Balanced Blues blast Leafs on their own ice
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to beat the Blues in regulation at Air Canada Centre. It opened in February 1999. After a 6-1 thumping of the Leafs Saturday at ACC, the Blues are now 9-0-2 in this building and haven’t lost in regulation in Toronto since a 3-2 defeat on February 4, 1998, at Maple Leaf Gardens. “It’s something about this city and about this town that I think energizes teams,” said Blues captain David Backes. You’re on the biggest stage in hockey and you’re playing against a team that’s got a lot of pressure on it, so you want to play your best.” The result was a win that helped the Blues finish their five-game road trip with a record of 3-1-1. After Thursday’s loss to Philadelphia, the club ended on a positive note, and the win coupled with a Nashville loss pulled it to within two points of the Central-Division leading Predators. On Saturday, Toronto goaltender Jonathan Bernier gave up three goals on 17 shots before being pulled. James Reimer gave up the other three goals on 27 shots. Maple Leafs forward David Booth spoiled the St. Louis shutout opportunity, scoring less than three minutes into the third period, but it didn’t spoil another productive night for the Blues in this city. In the last four trips to Toronto, the Blues have pumped in a combined 20 goals. They picked up six from six different players on Saturday; from Backes, Jaden Schwartz, T.J. Oshie, Vladimir Tarasenko, Chris Butler and Stastny. Meanwhile, Alex Steen and Jori Lehtera each accounted for three assists. The Blues had recorded eight shots on net before Toronto posted its first with 9:01 left in the first period and they built a 3-0 lead before the first intermission, from which they coasted. “There was no effort,” interim coach Peter Horachek said as the Leafs lost for the 28th time in 35 games. “There’s no real excuses for it, so I’m not going to make any.” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS)
Penguins 1, Kings 0 (OT)
Patrice Hornqvist scored on a Los Angeles turnover in the slot 1:44 into overtime, and Pittsburgh won for their sixth victory in seven games. Hornqvist pounced when Jeff Carter made a curious clearing pass from the corner to Tyler Toffoli in front of the Los Angeles net. Toffoli bobbled the puck to Hornqvist, who ended it with his 22nd goal. Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves in his ninth shutout of the season for the Penguins, who completed a Southern California sweep after beating NHL-leading Anaheim on Friday night with two goals from Hornqvist. Jonathan Quick stopped 17 shots for the Kings, who had won 10 of their previous 13 games.
Canadiens 2, Coyotes 0
Goaltender Carey Price has carried Montreal on his back all season and he did it again on Saturday, stopping 29 shots for his seventh shutout of the season in a shutout of Arizona. The 27-year-old leads the NHL in goals against average, save percentage, wins (37) and is tied for second in shutouts. The Habs were in dire need of Saturday’s win after losing in San Jose and Anaheim and falling in a shootout in Los Angeles. Their lead over Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division had dwindled to two points.
Avalanche 4, Blue Jackets 0
Semyon Varlamov had 44 saves and Colorado rode a big early lead to victory over Columbus at Nationwide Arena. It was Varlamov’s fifth shutout of the season and the 18th of his career. The Avalanche, who took a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes, got goals from Jarome Iginla, Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene and Alex Tanguay.
Lightning 5, Stars 4
As good as Tampa Bay has been this season, the Lightning have not had success rallying in the final period. But they did just that on Saturday, getting three goals in the third to beat visiting Dallas. The Lightning trailed 3-2 to open the period but struck for two goals in less than two minutes against the Stars for a rare late comeback.
Bruins 3, Flyers 2
Boston’s Brad Marchand deflected home a 6-on-4 power play goal with 14.1 seconds left in regulation and then scored the winner with 1:08 remaining in overtime as the Bruins beat Philadelphia. Marchand was obviously delighted with the goals. “After he scored, he even kissed me on the visor,” new Bruin Maxime Talbot said after his pass led to Marchand’s winner.
Capitals 6, Sabres 1
Having already lost to Buffalo once this season, Washington was determined not to slip up again against the league’s worst team and thrashed the Sabres. Buffalo call-up goaltender Matt Hackett bore the brunt of the damage, leaving the game after allowing four goals on 23 shots at the Verizon Center. Alex Ovechkin, who sat out one game with a lower-body injury, scored his league-leading 44th goal for the Capitals.
Jets 3, Predators 1
Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler and Drew Stafford scored to give Winnipeg a victory over Nashville at sold-out Bridgestone Arena. The Jets entered the game with a twopoint lead over Los Angeles for the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot with 16 games left.
Panthers 4, Islanders 3 (SO)
Jonathan Huberdeau scored the only goal in the shootout and Florida goaltender Dan Ellis stopped all three shots in the Panthers’ conquest of the New York. John Tavares, Nick Leddy and Josh Bailey scored for the Islanders, who have lost three of four. (Reuters)