Canucks unable to rally against Schneider, Devils
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Nikolaj Ehlers scored two goals in the game’s first five minutes, and streaking Winnipeg went on to beat Anaheim. The Jets have won six of their last seven.
Bryan Little also had a goal and two assists for Winnipeg. Ehler added an assist to his two goals. Kyle Connor scored an empty-net goal from the red line, his sixth of the season. Conner Hellebuyck stopped 30 shots for the Jets.
Anaheim’s lone goal came from Francois Beauchemin. John Gibson stopped 34 of 36 shots for the Ducks.
Winnipeg scored on two of its three power plays, while Anaheim was unable to score during its two man-advantage situations.
The Jets went up 3-1 on a power play midway through the second period, with Little slipping one past Gibson. Little assisted on Winnepeg’s first two goals.
COLUMBUS — Cam Atkinson scored twice to lift Columbus over Ottawa, extending the Blue Jackets’ league-high winning streak to six games. Sergei Bobrovsky turned back 24 shots for his 14th win in 19 starts. Columbus improved to 15-7-1 and leads the Metropolitan Division with 31 points.
Ottawa’s Craig Anderson stopped 27 shots as the Senators (8-7-6) lost their fifth straight.
Tom Pyatt got the scoring started off the Senators’ second shot in the first period, taking a cross-crease pass from a driving Derick Brassard and going top shelf over Bobrovsky’s left shoulder. It was Pyatt’s fourth goal of the season, also assisted by Mark Stone.
Atkinson tied the score less than 30 seconds later, stealing the puck from Alex Burrows just inside the Jackets’ blue line and creating his own breakaway. He slipped the puck under Anderson’s left skate for his fifth of the season. It was Atkinson’s first goal in eight games.
RALEIGH, N.C. — James Van Riemsdyk had a goal and an assist to help Toronto beat Carolina. Van Riemsdyk was one of four goal-scorers in the second period for the Maple Leafs (15-8-1), who won for the seventh time in nine games.
The Hurricanes (9-8-4) lost their second straight at home. It wasn’t for a lack of effort early or late.
Coming off of a lacklustre 6-1 home loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday night, Carolina scored three goals in the third period and had a 47-25 advantage in overall shots. Noah Hanifin’s goal with 4:11 to go cut Toronto’s lead to one, but Frederik Andersen, who made 43 saves, held off a late Carolina flurry.
The Hurricanes opened the game in control with 14 shots to four for Toronto in the first period. Andersen was solid, and then the Maple Leafs’ offence picked up in the second period.
DALLAS — Tyler Seguin scored two of his three goals in the third period and the Dallas Stars rallied to beat the Calgary Flames 6-4 on Friday night. Seguin broke a tie with an unassisted goal, the 200th goal of his career, with 5:57 to play and added an empty-net goal with a minute to go.
After a turnover by Calgary’s Michael Stone, Seguin took the puck down the slot and sent a wrist shot past goalie Mike Smith into the upper right corner of the net for the winner.
Sean Monahan’s second goal of the game gave Calgary a 4-3 lead six minutes into the third period. Dallas’ Gemel Smith tied it at 4-4 at 12:12. Antoine Roussel and Alexander Radulov also scored for Dallas, and Ben Bishop made 34 saves.
Michael Ferland and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for Calgary, with Smith stopping 36 shots.
The Flames complete a six-game trip tonight at Colorado.
ST. LOUIS — Ryan Johansen had a goal and an assist, and Pekka Rinne earned his second shutout of the season as Nashville blanked St. Louis in a battle of top teams in the Central Division.
Johansen’s scored his third goal of the season early in the first, and Rinne made it hold up, stopping 34 shots as he shut out St. Louis for the third time in his career.
NEWARK, N.J. — Brian Boyle has had some misty moments on ice this season for the New Jersey Devils.
The first was on Nov. 9 when he cried after scoring the first goal in his comeback from chronic myelogenous leukemia. The centre was diagnosed with the disease during training camp and missed the first 10 games of the season while undergoing treatment.
The second was Friday when he scored on “Hockey Fights Cancer Night” to help the Devils defeat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2.
“It’s part of a club you don’t necessarily want to be in,” Boyle said of his fellow cancer survivors who attended the game. “I’m doing really well. I feel great. The support from everybody here, all you guys (gesturing to the fans), unbelievable.”
It was another chapter in an already remarkable story.
The Prudential Center erupted with cheers when Boyle, set up by a beautiful drop pass from Will Butcher, scored at 10:17 of the second period to snap a 1-1 tie.
“He has a flair for the dramatic. It gives you chills,” said Taylor Hall, who sparked the Devils with a goal and two assists. “I can’t imagine what it’s like being him, what he’s been through, what his family’s been through. To come back, play well for us and score on Hockey Fights Cancer Night, it’s awesome to see and puts a lot of things in perspective for us as hockey players.”
Damon Severson also scored for New Jersey and Cory Schneider made 23 saves to improve to 6-1-2 against the team that made him a first-round draft pick in 2004.
The win gave the Devils a sweep of the two-game season series, having beaten the Canucks 2-0 in Vancouver on Nov. 1.
Daniel Sedin and Bo Horvat scored for Vancouver, one of the NHL’s top road teams. The loss ended the Canucks’ three-game road winning streak, including victories in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to start their current six-game trip.
The Devils had a 10-9 shot advantage in the opening period that lacked quality scoring chances for both sides.
Each team had a good opportunity late in the period. Jacob Markstrom denied Blake Coleman’s drive from the right wing to keep the Devils off the scoreboard, then Schneider squeezed the pads tightly to stop Chris Tanev’s wrister from the slot.
Hall opened the scoring at 2:15 of the second period, ripping a shot from the bottom of the left circle over Markstrom’s shoulder.
Daniel Sedin knotted the game at 5:36, setting the stage for Boyle’s power-play goal.
Severson cleaned up the rebound after Hall hit the post to put New Jersey ahead 3-1.
In the third, the Canucks provided some late suspense as Horvat, set up by Daniel Sedin, got a power-play goal at 10:37.
“Sometimes you don’t have your legs and you have to find a way to survive, and I thought we did and slowly worked our way back into the game,” Daniel Sedin said. “That happens to a lot of teams on the road. It could have gone either way.”
The Devils held the Canucks at bay, preserving the win.
NOTES: Canucks D Eric Gudbranson suffered an upper-body injury Wednesday against the Penguins and did not dress against the Devils . . . . With the two points, Daniel Sedin is only two away from 1,000 for his career . . . . The Canucks next visit the New York Rangers on Sunday morning (11 a.m. PT start), while the Devils hit the road to face Detroit today.