Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Blues 5, Blue Jackets 4, SO
ST. LOUIS -- Lee Stempniak and Doug Weight scored and Manny Legace stopped both Columbus shootout attempts to give the St. Louis Blues the win over Columbus. St. Louis was headed toward its fourth consecutive victory before Rick Nash tied it with 14 seconds left in regulation. It was Nash's team-leading 16th goal. Stempniak, who scored his 18th goal earlier in the game, went high over Fredrik Norrena and Weight made a move just in front of the net before sliding the puck in. Neither of the Blue Jackets' shots in the shootout had a chance. Legace tipped Nikolai Zherdev's shot high and wide and David Vyborny slapped his directly into the Blues goalie.
Senators 4, Oilers 3, SO
OTTAWA -- Mike Comrie and Dean McAmmond scored in the shootout to lead Ottawa and give Senators coach Bryan Murray his 600th NHL victory. Murray is the fifth coach to reach the mark, joining Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour, Dick Irvin and Pat Quinn, and he did it in 1,199 games. He earned his first win on Nov. 18, 1981, with Washington and holds the distinction of being the longest-serving coach without a Stanley Cup. Mike Fisher had a goal and assist in regulation, and former Oilers McAmmond and Comrie scored against backup Jussi Markkanen in the shootout. Ottawa won its fifth straight and third consecutive at home. Martin Gerber stopped 27 shots for his sixth straight win and third in relief of Ray Emery, the Senators' No. 1 goalie who served the last of a three-game suspension.
Minnesota 2, Dallas 1, SO
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Niklas Backstrom stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout and Mikko Koivu scored on a backhander to the top right corner to lead Minnesota. The victory helped the Wild avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Stars, who topped Minnesota twice in shootouts earlier this season. Marty Turco took the loss for Dallas despite 38 saves in regulation and overtime, while Backstrom earned his first win against the Stars this season after going 0-1-2 in the previous three contests.
Canadiens 5, Capitals 3
MONTREAL -- Chris Higgins and Michael Ryder each scored two goals and rookie goalie Jaroslav Halak won his second straight start. Higgins ended a personal 16-game goal-scoring drought with a pair of power-play goals in the first. Montreal scored four goals with the man advantage -- including three in the first -- and one short-handed. Canadiens captain Saku Koivu assisted on the three first-period goals.
Devils 2, Rangers 1
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Zach Parise scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period, Martin Brodeur made 35 saves. Brian Rafalski also scored and Scott Gomez assisted on both goals as the Devils won their second straight and 12th in the last 17 games. Petr Prucha scored for the Rangers.
Lightning 3, Panthers 2, SO
TAMPA, Fla. -- Martin St. Louis scored the tying goal and then tallied in the shootout. Ryan Craig also scored for the Southeast Division-leading Lightning, who have won 15 of 19. Tampa Bay took the shootout 2-1 and is 11-3 in games that have been decided after regulation. The Lightning will face the second-place Thrashers in Atlanta on Thursday. Although both have 71 points, Tampa Bay is ahead of the Thrashers because the Lightning have played one fewer game.
Sabres 6, Flyers 3
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Daniel Briere had a goal and two assists, Chris Drury, Derek Roy and Jason Pominville each added a goal and an assist, and the Buffalo Sabres had three power-play goals for the second straight game. Andrew Peters and Adam Mair also scored for the Sabres, who won for the seventh time in their last nine games after losing three straight. The Sabres took over sole possession of the top spot in the NHL with 85 points -- two ahead of idle Nashville -- and secured 40 wins in just their 60th game, the fastest to that mark in the team's 36-season history.
Bruins 3, Maple Leafs 0
TORONTO -- Tim Thomas made 43 saves for his third shutout of the season, and Jason York scored his first NHL goal in three years.
Thrashers 3, Hurricanes 1
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Ilya Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa and Eric Boulton scored third-period goals. The Thrashers snapped a four-game losing streak and kept Carolina from climbing further up the Southeast Division standings.
Associated Press
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