NHL Recap: March 18, 2013 – Tyler Toffoli Scored First NHL Goal, Rangers Stay Alive

There were 7 games in the NHL on a pretty busy Monday night, inlcuding a game were a former Ottawa 67’s star scored his first NHL goal. Here is a quick tour around the league:

Mar 18, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings center Tyler Toffoli (73) celebrates with center Jeff Carter (77) after scoring his first NHL career goal on a power play in the second period as Phoenix Coyotes players Lauri Korpikoski (28) and Mike Smith (41) react at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

1. Rick Nash and J.T. Miller scored in the shootout to get the Rangers back to within 2 points of 8th place with a 2-1 win over the Hurricanes.  The single point earned the Canes a first place tie with Winnipeg in the Southeast, but by virtue of fewer games played, the Canes hold the third seed in the conference.  Eric Staal had the Carolina goal, and Derek Stepan scored for the Rangers in regulation.  Dan Ellis kicked aside 35 shots and Henrik Lundqvist 29 for their respective teams.
2. The Lightning scored a 4-2 win over the Flyers, adding yet another nail to the coffin of Philadelphia this season.  Ondrej Palat, Tom Pyatt, Teddy Purcell and Steven Stamkos did the damage for the Bolts, who moved into a tie for 11th with the Flyers, 5 points out of 8th.  Maxime Talbot and Claude Giroux scored in the losing effort for the struggling Flyers.
3. Loui Eriksson scored twice to help Dallas to a 4-3 win over the Flames.  Erik Cole and Eric Nystrom also scored as part of a 3 goal first period for the Stars, who withstood a Calgary comeback attempt in the second.  Jiri Hudler and Jay Bouwmeester scored power play goals in the middle frame to bring it close, but Eriksson’s second of the game in the third period proved to be the winner.  Alex Tanguay added one more, but the Flames couldn’t find the equalizer.
4. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews each had a goal and two assists as the Blackhawks avenged the ending of their record-setting start at the hands of the Avalanche by beating Colorado 5-2.  Jimmy Hayes, Andrew Shaw and Brent Seabrook also scored for Chicago.  Gabriel Landeskog and Milan Hejduk replied for Colorado.
5. The Wild took sole possession of first in the Northwest Division by beating the Canucks 3-1.  Vancouver actually held a 1-0 lead after Henrik Sedin‘s goal, but Jonas Brodin, Charlie Coyle and Matt Cullen answered that and handed the Canucks their 2nd straight loss.
6. The Ducks played without newly signed forward Corey Perry, but it didn’t matter as they rolled to a 5-2 win over the Sharks.  Francois Beauchemin opened and closed the scoring for the Ducks, while Ryan Getzlaf had a shorthanded goal and an assist for the Ducks, and Emerson Etem scored his first NHL goal and added an assist as well.  Peter Holland had the other Anaheim goal, while the Sharks got scoring from Patrick Marleau and Matt Irwin.
7. Former Ottawa 67’s sniper Tyler Toffoli had his first NHL goal and added an assist to help the Kings down the Coyotes 4-0.  Jonathan Quick turned aside 27 shots for his first shutout of the season.   Jake Muzzin, Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter also scored for the Kings.

So concludes our tour around the NHL.  Another busy night on Tuesday as there are 9 games on the schedule, including the Senators at the Islanders, and a rematch of last night’s Kings-Coyotes game.  Check back tomorrow for a full recap of all the action.