Coyotes’ Smith stifles Flames
CALGARY — Christian Dvorak had two goals and an assist and Mike Smith made 36 saves for his 32nd career shutout as the surging Arizona Coyotes won 5-0 over the Calgary Flames on Monday night.
Dvorak’s third multi-point game in the last five games gives the rookie five goals and seven points over that span. He had just 13 points in the season’s first 45 games.
“The first 20 or 30 games, he’s just happy to be in the league,” Arizona head coach Dave Tippett said of Dvorak. “As he recognizes that he’s capable of playing here and he’s doing things right, he’s not in awe of people anymore. He just goes out there and plays and he’s a really good player.”
Starting his ninth consecutive game, Smith was busiest in the first period when the Coyotes were outshot 19-9 yet emerged with a 1-0 lead on a goal by Martin Hanzal. Three more goals in the second blew the game open.
Ryan White and Justin Martinook also scored for Arizona (19-28-7). The Coyotes have points in four straight (3-0-1) and are 6-2-1 in their last nine — and those two regulation losses were both one-goal games.
Calgary (28-26-3), coming off its five-day bye week, had been on a roll, winning four of its previous five heading into the time off.
Outplayed most of the first period, the Coyotes were much better to start the second period, quickly increasing their lead to 3-0 on goals 86 seconds apart.
Dvorak’s eighth at 2:39 came when he took a pass from Brendan Perlini and whipped a shot over Chad Johnson’s glove.
That was followed by a great effort from Martinook, who corralled a dump-in off the corner boards and after muscling his way past defenceman Dennis Wideman, zipped a shot under the cross bar.
At 11:08 on an odd-man rush, Dvorak then showcased his passing ability. Carrying the puck down the wing, he found Luke Schenn in the high slot coming late and as the defenceman cut to the net, he had it glance in off White’s skate.
Flames coach Glen Gulutzan replaced Johnson with Brian Elliott to start the third period, but that didn’t stop the Coyotes, with Dvorak adding his second at 2:12. Bursting up the ice with the puck, he fed Shane Doan then raced to the net where he got it back and after having his first shot stopped, knocked in his own rebound.
Smith improves to 14-15-6 and earns his second shutout of the season.
N. Y. RANGERS 3 COLUMBUS 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jimmy Vesey scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and Antti Raanta stopped 29 shots as the New York Rangers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Monday night.
Dan Girardi and Kevin Hayes also scored for the Rangers, who won their sixth straight game and moved into a three-way tie for second place with Columbus and Pittsburgh in the tough Metropolitan Division.
Raanta made two big saves in the final 23 seconds after the Blue Jackets pulled the goalie for a sixth skater and were swarming.
Brandon Dubinsky and Nick Foloigno scored for Columbus, and Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 20 saves.
Hayes put the Rangers up 2-1 after stripping the puck from David Savard and on a breakaway 4:49 into the third period.
Foligno knotted the score again with 8:07 left in regulation.
Vesey then got the game-winner less than two minutes later with a wrister from the bottom of the right circle.
Columbus got on the board 8:12 into the game, just as New York’s Pavel Buchnevich was leaving the penalty box. Brandon Saad caught up with a rebound off the back board and shovelled it out to Dubinsky, who beat Raanta.