The three-game sweep of the NHL starts in Toronto where the Detroit Red Wings edged the Maple Leafs, 2-1.
Jakub Kindl scored midway through overtime to give the Wings the win.
Leafs coach Mike Babcock was not pleased with the way his team failed to change up lines in the extra session.
“We had three guys on the ice,” Babcock said. “We should’ve changed going up the ice. That happened twice. We were caught out there tired and you stand there and they go by you. I thought [defenseman Jake] Gardiner did a real good job, he played the 2-on-1, but we shouldn’t have gotten it to be a 2-on-1.
“We had enough people on the ice it shouldn’t have been like that, but we had two guys flat-footed and one guy dead tired and those things happen.”
Henrik Zetterberg scored in the first period for the Wings (his 300th NHL goal).
“I think I’ll remember this one,” Zetterberg said. “I just tried to get it on net, and to be honest I don’t really know how it went in. It was a good dump. I just tried to use the defenseman as a screen and get it on net. I don’t think I actually got it on net. It was a little bit wide, but I think it must have hit his pad and went in.
“Obviously it means a lot, but right now you are in it. It’s fun to reach these numbers. I couldn’t have done it without the players that have been surrounding me for all these years. Without them, I would not be close.”
Petr Mrazek made 31 saves for the win.
“We knew they were going to come hard,” Mrazek said. “They’ve started playing way better right now on their ice, so we knew it was going to be a tough game, but we found a way to get two points tonight.”
In Denver, Derek Stepan and Oscar Lindberg scored 21 seconds apart n the second period to lift the New York Rangers past the Colorado Avalanche, 2-1.
Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves to backstop those two goals.
“I think it starts with trust, confidence, believing in each other and the system,” said Lundqvist, who has allowed two goals or fewer in 10 of his 11 starts. “We gave up a few chances and shots, but overall I thought we had it under control. A couple of times the puck was bouncing a little bit, but they came hard. They played their best in the third. For two periods, I felt like we were the better team.”
Reto Berra made 31 saves and was victimized by Lindberg’s bad angle shot for the winner.
“I was looking for a pass in the slot, [Kevin] Hayes had a guy on him, so I thought shoot it at the net and see if a rebound comes out,” said Lindberg, who leads NHL rookies with seven goals. “I’m in a flow right now, so that makes it easy to shoot. As soon as I see an opportunity to shoot I don’t think twice about it, I just shoot. I didn’t expect to score this many goals. I’m not trying to think about it too much, I’m just trying to play.”
Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avs.
“We had some decent chances, but they did a good job,” the Avs’ Matt Duchene said. “They checked us up ice and we weren’t able to get as organized as we probably would have liked to coming into the zone. They pressured really hard. It was disappointing not to get another [goal]. They played really aggressive, that’s what they do and we knew it was coming.”
In Raleigh, the Dallas Stars scored twice in the third period, including two quick goals from Patrick Sharp and Radek Faksa to break open a tight 1-1 match with the Carolina Hurricanes.
“Last year we squandered a couple early on and that sits in the back of your head,” Sceviour said. “This year we’ve done the opposite and it sits in your head in a good way. You know you can do it again and so you go out there with the confidence.”
The Stars won, 4-1.
“We’ve been a lot better in the third periods this year than we were last year,” Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. “Some of it is patience; some of it is timely scoring.”
Kari Lehtonen had 30 saves in the Dallas win.
“We started really well. We should have scored a couple but their goalie was really on early,” said Lehtonen said. “It evened up and they got some chances, but we never panicked. We just kept playing.”
Eddie Lack had 25 saves in the loss.
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