NHL Capsules

Sunday, 04.21.2013 / 1:25 AM The Canadian Press

BOSTON - Hockey returned to Boston after the manhunt following the marathon bombings, and Jarome Iginla scored the tiebreaking goal that gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a 3-2 win over the Bruins on Saturday and home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The game was pushed back by one day by the manhunt for a suspect, who was captured Friday night.

The postponement was the second of the week for the Bruins. Their game against the Ottawa Senators last Monday night, scheduled to start about four hours after the bombings, was rescheduled for April 28. The Bruins returned to their ice to beat Buffalo in a shootout on Thursday.

The Penguins took a nine-point lead in the East over Montreal, which could get just eight more points in its remaining four games. The Bruins remained in fourth place with 57 points, 11 behind the Penguins, with five games to go.

Jussi Jokinen and Kris Letang also scored for Pittsburgh, which won its sixth straight game despite the continued absence of Sidney Crosby, who missed his eighth game with a broken jaw.

Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin scored for Boston.

CANUCKS 2, RED WINGS 1, SO

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Maxim Lapierre scored in the shootout, Cory Schneider made 33 saves through overtime and Vancouver clinched a playoff berth with a victory over Detroit.

Schneider stopped all three attempts in the shootout for the Canucks, who won their seventh straight at home and prevented the Red Wings from breaking the playoff threshold. Vancouver's victory also guaranteed the idle Los Angeles Kings of a playoff spot.

Lapierre, with Vancouver's last attempt in the shootout, beat Jimmy Howard with a forehand-to-backhand deke, roofing the puck into the net.

Alex Edler scored for Vancouver and Damien Brunner had a goal for Detroit in the first period.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA (AP) — James Reimer put in a monstrous effort with 49 saves and Toronto clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2004 with a win over Ottawa.

James van Riemsdyk scored twice, and Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul also had goals for the Leafs, who needed to earn a point and get a little help from the New York Islanders to make the playoffs.

New York briefly pulled into a tie with Toronto for fifth place in the East with a 5-4 shootout win over Winnipeg before the Leafs (55) moved back ahead by two points.

Jakob Silfverberg scored and Craig Anderson stopped 18 shots for the Senators, who trail the Islanders by a point.

COYOTES 3, BLACKHAWKS 2, SO

CHICAGO (AP) — Mikkel Boedker and David Schlemko scored shootout goals to lift Phoenix and a three-game losing streak and preserving its fading playoff hopes with a win over Chicago.

Schlemko beat Corey Crawford with a high shot in the third round of the tiebreaker to end Chicago's seven-game win streak. Rostislav Klesla and Radim Vrbata scored in the first period for Phoenix, which trails Columbus by three points for the final playoff spot with four to play.

Chicago defenceman Brent Seabrook scored two power-play goals in regulation for his first two-goal game this season and second of his career.

Despite the loss, the league-leading Blackhawks have earned a point in 11 straight (9-0-2).

CAPITALS 5, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — Troy Brouwer and Alex Ovechkin each scored twice as Washington beat Montreal.

Nicklas Backstrom also scored for the Capitals, who had an eight-game winning streak stopped in Ottawa on Thursday but rebounded with their 13th win in 16 games. They stretched their lead over second-place Winnipeg in the Southeast Division to three points with three games to play.

Ovechkin took a step toward a third Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's top goal scorer with his 29th and 30th of the season. He has 20 goals in his last 18 games.

Max Pacioretty scored for Montreal, which has lost five of its last seven but remains solidly in second place in the East.

ISLANDERS 5, JETS 4, SO

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — John Tavares scored the winning goal in a shootout to help surging New York put a sent in Winnipeg's playoff drive.

Bryan Little tied the game for Winnipeg 4-4 with 2:01 left in regulation — seven seconds after Islanders defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky was called for interference.

Michael Grabner, Frans Nielsen, Josh Bailey and Matt Martin scored in regulation for the Islanders, who trail Toronto by two points for fifth place in the East.

Kyle Wellwood had two goals and Zach Bogosian also scored for the Jets, who have 49 points and are one back of the eighth-place Rangers.

DEVILS 6, PANTHERS 2

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Patrik Elias scored twice and New Jersey kept its faint playoff hopes alive by rallying from a two-goal deficit for a win over Florida.

David Clarkson, whose big check seemed with wake up the Devils after they fell behind 2-0, tallied the go-ahead goal in a game where they welcomed back offensive catalyst Ilya Kovalchuk to the lineup after missing 11 games with a shoulder injury.

Ryan Carter, Stephen Gionta and Dainius Zubrus also scored as New Jersey won its second in a row after a 10-game losing streak (0-6-4). The Devils would have been eliminated with a regulation loss.

Marcel Goc and Brian Campbell scored for the NHL-worst Panthers, who have lost five straight.

FLYERS 5, HURRICANES 3

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Wayne Simmonds got his first career hat trick and added an assist to lead Philadelphia to a win over Carolina in a matchup of teams eliminated from playoff contention.

Jakub Voracek and Matt Read also scored for the Flyers, who won for the third time in four games. Steve Mason, playing his fifth game for the Flyers since being acquired from Columbus, made 26 saves.

Simmonds, playing in his 364th career game, also had his first four-point effort.

Jeff Skinner, Justin Faulk and Eric Staal scored for the Hurricanes, who lost for the ninth time in their last 10 home games.

Both teams were playing for the first time since they were eliminated from playoff contention.

Back to top