The three-game sweep of the NHL starts in Toronto where the Maple Leafs stayed hot with a 4-1 win over the St Louis Blues.
In their last 11 games, the Leafs are 7-2-2.
“It was a good win for our team,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We’re feeling better about ourselves as time goes on. We have earned the right to feel good about ourselves.
“This was a big win for us. [The Blues] played hard, they play right.”
James van Riemsdyk, Peter Holland, Nazem Kadri, and Michael Grabner scored for the Leafs.
“We know what is expected of us now,” van Riemsdyk said. “We’re not thinking as much because it’s almost second nature. When you don’t feel you’re thinking too much, you’re letting your abilities take over from there.”
Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the early to give them a 1-0 lead.
“We lost the third period and we lost the special teams,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “It was really disappointing. We put in two really good periods, but we couldn’t sustain any momentum when we had the lead. … We lost too many faceoffs in [the third period].”
Jonathan Bernier made 39 saves for the Leafs in the win. Jake Allen took the loss on 29 saves.
In Denver, the Calgary Flames’ Karri Ramo made 26 in a 4-0 win over the Avalanche Saturday.
“[Shutouts] are always nice, but it’s something that shows your team played really well,” said Ramo, who has five in his NHL career. “We played the full 60 minutes really well. Main thing is always to win the game, but these are nice, and it’s good to get the one out of the way.”
Dougie Hamilton got the scoring started in the first off the power play.
“We decided to roll with one goalie and the schedule is good to us that way,” Flames coach Bob Hartley said. “Karri’s taking advantage of it. He made some big saves. It’s a good team shutout.”
Ramo was in net despite losing two straight.
Josh Jooris, Matt Stajan and Mikael Backlund added goals for the Flames.
“I guess we focused more on seeing Iggy score that 600th instead of playing our game,” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. “We had a few good chances and we tried to pass the puck to him instead of bringing it to the net. An example, Tanguay’s all alone in front of the net and he’s trying a little play to Iggy.
“We’re going to have to refocus. It’s not that I don’t want to see Iggy scoring his 600th, but we need to play our games here. Our focus was not as good. Is it because of it? I don’t know.”
Jarome Iginla had an opportunity to notch his 600th career goal but will have to wait at least one more night.
In Raleigh, a tight game between the Hurricanes and Nashville Predators ended with a 2-1 Preds win after Mattias Ekholm scored in overtime.
“As it is, 3-on-3 is [getting] a break somewhere,” said Ekholm, who assisted on Nashville’s game-tying goal. “You just have to make something happen out there.”
It was the first win in extra time for the Predators this season; the new format has been a barrier to them.
“I thought we had the puck a little bit more,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. “We held on to it, we were patient. There were some overtimes earlier in the year when we had chances to win the game, and when it didn’t happen, it went back quick the other way. Tonight it was nice to get the win.”
Victor Rask scored for the Canes in regulation and Paul Gaustad‘s shorthanded marker got the game back to even.
“Those are games you have to learn how to win,” Gaustad said. “We knew that’s the style they play. It’s one of those patient games. You try to grind it and grind it, and when you get chances, you have to put them away.”
Pekka Rinne made 27 saves in the win.
“That was a real even game,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. “I didn’t think there was much room either way. I thought it was tough to generate anything.”
Eddie Lack took the loss on 19 saves.
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