WASHINGTON (AP) Jake Allen made 32 saves with regular starter Brian Elliott back home resting and the St. Louis Blues beat the NHL-leading Washington Capitals 4-0 on Saturday night for their fourth consecutive shutout.
St. Louis won for the 10th time in 12 games and kept pace with the Dallas Stars atop the Central Division.
Kyle Brodziak, Colton Parayko, Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrik Berglund scored for the Blues, who have their sights on the division title and the top seed in the Western Conference. With six games left, they're tied with the Stars, who beat the Sharks in San Jose.
The Capitals would've clinched the Presidents' Trophy with a point but now must wait until at least Monday.
PENGUINS 7, RED WINGS 2
PITTSBURGH - Carl Hagelin scored twice and Phil Kessel had a goal and four assists, helping Pittsburgh rout Detroit.
Pittsburgh boosted its chances of earning a 10th straight trip to the playoffs and hurt Detroit's quest to extend its postseason streak to 25.
The Penguins have won seven of eight, staying ahead of the New York Islanders for the third guaranteed spot from the Metropolitan Division.
The Red Wings started the day a point behind Boston for third place in the Atlantic. Detroit is also in a closely contested race with the Islanders and Philadelphia to be the two wild-card teams that earn spots when the season ends in two weeks.
PANTHERS 5, LIGHTNING 2
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Jaromir Jagr had a goal and an assist, Roberto Luongo made 33 saves and Florida took over first place in the Atlantic Division by beating Tampa Bay.
Vincent Trocheck, Jiri Hudler, Jonathan Huberdeau and Jussi Jokinen also scored for the Panthers, who have a two-point lead over the Lightning.
Tampa Bay got goals from Tyler Johnson and Steven Stamkos.
The Lightning were without right wing Nikita Kucherov, who took a shot off his foot in a 7-4 win over the New York Islanders on Friday night. Right wing Ryan Callahan, defenseman Anton Stralman and center Valtteri Filppula also sat for Tampa Bay with injuries.
STARS 4, SHARKS 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Mattias Janmark returned to the lineup from injury and got his first career two-goal game and Antti Niemi made 34 saves against his former team as Dallas beat San Jose.
Patrick Sharp added a power-play goal and Jamie Benn scored an empty-netter to help the Stars remain in first place in the Central Division by winning for the fourth time in five games. Niemi, traded to Dallas last offseason after five seasons in San Jose, got the win in his first start in two weeks.
Joel Ward scored a short-handed goal and Tomas Hertl also scored for San Jose. But the Sharks' late attempt at a rally fell short in their third straight regulation loss at home, once again delaying their playoff clinching. Martin Jones made 13 saves.
Janmark had missed six games with an upper-body injury and wasn't certain he'd return to the lineup until after taking the pregame skate against the Sharks. His return was welcomed by the Stars as he scored the first two goals of the game to help lead them to victory.
BLACKHAWKS 4, FLAMES 1
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) - Andrew Ladd had two goals and an assist and Scott Darling made 31 saves to lead Chicago over Calgary.
Ladd's first multipoint game with Chicago gives him eight points in 12 games since the Blackhawks acquired the left-winger from Winnipeg just prior to the trade deadline.
Andrew Shaw and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for Chicago, which kicked off an important four-game trip. Mired in a 1-4-2 skid entering the game, the Blackhawks remain two points up on the hard-charging Nashville Predators for third in the Central Division.
Dougie Hamilton scored his career-high 11th goal for Calgary.
KINGS 6, OILERS 4
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Tyler Toffoli had two goals and two assists, Trevor Lewis added a short-handed goal and Los Angeles completed a five-game season sweep of Edmonton.
Andy Andreoff and Jeff Carter also scored, Milan Lucic tied a career high with three assists and Jonathan Quick made 25 saves to help the Kings maintain their three-game lead over Anaheim for the Pacific Division lead with seven games left on the schedule.
Patrick Maroon had two goals in the third period for Edmonton and Jordan Eberle and rookie Connor McDavid scored in the first. Rookie Laurent Brossoit stopped 27 shots in his sixth NHL start, three days after his 23rd birthday. He is still looking for his first victory.
DUCKS 4, SENATORS 3, OT
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - Rickard Rakell scored a power-play goal in overtime and Anaheim finished with four straight goals to beat Ottawa.
Ryan Getzlaf, Jakob Silfverberg and Hampus Lindholm scored for the Ducks, who trailed 3-0 after two periods. Frederik Andersen made 29 saves.
Mike Hoffman, Erik Karlsson and Chris Neil scored for the Senators, who have lost three straight. Craig Anderson stopped 35 shots.
Hoffman was awarded a penalty shot early in the third period but lost the puck and never challenged Andersen. From that point on, it was all Anaheim.
Getzlaf opened the scoring for the Ducks, tucking one under the crossbar at the 5-minute mark, and Silfverberg made it a one-goal deficit after scoring at 11:31. Lindholm tied the game in the final minute of the third.
ISLANDERS 4, HURRICANES 3, OT
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Cal Clutterbuck scored a deflected goal with 13.8 seconds left in overtime, and New York beat Carolina.
Clutterbuck had two goals, with his first tying it 30 seconds into the third period. Nikolay Kulemin had a goal and an assist and Kyle Okposo also scored for the Islanders, who have won two of three over a four-day span.
Victor Rask, Jeff Skinner and Jeff McClement scored during a second-period flurry for the Hurricanes.
Jean-Francois Berube made 33 saves for New York while Eddie Lack stopped 27 shots for Carolina in a matchup of desperate Metropolitan Division teams.
Clutterbuck took a pass from Brock Nelson and unleashed a shot from between the circles that clipped off Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin's chest and got past Lack.
BRUINS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 1
TORONTO (AP) - Zdeno Chara snapped a 20-game goal drought and Boston ended a season-long five-game losing streak with a victory over Toronto.
The win created some much-needed space in the Eastern Conference playoff race for Boston, currently third in the Atlantic Division with 88 points and now three points up on Detroit.
Patrice Bergeron and Matt Beleskey also scored for the Bruins. Ben Smith found the back of the net for the Leafs.
Tuukka Rask made 25 saves, topping Jonathan Bernier, who gave up two goals on 32 shots.
WILD 4, AVALANCHE 0
DENVER (AP) - Zach Parise scored twice, Devan Dubnyk made 29 saves for his 19th NHL shutout and surging Minnesota beat Colorado in a pivotal game between two teams contending for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
Jordan Schroeder also scored and Mikael Granlund added a short-handed goal into an empty net to help the Wild move five points ahead of Colorado for eighth place in the playoff race.
Parise remains red hot as he followed up his hat trick on Thursday night with two more goals, including one in the second period of a scoreless contest that sent the Wild on their way to their fifth straight win.
This was a crushing blow to the playoff chances of the Avalanche. They have a tougher schedule with all seven of their remaining games against teams headed to the postseason. The Wild play three of their final six contests against teams with no postseason shot.
RANGERS 5, CANADIENS 2
MONTREAL (AP) - Chris Kreider had two goals and an assist and New York beat Montreal.
Derick Brassard had a goal and two assists for the Rangers, and J.T. Miller and Derek Stepan also scored.
In his first game at the Bell Centre, Rangers backup goaltender Antti Raanta made 24 saves for his 10th win of the season.
Lars Eller and Phillip Danault had goals for Montreal. Mike Condon stopped 14 of 19 shots before being pulled in the second intermission. Ben Scrivens made four saves in the third.
The Rangers beat Montreal for the first time since Nov. 23, 2014.
PREDATORS 5, BLUE JACKETS 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Shea Weber and James Neal each had a goal and an assist to lead Nashville over Columbus.
Mattias Ekholm, Craig Smith and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for the Predators, who have won five of six. Roman Josi had three assists and has 44 this season, setting a franchise record for a defenseman. Pekka Rinne made 18 saves.
Nashville is 32-5-4 at home against Columbus.
Boone Jenner had the lone goal for the Jackets, who have lost three of four.
COYOTES 2, FLYERS 1
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Shane Doan and Mike Stone scored in the final 4 1/2 minutes of the second period, Mike Smith made 34 saves and Arizona beat Philadelphia.
The loss prevented the Flyers from moving into sole possession of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia remained tied with the Detroit Red Wings, who lost to Pittsburgh 7-2 earlier in the day.
Sean Couturier scored the Flyers' goal with 40 seconds remaining.
Doan scored on a power play with 4:23 left in the second period. Stone's goal, from just outside the faceoff circle, came with under a second left in the second period. Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol challenged that it was goalie interference, but the goal stood after a replay review.
SABRES 3, JETS 2
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Sam Reinhart tied the game and then set up Jack Eichel's go-ahead goal 4:07 into the third period, rallying Buffalo over Winnipeg.
The loss mathematically eliminated the Jets from playoff contention in a matchup of teams out of the postseason picture.
The rebuilding Sabres drew on their youth movement, which produced all three goals. Newly signed forward Hudson Fasching rounded out the scoring.
Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrew Copp scored for the Jets, who squandered a chance to win three straight for the first time this season.
No comments:
Post a Comment