National Hockey League Game Capsules

Boston, MA (SportsNetwork.com) – Milan Lucic potted a pair of goals in support of a lightly tested Niklas Svedberg in the Boston Bruins’ 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Boston’s second win in as many nights came even easier than the final score indicated, as the Bruins put up 43 shots to New Jersey’s 14 to make Svedberg’s second career shutout a relatively stress-free one. Carl Soderberg added a goal to help Boston record a point for a seventh consecutive home game (4-0-3). After putting up nine goals in back-to-back wins over Philadelphia and Buffalo coming in, the Devils generated little offense on this night. Cory Schneider managed to keep New Jersey in it most of the way by stopping an outstanding 40-of-42 attempts.

Final Score: Philadelphia 3, Washington 2 (OT)

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Jakub Voracek’s game-winning goal occurred on the power play just 1:28 into overtime, as Philadelphia claimed a 3-2 victory over Washington on Thursday. Matt Niskanen was sent off for hooking 71 seconds into the extra session and it didn’t take long for the hosts to capitalize. Claude Giroux drew the primary assist, as he held the puck in the left circle until Voracek moved into position and uncorked a shot which was slowed by the stick of Caps forward Nicklas Backstrom before sliding underneath Braden Holtby. Sean Couturier and R.J. Umberger also tallied for the Flyers, who have won the first two in a four-game homestand. Matt Read and Nick Schultz each had a pair of assists to aid Steve Mason’s 26-save effort. Mason won back-to-back starts for the first time since early November. Alex Ovechkin and Karl Alzner scored for the Capitals, who were coming off a 6-2 win in Toronto on Wednesday. Holtby ended up with 30 saves in defeat.

Final Score: Carolina 5, Buffalo 2

Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – After having scored more than two goals only once in their last 18 games, the Carolina Hurricanes scored three in less than 1 1/2 minutes en route to a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Jiri Tlusty put Carolina up 2-1 on a 5-on-3 marker at the 13:50 mark of the second period. Less than a minute later, Eric Staal was credited with a wrap- around goal, and Victor Rask followed that up with a goal on a deflection 26 seconds later. Jeff Skinner and Riley Nash also scored for the Hurricanes, while Ryan Murphy and Justin Faulk each had two assists. Cam Ward stopped 18-of-20 shots to help Carolina win its third straight home game. Both Sabres goals were scored by Philip Varone, who entered the contest with one goal in 10 NHL games. Chris Stewart assisted on both tallies. Jhonas Enroth allowed all five Hurricanes goals on 31 shots as Buffalo fell for the 10th time in its last 11 games.

Final Score: St. Louis 7, San Jose 2

St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – Brian Elliott stopped 24 shots and seven different St. Louis players recorded a goal in the Blues’ 7-2 rout of the San Jose Sharks at Scottrade Center. Alex Steen, Jay Bouwmeester, Paul Stastny, Jori Lehtera, T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund and David Backes all lit the lamp for the Blues, who have won three in a row and tied a season high for offensive output set in an identical 7-2 victory at San Jose five days ago. Logan Couture and Melker Karlsson scored for the Sharks, who have dropped five of their last eight contests. Antti Niemi was pulled after giving up five goals on 21 shots in 33-plus minutes. Alex Stalock finished up and yielded the other two St. Louis scores.

Final Score: Nashville 3, Dallas 2 (OT)

Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – Shea Weber had two goals, including the game winner 17 seconds into overtime, as the Nashville Predators topped the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Thursday. After Nashville forced a turnover in the offensive zone, Weber’s shot from the right circle bounced off the shoulder of Kari Lehtonen and fluttered over the goal line to end the game. Mikka Salomaki scored in his first NHL game, Roman Josi supplied two assists and Pekka Rinne made 18 saves for the Predators, who moved into a tie with the idle Anaheim Ducks for league’s top spot with 58 points. Jason Spezza and Trevor Daley for the Stars, who have lost three straight games. Lehtonen allowed all three goals on 21 shots in defeat.

Final Score: Chicago 4, Minnesota 2

St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) – Under siege for much of the last two periods, Corey Crawford made 42 saves to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Wild. Minnesota outshot Chicago 37-10 after the first period, but Crawford was up to the task by stopping 35 of them to help the Blackhawks win for the second time in three games. Chicago got a pair of goals from Bryan Bickell in the third period to pull away. Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane also scored for the Blackhawks. Jason Zucker and Jason Pominville scored the Minnesota goals, with Niklas Backstrom making 16 saves on 16 shots. Minnesota was without forward Zach Parise due to the death of his father, J.P., on Wednesday. The elder Parise was a long-time NHL player himself and played nine seasons for the Minnesota North Stars.

Final Score: Colorado 5, Ottawa 2

Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) – Jarome Iginla led a Colorado scoring blitz with a pair of goals as the surging Avalanche delivered a 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Pepsi Center. Iginla’s big night was aided by markers from Brad Stuart, Erik Johnson and Daniel Briere, as well as another tremendous performance from Semyon Varlamov, in Colorado’s fourth win in five games. Coming off a spectacular 54-save effort in Tuesday’s shutout of Chicago, Varlamov was busy again in turning aside 36-of-38 Ottawa shots. Craig Anderson didn’t come close to matching Varlamov’s level of play, allowing three goals on just nine chances before being pulled for Robin Lehner just past the midway mark of the second period. Mark Stone and Bobby Ryan had the Ottawa goals in the Senators’ third straight loss.

Final Score: Arizona 4, Winnipeg 1

Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) – Mikkel Boedker’s three-point night lifted the Arizona Coyotes to a 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Boedker finished with two goals and an assist, Shane Doan tallied a goal and two helpers and Oliver Ekman-Larsson also lit the lamp for the Coyotes, who bounced back from a 6-0 loss to the Blues on Tuesday. Mike Smith was stellar in between the pipes, stopping 34-of-35 shots to earn just his second win since Dec. 1. Mathieu Perreault supplied Winnipeg’s lone goal and Ondrej Pavelec gave up all four goals on 30 shots.

Final Score: Florida 3, Vancouver 1

Vancouver, BC (SportsNetwork.com) – Roberto Luongo was victorious in his return to Vancouver as he turned aside 32 shots to help the Florida Panthers to a 3-1 victory over the Canucks on Thursday. The veteran netminder, who set franchise records with 252 wins and 38 shutouts over eight seasons with the Canucks, tied Sabres great Dominik Hasek for 11th on the NHL’s all-time win list with 389. Jonathan Huberdeau posted two goals and an assist and Aleksander Barkov scored for the Panthers, who rebounded from a 4-3 loss to Washington on Sunday. Daniel Sedin lit the lamp and Ryan Miller allowed all three goals on 30 shots for the Canucks, who won their previous two games.

Final Score: NY Rangers 4, Los Angeles 3

Los Angeles, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Cam Talbot made 28 saves and the surging New York Rangers went into Staples Center and beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Finals. The Kings led 2-0 early on a pair of first-period goals, but New York scored four straight to claim control. Justin Williams’ second goal of the game with 4:03 remaining made it a one-goal game and LA went on a power play following Rick Nash’s tripping penalty with 36 seconds left, but Talbot turned aside the only shot he saw before the final horn sounded. Dan Boyle, Kevin Klein, Lee Stempniak and Martin St. Louis lit the lamp for New York, winners in four straight and 12 of its last 13 games. The Kings, meanwhile, are trending the opposite direction having lost four of five. Williams scored twice and Tanner Pearson found the back of the net while Jonathan Quick was responsible for all four goals on 26 shots.

Categorized in: NHL