As the weekend came to a close, there were 10 games on the NHL schedule. The Blackhawks played a wild one with the Oilers but lost their second in a row, while the Penguins continue to roll over anyone not wearing Orange and Black. Here is a quick tour around the league:
March 10, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Chris Kunitz (second from right) receives congratulations from teammates center Sidney Crosby (87) and defenseman Kris Letang (58) and left wing James Neal (18) after Kunitz scored his second goal of the game against the New York Islanders during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
- Steven Olesky scored his first career goal for the Capitals, but that is all they would get against Martin Biron as the Rangers rolled up the Caps 4-1. Brian Boyle, Derek Stepan, Brad Richards and Ryan Callahan all scored for the Rangers, with Rick Nash, Carl Hagelin and Ryan McDonagh each adding two helpers.
- Don’t look now, but the Blue Jackets have won 5 games in a row, downing the Red Wings 3-2 in the shootout. Matt Calvert had the SO winner on a nice dangle that got Jimmy Howard way out of position. Derick Brassard and R.J. Umberger scored in regulation for the Jackets, while Jakub Kindl and Johan Franzen scored for Detroit.
- Montreal finished their 5 game road trip at 4-1 with a 5-2 win over the Panthers, led by a pair from Michael Ryder. David Desharnais, Francis Boullion and Brian Gionta helped Montreal get a 4-0 lead through 40 minutes before Tomas Kopecky and Shawn Matthias made it respectable in the third. Florida fired only 16 shots at Peter Budaj, who got the win for the Habs. Montreal now returns home to wait for the Senators to visit the Bell Centre on Wednesday night.
- Patrik Elias scored the lone shootout goal as the Devils beat the Jets 3-2. The Devils actually held a 2-0 lead just over 10 minutes in, on goals from Ryan Carter and Stephen Gionta. Winnipeg chipped away, with Mark Stuart scoring late in the first and then Evander Kane finding the back of the net late in the second to get the Jets a point. Kane had 10 of the Jets’ 25 total shots on goal.
- Chris Kunitz had 3 goals and two assists while Sidney Crosby had 5 assists in Pittsburgh’s 6-1 demolition of the New York Islanders. Pascal Dupuis chipped in 2 goals while James Neal added a goal and two helpers in chasing Islanders started Evgeni Nabokov after two periods and five goals on only 17 shots. Brad Boyes had the lone goal for the Isles.
- In a wild game, Edmonton took leads of 4-0, 5-2 and 6-3 but had to hang on in the final seconds to beat the Blackhawks 6-5, handing Chicago their 2nd consecutive regulation loss. Sam Gagner had 2 for Edmonton, while Shawn Horcoff, Taylor Hall, Ryan Whitney and Mike Brown added singles. Ray Emery allowed 3 goals on just 9 shots before being pulled just over 9 minutes in, but Corey Crawford didn’t fare much better, allowing 3 on 16 shots. Edmonton had to make a goalie switch of their own when Devan Dubnyk collided with his own defenseman while making a save, but left with what appeared to be a head/neck injury. Yann Danis relieved him and made it an adventure, but despite 2 goals from Patrick Kane and singles from Marian Hossa, Sheldon Brookbank and Brent Seabrook, the Oilers were able to hang on for the win.
- Simon Gagne, Max Talbot and Claude Giroux did the scoring for the Flyers as they downed the Sabres 3-2. Brian Flynn and Jochen Hecht replied for Buffalo, who despite the recent coaching change are just one point out of the league’s basement. The Flyers stay within 3 points of 8th place New York Rangers, but have played more games (27) than any other team in the league.
- Zach Parise opened and closed the scoring for the Wild as they doubled up the Cancuks 4-2. Minnesota also got goals from Jason Zucker and Jared Spurgeon in the win while Niklas Backstrom kicked aside 25 shots. Chris Higgins and Henrik Sedin scored for Vancouver, with Cory Schneider taking the loss allowing 4 goals on 31 shots.
- Matt Duchene‘s winner with 0.4 seconds left in OT gave the Avalanche a 3-2 win over the Sharks. Ryan O’Reilly had the other Avs goal while Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture scored for San Jose. It was a wide open affair, with 80 combined shots. Semyon Varlamov made 36 saves in the Colorado nets, while San Jose got 39 saves from Antti Niemi.
- Corey Perry scored the winner and added the insurance marker into the empty net as the Ducks continue to fly, downing the Blues 4-2. Andrew Cogliano and Bobby Ryan each tied the game after St. Louis had taken 1-0 (Ryan Reaves) and 2-1 (Patrik Berglund) leads.
There are just 2 games on a very light Monday, with the Senators hosting the Bruins and the Kings hosting the Flames. Check back tomorrow for a full recap.