Montreal @ Boston 2-0 - Montreal defeated their Atlantic Division rival for the third time this season. Goaltender Carey Price earned his second shutout of the season with 33 saves, and Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Markov provided the goals in a 2-0 victory at TD Garden. The Canadiens won the previous two games with the Bruins by a combined score of 11-5. Montreal has won nine of the past 10 against Boston and the past five played here during the regular season. The Bruins were without forwards Chris Kelly, Brad Marchand and David Krejci. Defensemen Zdeno Chara and Adam McQuaid are on injured reserve. The Bruins dressed five rookies: forwards Matt Fraser, Seth Griffith, Alexander Khokhlachev and Matt Lindblad, and defenseman Joe Morrow. Markov scored the first goal, the Canadiens' first power-play goal in four games, at 11:37 of the first period. Plekanec beat Patrice Bergeron clean on a faceoff at the right dot. Brendan Gallagher passed to Markov at the right point for a wrist shot that went through traffic past Rask. Boston forward Carl Soderberg made an errant pass behind Milan Lucic on a Bruins 3-on-2 in the second period leading to Plekanec's goal at 8:59 off a deflected pass by Gallagher. Campbell (Bruins) v Weise (Habs) and Krug (Bruins) v Galchenyuk (Habs) were assessed fighting majors. The latter fight came about after Patrice Bergeron slashed Tomas Plekanec.
Detroit @ Toronto 1-4 - Tyler Bozak scored a shorthanded goal 3:44 into the third period when he poked the puck away from Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall and raced in against goalie Jimmy Howard on a breakaway. Bozak lifted the puck on the backhand over Howard's glove hand for a 2-1 lead. Bozak made it 4-1 with an empty-net goal, his eighth of the season, with 1:47 left. Holland made it 3-1 with his fifth goal of the season with 4:22 left. He stole the puck from Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist, took it all the way in on Howard, and snapped a wrist shot to the blocker side. The Maple Leafs scored three times in the third period. After two periods, Detroit led in shots 22-18; Toronto ended the game with a 28-27 advantage. Leo Komarov gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead Saturday with his second goal of the season. Komarov picked up a loose puck from Mike Santorelli and skated in against Howard. Komarov's shot went off defenseman Jonathan Ericsson past Howard with 8:21 left in the first period. Detroit's Tomas Tatar tied the game 1-1 with 9:32 left in the second period with his ninth goal of the season. Tatar one-timed a pass across the attacking zone from Xavier Ouellet past Bernier. Tatar's goal was his fifth, and seventh point, in the past five games. Maple Leafs defenseman Roman Polak sustained a lower-body injury after he delivered a check on Tatar before he scored and did not return. Polak's left ankle was caught underneath Tatar as he went down to the ice; he was helped off by teammates.
Minnesota @ Tampa Bay 1-2 - Alex Killorn scored the go-ahead goal with 1:53 remaining in the second period when he redirected a shot from defenseman Anton Stralman past Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper. The goal was Killorn's fourth in the past four games and sixth of the season. The Wild took a 1-0 lead at 3:11 of the second period when Zach Parise scored his seventh goal of the season off a nice play by Thomas Vanek. Vanek took a pass from Parise in the slot and faked a shot to force Bishop to commit before passing back to Parise for the one-timer into an open net. Stamkos tied the game at 13:42 of the second period with a power-play goal. He skated into the right circle and sent a wrist shot by Kuemper with Ryan Callahan providing a screen. Bishop's biggest save came in the third period when he stopped Wild wing Nino Niederreiter on a shot in front of the net during a power play. Niederreiter took control of the puck when the Lightning failed to clear the zone and had a clear shot, but Bishop blocked it with his glove. The Wild pulled Kuemper and had a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 1:17 when Tyler Johnson was penalized for holding, but Parise's attempt to redirect Marco Scandella's shot hit the side of the net.
Columbus @ Philadelphia 2-4 - The Flyers were fully engaged, especially early in the third period after Calvert scored to get the Blue Jackets within 3-2 at 2:06. Rather than sit back and defend, the Flyers pushed forward, and Coburn ended a 24-game goal drought at 3:18 of the third to re-establish their advantage. Philadelphia started by getting the game's first goal for the sixth time this season when Schenn got into the slot and tipped a Voracek shot past Bobrovsky, off the left post, along the goal line, off the right post and in.
The Flyers are 5-0-1 when scoring first, 3-9-1 when allowing the first goal.
Jenner's rocket from the right side at 4:36 of the first was called a goal after a video review. The Flyers took a 2-1 lead after one period when Streit knocked in a rebound of his own shot with 5:05 remaining. Simmonds' power-play goal put the Flyers ahead 3-1 after two periods. Voracek's shot from in close was blocked by Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson, and the puck popped in the air. Simmonds gloved it next to the right post, dropped it and banked a shot off Bobrovsky's right skate before the goaltender could get set.
Buffalo @ Washington 2-1 - The best scoring chance for either team came in the final minute of the first period when Enroth turned away Ovechkin's stuff attempts near the left post. Despite being outshot 20-10 in the second period, the Sabres took a 1-0 lead at 10:15 on Moulson's third goal. The Capitals lost a puck battle along the left-wing boards after winning a defensive-zone faceoff, allowing Tyler Ennis to skate into the high slot before firing a shot wide. Moulson, who was in front of the net, read the carom, retrieved the puck and lifted a backhand over the stick of a sprawling Braden Holtby. Ovechkin narrowly missed an opportunity to tie the game with 6:42 remaining in the second period when his snap shot from the slot hit the goal post. Niskanen tied the game at 5:54 of the third when he beat Enroth with a one-timer on the Capitals' first power-play opportunity of the game. Mitchell restored Buffalo's lead at 12:18 during a goal-mouth scramble. Holtby thwarted Brian Gionta's power move with his left leg, but the rebound slid toward Mitchell, who pounced for his third goal. The 29-year-old had two goals in 67 games last season. Capitals defenseman Mike Green took one shift early in the third period and did not return because of an upper-body injury. He is listed as day-to-day, though Trotz did not believe that the injury was too serious.
Florida @ Nashville 2-3 SO - Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo stopped 48 of the 50 shots he faced and denied the Predators' first three shootout attempts before Forsberg scored. Predators goalie Pekka Rinne made 28 saves through overtime and went 3-for-3 in the shootout. Nashville got off to a good start in the first period, peppering Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo with six shots on goal four minutes into the period. Luongo came up big and the period went scoreless despite a 14-4 shot advantage for Nashville. Wilson gave Nashville a 1-0 lead with 1:27 remaining in the second period when he made an attempt to pass from behind Florida's net and it went off of a Panthers defenseman and past Luongo. Nashville outshot Florida 33-18 through 40 minutes. The Predators had a two-man advantage for 1:31 in the third period but did not convert.
Florida had a power-play chance of its own shortly after and Rinne made arguably the save of the game on Panthers forward Jimmy Hayes. Rinne was down and Hayes had a seemingly wide-open net, but Rinne was able to extend the paddle of his stick and make the save. Cullen made it 2-0 at 13:01 of the third period. Derek Roy created a turnover in the Florida zone and gave the puck to Cullen, who was able to fire a wrist shot past Luongo for his third goal of the season. Grimaldi cut Nashville's lead in half with 42.6 seconds remaining when he fired a shot that found its way through traffic and past Rinne. It was Grimaldi's first NHL goal. Twelve seconds later, Bjugstad tied the game 2-2. The puck was blocked in front and found its way to Bjugstad at the top of the faceoff circle. He was able to fire a shot that found its way past Rinne.
Carolina @ Colorado 3-4 - Jarome Iginla, who had gone 12 games without a goal, tied the game with 5:17 remaining in the third period and he fed defenseman Zach Redmond, who scored in the first period, for the winner with 1:35 to play. Iginla passed to Redmond skating down right wing for a shot Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward had no chance to stop. Iginla scored the tying goal after taking a pass from Gabriel Landeskog in the right circle. Ward was screened by Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon, who had a career-high three assists.
The Avalanche might not have been in a position to come back if Pickard hadn't made a sensational save against Alexander Semin at 5:20 of the second period. The Hurricanes had a 3-1 lead when Pickard managed to turn around and stretch his glove across the goal line with Semin on the doorstep looking to cash in a rebound. Erik Johnson's goal at 8:25 of the period cut the Avalanche's deficit to 3-2. Johnson was at the upper edge of the left circle when he took a shot that found its way through traffic. The goal came 2 seconds after a power play expired. The Hurricanes grabbed a 3-1 first-period lead and chased Berra, who faced 10 shots, at 16:50 of the period after Andrej Nestrasil scored his first goal of the season. His shot from the right circle went through defenseman Nick Holden, who was on his knees. The puck hit Berra's left pad and bounced inside the post. Former Avalanche defenseman John-Michael Liles and Nathan Gerbe scored for Carolina. Liles scored his first goal of the season at 3:48, beating Berra to the glove side while skating in the left circle. Gerbe made it 2-0 at 5:10 with a shot from the slot for his first goal in 15 games and second overall.
Redmond was credited with his first goal of the game at 10:52 when his shot from the bottom of the left circle hit the skate of Hurricanes defenseman Andrej Sekera and caromed into the net.
New Jersey @ Calgary 4-5 SO - After Sean Monahan and former Flames forward Mike Cammalleri traded goals in the second round of the shootout, Hudler beat Clemmensen in the fourth with a wrist shot to the blocker side, and Ramo stopped Travis Zajac’s to secure the win for the Flames. Trailing 3-1 with Michael Ryder in the penalty box for interference, Clemmensen stopped Kris Russell’s initial point shot after it was tipped by Michael Ferland in front, but Josh Jooris swatted in the rebound to make it 3-2.The assist was Ferland’s first NHL point. In the third period, New Jersey forward Tuomo Ruutu failed to convert on a chance off the rush, but Calgary defenseman Mark Giordano plowed through Ramo on the backcheck, allowing Ruutu to slide the puck under the Flames goaltender to give the Devils a 4-2 edge at 10:26. Clemmensen stopped Paul Byron's one-timer from the slot with 5:46 remaining and two Giordano point shots with Calgary’s net empty for an extra attacker. Clemmensen couldn’t stop Hudler, who corralled the rebound on Giordano’s second attempt and fluttered it over the goal line at 17:38. With five seconds remaining in regulation, Curtis Glencross scored his second of the night to tie the game 4-4 to force overtime. Adam Henrique opened the scoring for the Devils on their first shot of the game 4:51 into the first period when he finished a reverse feed from Patrik Elias behind the net. The lead was extended when Cammalleri took a blind backhanded pass from Jaromir Jagr and one-timed the backdoor feed behind Ramo for his eighth goal at 13:46. Nearing the midway mark of the second period, a Lance Bouma feed to Glencross pinballed around the crease and Sean Monahan couldn’t shovel his attempt behind Clemmensen, either. Glencross made good on his second attempt. After picking off Travis Zajac’s clearing attempt in the slot, he fired a shot that floated by Clemmensen’s glove to cut New Jersey’s lead to 2-1 at 10:18. Zajac atoned for the miscue with 6.8 seconds remaining in the second. Henrique’s initial shot from the slot struck the crossbar, but Zajac sent the rebound across the goal line before Ramo had the chance to react to restore New Jersey’s two-goal edge.
Chicago @ Edmonton 7-1 - Toews opened the scoring 3:48 into the first period on Chicago's first shot, converting on a 2-on-1 rush with Brandon Saad. The Blackhawks captain took a pass from Saad and slipped the puck between Scrivens' pads. Kruger scored on the Blackhawks' second shot at 4:43, getting the puck at the top of the faceoff circle and snapping a shot over the shoulder of Scrivens. Toews made it 3-0 Chicago at 15:56, on the Blackhawks' fifth shot of the game, tipping a Brent Seabrook point shot past Scrivens. Versteeg increased the lead to 4-0 at 1:16 of the second period on the power play. The Blackhawks right wing took a cross-crease pass and let go a sharp-angled shot that Scrivens inadvertently kicked towards his net and Oilers defensemen Andrew Ference put in while trying to clear it. Hossa scored the Blackhawks' fifth goal at 2:45 of the second on the power play, which chased Scrivens, who was replaced by Fasth. The goal snapped a nine-game drought for Hossa. Keith made it 6-0 at 3:50 on the second shot directed at Fasth, firing a shot from the left circle over the latter's shoulder. At 8:04 of the third period, Perron ruined Crawford's shutout bid, tipping a Justin Schultz point shot into the net. Kane made it 7-1 at 10:58, converting a pass from Versteeg on a 2-on-1 rush.
The Islanders defeated the Penguins at Consol Energy Center on Friday, 5-4 in a shootout in the first game of a home-and home between the Metropolitan Division's top two teams. They play again Saturday at Nassau Coliseum. Kyle Okposo scored the deciding goal in the shootout, deking to the left before bringing the puck to the right and sliding it past Marc-Andre Fleury, who failed to win his 300th NHL game. New York's Frans Nielsen and Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby each scored in the second round of the shootout. The win was the seventh in eight games for the Islanders. Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang came close to scoring the winning goal 1:45 into overtime when he wrapped the puck around the net and deflected it off the left post, but New York defenseman Johnny Boychuk had his stick in position to keep the puck from crossing the goal line. Islanders goalie Chad Johnson earned the win in his first game against Pittsburgh, who drafted him in 2006. After the Penguins struggled to break through the neutral zone trailing 4-3, Evgeni Malkin skated the length of the ice with the puck weaving past Islanders on his way to setting up a game-tying goal by Patric Hornqvist. Malkin centered a pass from the right faceoff circle to Hornqvist, who one-timed a shot past Johnson with 7:00 remaining in the third period. The Islanders scored three first-period goals, but entered the intermission with a one-goal lead after Johnson allowed two goals on the first three shots he faced. Pittsburgh scored on its first shot, 1:13 into the period when Sutter screened Johnson and deflected a slap shot from Paul Martin into the net. They didn’t register a second shot until more than 11 minutes later when Hornqvist backhanded a puck off of Johnson. The Islanders used Pittsburgh’s drought to build a 3-1 lead by scoring three goals on three shots across 1:35, starting with Matt Martin’s first goal of the season 8:18 into the first. On a line change, Martin received a pass from Travis Hamonic that sent him streaking down the left boards before snapping a shot past Fleury. Nikolay Kulemin gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead 29 seconds later by poking a puck off of a faceoff away from Paul Martin, gaining control, deking around Letang and putting another snap shot past Fleury. A slap shot from Thomas Hickey deflected off of Ryan Strome's skate and into the Pittsburgh net, extending New York’s lead to 3-1, 9:53 into the first. Blake Comeau cut New York’s lead to one goal by backhanding a wraparound shot off of Matt Martin and past Johnson with 3:26 remaining in the period. The teams traded goals in the second period with the Islanders maintaining their one-goal lead, 4-3. New York re-established a two-goal lead 5:42 into the second, with Nick Leddy’s fifth goal of the season. Strome sent a pass from behind the net to Leddy in the center of the left faceoff circle, where he snapped a shot through Fleury to give the Islanders a 4-2 lead. Pittsburgh chipped away at the lead when Nick Spaling scored 3:08 later. Spaling battled in the crease with Hickey and Kulemin for a rebound off of a shot from Hornqvist. Spaling tipped inside the right post just before Kulemin could knock it away to pull the Penguins within one goal at 4-3. Islanders defenseman Calvin de Haan left the game with 1:06 remaining in regulation after being tied up with Penguins forward Brandon Sutter and falling into the end boards.
Pens Quotes
Paul Martin: "I seem to like to go on these 20, 30-game goalless droughts, which is pretty tough. But luckily, thankfully, that one went in and it's a pretty big weight off my shoulders."
Mike Johnston: "Their start to the game was really good. And our defensive positioning, we weren’t really stopping in position and really settling things up. We were trying to move rather than stop and defend, and I thought the first period, we made that correction. We talked about it."
Marc-Andre Fleury: "The first period was a little rough. But I thought once we got going, once we got playing our way, we were in good shape and that allowed us to get back in the game."
Boston @ Columbus 4-3 SO - Down 2-0 in the third period and having no success against 2013 Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky, the Bruins took a 3-2 lead before the Blue Jackets got the tying score from Jack Johnson with 7:13 left in regulation. The shootout was scoreless until the seventh round, when Alex Khokhlachev, promoted Thursday from the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League because of injuries, beat Bobrovsky. The Bruins took the lead with 8:28 left in regulation after a fluky goal by Dennis Seidenberg, a redirect from Matt Fraser, and a turnaround by Daniel Paille. Former Ohio State defenseman Matt Bartkowski assisted on the first two Bruins goals. Johnson scored his first of the season with a slap shot from the left circle. It was the second assist of the game for Ryan Johansen, who scored the Blue Jackets' first goal. Nick Foligno had the second goal for Columbus in the first period against Bruins backup goaltender Niklas Svedberg (25 saves). The first 10 minutes of the game were a tale of pucks that got behind the goaltenders after their initial save. The Bruins came within inches of taking 1-0 lead after five minutes when Boston forward Patrice Bergeron shot from between the circles. The puck trickled through Bobrovsky's pads and was on the goal line when Columbus defenseman Dalton Prout reached with a backhand to swat it away. Svedberg wasn't as fortunate on the breakaway created five minutes later when Johansen blocked a shot at his blue line and skated down the left side. He took a wrist shot that Svedberg got a glove on, but the puck continued past him to give Johansen his seventh goal of the season. Foligno made it 2-0 with 9:30 left in the period, with Svedberg again instrumental. He tried clearing the puck to the corner, but Columbus forward Boone Jenner took it away and fed Johansen in the left circle. Johansen then got the puck to Leopold at the point, and his shot went off Foligno past Svedberg. Foligno has 10 goals in 18 games after scoring a career-high 18 in 70 games last season. Boston ended a power play early in the third period when a stunning gaffe by Bobrovsky brought the Bruins within 2-1. Seidenberg took two strides across the red line and fired an innocent looking shot from about 80 feet that dipped to the ice then went through Bobrovsky's pads at 1:28. Fraser parked in the high slot to tip Bartkowski's shot from the left point at 9:33. The Bruins took the lead at 11:32 when Paille got a loose puck and beat Bobrovsky stick side. Bobrovsky made 38 saves in his third game since returning from a broken finger.
New Jersey @ Edmonton 2-0 - Adam Henrique opened the scoring at 10:39 of the second period, taking a pass from forward Steve Bernier and splitting the defense pairing of Justin Schultz and Andrew Ference. Henrique went in and slid a shot through the pads of Fasth, who was making his first start in four games.
Ruutu extended the lead at 15:07 when he collected the puck in the left circle and snapped a bad-angled shot over Fasth's shoulder for his fourth goal of the season.
The Oilers had several scoring chances in the third period and controlled the puck for most of the final 3:30 after pulling Fasth for an extra attacker. But Schneider turned aside all 13 shots he faced to complete the shutout. Oilers right wing Nail Yakupov left the game briefly in the third period after taking a high stick from Devils defenseman Marek Zidlicky, who was assessed a double minor for high sticking. The Oilers were unable to score during the four-minute power play. Yakupov was able to return later in the period. Edmonton lost forward Benoit Pouliot in the second period when he sustained a broken foot after blocking a shot. He will be out indefinitely for the Oilers, who have two wins in their past 11 games.
Florida Panthers center Nick Bjugstad opened the season by going 10 games without scoring a goal. He's been making up for that drought ever since.
Bjugstad stayed hot Thursday, scoring two goals in regulation and getting the deciding goal in the shootout to lift the Panthers to a 3-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center. Bjugstad, the 19th player taken in the 2010 NHL Draft, scored two goals for the third time in his career and the second time this season. Florida's top-line center had two goals and four points Sunday in a 6-2 victory at the Anaheim Sucks. He has four goals and seven points in his past three games, and six goals in his past seven games. The scoring surge has given his confidence a huge boost. Bjugstad scored 24 seconds into the game and had a power-play goal late in the second period that put Florida ahead 2-1. But Sharks forward Patrick Marleau forced overtime by scoring with 33.1 seconds remaining in regulation after San Jose pulled goaltender Antti Niemi. Marleau took a pass in the lower right circle from Joe Thornton and snapped a shot past Roberto Luongo to the far side. The Panthers got a power play when Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic was called for high sticking with 11 seconds left in regulation. The power play carried into overtime, but Florida was unable to capitalize. Sharks forward Logan Couture, who scored a second-period power-play goal, ripped a shot from the right circle with 1:00 left in overtime, but Luongo made the save. Couture and Florida's Jussi Jokinen each scored in the second round of the shootout. After Sharks defenseman Brent Burns started the third round by hitting the post with his attempt, Bjugstad ended the game by whipping a high wrist shot past Niemi's glove. Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said it was an easy decision to give Bjugstad his first chance of the season in a shootout. Luongo made 28 saves through 65 minutes. Niemi stopped 26 shots.
The Panthers improved to 7-1-0 in their past eight games against San Jose. They beat the Sharks for the third straight time overall and swept the two-game season series. Florida won for the fourth straight time at SAP Center. San Jose, who played 16 of its first 21 games on the road, opened a six-game homestand with a disappointing loss, though the Sharks did salvage a point. The Sharks outshot Florida 25-15 through the first two periods, but the Panthers outshot San Jose 10-3 in the third and appeared headed for a 2-1 victory until Marleau delivered. The Sharks had a prime chance to pull even with 6:53 left in regulation when Marleau was awarded a penalty shot after defenseman Brian Campbell slashed him from behind on a breakaway. But Luongo made a blocker save, preserving Florida's lead. The Sharks pulled Niemi with 1:40 left in the third period but didn't put a shot on net until Marleau's game-tying goal. Bjugstad gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead on the game's first shift. Huberdeau sent a cross-ice pass to defenseman Dmitry Kulikov above the right circle. Kulikov fired a shot, and Bjugstad redirected the puck from the circle past Sharks defenseman Justin Braun and Niemi. Kulikov, who returned to the lineup after missing four games with a knee injury, got an assist, as did Huberdeau. The Sharks outshot Florida 12-6 in the first period but didn't have many good scoring chances. Their best one came late in the period while they were shorthanded. Tommy Wingels had a shot from short range, but Luongo caught it. San Jose pulled even on Couture's power-play goal at 6:19 of the second period. Luongo made a sprawling pad save on Joe Pavelski's shot from in front of the crease, but Couture swooped in for the rebound and put the puck into a wide-open net for his eighth goal of the season, snapping a seven-game goalless streak. Marleau, playing his franchise-record 400th consecutive game, and Pavelski got the assists. Florida went back in front when Bjugstad struck again, this time on the power play at 17:23 of the second period. Bjugstad took a pass from Erik Gudbranson above the left circle and unloaded a slap shot that beat Niemi to the far side.
Sharks Quotes
Todd McLellan: "Obviously it didn't look too good with 30 seconds left so we'll take the point. Would have preferred two, tried to find a way to get that in the shootout. We get scored on, on the first shot of the game, coming home from that long road trip, and we could have responded differently. At least we responded positively. I thought we found our game after that and were pretty good for about 36 minutes until they scored. Then I thought well into the third period we were on our heels and maybe the fear of losing crept into our thoughts."
Opposition View
Nick Bjugstad: "Scoring goals kind of changes your mentality. It really shouldn't, but it does. It just gets the adrenaline going a little bit. Yeah, you just got to keep going when you're riding that wave. When it's going in, it's going in. It wasn't going in for me at the beginning of the year. Took me a while. So yeah, I've got a little ground to make up. You don't really think too much when you're doing it. You're just trying to get it through the net. I just tried getting it through, getting it off quick. That's the main thing."
Gerard Gallant: "Tonight he was hot. So I thought we'd go with him. He was putting the puck in the net and he hit a couple of posts too. That was a good shootout win for us."
Roberto Luongo: "He's [Bjugstad] been a force for our team. We need it. It's nice to see him picking up his game and carrying the team now."
The Dallas Stars had gone 30 days without a win at American Airlines Center. But not only did Dallas win at home for the first time since Oct. 21 by rallying for a 3-1 victory against the Coyotes on Thursday, the way they won might offer an encouraging sign going forward. Dallas trailed 1-0 after two periods on a power-play goal by Lauri Korpikoski in the first period. But the Stars tied the game 19 seconds into the third when John Klingberg scored his first NHL goal, a wrister from the slot that beat Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith top shelf. The Stars took the lead 33 seconds later when Cody Eakin redirected a shot from the right point by defenseman Trevor Daley past Smith for his fourth goal of the season. Dallas scored an insurance goal with 4:18 remaining when Jason Spezza beat Smith to the short side. Coach Lindy Ruff was especially pleased with his team's defensive play. Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said Klingberg's goal was a game-changer, one that never should have happened. Ales Hemsky had two assists and Kari Lehtonen stopped 25 shots for Dallas, who won at home for the second time this season. Phoenix took the lead when Lauri Korpikoski scored a power-play goal at 14:21 of the first period. Phoenix generated the first chance of the night when defenseman Michael Stone rang the crossbar with a wrister from the right point 3:18 into the first period. The Stars tested Smith at 4:35 when Klingberg attempted to slip a wrister from near the blue line inside the far post, a shot Smith denied with a glove save. Dallas had another chance at 6:02 when right wing Patrick Eaves, returning after missing three games with a lower-body injury, had a breakaway up the right side but fired wide. After the Coyotes killed off a holding penalty to David Schlemko at 10:20, Phoenix went on the power play at 12:45 when Dallas rookie defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka was called for cross- checking Mikkel Boedker. Korpikoski put the Coyotes ahead with his second of the season when he slipped the rebound of Sam Gagner's shot through Lehtonen's legs at 14:21. The assist was the 200th of Gagner's NHL career. Lehtonen made a huge save on Coyotes captain Shane Doan at 11:08 of the second to keep it a one-goal game. Schlemko gained possession after Klingberg misplayed the puck behind his own net and hit Doan with a pass in the right circle, but Lehtonen stopped Doan's hard slapper. Lehtonen bounced back with a strong effort after he was pulled before the end of the second period of a 6-4 home loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Phoenix defenseman Keith Yandle hit the right post with a wrister from the left point 3:53 into the third. Lehtonen stopped Martin Erat's wrister with 1:04 remaining and denied Antoine Vermette on the rebound. Tippett and the Coyotes knew the Stars would be desperate to tie the game heading into the third period, but Phoenix's failure to execute in the final 20 minutes ended up costing them the game. Dallas had an apparent goal by Travis Moen at 14:38 of the second waved off. Stars defenseman Brenden Dillon was ruled to have been in the crease, limiting Smith's ability to make a play. Smith finished with 24 saves.
Stars Quotes
Lindy Ruff: "It was good. It was solid. I thought the puck moving, which was important for our transition game, I thought they were good. They made a lot of good outlet plays. That's a big deal for us because then we don't have to spend a lot of time in our zone. I don't know if I can put it into words. I've been through some tough losing streaks on the road, but I've never been through anything like this at home. Hopefully, this stretch of games can make us a stronger team, bring us together and make us a stronger team. We didn't let that [the disallowed goal] affect us."
Kari Lehtonen: "You try especially hard after a bad outing like that. Maybe keep it simpler and try to play each shift as their own. It wears a little bit more on you, but that's what you have to do; keep mentally focused and be ready."
John Klingberg: "I would lie if I said it wasn't a nice feeling. It felt good when I saw the puck go in there."
Trevor Daley: "It's a huge relief [breaking a franchise-record seven-game home losing streak]. This win is a better win than the other wins. The next one is what we're after, but this one makes you feel good."
Opposition View
Dave Tippett: "A missed assignment on a faceoff, pure and simple. Come out for the third period, we win the neutral [zone] faceoff. We end up icing it and just a bad missed assignment on a faceoff turned the game right around. There was desperation coming into the game. It wasn't just that period. It was our willingness to do things right to get a win and we didn't do that."
Shane Doan: "Their goaltender made a couple big saves; made one really nice one on me. "I've got to score there. That's got to be 2-0 and we've got to have the lead. Played well enough to have more than a one-goal lead, but he made some nice saves and we got to find ways to bury those."
The Montreal Canadiens may have made a statement; then again, they may not have. One thing is for sure; they defeated the St. Louis Blues and remained on top of the NHL standings. Max Pacioretty scored twice on his 26th birthday and Carey Price made 31 saves to help Montreal to a 4-1 win against St. Louis at Bell Centre on Thursday. The Canadiens, who lead the League with 31 points, have won seven of eight. The lone defeat was a 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. The Canadiens have six wins when trailing after the first period, the most in the League. Pacioretty gave Montreal the lead by beating St. Louis goalie Jake Allen on a breakaway at 7:32 of the second period. He scored his second goal of the game, and team-leading 10th of the season, at 6:00 of the third period to put Montreal ahead 3-1. Pacioretty, whose parents were on hand for this game, scored a hat trick on Nov. 19, 2013 in a 6-2 win against the Minnesota Wild. Canadiens forward Lars Eller scored his fourth goal of the season at 12:03 for his first point in five games against his former team. It was Montreal's first win against the Blues since Nov. 16, 2008, ending a five-game losing streak. Vladimir Tarasenko scored his team-leading 11th goal for St. Louis, who lost 2-0 to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday to begin a four-game road trip. Allen, who played his junior hockey in Montreal, stopped 26 shots in his first game against the Canadiens. Tarasenko and linemates Jaden Schwartz and Jori Lehtera have scored 11 of the Blues' 15 goals in eight road games this season. Nicknamed the “STL Line,” they have 14 goals and 36 points in their past 10 games. It was the first time this season that St. Louis did not have a power play, and that Montreal did not have to kill a penalty. Tarasenko's hand-eye coordination was on full display on the opening goal at 7:45 of the first period. Tarasenko swatted at a bouncing puck after Lehtera's pass from the right corner struck Montreal center Tomas Plekanec's stick, and then batted the puck out of midair past Price. Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk made an ill-advised pass out front that Canadiens forward Dale Weise chopped down to cut off the puck. In his haste to recover, Shattenkirk knocked down Allen as he scrambled out front, leaving Weise a shot into a wide-open right side of the net for his fourth goal 4:50 into the second period to tie the game 1-1. PA Parenteau hit Pacioretty with a stretch pass behind Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester at the blue line to set up the go-ahead goal. Pacioretty drove in on goal and put a shot between Allen’s pads for his eighth point in his past seven games. Price slid across the goal and stuck out his left pad to deny Lehtera's scoring chance at 4:49 of the third period. He sprawled to stop Schwartz's shot on a pass from Tarasenko on a 2-on-1 at 5:08. The Canadiens travel to play the Boston Bruins. Montreal acquired defenseman Bryan Allen from the Anaheim Sucks in a trade for forward Rene Bourque. Allen will join the Canadiens in Boston.
Blues Quotes
Alex Pietrangelo: "We haven't been really executing the game plan that we want to bring foreward. It's a good hockey club over there. You've got to play your game if you want to beat them. Price came up with some big saves. ... We've got to start taking care of our end and helping out our goalies a little bit more."
Ken Hitchcock: "To me, unless we clean up our own end, it doesn't matter how many goals we score. So we've got to clean up our own end to start with. We made some mistakes on our half of the red line. We made some puck errors that ended up in our net. We got caught on a poor change. [We] gave a big push when it was 2-1. We had all the scoring chances going and then the third one really took the wind out of our sails."
Opposition View
Dale Weise: "That's a nice bounce when you're just standing there, throw your stick up and it hits you. I just kind of made a pump fake, and I saw [Shattenkirk] took his goalie out, so I just tried to get it in there as quick as I could."
Max Pacioretty: "That was an amazing pass. You know sometimes I try to take away the defenseman's stick; I just had a feeling, though, it was going to land right over it and thankful that it did. Passes don't get much softer and nicer than that, so I credit my first goal to him completely. You know, these are statement games. We had stretches where we struggled to score goals, and then we come in and score four against a team that doesn't give up many, and that really helps the confidence for us going forward. But I think it definitely makes a statement and shows that we're able to play with the big boys in the [Western Conference]. They're a great team over there and hopefully we opened up a few eyes [Thursday], and now can keep it going.I think I told my parents this is normally a time where I start to heat up, right around my birthday, so I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, but I'm happy to contribute and hopefully I can keep going now."
Michel Therrien: "We don't have any injuries but we all know that you need a lot of depth on defense, and he's a guy that was playing with a good hockey team. He's got size, he's physical, so we just added some depth with our club. It's a bit early to be making statements, but it's the type of game that can give you a lot of confidence, especially with the way we played against another strong team Tuesday. The fun part of the NHL is you get a chance to make up for it. We had that chance tonight, a chance to play against another big team. We had a chance to show we learned something, and that's what we did."
Lars Eller: "It always feels good to score, especially against your old team, I'm not going to lie about that. I think it's the first time we've beat them since I've been here, so that was a good feeling. We're going up against some of the top teams and it's a great measuring stick for us and we show that we can play with them when we play to our strengths."
Minnesota @ Philadelphia 3-2 - Minnesota Wild coach Mike Yeo said after the morning skate Thursday that he would try Charlie Coyle at center between left wing Thomas Vanek and right wing Jason Zucker in a quest to find more offense on the road. The move proved to be a good one. Zucker scored in the final minute of the third period to lift the Wild to a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. A strong forecheck deep in the Philadelphia zone by Coyle and Zucker led to the puck being cycled out to the point to Vanek, who sent it to defenseman Ryan Suter. When Suter tried moving it to Coyle behind the net, the puck bounced off the wall and came back to Suter. With all eyes on Suter, the defenseman threw a pass through the slot to Zucker, who stuffed it inside the right post with 45.4 seconds left in regulation. Giroux's power-play goal with 3:30 left in the third period appeared to have the Flyers headed to overtime with at least one point. Instead it was the Wild's newest line that made the difference in the game. The Wild took a 2-1 lead 1:42 into the third on Scandella's goal, but the Flyers came back to tie it late on a broken play, literally. With the Flyers skating on a power play, Giroux fired a shot from the left side that broke the skate protector covering Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon's left skate. The hard plastic shell fell under the blade of Spurgeon's skate and he couldn't get it off. When the Flyers worked the puck back around to Giroux, Spurgeon was unable to get into position to block the shot.
Moments later, though, the Wild stole back the momentum. After a scoreless first period, Niederreiter's power-play goal at 10:59 of the second opened the scoring. The Flyers tied the game with 5:29 left in the second when Streit pinched into the offensive zone and finished a pass from Vincent Lecavalier to make it 1-1.
Tampa Bay @ Toronto 2-5 - Toronto wanted to get off to a fast start and scored 1:29 into the game when left wing Daniel Winnik spotted right wing David Clarkson alone in the slot and fed him a pass. Clarkson one-timed a shot that eluded a crowd in front and Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop for his sixth goal of the season. Toronto had a good opportunity to add to their lead when Tampa Bay's Radko Gudas was penalized for tripping at 16:32 and Brian Boyle for high-sticking at 17:41, each on Nazem Kadri. That gave the Maple Leafs a two-man advantage for 51 seconds. However, it was the Lightning who scored shorthanded, Alex Killorn getting his fifth goal of the season at 18:50. The Maple Leafs regained the lead at 2:45 of the second period when left wing Richard Panik, who was claimed off waivers from Tampa Bay on Oct. 9, deked Bishop to his backhand for his fourth goal of the season. Van Riemsdyk broke in 2-on-2 with right wing Phil Kessel and elected to shoot, connecting on a 15-foot snap shot at 12:31. With the Lighting playing shorthanded, van Riemsdyk scored 2:44 later when he snagged a rebound at the side of the net and lifted a shot high into the goal past Bishop to make it 4-1. Trailing by three, the Lightning pulled Bishop for an extra skater with a little more than five minutes remaining. Stamkos scored on a rebound at 15:47, his 13th of the season, to make it 4-2. The Lighting played most of the final 4:13 with six skaters and generated good chances but did not score again. Maple Leafs defenseman Roman Polak scored an empty-netter at 19:52. He shot from the defensive zone.
Nashville @ Ottawa 2-3 - Ryan, on the power play, and Chiasson each scored his fifth goal of the season, and defenseman Jared Cowen scored his first to build the lead. Ryan took a pass from Erik Karlsson and fired a shot through a screen to the stick side at 6:17 to tie the game 1-1. It was the Senators' ninth power-play goal at home this season; they had 16 last season. Chiasson deflected a shot by Ottawa defenseman Cody Ceci at 12:18 to put the Senators ahead. The goal came after Cowen was able to keep the puck in the Predators zone. Cowen was stopped by Hutton seconds before he scored at 14:24. Senators forward Milan Michalek did the work on the goal, grinding along the boards against Predators defenseman Roman Josi and forward Mike Ribeiro before emerging in the right-wing corner with the puck and threading a cross-ice pass to Cowen. He took a couple of strides and beat Hutton with a shot to the glove side from near the left faceoff dot. The Predators scored the only goal of the first period on the power play at 3:17 when Weber fired a one-timer past Lehner's glove. The goal came with Senators forward Colin Greening in the penalty box after a cross-checking penalty in front of the Nashville net. Predators center Olli Jokinen scored 76 seconds into the third period, his first point of the season, to make it 3-2.
Detroit @ Winnipeg 4-3 - Tomas Tatar's second-period goal started the Red Wings on their way to erasing a 2-0 Winnipeg lead. He scored the game-winning goal with 4:50 left when he buried a shot past Winnipeg goaltender Ondrej Pavelec. Byfuglien broke a 14-game goalless streak 2:15 into the second period. Evander Kane worked the puck to the edge of Mrazek's crease, where Byfuglien flicked the bouncing puck over the goaltender's left shoulder. Lowry broke his 14-game goalless streak at 9:32 with his second goal of the season. As part of a recently assembled line with center Mark Scheifele and right wing Michael Frolik, Lowry broke loose from the Detroit defense in front of Mrazek and poked a bouncing puck into the net. Detroit moved back to within a goal 30 seconds later. Tatar skated into the right circle and scored his seventh of the season on a low shot past Pavelec. Detroit used their power play to tie the game 2-2. Franzen skated around Winnipeg defenseman Mark Stuart before beating Pavelec with his sixth goal of the season. Franzen has four goals in his past six games. Perreault's wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle put the Jets ahead by a goal with 3:48 left in the second period. Abdelkader's sixth goal of the season tied the game 3-3 when he jabbed a rebound under Pavelec with seven minutes left.
Washington @ Colorado 3-2 - Held without a point in his previous three games and without a shot for the first two periods at Pepsi Center, Alex Ovechkin scored a spectacular goal with 5:56 remaining in regulation. Ovechkin sped into the Avalanche end and maneuvered past defenseman Jan Hejda after a pass from Brooks Orpik. Ovechkin moved in on goalie Reto Berra and fired the puck wide, but took the carom off the end boards and scored as he was skating by the net. The Avalanche tied the game 2-2 at 6:44 of the third period on Tyson Barrie's first goal in 13 games. After Nathan MacKinnon had the puck knocked off his stick in the Washington end, Gabriel Landeskog gained possession and made a pass through the slot to Barrie, who beat Braden Holtby with a quick shot. The Capitals took a 2-1 lead in the second period on goals by Backstrom and Jason Chimera, who broke a 1-1 tie at 12:10 with his first goal in 14 games. Daniel Briere scored for the Avalanche at 2:53 when he converted the rebound of MacKinnon's shot. Backstrom opened the scoring at 1:04 of the period with a shot from the right circle. Backstrom had a step on Avalanche forward Alex Tanguay when he took a cross-ice pass from Ovechkin. The Avalanche tied the game on Briere's goal after rookie Dennis Everberg prevented a potential scoring chance when he moved the puck from Berra's crease and passed to MacKinnon, who skated into the left circle for a shot. Briere was in the slot when he backhanded the rebound into the net. Tanguay, who leads the Avalanche with seven goals, went to the locker room at 7:29 after he was hit in the face with a shot by Ovechkin. Tanguay missed the rest of the game with a jaw injury. The Capitals went ahead on Chimera's goal. He beat Berra to the far side with an unscreened 35-foot shot from the left circle.
Chicago @ Calgary 4-3 - Chicago has five games remaining on their trip while United Center plays host to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for the next 10 days. The Blackhawks improved to 21-9-2 when giving way to the circus since coach Joel Quenneville was hired Oct. 16, 2008, including 6-1-0 last season. An unassisted goal by Kane gave Chicago their third lead of the game, and the Blackhawks held on from there to win their second straight. After Jonas Hiller failed to clear the puck behind the net, Kane jumped on the loose puck and tapped it between the skates of Sven Baertschi before sliding it under the Calgary goaltender at 9:12 of the third to put the Blackhawks up 4-3. Chicago shut down one of the most potent third-period offenses in the League. Entering the game, the Flames had scored 27 goals in the third, trailing only the Montreal Canadiens, who had 28. In fact, the Blackhawks limited the Flames to four shots until a hooking penalty to Niklas Hjalmarsson gave Calgary a late power play. But Crawford stopped three more, including a one-time blast from Mark Giordano with Hiller on the bench for the extra attacker. The Blackhawks scored twice on Hiller to open the game before the Flames could get one past Crawford. Exactly four minutes into the game and with four seconds remaining to TJ Brodie's minor for holding the stick, rookie Adam Clendening, playing in his first NHL game, sent a shot through a screen that beat Hiller for his first NHL goal to put Chicago up 1-0. The goal came on Clendening's first NHL shot and his second shift in the NHL. He's the third player currently on the Blackhawks roster to score his first NHL goal on his first NHL shot, joining Jonathan Toews and Andrew Shaw. Daniel Carcillo extended the lead to two at 7:12. After Paul Byron turned the puck over at the Flames blue line, the Blackhawks forward placed a shot just inside the far post. Calgary's first shot on Crawford came 27 seconds later. Their sixth hit the back of the net. Crawford stopped Josh Jooris' initial shot but kicked the rebound right onto the stick of Byron, who wasted little time atoning for his earlier mistake by putting the puck in the gaping net at 13:44 to cut Chicago's lead to 2-1. The goal was Byron's fourth goal in as many games after he went 16 straight without scoring. It also came with Marcus Kruger in the penalty box and halted Chicago's penalty-killing streak. It took Calgary 54 seconds to score a second power-play goal. With Hjalmarsson in the penalty box after he was whistled for tripping on Byron's goal, Dennis Wideman sent a shot through a screen that beat Crawford to pull the Flames even. Wideman's goal, his eighth, is his third in two games and leads all NHL defensemen. The Blackhawks and Flames traded goals again in the second period. Kris Versteeg sent a shot off Hiller's right pad, but Kane pulled the rebound off the boards and fed Brent Seabrook in the slot. Seabrook, playing in his 700th NHL game, beat the Flames goaltender to the glove side at 10:52 to restore Chicago's lead.
The goal gave Chicago the lead, but it would stand for less than two minutes.
After gaining the zone, Glencross spotted an open Sean Monahan, who one-timed the pass over a sprawling Crawford to tie the game 3-3 at 12:33.
Anaheim @ Vancouver 4-3 SO - Ryan Kesler was disappointed to hear the boos directed his way, but happy to exit Vancouver with two points. After being greeted with more jeers than cheers in his first trip to play the Canucks since a trade to the Anaheim Sucks in June, Kesler was mostly just glad to be leaving again after a 4-3 shootout win at Rogers Arena on Thursday. Corey Perry and Jakob Silfverberg scored shootout goals to allow the Sucks to head back to Southern California on a winning note. Andrew Cogliano and Ryan Getzlaf staked the Sucks to a 2-0 first-period lead, and the Canucks lost defenseman Dan Hamhuis to a lower-body injury 1:27 into the game. But the Canucks rallied with three straight goals in the second period to take the lead before Matt Beleskey tied it for the Sucks with 8:08 left in the third. Perry opened the shootout with a backhand deke for a goal, and Silfverberg scored in the third round to end the game. Frederik Andersen, who made 25 saves, stopped Nick Bonino, and Radim Vrbata lost the puck in the second round of the shootout, giving Silfverberg, who was robbed a couple of times earlier, a chance to end it.
Rookie Bo Horvat scored his first NHL goal early in the second period, and Jannik Hansen and Radim Vrbata scored 30 seconds apart five minutes later.
The Canucks fell behind on the first shot 37 seconds in on a goal by Cogliano, and lost Hamhuis to a lower-body injury 50 seconds later. Hamhuis caught his right toe on the back of teammate Daniel Sedin’s skate and didn't put weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice and into the locker room. Horvat got the Canucks on the board after a Kesler turnover 3:08 into the second period.
Kesler lost the puck inside the Vancouver blue line, and the Canucks converted the ensuing rush when Derek Dorsett’s backhand pass from the bottom of the left circle went through two defenders to Horvat alone at the other side of the high slot. The 19-year-old rookie one-timed it past Andersen for his first point in his seventh game. Hansen tied the game with a one-timer during a delayed penalty with 8:42 left in the second period, and Vrbata put the Canucks ahead after being left all alone atop the Sucks crease on the next shift. Sami Vatanen’s point shot hit Getzlaf, who was outside the crease, and Beleskey was able to sweep the loose puck past the outstretched left pad of Lack. Kesler was stopped in the second round of the shootout.
Ryan Kesler: "When you play somewhere 10 years, you expect something different. They paid for their tickets, they are allowed to do what they want to do. Does it hurt? Obviously when you play somewhere for 10 years and you give your heart and soul every night ... it is what it is."
Carolina @ Los Angeles 2-3 - Kings coach Darryl Sutter is known to shake up his lines to great effect, and his latest moves had a big impact on the outcome of this game. Trevor Lewis and Tanner Pearson, each of whom was playing on a new line, scored second-period goals to lift the Kings to a 3-2 win. Pearson, demoted to the fourth line and in danger of being scratched, scored the game-winner, ending an 11-game goal drought, when he batted in a loose puck at the goal line at 2:59 of the second, 38 seconds after the Hurricanes had tied it. Mike Richards' initial shot bounced off Carolina goalie Cam Ward's shoulder. Ward made 36 saves in his matchup with fellow Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Quick, who made a glove save on Elias Lindholm with 1:32 left in the third and Carolina playing with the extra attacker. Lewis, promoted to the top line, crashed the net and had the puck deflect off his skate and the blade of his stick before it slid across the goal line 37 seconds into the second. Drew Doughty and Marian Gaborik each put a shot on the Carolina net to create the chance. Lewis had six shots on goal playing with Gaborik and Anze Kopitar. Sutter has always liked Lewis because of his grinding style, which can be adaptable in the Kings' system, and perhaps the promotion was a reward. Hurricanes captain Eric Staal tied the game 1:24 after Lewis' goal when he scored a power-play goal with a backhand off the rebound of Jeff Skinner's shot. Kings forward Tyler Toffoli was in the penalty box for high sticking against Brett Bellemore at 2:13 of the second. Staal earned his 700th career point with an assist on Skinner's goal late in the first. Skinner made it 1-1 when he scored on a 2-on-1 by beating Quick to the blocker side at 17:16. Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin got caught after making a hit, leaving Doughty alone to defend. Jarret Stoll's second goal of the season at 7:53 put Los Angeles ahead 1-0. Stoll chipped Dustin Brown's feed high over Ward after nice work down low by Brown. The Kings have the most wins (10) and points (21) at home in the NHL, and their 10-2-1 home start is their best since 1992-93, when they opened 12-1-0 at the Forum.
