Pittsburgh Penguins @ Goon Town Dirty Dogs 2-3 OT - 01/20

The Philadelphia Flyers never have had a problem gooning up their efforts against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's finding that same level against the rest of the NHL that has been an issue. Flyers captain Claude Giroux scored a power-play goal with 1:03 remaining in overtime to give the Flyers a 3-2 win against the Penguins at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday. Penguins goaltender Thomas Greiss stopped a shot by Jakub Voracek but left the rebound loose.

They even attack their own team mates in goon town


Giroux reached into the pile and scored. Luke Schenn and Chris VandeVelde scored for the Flyers (19-22-7). Goalie Ray Emery made 33 saves, including 17 in the first period. Chris Kunitz and Beau Bennett scored for the Penguins (26-12-7), and Greiss made 37 saves. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang left the game in the first period because of an undisclosed injury sustained on a dirty hit by Flyers forward Zac Rinaldo. Penguins coach Mike Johnston said he would have more information on Letang on Wednesday, when the Penguins play at home against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Flyers skated most of overtime on the power play after a cross-checking penalty on Zach Sill at the buzzer to end the third period and a bench minor on the Penguins for too many men on the ice at 2:04 of OT.

Philadelphia, which has the best home power play in the NHL, finally scored on its sixth man-advantage of the game. It was a level the Flyers have lacked for most of the season, and one reason they're 11 points behind the Boston Bruins for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Twat in a Hat


The Flyers gained momentum Tuesday from their penalty kill. They entered the game with the NHL's 30th-ranked penalty kill but had their best man-down game of the season, killing all six Penguins power plays. That included the five-minute major assessed to Rinaldo late in the first period for the dirty hit on Letang that carried over into the first 36 seconds of the second. The Flyers allowed four shots on the major and eight shots on the power play.

The Penguins, who were 5-for-11 on the man-advantage in their previous four games, saw special teams as a missed opportunity. Losing Letang, the quarterback on the top unit, obviously hurt, but Paul Martin replaced him with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, David Perron and Chris Kunitz. The Penguins carried play at the start, outshooting the Flyers 17-3 in the first period but trailed 1-0 on Schenn's floater from the point through traffic that came off a Bennett turnover. Kunitz's shorthanded goal at 2:59 of the second tied the game 1-1. He led a 2-on-1 rush with Crosby joining late.

Voracek and Mark Streit drifted toward Crosby, allowing Kunitz an open look from the left faceoff dot, and he beat Emery to the short side, over the blocker, for his 14th of the season. It was the only goal in a second period when the teams combined for four fights and 66 penalty minutes. Bennett put the Penguins ahead at 2:01 of the third, but VandeVelde tipped a Michael Del Zotto shot past Greiss at 4:02 to tie the game 2-2. After a rough start to the season, the Flyers were happy to head into the All-Star break with some good feelings. The Penguins will have to do the same heading into their game against the Blackhawks on Wednesday, their final one before the break. The 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game is Sunday in Columbus (5 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

Goons Baying For Blood

Pens Quotes

Sidney Crosby: "We've had to play without [Letang] for extended periods of time. We don't want to use that as an excuse. He's obviously very good for us, but with the skill we have we should make them pay for that."
Mike Johnston: "We want some momentum heading into the All-Star break. So we've got to regroup, recover and get ready for a tough team in Chicago tomorrow."

Penalties

1st Period
05:34 PHI	Zac Rinaldo  Cross checking against  Christian Ehrhoff
15:36 PHI	Zac Rinaldo  Boarding (maj) against  Kris Letang
15:36 PHI	Zac Rinaldo  Game misconduct against  Kris Letang
2nd Period
01:55 PIT	Craig Adams  Cross checking against  Michael Raffl
01:55 PIT	Zach Sill  Fighting (maj) against  Michael Raffl
01:55 PHI	Michael Raffl  Fighting (maj) against  Zach Sill
05:27 PHI	Ray Emery  Roughing against  David Perron
08:01 PHI	Jakub Voracek  Fighting (maj) against  Rob Scuderi
08:01 PIT	Rob Scuderi  Fighting (maj) against  Jakub Voracek
08:01 PHI	Jakub Voracek  Instigator against  Rob Scuderi
08:01 PHI	Jakub Voracek  Misconduct (10 min) against  Rob Scuderi
09:48 PIT	Steve Downie  Slashing against  Michael Del Zotto
09:48 PHI	Luke Schenn  Fighting (maj) against  Steve Downie
09:48 PIT	Steve Downie  Unsportsmanlike conduct against  Luke Schenn
09:48 PIT	Steve Downie  Fighting (maj) against  Luke Schenn
11:36 PHI	Michael Del Zotto  Charging against  Robert Bortuzzo
16:49 PIT	Mark Arcobello  Roughing against  Carlo Colaiacovo
16:49 PHI	Chris VandeVelde  Cross checking against  Mark Arcobello
16:49 PHI	Pierre-Edouard Bellemare  Fighting (maj) against  Bobby Farnham
16:49 PIT	Bobby Farnham  Fighting (maj) against  Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
3rd Period
08:52 PIT	Robert Bortuzzo  Tripping against  Jakub Voracek
12:02 PHI	Michael Del Zotto  Delaying Game-Puck over glass
14:56 PHI	Brayden Schenn  Interference against  Robert Bortuzzo
20:00 PIT	Zach Sill  Cross checking against  Sean Couturier
OT Period
02:04 PIT	David Perron  Too many men/ice - bench

Rinaldo is to face a disciplinary panel for his dirty hit, and after he game was interviewed by the media with the following smug attitude:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/zac-rinaldo-s-got-jokes-about-ejection-for-kris-letang-hit-070154891.html

NHL Results - Tue, Jan 20, 2015

Ottawa @ NY Rangers 2-3 OT - Carl Hagelin scored a deflection goal to give the Rangers a 3-2 overtime win. The winning goal came off a Senators turnover.
Rangers center Dominic Moore knocked the puck away from Bobby Ryan at Ottawa's blue line. Hagelin carried the puck into the zone and got it to Dan Girardi at the right point. Girardi passed to Ryan McDonagh, who quickly tipped it to Derek Stepan. He sent a whirling backhand shot to the net from above the left hash marks that Hagelin tipped over Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson's glove with 2:05 left. Hagelin was alone in front of Anderson because he got behind Senators captain Erik Karlsson. It was Hagelin's ninth goal, first in eight games, and second in the past 15 games. Karlsson and Milan Michalek gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead in the second period when they scored 63 seconds apart. Karlsson scored at 13:38 and Michalek scored a power-play goal at 14:41. New York tied the game 2-2 with 17:18 remaining in the third period on Kreider's 10th goal.
The play started in the defensive zone with a long pass from Martin St. Louis to Marc Staal at the far blue line. Kreider gained a step on Senators defenseman Jared Cowen and Staal led him with a pass. Kreider, in alone, used a forehand to score on Anderson's blocker side. Ottawa took a 2-1 lead on Michalek's goal with 5:19 remaining in the second period. The Senators held the lead into intermission by killing off a 75-second 5-on-3 for the Rangers late in the period.


Edmonton @ Washington 5-4 SO - Nugent-Hopkins tied the game with 1:07 remaining and Fasth pulled, curling into the right circle and sliding a wrist shot past goalie Braden Holtby. Ovechkin went to the net early in the first period, drawing a penalty when Benoit Pouliot pulled him down. Ovechkin recovered, picking the top-right corner with a rising long-range slap shot at 1:48. Later, with Washington on the power play, Mike Green flinched before passing to Ovechkin, freezing Fasth and freeing enough space for Ovechkin to take a slap shot with enough force to shatter the lens of the camera inside Edmonton's net. The goal at 13:58 gave Ovechkin his 92nd multigoal game in the NHL, one from tying Peter Bondra's Capitals record. The Oilers, held without a shot on goal until 12:34, scored at 14:51. After Edmonton gained possession along the boards, Roy spun off Matt Niskanen as the two jostled in front and backhanded Nail Yakupov's blocked shot past Holtby's outstretched left leg for his fourth goal of the season. Beagle's seventh goal of the season, scored on a tip-in of a John Carlson shot at 17:34, gave Washington its 3-1 lead. Holtby stopped Nugent-Hopkins on a 2-on-1 with Taylor Hall at 19:20, but did not save Nikitin's one-timer with :04 left. After Niskanen kneed Roy to set up an Oilers power play at 19:53, Edmonton quickly converted on a set play when Nugent-Hopkins won the faceoff. Niskanen committed another penalty at 3:02 of the third period. Washington killed it and scored shortly after when Backstrom deflected Carlson's point shot past Fasth at 6:38. Purcell made it 4-3 with 4:11 left after the Oilers freed the puck from a scrum behind the net. In the shootout, Purcell beat Holtby with a wrist shot in the bottom of the fourth round.
Nashville @ Montreal 1-2 OT - P.K. Subban scored a power-play goal with 52 seconds left in overtime to give Montreal a 2-1 win. Subban took a pass from Andrei Markov and drove a one-timer past Carter Hutton for his 11th goal, surpassing his total from 2013-14. Nashville center Craig Smith was called for each of the two penalties that preceded the Canadiens' goals, including a call for tripping Montreal center Lars Eller 2:34 into overtime. Galchenyuk made it 1-1 with his 12th goal. Subban held back on his shot from the point and directed a slap-pass to the slot for Galchenyuk, who tipped the puck between Hutton's pads to score for a second straight game following a nine-game goal drought.
Ribeiro scored at 12:10 of the second when he deflected Seth Jones' slap shot from the right point past Price to give Nashville a 1-0 lead. There was a lengthy delay to replace a broken pane of glass behind the Montreal net at 3:59 of the third. Ribeiro shot through the crease on a wraparound attempt with 1:08 left in the third. Canadiens forward Brandon Prust recovered the puck and took it down the right side on an odd-man rush but his shot was stopped by Hutton.


Minnesota @ Detroit 4-5 SO - Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist scored in the shootout to give the Red Wings a 5-4 win against the Wild. Teemu Pulkkinen opened the scoring 9:09 into the game when he ripped a one-time slap shot from the high slot off a backhand pass from Stephen Weiss off the rush. Pulkkinen took his first career penalty a little more than four minutes later, and Minnesota immediately capitalized. Koivu beat Mrazek with a wrist shot from the right circle with 6:38 left in the first period, seven seconds into the penalty, to tie the game 1-1. It was Koivu's seventh goal. The Red Wings regained the lead on Ericsson's goal with 5:30 remaining in the opening period. His one-time slap shot from the left point found the short side past Dubnyk's blocker. It was Ericsson's second goal. Nyquist's power-play goal 3:41 into the second period made it 3-1. He tipped Nilkas Kronwall's shot from the point out of the air and past Dubnyk. It was Nyquist's 19th goal, 11th on the power play. It was also his third goal in three games. Ouellet scored his second goal of the season at 7:25. His one-time shot from the high slot deflected up and in off the top of Minnesota forward Justin Fontaine's skate. Parise pulled Minnesota to within 4-2 with a power-play goal 6:01 into the third period. He put a loose puck into the open side of the net from the bottom of the left circle. It came with Ericsson in the penalty box for high sticking. Vanek's ninth goal made it 4-3 with 9:59 left. Devan Dubnyk allowed four goals on 10 shots before being pulled in favor of Darcy Kuemper almost halfway through the game. Kuemper made 14 saves. Parise's second goal of the game, 19th of the season, tied it 4-4 with 6:39 left in regulation. He intercepted Ericsson's ill-advised pass from behind the Detroit net and jammed his third attempt past Mrazek.
Vancouver @ Tampa Bay 1-4 - Filppula gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 13:32 of the second period. He escaped checking attempts by Canucks center Henrik Sedin and got to the front of the net, where he tipped in a pass from Steven Stamkos past goaltender Ryan Miller for his ninth goal of the season. Killorn gave Tampa Bay a two-goal lead 11 seconds into the third period when he controlled a loose puck off the boards and wristed a shot past Miller on the stick side. Boyle scored his ninth goal of the season to give the Lightning a 3-0 lead at 4:16 when he one-timed Brett Connolly's pass between Miller's pads. The Canucks got on the board at 8:09 of the third period when Corrado scored his first goal of the season off assists by Alexandre Burrows and Chris Higgins. Vancouver received three power plays in a 4:08 span of the third period, but was unable to capitalize, and Killorn put the game away with an empty-net goal at 17:34. It was his 11th goal of the season.
Phoenix @ Chicago 1-6 - Andrew Shaw scored two goals, Patrick 'Kaner' Kane scored the 200th goal of his career, and the Blackhawks ended a two-game losing streak in Joel Quenneville's 500th game as Chicago coach. Chicago rookie forward Teuvo Teravainen scored a goal and had an assist on Shaw's first goal for his first career multipoint game, Jonathan Toews scored his first goal since Dec. 21 (11 games), and defenseman David Rundblad scored his second goal of the season to complete the scoring in the third. The Blackhawks took a 2-0 lead into the second on goals by Toews and Shaw. Toews scored his 14th goal to make it 1-0 at 6:53 to cap a power play after Lucas Lessio was called for tripping. Crisp passes in the offensive zone by Sharp and Kane got the puck to Toews in the slot, and Toews did the rest with a hard wrist shot to beat Smith.
Shaw made it 2-0 at 12:48 with his seventh goal. It was his first goal and second point since Dec. 29 against the Nashville Predators. Bickell won a puck battle behind the Coyotes net, and Shaw went straight to the front of the crease, received a pass from Teravainen on the right wing, wheeled and shot the puck past Smith. Chicago scored three more times in the second to make it 5-1 after 40 minutes, and Rundblad scored late in the third. Kane scored his milestone goal at 3:51, Teravainen scored his second goal of the season at 9:42 and Shaw scored his second of the game at 19:19. Kane scored off a rebound of a shot by Richards. Teravainen put in his own rebound after a shot from the slot. Shaw scored with a wrist shot from the slot. Sharp, who picked up a secondary assist on Kane's goal, chased down the puck after it came out of the net and slid down the side boards. Lessio scored his first NHL goal with 2:06 left in the second period to cut Chicago's lead to 4-1. It was his 12th career game.

New Jersey @ San Jose Sharks 5-2 - 01/19

Jordin Tootoo, Steve Bernier, Mike Cammalleri, Travis Zajac and Jacob Josefson each scored to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Monday. Devils goaltender Cory Schneider, who missed the final two periods of a 5-1 loss to the Anaheim Sucks on Friday after being hit in the helmet by a shot, made 34 saves. Joe Pavelski and Matt Nieto scored for the Sharks (24-17-6), who lost their second straight game at home. Alex Stalock made 29 saves in his first start since Jan. 6 against the Minnesota Wild.
The Devils (17-22-8) won two of three games in California with victories against the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose to go with a 5-1 loss to the Anaheim Sucks on Friday. New Jersey doesn't play again until Jan. 28 when it will host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Prudential Center. The Sharks lost defenseman Justin Braun and forward Tommy Wingels to upper-body injuries during the game. Coach Todd McLellan said Braun and Wingels will miss the game Wednesday against the Los Angeles Kings and will be "out for a while." Braun was injured early in the second period blocking a shot; Wingels was slashed midway through the third period. The Sharks have gone 1-1-1 in the first three games of their seven-game home stand, and McLellan said he's worried about more than the mediocre record. Cammalleri put New Jersey ahead 3-2 with a power-play goal at 13:32 of the second period. With Sharks defenseman Brent Burns in the penalty box for the third time in the game after delivering an illegal check to Tim Sestito, Cammalleri sent a slap shot through traffic and past Stalock. Schneider made a handful of crucial saves to kill a penalty late in the second period. Midway through the third, Schneider and the Devils killed back-to-back penalties. The Sharks went 0-for-4 on the power play. Zajac increased New Jersey's lead to 4-2 with a goal at 11:10 of the third, scoring on a rebound from short range. Josefson scored a shorthanded goal at 14:32 on a 2-on-1 rush to make it 5-2. Josefson played his first game since Dec. 27. The Devils were outshot 40-15 in their lost to Anaheim, but they outshot San Jose 17-8 in the first period, building a 2-1 lead, and had 34 shots overall to 36 for the Sharks. The Sharks struck first at 3:59 of the first period when Pavelski scored his team-leading 23rd goal of the season. Pavelski forced Gomez into a turnover along the boards in New Jersey's end, got the puck back from Joe Thornton in the right circle and beat Schneider with a wrist shot inside the right post. That was it for what the Sharks hoped would be a fast start, two days after they dug a 2-0 first-period hole and lost 4-3 in overtime to the Calgary Flames on Saturday. New Jersey answered with goals by Tootoo and Bernier. The Devils pulled even at 15:29 on Tootoo's fourth goal of the season. Stalock stopped rapid-fire shots by Sestito and Tootoo, but the latter put his own rebound over the goal line. Thirty-five seconds later, Bernier scored to give New Jersey a 2-1 lead. Gomez stole the puck from Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon just to the left of the crease and fed Bernier in the low slot. Stalock stopped Bernier's first shot but couldn't control the puck, and Bernier buried the rebound. The Sharks made it 2-2 four minutes into the second period on Nieto's fourth goal of the season. Nieto took a cross-ice pass from linemate Tyler Kennedy and beat Schneider with a shot from the right circle. Tomas Hertl and Kennedy got the assists. The Devils are 12 points behind the Boston Bruins, who own the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, but they head into their break with renewed confidence.

Sharks Quotes

Todd McLellan: "I'm concerned about the life we bring to the rink and to the games. I don't know if you want to call it passion, but the internal drive per person is not where it needs to be right now. And these are important games. We talked about the importance of this stretch of games at home. It's disappointing to see the lack of drive right now."
Joe Pavelski: "The first five minutes was the start we want. It never really felt dangerous on their part, but they got a couple goals around the net that we can't let happen. We didn't have enough pressure after that. The momentum has to keep continuing. We have to understand we're in a dogfight every night. Where we're at we want to start trending upward and we're not. We're just staying level. We need these games."
Matt Nieto: "Once we score we need to keep the momentum in our favor and have that killer instinct," Nieto said. "Every game counts. We have to find ways to win in our building. We can only go up from here. We have to come together as a team and get it done."

Colorado Avalanche @ St Louis Blues 1-3 - 01/19

The St. Louis Blues are getting time off during the All-Star break, but with the way they have been playing, it might not be a good thing. Alexander Steen, T.J. Oshie and David Backes, who account for the Blues' top line, combined for four points against the Colorado Avalanche in a 3-1 victory at Scottrade Center on Monday. St. Louis (29-13-4), which won't play again until Jan. 29 against the Nashville Predators, is 5-0-1 during their seven-game homestand. Steen had two assists to extend his point streak to 10 games (seven goals, 11 assists). Oshie scored a goal and has 16 points in his past 12 games, and Backes had an assist to extend his point streak to seven games (seven goals, seven assists). The Steen-Backes-Oshie line has 53 points in the past 12 games and the Blues are 7-0-1 in their past eight. Goalie Brian Elliott made 17 saves and defenseman Carl Gunnarsson scored for the Blues, who finish the season 4-1-0 against Colorado. The Avalanche (19-18-10), who finished a five-game road trip 1-2-2, got a goal from forward Matt Duchene. Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves. With the game tied 1-1, Schwartz put the Blues ahead 32 seconds into the second period with a power play goal. Steen gave Schwartz a drop pass in the slot, and his slap shot was blocked by Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson, which came back to Schwartz, who put the rebound into an open net. Oshie gave St. Louis a 3-1 lead after the Blues' top line and top defensive pairing [Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo] spent a lengthy amount of time in the Colorado zone. Steen passed to Backes, whose slap shot from the slot was stopped by Varlamov, but Oshie was on the doorstep for a goal 10:40 into the second period. Gunnarsson's second goal of the season and first in 21 games gave the Blues a 1-0 lead after his slap shot from above the blue line deflected off Avalanche forward Alex Tanguay in the slot and past Varlamov 8:06 into the first period. The Avalanche tied the game 1-1 after a turnover in which Duchene's blind backhand pass in the slot caromed off Blues forward Paul Stastny's stick and past Elliott at 13:02 of the first period. St. Louis is an NHL-best plus-37 in goal differential, and have pulled within two points of first-place Nashville in the Central Division.

Blues Quotes

Jaden Schwartz: "We finished off the right way for sure. We're happy with how the homestand went. Everyone's ready for a little time off to refresh the body and recharge for a big second half. It was a great play by [Steen] entering the zone there. Just tried to find an open spot in the slot and kind of a lucky bounce came back to me and Varlamov was cheating for the first shot, so it felt good when it went in. This is about as good as it gets. We're playing really good systems, good team game right now. Everyone's involved. It seems like we've got a new hero every night. They're fun games to play in. We're controlling a lot of the game as well. Definitely a good feeling going into the break."
Alexander Steen: "We've been rolling and we wanted to keep it going. Tonight, I think was probably our best game this year, from goalie out. Our D I thought were the key to the game, joining the rush and quick plays out of our zone. All six of them were terrific."
Ken Hitchcock: "I think the break's at a good time. I think for us, we have to pour a lot into it. A lot of physical labor has to go into the way we play; we need a break. What we do out of the break is important because we play nine games in 15 days and we play significant opponents. Look at the teams we've got right out of the break; that's a four-point game [against the Predators]. We know that the games are going to be important. That goal is every offensive principle that we practice every day, is in that goal. There's five passes with a shot with traffic. We spread them out in the zone; it's exactly what we practice every day. I thought the second period was the best we've played all year. Really managed the game well in the first period, played Blues hockey in the second where we just played defense by staying on our toes."

NHL Results - Mon, Jan 19, 2015

Philadelphia @ NY Islanders 4-7 - The Islanders had six different goal scorers and five players with at least two points. Nikolay Kulemin led with three points on two goals, including one off a shorthanded breakaway, and an assist. Kulemin, who had three points on Oct. 25 in a 7-5 win against the Dallas Stars, has five goals in the past four games and 20 points this season. Michael Grabner, Nick Leddy and John Tavares each contributed a goal and an assist. Tavares scored a power-play goal with 7.6 remaining in the second period to give the Islanders a 5-2 lead. Josh Bailey scored a goal, giving him seven points in the past three games. Anders Lee added an empty-net goal, Johnny Boychuk had two assists, and goalie Jaroslav Halak made 25 saves for his 25th win of the season. The Islanders had a 2-0 lead within the first 8:06 Monday on goals by Grabner and Kulemin. Kulemin made it 3-0 with his shorthanded breakaway goal at 4:53 of the second period. Kulemin and Bailey scored on uncontested rebounds left by starting goalie Rob Zepp, who was pulled at 11:49 of the second period, when he gave up his fourth goal on 20 shots. Tavares was alone in the slot with time to make a move before scoring his power-play goal. The Flyers, though, had the deficit down to 4-2 heading into the final minute of the second period, but a hooking penalty by Jakub Voracek at 19:05 gave the Islanders a second power-play opportunity in a span of less than three minutes.
Tavares answered with his 21st goal of the season. It turned out to be the game-winner.

Carolina @ Toronto 4-1 - Brad Malone made it 1-0 for Carolina with his third goal at 7:06 of the first period. Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier made the save on the initial shot by Jay McClement, but the rebound bounced directly to Malone, who shot it into the empty net. Elias Lindholm scored his ninth goal 41 seconds later to put the Hurricanes up 2-0. The play started with Toronto winning a faceoff in the Carolina zone, but the Maple Leafs were unable to get a shot off, and Lindholm took it the length of the ice and beat Bernier with a deke to his backhand. The Hurricanes appeared to make it 3-0 at 9:16 of the first when Jordan Staal scored on a snap shot from the slot, but the goal was waved off because Carolina's Jiri Tlusty made incidental contact with Bernier.

The Hurricanes did add to their lead 48 seconds into the second period when Eric Staal scored his first of the game on a backhand from the high slot. Maple Leafs coach Peter Horachek replaced Bernier with James Reimer following the goal. Nazem Kadri got Toronto on the board at 14:49 of the third period when he snapped a high shot from the faceoff circle past Khudobin for his 12th goal. Staal scored his second goal of the game, 15th of the season, into an empty net with a slap shot from 20 feet out to complete the scoring.

Vancouver @ Florida 2-1 - Vrbata gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead with a shot over Luongo's glove at 16:35 of the first period. Vancouver center Henrik Sedin won the faceoff against Panthers center Dave Bolland to the right of Luongo. Canucks left wing Daniel Sedin grabbed the puck and passed it in front to Vrbata, who scored his 18th goal of the season. Four minutes later, Panthers rookie defenseman Aaron Ekblad got caught out of position in front of his bench, which allowed a 2-on-1 to develop with defenseman Brian Campbell defending Horvat and right wing Derek Dorsett. Horvat took the puck into the zone and fired a shot at Luongo. The puck went through Luongo's legs and dribbled into the net, giving Horvat his third goal of the season at 11:57.Brandon Pirri prevented Miller from earning his third straight shutout with a goal off a faceoff. Miller's personal-best shutout streak ended at 200:45.

Columbus @ Minnesota 3-1 - Wisniewski scored the game-winning goal 10 seconds into the man-advantage at 5:35 of the third period, helping Columbus to a 3-1 win. After the Jackets won the faceoff, the puck went to Scott Hartnell along the left wall. He fed Nick Foligno behind the net, who passed to a wide open Wisniewski pinching in from the point for an easy one-timer past Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk. Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves, including a penalty shot in the second period. Columbus extended a winning streak against Minnesota to five games dating back to 2013. Columbus got on the board first when Brandon Dubinsky scored in transition on a snap shot from the high slot over Dubnyk's blocker at 7:57 of the first period. The Wild tied the game late in the first, taking advantage of a power-play opportunity when Mikko Koivu's shot from the point was tipped in front by Zach Parise for his team-leading 17th goal with 1:17 left in the period. Late in the period, an apparent goal by Ryan Suter was waved off when the officials ruled Columbus gained possession of the puck on a delayed penalty. With four minutes of man-advantage time to work with following a high sticking double minor on David Savard, Minnesota was able to generate one early scoring chance. The Blue Jackets used an aggressive kill to take away momentum. Hartnell scored an insurance goal with 3:03 left, redirecting a shot from the point by Wisniewski through Dubnyk. In addition to the failed penalty shot and the disallowed goal, Justin Fontaine and Nino Niederreiter each hit a post.


Calgary @ Los Angeles 2-1 OT - One moment Dennis Wideman celebrated, and the next he doubted whether the puck had gone into the net. After the play was reviewed, Wideman and the Flames headed to the dressing room with smiles yet again. Wideman shot the puck from a sharp angle on the left side, and it quickly caromed off the camera inside the net. Play continued, but video review determined it was the game-winning goal for the Flames. Flames center Sean Monahan scored on a great individual effort to tie the game 1-1 at 13:55 of the third. Monahan swiped the puck away from Kings defenseman Alec Martinez at the point, skated down the left wing and beat goalie Jonathan Quick with a wrist shot for his 14th goal. Defenseman Matt Greene appeared to give the Kings the only goal they would need when his shot from the point through traffic found the net at 10:23 of the third period. It was Greene's third goal. Los Angeles went scoreless on three straight power plays in the second period, one of which came following a roughing penalty by Calgary center Matt Stajan on Brown. The Flames could not take advantage of 3:53 of power-play time to start the second period following Drew Doughty's double minor for cross checking and unsportsmanlike conduct near the end of the first. Calgary's march to the penalty box contributed to it going more than 13 1/2 minutes without a shot in the second. The Flames were outshot 26-5 through 36 minutes and 27-9 through two periods.

Dallas Stars @ Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 - 01/18

The Dallas Stars were no strangers to the feeling inside the visitor's locker room during the second intermission at United Center on Sunday. It probably felt like like déjà vu. Just as they'd done twice earlier this season, the Stars went to their locker room after two periods locked in a tough game against the Chicago Blackhawks 24 hours following a game at American Airlines Center. They didn't win either of the previous games, but vowed this time would be different. It was after they scored three goals in the third period to win 6-3 and sweep their first back-to-back set of the season. Center Cody Eakin, who led Dallas with two goals and an assist, scored the first of those goals in the third to put the Stars up 4-3 at 2:58 on the power play. Left wing Erik Cole scored at 10:59 to make it 5-3 and forward Shawn Horcoff scored into an empty net with 1:00 left in regulation to complete the scoring. Dallas (21-17-7) got additional goals from centers Vernon Fiddler and Tyler Seguin, who assisted on Eakin's second goal for a two-point game. Defensemen Alex Goligoski and John Klingberg each had two assists and goalie Kari Lehtonen made 38 saves to win for the first time in four starts against the Blackhawks this season. Chicago (28-15-2) lost to the Winnipeg Jets on home ice Friday under almost identical circumstances. The Jets came into United Center after defeating Dallas in a tough road game the day before. The Stars noticed what happened in that game and took some measure of confidence into their game against the Blackhawks. Chicago has lost three of its past four games and two in a row for the first time since dropping a back-to-back set Nov. 1-2 at the Toronto Maple Leafs and against the Jets at home. Since losing in overtime at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 20, the Blackhawks are 6-6-1 and have fallen from first in the Central Division to third. They're playing like themselves in spurts during games, but their usual consistency is missing. That's especially true on the defensive end of the rink, where defensemen and forwards alike are getting beaten too often for great scoring chances. That's been the major issue the past two games, but has nagged them for much of the past month. In their past four games, the Blackhawks have allowed 16 goals. Eakin's second goal was a prime example. It was scored off a pretty tic-tac-toe play following one-touch passes by Benn and Seguin, who fed Eakin the puck with a cross-ice pass to the back side of the net for an easy tap-in goal. It forced the Blackhawks to start pushing for the equalizer, which left them vulnerable to odd-man rushes against goalie Corey Crawford (28 saves). Patrick Kane scored the other goal for the Blackhawks, who dominated the first five minutes. They raced out to a 9-1 edge in shots, but didn't get a goal. Instead, Seguin scored at 6:33 of the first to open the scoring and Eakin made it 2-0 at 10:49 with the Stars shorthanded. Saad and Kane scored off rebounds to tie it 2-2, but Fiddler put Dallas back in front at 19:11 with a goal scored by putting in a rebound of Klingberg's shot that hit the left post. Saad whirled and scored from the slot to tie it 3-3 at 7:13 of the second with his second goal of the game, but the Blackhawks couldn't get another one past Lehtonen before Eakin's early in the third. Lehtonen made 15 saves in the second, when Chicago outshot Dallas 16-6. He was asked to make five saves in the third. Jamie Benn had three assists

Stars Quotes

Jamie Benn: "We've been in this situation before, coming in here after two periods and being tired. We came in here and talked about it. We just wanted to get the job done tonight. It was all that was on our minds and we found a way to win. We knew [Winnipeg] came in here and did a good job to beat these guys, and we figured, 'Why can't we do the same? We know we're a good team in here. It's just believing in the system and believing in each other."
Cody Eakin: "[Lehtonen] helped us out, so it was our turn to help him out and return the favor. The game went back and forth. They started strong, we didn't ... and then we picked up our socks. The third period was good, which we needed."

NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh Penguins 2-5 - 01/18

The New York Rangers have created a four-team race within the Metropolitan Division. Rick Nash and Derek Stepan each scored two goals to help lead the Rangers to a 5-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Consol Energy Center on Sunday. New York is tied with the Washington Capitals for third in the division, five points behind the New York Islanders. After entering the third period down three goals, the Penguins were given a spark when forward David Perron split defensemen Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh before sliding the puck through Henrik Lundqvist's five-hole to cut the Rangers lead to 4-2 at 4:16 of the third. Stepan didn't allow that spark to last long. Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang attempted to clear the puck from the crease, but sent it to Stepan, who got a wrist shot by goalie Thomas Greiss to reestablish New York's three goal lead with his second goal of the game 6:15 into the period. The Rangers (26-13-4) pulled to within two points of Pittsburgh for second place in the division with a game in hand. The Penguins (26-12-6) are 6-8-3 against division opponents this season after losing to the Rangers and Islanders by a combined score of 11-5 in their past two games. New York scored two goals in each of the first two periods to take a 4-1 lead into the second intermission. Nash's second goal gave the Rangers a two-goal cushion when his wrist shot deflected off of Pittsburgh defenseman Rob Scuderi's stick in the crease and bounced over Marc-Andre Fleury's right shoulder before landing in the net at 2:39 of the second period. Nash leads the NHL with 28 goals, one more than Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin. Stepan added a fourth Rangers goal when Martin St. Louis faked going to the net, drawing coverage, and sent a pass to Stepan in the left faceoff circle. Stepan's snap shot chased Fleury from the game with the goalie's fourth goal allowed on 17 shots at 5:34 into the second. Greiss replaced Fleury and made seven saves to finish the period. Pittsburgh was outshot 12-3 through much of the second before recording five unanswered shots over the final 1:48. The first period followed a similar formula. Nash opened the scoring before the Rangers extended the lead with a second goal, but Sidney Crosby gave Pittsburgh life by pulling the Penguins to within one goal by period's end. While on Pittsburgh's third power play of the first, Perron sent a shot-pass into the New York crease that Crosby stopped with his right skate. Crosby settled the puck and shoveled a shot by Lundqvist to cut the Rangers' lead to 2-1 with 4:52 remaining in the period. Since scoring two goals in 17 games, Crosby has averaged one goal over his past four games. He leads the Penguins with 51 points, one more than Evgeni Malkin, and is four goals behind Malkin for the team lead. Outside of Crosby's goal, the Rangers dominated the first period, starting with Nash's first goal 26 seconds into the game. A pass from Brandon Sutter got through Letang at the point and bounced off the boards to Nash, who streaked into the offensive zone toward Fleury. Nash sent a wrist shot past defenseman Paul Martin and by Fleury's blocker for a 1-0 New York lead. Derick Brassard added to the Rangers lead a few minutes later after a slap shot from Kevin Klein missed high and ricocheted off the glass behind the net and back into the crease. Brassard collected the rebound and whipped a wrist shot past Fleury's glove for New York's second goal, 6:08 into the first.

Pens Quotes

Mike Johnston: "I think every team you play in your division is a different scenario," Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. "With the Islanders, we had a chance the other night to even the series basically against them and with 14 minutes left in the game, they tie the game. We had a chance that night to even the series. Tonight, we had another chance to even the series against the Rangers … Is there any one thing you can pinpoint? No, I don't think there is."
Sidney Crosby: "We definitely got some bad bounces, but we didn't really give ourselves a chance to get back in it. We get the goal there and they end up getting the next one. Then we get a two-goal game again [in the third] and they get the next one pretty quick. So, regardless of the bounces we got, I don't think we did a good enough job of giving ourselves a chance to play."