| DETROIT (AP) — Johnny Gaudreau capped a memorable day with another splendid performance.Gaudreau had a goal and three assists www.flyersshoponline.com , and the Calgary Flames rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night. Earlier in the day, Gaudreau was named the NHL’s second star for the month of December — and he was part of the Pacific Division All-Star roster, which was also released Wednesday.“This was obviously a pretty wild day,” Gaudreau said. “Winning was the best part, though.”Detroit led 2-0 after one period, but the Flames came back to hand the Red Wings their sixth straight loss. Sean Monahan, TJ Brodie, Elias Lindholm and Michael Frolik also scored for Calgary.Darren Helm, Jacob de la Rose and Andreas Athanasiou scored for Detroit.Gaudreau put the Flames ahead 4-3 midway through the third with a power-play goal after a slick play by Matthew Tkachuk, who stickhandled below the goal line and then slipped a pass between goalie Jimmy Howard and the side of the net. Gaudreau was in front to tap in the puck for his 22nd goal of the season.“We knew we had to be a lot better in the second and third periods, but we have the confidence to know we could do that,” said Gaudreau, who kept right on rolling after finishing with 11 goals and 15 assists in December.Frolik scored into an empty net with 17.7 seconds remaining.“I thought we got better as it went Philadelphia Flyers T-Shirts Womens ,” Flames coach Bill Peters said. “It wasn’t a Picasso, but we’ll take the two points.”The Flames have 54 points, most in the Western Conference.Helm, who missed the previous 21 games with an upper-body injury, marked his return with a goal in the first period. He and Athanasiou came in on a 2-on-1 break. Rather than passing, Helm dragged the puck past a sliding defenseman, switched to his backhand and beat goalie Mike Smith.The Red Wings made it 2-0 on a goalmouth scramble. Detroit’s Michael Rasmussen hacked at the puck, and it bounced off de la Rose and in.Calgary rallied in the second. Monahan made it 2-1 with his 22nd goal of the season, and Brodie tied it when his routine shot from the point bounced off Howard’s glove and in with 2:01 left in the period.“It should never go in, so it’s on me,” said Howard, who is among the Atlantic Division All-Stars.Brodie’s goal started a wild stretch in which three goals were scored in just more than a minute. Athanasiou had a step on Oliver Kylington when the Calgary defenseman hooked him. Officials awarded a penalty shot that Athanasiou converted for his 14th goal of the season.The Flames quickly tied it at 3 when Lindholm beat Howard with a wrist shot on the power play with just under a minute left in the period.“You get to points where you’re fragile. We can pretend that’s not true but that’s not what happened,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “We have control over that Philadelphia Flyers Hoodies Womens , have control of playing shift by shift, believing in ourselves, carrying ourselves with confidence, making the plays at the big moments instead of the other way.”Detroit’s Dylan Larkin had his 14-game point streak snapped.NOTES: The Red Wings put D Trevor Daley on injured reserve with a foot problem and recalled D Brian Lashoff from Grand Rapids of the AHL. Lashoff did not play. … Athanasiou’s goal was his 100th career point.UP NEXTFlames: At Boston on Thursday night.Red Wings: Host Nashville on Friday night. SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) On a road trip where Washington struggled to generate any offense, Nicklas Backstrom’s goal was enough to send the Capitals home on a good note.Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves for his fifth career shutout and Backstrom broke a scoreless tie late in the second period to help the Capitals salvage the final game of their California swing with a 2-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.”I just thought it was a pretty complete team effort,” coach Barry Trotz said. ”I would probably say the last seven, eight periods we played pretty well. We just didn’t get the results that we wanted in all three games here.”Washington was outscored 7-1 in losses to Anaheim and Los Angeles to open the trip before a narrow win in San Jose moved the Capitals one point ahead of Pittsburgh for first place in the Metropolitan Division, pending the Penguins’ game in Toronto later.Alex Ovechkin, two goals short of 600 for Washington, was held scoreless for the third straight game. Marc-Edouard Vlasic thwarted one chance for Ovechkin to get goal No. 599 with a strong back check and goalie Martin Jones robbed Ovechkin on a partial breakaway midway through the third period to keep San Jose’s deficit at 1-0.Lars Eller’s empty-net goal sealed the win for the Capitals.The Sharks were unable to get anything past Grubauer and fell to 3-2 on their six-game homestand. San Jose failed on two power-play chances, falling to 1 for 32 with the man advantage over the past 14 games.”We were one shot away from tying that game or maybe going the other way, but definitely that second period we didn’t have that push that we needed Philadelphia Flyers Hats Womens ,” Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said.Jones made 24 saves for the Sharks but couldn’t stop Backstrom’s one-timer late in the second period after Washington appeared to enter the zone offside.Brett Connolly found Backstrom alone in the faceoff circle and he beat Jones high to the glove side for his 17th goal of the season. Sharks coach Peter DeBoer didn’t challenge for offside, and the goal stood.”It wasn’t offside. It wasn’t offside,” DeBoer said. ”He didn’t touch it before the other (player) came out and tagged out, so it clearly wasn’t offside. That’s why we didn’t call it.”The Sharks controlled play for much of the first period but were unable to turn that into goals as Timo Meier hit the post during a power play on San Jose’s best opportunity. Tomas Hertl also hit the post on the power play in the second period as San Jose failed to take advantage of two penalties by Tom Wilson.”It could have gone the other way today,” Grubauer said. ”They had four or five posts. It could have gone a different way, too. Lucky and blessed to get the two points.”The Capitals took over in the second, outshooting the Sharks 12-3. That heavy pressure finally paid off late in the period with Backstrom’s goal that was Washington’s second on the trip.”It’s hard to be satisfied with your game when you’re not scoring or winning,” Backstrom said. ”That’s something we all are as a hockey player. We want to win and that’s what counts. We weren’t happy with our situation. But obviously it’s nice we turned it around tonight and got two points. That’s huge.”NOTES: The Capitals had not won in regulation at San Jose since their first trip to the Shark Tank on Oct. 30, 1993, when they won 4-2. Washington had 13 losses, one tie, one overtime win and one shootout win since then. … The Capitals are 24-3-3 when scoring first.UP NEXTCapitals: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Monday.Sharks: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Monday.— |
