Flyers’ goalie collapses; sub finishes shutout
In a terrifying moment, Philadelphia Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth collapsed on the ice and had to be removed from Saturday night’s home game on a stretcher.
With 12 minutes, 23 seconds left in the first period and the Flyers holding a 1-0 lead over New Jersey, Neuvirth fell on his back while a faceoff was being held at the other end. He was prone for several minutes before moving his legs.
Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said Neuvirth was alert and taken to a hospital for observation. Hextall said the Flyers would not have any more updates until Sunday.
Anthony Stolarz, who had arrived at the Wells Fargo Center five minutes before the opening faceoff as an injury replacement for Steve Mason, relieved Neuvirth and made 26 saves to complete a 3-0 shutout. Brayden Schenn, Colin McDonald and Jordan Weal scored the goals.
“It’s obviously pretty scary when your goaltender just collapses like that,” left wing Chris VandeVelde said. “Not sure really what happened, (whether) he fainted or got light-headed or what. But pretty scary and glad to see he was functioning and moving when he was rolled off the ice.”
Oilers 3, Ducks 2:
Leon Draisaitl scored 1:26 into overtime as host Edmonton beat Anaheim to move into a tie with the Ducks for the Pacific Division lead — four points ahead of the third-place Sharks. The Oilers forced overtime when Milan Lucic scored with 1:58 remaining in regulation.
Predators 3, Wild 0:
Filip Forsberg and Kevin Fiala scored 10 seconds apart late in the second period and Pekka Rinne made 31 saves for host Nashville. With Minnesota’s loss, Chicago locked up the Central Division title and the top seed in the Western Conference.
Auston Matthews scored twice for visiting Toronto. His second goal at 18:51 of the third period gave the Leafs a 5-3 lead, and it proved to be the difference when Detroit’s Mike Green tallied with 44.2 seconds left.
Maple Leafs 5, Red Wings 4: Canadiens 2, Lightning 1:
Alexander Radulov scored from the right circle 51 seconds into overtime to give visiting Montreal the win. Tampa Bay’s Yanni Gourde scored for his third straight game.
David Krejci scored after a poor clearing attempt by Florida goaltender Reto Berra, helping host Boston maintain an edge for a playoff spot.
Mathieu Perreault scored the goahead goal 7:46 into the third period, lifting host Winnipeg to its fourth straight win. Mike Hoffman scored twice for Ottawa.
Bruins 5, Panthers 2: Jets 4, Senators 2: Stars 3, Hurricanes 0:
Jason Spezza scored, and Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves for his third shutout of the season as visiting Dallas dealt a serious blow to Carolina’s slim playoff chances. John Klingberg and Devin Shore added empty-net goals.