Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller recorded his fourth shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday that helped the Sabres retain their hold on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Miller finished with 31 saves and Nathan Gerbe scored both goals as the Sabres (36-28-9) kept their three-point lead over the Carolina Hurricanes for the eighth and final post-season spot.
“That might have been our best chess match of the year,” Miller told reporters. “We played the kind of game we’ve been talking about and had some success with it. Hopefully that can spark some positive energy going forward.”
Carey Price stopped 22 shots for Montreal, but was beaten for the game’s first goal 8 minutes, 56 second into the second period, before Gerbe added an empty-net goal with 22 seconds remaining in the game.
It was the third successive game Gerbe has scored a goal and the victory helped the visitors rebound from a 4-3 overtime loss to Nashville on Sunday when they blew a two-goal advantage late in the third period.
“There was a lot of anger and frustration with us giving away a point the other night,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “This was a real good answer for it.”
Montreal (40-27-7), in sixth place in the East, rarely threatened just one game after erupting for an 8-1 rout over Minnesota on Sunday, and they fell three points behind Boston for the Northeast Division lead.
CAPITALS 5, FLYERS 4, SO
In Philadelphia, the Washington Capitals pulled within one point of Philadelphia for the NHL Eastern Conference lead by beating the Flyers after a shootout.
Playing without star forward Alex Ovechkin for the first time this season, the Capitals took an early three-goal lead and seemed on their way to tying Philadelphia for the top spot.
Ville Leino, whose shootout goal gave the Flyers a victory at Dallas on Saturday, scored on the first shot. Matt Hendricks answered for the Capitals.
Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux was next and he couldn’t get a shot off. Nicklas Backstrom then beat Boucher. Danny Briere kept the Flyers alive when he scored, but Alexander Semin ended it when he backhanded a shot past Brian Boucher and into a top corner.
COYOTES 2, BLUES 1
In Glendale, Arizona, Phoenix rallied from a sluggish start to overcome St Louis.
Phoenix were booed by the small hometown crowd late in a lackadaisical first period and were again sluggish to start the second. The Coyotes righted themselves after a timeout by coach Dave Tippett midway through the second, getting goals from Ray Whitney and Lauri Korpikoski.
The Coyotes moved within a game of San Jose in the Pacific Division and wining 40 games in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history.
Kevin Shattenkirk scored for the Blues.
BRUINS 4, DEVILS 1
In Boston, the hosts took advantage of a foul-prone New Jersey to post a comfortable win.
The Devils, who committed one penalty in their previous two games, were called for five in the first two periods, and the Bruins’ struggling power-play unit finally came through. Boston had scored just twice on their previous 34 power-play opportunities entering the game.
New Jersey took a 1-0 lead on Ilya Kovalchuk’s 27th goal 11 minutes, 5 seconds into the first period. Shawn Thornton tied it less than six minutes later.
Zdeno Chara broke the tie midway through the second period and Milan Lucic scored his 30th goal of the season late in the third.
ISLANDERS 5, LIGHTNING 2
In Tampa, Florida, Al Montoya made 36 saves, helping New York defeat Tampa Bay.
Nate Thompson put Tampa Bay ahead 61 seconds in, lifting a rebound past Montoya.
However, the Islanders scored four straight goals. Josh Bailey scored first for New York with 10 seconds left on a power play midway through the opening period, depositing a rebound off a shot by Milan Jurcina.
The Islanders took the lead when Kyle Okposo redirected a shot past former teammate Dwayne Roloson 5 minutes, 16 second into the second period.
Thompson helped set up a Tampa Bay goal by Dominic Moore with the Lightning holding a two-man advantage midway through the third period.
In Tuesday’s other action, it was:
‧ Maple Leafs 3, Wild 0
‧ Rangers 1, Panthers 0
‧ Predators 3, Oilers 1
‧ Hurricanes 4, Senators 3
‧ Avs 5, Blue Jackets 4, SO
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