News » season, a short-handed breakaway

NEWARK Richard Panik Jersey , N.J. (AP) Getting to the playoffs many times involves getting big plays from guys on the third and fourth lines in addition to having your stars step up.The Devils got both in moving a little closer to their first playoff berth since the 2011-12 season.Stefan Noesen scored on a rebound with 1:33 to play and the Devils got two goals in the final nine minutes to post a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.”I was jumping on the bench,” said Devils catalyst Taylor Hall, who had three assists. ”Sometimes you need to make a play, need to have a performance and guy come through and really get that one for us. You don’t want to get to overtime and split the odds.”Noesen, whose 12 goals and 25 points are career highs, was in the right spot at the right time in helping the Devils win their third straight and sixth of eight.Andy Greene’s shot from the left boards was stopped by Scott Darling, but the rebound came to Noesen who fired it into the net.”Puck goes out to Greeny and comes right on my stick and those are nice, especially with a minute and a half left,” Noesen said. ”That’s a big win, as of now it’s the biggest win of the year. Every win now from this point forward will be the biggest.”The Devils (88 points) are three points ahead of idle Florida in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Panthers have two games in hand.”It wasn’t our greatest game, execution wise, defensive wise, but this time of the year you have to try and find a way to do whatever it takes,” said Kyle Palmieri Womens Shane Doan Jersey , who had two goals and an assist.Pavel Zacha also scored and Keith Kinkaid, who has supplanted Cory Schneider as the No. 1 goaltender, made 31 saves.Phil Di Giuseppe, Warren Foegele and Noah Hanifin also scored as the Hurricanes had a three-game winning streak snapped despite taking a 3-2 lead early in the third period. Scott Darling was outstanding making 41 saves, but Carolina’s slim playoff hopes faded as it fell nine points behind New Jersey.”No matter what, you want to win,” Di Giuseppe said. ”That’s our focus. We are just trying to win for each other. Obviously disappointing tonight, but there are a few more games.”Palmieri tied the game twice with power-play goals, with both being setup by great passes by Hall.The second tied the game 3-all with 8:55 left in regulation as a penalty against Valentin Zykov about to expire. Hall sent a pass between the circles and Palmieri deflected it with an open blade into the top of the net.Hanifin had given the Hurricanes at 3-2 lead 3:39 into the period with a shot from the left circle into a relatively open net after Jeff Skinner won the puck behind the net.Kinkaid was the difference in the second period when he stopped breakaways by Skinner and Brock McGinn with the Hurricanes leading 2-1.”Keith stood on his head and gave us a chance tonight and special teams came through when it mattered,” Palmieri said.The save on Skinner in the opening minute of the period was spectacular. The 23-goal scorer made a move to his forehand to get Kinkaid out of position but the goalie reached back at the last second and just the butt of his stick kept the puck out of the net.Hall then made a great cross-ice pass to find Palmieri low in the right circle for a quick power-play shot that beat Darling to tie the game 2-all with 5:53 left in the period.New Jersey dominated the opening 10 minutes and took the early lead when Zacha put the rebound of a Palmieri shot into an open net at 5:47.Darling kept the Hurricanes in the game, stopping a short-handed breakaway by Blake Coleman at 12:01.Di Giuseppe tied the game a couple of minutes late with a shot from the left circle after Skinner won a battle along the boards. Elias Lindholm found Di Giuseppe.Foegele, who scored in his NHL debut on Monday, got his second in two games with a wraparound goal at with 3:07 left in the period.NOTES: Hurricanes hope to get D Justin Falk back before the season ends. He has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury. … Devils F Miles Wood returned to the lineup after missing three games with a similar injury. … Hall now has 52 assists, one shy of his career high with Edmonton in 2013-14. … Palmieri has three goals in the last two games. … Di Giuseppe has three goals in four games after scoring two in his first 40. …Hurricanes F Sebastian Aho snapped a nine-game point-scoring streak (4 goals Anders Bjork Jersey , 8 assists).UP NEXTHurricanes: At Washington on Friday nightDevils: Host Pittsburgh on Thursday night in third straight home game.— LAS VEGAS (AP) Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee stood alone in the hallway outside of his team’s locker room Friday night, as someone walked by and blurted: ”One more George.””Yep,” McPhee replied, smiling briefly before turning his attention back to his phone.And if they get it, the Golden Knights will be Pacific Division champions.Jonathan Marchessault’s goal 22 seconds into overtime lifted Vegas to a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues, inching the playoff-bound expansion team closer to a division title in its inaugural season.The Golden Knights (49-22-7) can win the Pacific with a point in Saturday’s home game against San Jose.”We’re trying to get as many points as we can,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. ”Somebody told me we’re one point away from clinching the division and that’s what the goal is. Let’s keep battling hard, and playing hard, and winning as many games as we can. I really don’t care who we beat, and the next season will start soon enough.”St. Louis (43-28-6, 92 points) currently holds the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, one point back of Anaheim (93). Colorado (92) is tied with the Blues, who hold the tiebreaker.St. Louis, whose season-best Bobby Orr Jersey , six-game win streak ended, has now earned points in six of its last seven road games (4-1-2).Marchessault scored two goals, while William Karlsson and James Neal also scored for Vegas. Malcolm Subban improved to 12-3-2 after stopping 21 shots.Barely into overtime, Marchessault took the puck by himself into the zone, skated by two defenders before circling to the point and firing a long wrist shot past Jake Allen for the game-winner.”We had a great effort and I think it was a real good positive game for us,” Marchessault said. ”It was a big game tonight. I think it would be great for our fans (to clinch the division), they’ve been awesome all year. To get the win and clinch the Pacific would be awesome. Whoever we face, we just need to play well and I’m sure tomorrow is going to be a good game.”Patrik Berglund, Brayden Schenn and Chris Thorburn scored for the Blues. Allen, who is now 8-1-1 in his last 10 starts, made 22 saves.”We fought hard. This is really good hockey team and we knew it was going to be a close game, so not surprised to see it go to overtime, you get into 3-on-3 hockey and anything can happen out there,” St. Louis coach Mike Yeo said. ”There are some things that we have to be a little bit better at … I think we could’ve moved the puck a little bit better tonight. Credit to them http://www.officialbruinsproonline.com/authentic-adidas-brad-marchand-jersey , they check well, and they pressure you hard.”But it was the Blues setting the tone early, when Alexander Steen fed Berglund from behind the net, and he smacked home his 13th of the season.Karlsson tied the game with his 41st of the season, a short-handed breakaway courtesy of a perfect pass from Cody Eakin. Marchessault gave Vegas a brief 2-1 lead with a stroke from a side angle.Schenn tied the game later in the period when he took a pass from Jaden Schwartz and beat a shielded Subban from the right circle.After a rather quiet period, Tomas Tatar tapped the puck to Erik Haula, who touch-passed to Neal, who snapped a 12-game drought by going top shelf to beat Allen and give Vegas a 3-2 lead with 3:25 left in the second.Scottie Upshall’s pass from behind the net found Thorburn creeping at the doorstep and the right wing slipped it through Subban’s five-hole to knot the game at 3 with 13:46 left.”Overall, they played really well, they’re working hard and they’re finding a way to win hockey games,” Gallant said. ”We got down early, but I love the way we played. We competed the whole 60 minutes. We played a hell of a hockey game tonight against a real good team.”NOTESSchwartz has 21 points in 27 games since returning from a lower-body injury on Jan. 25. … Neal is now one game from playing in his 700th career game and five points shy from his 500th career point. … Marchessault is one game away from his 200th career game.UP NEXTSt. Louis: Visits Arizona on Saturday.Vegas: Hosts San Jose on Saturday.