February 27, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Simon Gagne (12) screens goalie Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (70) during the second period at the Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

1. Montreal scored three times in the third to break a 2-2 tie and went on to beat the Leafs 5-2.  It was the first time the Habs had beat Toronto in 3 tries this season, with the last meeting being a 6-0 beatdown by the Leafs.  Max Pacioretty had a pair for the Habs, who also got singles from Brendan Gallagher, Alexei Emelin and Brian Gionta.  Frazer McLaren and Clarke MacArthur replied for the blue team.
2. Joel Ward broke Ilya Bryzgalov‘s shutout bid with 2:09 remaining, and that was about the only good thing for the Capitals as they were soundly defeated by the Flyers 4-1.  Simon Gagne was back where he belonged in his orange #12, and scored in his re-debut in Philly.  Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds and Max Talbot also scored for the Flyers.  Braden Holtby was replaced after allowing 4 goals on 18 shots.  He was replaced by Philipp Grubauer, who stopped all 14 shots in his first NHL appearance.
3. Anaheim scored twice in the first 4 minutes and that was all the support Viktor Fasth would need in the Ducks’ win over the Predators.  However, the Ducks didn’t stop there as Kyle Palmieri scored a natural hat trick in the 5-1 win.  Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf assisted on all three Palmeiri goals.  Saku Koivu and Nick Bonino also scored for Anaheim, whose tremendous start has been overshadowed by the Blackhawks.  Pekka Rinne allowed all 5 goals and was pulled after 2 periods.  He has allowed 13 goals in his last 8 periods of hockey.  Craig Smith had the lone Preds goal.
4. Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar scored in the last 10 minutes to give LA a come from behind 2-1 win over the Red Wings. Jonathan Bernier made 32 saves for the win, allowing only a goal to Kyle Quincey in the first period. Carter’s goal came on a 5-on-3 advantage for the Kings after perennial Lady Byng candidate Pavel Datsyuk was sent off for a faceoff violation while the Wings were already down a man.

It is back to business for the NHL as they have 11 games on tap, including the Senators hitting the road in Boston, and Toronto right back at it on Long Island. Chicago visits St. Louis in an attempt to extent their record points streak to an even 20.

1:00 pm

CBC, Team 1200

7th East (39-28-10)@5th East (45-24-8)

The Ottawa Senators visit the Philadelphia Flyers in their first of a back to back road trip weekend. There has been three meetings between these teams with the Flyers coming out victorious 2/3 times. With Buffalo and Washington both closing in on Ottawa, the Sens know they have to take at least one of the games this weekend.

The Flyers’ leading scorer is none other than Claude Giroux with 86 points (27G 59A). Far behind him is Scott Hartnell with 65 points (39G 26A). Ilya Bryzgalov has been very successful as of late, but his season stats leave much to be desired with a 2.46 GAA along with a .910 SV%. Philadelphia has yet to announce their starter for this match, but it will most likely be Sergei Bobrovsky. The Sens will counter with starter Craig Anderson. (more…)