Kiprusoff Bests Temps, Pucks, For First Outdoor Shutout

CALGARY — Until the Montreal Canadiens brought the heat with 21 shots in Sunday’s second period, the challenge for Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames wasn’t stopping frozen rubber, but avoiding frozen fingers and toes.

Kiprusoff faced just eight shots in the opening 20 minutes the 2011 Tim Horton‘s Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium, but then turned aside all 21 shots the Canadiens unloaded at him in the second period on the way to a 4-0 Calgary win.

All told, Kiprusoff made 39 saves on the way to his fourth shutout of the season, No. 38 of his career and the first recorded in the six games the NHL has staged outdoors.

“They had a pretty slow start,” Kiprusoff said, talking about Montreal’s inability to get on track offensively. “They didn’t shoot that many in the first.

“I was a little nervous, like if they get some 2-on-1s or something. I was pretty cold in the first, but I had something under my stuff. During the second, they started shooting more, too. I felt better there.”

Kiprusoff didn’t have a lot to do early, particularly in the first 10 minutes of the game as the Flames carried the play. The Flames held a 13-3 edge in shots when Rene Bourque scored to make it 1-0 at 8:09.

There was no standing around for Kiprusoff in the second period as the Canadiens came out firing. Montreal’s 21 shots set a single-period shots record for the six outdoor games, eclipsing the 19 the Flames directed at Montreal’s Carey Price in the first period.

“He played great; “especially early,” Calgary captain Jarome Iginla said of his goalie. “He didn’t get a lot of shots, but all of a sudden there would be a point-blank shot.

“I think he made a couple of leg kicks early when he had to be pretty stiff, but he looked great. It’s funny because as hard as it is for players to get used to it (the cold) off the start, it’s got to be way harder for the goalies staying warm.

“We’re on the bench. We’re coming to the bench and we’re warming up and stuff. You forget, they’re stuck out there.”

So, what was more difficult, finding a way to stay warm during without much to do during a chilly first period or turning aside all that rubber in the second period?

“The first period was real cold,” said Kiprusoff, who retreated to the warmth of the Calgary bench every opportunity he got during play stoppages. “We had to stand outside there a little bit and there were some problems with the ice.

“Those guys had a pretty nice set-up there. It was warm. They were nice enough to give me a little room there to sit down.”

With extra layers on, the challenge for Kiprusoff early was to keep his fingers and toes warm.

“My toes,” Kiprusoff said. “My hands felt alright. That was one worry, too. It’s not fun to catch the puck if you have cold fingers. We knew it was going to be a cold day.”

Price’s Early Heroics Not Enough To Save The Habs

CAREY PRICE

GOALIE – MTL

RECORD: 27–20–6
GAA: 2.42 | SVP: 0.919

CALGARY — A passing glance at the final score of the 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic would indicate a lopsided game. But without a strong effort from Carey Price, especially in the first period, the Montreal Canadiens‘ 4-0 loss to the Calgary Flames at McMahon Stadium could have been a lot worse.

Price faced 19 shots in the opening 20 minutes and allowed only one goal, a redirection by Rene Bourque during a 5-on-3 power play for the Flames. His early heroics provided the Canadiens with a chance to turn the game around, and they peppered Miikka Kiprusoff with shots early in the second period but couldn’t solve him.

 

Montreal Canadiens-Calgary Flames: Fire and Ice, the Heritage Classic is Upon Us

45,000-plus fans and media are ready to brave the frigid temperature of Calgary, Alberta tonight in the second ever NHL Heritage Classic. The last classic took place eight years ago with these same Montreal Canadiens taking on the Edmonton Oilers.

After a few days of festivities the hype is over, the PR jobs are done and the players are ready. Today, at 6:00 PM EST, the puck drops for the 2011 Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.

Lost in the publicly televised Habs practice, the players trying on different types of long underwear, hoods and socks, and the chicken broth at the bench to help keep them warm is the fact there there are a hugely important two points on the line tonight.

Standings

The Habs, who have been in a free fall of late going 1-3-2 in their last six games, need the win to keep pace with the Bruins and keep a buffer on the teams behind them. More importantly, they just need a good showing and two points will go a long way towards turning around a road trip thatstarted on a terrible note in Edmonton on Thursday.

A win will also snap a two-game losing streak by the Habs.

The outlook is decidedly more positive in Calgary where the once cellar-dwelling Flames have turned their season around, sitting in a four-way tie for fifth overall in the West with 68 points.

Calgary is actually in ninth at the moment due to their 60 games played and 30 wins to the Ducks‘ 32, Stars‘ 31 and Kings‘ 32. However, going 7-1-2 in their last ten games and 10-1-2 in their last 13, the Flames are a team on fire—pun fully intended.

Goaltending

Carey Price will get his 53rd start of the season and will be donning his new Heritage Classic mask.

For those who haven’t yet seen it, take a look at these pictures because it’s a bit difficult to describe and a bit hilarious to look at!

Well at least I think so.

For the Flames, expect Miikka Kiprusoff to get his 13th straight start and 52nd of the year.

Price has the better numbers out of the two, but stats don’t necessarily matter in a game where the sun will be shining brightly and possibly making it more difficult for these work-horse netminders.

Special Teams and Scoring

The Flames are a much more offensive team than Montreal with their eighth overall 2.9 goals-for per game, to the Habs anemic 25th overall 2.6 per game. The Habs, however, have the edge in the goals-against department with their eighth overall 2.5 per game to the Flames 17th overall 2.8.

As such, you would expect this game to feature defense versus offense meaning the that Price will have to be sharp.

The Habs have a huge advantage in the special teams department with the ninth best power play at 19 percent, and sixth overall PK at 84.8 percent. The Flames will counter with a below average 19th overall PP at 16.8 percent and 17th overall PK at 81.4 percent.

Despite the Habs top-10 PP, they have gone only 2-for-16 in their last four games for a pitiful 12.5 percent efficiency.

Roster Changes

Montreal is getting a bevy of players back in the lineup today with the return of Hal Gill, Michael Cammalleri and supposedly James Wizniewski. The Wiz, who took a shot in the face last game and went to the hospital with a severe facial laceration, was practicing yesterday with a full face cage, a wicked shiner and a Frankenstein-like gash on his face.

Even if the Habs only get Cammy and Gill back, it will provide a well needed boost for the team.

If we go by the lines at practice yesterday, it looks like David Desharnais will finally be getting his shot as the second line center, playing between Cammalleri and Benoit Pouliot.

Defenseman Jaroslav Spacek continues to be on the sidelines with no real word on the extent of his injury or potential length of absence from the lineup.

The Flames are a relatively healthy team but continue to be without the services of Daymond Langkow, Raitis Ivanans and Adam Pardy.

The puck drops at 6:00 PM EST.

NHL Capsule 11-27-2010

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Sidney Crosby scored three times after Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff stopped him on a penalty shot early in the game and the Pittsburgh Penguins won their sixth in a row, beating the Flames 4-1 on Saturday behind backup goalie Brent Johnson.

Crosby made it 2-0 in the second period by putting in Chris Kunitz’s rebound, then scored his 200th career goal midway through the third when Paul Martin’s shot from above the circles deflected off Crosby’s stick.

Crosby completed his sixth regular-season hat trick and first this season by scoring into an empty net with 36.4 seconds left during a Flames power play in which Calgary created a two-man advantage by pulling Kiprusoff.

Crosby has 12 goals and 13 assists during a 12-game scoring streak. He has 18 goals overall.

The Penguins’ winning streak is their longest since they won seven in a row in October 2009.

Johnson made 30 saves during his first start since Nov. 10 against Boston, but lost his shutout when Rene Bourque scored his 11th goal and second in three games at 13:03 of the third.

Arron Asham also scored for Pittsburgh.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP)—Bobby Ryan had his second career hat trick to help Anaheim erase a two-goal deficit and snap Phoenix’s winning streak at seven games.

Ryan scored three of Anaheim’s five consecutive goals after Phoenix took a 3-1 lead early in the second period. The short-handed Ducks had lost six straight and were playing for the second night in a row after losing 4-1 at home to Chicago on Friday.

Rookie Brandon McMillan’s first NHL goal put Anaheim ahead for good at 4-3 with 13:21 to play. Jason Blake and Corey Perry also scored for Anaheim, and Ryan Getzlaf had four assists.

Shane Doan, Keith Yandle and Scottie Upshall and Derek Morris scored for Phoenix. The Coyotes lost in regulation for the first time in 10 games.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—Travis Zajac scored in the fourth round of a shootout, and Johan Hedberg made 40 saves for New Jersey in his fourth straight start with Martin Brodeur sidelined by a bruised elbow.

Adam Mair in regulation to help the Devils win for the third time in four games.

Danny Briere scored on a power-play goal in the third period for Philadelphia.

MONTREAL (AP)—Brian Gionta had two goals and an assist and Carey Price made 34 saves for the Canadiens.

Gionta set up Andrei Kostitsyn’s goal during a two-man advantage in the first, then added goals 4:20 apart in the second to help the Canadiens rebound from a 3-0 loss in Atlanta on Friday.

Kostitsyn had a goal and an assist, and Tomas Plekanec also had two points.

Jordan Leopold scored for Buffalo with 1:13 left.

ST. LOUIS (AP)—Kari Lehtonen stifled St. Louis again, Jamie Benn had another big goal and Dallas beat the Blues to sweep a home-and-home series.

The Stars rallied in the third period for the second straight night, beating Jaroslav Halak on two of their first five shots. Benn tied it and Loui Eriksson scored on a power play for the lead at 5:05.

B.J. Crombeen scored late in the second period for the Blues, who were the last NHL team to lose in regulation at home. St. Louis has 17 points in its first 10 home games, going 8-1-1.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP)—Stephen Weiss scored the winner in the fourth round of a shootout for Florida.

Radek Dvorak scored on a penalty shot, and Dmitry Kulikov and Shawn Matthias also scored in regulation for the Panthers, who stopped a three-game losing streak. Florida went 0 for 4 on the power play and has failed to score in 37 straight opportunities.

Teddy Purcell, Dana Tyrell and Sean Bergenheim scored for Tampa Bay.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Erik Christensen scored the only goal in a shootout to lift the Rangers.

After losing in Tampa Bay on Wednesday, the Rangers shut out Florida on Friday and beat Nashville to close their three-game, four-day trip. The Predators have lost four straight, two in shootouts.

Ryan Callahan scored for New York in regulation, and Colin Wilson connected for Nashville.

OTTAWA (AP)—Mike Fisher scored twice and Brian Elliott made 29 saves for the Senators.

The line of Fisher, Alex Kovalev and Milan Michalek accounted for all the scoring, with Kovalev scoring the other goal and adding two assists and Michalek finishing with two assists.

DENVER (AP)—Greg Mauldin scored two goals to fuel Colorado’s four-goal burst in the second period, and the Avalanche had a season-high goals total to snap a three-game losing streak.

Paul Stastny, Milan Hejduk, Kevin Shattenkirk, David Jones and Matt Duchene also scored for Colorado. Kyle Brodziak scored twice for Minnesota, and Antti Miettinen and Matt Cullen added goals.

EDMONTON (AP)—Dany Heatley had two goals and an assist for San Jose.

Benn Ferriero and Joe Pavelski also scored for San Jose. The Sharks are 11-7-4 overall and 4-4-2 on the road after winning for the first time away from San Jose since beating Edmonton on Oct. 23.

Sam Gagner, Shawn Horcoff and Jim Vandermeer scored for Edmonton. The Oilers have lost eight of their last 10 games to drop to 6-12-4.

 

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Patrick Sharp scored for the fifth time in six games to snap a scoreless tie, Patrick Kane also had a goal and an assist, and Chicago finished it annual “circus trip” 4-2-0.

Corey Crawford started consecutive games for the second time this season and made 21 saves, after stopping 26 shots Friday in a 5-2 victory down the freeway in Anaheim.

He lost his shutout bid with 5:02 remaining when Anze Kopitar beat him high to the glove side with a screened 45-foot slapshot in the slot during a 5-on-3 power play. Crawford has allowed no more than two goals in any of his last six starts

 

Canadians try to bounce back against Sabres

Saturday, 11.27.2010 / 12:09 AM

	STATS
24	GP	23
9	W	14
12	L	8
3	OT	1
21	P	29
0.438	P%	0.630
2.46	G/G	2.48
2.92	GA/G	2.00
14.0	PP%	15.3
81.7	PK%	89.7
32.6	S/G	31.2
29.2	SA/G	30.7
48.3	FO%	48.8

DATE	VIS/HOME	FINAL
Nov 5, 2010	MTL@BUF	MTL, 3 – 2
Oct 15, 2010	MTL@BUF	MTL, 2 – 1

SABRES (9-12-3) at CANADIENS (14-8-1)

TV — CBC, RDS (HD), NHLN-US (HD)

Last 10 — Buffalo 5-4-1; Montreal 6-4-0

Season series — It’s the third of six meetings between the two Northeast Division clubs. The Canadiens took the first two games, winning 2-1 win on Oct. 15 and 3-2 on Nov. 5, a game in which Benoit Pouliot had a pair of goals.

Big story — After missing two games with a groin injury, Ryan Miller returned in style Friday, making 35 saves to lead the Sabres to a 3-1 victory over the Maple Leafs. This was the Buffalo goaltender’s second injury of the season. A hip problem kept him out for six games, to which he returned to post a 4-1-0 record. It was only Buffalo’s fourth win of the season at home, where they’ve posted a 4-8-1 record.

“It’s calmed my game down a little bit,” said Miller. “At the start of the season I was trying to do too much, and I expected myself to be perfect every night and making big saves every night. That can’t happen unless you’re relaxed, and maybe these little tweaks can slow me down just enough where I can make all the right plays.”

Team Scope:

Sabres — After dropping two straight, the Sabres found their scoring touch in their victory over Toronto. Buffalo struck early in the first with a set of power-play goals from Jordan Leopold andThomas Vanek, while Patrick Kaleta would add a short-handed goal midway through the third.

Miller just missed the shutout, as Toronto’s Phil Kessel found the back of the net by scoring a shorthanded goal with just 3:27 left in the game.

“Anytime you can get your starting goaltender back it’s a boost,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “We all know what he means to the team. When Ryan’s in there we can play a more aggressive type of game.”

Canadiens — Montreal still leads the Northeast Division, but with two rough games this week, you wouldn’t necessarily know it. The Habs blew a 2-0 lead in a disappointing 3-2 loss to the Flyers on Monday, and on Friday they failed to score in a 3-0 loss to the Thrashers in Atlanta.

Alex Auld made his second start of the season, but the backup goaltender couldn’t blames for the loss. Auld stopped 44 of 47 shots on goal, while his teammates shot 25 on Atlanta. Carey Price will however get the start in Montreal on Saturday.

“He (Auld) gave us an opportunity, he made some saves,” coach Jacques Martin said to the Montreal Gazette. “If you don’t score any goals, you aren’t going to win any hockey games.”

Who’s hot — Vanek has 3 goals and 2 assists in his last five games for the Sabres. Montreal goaltender Carey Price, who got a rare night off on Friday, leads the League with 13 wins and is fourth in save percentage and fifth in goals-against average.

Injury report — Sabres right wing Drew Stafford (shoulder) is on the injured reserve, center Rob Niedermayer (knee surgery) will be out for another week and center Tim Connolly has missed the last two games with a groin injury. … Andrei Markov (right knee) is out indefinitely for Montreal.

Stat pack — Buffalo is 2-5-0 in the second of back-to-back games this season, while Montreal is 1-2-0.

Puck drop — “What’s not to like about him. He’s one, if not the best goaltender in the world. We love having him back there.” — Patrick Kaleta after Buffalo’s 3-1 victory over the Maple Leafs

2010-2011 Season Series

Date	Score	W. Goal
Mar 22 ’11
Feb 15 ’11
Jan 18 ’11
Nov 27 ’10
Nov 05 ’10	MTL 3 @ BUF 2	Benoit Pouliot
Oct 15 ’10	MTL 2 @ BUF 1	Josh Gorges

BUF  Season vs Opponent

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PP	GW
Michael Grier	2	1	1	2	2	0	0	0
Jordan Leopold	2	1	0	1	1	0	0	0
Derek Roy	2	1	0	1	-1	0	0	0
Paul Gaustad	2	0	1	1	1	2	0	0
Drew Stafford	2	0	1	1	0	2	0	0
Steve Montador	2	0	1	1	0	2	0	0
Tyler Ennis	2	0	1	1	0	2	0	0
Thomas Vanek	2	0	1	1	-1	0	0	0
Rob Niedermayer	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Tyler Myers	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Patrick Kaleta	2	0	0	0	-1	2	0	0
Andrej Sekera	2	0	0	0	-1	2	0	0
Cody McCormick	2	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Craig Rivet	2	0	0	0	-1	2	0	0
Tim Connolly	2	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Jochen Hecht	2	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Shaone Morrisonn	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Butler	1	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Nathan Gerbe	1	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Jason Pominville	1	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0

MTL  Season vs Opponent

Player	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PP	GW
Jeff Halpern	2	1	2	3	4	0	0	0
Benoit Pouliot	2	2	0	2	2	2	0	1
Josh Gorges	2	1	1	2	0	2	1	1
Mathieu Darche	1	0	2	2	3	0	0	0
Alexandre Picard	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0
P.K. Subban	2	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
Roman Hamrlik	2	0	1	1	-1	0	0	0
Scott Gomez	2	0	1	1	-2	0	0	0
Andrei Markov	1	0	1	1	1	2	0	0
Maxim Lapierre	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Lars Eller	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Michael Cammalleri	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Hal Gill	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Travis Moen	2	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Jaroslav Spacek	2	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Dustin Boyd	2	0	0	0	-1	2	0	0
Brian Gionta	2	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Tom Pyatt	2	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Andrei Kostitsyn	2	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Tomas Plekanec	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

BUF  Season vs Opponent

Goalie	GP	Min	W-L-OT	GAA	Sv%
Ryan Miller	1	60	0-1-0	2.00	.929
Patrick Lalime	1	59	0-1-0	3.05	.906

MTL  Season vs Opponent

Goalie	GP	Min	W-L-OT	GAA	Sv%
Carey Price	2	120	2-0-0	1.50	.944

 

Carey Price posts 41-save shutout as Montreal Canadiens down Flyers 3-0

MONTREAL – Carey Price was hot last week, but he was on fire against the high-scoring Philadelphia Flyers on tuesday night.
Price made 41 saves for his second shutout in four games and his third of the season as the Montreal Canadiens posted a fourth straight victory, downing the Flyers 3-0 in a battle of NHL division leaders.
“I’m just looking forward to the next shot,” said the low-key Price, who has let in only three of 140 shots in the last four games. “And you can’t let the last one bother you, whether it was a good save or a bad goal.
“It’s satisfying. The team is playing well and it’s nice to see the breaks going our way.”
Brian Gionta, who also had two assists, Michael Cammalleri and Tomas Plekanec scored for the Northeast-leading Canadiens (12-5-1), who fired 28 shots at Sergei Bobrovsky. Gionta has four goals in his last five games after notching only one in his first 13.
Price was named the NHL’s first star of last week after three wins that included a 34-save shutout against Vancouver. He made more than a dozen difficult stops against a Philadelphia team that had scored 18 times in its previous three games.
“We know if we make a mistake he’ll help us out by making that big save and then we just have to look after the little things in front of the net,” defenceman Jaroslav Spacek said of Price.
Frustration was evident among the Flyers, as there were several skirmishes after Darroll Powe slammed Jeff Halpern’s head into the glass with a bodycheck only 27 seconds into the third period. Halpern was helped off the ice and did not return. No penalty was called on the play.
Coach Jacques Martin said his checking centre’s condition was being evaluated.
“It was a hit from behind, but the ref didn’t see it like that,” said Martin.
Misconducts were handed to the Flyers’ Scott Hartnell and Sean O’Donnell and Montreal’s Maxim Lapierre late in the game, while Canadiens rookie P.K. Subban was in the midst of most of the melees.
Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia (12-5-2), coming off a 5-1 win Monday night over Ottawa, ended a three-game winning streak and a string of 10 games without a regulation-time loss.
The Flyers shot from every angle and a few times players were in close and had both a shot and a rebound only to be thwarted by Price.
Their 41 shots was the most in a game in which the Flyers were shut out since Clint Malarchuk of the Washington Capitals made 42 saves in 1-0 win in Philadelphia on Jan. 26, 1989.
“We had a lot of quality chances in the first two periods and we couldn’t find a goal,” said Flyers coach Peter Laviolette. “Their goalie played pretty well and the frustration showed in the third period.
“We didn’t play the same way.”
The same clubs meet again Monday night in Philadelphia.
There were big saves early from both goalies, including two against Cammalleri by Bobrovsky from the edge of the crease in the seventh minute.
Cammalleri finally scored during a two-man advantage at 9:36 after he was left alone in the slot for a one-time shot on a feed from Gionta.
Montreal had just killed off a two-man Philadelphia advantage when Plekanec, apparently waiting for a trailing winger to catch up to his rush, fooled Bobrovsky with a no-look wrist shot that caught the inside of the far post 13:48 into the second frame.
Gionta banked a pass in off Kimmo Timonen’s skate 6:24 into the third, giving the suddenly productive Montreal power play eight goals in 21 chances over the last five games.
Plekanec’s two points gave him 10 in the last five, while Gionta’s three gave him eight points in that span.
Notes: The Canadiens confirmed that defenceman Andrei Markov will be out long term with a right knee injury. That put Alexandre Picard back in the lineup. Dustin Boyd was scratched. . . Philadelphia winger Jeff Carter played his 400th career game. . . The Flyers were without tough winger Dan Carcillo who injured a knee Monday in Ottawa and is expected to miss two weeks. Oskars Bartulis didn’t dress.

NHL Capsules 11-16-2010

MONTREAL – Carey Price made 41 saves for his third shutout, Brian Gionta had a goal and two assists, and the Montreal Canadiens extended their winning streak to four with a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

Price stopped 13 shots in the first and 20 more in the second on his way to his seventh career shutout, his second in four games. He stopped 34 shots one week earlier in a 2-0 win over Vancouver which began Montreal’s current streak.

Gionta assisted on Michael Cammalleri’s goal during a two-man advantage midway through the first period. The Canadiens’ captain got his second assist on Tomas Plekanec’s goal 13:48 into the second.

Gionta scored for the third game in a row when he added Montreal’s second power-play goal 6:24 into the third.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for Philadelphia, which lost in regulation for the first time in three weeks. The Flyers, who beat Ottawa 5-1 on Monday, had gone 9-0-1 since a 2-1 loss in Columbus on Oct. 25.

TORONTO (AP)—Kris Versteeg scored second-period power-play goals 59 seconds apart and Toronto overcome an early three-goal deficit in a win over Nashville.

Nikolai Kulemin’s goal late in the second period completed a big comeback as Toronto scored four power-play goals in the second period.

The Leafs lost starting goaltender J.S. Giguere to an apparent injury early in the third period.

However, they managed to hold on for their first win since Oct. 26 with backup Jonas Gustavsson making six saves.

Toronto had dropped eight straight entering the game. Overall, it had gone 1-8-3 since opening the season with four straight victories.

Luke Schenn and Mikhail Grabovski also scored for the Maple Leafs, who went 4 for 8 on the power play.

J.P. Dumont, Jordin Tootoo, Marin Erat and Marcel Goc scored for Nashville.

 

DALLAS (AP)—Brad Richards scored the go-ahead goal after a video review midway through the third period and the Stars edged Anaheim.

With the game tied 1-1, Richards’ shot from the left circle glanced off the post, and the referees initially ruled no goal at 8:24 of the final period.

But replays showed that the puck crossed the goal line in the air and Richards was credited with his 200th NHL goal.

The game marked the debut of Swedish referee Marcus Vinnerborg, who became the first European to work an NHL game. Vinnerborg made the announcement that the goal counted.