The Detroit Red Wings have extended their best stretch of success in five years, and kept the Montreal Canadiens stuck in their worst slump of the season.
Darren Helm’s second goal with 6 minutes 1 second left in the third period broke a tie and lifted Detroit to a 3-2 comeback win over Montreal on Thursday night, extending their point streak to 12 games.
“We’re playing better,” Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “Still, it’s not perfect.”
Photo: AP
Helm scored 1:12 after Justin Abdelkader pulled Detroit into a 2-2 tie, scoring off his right skate on a goal that stood after video review.
Petr Mrazek made 21 saves for the Red Wings, whose point streak matches their longest since 2010.
“Mrazek was pretty good,” Zetterberg said. “Kept us in and made some big, big saves.”
Detroit have pulled within four points of Montreal in the Atlantic Division.
“It doesn’t really matter right now,” Zetterberg said. “It’s a long way to go. We know we’re playing well. If we’re playing like this we’re going to get our points and then we’ll be there in the end.”
The Eastern Conference-leading Canadiens have lost four straight games, their worst skid in a season that started with a 9-0 record and 18 wins in their first 24.
“We’re facing adversity and that’s going to make us stronger,” Montreal coach Michel Therrien said.
Montreal’s Tomas Fleischmann scored a go-ahead goal 4:30 into the third period, but goaltender Dustin Tokarski could not make it stand up. Tokarski stopped 26 shots in his first start of the season while replacing rookie Mike Condon, who has been filling in for the injured Carey Price.
“For his first game, I was really impressed,” Therrien said.
Tokarski, who was 6-6 last season for Montreal, shrugged off his relatively solid showing.
“I felt good, but came up short,” he said. “I’ve played here before and have won here.”
The Canadiens are also without winger Brendan Gallagher, one of their leading scorers, and broken fingers are expected to keep him out for about another month. Price remains sidelined with a lower-body injury that has kept the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner out since late October.
“We’re missing a lot of players,” Therrien said.
Helm broke a scoreless tie midway through the second period and Montreal’s Sven Andrighetto tied it a couple minutes later.
Fleischmann’s slap shot from the inside of the right circle beat Mrazek’s blocker. The winger went to the penalty box midway through the third, but Detroit did not take advantage. The Red Wings had another power play with 7:30 left and made the most of the opportunity off a faceoff won by Pavel Datsyuk. Henrik Zetterberg later had the puck and made a centering pass that Abdelkader redirected into the net with the outside of his right skate.
Montreal defenseman Greg Pateryn had a chance to clear the puck before the game-winning goal, but it went off Datsyuk and stayed in the zone. Abdelkader got to the puck, skated across the crease and lifted the puck past the sprawled-out Tokarski.
The Canadiens hurt their chances to extending the game beyond regulation because P.K. Subban was called for delay of game, putting him in the penalty box with 1:44 left. Montreal pulled Tokarski soon thereafter to have the same number of skaters on the ice, but could not score to tie the game.
SABRES 3, FLAMES 4
Elsewhere on Thursday, Johnny Gaudreau returned after leaving with an apparent injury to put Calgary ahead late and spoil Rasmus Ristolainen’s hat-trick in the Flames’ 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
Gaudreau exited in the first period after a collision, but returned for the second. In the third period, he worked a give-and-go with Sean Monahan, then zipped a low shot through Chad Johnson’s pads with 4:50 left for the 4-3 lead.
Monahan had two goals and an assist, and Markus Granlund also scored in Calgary’s fourth straight win. Jonas Hiller stopped 27 shots.
PANTHERS 1, CAPITALS 4
In Sunrise, Florida, Jaromir Jagr moved into a share of fourth on the career goals list with a first-period score that sparked the Panthers to a 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals at the BB&T Center.
Jagr gave the Panthers the lead 51 seconds into the game. Dmitry Kulikov’s long shot from the point was deflected by Jagr and bounced into the net. The goal was Jagr’s first since Nov. 21 and the 731st of his career, tying him for fourth on the career list with Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne.
Logan Shaw, Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Pirri also scored for the Panthers and Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists. Al Montoya had 19 saves.
Alex Ovechkin scored for Washington.
BLACKHAWKS 1, PREDATORS 5
In Nashville, Tennessee, James Neal, Craig Smith and Filip Forsberg each scored in the first period as the Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1, even though Patrick Kane extended his club-record points streak to 24 games.
Kane scored his 18th goal this season at 5:43 of the third. He was yesterday set to have a chance against Winnipeg back in Chicago to match Sidney Crosby’s 25-game streak, set in 2010-2011, for the longest since 1992-1993.
The Predators lost their challenge for goaltender interference on Kane’s tally.
In other NHL action, it was:
‧ Blue Jackets 4, Jets 6
‧ Flyers 4, Blues 2
‧ Senators 1, Lightning 4
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