The sweep of the NHL from Tuesday night focuses on the Central Division which is the most interesting and most competitive of the four.
Jamie Benn had two goals in win over Nashville – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
In Dallas, the Stars’ Jamie Benn scored two goals in a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators.
The loss kept the Preds from clinching a playoff berth.
“[We hit] four posts in the third period, it was tough. There’s some things we could have done better defensively, but [it was] certainly not an effort thing. The guys played hard,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said.
The Stars also got goals from Radek Faksa, Jason Spezza and Patrick Sharp.
“[Valeri Nichushkin] had a pretty good gap. I probably could have slid it over early. I didn’t, and [Nichushkin] did a good job of driving the back post and if a guy drives the back post, some of the times you can catch the goalie leaning, and I made a good shot,” Spezza said of his goal.
Ryan Ellis and Viktor Arvidsson scored for Nashville.
Kari Lehtonen‘s saves helped get the win for Dallas.
“I thought Kari was excellent,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “He made some real good saves for us. He made a big save [on Fisher] off one of our turnovers that turned into a goal going the other way, which for me was one of the turning points of the game.”
Pekka Rinne had 20 saves in the loss.
“We’ve had two games here where we had a chance to clinch a playoff spot and couldn’t do it,” Rinne said, “so we just have to go to Pittsburgh and hopefully get it done over there.”
In St Paul, the Minnesota Wild continued their solid play of late with a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
The win completed a season sweep of the Blackhawks.
“When it counts is the playoffs. It’s great that we got that (sweep) in the regular season. I wasn’t here for the first two (wins), but we know how to play them,” Wild coach John Torchetti said. “They’ve played them [many] times plus the three years in the playoffs. We should know how to play them. Now if we get a chance and are fortunate enough to make the playoffs, that’s got to be our marker.”
Jared Spurgeon and Erik Haula scored in the third period to break open a close 1-1 match to send the Wild to the win.
Devan Dubnyk helped Wild sweep Chicago – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“Every single game is important for us right now, so I don’t think it matters who you play against,” Minnesota captain Mikko Koivu said. “It’s good for confidence and moving forward. But there’s a lot of things that we need to prove as a team, and there’s good parts that we can still get another level, and we need to do that in order to be good moving forward.”
Devan Dubnyk made 18 saves in the win.
Jarret Stoll and Nino Niederreiter also scored for Minnesota.
“We’re playing a team game. We’re playing a fast, tight-checking style of a game, and that’s how we need to play,” Stoll said. “We can suffocate teams with our speed and checking ability and that’s what we did here tonight. We can do that against any team in this league, and that’s how you win in the playoffs, you win 2-1, 3-2, 1-0 by checking well, playing on the right side of the puck, and getting opportunities from that.”
Marian Hossa was the lone goal scorer for the Hawks and Scott Darling made 14 saves in the loss.
“Even if we would’ve won tonight, we wouldn’t be satisfied going 1-4 [against Minnesota],” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “Obviously, it adds insult to injury to lose this one tonight. There were a couple that we really didn’t play well and didn’t really deserve to win. I think tonight was an improvement, and obviously the score doesn’t look that way. It’s not fun to look back and have a record like that against a team in your division, especially a team like Minnesota. It’s not something we’re happy about.”
In St Louis, the Blues gave up a goal but still won, 3-1, over the Colorado Avalanche who are now five points back of the Minnesota Wild for the wild card spot.
“We try not [to notice the Minnesota score], but we all look up and see what’s going to happen,” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. “They are playing good hockey, and unfortunately now we’re five points back and have to find a way … what we’ve been doing all year. We never give up, and there’s no reason for us not to keep pushing and keep going. It’s up to us to try to do some good things.”
Brian Elliott fillay yielded a goal in win over Avs – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Brian Elliott (20 saves) and the Blues lost their chance for a record five-straight shutouts; the goal prompted a standing ovation from the Blues faithful.
“No, not in this building. It was awesome. That’s our fans,” Elliott said. “They recognize we played five hard games that we took a shutout streak in; that doesn’t happen often. … It’s trying to get your mind around it. It’s almost like the pressure is off now. You let the goal in and you can move on from the streak and start another one. It was a [heck of a] run; the guys played great and they continued tonight. Obviously, in this league, you’re going to let in a couple goals. All the credit to our guys and our team game.”
David Backes, Vladimir Tarasenko and Troy Brouwer scored for the Blues.
“It’s really important (to keep winning),” St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. “It could be a difference-maker. You look at the eight teams (in the Western Conference) that are going to be there, it’s tough sledding for anybody right now.”
Mikhail Grigorenko was the goal-scorer for the Avs.
“[Elliott] was fantastic as long as he was in the net and had a chance at it,” Backes said. “That was a defensive breakdown in front of him. It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s a tough one to stop backdoor after you’re sold on the shot. Just a breakdown in front of him, and that was bound to happen
“Maybe we can stop talking about that streak and start another one.”
Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves in the loss.
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