National Hockey League Game Capsules

Newark, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) – Andy Greene’s goal two minutes into overtime lifted the New Jersey Devils to a much-needed 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild, spoiling Zach Parise’s return to the Prudential Center in the process. Patrik Elias and Adam Henrique assisted on Greene’s game-winner — the third helper of the night for both — while Jaromir Jagr, Michael Ryder and Mark Fayne all scored to support a 20-save effort from Devils goaltender Cory Schneider. New Jersey, which currently sits five points back of a playoff spot, halted a three-game skid with the verdict. Parise, who captained the Devils to the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals and spent his first seven NHL seasons with New Jersey, potted one of three Minnesota goals in the third period as the Wild overcame a 2-0 deficit to notch a point. Matt Cooke and Mikael Granlund also tallied for Minnesota, which received 25 saves out of Ilya Bryzgalov.

Final Score: Philadelphia 4, Dallas 2

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Wayne Simmonds scored a pair of goals and Steve Mason stopped 33 shots as Philadelphia claimed a 4-2 victory over Dallas on Thursday. Mark Streit and Michael Raffl also lit the lamp for the Flyers, who improved to 4-0 against top-flight competition in the last five days and have won seven of their last nine overall. Jamie Benn recorded both goals and Tyler Seguin added two assists for the Stars, who have dropped four straight games. Tim Thomas gave up all four scores on 29 shots in defeat.

Final Score: Columbus 3, Montreal 2

Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) – Ryan Johansen scored the deciding goal with 3:01 remaining as the Columbus Blue Jackets came through with a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. Derek MacKenzie had a shorthanded tally earlier for Columbus, which improved to 7-2-1 in March and moved into a tie with the New York Rangers for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Blue Jackets also received a goal from Brandon Dubinsky as well as 25 saves out of Sergei Bobrovsky. Montreal had a three- game win streak halted despite a 37-save performance from Carey Price, with Brendan Gallagher and Thomas Vanek each potting goals in defeat.

Final Score: Tampa Bay 5, Ottawa 4

Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – Eric Brewer and Ryan Callahan each scored in the third period as the surging Tampa Bay Lightning held on for a 5-4 win over the spiraling Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. Callahan gave the Lightning a two-goal lead at 11:58, but had to sweat out the final 56 seconds in the penalty box after being called for slashing. Ottawa had struck once with goalie Robin Lehner pulled for an extra attacker, but couldn’t convert on the 6-on-4 advantage as its playoff hopes grew dimmer. Teddy Purcell scored twice in the first period for the Lightning, who matched a season high with a fifth straight win. Birthday boy Valtteri Filppula supplied the other Tampa Bay goal, while Ben Bishop made 27 saves in his 100th NHL game. Lehner surrendered five goals on 28 shots in the Senators’ fifth consecutive loss.

Final Score: Detroit 5, Pittsburgh 4 (OT)

Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) – Daniel Alfredsson scored the game-winning goal with just 0.4 seconds left in overtime as the Detroit Red Wings took a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in a thriller from Joe Louis Arena. Detroit had spent the final 3:46 of regulation and first 1:14 of overtime a man down after David Legwand was given a major and game misconduct for jamming Evgeni Malkin with the butt end of his stick in front of the net, but the team killed it off to keep the game going. With time winding down, a turnover in the Detroit end saw the Red Wings go the other way on a 3-on-1. Skating down the right wing, Alfredsson let fly with a shot that Marc-Andre Fleury stopped, but the rebound came out front, went off Pittsburgh’s Rob Scuderi and made it into the net just before the final buzzer. Alfredsson scored twice and added an assist, while Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar and Todd Bertuzzi scored for the Red Wings, who have won three of their last four games. Jimmy Howard gave up four goals on 43 shots in the win. Malkin scored twice with Lee Stempniak and Craig Adams also lighting the lamp for the Penguins, who have dropped three of their last four. Fleury stopped 25 shots in the loss.

Final Score: Buffalo 3, Edmonton 1

Edmonton, AB (SportsNetwork.com) – Cory Conacher had two goals on deflections and picked up an assist to back Buffalo neophyte Matt Hackett as the Sabres beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 on Thursday night to end a seven-game losing streak. The fifth goaltender to start for the Sabres this season, Hackett made 35 saves in his debut with the club that acquired from Minnesota last April. He was recently called up from Rochester of the American Hockey League with Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth out with lower-body injuries. The Sabres avoided matching the longest skid in franchise history. Taylor Hall scored the lone Edmonton goal, while Ben Scrivens stopped 33 shots. The Oilers had won two straight games.

Final Score: Phoenix 2, Florida 1

Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) – Mike Smith made 22 saves and the Phoenix Coyotes strengthen their grip on the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference by clipping the visiting Florida Panthers, 2-1. Radim Vrbata and Antoine Vermette scored in the first period for the Coyotes, who have won four straight at home and seven of their last nine games overall. Phoenix now leads Dallas by four points for the final playoff spot. Roberto Luongo stopped 20 shots for Florida, which had gone 2-0-1 in its previous three games.

Final Score: Los Angeles 2, Washington 1 (SO)

Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Marian Gaborik scored the winner in the third round of the shootout as the Los Angeles Kings edged the Washington Capitals, 2-1, on Thursday. Gaborik skated in on the last attempt for Los Angeles and buried a wrister over the glove of Jaroslav Halak, and Jonathan Quick sealed the win by stopping Nicklas Backstrom. Anze Kopitar scored the only goal of regulation for the Kings, who snapped a three-game slide. Quick stopped 21 shots for the 171st win of his career, tying Rogie Vachon for most wins by a goaltender in franchise history. Joel Ward had the only goal and Halak stopped 27 shots for the Capitals, who had a three-game winning streak stopped.

Final Score: San Jose 3, Anaheim 2

San Jose, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Joe Thornton was involved in all three San Jose goals, scoring once and assisting on the other two as the Sharks rallied to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Thursday to take sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division. Thornton scored 8:11 into the third period to tie the score at 2-2 and sent a puck on net from the left boards that Brent Burns deflected in for the winner with 3:59 remaining. Patrick Marleau also scored for the Sharks, who bounced back from a 3-2 loss to Florida on Tuesday to win for the seventh time in their last eight games. Antti Niemi had 16 saves to get the victory. Mathieu Perreault and Teemu Selanne scored for the Ducks, who have struggled to a 2-4-2 record since winning their first two post-Olympic games. Frederik Andersen gave up three goals on 28 shots.

Categorized in: NHL