Monthly Archives: April 2017
NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – April 5, 2017
Ducks run home win streak to 25 against Flames
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Patrick Eaves scored his eighth goal in nine games, John Gibson made 26 saves and the Anaheim Ducks moved closer to a fifth straight Pacific Division title with a 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.
Kevin Bieksa ended his 47-game goal drought and Chris Wagner also scored as the Ducks recorded their 25th consecutive home regular-season victory over the Flames since Jan. 19, 2004, extending the longest such streak in NHL history.
Mikael Backlund scored for Calgary, which has lost three of four.
Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler left the game in the third period after a knee-on-knee hit from Flames captain Mark Giordano, who extended his leg and hit the U.S. Olympian's right knee well after he had shot the puck.
Fowler crumpled and couldn't leave the ice under his own power after the hit from Giordano, who wasn't penalized.
The hit set off a combative final period featuring 96 combined penalty minutes, including Josh Manson's battering of Giordano in a one-sided fight. The Flames had a lengthy 5-on-3 advantage while Anaheim had five players in the box midway through the period, but couldn't capitalize.
''I think there's a lot of hate there,'' Manson said.
The Ducks began the night two points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers, who have a game in hand. Anaheim has earned points in 12 consecutive games down the stretch, moving closer to a possible first-round matchup with the wild-card Flames.
Flames goalie Brian Elliott made 16 saves after replacing Chad Johnson just 5:19 into the first period. The Flames' backup goalie left his first appearance since March 23 with an unspecified lower-body injury after stretching to make a pad save.
Calgary hasn't won at Honda Center in the regular season since Darryl Sutter's Flames beat Mike Babcock's Ducks over 13 years ago. Anaheim's 25 straight victories over Calgary represent the longest winning streak in one arena against one opponent in NHL history.
Honda Center fans serenaded the Flames with a loud chant of ''You can't win here!'' in the closing seconds.
After Anaheim won 4-3 at Calgary on Sunday night on a late goal by Logan Shaw, the Flames were a step quicker than the Ducks in the first period of the rematch. Backlund ended an 11-game goal drought since March 11 with his 22nd goal of the season.
Anaheim evened it early in the second when captain Ryan Getzlaf took a sneaky shot off a faceoff and Eaves capitalized for his 31st goal - 11 more than his previous career high.
Bieksa then put Anaheim ahead when he slipped a stoppable shot past Elliott. The veteran defenseman hadn't scored a goal since Dec. 15.
NOTES: The Ducks also played without key defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen, both out with upper-body injuries. ... Gibson was solid in just his third appearance since Feb. 20 for the Ducks, who hope their starting goalie has recovered enough from his nagging lower-body injury to return for the postseason. ... Calgary earned a playoff victory in Anaheim back in 2006 during the regular-season skid.
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Watch: Fowler leaves in distress after Giordano hits him knee on knee
Oh no this Cam Fowler slow-mo replay doesn't look good. pic.twitter.com/6O5G3joHsx
— Jason R. Pothier (@JRPothier) April 5, 2017
The Anaheim Ducks will not sleep easy Tuesday night.
The club's tilt against Calgary turned ugly when defenseman Cam Fowler was forced from the game in the third period after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Flames captain Mark Giordano.
Fowler was in severe pain as he lay on the ice after the collision, and needed assistance in getting to the bench. He was unable to put any pressure on his right leg. No penalty was assessed on the play.
Randy Carlyle had no update on Cam Fowler other than "lower-body injury."
— x - Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) April 5, 2017
Fowler's teammate Josh Manson fought Giordano shortly after, and the final 15 minutes were full of scrums, chirping, slashing, and fighting. These two teams do not like each other.
Current state of Ducks penalty box pic.twitter.com/I4M4Hkl1k1
— David Amber (@DavidAmber) April 5, 2017
The two teams could meet in the first round of the playoffs beginning next week, and that'd be something. If that's the case, the Ducks would surely welcome it, since they dominate the Flames in Calgary.
But more importantly, regardless of the opposition, the Ducks are hoping Fowler's okay.
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Watch: Nugent-Hopkins splits Kings defenders, finishes with slick backhand
A slick splittin' of the defense courtesy of The Nuge. #EDMvsLAK pic.twitter.com/Nrz4nMlNbq
— NHL (@NHL) April 5, 2017
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is having a time in Hollywood.
The Edmonton Oilers forward scored twice Tuesday against the Kings, and his second marker was rather pretty. No. 93 split two Los Angeles defenders on his way to the net, before making Jonathan Quick look silly by finishing on his backhand.
Nugent-Hopkins has 18 tallies on the season and will be hoping to become the fifth Oiler to hit the 20-goal mark after Milan Lucic joined the club Tuesday.
The Kings, however, came out on top, erasing a 2-0 deficit to win 6-4.
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Watch: Ward reaches back to keep puck out of net, stun Pominville
Cam Ward made one hell of a save Tuesday night in Minnesota.
The Carolina Hurricanes goaltender used every bit of his body to take a sure goal away from Wild forward Jason Pominville, who could only reach for his head after the fact.
Pominville won't lose too much sleep about it, though, as his team won 5-3 and clinched second place in the Central Division.
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Watch: Honka’s 1st career goal comes on Stars’ OT winner
Honka. Overtime. Money. Stars win. pic.twitter.com/hmksZYGaFj
— Dylan Nadwodny (@dnadders) April 5, 2017
Honka if you love overtime winners.
Dallas Stars defenseman Julius Honka capped a dominant extra-frame shift with the first goal of his NHL career, courtesy of a top-shelf slap shot past Mike Smith of the Arizona Coyotes.
The future is bright for the 14th overall pick at the 2014 NHL Draft.
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MacArthur relishes return in Sens’ win: ‘It’s a day I wasn’t sure was going to come’
The Ottawa Senators secured an important two points over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night, but the result wasn't the only positive at Canadian Tire Centre.
Veteran winger Clarke MacArthur, who's been out of NHL action for 18 months due to concussion problems, surprisingly got the nod to rejoin the lineup shortly before puck drop.
Suffice to say, MacArthur was overjoyed to be back with his teammates.
"You don't know when you're going to get in, to get the call late in the day, and get a chance to play again it's just a great feeling." MacArthur told TSN's Brent Wallace. "It's been two years of never knowing if you're going to get back, or what's going to happen, I'm just happy to be back playing.
"It's a day I wasn't sure was going to come."
MacArthur recorded one hit in 9:44 of ice time, and was named the game's third star, which earned him a standing ovation from the home crowd.
What an awesome feeling looking down to bench and seeing Clarke back playing... one of the best people I've met playing hockey..
— Mark Stone (@MStoner61) April 5, 2017
The Senators won 2-0, inching ever closer to a playoff berth.
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Watch: Patrik Laine absolutely rips 36th past Jake Allen
What a rip.
Winnipeg Jets rookie Patrik Laine, who entered Tuesday's action without a goal in his past four games, scored his second of the night and 36th of the season with an absolute snipe past Jake Allen of the St. Louis Blues.
Laine now sits three goals behind Toronto's Auston Matthews for the rookie lead with two games remaining for the Jets.
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Capitals inch closer to Presidents’ Trophy, keep Toronto from clinching
TORONTO - Lars Eller and Kevin Shattenkirk gave Washington a two-goal lead halfway through the game, and the Capitals cruised to a 4-1 win over Toronto on Tuesday night, snapping the Maple Leafs' four-game winning streak.
Nate Schmidt and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington and Philipp Grubauer stopped 27 shots. The Capitals, winners of eight of their last nine, moved closer to clinching the top spot in the Eastern Conference and the Presidents' Trophy with the league's best record. However, Pittsburgh's win over Columbus prevented them from doing so.
Mitch Marner scored his 19th of the season, spoiling Grubauer's shutout bid with a power-play goal with 1:08 to go. Curtis McElhinney finished with 34 saves for the Maple Leafs, who lost for just the second time in nine games.
Toronto lost center Brian Boyle to an upper-body injury, possibly from a hard collision with Wilson in the first period.
The Capitals beat the Maple Leafs for the seventh time in their last eight meetings and are 10-2-1 in the last 13 matchups. The first two games this season were tight - Toronto won 4-2 here on Nov. 26 and Washington won 6-5 in overtime at home on Jan. 3 - but the Capitals were in control in this one.
Washington spent a lot of time in the offensive zone in the first and Eller scored with 5:26 remaining in the opening period as he took a feed from Andre Burakovsky and sent a shot from near the right faceoff spot that took a deflection off a Toronto skate.
The Leafs came out with considerably more bite to open the second period and pressed the Washington goal. But the Caps weathered the storm and doubled their lead on Shattenkirk's power-play goal at the 10-minute mark. It was Shattenkirk's 12th of the year and first with the Capitals, and gave Washington its 36th power-play score in their last 40 games.
Alex Ovechkin got an assist on the play, moving him into sole possession of second place among Russian-born players on the NHL's all-time scoring list. He came into the game tied with Alexander Mogilny with 1,032 points and trailing Sergei Fedorov by 147 points for first place.
Washington played a controlled third period with Grubauer mopping up when needed. Schmidt, a late replacement for the injured John Carlson (lower body), added to the lead at 8:11 coming in from the point with little opposition to snap a shot past McElhinney.
Wilson made it 4-0 with a nifty deke with 3:14 left after being sent in alone by former Leafs player Daniel Winnik.
NOTES: It was the 100th NHL game for Leafs forward William Nylander. ... Ovechkin has 60 points (33 goals, 27 assists) in 42 career games against the Maple Leafs.
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