Monday's schedule included a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Finals, a fight for 5th in the East between Ottawa and Montreal, and a fight for 6th in the West between Colorado and Los Angeles. The Western Conference playoff battle is our Game of the Night:
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4 (OT)The Kings have lost some ground in the Western Conference standings in the last couple of weeks, but they looked to move back into the 5th spot with a win on Monday in the first half of a home-and-home series against Colorado.
Chris Stewart started the scoring for the Avalanche just over 7 minutes into the 1st period, when his pass across ice deflected off the stick of Kings' Freddy Modin. Almost 3 minutes later, Ryan Smyth capitalized for the Kings on the power-play to make it 1-1, just moments after T.J. Galiardi missed a wide-open net after a turnover from Kings' goalie Jonathan Quick.
Wayne Simmonds got the only goal of the 2nd period to give the Kings a 2-1 lead.
Ryan Smyth scored his 2nd goal of the game in the 3rd period, giving the Kings a 3-2 lead, sandwiched in between 2 Avalanche goals. Peter Mueller tied the game at 2 for Colorado, and then T.J. Galiardi made up for his missed shot back in the 1st with a game-tying goal with only 7 seconds left in regulation.
But in overtime, Drew Doughty scored the game-winning goal on a power-play 3:40 into the extra session to give the Kings a 4-3 win. Doughty, the young Norris Trophy candidate, stepped into a slap shot and absolutely ripped it through the screen of Ryan Smyth and past goaltender Craig Anderson.
The Kings are now 28-0-0 when leading after 2 periods.
Anderson ended the game with 19 saves. Jonathan Quick made 23 saves and picked up his 39th win of the season for L.A.
The Kings move up to 89 points, tying them in points with Nashville for 5th in the West, but they hold the spot on their own because of their 2 games-in-hand on the Predators. The Avalanche do pick up a huge point as they sit 7th in the West with 87 points and are 2 points up on 8th-place Detroit, and 6 points ahead of the 9th-place Flames.
These two teams face each other again on Wednesday in Denver.
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Penguins 1 Red Wings 3
This was the 2nd and last meeting of the year between the two teams that faced each other in the Stanley Cup Final in each of the previous 2 seasons. Pittsburgh won 2-1 in a shootout at the Igloo on January 31st. But the last time the Penguins were in Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, they were hoisting the Stanley Cup. Detroit out-dueled the Penguins in this rematch, led by 2 goals from Henrik Zetterburg, to pick up 2 huge points and move even farther into a playoff spot in the West. The win gives the Red Wings 85 points on the year, and although they remain in the 8th and final playoff spot in the West, they move 4 points ahead of 9th-place Calgary. Both Calgary and Detroit have 10 games remaining. The Penguins remain at 90 points, still 2 points up on the Devils for the Atlantic Division lead, but they have played 2 more games than New Jersey.
Senators 2 Canadiens 0
Coming into the night, Ottawa was on a 5-game losing streak, Montreal had gotten points in 7-straight games, and both teams were tied in points for 5th in the Eastern Conference. What a good time for the Senators to snap both streaks, especially in shutout-form when their goaltending recently has been suspect, to put it lightly. 29 saves from Brian Elliott and goals from Peter Regin and Erik Karlsson help lead the Senators to 5th-place in the East all by themselves with 81 points. The Canadiens remain tied with Philadelphia for 6th, but sit in 7th because they have played 1 more game than the Flyers. They are 3 points ahead of 8th-place Boston and 4 points up on 9th-place Atlanta.
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Tuesday's Schedule:
Panthers @ Maple Leafs, 7:00
Blue Jackets @ Devils, 7:00
Bruins @ Thrashers, 7:00
Flyers @ Senators, 7:30
Hurricanes @ Lightning, 7:30
Stars @ Predators, 8:00
Sharks @ Wild, 8:00, Versus
Coyotes @ Blackhawks, 8:30
Ducks @ Flames, 9:00, FS West
Canucks @ Oilers, 9:00
