National Hockey League Game Capsules

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Sergei Bobrovsky showed a good chin, taking every punch his former team threw. In his first game as a visitor at Wells Fargo Center, Bobrovsky made 37 saves to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 2-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. Bobrovsky’s fourth shutout of the season and the eighth of his career gave the Blue Jackets their first-ever win in Philadelphia. James Wisniewski and Brandon Dubinsky scored for the Blue Jackets, who occupy the last wild card position in the Eastern Conference. They are 3-3-1 in their last seven games. Steve Mason gave up two goals on 27 shots for the Flyers, who have been shut out in back-to-back games and now lead the Blue Jackets by just two points for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Philadelphia’s goalless drought is 130 minutes and 25 seconds since Vincent Lecavalier scored the tying goal in Sunday’s eventual 4-3 shootout loss to Boston. Two days later, Philadelphia lost 1-0 in a shootout in St. Louis. Bobrovsky, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, was 42-23-10 with the Flyers in 2010-11 and 2011-12 before he was traded to Columbus on June 22, 2012, for draft picks. Curtis McElhinney started for Columbus on Dec. 19 in Philadelphia — a 5-4 Flyers win. Bobrovsky was out with an injury at the time, but looked sharp on Thursday.

Final Score: Carolina 4, Dallas 1

Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – John-Michael Liles recorded a goal and two assists during a second-period barrage that carried the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars at PNC Arena. Liles set up scores from Eric Staal and Justin Faulk that staked the Hurricanes to a 2-0 advantage before adding a power-play tally later in the middle session. Anton Khudobin made the lead stand with a sharp 33-save effort in Carolina’s second impressive win in three days. The Hurricanes returned home off Tuesday’s 4-1 road decision over Metropolitan Division leader Pittsburgh. Dallas, which came in having outscored the opposition 16-5 in winning its last three, remained tied with Phoenix for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Stars do have a game in hand on the Coyotes. Tyler Seguin had Dallas’ lone goal. Stars netminder Kari Lehtonen was pulled midway through the second period after letting up three goals on 16 shots, with Tim Thomas stopping 15-of-16 chances in relief.

Final Score: Toronto 4, Boston 3 (OT)

Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – Nazem Kadri netted the game-winner with Toronto on the power play 2:51 into overtime, as the Leafs outlasted the Boston Bruins, 4-3, at Air Canada Centre. Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron both lit the lamp in the third period to bring the Bruins even, but after Boston failed to score on a power play that stretched into overtime, the Leafs capitalized on their chance on the man-advantage. With Boston’s Torey Krug in the box for holding, Cody Franson fed the disc from the left point to the low left side, where Kadri roofed a shot over Chad Johnson to send Toronto to its second straight victory. Paul Ranger, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak each scored once for the Leafs, who kept pace with Columbus for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets, who blanked Philadelphia on Thursday, have 85 points, giving them a one-point lead over the Leafs with two games in hand. Jonathan Bernier made 25 stops over two-plus periods for Toronto before leaving the game with 11:38 remaining in regulation after Bergeron landed awkwardly on top of his left leg. James Reimer stopped 10-of-11 shots in relief. Brad Marchand recorded Boston’s other marker, while Johnson stopped 27 shots in the Bruins’ second straight setback.

Final Score: Calgary 4, Tampa Bay 1

Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Karri Ramo stopped 31 shots and the Calgary Flames beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-1, on Thursday. Mike Cammalleri and Kevin Westgarth scored 15 seconds apart in the first period for the Flames, who had lost three of four coming in. Curtis Glencross scored twice late in the game. The loss moved Tampa Bay into the third position in the Atlantic Division. The team is tied with Montreal in points and both teams have played the same amount of games, but Montreal has two more wins in regulation or overtime, to hold the tiebreaker. Ondrej Palat had the lone goal of the game for the Lightning, who have dropped two of their last three games. Ben Bishop gave up three goals on 24 shots.

Final Score: Chicago 3, Minnesota 2 (SO)

Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – Marian Hossa scored the lone shootout goal in the second round, as the Chicago Blackhawks clipped the Minnesota Wild, 3-2, on Thursday at United Center. After the first two shooters came up empty, Hossa skated in deliberately before firing a heavy slapper from the slot that overpowered Ilya Bryzgalov and slipped across the goal line to put the Blackhawks on top. Corey Crawford then turned aside the final two shooters with relative ease, as Chicago snapped its three-game slide. The Blackhawks sit three points back of Colorado for second place in the Central Division. Ben Smith and Bryan Bickell each scored once, while Crawford finished with 25 saves for the Blackhawks. Charlie Coyle and Erik Haula had a goal apiece for the Wild, who salvaged a point to move five clear of Dallas for the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. Bryzgalov stopped 24 shots in the setback.

Final Score: St. Louis 2, Buffalo 1

St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – Brian Elliott came through with an outstanding fill-in job for Ryan Miller, a 24-save effort that lifted the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Maxim Lapierre and Brenden Morrow each tallied goals, with the latter’s coming with 1:52 left to play to help the Western Conference-leading Blues improve to 13-3-1 since they acquired Miller, Buffalo’s all-time leader in wins and games played by a goaltender, on Feb. 28. The longtime Sabre was rested in his first encounter with his former club since the trade, with Elliott taking a shutout bid that was finally spoiled by Cody Hodgson with under a minute remaining. With the result, St. Louis set a new franchise record with its 52nd win of the season. Nathan Lieuwen recorded 26 saves for Buffalo in a losing cause.

Final Score: Pittsburgh 4, Winnipeg 2

Winnipeg, MB (SportsNetwork.com) – The Pittsburgh Penguins clinched the Metropolitan Division during their game against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. As a bit of icing on the cake, they won the game, too. Beau Bennett, Craig Adams, Paul Martin and Brian Gibbons scored as the Penguins beat the Jets, 4-2, for their third win in four games. Marc-Andre Fleury had 13 saves and the Penguins scored three unanswered goals to end the game. They wrapped up the division title when Columbus beat Philadelphia in a game that started an hour earlier. The Penguins have won four in a row against the Jets and 19 of the last 22 meetings between the franchises. Olli Jokinen and Zach Redmond scored for the Jets, while Ondrej Pavelec gave up four goals on 21 shots.

Final Score: Colorado 3, NY Rangers 2 (SO)

Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) – After scoring the game-tying goal with 51.4 seconds left in regulation, Tyson Barrie recorded the lone goal in the shootout to lift the Colorado Avalanche over the New York Rangers, 3-2, on Thursday. Barrie scored the tying goal with a shot from the slot, then lit the lamp on a backhander in the first round of the shootout. Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped Mats Zuccarello, Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards in the shootout to secure the victory for the Avalanche, who have won five in a row. Andre Benoit scored in the second period for Colorado, which sits three points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks for second place in the Central Division. Varlamov stopped 29-of-31 shots. John Moore and Derek Stepan lit the lamp for New York, which leads the Flyers by four points for second place in the Metropolitan Division. Philadelphia lost to Columbus on Thursday. Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 35-of-37 shots for the Rangers, who went 2-1-1 on a four-game road trip.

Final Score: San Jose 2, Los Angeles 1

San Jose, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Antti Niemi stopped 26 shots and the San Jose Sharks edged the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1, on Thursday. The win for San Jose gives the team 107 points, one back of Anaheim for first place in the Pacific Division. However, the Ducks have two games in hand on the Sharks. Los Angeles is now locked into the third spot in the Pacific Division and will be the guest in its first-round playoff matchup. Brent Burns and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks, who have won their past two games. Jordan Nolan had the only goal of the game for the Kings, who had won seven of eight coming into the game. Martin Jones gave up both goals on 21 shots in the loss. Also, Los Angeles saw defenseman Drew Doughty leave the game in the first period with a possible shoulder injury after checking Tyler Kennedy.

Categorized in: NHL