Senators best Lightning, who lose Ben Bishop to injury

The Ottawa Senators know they need to make the most of every advantage if they want to be part of the playoff picture.

On Thursday night, the Senators benefited from the Tampa Bay Lightning's misfortune and walked away with a 5-3 win.

While the Lightning were disappointed by their performance, they were more concerned with their star goaltender's well being.

Ben Bishop, who has been nothing short of outstanding for Tampa this season, was injured in the opening minutes of the game and did not return.

"I had a little bit of a headache, but it's gotten better as the game went on," said Bishop. "Hopefully I'll wake up [Friday] and feel better and be able to practice." 

'I had a little bit of a headache, but it's gotten better as the game went on. Hopefully I'll wake up [Friday] and feel better and be able to practice.'- Lightning goalie Ben Bishop

Bishop, who was playing his first game in Ottawa since being traded to the Lightning last April, came way out of his net to play the puck and ended up getting kicked in the head by teammate Nikita Kucherov.

The goalie lay on the ice motionless, silencing the 19,757 on hand before he was able to leave the game on his own volition.

"It was very disappointing," said Bishop. "It's almost sad. I was happy to be back and excited to play and then that happens right away."

On the same play, the Senators' Marc Methot scored into a wide-open net picking up his fifth of the season for a career high.

Erik Karlsson, Zack Smith, Kyle Turris and Bobby Ryan also scored for the Senators (24-20-10) as Craig Anderson stopped 35 shots.

The win allowed the Senators, with 58 points, to move into a tie with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the eighth and final playoff spot, but the Blue Jackets hold the tie-breaker with more wins (27).

"You have to take care of the games you have and we did that [Thursday]," said Ryan. "If you don't, you're going to be on the outside looking in and that's not where we want to be."

Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson and Victor Hedman scored for the Lightning (31-18-5), who have now lost two straight. Anders Lindback faced 28 shots.

"It was a tale of two different teams," said Tampa coach Jon Cooper. "The one thing that concerned me was we didn't play desperate. There's one thing about competing really hard, but we just didn't seem to have that desperation. Whether that was because of the way the game started, but at some point you have to turn the page."

Ottawa made it 2-0 with 25 seconds remaining in the period as Jason Spezza took a stretch pass from Milan Michalek, froze the Lightning defence, and found Karlsson all alone in front of a wide-open net.

The Lightning cut the lead in half as Killorn beat Anderson cleanly, but it wasn't enough as the Senators went on to score two more by the end of the period to take a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes.

Smith made it 3-1 as he grabbed a loose puck at the side of the net, moved in front and put a shot off the crossbar that bounced off Lindback and in. Turris then picked up his 18th late in the period as Ryan fought off Victor Hedman and left the puck back for Turris who buried it.

Ryan made it 5-1 early in the third as he picked up his team-leading 20th of the season. It was his first goal in six games.

"You hope there'll be a domino effect [from the goal] and I can move forward with it," said Ryan.

Johnson made it 5-2 scoring shorthanded late in the third.

Tampa pulled Lindback with over three minutes remaining in regulation and made the most of the man advantage as Hedman made it 5-3. The Lightning made the final minutes exciting as they kept Lindback on the bench, but were unable to complete the comeback.

"I thought we battled really hard in the last few minutes," said St. Louis. "I guess the desperation came in too late I guess."

In addition to losing Bishop, the Lightning also lost leading scorer Valterri Filpulla early in the second. Filpulla returned briefly, but then left the game with a lower body injury.

Cooper had no update on Filpulla and said he would be re-evaluated Friday.

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Flames stay hot to defeat Sharks

Two weeks after a franchise record seven-game losing streak on home ice, the Calgary Flames appear to be turning their fortunes around.

Mark Giordano scored the game-winner and Karri Ramo made 27 saves as the Flames knocked off the San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Thursday night for their fourth consecutive victory - all of them at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

It comes two nights after Calgary knocked off the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.

"I would say tonight, by far, is probably our best team win of the season," said Flames coach Bob Hartley. "As a coaching staff, we cannot be more happy than we are right now. Those guys deserve the credit. We beat quite a hockey club tonight. From Karri Ramo to the six D to the four lines, everyone is chipping in."

Leading 1-0 after the first period, the Flames grabbed a two-goal lead at 3:38 of the second. Mikael Backlund's shot missed the net but the puck caromed sharply off the end boards and out the other side where Giordano rifled it in the short side as goaltender Alex Stalock scrambled across.

"There wasn't much room for Backs and I knew he was going to shoot it so you're just trying to read the rebound and with the new nets with them being a bit shorter, it comes out at different angles and the goalie doesn't really have a chance to get across," Giordano said. "It was a good bounce and I just tried to fire it as hard as I could on net."

The ninth goal of the season for Giordano extends his career-high scoring streak to eight games (four goals, four assists).

"I wouldn't have believed it (was possible). It just seems like I'm getting a couple of bounces. I'm trying to be aggressive and it seems the puck's coming to me at the right spot," said Giordano.

Lee Stempniak, rookie Sean Monahan also scored for Calgary (20-27-7) and Jiri Hudler added an empty-net goal. Backlund and Dennis Wideman each had two assists.

The Flames, who are enjoying their longest winning streak since reeling off five victories in a row in March 2012, are 4-0-0 with one game to go on a five-game homestand.

"Sometimes it goes this way. The main thing is we kept working and nobody gave up when things were bad. Everybody learned from those and we started to do the right things," Ramo said.

Eriah Hayes, with his first NHL goal, was the lone Shark to solve Ramo. San Jose (34-15-6) has lost three straight.

The Sharks entered the game on two straight shutouts after losing 1-0 to Jonathan Quick and the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, and 3-0 in Edmonton on Wednesday, thanks to Ben Scriven's record-setting 59 saves.

"It's a big concern of ours right now. In our last eight games, we've only scored 13 goals and 10 have them have come from three players," said Sharks coach Todd McLellan. "Obviously with injuries and every team goes through them, you need others to pick up the slack and we've got to find that."

San Jose was held to eight shots in the first period but racked up 13 in the second, including multiple chances to score on Ramo. In one mad scramble around the Flames net, Hayes nearly scored only to have the puck cleared off the goal-line by Giordano.

The Sharks finally cashed in 46 seconds into the third as this time Hayes would not be denied. After Chris Butler lost the puck in front of his net, a quick passing sequence with Tommy Wingels and Patrick Marleau set up Hayes less than 15 feet away and he buried a quick shot over Ramo's glove.

"We're getting tons of chances, great opportunities right in front like that. It's a little frustrating right now that the bounces aren't going our way. Once the bounces start going our way, we're going to be scoring a lot of goals," said Hayes, playing his 13th NHL game after being recalled from Worcester (AHL) on Jan. 4.

That goal ended a stretch of a 160 minute, 36 second scoreless drought for the Sharks, who racked up 103 shots on goal before Hayes connected.

"I think we just need to get back to finishing," said Sharks captain Joe Thornton. "We haven't finished particularly well in the last three games and it's definitely shown on the scoreboard. You've just got to concentrate in that last half-second to see where you're going to shoot and put it in."

The Flames restored their two-goal cushion after Ladislav Smid's shot went wide and bounced out the other side for Joe Colborne, who directed it in front for Monahan. The rookie redirected it out of the air for his team-leading 15th goal.

"Obviously, it's a different feeling in the room right now. We have confidence as a group, we're sticking together, working hard and we're having fun doing it," Monahan said.

Stalock finished the game with 26 stops as his record fell to 7-4-0.

Making his fifth start in his last six games, Ramo improved to 11-10-4.

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Peter Budaj shines as Canadiens stifle Bruins

The Montreal Canadiens were struggling through their worst stretch of the season. Then they had to play two of the hottest teams in the NHL.

They beat both — decisively.

Peter Budaj stopped 34 shots and the Canadiens ended the Boston Bruins' four-game winning streak with a 4-1 win Thursday night. The victory came just two days after they stopped Carolina's four-game winning streak with a 3-0 win.

"It's good for the confidence," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "Even when things weren't going our way, we tried to stay positive."

The Canadiens had been outscored 19-5 in losing four consecutive games. The Bruins had won their previous four games by a combined score of 21-8.

But Boston was outplayed from start to finish.

"We didn't skate. We didn't execute, and we didn't make good decisions," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "We weren't very good."

The Canadiens were outstanding. Their speed and emotion put them in front of the Bruins all night long.

"This was close to a complete game for us," said Daniel Briere, who scored Montreal's last goal while playing just 7 minutes, 39 seconds. "We needed that after spending the last week dropping some big games and by big scores as well."

Alexei Emelin and Max Pacioretty scored before Dougie Hamilton's goal cut Montreal's lead to 2-1 after one period. Brian Gionta made it 3-1 at 11:54 of the second, ending goalie Tuukka Rask's night. He was replaced by Chad Johnson, who allowed the first shot he faced, by Briere, to get past him less than two minutes later.

Julien wouldn't say why he pulled Rask. And Rask said he felt OK.

"I play as long as they tell me to play," he said. "You'd like to stop everything, right? But, today, I didn't."

The Bruins had scored six goals in each of their previous three games. The Canadiens scored five times during their four-game slide.

"Usually, when you go through tough stretches, people have a tendency to panic," Budaj said. "Tonight we played well against a really good team."

The losing streak ended Tuesday night against Carolina when Carey Price stopped 36 shots in his third shutout of the season. Budaj was nearly as good while improving his career record in Boston to 4-0 with just five goals allowed.

"We played well against a really, really good team," he said. "This building is always rocking. It's always exciting to play these type of games."

Boston remained in first place in the Atlantic Division and second in the Eastern Conference but Montreal was aggressive from the start, quite a change from the Bruins' previous two games.

They outshot Florida 19-8 in the first period of a 6-2 win Tuesday night. That came one night after they took 18 of the first 20 shots in a 6-3 win over the New York Islanders.

But they fell behind early Thursday night and never caught up.

Emelin got his first goal in 32 games this season when he converted a slap shot from the right point with four players standing right in front of the crease just 2:16 into the game.

Pacioretty scored his team-leading 23rd goal at 14:32. He received a pass along the left side in centre ice, skated behind the defence and put a short backhander behind Rask.

But Hamilton scored his fifth goal just a minute later.

Neither team had many good opportunities in the first half of the second period. But less than two minutes later, Tomas Plekanec took a power-play shot from the right circle and Gionta tipped it in for his ninth goal.

Briere finished the scoring with a shot Johnson had little chance to stop. With three Bruins chasing him and only the goalie in front of him, Briere fired a 10-foot forehand shot over Johnson's shoulder.

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Leafs dump Panthers for 5th straight home win

Randy Carlyle called Nazem Kadri's performance Thursday night the best he's seen in a long time.

Kadri had three assists extending his point streak to four games as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Florida Panthers 6-3.

Nikolai Kulemin one-timed a Kadri feed at the four-minute mark of the third period for the game-winner. The assist was Kadri's 100th career NHL point.

"It's a great achievement for myself, but hopefully there's a lot more to come," said Kadri, who has two goals and five assists on his current point steak. "You got to think to yourself when the points are coming easy, it's just not all about that, you got to make sure you're good in your D zone, bearing down on face-offs and just allow the coaching staff to put you on the ice in those crucial situations."

With the Leafs trailing 2-0 in the first, Kadri set up Cody Franson at 16:49 to get Toronto's comeback rolling. 

'You got to think to yourself when the points are coming easy, it's just not all about that, you got to make sure you're good in your D zone, bearing down on face-offs and just allow the coaching staff to put you on the ice in those crucial situations.'- Leafs' Nazem Kadri

Then with the Leafs leading 4-2 in the third, the 23-year-old London, Ont. native set up Joffrey Lupul at 6:22, on a power play, for the insurance marker.

"Nazy was a difference maker tonight," said Carlyle. "That's probably the best game he's played in a long time and at both ends of the rink obviously with the points and distributing the puck, that was making some big league plays."

Toronto (29-21-6) also got goals from Mason Raymond, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak as they extended their win streak on home ice to five games.

Florida (21-26-7) got first period goals from Nick Bjugstad and Sean Bergenheim. Dmitry Kulikov had the other Panthers goal.

"When a team comes out after they've lost the period, they're probably getting some bad words from the coach," said Kulikov. "We knew they were going to come out strong in the second period and we didn't handle it."

Scott Clemmensen made 26 saves for his fifth loss of the season. Jonathan Bernier made 35 saves in the win.

Toronto won five in a row on home ice from Oct. 22 to Nov. 19. The Leafs have just two regulation losses in their past 11 games.

Florida scored twice on their first seven shots to open a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Bjugstad opened the scoring 1:39 into the first, beating Bernier with a backhand blocker side for his 12th goal of the season.

Bergenheim finished off a 2-on-1 feed from Brad Boyes at 13:50 to give the Panthers a two-goal lead. The assist was the 250th of Boyes' career.

"We were kind of stunned," said Carlyle. "The first shot on goal was in our net. It set us back a little bit and we weren't really moving our feet. We seemed to find a way to get it going."

It was all Toronto after that as the Leafs scored five unanswered goals.

After Franson cut Florida's lead in the first, the Leafs scored twice in the first minute of the second period to take a 3-2 lead.

Raymond scored off the rush, with a wrist shot, glove-side on Clemmensen 27 seconds into the period for his 14th of the season. Van Riemsdyk tipped a Phil Kessel shot past Clemmensen at 57 seconds of the second period, on a power play.

With the goal, van Riemsdyk surpassed his previous single-season goals total of 21 set during the 2010-11 season while he was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Bozak finished off a 2-on-1 feed from Kessel at 18:37 of the third.

"A few weeks ago, it felt like the sky was falling in Toronto," said Kadri of the four-game losing streak. "We understood that it was nothing to panic about, we just rallied around each other. "

Added Franson: "We're moving in the right direction and I don't know if you can call it a swagger, but our play is getting better and at the end of the day that's all you're looking to do is progressively progress."

Toronto concludes its three-game home stand Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.

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Did You See That? Referee takes puck to face in Coyotes game

Video

Leaves game, returns after receiving medical attention

By Rod Perry, CBC Sports Posted: Jan 31, 2014 12:31 AM ET Last Updated: Jan 31, 2014 12:31 AM ET

National Hockey League referee Trevor Hanson's black-and-white pinstriped uniform may have had some extra colouring on it Thursday thanks to a scary incident during the Coyotes-Sabres game. 

Hanson took a puck to the face off a deflected shot from Phoenix defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in a bloody scene during the second period of Buffalo's 3-2 win. The puck changed directions after hitting the crossbar and struck Hanson in the nose.

He'd leave the game with a towel pressed up against his face to get some medical attention, but would later return in the third period to finish the game. 

Watch the incident by clicking above. 

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Blackhawks break out against Canucks to end skid

Once the Chicago Blackhawks got rolling, there was little the Vancouver Canucks could do to stop a team determined to get back to its winning ways.

Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad each had a goal and an assist in the second period Wednesday as Chicago's quick-strike offence turned a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead in a span of 7:41 to snap a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over Vancouver.

"We kind of lost ourselves there a little bit in the second period. It turned into a little bit of a track meet," said Canucks assistant coach Mike Sullivan. "It wasn't from a lack of chances on our part. We had a 4-on-2 and 3-on-1 that we don't convert, then shortly thereafter one ends up in our net."

Marian Hossa had the other goal in the second period for Chicago (33-10-13), while Saad added an empty netter late. Corey Crawford made 29 saves to get the win.

"They're a good team. They haven't won a couple of Stanley Cups for no reason," said Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, who finished with 36 saves. "It's disappointing being up 2-0 and losing the lead so quickly like that.

"We've got to play 60 minutes against teams like that. For the majority of the game I thought we played really well but we had a little bit of a lapse and it's game over."

The Blackhawks' four-goal barrage in the second period -- which came on just five shots -- helped end Chicago's recent 0-2-2 run.

"They had a few chances early in the game and they kept on pressing," said Luongo. "Once they got one I felt like it deflated our team and they kept scoring."

With the victory, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville passed Dick Irvin to move into the sole possession of third place on the all-time NHL coaching wins list with 693 as Chicago improved to 10-1-3 in the second game of back to backs this season.

"I'm fortunate and happy with the places I've been," said Quenneville. "Took a little while to get this last one, but certainly it's been fun and we'll keep pushing forward."

Chris Higgins and Tom Sestito had the goals for Vancouver (27-19-9), which dropped its second straight. The Canucks hold down the final wild card spot in the Western Conference, but the ninth-place Phoenix Coyotes are three points back with two games in hand.

Vancouver is 2-3-0 in the absence of suspended head coach John Tortorella, who will sit out one more game after he tried to get into the Calgary Flames' locker-room after that infamous line brawl on Jan. 18.

The Canucks have been held to two goals or fewer in nine of their last 10 games and have just four wins in 15 outings.

"We have to fight through this," said Canucks forward Daniel Sedin, whose goal-scoring drought is now at 14 games. "We've got to believe in what we do out there and start making plays -- I think that's the main thing. When we have the puck I think we're too passive.

"I think when we have the puck we have to start believing in what we're doing."

Things were looking good for the home side early in the second period after Sestito doubled the Canucks' 1-0 lead with his fifth of the season at 2:44.

But the Blackhawks' fifth-ranked power play finally made a breakthrough against the league's No. 3 penalty kill when Hossa finished off a pretty tic-tac-toe passing sequence for his 23rd at 6:30. Chicago then tied things 3:39 later when Saad scored his 15th of the season on a nice deflection.

A couple of Luongo's Canadian Olympic teammates then conspired to give the Blackhawks a lead they wouldn't surrender. Toews scored his 18th at 10:47 before Sharp rounded out the blitz at 14:27 when he wired a shot farside for his 27th.

"They had a few chances early in the game and they kept on pressing," said Luongo. "Once they got one I felt like it deflated our team and they kept scoring."

Vancouver had a chance to get back in the game later in the period, but the league's 29th-ranked power play, which entered the night on a dismal 2-for-36 run, failed to generate anything.

Needing a big third, the Canucks were unable to find a way past Crawford on another man advantage midway through the period as Toews sprawled on the goal-line to keep Higgins' effort out.

Saad then iced it with 38 seconds left into an empty net.

"I think guys are discouraged," said Sullivan. "We've hit a bump in the road here and we've got to try and dig ourselves out of it. For me, there's no sense putting your head down and shrugging your shoulders. This is an unforgiving league."

The Blackhawks grabbed sole possession of first in the Central Division with the victory and sit second in the conference.

"Things went smoothly for us the first part of the season and going through what we're going through right now is when you find out about everyone," said Quenneville. "[I] still think that stretch hasn't been bad, but it feels so much better when you have that type of effort and get a result as well."

With the Canucks set to begin a five-game road trip on Friday night that will take them into the Olympic break, players from both teams heading to the Games in Sochi, Russia, were honoured before the opening faceoff.

Fans at Rogers Arena were just settling into their seats after the national anthems when Higgins opened the scoring just 16 seconds into the first. Canucks forward Ryan Kesler shovelled a puck towards the Chicago goal that Higgins sent through Crawford's five-hole for his 15th goal of the season and third in the four games.

"Getting scored on the first shift is never a good feeling but we knew that wasn't going to be the difference," said Toews. "We had a great momentum swing in the second scoring four goals like 
that. It was huge for us."

After taking that early punch, the Blackhawks carried the play for much of the rest of the period but couldn't find a way past Luongo or his posts.

Blackhawks defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson saw his shot from the point deflect off a stick and hit the crossbar before Hossa also found iron moments later.

"I'm sure [the team's confidence] is not at an all-time high," said Sullivan. "The greatest thing about confidence is it's fleeting. You can get it back just as quick as you lose it. It all starts with a good shift and it grows from there. We've got to get that snowball going."

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Rangers clip Islanders at frigid Yankee Stadium

Daniel Carcillo scored the tiebreaking goal 4:36 into the third period, and the New York Rangers completed a two-game sweep of the outdoor series with a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders at frigid Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night.

Building off their 7-3 win over New Jersey at the ballpark in the Bronx on Sunday, the Rangers took out another division rival under the lights in front of 50,027 fans. The temperature was 22 degrees when the first puck dropped at 7:45 p.m. with a single-digit wind-chill factor.

It got progressively colder as the night went on.

Benoit Pouliot also scored for the Rangers, who are 3-0 in their history while playing outside. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 30 shots while again adorning pinstriped pads in honour of the Yankees. The only goal he allowed was a late second-period tally to Brock Nelson that gave the Islanders a short-lived 1-0 lead.

The Rangers evened the season series with the Islanders 2-2. The teams will play for the final time this season on Friday at Madison Square Garden.

Wearing a ski cap with a pompom atop his mask, Evgeni Nabokov had 32 saves for the Islanders, who made their outdoor debut. Road teams are 9-1-1 in NHL outside games.

Carcillo fired in a rebound of Dominic Moore's shot for his third goal of the season, helping drop the Islanders to 0-3-1 in the last four games.

With both teams struggling to control the puck early, it took nearly 39 minutes for the scoreless deadlock to be broken by the Islanders and then 40 seconds for the Rangers to get back even.

The Islanders built up a big lead in shots, but couldn't get any past Lundqvist — despite getting the first three power plays and a 2-minute stint of 4-on-4 play. When Islanders forward Kyle Okposo went off for holding, and took Rangers forward Rick Nash with him for embellishing with 9:49 left in the second period, the Islanders held a 21-10 edge in shots.

By the time the period was over, the Rangers had cut it to 25-20.

The Islanders grabbed a 1-0 lead with 1:27 left in the second, using a fine three-way passing play to go in front. Cal Clutterbuck managed to fling the puck from the left circle into the middle as he fell to the ice. He connected with defenceman Matt Donovan, who quickly moved the pass to his right to Nelson, who fired a shot past Lundqvist for his 10th goal.

Before the goal was announced to the cheering and shivering sold-out crowd, the Rangers tied it with Pouliot's ninth of the season.

Derick Brassard did hard work from the back edge of the left post, worked the puck free and slid it in front past the prone Nabokov who was down in the crease. Pouliot gathered it and scored into a fairly open net with 46.3 seconds remaining in the second.

Both teams dealt with a bouncing puck during the scoreless first period, and Islanders forward Thomas Vanek had a puck hop over his stick from right in front of Lundqvist early in the second.

Nabokov was playing in his first full game since returning on Monday from a lower-body injury that forced him to miss 10 games. He backed up Kevin Poulin in a 6-3 loss to Boston on Monday, but came on in relief for the third period and stopped the only shot he faced.

He showed no signs of rust or difficulty playing out in the cold. Nabokov drank from a steaming cup at the bench during a break in the second period.

Lundqvist looked comfortable at the other end, playing on the Yankee Stadium ice for the second time in four days. Since giving up three goals in the first period against New Jersey on Sunday following a pregame nap, Lundqvist allowed just one over the next five frames.

While the Rangers had louder support in the stands, despite this being an Islanders home game, both sides were well represented and occasionally traded chants of "Let's Go Rangers!" and "Let's Go Islanders!" There were no visible signs of empty seats, even up in the far reaches of the upper deck that stretch into right-centre and left-centre field.

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Milos Raonic withdraws from Davis Cup with ankle injury

Canadian out with ankle injury

The Canadian Press Posted: Jan 29, 2014 10:36 PM ET Last Updated: Jan 29, 2014 10:47 PM ET

Milos Raonic has withdrawn from Canada's Davis Cup team with an ankle injury.

The Thornhill, Ont., native, who is ranked 11th in the world, said he'd hoped he would be ready when Canada begins its World Group first-round tie against Japan in Tokyo on Friday.

"This decision was very difficult to make but I believe in the players on our team and that they can get us the win," said Raonic in a statement Thursday. "With a team scenario the most important part this week is to come out with a team win and I believe this is the best way to do it."

Raonic will be replaced by fellow Thornhill native Peter Polansky.

He joins Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., Daniel Nestor of Toronto and Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil.

Dancevic, ranked No. 119 in the world, and the 135th-ranked Polansky will play a pair of singles matches against No. 18 Kei Nishikori and No. 140 Go Soeda.

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Kyle Lowry's 33 points lead Raptors in rout of Magic

For the second straight night, Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry stated his case as an NBA all-star.

But even after pouring in a game-high 33 points in a convincing win over the Orlando Magic, Lowry was managing expectations ahead of Thursday's announcement of the reserves for next month's game.

"I would be very honoured. It would be a great individual accomplishment," Lowry said when asked if the NBA coaches' decision mattered to him. "But at the end of the day, it's just another day for me."

Even though many would argue Lowry deserves a spot in New Orleans, he's widely expected to be snubbed, a victim of a perceived abrasive personality rather than anything to do with his play. 

'We are hungry and we want to win every game we play. Nobody has an agenda on this team, everybody is sharing the ball.'- Raptors forward Amir Johnson

His play spoke volumes again Wednesday. Lowry had 11 assists to go with his 33 points in the Raptors' 98-83 win before 17,694 fans at Air Canada Centre.

It was Lowry's second consecutive 30-plus point performance — a career first. The feat is even more impressive because it's come in the absence of injured DeMar DeRozan, another potential all-star.

"He's stepped it up," Toronto head coach Dwane Casey said of Lowry, who hit all five of his three-point attempts in the first quarter as the Raptors built a 33-20 lead and led all the way.

"I keep my fingers crossed that the coaches voted him in because he deserves it," Casey said. "I feel like both guys (Lowry and DeRozan) deserve it, because right now he's one of the best point guards in the league."

Lowry, who had 31 points in a win over the Nets in Brooklyn on Monday, set the tone for the night by opening the scoring with a 26-foot jump shot 58 seconds into the game to make it 3-0.

The Raptors led from there, winning their second straight game and fourth in five.

"We're just getting better and we're grinding it out every day," Lowry said.

Amir Johnson added 22 points and 11 rebounds while Jonas Valanciunas, the second-year centre picked earlier Wednesday to suit up in the Rising Stars Challenge at the all-star weekend in New Orleans next month, added 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Raptors.

The win moved Toronto (24-21) three games above .500 for the first time this season.

The Raptors, who lead the NBA's Atlantic Division by three games over Brooklyn, were 16-29 after 45 games last season on their way to missing the playoffs for a fifth straight year.

"We are hungry and we want to win every game we play," said Johnson, who sat in front of his locker after the game with each foot in a bucket of ice nursing an ankle he rolled. "Nobody has an agenda on this team, everybody is sharing the ball."

Johnson said it would be "awesome" for Lowry to get his first career all-star nod.

"He's become our all-star and one of the main reasons why we have been so successful winning these games," Johnson said.

Facing the NBA's worst road team, the Raptors jumped on Orlando from the start. Led by Lowry, Toronto matched a club record from November 2009 with eight three-pointers in a quarter in the first, and hit 11 of their first 12 shots of the night from beyond the arc. A stretch of nine straight was the first time the team made that many consecutively since February 2005 against the Los Angeles Lakers.

"We made shots. We spaced the floor well," Lowry said.

The Raptors led by as many as 19 points. Orlando (12-35) cut the lead to eight points with 7:20 to go in the third quarter but that's as close as they got on the way to losing their 10th consecutive road game.

The Raptors now head out West on a tough, five-game road trip starting Friday in Denver.

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Scrivens' record 59-save shutout lifts Oilers over Sharks

When the Edmonton Oilers traded for Ben Scrivens on Jan. 16 they did so in hopes the Spruce Grove, Alta., native would solve their inconsistent goaltending problems.

The 27-year-old showed on Wednesday he may just be the solution. Scrivens stopped all 59 shots he faced to backstop the Oilers to a 3-0 win over the San Jose Sharks. The win matched Edmonton's season-high three-game winning streak.

"Hats off to the goaltender, he was tremendous," said San Jose coach Todd McLellan. "Probably first, second and third star. If he wasn't he deserved it. Heck of a performance. In all my years in the league I don't think I've seen that. We attempted 100 shots on goal, that doesn't happen very often."

Are the Oilers' goaltending issues solved?

The 59-save shutout is an NHL record. The 59 shots tied the mark for the most ever given up by Edmonton and Scrivens' 59 saves were a team record. Previously Edmonton gave up 59 shots to the New York Rangers in 1993, winning that game 4-3.

The Oilers were outshot 20-7, 22-9 and 17-11 by periods as the Sharks, 7-3-0 in their previous 10 games, dominated play, territorially and by shots. But they couldn't beat Scrivens, who made his fourth start for the Oilers and won his second game. He went into the game with an 8-7-4 record, a 2.03 goals-against average and .930 save percentage.

He improved all three of those marks Wednesday.

"I was seeing the puck well," he said afterwards. "We got extremely lucky with a couple of posts in the second.

"I had an awful, awful warm-up, it was an inauspicious start to it," he added. "It's one of those things where you try not to look at the forest while you're in the trees. You try to focus on the process and give yourself a chance to make that save and when the puck drops again, you try to focus on the next one and don't try to get too far ahead of yourself."

Other than Scrivens the team effort was spotty at best.

"That's how I thought our skaters were playing the game; they were watching Ben play," said Oilers coach Dallas Eakins who wasn't particularly happy despite the win. "It was an incredible thing to watch, I've never seen that before. I'm so happy for Ben and proud of him and then you're mad at the same time."

The Oilers capitalized on San Jose mistakes to get the win they didn't really deserve.

Defenceman Justin Schultz in the first period and Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle in the third scored the Edmonton goals. Schultz scored on a shot from the blue line that defected off a San Jose player in front of goaltender Antti Niemi. Hall buried a shot just under the crossbar to finish off a two-on-one break with Eberle six minutes into the third and he assisted on Eberle's goal in the final two minutes.

'I had an awful, awful warm-up, it was an inauspicious start to it. It's one of those things where you try not to look at the forest while you're in the trees.'- Edmonton Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens

The story was all Scrivens, who got a well-deserved standing ovation late in the second period and several more in the third. While the Sharks rattled two shots off the goalpost in the second period, Scrivens had them shaking their heads with some of his spectacular saves.

Among his best were point-blank stops off Patrick Marleau, Jason Demers twice, Bracken Kearns, Brent Burns and Tommy Wingels.

"Usually when you put 20 shots on goal in the first period you get one goal," said Wingels. "So at that point we knew we would have to keep going. We were saying get 20 more shots, get 20 more shots and you think that's a recipe for success. Unfortunately tonight it wasn't."

Hall said the Oilers skaters could sense towards the end of the first period that they were watching something special.

"Obviously you don't want to give up 59 shots, but sometimes a goalie has to stand on his head and that has to be one of the best performances by a goalie, I have ever seen."

The loss was San Jose's first to Edmonton this year after winning 3-1 and 5-1 in their previous two games.

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Carey Price, Canadiens shut out Hurricanes to snap skid

It took the arrival of the red-hot Carolina Hurricanes to get the Canadiens out of their funk.

The Hurricanes came to the Bell Centre riding a four-game win streak, and sporting one of the best records in January at 9-3-0.

But Montreal cooled them off on Tuesday night, winning 3-0 on the back of a 36-save shutout by Carey Price and an all-around team effort in front of him.

"The team was engaged," said head coach Michel Therrien, celebrating a Habs victory for the first time in almost two weeks. "It was a nice team win. A lot of guys had great games." 

'The team was engaged. It was a nice team win. A lot of guys had great games.'- Canadiens coach Michel Therrien

Coming into this one it was a tale of two teams.

The Hurricanes (24-20-9) had won four in a row and 10 of their last 13. They jumped four places in the Metropolitan Division in the month of January, good for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Forwards Alexander Semin and Eric Staal came to Montreal looking to extend six-game point streaks.

The Canadiens (28-20-5), meanwhile, had lost four in a row, including a 5-0 shellacking at the hands of the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Montreal had been outscored 19-5 on their losing streak, and had given up at least four goals in each of their last six games.

But the Habs kept the opposition off the scoreboard on Tuesday, relying on two first-period goals, a staggering 27-blocked shots and a goaltender at his best.

"As a group we knew what we needed to do," said Price, who earned his third shutout of the season. "There's no question that we talked about it enough, and it was time to do it.

"We played with a lot of confidence tonight. That's what it comes down to. It came down to us just willing to win."

After a big save by Price on Nathan Gerbe at one end of the rink, the Canadiens' Brandon Prust scored what turned out to be the winner on a fast break the other way at 6:11 of the first period.

Rene Bourque, who had only one assist since the start of the year, started the tic-tac-toe play when he found Josh Gorges in the clear to Anton Khudobin's right. Gorges, who finished the game with a team-high seven blocked shots, quickly dished the puck to Prust, who beat the Hurricanes netminder with a wrist shot under the blocker for his fifth of the season.

"My goals are usually when crashing the net, going off my leg or something," said Prust. "This was a good one to get."

The Canadiens doubled their lead late in the period when Brendan Gallagher persistently poked home his own rebound, getting the better of the Hurricanes in a six-player melee in front of Khudobin's net.

Max Pacioretty added an easy tap-in at 1:41 of the second for his 22nd of the year to make it 3-0.

Therrien praised his team, but also the way they approached the recent bad form.

"It's really important how you face adversity," said Therrien. "We decided to stay positive with our players. It's all about attitude. When you have the right attitude, it's always helpful."

The game was Carolina's second in as many nights, and fifth in seven days. The Hurricanes beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Monday, scoring three third-period goals for the come-from-behind victory.

"We seemed to be out of gas a little bit," said Eric Staal, who was frustrated on three occasions by Price. "You never want to use that excuse, but we have played a lot of hockey here.

"If we were really feeling good and jumping, we would have had a better attack. But when we did get chances, Price was real good and made a lot of key saves."

Khudobin made 27 saves for the 'Canes.

Montreal has now won six of its last seven against Carolina at the Bell Centre.

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Seahawks' Marshawn Lynch bolts from Super Bowl Media Day session

Seattle Seahawks star Marshawn Lynch made an early exit at Super Bowl media day, then returned to Tuesday's session just in time to possibly avoid a hefty fine from the National Football League.

The running back abruptly left the required session at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., walking out after 6 1/2 minutes.

He later came back and stood on the side of the media area, doing interviews with the Armed Forces Network, Deion Sanders for the NFL Network and a Seahawks Web reporter. Lynch also talked to teammates and signed footballs and a helmet for fans in the stands.

While he did that, about five dozen media members stood in front of Lynch and shouted out questions. He ignored almost all of them as time ran out in Seattle's 45-minute availability.

'Players are required to participate and he participated. We will continue to monitor the situation.'- NFL spokesman Greg Aiello on Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch

One reporter asked, "Are you trying to avoid being fined by standing here?" Lynch twice nodded his head yes.

Earlier this month, Lynch was fined $50,000 US for not co-operating with the Seattle media. The NFL put the fine on hold, saying it would be rescinded if his behaviour improved.

"Players are required to participate and he participated. We will continue to monitor the situation," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Tuesday.

Lynch has required media sessions Wednesday and Thursday. The Seahawks play the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

At media day, Lynch was standing on the floor of the covered-over hockey rink among a cluster of about 100 reporters. There were eight podiums set up for Seattle stars and coach Pete Carroll, plus nine other separated areas separated from the throng. Lynch wasn't positioned at any of them. The team decided to put him among a group of players standing behind barriers with reporters on the other side.

Lynch answered a half-dozen questions before walking away. He came back a little bit later, off to the side of the interview zone, but close enough to hear questions. And to answer them, had he felt so inclined.

He generally didn't.

Lynch watched as the clocked counted down to zero and, when it was announced the Seattle portion of media availability was over, he left for good.

Lynch never has explained his beef with the media. He regularly spoke to reporters until late in the 2012 season. In March of that year, he signed a four-year contract worth $31 million, including a guaranteed $18 million. In July 2012, he was arrested for driving under the influence near his hometown of Oakland, Calif.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday of Lynch's actions:

"He's such a major factor on our football team, but in this setting he becomes somewhat of a recluse and doesn't want to be a part of it. We try and respect that as much as we can."

• On whether he is having the time of his life this week.

"Yeah."

• On his feelings about media day and the fans.

"Man, I appreciate this. This is love right here, straight up. They came to watch people get interviewed? This is amazing right here, man."

• On why interviews are uncomfortable for him.

"I think you're just taking it wrong. [It] don't make me uncomfortable."

• On whether he enjoys media attention.

"Nope. I'm just about action. You say `hut' and there's action. All the unnecessary talk, it don't do nothing for me. I appreciate that people want to hear from me, but I just go to work and do my thing. You feel me?"

• On whether he understands that media attention helps connect him to the fans.

"I understand that. My fans love me regardless. They love the Seahawks. They aren't worried about what I've got to say. They just want to make sure I show up to perform."

"They're a talented defence. They're a great defence. They're out there to do their thing. I'm more worried about what we've got going on."

• On why he, as a prominent player on the team, is not at a media day podium.

"I like to keep it low key."

• On receiving congratulations for his contract to endorse Skittles.

"Oh man, a lot of contracts."

• On fullback Michael Robinson.

"He's big-time, man. He enjoys that, with the mics and everything; the Rob Report. He enjoys that kind of stuff. That's right up his alley."

• On having Robinson back in Seattle.

"It's big. He's a mentor for me. He's got a lot of knowledge about the game. He plays with passion. That's something I can identify with and that's my boy."

• On the first time he ever thought about playing in the Super Bowl.

"It was probably the first time I told my mama I was going to play in the NFL. I was young, probably Pop Warner [age] playing for the Saints. It was right there in West Oakland. Right there at Raimondi Park, about to bounce out. I told her that. She remembered, though. She reminded me of it, too. Yeah, she'll be here [at the game]."

• On the significance of having won the Silver Bowl, a city championship, as a high school player in Oakland, versus being in the Super Bowl.

"I don't know. That's tough, man. To this point, that's a highlight of my life, winning that Silver Bowl in Oakland. That's pretty big time for me."

• On whether he thinks he will play harder in the Super Bowl given the magnitude of the game.

"Every time I go on the field, boss, I give what I got. That's just straight up."

• On the game taking a toll on his body.

"Football takes a toll on your body. That's just the way I play. I guess I'm kind of used to it or something."

• On whether he envisioned this after being traded from Buffalo to Seattle in 2010.

"You know, it was an opportunity for me to go and see if there was something else out there. I'm glad I got the chance to do that. Crazy stuff right here, though, but I'm just pleased with the opportunity I have to be a part of this. I just rolled with my gut, straight up. I took that feeling right then and there that this was the best situation."

• On whether he's been able to enjoy the moment.

"A little bit. I won't be satisfied with this until it's all over. When we win, that's when I'll be satisfied. Until then, I've got work, but I appreciate all this.

"Y'all have a good day."

— The Associated Press

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Flames take advantage of slumping Blackhawks in OT

Bad luck for the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime continued against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

T.J. Brodie scored at 2:26 of the extra session to lead Flames to a 5-4 win over the slumping Blackhawks, whose overtime record fell to 0-6 this season.

"Overtime's been a sore spot," said Chicago coach Joel Quenneville, who's baffled by his team's inability to play well in OT. "I think we've got enough assets in there. In overtime, we've got to find a way to make it happen."

Brodie picked up a rebound in front of Chicago goalie Corey Crawford before scoring a wraparound goal to emerge as the hero in front of an announced crowd of 19,289 fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

"It's always nice winning, especially against a team like that," Brodie said.

The third-year defenceman gave credit to Flames forward Lee Stempniak and Sean Monahan for setting up his goal.

"There was a battle on the red-line and Stempy won the battle and gave a pass to Mony," Brodie explained. "Mony made a good play cutting to the middle and got a shot off. Crawford sort of slid out of the net from the shot. I just tried to wrap it around back out front and it ended up going in."

Mikael Backlund scored twice for the Flames (19-27-7), who won three straight games for the first time this season.

"There was a lot of emotions out there, a lot of chances back and forth," Backlund said. "These are fun games to play. I'm sure the coaches didn't think that, but I enjoyed the game."

Matt Stajan had a goal and an assist for Calgary, Lance Bouma also scored and Stempniak set up three goals.

Marian Hossa scored twice for the Blackhawks (32-10-13), who have gone 0-2-2 in their previous four games. Patrick Kane and Ben Smith also scored for Chicago.

"They're a hard-working team so we expected them to work hard," Kane said. "They always seem to give us a tough game in this building. We had to be ready for it. I thought we did a good job fighting back. It was just a few too many mistakes."

Neither of the starting goalies played particularly well and both were replaced in net by their respective head coaches.

Reto Berra stopped 20-of-24 shots he faced through two periods before Karri Ramo took over in the Calgary net for the final frame and overtime. Ramo made nine saves to pick up the win.

Antti Raanta drew the start in net for Chicago, but was pulled after he stopped just 11-of-15 shots he faced through 1 1/2 periods of play. Crawford came on in relief and stopped 13 consecutive shots before giving up Brodie's OT goal.

The Flames held a pair of one-goal leads in the first period before the Blackhawks responded both times to tie up the game 2-2 after 20 minutes of play.

Calgary jumped out to a quick start as captain Mark Giordano rang a shot off the post 37 seconds into the game before Backlund scored his 10th goal of the season at 1:13 of the first.

Backlund took a pass Stempniak and shook off a check from Chicago defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson before backhanding a shot that snuck through Raanta's legs.

The Blackhawks evened the score at 5:53 when Kane converted a nice backhand pass from Kris Versteeg from behind the Calgary net.

The Flames regained their one-goal lead at 11:34 when Bouma's weak wrist shot hit Raanta in the shoulder before bouncing up and over the Chicago goalie and into the net.

Once again, the Hawks drew even on a goal by Hossa with 3:25 remaining in the opening frame. Patrick Sharp appeared to score the goal, but his stick hit Hossa's, which actually directed the puck into the net behind Berra, who made a great pad save to stop the initial shot taken by Jonathan Toews.

David Jones made a nice play to set up Stajan for his ninth goal of the season at 3:21 of the second before Backlund converted a feed from Stempniak for a short-handed marker at 10:25 to put the Flames up 4-2.

The Hawks pulled back to within one when Smith's long wrist shot bounced off of Berra's catching glove and into the net. Hossa then tied the game at 4-4 when he swatted a rebound past Berra at 17:33 of the second while Chicago was killing off a penalty.

The Blackhawks outshot the Flames 9-7 in the third period, in which neither Ramo nor Crawford surrendered any goals.

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Spezza, Da Costa lift Senators over Blue Jackets

In a game in which both teams badly needed a win to stay in the playoff picture, Jason Spezza did what captains do.

Spezza scored a power-play goal with 5 minutes left and Stephane Da Costa had the other two goals to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

"It was a tie game and we got a faceoff play and then a little bit of puck luck in front of the net," Spezza said. "Johnny on the spot."

After Nathan Horton went off for tripping at 13:08, the Senators took advantage late in the power play. 

'It was a tie game and we got a faceoff play and then a little bit of puck luck in front of the net.'- Senators captain Jason Spezza

Colin Greening's pass through the crease was deflected by Blue Jackets defenceman Fedor Tyutin, with Spezza closest to the loose puck. His first shot was blocked by Tyutin, but he took another whack at it and got it past McElhinney for the tiebreaker.

Spezza, named captain in September, is having a solid if unspectacular season. He also picked up his 23rd assist to go with his 14th goal. But he came into the game with a minus-21 plus/minus rating.

"No doubt I've had much better years in the past," he said. "But there's a lot of hockey left, and I have a lot to give."

Craig Anderson had 34 saves for the Senators, who had lost two in a row and four of five but picked up a critical win against another team they're battling for contention in the Eastern Conference.

"You've just got to be patient," Anderson said while improving to 17-10-7 on the year. "That's the key to any position, especially goalie. You start chasing (the puck), they can make you look silly or foolish. Patience is a virtue."

Down a goal headed into the third period, the Blue Jackets tied it on a power play.

Anderson turned away one hard shot by James Wisniewski from the top of the right circle, but moments later the Columbus defenceman got another chance and this time he found the net. Matt Calvert helped set it up with a screen that completely blocked Anderson's vision. The goal was Wisniewski's fifth of the year and came at the 7:16 mark.

But that just set up Spezza's big goal.

Anderson made several clutch saves in the waning moments after the Blue Jackets pulled their goalie for an extra attacker.

Up 1-0 after the opening period, the Senators made it 2-0 at the 6:24 mark of the second — and again it was Da Costa getting the goal.

Spezza corraled a loose puck along the back wall and waited patiently before feeding Da Costa for his second of the night and second of the season.

"It's real good to see him score," coach Paul MacLean said. "He was a good player for us tonight. Since he's come up, he's been good."

Calvert carried the puck around the back of the goal and fed it to the point, eventually getting it back at the right doorstep. He slipped a blind, between-his-legs and backward pass to Atkinson, who had an empty net for his 16th at the 12-minute mark.

Ottawa's Milan Michalek split two defenders in the high slot but lost the puck, with Da Costa trailing the play. He jabbed at the puck and got it through heavy traffic at the 8:06 mark of the first period.

The first one was just lying there on the power play so I kind of jumped on it," said Da Costa, playing only his eighth game with the Senators this season. "The second one was a real good pass from Spez to the backdoor and I just tapped it in."

The Blue Jackets, playing their third game in four nights and second of a back-to-back, looked tired and sluggish most of the evening.

"It took a long time (to get everyone skating) and some guys still aren't going," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "To me, that's it right there. We're a good team when we have 18 skaters going and we were missing too many tonight."

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Jets fall to division rival Predators

It took two tries but the Nashville Predators finally got the power-play goal they needed.

Mike Fisher scored 42 seconds into the third period moments after another goal was waved off for goalie interference. Fisher's goal proved to be the winner as Nashville held on for a 4-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

"We weren't sure about the call but we knew we had enough time to get another one," said Fisher.

"It was a similar play, just puck to the net, rebound and we were in the right spots."

Both Central Division teams are desperate for points as they head into the Olympic break well short of what they need to make the playoffs.

"We know we need to go on a tear to get back in it," said Fisher. "It's not going to be easy. We know there are a lot of teams right with us. . . . That's what makes these games exciting. It felt a little bit more like playoffs tonight."

The Jets (25-25-5) started the game a point ahead of Nashville (24-23-8) and finished it a point behind.

It was disappointing for a team that has been flying high since new coach Paul Maurice took over. Even with the loss they have won six of their last eight, including wins over Chicago and Anaheim in their own buildings.

"We were in the box maybe a little more than we'd want to be," said Jets forward Blake Wheeler, who scored his NHL career-high 22nd goal.

"It would have been nice to start the third 5-on-5 . . . From there we were looking at an uphill battle."

Maurice wasn't happy about the penalty Devin Setoguchi took at the end of the second period that set up the power-play goal at the start of the third, but said the issue was addressed and Setoguchi was aggressive in the remainder of the third period as the Jets tried to generate offence.

"The team gets one opportunity to learn from the mistake and then you expect a response like that, an understanding, a responsibility and respect for his teammates to do everything possible to get it back."

Overall, though, Maurice said the team played hard.

"It's just such a hard grinding game and it was a battle all the way through . . . you could see it in their faces coming to the bench, they gave it everything they have."

Seth Jones, Roman Josi and Nick Spaling also scored for Nashville. Chris Thorburn and Mark Scheifele had the other goals for the Jets.

On the downside, Nashville doesn't know yet how long they might be without the services of captain Shea Weber, who left the game with what was described as an upper-body injury.

But coach Barry Trotz said it was encouraging to see the way the team rallied in the third period without him.

"It gives a lot of the young guys some confidence. . . It's great for the learning curve," he said.

Jones got things started with a perfect wraparound at 3:48 that slipped by Ondrej Pavelec but Thorburn tipped in his first goal of the season off the faceoff for the Jets just 22 seconds later.

Josi put the Predators ahead 2-1 just 42 seconds into the second period on a slick one-two-three combo from Craig Smith and David Legwand.

Winnipeg struggled at times to get the puck out of their own zone in the second period.

They had a couple of legitimate scoring chances but the closest they came was a post on a long hard shot from Zach Bogosian.

Instead, it was Spaling who snapped one in at 17:18 to put Nashville up 3-1.

But the Jets made up for their early period struggles with two goals in just 27 seconds.

The first was Scheifele's shot into the crowd in front of Nashville goalie Carter Hutton that bounced in off his one of his own defencemen and it was capped with Wheeler's career-high 22nd of the season at the 18:40 mark.

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Super Bowl XLVIII: Players to watch

The Denver Broncos will take on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

With the league's top offence in the Broncos and its top defence in the Seahawks set to clash in the first New York-area Super Bowl, plenty of star power will be evident on both teams, along with some talented Canadians.

Check out the photo gallery above for a look at the potential game-changers in the NFL title match.

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Patrick Patterson's late jumper lifts Raptors over Nets

The Toronto Raptors are the only thing standing between the Brooklyn Nets and a perfect 2014.

Patrick Patterson stole Deron Williams' inbounds pass and made the go-ahead jumper with 6 seconds left, and the Raptors stopped a five-game winning streak by the Nets for the second time this month with a 104-103 victory Monday night.

Toronto dropped Brooklyn to 10-2 in January and opened a 2 1/2-game lead in the Atlantic Division over the Nets, who would be on the doorstep of the division lead if they could solve their neighbours to the north.

"These guys are chasing us but they're putting it together. They're playing well," Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry said. "We're the only team that beat them in 2014. I mean, that's a tough team. They had the game and we made a play and we made a shot." 

'We're the only team that beat them in 2014. I mean, that's a tough team. They had the game and we made a play and we made a shot.'- Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry 

Brooklyn had a three-point lead with 17 seconds left behind Paul Pierce in his best game with the Nets, but John Salmons scored on a drive with 12 seconds remaining before Brooklyn took its last timeout to move the ball into the frontcourt.

Patterson stole the pass and fed Lowry, who got it back to Patterson for his jumper. Pierce was well off on a final attempt.

"We knew they didn't have any timeouts. We guessed right and Patrick looked like Richard Sherman out there with that steal," Lowry said, referring to the Seattle Seahawks' defensive back who attended the game with a number of his teammates.

Lowry finished with 31 points and seven assists for the Raptors, who clinched a winning record in consecutive months for the first time since December 2009 and January 2010.

Pierce scored 33 points, making seven 3-pointers in a strong bounce-back performance after going just 2 for 10 in his emotional return to Boston on Sunday. He had the Nets in position to win after scoring their last nine points before Toronto stole it.

"Last night was a tough game to play in, so many emotions," Pierce said. "It was good to just get some normalcy back today and I felt comfortable, relaxed. But it would've been better if we got the win today, though."

The stunning turnaround deflated the crowd at Barclays Center for a back-and-forth game that drew a visit from several Seahawks, who will hold their Super Bowl media day Tuesday at the Nets' last home, the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Sherman and Bobby Wagner grabbed a baseline seat in the first half, while Russell Wilson and other players sat above in a private box.

Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors, who played without injured leading scorer DeMar DeRozan. Terrence Ross, who tied a franchise record with 51 points and made 10 3-pointers Saturday, had a quiet 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting.

But Toronto got a big boost from Patterson, who ditched the mask he began the game with for a recent broken nose and finished with 15 points off the bench.

"This is all about our toughness, our resiliency," Patterson said, "no matter who's out there during the course of the game, no matter who's not playing."

Andray Blatche scored 20 points for the Nets, who lost 96-80 in Toronto on Jan. 11, a night after they played two overtimes in a victory over Miami.

Lowry scored six straight points before Amir Johnson made a pair of free throws during an 8-0 run that gave Toronto a 94-85 lead with about 8 minutes to play. The Nets answered with nine in a row to tie it on Alan Anderson's jumper, and after Valanciunas' basket, Pierce nailed consecutive 3-pointers to make it 100-96 with 2:37 remaining.

"Paul played well," teammate Kevin Garnett said. "He totally carried us for that fourth quarter, that second half, and we all came in and just said at the end of the game we've got to make plays, we've got to close games out and tonight we didn't do that."

Toronto cut it to one and had a chance for the lead when Lowry stole Williams' pass intended for Pierce, but Williams redeemed himself by drawing an offensive foul on Lowry with 19 seconds left. Pierce then made two free throws, but the Nets couldn't overcome Williams' next giveaway.

"Two turnovers in the last minute of the game, it's not what I typically do, but that's how it goes sometimes," Williams said.

There were eight lead changes in an entertaining second quarter, two in the final 1.3 seconds. Anderson's 3-pointer put the Nets up by two, but Lowry beat the buzzer from beyond halfcourt to give Toronto a 57-56 halftime lead.

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Seahawks' Richard Sherman keeps focus on Super Bowl

From the moment he went to the podium, it was clear that Richard Sherman was enjoying the hype at the start Super Bowl week.

The Seahawks' loquacious cornerback smiled and laughed. He never shied away from questions about his post-game rant about Michael Crabtree immediately after Seattle won the NFC title last weekend and when it came time to get serious about himself he gave thoughtful answers.

What Sherman didn't do for the dozen camera crews and 50 members of the media at the Seahawks' news conference after landing in New Jersey was create any banner headlines or billboard material for the Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos.

He's learned from the uproar over his comments last week, when many came away with a poor opinion of him.

'You're constantly figuring out how the world works, how you can affect the world and how your words affect kids. I really want to ... influence and inspire kids ...'- Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman

"I still enjoy that because you're learning, constantly learning and constantly growing as a person," Sherman said Sunday night.

"You're constantly figuring out how the world works, how you can affect the world and how your words affect kids. I really want to affect kids and influence and inspire kids to really reach their full potential and live their life goals and go out there and make the world a better place, so if I can do that on this stage, it's a great blessing."

His focus this week is on the Broncos and the title game at MetLife Stadium.

There were no harsh words. He talked about his respect for the Broncos' top-ranked offence, his friendship with Denver receiver Demaryius Thomas and the fact that the blowup with Crabtree led to a good discussion about race relations.

"I think it did have some effect on opening up the channels of communication and conversation and dialogue," Sherman said. "I think I had some impact on it, and I want to have a positive impact. I want people to understand that everybody should be judged by their character and who they are as a person and not by the colour of their skin. I think that's something we've worked to get past as a nation, as a country, and we're continuing to work on it. It's healthy.

"Everything that happened, all the people who sent the messages, who tweeted what they tweeted, it ends up turning around to be a positive because it opens back up the discussion and people begin to get more educated. Anytime you get more knowledge, you're more powerful as a person."

Sherman was put under the microscope after post-game comments in which he said Crabtree is a mediocre receiver. The comments came moments after Sherman deflected a pass to Crabtree in the end zone late in the fourth quarter and it was intercepted, sealing the Seahawks' trip to the Meadowlands.

While he didn't apologize Sunday, Sherman doesn't see himself as the thug some made him out to be.

"I am just a guy trying to be the best," Sherman said. "I am a guy who wants to help this team win. I am a fiery competitor who puts his life into his work and puts his everything into his work. I came from humble beginnings and came from a place where not everyone gets out of. I am just trying to affect the world in a positive way."

Denver cornerback Champ Bailey said Sherman is clearly a great cornerback, one who has gotten attention because of his comments last week. Bailey likes players with personalities and has nothing bad to say about Sherman.

He also understands that people who didn't know Sherman are basing their opinions of him on one glimpse.

"When a lot of people don't know you and that's what you show them, and they haven't heard your name all day, which is typical for a corner who doesn't get a lot of balls, that's the way it is," Bailey said. "That's how it is. People make their judgments on what they see and hear, and if they don't know you they are going to draw their own conclusion. You have to live with it. If you are going to talk, you have to live with it."

In the past week, Sherman said he reached out to Ronnie Lott and Deion Sanders for advice on how to prepare for a Super Bowl. He also downplayed that none of the Seahawks has played in a Super Bowl.

"I've never seen experience play in games," Sherman said, noting the Seahawks had very little experience heading into last week's conference championship game.

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Chris Del Bosco, Kelsey Serwa named to Olympic ski cross team

Duncan, Thompson also earn spots on Canadian squad

CBC Sports Posted: Jan 27, 2014 2:11 PM ET Last Updated: Jan 28, 2014 12:14 AM ET

Alpine Canada announces Ski Cross team 1:52

Alpine Canada announces Ski Cross team 1:52

The Canadian Olympic Committee announced the final group of freestyle skiers who will represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics during a ceremony in Vancouver on Monday.

Moguls, aerials, halfpipe and slopestyle skiers were named to the team in a ceremony on Jan 20.

The roster includes:

Men

• Dave Duncan
• Brady Leman
• Chris Del Bosco

Women

• Marielle Thompson
• Kelsey Serwa
• Georgia Simmerling

"All three of us on the men's team are heading into Sochi looking for redemption," said Del Bosco, who was fourth at the Vancouver Olympics. "We all feel like we have a second chance."

"I know I'm not only speaking for myself when I say that we will do everything in our power to make our nation proud next month as we race for gold," said Serwa, another Olympic veteran and the 2011 world champion.

Duncan and Thompson are also legitimate threats for gold in Sochi, with both leading the respective men's and women's World Cup standings. 

Ski cross made its Olympic debut in Vancouver, where Canadian Ashleigh McIvor won gold in the women's event. She's now an analyst with CBC for Sochi.

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David Perron's hat trick powers Oilers past Canucks

It took a while, but Dallas Eakins has posted two consecutive wins, which he has rarely done in his first season as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers.

David Perron helped his coach's cause by scoring three goals as the Oilers doubled the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Monday night.

"It was a real good road game," said Eakins, enjoying a rare occasion to offer praise to his forwards, defence and goaltender alike.

The Oilers (17-32-6) earned consecutive wins after six straight losses, while the Canucks (27-18-9) suffered their second loss in the past three games.

This is only the fourth time this season and the first time since December that the Oilers have won two games in a row.

Edmonton also posted its first win in four tries against Vancouver this season.

Eakins was especially grateful for the tight win after the Oilers were blanked 4-0 in their last visit to Vancouver in December.

"We're slowly getting stronger and it's good for the group," said Eakins.

Jesse Joensuu's goal at 2:20 of the third period secured the win before Perron completed his hat trick with an empty netter with just over a minute left.

"You don't want to give David Perron two much room out there," said Eakins. "He can hurt you quickly. He's a deadly shooter and he was able to get freed up a couple times tonight."

Perron now has 22 goals on the season, offering a beacon of hope to an Oilers squad that has often played in a fog like the one that engulfed parts of Vancouver earlier Monday. But with the Oilers destined to miss the playoffs, he hoped the win would serve as a catalyst for success in the more distant future.

"We have to be able to look them straight in the eyes and tell [the Canucks] to go away in not always the nicest way," he said. "We need to be able to play with these guys in other years and it starts right now. We need to set it up for next year.

"The last four or five games are the way we need to play and we are going to get a lot of points if we do that."

The loss spoiled a strong effort from Jordan Schroeder, who had the two goals for Vancouver. They were his first since March 21, 2013.

With just over four minutes remaining in the game, Edmonton goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov denied Schroeder a hat trick, stopping his shot from the slot. The Edmonton goaltender then lay back on the loose puck and prevented Daniel Sedin from jamming it in as players from both teams crowded the crease.

Schroeder excelled in his first game since he was sidelined Oct. 19 with a fractured ankle. Before hurting his ankle, Schroeder sustained a broken foot in the pre-season and spent the off-season rehabilitating from shoulder surgery.

"Some hockey gods repaid me tonight," said Schroeder.

"It was fun to get to play again and getting some minutes on the top line there, that was fun. It felt good. It's disappointing we didn't get the win, but we made some mental mistakes, a few turnovers and [they] cost us the game."

Acting Vancouver head coach Mike Sullivan called, "Schroeder an infusion of energy," but lamented his top players' inability to do likewise -- and fail to keep pace with the Los Angeles Kings as they also won Monday.

One night after scoring five goals in a win over Phoenix, the Canucks continued their offensive struggles.

Daniel Sedin, clearly missing his injured brother Henrik, has now gone 13 games without a goal. Alex Burrows remains scoreless in the 22 games that he has played in an injury-riddled season.

"It's hard to win unless your best players are your best players," said Sullivan.

Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo lived up to his reputation as one of the Canucks' best players as both teams were playing the second games of back-to-back contests against different teams.

Although it's customary for the starting goaltender to rest the second night, Luongo played his second game in two nights while Bryzgalov replaced Ben Scrivens following his first win as an Oiler.

Luongo finished with 16 saves while Bryzgalov posted 25. The Canucks were blanked on two power plays while the Oilers failed to score on three.

Perron put the Oilers ahead 2-1 at 17:34 of the first as he jammed in a loose puck from in front after Vancouver defenceman Dan Hamhuis knocked it away from a driving Nail Yakupov. The goal came after yet another Canucks giveaway.

Schroeder drew the Canucks even at 2:39 of the second period as he put the puck in off Edmonton defenceman Corey Potter's skate. Joenssu gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead in the third period as he put in Ryan Smyth's pass from behind the net before Perron's empty netter gave Eakins a rare chance to celebrate consecutive wins -- without getting too excited.

"We know we have a very long way to go," said Eakins.

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Al Montoya shines as Jets rally to beat Blackhawks

Al Montoya's sweet homecoming was one sour night for Jonathan Toews and Co.

Montoya made 34 saves in his first win in his hometown and Andrew Ladd scored his 150th goal, leading the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-1 victory over the slumping Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

"This is very special. I've been waiting for this one since I was a kid," said Montoya, who dropped his first two career starts at Chicago. "I can't even describe it, all my friends, all my family in the stands. I've had some close ones, some good games in here, but this one takes it."

Blake Wheeler had two third-period goals as Winnipeg (25-24-5) won for the second straight day, improving to 6-1 under new coach Paul Maurice. It also averted a season sweep by the Blackhawks, who won each of the first three games between the teams. 

'I can't even describe it, all my friends, all my family in the stands. I've had some close ones, some good games in here, but this one takes it.'- Al Montoya on winning in his hometown

"That win right there is just a great sign of character," Maurice said.

Chicago (32-10-12) controlled the first two periods of its last home game before the Olympic break, but still went on to its third three-game slide of the season. The Stanley Cup champions open a seven-game trip Tuesday night in Calgary, and will not play again in Chicago until they take on Pittsburgh at Soldier Field on March 1.

Brandon Bollig scored in the first for the Blackhawks, and Corey Crawford had 18 saves.

"We just threw away another two points," Toews said. "I don't really have an explanation without seeming negative."

The Blackhawks got Duncan Keith back after the defenceman missed Thursday night's 2-1 loss at Minnesota due to an illness. But coach Joel Quenneville scratched forward Bryan Bickell, who has struggled since returning from a lower-body injury.

"Coach's decision. We need a lot more," Quenneville said. "We're looking for more."

Chicago led 1-0 before Wheeler sent a rebound over Crawford's right glove at 8:16 of the third for his 20th goal. Marian Hossa then had a turnover deep in the Blackhawks' end, and Ladd buried the open look against his former team for the tiebreaking goal at 12:53, drawing groans from the sellout crowd at the United Center.

Wheeler added an empty-netter for his fourth goal in the last four games.

"We know they have a lot of talent there and they like to control the puck," Ladd said. "But at the same time, you do get some chances against them. So we figured heading into the third with that one-goal lead we could turn it up a little bit and get some chances and get ourselves back in the game."

Montoya was terrific while subbing for Ondrej Pavelec, who had started the last eight games for Winnipeg. The 28-year-old goaltender shut down the Blackhawks after an early gaffe put the Jets into a 1-0 hole.

Bollig got a slick pass from Ben Smith a little more than a minute into the game and skated behind the net for a wraparound as he fell to the ice. The shot went off Montoya's stick and right pad for Bollig's sixth goal at 1:21.

The Blackhawks had several opportunities to add to the lead in the first, but Montoya was there each time. They outshot the Jets 18-2 in the period.

Montoya used his right pad to stop Hossa on a breakaway with 12:05 left in the first, and then stayed in after he was shaken up on the resulting collision with the streaking forward. He also made a sprawling stop on Bollig at the end of the period.

It was more of the same in the second, with Montoya stopping Patrick Kane on the right side of the net.

The Jets had a chance to tie it with 6 1/2 minutes left in the second, but Crawford used his right foot to kick away a shot by Bryan Little and Ladd's rebound attempt went off Sheldon Brookbank's left skate.

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Rick Nash, Rangers thump Devils at Yankee Stadium

After sun reflecting off the ice delayed the first hockey game at Yankee Stadium, the New York Rangers and pinstriped goalie Henrik Lundqvist beat the New Jersey Devils 7-3 in snow and cold Sunday.

Rick Nash scored for the fifth straight game, and the New York Rangers used a four-goal second period to take the lead for good.

The Devils led 1-0 and 3-1 in the first, but New York got within one before intermission and then swarmed future Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur.

After Dominic Moore and Marc Staal had goals in the first for the Rangers, Mats Zuccarello scored two straight to put New York ahead for the first time. Carl Hagelin and Nash found the net, too, behind the beleaguered Brodeur, who angrily swatted the puck away after one of the tallies.

Nash has seven goals in his streak and 18 this season.

A day after the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks played in 60-degree weather at Dodger Stadium, the NHL returned to conditions more fitting for hockey.

Lundqvist, who sported stylish pinstriped pads for the occasion, stumbled through a difficult first but settled down and made 19 saves.

He hadn't allowed more than two goals in his previous seven outings. The Devils took care of that in the first.

Jaromir Jagr had two assists to excite the large number of New Jersey fans who made the trek to the Bronx for what was nominally a Devils home game.

The teams played through the second period as the snow started and increased in intensity, not long after they were forced to wait around an extra hour to drop the pick because of bright sunshine that created a dangerous glare on the ice.

The temperature was 24.9 degrees when the first puck dropped at 1:41 p.m. in front of a sellout crowd of 50,105.

Yankee Stadium's second hockey game will take place on Wednesday night when the Rangers will again be the road team in a matchup with the New York Islanders.

Zuccarello tied it 3-3 at 2:48 of the second when he redirected in a pass from John Moore, and put New York in front at the end of a 3-on-1 rush with 7:16 left. Benoit Pouliot chipped the puck ahead at centre ice to Derick Brassard, who sent a pass from the right side to Zuccarello for his 15th goal.

Hagelin made it 5-3 just 1:09 later when he flipped a shot from the right circle that appeared to hit Devils defenceman Marek Zidlicky before getting through Brad Richards' screen and by Brodeur.

The Devils netminder was again victimized by an odd-man attack that Nash finished with 28.5 seconds left in the middle frame. Brodeur was serenaded with derisive chants of "Mar-ty ... Mar-ty" as Rangers fans in the stands made their voices heard.

He watched the rest of the game from the bench, as Cory Schneider replaced him to start the third. Brodeur allowed six goals on 21 shots.

Schneider gave up Derek Stepan's penalty-shot goal with 9:54 remaining. The seven goals matched the Rangers' season high.

The Devils grabbed a 1-0 lead 5:36 in when Elias took a pass from Ryane Clowe at the Rangers blue line and came in alone. He snapped a shot that beat Lundqvist inside the left post.

The early edge was short-lived as Moore tied it at 9:07 with his fourth goal. Moore got to a loose puck off a rebound of defenceman Anton Stralman's shot and flipped the puck into the net at the right post.

But Elias struck again just 22 seconds into New Jersey's second power play, with help from Czech Republic Olympic teammate Jagr, and put the Devils back in front with 9:00 minutes left with his ninth goal.

Jagr rushed the puck toward the net at the left post, and got Lundqvist to go down. But instead of shooting, Jagr found Elias driving to the net and fed him a perfect pass for a goal from the top of the crease.

That pushed Jagr past former Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Mario Lemieux for 10th place in the NHL career assist list. Jagr had tied Lemieux on Friday against Washington with another two-assist performance.

Jagr notched assist No. 1,035 when Zajac made it 3-1 with 3:53 left in the first. Mark Fayne fired a drive that struck Jagr in front and bounded toward Zajac, who got the puck in front of the crease and scored his eighth goal.

The Rangers got back within one when Staal turned a faceoff win in the Devils zone into a score when his shot squeezed in between Brodeur's pads with 3:01 remaining. It was Staal's third of the season.

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Scott Stallings wins at Torrey Pines, Graham DeLaet 2nd

In a tournament that was up for grabs, Scott Stallings hit a 4-iron worthy of a winner Sunday in the Farmers Insurance Open.

Stallings was in a five-way tie for the lead when he hit his second shot on the par-5 18th hole as hard as he could. It was enough to barely clear the water, and he took two putts from 40 feet for birdie and a 4-under 68 at Torrey Pines.

That was enough for a one-shot victory when no one could catch him.

It was the third career PGA Tour victory for Stallings, who earned a return trip to the Masters and should move high enough in the world ranking to qualify for the Match Play Championship next month in Arizona.

K.J. Choi had the best score of the week on the South Course with a 66 and was among those who tied for second. The pins were set up in favourable positions for birdies, making the course play the easiest it had all week.

But that didn't make it easy — not for Gary Woodland, Jordan Spieth, Pat Perez and so many others who squandered a good chance to win.

Woodland appeared to have the best chance to catch Stallings. He was one shot behind — with plenty of length to reach the 18th in two — until he chose fairway metal off the tee on No. 17 and hooked it into the canyon. He felt he had to make his 45-foot par putt to have any chance, and three-putted for double bogey. Woodland, who had a one-shot lead going into the final round, missed an easy birdie attempt on the 18th and closed with a 74.

"This will be hard to swallow," Woodland said. "I felt like I kind of gave one away today."

Marc Leishman of Australia had the last chance to force a playoff, but his drive on the 18th went well right and bounced off the cart path and a fan. He had no shot at the green in two, and his wedge for an eagle stopped a few feet to the side of the hole. His tap-in birdie gave him a 71 and a share of second.

Stallings finished at 9-under 279.

Jason Day (68) and Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., (68) each made birdie on the last hole to tie for second. So did Perez, the San Diego native who grew up at Torrey Pines and whose father is the longtime starter on the first tee at the Farmers Insurance Open. Perez missed a 10-foot birdie chance on the 17th. He closed with a 70.

"It's great and bad," Perez said about his runner-up finish. "This is the one I want to win more than anything in the world, and I came up short. ... I thought today would have been my day. I would like to be in that position again."

Spieth didn't make a birdie over the last 15 holes, and he fell back with back-to-back birdies late in the round. The 20-year-old Texan made a meaningless bogey on the last hole that only cost him a spot in the top 10. By then, his day was over. He closed with a 75.

"I just lost control of the golf ball," Spieth said.

He also revealed that he tweaked his ankle Friday and felt it kept him from getting into the right position on his back swing.

Woodland went from a chance to win to a tie for 10th.

Deep into tournament, nearly 20 players were separated by only two shots. It was similar to when Jimmy Walker won the Sony Open two weeks ago in Honolulu, emerging from the pack with a late burst of birdies.

Stallings made six birdies over his last 11 holes, along with a pair of bogeys. Most remarkable is that he managed to hit only four fairways in the final round. But one that he did was important — the 537-yard closing hole, giving him a chance to get home in two for a birdie at worst.

He said caddie Jon Yarbrough — fired by Woodland late last year — told him in the 18th fairway, "Let's see what you've got. You've worked your butt off."

"I hit 4-iron as hard as I could," Stallings said.

It was just enough to clear the water, and while it trickled off the front of the green, he could still use his putter. He lagged it up to 30 inches for a short birdie putt that turned out to be the winner.

Charley Hoffman, another San Diego native, made a hole-in-one on the third hole and closed with a 67 to tie for seventh, along with Ryo Ishikawa of Japan and Will MacKenzie, who each had a 70.

Six players finished in the top 10 that are not in the Phoenix Open next week. Ordinarily, a top 10 gets a player into the next open tournament. In this case, the field already is full and they only can be alternates. That list includes Justin Thomas, who was playing this week on his fourth out of seven allotted sponsor exemptions. Thomas shot 69.

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Oilers crush Predators to snap 6-game skid

It took a full-team effort from the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday to halt a six-game losing streak.

Five players had a multi-point performance and goaltender Ben Scrivens made 34 saves as Edmonton avoided a seventh straight loss by defeating the visiting Nashville Predators 5-1.

"It was a good team win, all four lines and all six defence were rolling pretty good," said Edmonton defenceman Justin Schultz. "We got contributions from everyone tonight. Whether they were on the score sheet or not, everyone played well. It was nice to get a win."

Ryan Smyth, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Schultz had a goal and an assist apiece for the Oilers (16-32-7), who captured just their fifth win in the last 22 games, while Taylor Hall chipped in with two assists. Nail Yakupov added a single goal. 

'We got contributions from everyone tonight. Whether they were on the score sheet or not, everyone played well. It was nice to get a win.'- Oilers defenceman Justin Schultz

"It was nice to get out to an early lead and I thought we carried momentum shift after shift in the first period," Smyth said. "We desperately needed a win, to build some confidence. Now we have confidence that we can win. We can come from behind if we need to, but it was nice to play with the lead."

The Oilers have had five losing streaks reach five games or more this season, with six being their longest.

David Legwand responded for the Predators (23-23-8), who have lost two in a row against a pair of Alberta teams that are both in the bottom three spots in the standings, blowing a lead in a 5-4 shootout loss in Calgary on Friday.

"I'm quite disappointed," said Nashville head coach Barry Trotz. "We had a game in Calgary the other day and let a point slip away and tonight we had it 1-1 late in the first and I thought we would be in good shape. We gave up a poor goal in terms of our structure, it was bad coverage by us. When they got the third goal it took a lot of steam out of our bench."

Veteran Predators forward Paul Gaustad said the last two losses have hurt for a team trying to claw its way into the playoff picture.

"It's obviously not the result we wanted," he said. "Every team in this league is a really good team, no matter what the standings always say. We need to find ways to get two points. We have to start making a move up, we can't go down in the standings right now. These last two games, we needed to find a way to get more points. It's something we're not happy with."

Edmonton started the scoring three minutes into the game as Jesse Joensuu saw Schultz streaking in from the point and hooked a pass to the defender for a hard shot that beat Predators starter Carter Hutton.

Nashville tied the game up with four-and-a-half minutes to play in the opening period as Legwand elected to shoot it himself on a two-on-one break and picked the top corner past Scrivens.

The Oilers went into the dressing rooms on a positive note after a goal with 12 seconds left in the first period as Hall sent a great pass through the legs of defender Roman Josi to give Eberle an easy redirection into the net from the doorstep.

It was a significant goal, as the Predators came into the game with a 1-16-2 record when trailing after the first period.

Nashville thought it had clawed even just 48 seconds in to the second period, but Taylor Beck was called for goalie interference for running over Scrivens as he chipped the puck in and the goal was disallowed.

Edmonton went up by two goals midway through the second as Smyth picked up a rebound in the crease and hooked it past Hutton. It was Smyth's 125th power-play goal as an Oiler, tying him for second spot on the team's all-time list with Wayne Gretzky and putting him one back of leader Glenn Anderson.

"For Ryan, that was a special thing to do," said Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins. "Hopefully he can keep moving up the charts. Anything that has Mr. Gretzky's name on it and you can match it, it's a great, great accomplishment."

Smyth is also one goal back of hitting the top 100 list of all-time NHL scorers.

Edmonton made it 4-1 with three minutes left in the second frame as Sam Gagner hit a trailing Yakupov on an odd-man rush and the 2012 first overall NHL draft pick sent home his 10th of the season.

The Predators turned the third period into something of a shooting gallery at the Edmonton net and thought they had finally been rewarded on what looked to have been a Craig Smith goal, but once again Beck was called for goaltender interference as he was actually lying on top of Scrivens when the puck trickled across the line.

"I've never seen anything like that," Beck said. "On the first one I was just taking the puck hard to the net and my momentum kind of ran the goalie a little bit. I think the puck would have gone into the net regardless, but the ref called it no goal. On the second one I was getting hacked and whacked and ended up falling on the goalie and again it was disallowed. Those things happen, I guess. Hopefully next time it is called the other way."

Edmonton put the game away for good with four-and-a-half minutes left to play after some quick passing on the power play led to Nugent-Hopkins' 15th goal of the season.

Scrivens was peppered with 35 shots on the night, 17 of which came in the third period.

"Scrivens did an unbelievable job tonight, he was barking and talking and he was conducting the orchestra back there," Eakins said. "Ben was excellent directing traffic."

The Oilers return to action on Monday night with a quick trip to Vancouver. The predators conclude a four-game trip in Winnipeg on Tuesday.

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Bieksa powers Canucks to overtime win over Coyotes

Bizarre, strange and sloppy were just some of the words used to describe the Vancouver Canucks' wild victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Sunday night.

Kevin Bieksa scored his second of the night at 2:15 of overtime as the Canucks fought back after blowing two separate two-goal leads to defeat the Coyotes 5-4.

The defenceman collected his own rebound and chipped his fourth of the season over Phoenix goalie Mike Smith while falling to the ice, capping a game where Coyotes forward Antoine Vermette was credited with a hat trick — even though he only shot one puck into Vancouver's net himself.

"It was a strange game on both sides. It was bizarre," said Canucks assistant coach Mike Sullivan. "I think there might have been one goal that was actually shot in the net. It seemed like everything was a deflection off a skate, off a stick, off something, so it was just one of those games for both sides." 

'It wasn't your typical game. We've been struggling to score goals lately, so let's take some positive out of it. We put five in, some guys got on the scoresheet and we found a way to win when it came down to it.'- Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa

Chris Higgins had a goal and two assists for Vancouver (27-17-9), while Zac Dalpe added a goal and an assist. Jannik Hansen also scored for the Canucks, his first in 11 games.

Vancouver, which came in having scored just eight times in its last seven games, holds down the first wild card position in the Western Conference and is just a point back of the Los Angeles Kings for third place in the Pacific Division.

"It wasn't your typical game. We've been struggling to score goals lately, so let's take some positive out of it. We put five in, some guys got on the scoresheet and we found a way to win when it came down to it," said Bieksa, who also had an assist.

"We needed the two points. We were up a couple goals a few times and they came back and we stayed resilient and found a way to win."

Added Higgins: "Kind of a sloppy game and with the weird goals it was kind of a strange game. It's nice to be on the winning side of those games and nice to score a bunch of goals — it's been tough to come by recently."

Roberto Luongo, who was shaky at times and even directed one of Vermette's goals over the line himself, made 29 saves for the Canucks. On the whole, it was a night to forget for both Luongo and Smith as two of the three goalies heading to next month's Winter Olympics for Canada fought the puck and looked lost in the crease at times.

"It was definitely a weird one," said Luongo. "It was one of those games where it felt like the puck was bouncing in from everywhere. The good thing is we got the win."

Shane Doan chipped in with a goal and an assist for Phoenix (24-18-10), which got 20 stops from Smith as the Coyotes picked up a point but still sit four back of the Minnesota Wild for eighth in the West and five back of Vancouver.

"We're going to have to be better than we are right now," said Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett. "We play stretches well but make critical errors at the wrong time and those have to be cleaned up if we are going to be a playoff team."

After a wild finish to the second period, Doan tied the game 4-4 on a breakaway at 5:24 of the third. The Coyotes captain moved in on Luongo and lost control of his deke but still saw the puck squeak through the five-hole for his 15th of the season.

Vancouver was handed a power play right at the end of regulation, but the league's 28th-ranked unit failed to convert in overtime before Bieksa won it.

The Canucks' power play came into Sunday on a dreadful 2-for-30 run over the last eight games and rarely looked dangerous against the Coyotes in four failed attempts.

"When a power play struggles it can take on a life of its own," said Sullivan, who is running the Canucks' bench in place of the suspended John Tortorella. "Now not only are you trying to coach the Xs and Os of the strategy of the power play, but you are coaching the mindset and a fragile mindset."

Down 2-1 in the second, the Coyotes tied it while shorthanded against that feeble power play. Canucks forward Ryan Kesler tried to slap the puck off Vermette's stick in front of Luongo, only to see it carom into the Vancouver net to tie the score at 9:07. The goal was Vermette's second of the night and 17th of the season.

The Canucks had just 10 shots in total when Higgins restored Vancouver's lead at even strength by deflecting a shot from the point past Smith for his 14th of the season, and second in as many games, at 16:59. Dalpe then followed up his own rebound off the rush to score his third and stretch the Canucks' lead to 4-2 just 42 seconds later.

That two-goal lead would be short-lived as Vermette completed his second hat trick of the season — and third of his career — with 54.5 seconds remaining in the period with a shot from in close as the Coyotes broke through against the Canucks' stingy penalty kill, which came in ranked second overall. Vermette now has six goals in his last six games, and three short-handed goals in his last four.

"Free hat trick right there," Luongo said with a laugh. "At least he buried the last one to make it at least somewhat justifiable. It was just one of those nights where it felt like the puck was finding ways in."

Vermette was unapologetic when it came to his good fortune.

"You get good chances and the puck doesn't go in for you," he said. "I thought it was a good sign, we've been talking about those bounces lately. It's a sign that things are going to turn around."

The Canucks — who were still without injured forwards Henrik Sedin and Mike Santorelli because of upper-body injuries — beat Smith twice in a 44-second span midway through first period as both Bieksa and Hansen ended lengthy droughts.

Bieksa opened the scoring at 10:31 on a shot through traffic to pick up his first goal in nine games. The defenceman's third of the season was also his first point in the last eight contests and came moments after a failed Vancouver power play.

Hansen then doubled the Canucks' lead at 11:15, ripping a shot five-hole on a 3-on-2 rush for his ninth of the season and first point in nine games.

The fans at Rogers Arena were barely back in the seats when Phoenix cut the lead in half just 18 seconds later thanks to the gaffe by Luongo that inadvertently directed a loose puck off the stick of Vermette into his own net.

"There's a lot of positives, and some negatives as well," said Luongo. "They showed resilience when they went down two goals and we showed some as well when the game was tied both times we were able to get the next one."

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