The Penguins and Hurricanes entered Tuesday's game in Pittsburgh separated by one point in the Eastern Conference standings, and when you consider the two teams occupied the No's. 9 and 10 seeds respectively, with an opportunity to jump into the No. 8 seed closing out the first half the season, well, it was a pretty big game. Cam Ward rose to the occasion for the Hurricanes, stopping 32-of-33 shots, leading them to a 2-1 win. Ward was fantastic most of the night, but saved his best play for the final five minutes of regulation when the Penguins were on a four-minute power play. Over the past two nights, the 24-year-old netminder has stopped 66-of-67 shots.
After Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead early in the first period, Ray Whitney tied the game for Carolina when his slap shot from the slot deflected off of Rob Scuderi, beating Marc-Andre Fleury. Eric Staal scored the game-winner at the 8:01 mark of the second period.
Thrashers 4, Canadiens 2: Rich Peverley scored what proved to the game-winner at the 3:48 mark of the second period, as Atlanta pulled out a 4-2 win over Montreal. Peverley's goal gave Atlanta a 3-0 lead, before Montreal answered with a pair of goals from Max Pacioretty and Steve Begin, cutting the deficit to just one. Since being claimed off waivers by Atlanta a little over a week ago, Peverley has recorded seven points in just four games. Erik Christensen, Chris Thorburn and Zach Bogosian also added goals for the Thrashers.
Rangers 4, Ducks 2: Scott Gomez and Markus Naslund each registered a goal and an assist in the Rangers 4-2 win over Anaheim. Gomez scored a power play goal with just under eight minutes to play in regulation, giving the Rangers a 3-2 lead. Bobby Ryan picked up his 14th goal of the season for Anaheim, which ties him for the league lead among rookies with Patrik Berglund of St. Louis. Impressive feat when you consider Ryan has played in 10 fewer games than Berglund.
Senators 3, Capitals 2: Brendan Bell's power play goal with 1:22 remaining in the third period lifted the Senators to a 3-2 win over Washington. Dany Heatley scored a pair of goals, while Antoine Vermette assisted on all three Ottawa goals.
Oilers 4, Blue Jackets 3: Steve Mason had one of his worst outings of the season, as he allowed four goals on 22 shots in Columbus' 4-3 loss in Edmonton. The Blue Jackets held a 3-2 lead with five minutes to play in the third period, when Denis Grebeshkov tied the game with his fourth goal of the season. Three minutes later, Ales Hemsky scored the game-winner for the Oilers.
Kings 5, Wild 2: Los Angeles snapped a four-game losing skid with its 5-2 win over Minnesota. The five goals represent more goals than the Kings had during their entire losing streak (four).
Coyotes 6, Red Wings 3: Enver Lisin scored a pair of goals for Phoenix in its 6-3 win over Detroit. The game was tied, 3-3, heading into the third period, until Ed Jovanoski netted a power play goal at the 2:06 mark.
Sharks 2, Canucks 1: The Vancouver Canucks registered only 14 shots on goal Tuesday night, and despite that, still maintained a 1-0 lead into the final minute of regulation. At that point, San Jose's Devin Setoguchi scored his 21st goal of the season, sending the game to overtime. Thanks to a Daniel Sedin hooking penalty in the extra frame, Patrick Marleau scored his 25th goal of the season on a power play, giving the Sharks a 2-1 win. Cladue Lemieux completed his NHL comeback, playing seven minutes and registering three shots on goal for the Sharks. The Canucks have now lost six in a row, and are just 1-6 since Mats Sundin joined the team.
