Sports43 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2014 Hansen scores as Canucks blank Blues

NHL results/standings

Results from the NHL games on Wednesday (home team in CAPS). Buffalo 5, Boston 4 (Ot); Detroit 2, 1 (Ot); Los Angeles 6, Colorado 4; 1, St. Louis 0. WESTERN CONFERENCE PACIFIC DIVISION W L OTL GF GA PTS 1. Anaheim 41 14 5 196 147 87 2. San Jose 37 16 6 175 142 80 3. Los Angeles 32 22 6 145 132 70 4. Vancouver 28 24 9 147 160 65 5. Phoenix 27 21 10 163 169 64 6. 22 29 7 137 179 51 7. Edmonton 20 33 7 153 199 47

CENTRAL DIVISION 1. St. Louis 39 13 6 196 136 84 2. Chicago 35 11 14 207 163 84 3. Colorado 37 17 5 178 159 79 4. Minnesota 31 21 7 145 147 69 5. Dallas 27 21 10 164 164 64 6. Winnipeg 28 26 6 168 175 62 7. Nashville 25 24 10 146 180 60

EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC DIVISION 1. Boston 37 16 5 180 130 79 2. Tampa Bay 33 20 5 168 145 71 3. Montreal 32 21 7 149 144 71 VANCOUVER: Derek Roy No 12 of the St Louis Blues trips No 2 of the dur- 4. Toronto 32 22 6 178 182 70 ing the third period of their NHL game at Rogers Arena on Wednesday in Vancouver, , 5. Detroit 27 20 12 153 164 66 Canada. —AFP 6. Ottawa 26 22 11 169 191 63 7. Florida 22 29 7 139 183 51 VANCOUVER: Jannik Hansen scored the game’s only and Eddie Kesler sat out with a hand injury suffered while playing for the US in the 8. Buffalo 17 34 8 118 178 42 Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Vancouver Olympics. Canucks defensemen Chris Tanev (thumb) and Andrew Canucks blanked the St Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for Alberts (concussion) remained out. ... Blues defenseman Jordan Leopold METROPOLITAN DIVISION both teams Wednesday night. The Canucks ended their losing streak at missed the game due to an ankle injury. He was replaced by Carlo 1. Pittsburgh 40 15 3 186 138 83 seven games while moving into sole possession of eighth place in the Colaiacovo. 2. NY Rangers 32 24 3 155 146 67 Western Conference. The Blues dropped their third straight decision to 3. Philadelphia 30 23 6 162 167 66 Vancouver this season. Sabres 5, Bruins 4 (OT) 4. Columbus 29 24 5 170 161 63 Hansen broke a scoreless deadlock at 11:13 of the third period. He Matt D’Agostini scored 22 seconds into overtime to give the Buffalo 5. Washington 27 23 9 171 175 63 took a backhand stretch pass from Tom Sestito from deep in the Sabres a thrilling 5-4 victory over the on Wednesday. 6. Carolina 26 23 9 146 161 61 Vancouver zone just past center ice, raced in on a breakaway and beat D’Agostini raced past Boston Zdeno Chara on a partial break- 7. New Jersey 24 22 13 135 146 61 Jaroslav Halak with a high . away and beat Bruins goalie Chad Johnson with a backhand deke on 8. NY Islanders 22 30 8 164 200 52 It was Hansen’s first goal in just over a month, a span of eight games, the winning goal. He scored unassisted. His game-winner came after after he last scored Jan. 26 against Phoenix. The Canucks outshot the Sabres left winger Matt Moulson had tied the score at 4-4 with 52.3 sec- Blues 35-20, but Lack had no shortage of challenges. Vancouver was onds remaining in regulation. blanked on four power plays while St. Louis failed to score on three. Lack Zemgus Girgensons, defenseman Tyler Myers and Brian Flynn also Stade looks to get drew the start after backstopping the Canucks to a pair of wins over St. scored for the Sabres (17-34-8). Chris Kelly, Zdeno Chara and left Louis earlier this season. wingers Brad Marchand and scored for the Bruins (37-16-5), better of Galthie The Canucks played with the added aggression coach John who erased a two-goal deficit in the second period only to falter late. Tortorella has been seeking as they outshot the Blues 14-6 in the first PARIS: Stade Francais will look to put pressure on Top 14 leaders period. But the hosts could not beat a steady Halak, who was relatively Red Wings 2, Canadiens 1 (OT) Clermont when they visit Montpellier and one of their former head fresh after playing just two games for Slovakia in the Olympics. Lack Detroit right winger Gustav Nyqvist scored 4:32 into overtime to give coaches Fabien Galthie today. made some difficult saves, including one on a slap shot by Brendan the Red Wings a 2-1 win against the . Nyqvist scored After several years in the doldrums, both on and off the pitch as Morrow with just under eight minutes left. The Canucks averted a dan- his 15th goal of the season into an open left side with 27.3 seconds left in financial problems bit deep, Stade look to be re-emerging as gen- gerous chance when St. Louis defenseman Roman Polak slid the puck the extra period after Detroit blew a 1-0 lead late in regulation. uine title contenders under the stewardship of Argentinian Gonzalo off the goal post and a few players crashed into the net, knocking it off Montreal right winger Brian Gionta scored the tying goal with 28.7 Quesada. its moorings. seconds remaining in the third, ending a shutout bid for Jimmy Howard, They are currently second in the table, four points behind The Blues rallied early in the second period, prompting Tortorella to who finished with 19 saves. Clermont, who play away at Bordeaux tomorrow. Having won five call a timeout. But Lack stopped Kevin Shattenkirk twice with the sec- Detroit’s scored his first goal since Dec. 10 in the first. French championships from 1998 to 2007, the last thanks to ond chance coming on a power play. The Vancouver goaltender also He was a healthy scratch in Detroit’s eight games prior to the Olympic Galthie, when owned by flamboyant radio mogul Max Guazzini, denied Blues captain David Backes on a one-timer during a delayed break after recording one in 18 games subsequent to his previous Stade have not threatened the likes of Toulouse, Toulon or and Alex Steen on a deflection, and got his pad on a shot by T.J. goal. Clermont in recent years. Oshie before defenseman Alex Edler blocked the puck as he attempted Detroit (27-20-12), which lost its final game before the break follow- However, Quesada has blended a potent mix of older players, to put in the rebound. After the save, fans chanted “Eddie! Eddie!” ing a 3-0-1 run, won the first two of four games against its new Atlantic such as France captain Pascal Pape and Italian counterpart Sergio Halak was sharp in the late going of the second as he thwarted Chris Division rival and closed to within five points of Montreal (32-21-7). Parisse-who misses the trip to Montpellier-with young ones such Higgins on a rebound and denied Daniel Sedin as he drove to the net as Jules Plisson and Hugo Bonneval, both capped in this season’s and shot. Notes: Olympians from both teams were honored in a Kings 6, Avalanche 4 Six Nations for the first time. pregame ceremony. Blues defensemen Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Anze Kopitar scored twice while fellow center Jeff Carter had a goal Stade will travel on the back of a last-minute win over relega- Pietrangelo drew loud cheers from the crowd when they were saluted, and an assist as the rallied to beat the Colorado tion-threatened Oyonnax last weekend, a familiar feature of their along with Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis and goaltender Roberto Avalanche. play this season as they have competed until the final whistle Luongo, for helping Canada win the gold medal. ... Tortorella worked Defenseman Robyn Regher and center Jarret Stoll also had goals for where in previous years they tended to drop their heads in tight his first home game since receiving a six-game suspension for storming the Kings (32-22-6), who started their playoff push with a much-needed matches and fallen away. the ’ dressing room area Jan. 18. ... Canucks captain win. The Kings stumbled into the Olympic break after going 2-8-1 before “We have our feet on the ground but we are marching with our Henrik Sedin returned to action after suffering an undisclosed injury the Games and they trailed 4-2 against Colorado in the second before heads held high,” said Quesada, who has been credited also for his before the Olympics. He missed the past two practices while tending to storming back with four unanswered scores. excellent personal touch with the players. Montpellier, who have a personal matter in Sweden, but returned Wednesday in time for the Ryan O’Reilly netted his 22nd goal of the season among four goal- become regular title contenders under Galthie, reaching the final game. Defenseman returned after missing five games scorers for the Avalanche (37-17-5), who entered the Olympic break on in 2011, will welcome them having had their three-match winning before the Olympic break with a foot injury. ... Vancouver center Ryan 79 points. —Agencies run brought to a juddering halt by Clermont last Saturday. —AFP