National Hockey League Game Capsules
San Jose, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – With a division title on the line, the Colorado Avalanche couldn’t end their struggles in San Jose. A third-period hat trick by Marty Havlat highlighted the Sharks’ 5-1 win on Friday night. The surprising Avalanche, who finished in the Western Conference basement last season, had a chance to clinch the Central Division crown with reeling St. Louis losing to Dallas. Despite its 12th consecutive regular-season road defeat to the Sharks, Colorado remains in the driver’s seat for its first division title since 2003. The Avalanche are tied with the Blues in points (111) but own the tiebreaker with more non-shootout wins. A win Sunday when they wrap up the regular season at Anaheim or a sixth straight regulation loss by St. Louis will secure the division title for the Avalanche. The Blues host Detroit on Sunday.
Final Score: Dallas 3, St. Louis 0
Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Kari Lehtonen made 22 saves for his fifth shutout of the season as the Dallas Stars defeated the St. Louis Blues, 3-0, to clinch their first playoff berth since 2008. The Stars secured the final spot in the Western Conference, eliminating the Phoenix Coyotes in the process. Tyler Seguin and Ryan Garbutt both scored while Trevor Daley supplied a goal and an assist. Jamie Benn contributed two assists for Dallas, which won two of its last three. Ryan Miller stopped 37-of-40 shots in the Blues fifth straight loss. St. Louis was without both David Backes (foot) and T.J. Oshie, who was caught by an illegal hit to the head from Minnesota Wild forward Mike Rupp on Thursday. Rupp was suspended four games for the illegal hit.
Final Score: Washington 4, Chicago 0
Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) – Jaroslav Halak stopped 34 shots for his first shutout in a Capitals uniform and Jay Beagle scored twice in Washington’s 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Halak, who notched his 30th career shutout and fifth this season, had his previous four whitewashes this year playing for St. Louis. He was traded to Buffalo and then dealt to Washington, but on Friday was able to stop a personal five-game skid. Alex Ovechkin notched his league-leading 51st goal of the season and Nicklas Backstrom also lit the lamp for the Capitals, winner of four straight. Despite the surge, the Capitals will not make the playoffs for the first time since 2007. The Blackhawks, who are locked into third place in the Central Division, have lost six of their last seven road games. Corey Crawford gave up four goals on 20 shots in the first two periods, and Antti Raanta turned aside all seven shots he faced in the final frame. Chicago had a four-game winning streak broken.
Final Score: Carolina 2, Detroit 1
Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) – Elias Lindholm and Jiri Tlusty scored first- period goals as the Carolina Hurricanes held off the Red Wings, 2-1, to pick up their first regular-season win in Detroit since 1989. Cam Ward stopped 28- of-29 shots for the Hurricanes, who won in Detroit for the first time since Nov. 14, 1989, when the franchise was still known as the Hartford Whalers. Jimmy Howard turned aside 17-of-19 shots for the Red Wings, who remained tied with Columbus for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Detroit has already clinched its 23rd straight postseason berth.
Final Score: Tampa Bay 3, Columbus 2
Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Eric Brewer scored two goals and Kristers Gudlevskis won his first career start as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2, on Friday. Ondrej Palat supplied a power-play goal and Cedric Paquette notched his first career point with an assist on Brewer’s first goal for the Lightning, who won their third straight game. Gudlevskis turned aside 36 shots in the win. He was called up by the Lightning on Wednesday after the team announced that starter Ben Bishop would sit out the remainder of the regular season due to an upper-body injury. Boone Jenner tallied a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, who had their three-game win streak snapped. David Savard also scored and netminder Curtis McElhinney made 19 saves in the loss.
Final Score: NY Islanders 3, New Jersey 2 (SO)
Newark, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) – Josh Bailey beat Martin Brodeur with a nasty spin-o-rama in the second round of the shootout to send the New York Islanders to a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday at Prudential Center. After Frans Nielsen and Damien Brunner exchanged markers to open the shootout, Bailey charged down the right side and cut in front before spinning around and backhanding the disc past Brodeur to put the Islanders on top. Jaromir Jagr then had the puck roll off his stick at the other end before Ryan Strome, who potted a power-play goal 19 seconds into the third to tie the game, skated down the left side and used the same move as Bailey to beat Brodeur and send the Devils to their 17th straight shootout lost, extending an NHL record. Anders Lee supplied New York’s other goal, while Anders Nilsson stopped 25- of-27 shots for the Islanders, who took three of the five meetings with the Devils this season. Ryan Carter and Patrik Elias each scored once for New Jersey, which fell to 0-13 in shootouts this season. Brodeur registered 28 saves in the setback.
Final Score: Winnipeg 5, Calgary 3
Calgary, AB (SportsNetwork.com) – Paul Postma potted his first goal of the season 9:16 into the third to break a tie and help the Winnipeg Jets wrap up their season with a 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Friday at Scotiabank Saddledome. Evander Kane, Blake Wheeler, Carl Klingberg and Michael Frolik each scored once for the Jets, who saw Michael Hutchinson stop 35 shots in the team’s second consecutive victory to close out the season. Winnipeg, which finished with 82 points, missed the postseason for the seventh straight season. Jiri Hudler had a goal and an assist, while Kris Russell and Sean Monahan notched a marker apiece for the Flames, who had a four-game win streak halted. Karri Ramo recorded 22 saves in defeat.
Categorized in: NHL