Defensive partner Robert Bortuzzo jumped in and started pummeling Bollig. The Flames goon got a five-minute boarding penalty and a game misconduct for drawing blood on the hit. The Blues ended up with a three-minute power play at the start of the second period, and used it to take a 2-0 lead when David Backes passed to an open Paul Stastny in front of the net for the goal.
The Blues still had more than two minutes of power play to go on the major penalty, but couldn't take advantage and less than a minute after Calgary killed the penalty, the Flames scored, with Sean Monahan beautifully redirecting a shot from Jiri Hudler into the goal as he skated through the slot. After two periods, the Blues had a whopping 32-10 edge in shots on goal. They almost had a goal early in the third when Dmitrij Jaskin took a shot that beat Hiller but caught the far post and caromed away. The third period then got a lot scarier. Kevin Shattenkirk was called for tripping, and 21 seconds after killing off that penalty, Berglund was called for high sticking, The Blues killed that one too, and actually had the best goal-scoring chance when a turnover at mid-ice sprung Backes on a breakaway, but his shot was into Hiller's pads. Lehtera got the Blues some breathing space when he put in a pass from Berglund from behind the net with 3:15 to play and Berglund clinched it with an empty-net goal. In the absence of Tarasenko and Steen, the Blues were forced to find a few new line combinations. Hitchcock used a line of Paul Stastny, Jaden Schwartz and T.J. Oshie, a trio that had seen only one period together this season. It took them only one 76 seconds to get on board, with Schwartz scoring his 25th goal f the season and Oshie picking up an assist. Stastny has spent much of the season on what would be considered the Blues' third line, playing with Dmitrij Jaskin and Patrik Berglund. But for the foreseeable future, he'll be playing with Schwartz, who's now tied for second on the team in goals, and Oshie, who's third in assists.
I was going to the game to watch Tarasenko and Steen not Ty Rattie, but the  Alberta native was recalled from the AHL's Chicago Wolves and placed on a line with Lehtera and Olli Jokinen.

Game in a Nutshell
The St. Louis Blues knew they eventually would clinch a berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But the way they did it, with a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames at Scottrade Center, had them feeling good. Tarasenko and Steen are first and second in points for St. Louis. Each is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Playing without their top scorers, the Blues' new top line of Jaden Schwartz, Paul Stastny and T.J. Oshie combined for five points. Schwartz, Stastny, Patrik Berglund and Jori Lehtera each had a goal and an assist; Oshie had an assist.
Allen preserved the 2-1 lead with two saves with St. Louis shorthanded in the third period. He stopped Dennis Wideman from the slot at 8:12, then denied Hudler from the side of the goal on the rebound. The Blues had some key penalty kills in the third period, continued to press with a one-goal lead, and were rewarded in the end.

Jake Allen: "That was impressive to watch from my end. It could have been a lot higher score, but their goaltender (Jonas Hiller) played great. What an effort from the guys. Coming down to the wire, clinching a playoff spot, a couple of our key players (Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko) out, guys stepped up tonight. It was impressive."
Paul Stastny: "It's nice [clinching] on home ice. Now the next step for us is get better until April 15, or whenever the playoffs start, but our focus is trying to get home ice. We worked hard at both ends. I know it's cliche-ish, but we held on to the puck a little more. We tried making some plays throughout all four lines, and I think as a team we played pretty sound hockey, and then even when it was a one-goal game, just kept going. [The new line] had one period in Buffalo and it was fun. Two guys that play that give-and-go game, smart guys that you can read off each other and always support each other."
Ken Hitchcock: "We were the much better team in the first two periods; their goalie kept them in it, and then we needed our goalie in the third. Calgary just hangs around and Calgary had some great chances in the third, and our goalie held us in that first 10-12 minutes. We stop looking at standings below us. Until the x is beside your name, you're always counting below you. Now we're looking above. So it's an important game tomorrow for us because before Nashville plays, we can tie them. We can really put pressure on them, and we're getting the heat from behind. It sets up the two games with the Hawks as unbelievable competition. If we can get those two points [against Dallas], we'll keep the pressure on Nashville. That's going to be good. This is an awesome opportunity for [Stastny] and that line to show us what we think they're capable of. If I was him, I would look at this, 'man what an opportunity' and I think he'll take advantage of it. We've lean on [Stastny] more defensively because him doing what he's done has allowed Lehtera's line to terrorize teams. So now he gets the chance to have the matchup and we'll use the other two lines to hunker it down. Stas' gets the prime-time now and we'll use another line to get them the space that they need."
Jaden Schwartz: "It was nice breaking that streak. It's not always fun chasing games all the time. It got the crowd into it early."

Flames Quotes

Bob Hartley: "I think St. Louis has the number of many teams. Looking at the size and the strength of that team, they're not easy to play against. They were better than us. They fully deserved the victory."
Sean Monahan: "Obviously, it doesn't mean much right now after a game like that, but I guess putting the puck in the net in this League is tough, so it's pretty cool to get 30. But it doesn't mean much after a game like that."
Stars of the Game
1 Paul Stastny
2 Alex Pietrangelo
3 Jaden Schwartz

Goals
1-0 - 01:16 - EHG Jaden Schwartz Asst: T.J. Oshie - Schwartz came out of the corner with the puck after Oshie won a board battle with TJ Brodie and flipped a backhand past Hiller 1:16 into the game.
2-0 - 20:23 - PPG Paul Stastny Asst: David Backes, Jaden Schwartz - St. Louis began the second period with 2:48 of power-play time after Brandon Bollig's major for boarding Barret Jackman late in the first period, and they went ahead 2-0 on Stastny's 15th goal. David Backes patiently waited out a sliding Mikael Backlund before sending a pass to Stastny in front. Stastny redirected the puck through Hiller from in tight 24 seconds into the period.
2-1 - 23:35 - EHG Sean Monahan Asst: Jiri Hudler, Johnny Gaudreau - Monahan's 30th of the season made it 2-1. He redirected Jiri Hudler's centering feed into the high slot, beating Allen high over his left shoulder 3:35 into the second.
3-1 - 56:45 - EHG Jori Lehtera Asst: Patrik Berglund - Lehtera gave the Blues a 3-1 lead after taking a wraparound pass from Berglund and beating Hiller with a backhand with 3:15 remaining.
4-1 - 57:55 - EN Patrik Berglund Asst: Jori Lehtera, Paul Stastny - Berglund scored an empty-net goal with 2:05 left.





Stats
- Paul Stastny has 51 points in 43 games against the Flames.
- St. Louis (47-23-7) is one of four Western Conference teams to clinch a playoff berth; the Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks are the others. The Blues trail the Predators by two points for first place in the Central Division and are one point ahead of the Blackhawks, who are third. St. Louis and Chicago each has a game in hand on Nashville.
- Allen made 17 saves for his 20th win. He and Brian Elliott (24) joined the New York Rangers' Cam Talbot (20) and Henrik Lundqvist (27) as the only NHL tandems with each goalie having 20 victories.
- The Flames (42-29-7), who got a goal from Sean Monahan and 39 saves from Hiller, are in third place in the Pacific Division. They lead the Los Angeles Kings, who defeated the Edmonton Oilers 8-2, by one point.
- It was Calgary's sixth straight loss in St. Louis, dating to April 1, 2011. The Blues are 9-1-1 against the Flames in the past 11, and they've outscored Calgary 17-2 in the past four. St. Louis swept the three-game season series for its first sweep of Calgary since 2002-03, when it went 4-0-0.
- When Schwartz beat Hiller for his 25th goal, it ended the Blues' first-period goal drought at 10 games and 206:56. St. Louis had not scored in the first period since Schwartz did against the Winnipeg Jets on March 10.
- Monahan, in his second season, is the first Calgary player to score 30 goals since Jarome Iginla in 2011-12.
- The Blues outshot the Flames 43-18 and won for the second time in their past seven games (2-3-2).

Penalties

1st Period
08:31 CGY	Joe Colborne  Tripping against  Patrik Berglund
17:48 CGY	Brandon Bollig  Fighting (maj) against  Robert Bortuzzo
17:48 STL	Robert Bortuzzo  Misconduct (10 min) against  Brandon Bollig
17:48 STL	Robert Bortuzzo  Fighting (maj) against  Brandon Bollig
17:48 STL	Robert Bortuzzo  Instigator against  Brandon Bollig
17:48 CGY	Brandon Bollig  Game misconduct against  Barret Jackman
17:48 CGY	Brandon Bollig  Boarding (maj) against  Barret Jackman
2nd Period
09:03 STL	David Backes  Slashing against  Matt Stajan
3rd Period
06:58 STL	Kevin Shattenkirk  Tripping against  Mason Raymond
09:19 STL	Patrik Berglund  Hi-sticking against  Johnny Gaudreau

NHL Results - Thu, Mar 02, 2015

NY Islanders @ Columbus 3-4 SO - Columbus got goals from Jack Johnson and Ryan Johansen to tie the score 3-3 before Mark Letestu and Johansen scored in the shootout. Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped four Islanders in the shootout after making 25 saves. Columbus tied a Blue Jackets record with an eighth straight win, set Jan. 6-23, 2014. The Islanders went ahead 3-1 on a Ryan Strome goal 55 seconds into the third. Two minutes later, Strome had a redirect that hit the right post then skimmed the crossbar. Strome was the beneficiary of a rebound off a shot from the blue line by defenseman Travis Hamonic for his 17th goal. Johnson made it 3-2 with 8:57 left in the third period by pushing in a loose puck after a scramble in front of Halak. It was the defenseman's second goal in two games and eighth of the season. Johansen tied it with 3:43 left by extending his point streak to nine games (four goals, eight assists) with a sweep of the puck, which was in the crease after a save by Halak. Eric Boulton scored in the first period for the Islanders and Brandon Dubinsky tied it for the Blue Jackets before the period was over. Tavares scored his 35th in the second but the Islanders could not hold the lead.


Washington @ Montreal 5-4 SO - Ovechkin became Washington's all-time leading goal-scorer with the first of his two power-play goals, and Troy Brouwer scored the only shootout goal to give the Capitals a 5-4 win. Ovechkin passed Peter Bondra with his 473rd goal at 14:08 of the second period. Trotz said before the game that Ovechkin, who leads the NHL with 52 goals, was closing in on Price as the top contender for the NHL's Most Valuable Player award. Ovechkin, who played his 756th NHL game, moved ahead of Bondra, who scored 472 goals in 961 games with Washington from 1990 to 2004. Braden Holtby stopped all four Montreal shots in the shootout after making 23 saves in regulation and overtime for the Capitals, who extended their winning streak to three games. Joel Ward scored twice, including Washington's third straight power-play goal to give the Capitals a 4-3 lead at 12:19 of the third. John Carlson had the primary assist on each of Washington's three power-play goals.
P.K. Subban scored his career-high 15th goal on a power play with 4:59 remaining in the third to tie the game 4-4. The Capitals took a 2-1 lead on Ovechkin's 51st goal with Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty in the penalty box for hooking. Gilbert drew Montreal even at 2-2 with his fourth goal at 14:47 of the second period. Eller gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead at 18:39 with his 13th goal. Ovechkin's second power-play goal tied it 3-3 at 11:06 of the third period. It was his League-leading 24th power-play goal, which tied his career high set last season. Ward, who scored at 10:36 of the second to tie it at 1-1, got his second when he tipped Carlson's point shot past Price. Petry scored 58 seconds into the second period, one second after Brooks Orpik's holding penalty expired.
Linesman Jean Morin was given a warm ovation in the first period when it was announced that he was working his 1,427th and final NHL regular-season game.


Tampa Bay @ Ottawa 1-2 OT - Patrick Wiercioch scored with 16.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Senators a 2-1 win. Wiercioch scored on a shot from the right circle off a pass from Mark Stone that beat Tampa Bay goaltender Ben Bishop. The regulation goals in this game were scored in the first period by rookies. Stone was first with his 20th of the season, and Jonathan Drouin scored his fourth for the Lightning. Stone got the puck in the Senators zone and found Clarke MacArthur with a stretch pass. MacArthur curled in the Tampa Bay zone and made a short pass to Kyle Turris. He shot on net, and Stone scored on the rebound at 5:03. Drouin scored his second goal in three games at 16:53 with Erik Karlsson off for holding. Ottawa's Jean-Gabriel Pageau had the best chance to clear the puck at the left point in a scrum, but the Lightning kept it in. Valtteri Filppula found Drouin in the right circle, and his shot went over the right shoulder of Andrew Hammond. The Lightning played the game without four of their top six defensemen; Victor Hedman, Braydon Coburn, Jason Garrison and Andrej Sustr are injured. The Lightning also played without second-leading scorer Tyler Johnson. Coach Jon Cooper said it was doubtful any of the injured players would be available against the Panthers.


Boston @ Detroit 3-2 - Trotman's harmless-looking shot from deep in the right faceoff circle went off Detroit goalie Petr Mrazek and squirted in on the short side. The Red Wings were without center Pavel Datsyuk, who missed his second game in a row and seventh in the past nine because of a lower-body injury, right wing Erik Cole, who missed his fifth because of an upper-body injury, and right wing Tomas Jurco, who sat because of an upper-body injury.
Detroit center Riley Sheahan returned to the lineup after missing three games because of an upper-body injury. The Bruins acquired Connolly in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning at the NHL Trade Deadline, but he broke his finger in practice right after the trade. Boston center Patrice Bergeron played one shift in the second period but returned for the start of the third period. He was wearing a full face shield after he required 20 stitches for a cut to his face. Glendening gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead 9:19 into the second period when he backhanded a loose puck that was lying just outside the crease past Rask and under the crossbar. It was Glendening's 12th goal. Weiss made it 2-0 with a power-play goal 2:52 into the third period. He put in a loose puck off a goal-mouth scramble for his ninth goal. But Boston scored two goals 2:14 apart to tie it. Soderberg put the Bruins on the board with a power-play goal 5:05 into the third, snapping in a rebound for his 13th goal. Eriksson got his 21st goal at 7:19 when he put Smith's pass from below the goal line into an empty net after Mrazek overplayed Smith.


Carolina @ Florida 1-6 - Jagr's two points moved into a tie for fourth with Ron Francis on the NHL's all-time point list with 1,798. Brandon Pirri continued his scoring surge with his fifth goal in six games; it was his 19th in his past 26 games. Chris Terry scored for Carolina with 1:19 left in regulation, allowing the Hurricanes to avoid their third consecutive shutout loss to the Panthers. Florida has never shut out an opponent three consecutive times. Terry's power-play goal extended his point streak to four games (2-2-4). Anton Khudobin, who stopped 106 of 109 shots while going 3-0 against Florida last season, made 29 saves. Despite Carolina having an 11-2 shot advantage in the first 10:36, the first period was evenly played and scoreless until Mitchell gave Florida a 1-0 lead with 49.4 seconds left by scoring his third goal of the season. Mitchell scored off a faceoff when his shot changed direction after hitting Terry's skate.
The Panthers blew the game open with three second-period goals, continuing a season-long trend. Florida began the night with 84 goals in the second period, 25 more than in the first or third. Pirri scored first at 5:01 after Jagr carried the puck down the right wing. When Jagr lost control and the puck slid between two Carolina payers, Pirri came over from the middle of the ice, shot while spinning around and beat Khudobin between the legs. Jagr scored his fifth goal in 16 games with the Panthers since coming over in a trade with the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 26 at 13:01 when he one-timed Barkov's beautiful pass from behind the net. Barkov made it 4-0 at 16:27 off a 2-on-1 with a backhand rebound after Khudobin had stopped his wrist shot. Trocheck's two goals came 38 seconds apart in the third period. He scored at 6:07 with a wrist shot from the high slot and at 6:45 on a rebound in front of the net.


NY Rangers @ Minnesota 3-2 - J.T. Miller scored the game-winner 6:48 into the third period, deflecting a shot from the point by Ryan McDonagh past Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk less than a minute after Thomas Vanek tied the score 2-2. The Rangers took advantage of the Wild, who hadn't played since Saturday, by scoring 2:09 into the game and twice in the first period. The Rangers took advantage of a Wild turnover for a 1-0 lead. A pass by Vanek was intercepted by Carl Hagelin at the blue line. He took a quick shot toward the net that was deflected by Dominic Moore past Dubnyk. New York scored on its first power play for a 2-0 lead. Rick Nash's shot from a bad angle deflected in off Dubnyk's blocker at 14:37. Nash's 41st goal tied his NHL high, established in 2003-04, his second season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Minnesota made it 2-1 at 5:24 of the second period when a backhand flip by Matt Dumba deflected past Lundqvist off Jason Pominville's skate. The goal ended a nine-game drought for Pominville, whose 17th goal gave him 50 points for the eighth time in his NHL career. Vanek tied the game after Dumba's shot wide of the net caromed to him in front at 5:53. Vanek has eight goals and 12 points in his past 12 games.


Vancouver @ Chicago 1-3 - Corey Crawford and the Chicago Blackhawks' fourth line made sure a chance to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs at United Center wasn't squandered. Led by Crawford's 35 saves and two goals from its fourth line, Chicago defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 to clinch its seventh straight trip to the playoffs. Jonathan Toews and fourth-line center Marcus Kruger each scored in the third period, minutes after Crawford made several outstanding saves to keep the game tied. Canucks goalie Eddie Lack also made 35 saves, and Derek Dorsett scored his seventh goal, tying the game 1-1 at 18:46 of the first off a Chicago turnover. Blackhawks rookie Teuvo Teravainen opened the scoring at 6:51 of the first period with his fourth goal, rewarding the Blackhawks' fourth line for a strong shift when he scored with a wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle. After feeding Marcus Kruger a pass to the front of the net, the Finnish rookie drifted into the right circle and got a return pass from Kruger off a rebound of the initial shot. Teravainen forced a turnover midway through the third, then returned the favor and sprung Kruger for a breakaway. Kruger scored at 10:31 for the game's final goal, 2:27 after Toews made it 2-1 off a rebound of a point shot by Johnny Oduya. Crawford made 10 saves in the second to keep the Canucks from taking a lead on good scoring chances by Linden Vey and Yannick Weber. He made 15 in the third, including another good one against Weber at 6:22 during a 3-on-2 rush.
Minutes later, after Toews' goal, the Blackhawks goalie made an outstanding save against Nick Bonino to preserve the one-goal lead. The Blackhawks are in the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season for the first time since 1991 to 1997, but the goal now is to chase down the Blues, and possibly the Nashville Predators, who lead the Central with 103 points, for some sort of home-ice advantage.


Edmonton @ Los Angeles 2-8 - Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty and Jordan Nolan ended goal-scoring droughts of at least 19 games in a 8-2 win against the Oilers at Staples Center. The Kings (38-25-14) tied the Winnipeg Jets with 90 points and own the first tiebreaker with more regulation/overtime wins. Los Angeles also got help in the Western standings because three teams ahead of them, the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Wild, all lost.
Brown ended a 19-game scoring drought and Doughty a 24-game drought in a first-period blitz for the Kings, whose three goals in the first 9:13 of the game equaled their total from their previous four home games. Doughty capped the outburst with a wrist shot through traffic for his first goal since Feb. 7. It gave the Kings three goals on six shots. Brown threaded a wrist shot from a steep angle on the left side 2:23 into the game for his first goal since Feb. 18. Gaborik scored off Anze Kopitar's saucer pass on a 3-on-3 rush at 7:07. Nolan ended a 20-game scoring drought when he drove to the net and stuffed the puck past Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens to give the Kings a 4-1 lead at 12:14 of the second.
Jeff Carter scored his team-leading 27th and 28th goals, on the power play at 18:38 of the second and on a breakaway at 9:21 of the third, and the Kings got their first eight-goal game since April 1, 2010. Fifteen players made the scoresheet for Los Angeles. Edmonton goalie Tyler Bunz made his NHL debut when he was inserted for the third period and allowed two goals on his first four shots, which prompted Oilers coach Todd Nelson to call timeout while Scrivens gave Bunz a pep talk. Kings center Jarret Stoll returned after a nine-game absence because of a head injury.