The first match in our three-game sweep of the NHL from Sunday is in Chicago as Derick Brassard ended a scoreless tie between the New York Rangers and Blackhawks at the United Center.
Brassard came in late on the rush and scored off the left wing with just 32 seconds gone in extra time.
“When I walked in the building today, that was the first reaction I had,” Brassard said, referring to his time with the Blue Jackets, who used to play in the Central Division. “I was like, ‘Oh boy, I’ve had some tough nights here.’ Our group here, though, we really enjoy coming into some buildings on the road and having some good tests.”
Cam Talbot held the Blackhawks scoreless in 1-0 OT win – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The Rangers are 16-4-2 in their last 22 games and Cam Talbot is 10-3-2 since replacing the injured Henrik Lundqvist in net.
“It’s two good teams going at it, fighting for big points right now,” Talbot said. “They’re trying to climb spots in their division, same as we are, so it’s going to be a battle going down the stretch against teams like that. Every point is huge right now, so it was great we came out with the extra one tonight.”
Talbot was solid especially in the middle frame when the Hawks controlled the play.
“[We] did a good job tonight pouring back, taking away their transition game and really making them take shots that they don’t want to take,” Talbot said. “They like to make those small plays into the middle, but with our guys coming back and the back pressure, it allowed our D to have good gaps and kind of force them to the outside. Anytime you can limit them to those shots, you consider that a good game.”
For Chicago it was a lack of getting to the middle of the ice and mucking it up with the Rangers’ defensemen.
“You said, ‘middle of the ice,’ you’ve got to get there,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “You’ve got to find a way to get through it and be willing to go there. Certain guys are effective because they do that, and things happen when we do. If you get on the outside, you make the defensemen’s job so much easier and even more so the goaltender.”
In Ottawa, the Senators scored twice in each of the first two period then watched as the Calgary Flames roared back with four of their own to force extra time.
The Sens saved themselves complete embarrassment by winning in the skills competition to take a 5-4 win and two more standings points.
It was a goal from Erik Karlsson that beat Jonas Hiller for the win.
“I don’t think we played our best hockey for any part of the 60 minutes, even though we got a 4-0 lead,” Karlsson said. “We let it slip away from us due to fatigue, but at this time of year, everybody’s tired. It’s not an excuse, and if you want to be an elite team, these are the games you’ve got to close out. You’ve got to know how to play under pressure when you’re tired.”
The Flames are just points clear of the Los Angeles Kings for the final playoff spot in the west.
“We’re still missing a point. But at the same time, looking at our situation, we leave with a point here … let’s leave the building before the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) shows up,” Flames coach Bob Hartley said.
Though disappointed with the loss Hartley was pleased with his club’s rally from near certain loss of two points.
“The character we’ve built over the last years, it’s really paying off in games like this. The guys after the second period they were like mad, disappointed with themselves, but at the same time there was that belief,” he said. “That’s something we’ve cultivated over the past months. Once we got one, it was electric on the bench. We had that sense that we would make it happen. We had them on their heels, and that’s a huge point.”
In St Paul, a little magic left the Wild’s efforts as they lost a 3-2 effort to the Colorado Avalanche.
The game was marked by the continued disdain each team has for the other.
The Avs built a 3-0 lead then survived a rally from the Wild.
“I’m really proud of our guys, they played really well,” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. “That’s the kind of hockey we’ve been playing lately. We understood how important this game was for us and we needed to come up with a strong game.”
Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves in Avs win before leaving for lower body injury – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves in the game before leaving for a lower body injury that seemed top occur when he was high on a shot.
“Their season was on the line tonight,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said. “I knew they were coming in here with one thought and we were thinking the same thing. The hype and the build-up to these games is almost 90 percent of the time far more than the outcome is.”
The Wild could not muster enough offense or pressure to dent Varlamov early on.
“We didn’t play that great,” Wild forward Zach Parise said. “I thought we had a good start, then we started to turn a lot of pucks over through the neutral zone in the second period and that took away from our game.”
Roy was vague on the injury to his number one goalie without whom the Avs have trouble winning.
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