National Hockey League Game Capsules

Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Jake Allen made 23 saves for his third shutout of the season and the St. Louis Blues beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 on Thursday. It was Allen’s fourth career shutout and first since he posted two in a row early in the season. In their seventh straight win, the Blues got goals from Dmitrij Jaskin, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz. They extended their point streak to 13 games. The Sabres lost for the 15th time in their last 16 games despite 27 saves from Jonas Enroth.

Final Score: NY Islanders 3, Philadelphia 2 (SO)

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Cal Clutterbuck tied the game late in the second period and then scored in the seventh round of the shootout to lift the New York Islanders over the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2, on Thursday. Mikhail Grabovski also lit the lamp in the second stanza for the Islanders, who snapped a three-game skid. Jaroslav Halak stopped 16-of-18 shots. Nick Schultz and Chris VandeVelde scored for the Flyers, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Steve Mason made 28 saves.

Final Score: Washington 2, Ottawa 1

Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – Alex Ovechkin scored the game-winning goal to lift the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. Evgeny Kuznetsov also lit the lamp and Braden Holtby continued his stellar play in between the pipes by making 25 saves for the Capitals, who were coming off a 4-0 win over the Kings on Tuesday. Kyle Turris supplied the lone offense for Ottawa, which was unable to come up with a win on defenseman Chris Phillips’ milestone night. Phillips set the franchise record for most games played by skating in his 1,179th contest on Thursday, surpassing former captain Daniel Alfredsson, who was present for the pre-game ceremony. Robin Lehner stopped 27-of-29 shots in his fourth straight start in place of an injured Craig Anderson.

Final Score: Florida 3, Los Angeles 2

Sunrise, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Brandon Pirri scored for a fourth consecutive game, lifting the Florida Panthers to a come-from-behind win. Pirri’s goal 16:55 into the third period gave the Panthers a 3-2 victory over the struggling Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night. He scored after collecting a loose puck in the left circle with three Kings players in the vicinity. It came after Nick Bjugstad tied the game 7:26 into the third period and secured a win for Roberto Luongo, who made 29 saves. Aleksander Barkov also scored for the Panthers, who have won two in a row and three of their last five games. The Kings fell to 0-3 on a five-game road trip and have dropped nine of their last 10 on the road (1-7-2). They have lost 10 of their last 12 overall (2-6-4).

Final Score: Anaheim 5, Nashville 2

Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – Jakob Silfverberg scored twice and the Anaheim Ducks put the brakes on the Nashville Predators’ franchise-best nine- game home winning streak with a 5-2 victory on Thursday. The teams entered the game tied atop the NHL standings with 72 points apiece. Sami Vatanen, Matt Beleskey and Corey Perry also scored for the Ducks, who won despite not having captain Ryan Getzlaf in the lineup. Getzlaf aggravated a lower-body injury during warmups. Frederik Andersen made 44 saves for Anaheim, which improved to 15-6-3 on the road this season. James Neal and Colin Wilson lit the lamp for the Predators, who lost at home for the first time since Dec. 6. Pekka Rinne stopped 21-of-25 shots in his return to the lineup. He missed eight games with a knee injury.

Final Score: Tampa Bay 5, Dallas 3

Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – In a matchup of the NHL’s highest-scoring teams, the Tampa Bay Lightning delivered a win. Tyler Johnson scored two third-period goals, including the game-winner as the Lightning ended their four-game road losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov also scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves in the win. Dallas erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 but never led in its second straight loss. Kari Lehtonen allowed four goals on 28 shots. The Stars received their offense from their defensemen as John Klingberg, Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley lit the lamp in defeat.

Final Score: Detroit 3, Colorado 0

Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) – Petr Mrazek made 28 saves for his first shutout of the season and the streaking Detroit Red Wings scored two empty-net goals in a 3-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night. Justin Abdelkader’s power-play goal in the second period was the only one the Red Wings needed to pick up their eighth win in nine games. They got two more after Avalanche coach Patrick Roy pulled Semyon Varlamov for an extra skater with around 3:05 left in the game — a tactic the Hall of Fame former goaltender is known for. Darren Helm scored about 30 seconds later and Luke Glendening added another empty-net goal in the final minute to wrap things up. Mrazek had 12 saves in the first period, nine in the second and secured his third career shutout with seven stops in the third. Varlamov made 26 saves for the Avalanche, who had a two-game winning streak stopped.

Final Score: Carolina 2, Arizona 1 (SO)

Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) – Elias Lindholm scored the lone goal of the shootout as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 on Thursday. Lindholm, Carolina’s first shooter, moved the puck from his backhand to forehand and beat a sprawled Mike Smith with a well-placed wrister. The Coyotes were unable to score in the skills competition as Lucas Lessio and Antoine Vermette each hit the post and Sam Gagner lost control of the puck. Victor Rask lit the lamp in regulation and Cam Ward made 28 saves for the Hurricanes, who ended a three-game skid. David Moss provided Arizona’s lone marker, Keith Yandle extended his point streak to five games with an assist and Smith turned aside 39 shots in defeat.

Final Score: San Jose 5, Vancouver 1

Vancouver, BC (SportsNetwork.com) – Antti Niemi backed a strong offensive effort with 33 saves in the San Jose Sharks’ 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Niemi stopped nine shots in the first period, 12 in the second and 12 in the third to improve to 6-0-2 over his last eight starts. Matt Irwin, Joe Pavelski, Melker Karlsson and Andrew Desjardins all scored, Chris Tierney posted his first NHL goal and Logan Couture and Brent Burns each tallied two assists as the Sharks bounced back from a 3-1 loss in Calgary on Wednesday. Radim Vrbata provided a late goal and Ryan Miller allowed all five goals on 38 shots for the Canucks, who won their previous two matchups with the Sharks this season.

Categorized in: NHL