NHL roundup
ST. LOUIS – Though they will be a lower seed in the playo s, the Detroit Red Wings showed the St. Louis Blues who is still boss.
Johan Franzen scored on consecutive shots in a span of 2:15 in the third period to end Brian Elliott’s shutout streak after more than 3 1-2 games, and Todd Bertuzzi netted the lone goal in a shootout as the Red Wings rallied for a 3-2 victory on Wednesday night.
“We’ve been having trouble all year with coming back,” Franzen said. “It’s usually the team that gets the first goal that wins. Coming back late like this gives the team confidence.”
“I think we got a little bit too comfortable with a 2-0 lead, and they poured it on us,” defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo said. “That’s uncharacteristic of us. Usually, when we get a goal lead or a couple goal lead we finish the job.”
Although they have the NHL’S best record at home at 30-5-5 and have set a franchise record there with 65 points, the Blues have lost two straight for the first time.
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock blamed himself for having “the wrong people on the ice” for the tying goal, with St. Louis’ third line opposing the Red Wings’ top line.
“For the most part, it was my fault,” Hitchcock said. “I got caught on a line change, and it ended up in our net.”
Pavel Datsyuk and Bertuzzi earned assists on both regulation goals for the Red Wings, who moved a point ahead of Nashville for fourth in the Western Conference with 101 points.
The rally came after the Red Wings recovered from allowing two goals in three minutes, the first an unassisted short-handed breakaway by David Perron during a five-minute power play.
“That’s always sucking the life out of you,” Franzen said. “I think that was pretty big for the team to get a win late like that and coming back.”
Canadiens 5 Lightning 2
MONTREAL – Erik Cole and his linemates are providing a reason to watch the Montreal Canadiens in the final week of the season.
Big wingers Cole and Max Pacioretty both scored two goals, and their diminutive centre David Desharnais had a pair of assists as the Canadiens ended a four-game losing streak with a victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning .
Lightning star Steven Stamkos recorded four of his team’s 16 shots, but didn’t score. He remained two goals short of 60. He has two games left to reach the mark.
Cole scored twice in the second period, Pacioretty had a pair of goals in the third, and Alexei Emelin also scored for Montreal (30-3515), the last-place team in the Eastern Conference.
Cole with 34 goals, Pacioretty with 32, and Desharnais with 16, have all reached the 60-point mark and established themselves as a consistent scoring line heading into next season.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Pacioretty. “It’s important for us to show our fans that we’re not that far from being a contending team.
“We have a good core group of players. We don’t need to shake things up too much to be competitive.”