The sweep of the NHL from Thursday night starts in Montreal, where the Canadiens won a game and lost player.
P.K. Subban was stretchered off the ice late in the third period with a suspected neck injury.
PK Subban was stretchered off the ice with a neck injury – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“You’re trying to win a hockey game, but you almost felt like you don’t want to keep playing at that point in time,” Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. “There’s a couple of minutes left in the game, but you’re really mostly entirely concerned for the athlete and for the person, and the game’s an afterthought.”
The injury happened in a collision with the Habs’ Alexei Emelin in the defensive corner.
“I think he was taken to the hospital, but they seemed optimistic,” said Montreal captain Max Pacioretty, who sustained a fractured cervical vertebra and a concussion when he was run into a stanchion between the benches by Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins in 2011. “But I’ve been in that position before and it brings back a lot of tough memories, so it was really hard for me to watch.”
Subban was hospitalized for observation at least.
“You always want to make sure your player is going to be healthy, [that] he’s going to be fine,” Therrien said. “It’s always scary when you see the doctor go on the ice and you don’t know what’s going on, and I think all the bench felt the same thing when he left on the stretcher. So we’re happy to get the win. But after I went to see him, he was with the doctor, we had a good conversation; he was capable [of moving] everything, and that’s the good news regarding the circumstances. But we really hope he’s going to be good.”
Mike Condon made 36 saves for the win.
Alex Galchenyuk had another two-goal game (his third in a row) and Torrey Mitchell scored the winner.
“We knew he came into the game red-hot, we knew he was on fire and unfortunately we were unable to stop him there,” Bylsma said. “He had the power-play opportunity there; that one, disappointingly enough, they had us on the ropes there for a lot of that power play and we blocked a shot there and it looks like we might get a reprieve, and kind of a bang-bang play. The puck bounces off of us and then it’s quick out to the front of the net, and Alex, he’s all alone, all by himself standing at our goalie. For a guy that’s that hot, it’s a tap-in for him.”
Nicolas Deslauriers and Brian Gionta scored for Buffalo.
In Sunrise, Jaromir Jagr scored twice to help the Florida Panthers end a three-game schneid in defeating the Ottawa Senators, 6-2.
“Sometimes the puck goes in, sometimes it doesn’t,” said Jagr, who has five two-goal games this season. “It’s a little bit easier at home. You’ve got your home fans kind of pushing you a little bit more, so it’s a little easier to play at home than on the road.”
Jaromir Jagr scored twice in win over Ottawa – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Vincent Trocheck had a goal and four points on the night.
“We just needed a little bit more confidence in here,” Trocheck said. “We’re a young team. The confidence was a little bit down, so having a win like this, scoring that many goals, it definitely gets your confidence back up. That’s the kind of thing that started that streak we had earlier in the year. I’m not saying we’re going to go on another 12-game winning streak, but I think that’s just what we need.”
Aaron Ekblad, Jonathan Huberdeau and Jussi Jokinen also scored for the Panthers.
“I feel I’ve been able to be consistent and playing with good players, playing big minutes,” Jokinen said. “Coach has a lot of confidence in me, so it’s been fun to play and fun to be able to contribute and help the team.”
Roberto Luongo had 32 saves in the win.
Zack Smith and Erik Karlsson scored for the Senators.
“I think we played great,” Karlsson said. “We just had some bad puck luck at the wrong time, and it wound up costing us the game tonight. For the most part, we played good enough to be in it. They were just getting a little more bounces than we were tonight.”
Craig Anderson made 25 saves in the loss.
“I thought we had a real good start, then we got stubborn,” Senators coach Dave Cameron said. “The stubbornness has been killing us all year. We force things and we try to make something happen when it’s low-percentage. The puck ends up in the back of your net, the other team gets momentum and you’re chasing the game. It’s frustrating to watch that stubbornness beat us night after night.”
In St Paul, the inconsistent Minnesota Wild lost, 2-1, to the Edmonton Oilers Thursday night.
Connor McDavid scored the game-winner late in the third.
“[Zack Kassian] made a great play on that goal, holding the puck a little longer and giving me a chance to build up my speed a little more; it bought me a little more time,” McDavid said. “Good play by him. [I was] just trying to get it on net, and fortunately it went in.
Connor McDavid – Photo by Jack Lima
“You’re kind of at an awkward angle, coming in fast. The goalie doesn’t really know how to play that, I don’t think. Probably should have been a save, but we’ll take it.”
Darcy Kuemper took the loss on 23 saves.
Lauri Korpikoski also scored for the Oilers.
“It is a real good feeling. I’m proud of the group tonight. Scrappy effort right from Minute One on through,” Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said. “To keep a team like that to one goal is a real good thing. A win on the road (is) a confidence-builder for us. Now if we can parlay this into a good homestand, we’ll be pleased.”
Cam Talbot made 29 saves for the win.
Zach Parise scored the lone Wild goal.
“We didn’t start the game off the right way, getting pucks deep. We had about 10-12 turnovers in the neutral zone, and we started chasing the game, and we have to be smarter,” Wild coach John Torchetti said. “That falls right into what they want to do. They want a track meet, and it gave them confidence, and we lost the game on a faceoff play.
“We have to get hungry in that area, and win that edge battle. We talked about it. We have to do a better job, and be focused. We’re not always trying to score a goal right out of that. We’re trying to make sure in defensive posture too. We have to play a two-way game there.”
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