National Hockey League Game Capsules

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 23 shots for a successful NHL debut, as the Tampa Bay Lightning claimed a 3-1 victory over Philadelphia on Tuesday. Recalled from Syracuse of the AHL prior to the contest, Vasilevskiy was the reigning player of the week in the league. He was pressed into duty since backup Evgeni Nabokov played most of Monday’s loss in Pittsburgh thanks to an injury to starter Ben Bishop. Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson and Valtteri Filppula lit the lamp for the Bolts, who were coming off consecutive road losses to the Capitals and Penguins. Ryan Callahan added two assists for Tampa, which also reached the 20-win plateau. Wayne Simmonds posted a power-play goal for the Flyers, who had won their first two of a four-game homestand. Steve Mason made 20 stops in defeat.

Final Score: Toronto 6, Anaheim 2

Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel each had one goal and an assist in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 6-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. Joffrey Lupul, David Booth and Nazem Kadri also lit the lamp for the Maple Leafs, who have won six in a row. Jonathan Bernier stopped 40-of-42 shots. Sami Vatanen and Ryan Kesler scored for the Ducks, who had a seven-game winning streak snapped. Frederik Andersen made his 19th straight start and allowed four goals on 20 shots before being pulled in the third period. Ilya Bryzgalov turned aside 5- of-7 shots in relief.

Final Score: Montreal 4, Carolina 1

Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) – Alex Galchenyuk posted his first career hat trick to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. Brandon Prust also scored and Max Pacioretty supplied three assists for the Canadiens, who won their third straight game. Carey Price made 25 saves in the win. Victor Rask supplied Carolina’s lone goal and Cam Ward gave up all four goals on 29 shots in his team’s sixth straight loss.

Final Score: Columbus 1, Detroit 0 (SO)

Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) – Sergei Bobrovsky and the Columbus Blue Jackets remained unbeaten in December with another tight win. Bobrovsky made 30 saves in the game and another in the shootout to lift the Blue Jackets to a 1-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. Ryan Johansen and Boone Jenner beat Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard in the shootout and Bobrovsky had no trouble putting his pads on a weak shot by Henrik Zetterberg to give Columbus its seventh consecutive win this month, including six by one goal. Bobrovsky is also 7-0 in December and has now allowed just 12 goals on 242 shots in the month. The Red Wings have lost four in a row, including three shootouts. They are 1-6 in the format this season, with Howard in net for all six losses. Howard had 29 saves in the game, but gave up shootout goals to Johansen on a backhand deke and Jenner on a stop-and-start move.

Final Score: Florida 2, Washington 1 (SO)

Sunrise, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Nick Bjugstad scored in the 20th round of a shootout to give the Florida Panthers a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. In the longest shootout in NHL history, both teams went through their entire lineup once, with Washington taking the lead five times only to see Florida answer on its last shot. After Roberto Luongo waited out Alex Ovechkin, who missed the net with a sharp angle wrister to open the 20th round, Bjugstad got Braden Holtby to bite before burying a wrister into the right corner of the net. It surpassed the previous shootout record of 15 rounds between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals on Nov. 26, 2005, which the Rangers won. Derek MacKenzie scored in the first period and Luongo stopped 23 shots for the Panthers, who have won two of their last three. Troy Brouwer had a power-play goal in the second period and Holtby finished the contest with 28 saves for the Capitals, who had won four of five coming into the contest.

Final Score: St. Louis 5, Los Angeles 2

St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – Vladimir Tarasenko recorded his second career hat trick and the St. Louis Blues scored five unanswered goals in a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. Tarasenko also had an assist for the Blues, who have won five in a row. Kevin Shattenkirk and Alexander Steen each scored one goal. Jake Allen made 21 saves for St. Louis, which improved to 12-3-1 at home this season. Marian Gaborik scored two goals for the Kings, who went 1-3-1 on their five-game road trip. Jonathan Quick stopped 18-of-22 shots.

Final Score: Nashville 3, Boston 2 (SO)

Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – Derek Roy recorded the lone goal of the shootout and Nashville outlasted Boston, 3-2, at Bridgestone Arena. Mike Fisher and Mike Ribeiro tallied in regulation while Pekka Rinne stopped 33 shots for the Predators, who have won four of their last six. Milan Lucic and Reilly Smith scored once each for the Bruins, who have lost six of their last seven but recorded a point in back-to-back defeats beyond regulation. Tuukka Rask came up with 38 saves in the game’s first 65 minutes, but was powerless to prevent Roy’s dekes from pulling him out of position before a backhander provided the hosts’ winning margin.

Final Score: Winnipeg 5, Buffalo 1

Winnipeg, MB (SportsNetwork.com) – Mark Scheifele had two goals and an assist to lead the Winnipeg Jets in a 5-1 thumping of the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Evander Kane and Michael Frolik each posted a goal and an assist while Chris Thorburn also scored for the Jets, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Ondrej Pavelec stopped 27 shots in the win. Nikita Zadorov scored the only goal of the game for the Sabres, who were riding a four-game winning streak coming into the game. Michal Neuvirth allowed all five goals on 36 shots in the loss.

Final Score: Chicago 5, Minnesota 3

Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – Patrick Kane’s late power-play goal led the Chicago Blackhawks to a hard-fought 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. Brent Seabrook and Ben Smith each had a goal and an assist, Jonathan Toews lit the lamp and added two helpers and Marian Hossa also scored for the Blackhawks, who have won 10 of their last 11 games. Antti Raanta made 26 saves in the first meeting between the two clubs since Chicago eliminated Minnesota with a 4-2 series win in the Western Conference Semifinals. Nino Niederreiter scored on a penalty shot, while Marco Scandella and Thomas Vanek also posted goals for the Wild, who have dropped two of their last three. Niklas Backstrom gave up four goals on 38 shots in the loss.

Final Score: NY Rangers 5, Calgary 2

Calgary, AB (SportsNetwork.com) – Rick Nash scored twice and Derek Stepan chipped in a goal with one assist as the New York Rangers claimed a 5-2 decision over Calgary at the Saddledome. Chris Kreider and Carl Hagelin also lit the lamp for the Rangers, winners in four straight including all three games in western Canada on a four-game road trip which ends in Carolina on Saturday. Henrik Lundqvist turned in a victorious 29-save effort. Jiri Hudler and Curtis Glencross tallied for the Flames, whose season-high losing streak reached six straight games. Karri Ramo took the loss after yielding four goals on 13 shots in half of regulation time. Jonas Hiller stopped all nine shots he faced for the remainder.

Final Score: Arizona 2, Edmonton 1 (OT)

Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) – Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored with just 0.3 seconds left in overtime to give the Arizona Coyotes a 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. With time winding down, Martin Erat skated the puck into the Edmonton zone and dished it to his right for Sam Gagner, who then fired the puck over to the left wing where a skating Ekman-Larsson blasted a shot into the right corner of the net just before the final buzzer. Brandon McMillan scored his first goal of the season while Devan Dubnyk stopped 30 shots for the Coyotes, who snapped a nine-game home losing streak and won in front of their fans for the first time since Nov. 4 against Toronto. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had the only goal of the game for the Oilers, who have dropped their past five games. Ben Scrivens was strong in defeat, stopping 42 shots.

Categorized in: NHL