Nikolai Khabibulin made 43 saves and frustrated the St. Louis Blues as the Oilers posted a 3-0 win. Jordan Eberle scored twice and Taylor Hall potted the other goal with two assists for the Oilers.
SPIN: Well, it looks like Khabibulin still has something left in the tank. The 40-year-old goaltender has played well this season in a backup role behind Devan Dubnyk yet posted his 46th career shutout. In his three wins this season, Khabibulin has 1.09 GAA and and .969 save percentage. Hall scored again and has goals in consecutive games. Jake Allen didn’t fare well in net for St. Louis as he allowed three goals on seven shots before getting yanked 5:17 into the second period. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins picked up a pair of assists for the Oilers but still has problems finding the net.
Toronto slipped past Florida 3-2 as Joffrey Lupul scored another pair of goals for the Leafs and Phil Kessel had two assists.
SPIN: Lupul is back on a line with Kessel and they’ve clicked. Ben Scrivens stopped 40 shots between the pipes for Toronto so the Panthers aren’t just rolling over and quitting on the season yet. Florida can’t put together a full game without dips in their effort so they just can’t be trusted as a team.
Sidney Crosby scored the lone goal as the Penguins blanked the Canadiens 1-0. Pittsburgh has won 13 in a row.
SPIN: The Penguins can beat you with offense. They can beat you with defense. They can beat you without Evgeni Malkin as the Penguins are 11-2 without him while he’s recovering from an upper-body injury. The other fantasy-worthy note in this one is that Marc-Andre Fleury left the game after the second period and was replaced by Tomas Vokoun. Fleury sat out the third period following a collision on front of the net and his status is day-to-day. The goaltenders combined on a 37-save shutout.
The Islanders clawed their way back to .500 with a 3-2 win over Washington. John Tarvares scored his 20th goal of the season and it wound up being the difference-maker in this one.
SPIN: Michael Grabner and Josh Bailey scored less than three minutes apart in the first period. Mike Ribiero and John Carlson scored second-period goals for the Capitals in the loss. Both teams are likely to be on the outside looking in on the playoffs unless they get on a run soon.
Winnipeg downed Carolina 4-1 as they strengthened their grip on the Southeast Division’s top spot. Evander Kane had a four-point night (G, 3A) and Ondrej Pavelec turned aside 38-of-39 shots.
SPIN: With the win, the Jets are six points up on the Hurricanes with 14 games to play but Carolina has three games in hand. Tobias Enstrom scored in his second straight game since coming back from injury. Carolina is 0-5-1 in its last six games and the Hurricanes have lost three straight home games by a 4-1 score. Jiri Tlusty scored for the first time in his last seven games. Carolina has scored just one goal in each of its last five games so the Hurricanes need to break out quickly.
The Rangers took down Philadelphia 5-2 as Rick Nash scored twice. Derek Stepan led the way with a goal and three assists.
SPIN: Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek scored the Flyers and continue to be some of the few consistent Flyers that can be relied on in fantasy. The Rangers have won 11 of their last 12 games against the Flyers.
Tampa Bay slid past Buffalo 2-1. Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis each had a goal and an assist for the Bolts. Ryan Miller made 21 saves in the losing effort for Buffalo.
SPIN: Tampa actually got two points in a game they scored two goals in for the first time this season. That’s about all we need to know on a late-season game of sub-.500 teams.
Chicago blanked Calgary 2-0. Ray Emery had an easy night in net stopping 16 shots for the shutout.
SPIN: Patrick Kane had assists on goals by Nick Leddy and Brent Seabrook. Miikka Kiprusoff made 33 saves on 35 Chicago shots but it wasn’t enough as the Flames are now winless in their last 10 road games (0-9-1).
Vancouver beat Columbus in the shootout by a 1-0 final.
SPIN: Sergei Bobrovsky (34 saves) and Corey Schneider (17 saves) each get credited with a shutout. Maxim Lapierre scored the lone goal in the third round of the shootout to get the two points for Vancouver.
Mutliple Goal Scorers
Eberle-EDM, Lupul-TOR, Nash-NYR
Stat of the Night-Table For One, Please
Martin Brodeur of the Devils has been credited with one goal. That’s one more than Andrew Desjardins of the Sharks (25 games), Calgary’s Derek Smith (21 games), Buffalo’s Robin Regehr (26 games), Jeff Halpern of the Rangers (31 games), teammate Bryce Salvador (32 games), Colorado’s Patrick Bordeleau (29 games) and Phoenix’s Boyd Gordon (32 games) combined.
Three Stars of the Night
1 Khabibulin
2 Bobrovsky
3 Pavelec
Wednesday’s Games (all times ET)
Montreal at Boston 7pm
Phoenix at Minnesota 9pm
Colorado at Calgary 10pm
Anaheim at San Jose 10pm
