Bobrovsky and Johansen share spotlight for Blue Jackets

Here is a quick look at which Midwest pro teams were in action on Tuesday night as well as any scuttlebut involving them.

NHL

Blue Jackets 4 Hurricanes 3 (so)

Playoff positioning is not even a consideration for these teams, but team pride was certainly in place as the Columbus Blue Jackets battled the host Canes through 65 minutes and into a shootout at Raleigh’s PNC Arena.

Down 3-1 after 20 minutes, it was Scott Hartnell that pulled the trigger on the two goals that helped the Jackets get to the extra period and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky came up big on a breakaway opportunity for Carolina captain Eric Staal to get it to the shootout.

Bobrovsky also handled all three of the shootout attempts for the Jackets making Johansen’s third round marker stand up as the game winner. Johansen slowed on his approach and then went to the backhand to beat Cam Ward in goal for the Canes.

Hurricanes opened the scoring with a goal by Justin Faulk in the first minute, then got another from Victor Rask on a powerplay in the 13th minute.

Rene Bourque scored the first for the Jackets, getting his stick on a point shot by Cam Atkinson while screening Ward with the Jackets on a powerplay. After scoring in the first minute, the Canes added a last minute goal as well, Staal notching a powerplay tally with 10 seconds to go in the opening frame.

Hartnell pounced on a loose puck rebound after a shot by Kevin Connauton for the lone second period goal, then added the tying marker 6:10 into the third. Johansen started the play with a nice pass to Artem Anisimov in front. Ward stopped his point blank opportunity but the rebound went right to Hartnell who jammed it in.

Jackets will stay on the road, paying a visit to Detroit tomorrow then return home for a Friday night match against the Oilers.

Jets 4 Blues 5

This one had playoff type implications for both teams at the Scottrade Center.

The video from this game was a good one for emphasizing how it’s never a bad idea to put a shot at the net. Teams exchanged goals early that somehow managed to squeeze through the goaltenders’ pads and the game winner came from Barrett Jackman with 63 seconds to go lifted in from about six feet beyond the blue line. Jackman’s shot was a bouncer that eluded Ondrej Pavelec and negated a third goal third period rally that pulled the Jets back from a 4-1 deficit.

The Blues allowed just 16 Jets’ shots in the game but it was the Jets on the boards first, behind Jaden Schwartz fired a shot past Jets’ starter Michael Hutchison from the top of the left side circle.

Blues’ captured its first lead with a nice goal by Vladimir Tarasenko who took a feed from Jori Lehtera and beat Hutchison on the short side from the right side dot in the second period’s first minute.

Just past the halfway mark Steve Ott received a perfect backhand feed from Backes and fired it home but the next one was the best – a beautiful passing play started and finished by Lehtera. The Finnish forward passed back to Alex Pietrangelo at the blue line and he directed to Schwartz on the right side. Schwartz put it back to Lehtera who was left with a simple tap in on the left side of the crease.

The Blues could not make its three goal lead stand up as the Jets fought back with goals by Andrew Ladd and Lee Stempniak 11 seconds apart in the second minute of the frame, then got the equalizer while shorthanded as Blake Wheeler fired it home with 5:28 to go, setting stage for Jackman’s shot.

The win pushed the Blues to within a win of first place Nashville in the Central Division while the Blues find themselves still clinging to a wildcard just a point in front of both Calgary and four in front of San Jose.

The Blues will be back in action tomorrow night against the Flyers, then face the hard charging Minnesota Wild on Saturday, also on home ice.

Devils 2 Wild 6

Just a few short weeks ago, it appeared the Wild would be heading to the golf course the day after the regular season ended, but the team is the league’s hottest of late and continued a run that has seen the team win nine of its past 11 and successfully bouncing back from a tough 3-2 defeat against the visiting Colorado Avalanche in its previous match.

The Wild climbed to fifth overall and more importantly, just three behind the Chicago Blackhawks for a coveted home ice advantage in the opening round of the post season.

Despite a wild 29-shot first period (15-14 in favor of the Devils), the lone goal of the frame came 63 seconds from the buzzer, Sean Bergenheim burying it from the slot after getting a feed from Kyle Brodziak who gathered in a rebound behind the goal.

Chris Stewart added another 13 seconds into the second as Devils’ keeper Cory Schneider was unable to hang onto a point shot by Mikko Koivu and had the rebound end up right on Stewart’s stick.

Jared Spurgeon one timed a feed from Mikael Granlund home a few minutes later before Danius Zubrus counted the first Devils’ marker just past the period’s halfway point. Before the frame was over Thomas Vanek restored the three goal cushion getting to a pass in front from Charlie Coyle.

Vanek added another in the third after Jason Pominville notched the fifth of the game for the Wild and Scott Gomez struck back with a meaningless goal for the Devils just seconds later.

The Wild hope to continue its solid play of late with tough challenges against some conference front runners in its immediate path. The Wild will stay on home ice against Anaheim on Friday, then play at St. Louis Saturday and Nashville Tuesday.

Scuttlebut 

Chicago — Johnny Oduya is expected to return to the lineup from an upper body injury on Thursday night in Arizona and also expected back is Bryan Bickell who according to local press is excited to get back on the ice after being a healthy scratch on the weekend.

Bickell was on a line with Patrick Sharp and Brad Richards in practice. They will play as what could be a potent third line but all three are currently trying to rediscover their own offensive touch.

Columbus — Apparently there was some frustration on the part of Sergei Bobrovsky who was screened by his own players on at least a couple of the early goals by Carolina. He slammed his stick to the ice after the third one and the normally reserved goaltender aimed his wrath at Dalton Prout who obstructed his view on that one.

Detroit — The Wings enjoyed a rare day off Tuesday and returned to the ice Wednesday recharged and in good spirits. Darren Helm and Johann Franzen were both on the ice with the team, but no word on whether they will be in the lineup against the Blue Jackets tomorrow.

Minnesota – They might not have received the attention that other teams did in the days leading up to and including the NHL Trade Deadline earlier this month, but the Wild appears to be getting a handsome payoff from the players it has added. In what might have seen a bizarre move, the Wild went into the Buyers rather than Sellers category despite being on the outside of the playoff bubble at the time.

It’s no coincidence the team’s turnaround of late coincides with the additions of Chris Stewart, Jordan Leopold and Sean Bergenheim (along with Jared Knight who has been moved from Providence to Iowa).  Bergenheim and Stewart both scored in the team’s most recent game.

St. Louis – How much more perfect can it be? The Blues’ most impressive line, in particular of late is dubbed the ‘STL line and includes Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera and the trio of combined for 17 points in the team’s past four games.

A win Thursday night would be the 700th Career victory for Coach Ken Hitchcock who would move into some extremely exclusive company joining Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour and Joel Quennville as the only 700 game winners in league history.

Newly acquired defender Zbynek Michalek is still out with concussion symptoms, In fact, an article in the St. Louis Dispatch recently Thursday implied its conditioning and preparation keeping him out of the lineup more than concussion symptoms at this time. It appears with so many healthy skaters it’s just been hard to get into the main practice schedule.

AHL

Grand Rapids – Despite a revolving door that has seen players moving back and forth between the Griffins and the parent Red Wings squad, the Grand Rapids team is holding down the top spot and appears to be getting even stronger with the post season not far off. The Griffins added yet another win on Tuesday with a 3-2 edge in Charlotte.

Ironically, the host Checkers opened and closed the scoring with the Griffs counting three goals in between. Scott Czarnowczan, Andreas Athanasiou and Nick Jensen pulling the trigger

According to an article on the league website the past 21 games is pinpointed as the point in which the team climbed from eighth overall to first in the Western Conference.  Among the key contributors during that stretch are: Andy Miele who has counted 17 goals, Mark Zengerle with seven goals and 11 helpers on offense while rookie Jared Coreau and (when he is not playing in Detroit) Petr Mrazek have been stingy in goal.

Milwaukee – Coming off of an impressive 3-2 overtime win against Conference leading Grand Rapids on home ice, the Ads made a not so great start to a five-game road trip Tuesday, dropping a 5-1 decision at Oklahoma City.

The start was impressive enough, Austin Watson converting a feed from Joe Pendenza for a shorthanded marker which stood up as the lone goal of the opening period. The host Barons pulled that back with an unanswered second period marker, then scored twice in the third minute of the final frame to take control. Two more goals in the game’s final five minutes made for a more lopsided decision.

A close first period saw the Barons with a narrow 12-11 edge in shots, but the hosts dominated the rest of the way with a 29-13 margin and Admirals starter Magnus Hellberg was on the bench when the final goal crossed the line.

ECHL

Just two games in Tuesday night ECHL action, but both involved Midwest teams and the results were not great for either squad.

Evansville – The Icemen snapped a four game losing skid on Sunday but found itself right back in the loss column Tuesday, falling to the visiting Wheeling Nailers 5-2.

Jarret Lukin got the Icemen on the board first and his goal stood up as the lone goal of the opening period but by the time teams faced off to start the third, Icemen trailed 4-1.

Daniel Johnston converted a feed from Lukin 7:24 into the third to give the host team a glimmer of hope but that was dashed with an empty net marker by the Nailers still 1:55 from the final buzzer.

Evansville held a 40-34 edge in shots in the game, including a desperate 14-3 margin through the final 20 minutes.

Rapid City – The Rush came up a goal shy in a goaltender’s duel at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Tuesday night with a tough 2-1 loss against the visiting Allen Americans.

Goaltenders were key in this one, Rush keeper Danny Battochio matching Riley Gill of the Americans save for save through the first period and deep into the second as well before ironically a shorthanded marker by Chad Costello just 2:39 from the end of the second gave the visitors a 1-0 margin heading to the third.

Jamie Schaafsma added another for the Americans in the fifth minute of the third period but Jesse Schultz gave his team a chance with his powerplay marker 3:58 from the final buzzer.

Unfortunately, that was as close as the Rush would get in this one.