Dose: Leafs & Oilers Win
It was a rare night of wins for a couple of teams that have already fired a coach this season as Toronto and Edmonton managed to pick up victories.
The Devils tried to become the third team of the night to win after getting a new coach but while they squeaked out a point, the Devils lost in overtime to the Islanders.
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TORONTO 5 COLUMBUS 2
It was a big night for interim coach Peter Horachek as he won his first game behind the Maple Leafs bench since taking over from Randy Carlyle on Tuesday.
James van Riemsdyk led the way with two goals and an assist and Phil Kessel, Daniel Winnik and Tyler Bozak each had a goal and a helper, to give the Maple Leafs a 5-2 win.
Cody Franson chipped in with two assists while Ryan Johansen was the only Blue Jacket to beat Jonathan Bernier as he got both for Columbus.
Bernier stopped 18 shots while Sergei Bobrovsky gave up four in the first period and then shut them down before Columbus gave up an empty netter.
It was 4-1 after the first and then there were only 10 shots on goal in the second as the Leafs outshot Columbus 6-4.
Referee Dean Morton left the game in the first period with a broken rib as it was a rare game in which there was only one referee the rest of the way.
TAMPA BAY 2 BUFFALO 1
Steve Stamkos scored the winner with a little more than five minutes to go in the third period to lift the Lightning to a 2-1 win over Buffalo.
Goaltender Michal Neuvirth was outstanding in the Sabres cage as he stopped 45 shots including plenty in close to keep Buffalo within reach.
Cody McCormick scored the Sabres lone goal as he found the back of the net on a shorthanded effort.
The Lightning’s Valtteri Filppula opened the scoring while his netminder Ben Bishop stopped 20 shots for his 21st win of the season.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS 3 NEW JERSEY 2 (Overtime)
John Tavares scored twice including the overtime winner to lead the Islanders to a win over rival New Jersey. The former first overall pick also had an assist as he was in on all three goals for the New Yorkers.
Josh Bailey with his seventh of the season also scored for New York while Travis Zajac and Scott Gomez replied for the Devils.
Adam Larsson had one assist and is starting to show why he was the fourth overall pick in 2011as it was his third assist in his last four games.
Jaroslav Halak made 21 saves for the Islanders as he picked up his 22nd win of the season, while Keith Kinkaid stopped 28 to pick up the loss. It was a rare start for Kinkaid but his second Friday start in a row.
FLORIDA 6 CALGARY 5
Tomas Fleischmann’s fifth goal of the season with 3:09 left was the winner in a wild and high scoring contest as the Panthers prevailed 6-5 over the Flames in Calgary.
Fleischmann, Jonathan Huberdeau, Brad Boyes and Sean Bergenheim each chipped in with a goal and an assist to led the way for the Panthers. Brian Campbell and Jimmy Hayes also scored with Dave Bolland helping out with two assists.
Al Montoya got the start and stopped only 25 of 30 shots but still was good enough to pick up the win as his record moved to 3-4-2 this season.
For the Flames, T.J. Brodie and Matt Stajan each had a pair of goals with Mikael Backlund getting a goal and an assist.
Lance Bouma, not exactly known for his scoring prowess, had three assists Friday and was a plus-three in only 11:28 minutes of action.
Jonas Hiller did not have a good game in goal for the Flames as he gave up all six goals on 35 shots to see his record drop to 13-13-2.
EDMONTON 5 CHICAGO 2
What is going on with the Oilers? They beat the highly-regarded Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Friday to push their record to 2-1-3 in their last six. Wow!!!
The recently acquired Derek Roy topped the scoring with a goal and two assists with linemate Nail Yakupov and teammate Taylor Hall getting one of each. Jeff Petry and Benoit Pouliot completed the goal scoring for the Oilers who seem to have turned things around under new coach Todd Nelson.
Ben Scrivens stopped 19 shots to improve his record to 8-13-7.
Brandon Saad scored both goals for the Blackhawks and now has 11 this season. Linemates Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa set up both goals.
Antti Raanta got the start for Chicago and managed to stop just 17 of 21 shots as Hall’s 11th goal of the season was an empty netter.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
GOALS
John Tavares 2
Brandon Saad 2
James van Riemsdyk 2
Ryan Johansen 2
Matt Stajan 2
T.J. Brodie 2
ASSISTS
Lance Bouma 3
SHOTS
James van Riemsdyk 8
Phil Kessel 7
John Tavares 5
Valtteri Filppula 5
HITS
David Savard 10
Rob Klinkhammer 10
Bryan Bickell 8
PENALTY MINUTES
Matt Martin 5
Mark Fraser 5
PLUS/MINUS
Many with 3
BLOCKS
Dylan Olsen 5
PLUS/MINUS
Many with -3
