National Hockey League Game Capsules

Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – Teemu Pulkkinen scored twice to lead the Detroit Red Wings in a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. Marek Zidlicky posted a goal and two assists, while Riley Sheahan and Henrik Zetterberg also scored once and added a helper for the Red Wings, who were coming off a 7-2 loss at the hands of the Flyers on Saturday. Petr Mrazek allowed just one goal on 43 shots for Detroit, which had dropped four of five coming in. David Perron had the only goal for the Penguins, who have lost three of their last four. Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 16 shots, while Thomas Greiss stopped 8-of-9 shots in relief. Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin missed the game because of a lower-body injury suffered in Saturday’s game against Boston, but the team did get back Sidney Crosby, who sat out Saturday’s game due to illness.

Final Score: Carolina 3, Columbus 2

Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) – Brad Malone notched the game-winner in the second period as the Carolina Hurricanes edged the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2, on Sunday. Justin Faulk and Ron Hainsey also scored, while Andrej Nestrasil had two assists for the Hurricanes, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Anton Khudobin turned aside 22 shots in the win. Scott Hartnell and Nick Foligno each had a goal for the Blue Jackets, who had a three-game winning streak broken. Sergei Bobrovsky allowed all three goals on 27 shots.

Final Score: NY Rangers 2, Florida 1

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Cam Talbot made 38 saves and the New York Rangers earned a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. James Sheppard got his first goal since joining the Rangers on March 1 in a trade with San Jose, and Matt Hunwick potted his first goal of the season as New York won its fifth straight game. The Rangers lead the Metropolitan Division by five points over the rival New York Islanders. Brandon Pirri scored in the third period and Dan Ellis stopped 32 shots for the Panthers, who were seeking a season-high fourth straight win. They remain six points behind Washington and Boston in the race for the Eastern Conference’s two wild-card spots.

Final Score: St. Louis 3, Dallas 0

Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Jake Allen made 28 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and the St. Louis Blues beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 on Sunday to open a key six-game road trip. Vladimir Tarasenko broke a scoreless tie 4:26 into the third period and Alexander Steen added a power-play goal later on as the Blues won for the fourth time in five games. Allen made nine saves in the first period, seven in the second and turned aside 12 shots in the third for his fifth career shutout. Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen had 12 saves over the first two periods, then gave up two goals on eight shots in the third.

Final Score: Ottawa 2, Philadelphia 1 (SO)

Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – Andrew Hammond made 27 saves and stopped all three shootout attempts to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday. Bobby Ryan beat Ray Emery to begin the third round of the shootout, and Hammond secured the extra point by stopping Claude Giroux. The rookie goaltender has allowed two or fewer goals in each of his first 11 career NHL starts, going 10-0-1 and helping the Senators get within five points of a playoff spot. Ottawa, 13-2-2 in its last 17 games, nearly scored at the end of regulation as Milan Michalek rang a shot off the post. Emery also finished with 27 saves for a Flyers team that has dropped six straight on the road (0-3-3). They have lost five of six overall.

Final Score: Washington 2, Boston 0

Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) – Braden Holtby made 32 saves for his eighth shutout of the season and the Washington Capitals beat the red-hot Boston Bruins 2-0 on Sunday to finish a five-game homestand. John Carlson and Nate Schmidt scored for the Capitals, who snapped a two-game losing streak to finish 2-3-0 on their homestand and take sole possession of seventh place in the Eastern Conference over Boston. Holtby made 14 saves in the second period and had nine apiece in the first and third to pick up his 19th career shutout. Nicklas Backstrom had two assists to break a tie with Alex Ovechkin and Michal Pivonka for first place on the Capitals’ all-time list with 420. Ovechkin took a Torey Krug slap shot to the midsection in the second period and left the ice, but re-entered the game later. Tuukka Rask gave up two goals on 38 shots for the Bruins, whose five-game winning streak and eight-game points streak (7-0-1) was stopped.

Final Score: Anaheim 4, Nashville 2

Anaheim, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – John Gibson made 25 saves and the Anaheim Ducks scored four goals in the third period for a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Sunday. The goals by Ryan Getzlaf, Kyle Palmieri, Nate Thompson and Cam Fowler helped the Ducks take sole possession of first place in the Western Conference over Nashville and tie the New York Rangers for the NHL points lead with 95. The Pacific Division leaders have won two in a row on the heels of a three-game losing streak and swept the three-game season series with Nashville. Taylor Beck and Roman Josi both scored in the second period and Pekka Rinne had 24 saves for the Predators, who have lost eight of their last 10 (2-8-0).

Categorized in: NHL