NHL Recap: April 11, 2013 – Elliott Get A Hat Trick, East Contenders Hold Serve

There were 9 games outside of Ottawa’s 3-1 win in Philadelphia, with all of the teams that were in action that are in contention for the final few playoff spots in the East won their games.  Here is a quick tour around the league.

Apr 11, 2013; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets forward Chris Thorburn (22) tips the puck past Florida Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen (30) off a shot from Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey (not pictured) during the third period at the MTS Center. Winnipeg wins 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports

1. Jason Bailey scored both Islanders goals as New York upended Boston 2-1 to keep them tied with the Senators for the 6th playoff spot.  Tyler Seguin scored for Boston, who dropped to the 4th seed with the loss. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 30 shots while Tuukka Rask turned aside 34 shots directed his way.
2. Washington stayed 2 points up on Winnipeg with a 3-1 win over the Hurricanes.  Troy Brouwer scored twice for the Caps, with Mike Green adding the other.  Jeff Skinner scored in the first period to give the Canes the lead through 20 minutes.  Carolina peppered Braden Holtby with 44 shots, but the Caps goalie turned aside 43 of them to get the win.
3. Defensemen P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov each had a goal and an assist to lead the Canadiens to a 5-1 win over the Sabres.  Rene Bourque, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher had the other goals for the Habs, who pass the Bruins into the second seed in the East, a point up on their divisional rival.  Bryan Flynn had the lone Buffalo goal, the only one of the lowly 15 shots they could muster on Peter Budaj.
4. Pittsburgh got two goals and an assist from Jussi Jokinen and a goal and two assists from Pascal Dupuis in their 6-3 win over the Lightning.  Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin and Tanner Glass also scored for the Penguins.  Teddy Purcell had two of Tampa’s goals that all came on the power play, with Brett Connolly scoring the other.  Each team scored three times with the man advantage in a game that saw 10 total power plays.
5. The Panthers and Jets were tied 2-2 after 6 minutes, but it was all Winnipeg after that as they scored 5 unanswered to win the game 7-2.  Evander Kane scored twice with Andrew Ladd, Grant Clitsome and Dustin Byfuglien each adding a goal and an assist.  Aaron Gagnon and Chris Thorburn added singles.  TJ Brennan and Tomas Fleischmann each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers.
6. Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture each scored in regulation and the shootout as San Jose downed Detroit 3-2.  Justin Abdelkader and Jakub Kindl scored for the Wings to get them a much needed point.  The Wings moved two points ahead of Phoenix in the race for 8th in the West.
7. Brian Elliott stopped 23 shots for his third consecutive shutout in St. Louis’ 2-0 win over the Wild.  The Blues move 2 points up on the Wild in 6th place, while the Minnesota sits 7th, 2 points up on Detroit and more importantly, 4 up on 9th place Phoenix.
8. Mike Richards had a goal and an assist in regulation, while Jeff Carter had the other and also scored in the shootout to help the Kings down the Avalanche 3-2.  Patrick Bordeleau scored his first career goal for the Avs, while Paul Stastny also counted for Colorado.  In addition to Carter, Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar also scored in the shootout to give Jonathan Quick the win.

That concludes our tour around the NHL for Thursday night.  Check back tomorrow when we recap the 5 games on tap Friday, with the only Eastern conference game being the Senators at the New Jersey Devils.