NHL Recap: Feb 26, 2013 – Jets Down Rangers, Flames Lose In OT, Kopecky Tricks Pens

It was a busy Tuesday night, with 9 games around the NHL.  The Penguins lost without one of their stars, beaten by a Tomas Kopecky hat trick, while the Jets continued to enjoy the road. Here is a quick tour around the action:

Feb 26, 2013; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers center Tomas Kopecky (82) reacts to his goal against Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun (not pictured) in the first period at the BB

1. Evander Kane had two goals and an assist as the Jets continue to be hot on the road, beating the Rangers 4-3.  Olli Jokinen had the other 2 goals for the Jets, who won 4 of the 5 games on their longest road trip of the season to climb into a tie with Tampa for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.  The Rangers have now lost 6 straight (with 1 SO point mixed in), got goals from Ryan Callahan, Taylor Pyatt and Anton Stralman.
2. Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson each had a goal and an assist and Braden Holtby made 33 saves for the shutout as the Capitals blanked the Canes 3-0 despite a 37 save performance from Cam Ward.  John Erskine had the other Washington goal, as they slowly try to turn around the Titanic-like start to their season.
3. The Blue Jackets snagged a point on R.J. Umberger‘s goal with 94 seconds remaining, but Loui Eriksson scored in overtime to give the Stars a 5-4 win in Columbus.  Brenden Morrow, Derek Roy, Antoine Roussel and Cody Eakin had scored in regulation for the Stars, who fired 39 shots on Sergei Bobrovsky.  Nikita Nikitin, Derek Dorsett and Cam Atkinson had the other Colubumbus goals.
4. Tuukka Rask made 36 saves to help the Bruins down the Islanders 4-1.  Brad Marchand, Adam McQuaid, David Krejci and Gregory Campbell scored for Boston, while Casey Cizikas had the lone Islander goal.  Boston moved within 1 point of first in the conference despite having played fewer games than any team in the league thanks to the schedule maker.
5. The Sabres actually won a game, 2-1 over the Lightning, despite playing with fire for much of the game.  After Steven Stamkos scored 1:24 in, it looked like the Sabres would be on the wrong end of the scoreboard once again.  However, despite giving up 6 power plays and a 45 second 5-on-3, the Sabres held on and got goals from Cody Hodgson and Tyler Myers to squeak out the win. Ryan Miller made 30 stops to get Ron Rolston his first win behind the Sabres bench in 3 tries.
6. Florida coughed up a 4-1 lead in the second period and then broke a 4-4 tie with two goals in the third to defeat the Penguins 6-4.  Tomas Kopecky had three goals  and an assist for the Panthers, and Brian Campbell and Tomas Fleischmann each had a goal and two assists in the win.  Tomas Vokoun was pulled after allowing the 4th Panther goal, which came just 31 seconds after the 3rd Panther goal. The Penguins woke up after that, striking for 3 goals in the next 10 minutes to tie it up before the period was out.  Marcel Goc had the other Florida goal while Pittsburgh got goals from James Neal, Chris Kunitz, Dustin Jeffrey and Paul Martin.
7. Zach Parise‘s goal 27 seconds into overtime was the difference as the Wild doused the Flames 2-1.  Alex Tanguay‘s first period goal looked for a while like it might stand, but Jason Zucker scored with under 5 minutes left to force the extra time.  Much maligned defenseman Ryan Suter set up both Wild goals.
8. Kyle Chipchura opened the scoring, and then also ended the scoring with an empty netter as the Coyotes upended the Canucks 4-2.  Mikkel Boedker and Antoine Vermette also scored for Phoenix, while Jason Garrison and Henrik Sedin replied for Vancouver.  Cory Schneider took the loss, allowing 3 goals on 21 shots, while Mike Smith made 29 saves for the Coyotes.
9. San Jose allowed a tying goal late, but Patrick Marleau saved the game with the shootout winner to lift the Sharks to a 3-2 win over the Avalanche.  Logan Couture and TJ Galiardi scored in regulation for the Sharks, while Chuck Kobasew and Mark Olver (with 3:15 remaining) scored for Colorado. Semyon Varlamov gave his team a chance to win by stopping 39 San Jose shots.

There are only 4 games on a light Wednesday night, as the Senators get a rare 2nd consecutive night off.  They can sit back and watch as two of their main rivals square off when Montreal visits Toronto.