National Hockey League Game Capsules

Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – Eric Staal had one goal and two assists in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. Ryan Murphy, Jay McClement, Alexander Semin and Andrej Nestrasil also lit the lamp for the Hurricanes, who improved to 1-1-1 on their five-game homestand. Cam Ward made 27 saves in his first start since March 14 due to the flu. Brandon Sutter and Ian Cole scored for the Penguins, who sit third in the Metropolitan Division. Marc-Andre Fleury gave up all five goals on 28 shots.

Final Score: Washington 3, New Jersey 2 (OT)

Washington, DC (SportsNetwork.com) – Matt Niskanen scored just 1:13 into overtime to lift the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Karl Alzner and Niskanen each finished with a goal and an assist, Eric Fehr also lit the lamp and Braden Holtby made 29 saves for the Capitals, who rebounded from a 3-0 loss to Winnipeg for their fourth win in their last five games. Steve Bernier tied the game late as the Devils came away with a point, while Travis Zajac also scored and Cory Schneider made 21 stops in the team’s third straight loss.

Final Score: Los Angeles 3, NY Islanders 2

Uniondale, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Anze Kopitar’s goal with 4:23 remaining kept the Los Angeles Kings perfect on an important road trip and lifted the defending Stanley Cup champs to a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders. Kopitar’s tie-breaking tally helped the Kings record victories over all three New York metro area teams to open their current five-game trek. More importantly, Thursday’s result moved the club one point ahead of Calgary and into third place in the Pacific Division. Tyler Toffoli had a short-handed goal for Los Angeles earlier in the third period, before New York’s Johnny Boychuk quickly tied it at 2-2 on the same power play. Nick Shore recorded the Kings’ other score — his first career NHL goal — and Jonathan Quick finished with 25 saves for Los Angeles, now 8-2-2 in its last 12 outings. The Islanders, on the other hand, have now dropped six of seven despite getting 34 saves out of Jaroslav Halak on Thursday. Frans Nielsen registered New York’s initial goal.

Final Score: Arizona 4, Buffalo 3 (OT)

Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Sam Gagner scored 56 seconds into overtime to lift the Arizona Coyotes to a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night in a game between the NHL’s two worst teams. With Sabres defenseman Mike Weber off on a tripping penalty he took with 30 seconds left in regulation, the Coyotes wasted little time winning the game on Gagner’s slap shot from the left circle, which beat Buffalo goaltender Matt Hackett to the short side. It came after Brian Gionta’s power-play goal tied the score for Buffalo with 3:37 remaining in regulation. Jordan Szwarz, Oliver Ekman- Larsson and David Moss also scored and Mike Smith had 32 saves for Arizona, the Western Conference’s last-place team. The Coyotes got their second win in a row for the first time in more than a month and won for only the third time in their last 21 games (3-17-1). They have 54 points, six more than the NHL-worst Sabres, who dwell in the Eastern Conference basement.

Final Score: Anaheim 3, Boston 2 (OT)

Boston, MA (SportsNetwork.com) – Ryan Getzlaf helped tie the game late in regulation and scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the Anaheim Ducks rallied to beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Thursday night. Getzlaf fired a shot from above the right circle that was tipped in front by Corey Perry with 38.5 seconds remaining in regulation. After the Ducks failed to convert on a power play in overtime, Getzlaf carried the puck across the Boston blueline and beat Tuukka Rask with a wrist shot from the high slot. Patrick Maroon also scored for Anaheim, which had given up 12 goals in losses to the New York Rangers and Columbus to begin its five-game road trip. Frederik Andersen stopped 27 Boston shots. Ryan Spooner and Loui Eriksson supplied the goals for the Bruins, who have dropped six straight games (0-3-3). Rask made 29 saves in defeat.

Final Score: Nashville 3, Tampa Bay 2

Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Michael Santorelli’s goal early in the second period proved to be the game-winner in the Nashville Predators’ 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. Mike Ribeiro and Paul Gaustad also lit the lamp for the Predators, who have won three in a row and now lead idle St. Louis by one point for first place in the Central Division. Pekka Rinne made 28 saves for his 40th win. Vladislav Namestnikov and Brian Boyle scored for the Lightning, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Ben Bishop gave up three goals on 11 shots before being replaced by Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made eight saves. Tampa Bay, which sits second in the Atlantic Division, failed to clinch a playoff spot. The Lightning needed a win of any kind combined with a loss of any kind by the Boston Bruins against the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks beat the Bruins in overtime.

Final Score: San Jose 6, Detroit 4

Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) – Patrick Marleau tallied two goals and an assist to power the San Jose Sharks to a 6-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. Logan Couture and Chris Tierney each finished with a goal and a helper, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Matt Nieto also scored and Antti Niemi made 30 saves for the Sharks, who ended a two-game skid. Tomas Tatar, Tomas Jurco, Henrik Zetterberg and Stephen Weiss all lit the lamp for the Red Wings, who have dropped four of their last five games, but still sits in the third spot in the Atlantic Division with 90 points and nine games remaining. Jimmy Howard allowed three goals on just 10 shuts in the first period and Petr Mrazek stopped 17-of-19 shots in relief.

Final Score: NY Rangers 5, Ottawa 1

Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – The clock finally struck midnight for Andrew Hammond. The New York Rangers scored five times on the Ottawa Senators’ red-hot goaltender in just two periods of play en route to a 5-1 rout that gave Hammond his first regulation loss in the rookie’s 16th career NHL start. Thursday’s result, combined with Boston’s overtime loss to Anaheim, also clinched a playoff berth for the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers. Ottawa had vaulted itself into postseason contention as well due to the surprisingly stellar play of Hammond, who entered Thursday’s showdown having gone a sensational 14-0-1 with a 1.58 GAA in 15 outings filling in for the injured duo of Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner. He was burned for five goals on 22 shots, however, before being removed in favor of Chris Driedger late in the second period. Chris Kreider led the Rangers’ barrage with two goals and an assist. Mats Zuccarello and Dan Boyle each scored once and assisted on another, while Derek Stepan and Kevin Hayes notched a pair of helpers for New York. Cam Talbot stopped 23-of-24 chances for the Rangers, yielding only Curtis Lazar’s first-period score.

Final Score: Florida 4, Toronto 1

Toronto, ON (SportsNetwork.com) – Brandon Pirri continued his torrid scoring pace with two goals, Roberto Luongo moved closer to a milestone and the Florida Panthers boosted their playoff hopes with a 4-1 win over the woeful Toronto Maple Leafs. Jonathan Huberdeau and Steven Kampfer scored 30 seconds apart in the second period for the Panthers, who have won three of their last four games and climbed to within three points of the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. Luongo made 24 saves to earn career win No. 399. Jonathan Bernier started in net for Toronto but was pulled in the second period after surrendering three goals on 16 shots. James Reimer made 11 saves in relief. The first career NHL goal by Sam Carrick was all the offense mustered by the Maple Leafs in their seventh straight loss.

Final Score: Winnipeg 5, Montreal 2

Winnipeg, MB (SportsNetwork.com) – Ondrej Pavelec made 39 saves for his sixth consecutive win and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 Thursday night. Dustin Byfuglien returned after missing nine games with an upper-body injury and scored Winnipeg’s first goal. Mark Scheifele, Jim Slater, Blake Wheeler and Adam Lowry also lit the lamp for the Jets, who bounced back from Tuesday’s loss in Vancouver to pick up their sixth win in seven games. The Jets, in good position for one of the final playoff spots in the Western Conference, reached 90 points for the first time since finishing with 97 as the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2006-07 season. The Atlantic Division-leading Canadiens could have clinched a playoff berth with a win after Anaheim beat Boston on Thursday night. They lost their grip on first place in the Eastern Conference to the New York Rangers, who beat Ottawa to move one point ahead. Andrei Markov and Brendan Gallagher scored but Dustin Tokarski gave up five goals on just 22 shots for the Canadiens, who have dropped two in a row, including an overtime loss in Nashville on Tuesday. They had a four- game point streak snapped.

Final Score: Colorado 4, Vancouver 1

Vancouver, BC (SportsNetwork.com) – Gabriel Landeskog and Alex Tanguay each had a goal and an assist as the Colorado Avalanche kept alive their slim playoff hopes with a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Jarome Iginla and John Mitchell also scored for Colorado, which trails Los Angeles by eight points for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference with eight remaining. Reto Berra stopped 33 shots in the win. Yanick Weber tallied Vancouver’s lone goal, with Eddie Lack making 34 saves in defeat. The Canucks had their three-game winning streak halted.

Categorized in: NHL