Times wires
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
TORONTO — The Maple Leafs weren't ready to let their playoff dreams slip away.
Trailing the Penguins 2-1 after a lackluster opening 40 minutes Wednesday, the players assessed their situation during the intermission. "I think we realized that it's do or die," forward Clarke MacArthur said.
The Maple Leafs responded with a rare third-period comeback. Phil Kessel tied it with his eighth goal in eight games and set up Mikhail Grabovski's winner 42 seconds into overtime. The 3-2 victory moved Toronto within four points of eighth-place Carolina in the Eastern Conference standings.
Toronto had 10 shots in the first two periods. "I would have liked to see us get to 3-1," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "But …we need to find ways to be better in those situations and close out that game regardless of whether we got that third goal or not."
Game highlights: Jonathan Toews scored twice and the host Blackhawks held off the Flames 6-4 to extend their winning streak to a season-high six games. … In the host Islanders' 4-1 win over the Wild, New York enforcer Trevor Gillies, in his first game back from a nine-game suspension for giving Pittsburgh's Eric Tangradi a concussion with an a elbow to the head Feb. 11, was tossed out 2:23 into the second for a hit from behind on Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck.
Devils: Four months after right knee surgery, forward Zach Parise was cleared to skate again.
| at Maple Leafs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Penguins | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
First Period—1, Pitts., Niskanen 1 (Lovejoy, Dupuis), 6:52. 2, Toronto, Kulemin 23 (MacArthur, Grabovski), 14:04. Penalties—Letang, Pit (holding), :13; Phaneuf, Tor (interference), 4:43; Engelland, Pit (high-sticking), 9:05; Aulie, Tor (cross-checking), 18:33; Neal, Pit (slashing), 19:17.
Second Period—3, Pitts., Conner 7 (Niskanen), 6:40. Penalties—Pitts. bench, served by Conner (too many men), :48; Lupul, Tor (tripping), 1:51.
Third Period—4, Toronto, Kessel 27 (Gunnarsson, Bozak), 5:07. Penalties—Lovejoy, Pit (tripping), 16:42.
Overtime—5, Toronto, Grabovski 25 (Kessel, Gunnarsson), :42. Penalties—None. Shots on Goal—Pitts. 8-9-12-0—29. Toronto 6-4-9-1—20. Power-play opportunities—Pitts. 0 of 3; Toronto 0 of 5. Goalies—Pitts., Fleury 28-16-5 (20 shots-17 saves). Toronto, Reimer 11-4-3 (29-27). A—19,473 (18,819).
| at Blackhawks | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Flames | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
First Period—1, Chicago, Toews 24 (Sharp, Kane), 6:46. 2, Calgary, Tanguay 18 (Iginla, Giordano), 10:36 (pp). 3, Chicago, Frolik 9 (Dowell), 18:25. Penalties—Toews, Chi (goaltender interference), 9:58; Jokinen, Cal (holding stick), 11:10; Bouwmeester, Cal (holding), 18:58.
Second Period—4, Chicago, Campbell 4 (Bolland, Keith), 15:11 (pp). 5, Chicago, Toews 25 (Frolik, Campbell), 16:33. Penalties—Chicago bench, served by Frolik (too many men), 8:25; Kane, Chi (hooking), 10:51; Sarich, Cal (hooking), 14:05; Giordano, Cal, major (fighting), 18:45; Stalberg, Chi, major (fighting), 18:45.
Third Period—6, Calgary, Bourque 20 (Stajan, Babchuk), 1:24. 7, Calgary, Iginla 28 (Tanguay, Staios), 8:44. 8, Chicago, Bolland 14 (Bickell, Hossa), 10:49. 9, Calgary, Bourque 21 (Iginla, Bouwmeester), 16:04. 10, Chicago, Hossa 17 (Frolik, Seabrook), 19:21 (en). Penalties—Staios, Cal (hooking), 2:24. Shots on Goal—Calgary 9-6-10—25. Chicago 10-9-11—30. Power-play opportunities—Calgary 1 of 3; Chicago 1 of 4. Goalies—Calgary, Kiprusoff (19 shots-15 saves), Karlsson 4-4-4 (0:00 third, 10-9). Chicago, Crawford 24-12-3 (25-21).
| at Islanders | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Wild | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| at Islanders | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Wild | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
First Period—1, NYI, Comeau 16 (Nielsen, Bailey), 10:31 (pp). 2, NYI, Okposo 4 (Grabner, Nielsen), 18:37. Penalties—Schultz, Min (hooking), 8:34; Okposo, NYI (hooking), 11:32.
Second Period—3, NYI, Comeau 17 (M.Martin, Gervais), :41. 4, NYI, MacDonald 2 (Okposo, Nielsen), 16:05 (pp). Penalties—Clutterbuck, Min (boarding), 2:23; T.Gillies, NYI, major-game misconduct (check from behind), 2:23; Konopka, NYI, misconduct, 2:23; Hillen, NYI (clipping), 12:37; Stoner, Min (holding stick), 15:41; Staubitz, Min, major (fighting), 19:01; Clutterbuck, Min, misconduct, 19:01; Konopka, NYI, major (fighting), 19:01.
Third Period—5, Minn., Madden 10 (Bouchard, Havlat), 11:33. Penalties—Peters, Min (boarding), 19:32. Shots on Goal—Minn. 10-10-14—34. NYI 17-16-8—41. Power-play opportunities—Minn. 0 of 3; NYI 2 of 3. Goalies—Minn., Backstrom 20-16-4 (19 shots-16 saves), Theodore (0:41 second, 22-21). NYI, Montoya 4-2-1 (34-33). A—7,098 (16,234).
Playoff chase
With nonshootout wins (the first tiebreaker) and games remaining. Division winners get the top three seeds:
East Pts. Wins GR
1. Flyers 86 38 20
2. Bruins 81 36 19
3. Lightning 81 32 19
4. Penguins 81 32 17
5. Capitals 78 32 18
6. Canadiens 75 32 18
7. Rangers 70 26 17
8. Hurricanes 69 26 18
9. Sabres 67 25 20
10. Maple Leafs 65 24 18
11. Thrashers 63 23 18
West Pts. Wins GR
1. Canucks 89 37 18
2. Red Wings* 84 35 19
3. Sharks 80 32 18
4. Blackhawks 76 30 18
5. Coyotes 76 30 17
6. Flames 75 26 16
7. Stars 74 29 19
8. Kings 74 28 19
9. Predators 73 26 18
10. Wild 72 31 18
11. Ducks* 71 29 19
12. Blue Jackets 69 27 20
* Late result not included