Minnesota Wild’s Brent Burns Shoulder Surgery

Defenceman Brent Burns is the latest Minnesota Wild
player to have surgery since the season ended.

Burns had surgery on his right shoulder Thursday and the team
said it went well. He’ll stay in the hospital overnight and the shoulder will be
immobilized up to a month, but Burns should be at full strength in time for next
season.

The Wild also said Burns’ post-concussion symptoms have
“improved greatly.”

Goalie Niklas Backstrom already had hip surgery since the season
ended, and forward Derek Boogaard had shoulder surgery and forward Andrew
Brunette knee surgery.

Defenceman Marc-Andre Bergeron will have surgery next week to
address a disc problem in his back that bothered him occasionally last season.
He’ll need at least six weeks to recover.

Canadiens Beat Maple Leafs 6-2

The swagger is back. And so are the Montreal Canadiens.

It was just two weeks ago that the team’s season seemed in peril as it was booed off the Bell Centre ice following a lopsided loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Habs were lingering just inside the Eastern Conference playoff picture and nothing was going right.

That’s when coach Bob Gainey decided to put forwards Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay on a line together and the team hasn’t lost in regulation since.

Kovalev has been the hottest of them all. He had a goal and three assists during a 6-2 victory over the Maple Leafs on Saturday to give him 15 points over the past six games.

“Well I’m probably playing as good as I have been all year,” said Kovalev. “Like I’ve said many times, sometimes you try to do too much on your own instead of using your partners. Right now I kind of know more about the players that I’m playing with.”

Suddenly, the enigmatic Russian has turned around what appeared to be a lost season. He says there was nothing about the bad loss to Toronto two weeks ago that prompted the team’s recent 5-0-1 run.

Instead, Kovalev thinks the turnaround came from within.

“You’ve got to believe in this team,” he said. “That’s the only way you can make the changes.”

At this time of year, no further explanations are really necessary. Wins are the only thing that count in April.

With just four games remaining in the regular season, Montreal is now five points clear of ninth-place Florida. Instead of looking behind them in the standings, the Habs now have the luxury to focus on who they might be able to move up and catch.

“We’re trying to grab as many points as we can and move up the standings,” said forward Chris Higgins. “The confidence in the room is back — that’s pretty obvious to tell.

“I think we’ve got four games left here and if we continue to play the way we’ve been playing the last couple games, then we’ll have the right mindset for the playoffs.”

The only potential reason for concern at the moment might be some mounting injury troubles. Defenceman Mathieu Schneider left Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury in the first period and leading scorer Andrei Markov was knocked out by a Mikhail Grabovski hit with seven minutes to play.

Both would represent major losses for the team. Gainey didn’t provide much of an update about the condition of either player after the game.

“I don’t really have any idea how it will unfold,” he said. “But I’m hoping that they’ll be available to us to play on Monday (against Ottawa).”

The outcome on Saturday was never really in doubt.

Higgins, Tanguay, Guillaume Latendresse, Maxim Lapierre and Josh Gorges also had goals for Montreal (41-27-10). Halak made 34 saves in earning his 18th victory of the season.

John Mitchell and Boyd Devereaux replied for the Maple Leafs (32-34-13), who allowed 14 goals during a pair of losses over the weekend.

“We just weren’t good tonight,” said forward Matt Stajan.

That assessment basically mirrored the one provided by coach Ron Wilson. He really only seemed happy with the play of Grabovski and questioned why the Belarusian was penalized for the hit that injured Markov in the third period.

“Grabo can play for me any time when he plays like that, that hard,” said Wilson. “I wish we had some more guys who showed as much heart and courage as Grabo does every single night no matter how he gets cut, hit, down and out, he comes right back. You can’t stop him.”

It was Kovalev who couldn’t be stopped on this night.

The flashy winger is already sporting some playoff stubble and appears to have found his groove at the perfect time. There are only a handful of players in the game who could let go the kind of wrist shot he beat Martin Gerber with to open the scoring at 6:11 of the first period.

Two of his three assists came on power-play goals as the Habs finished the night 3-for-5 with the man advantage.

“He’s been really good recently,” Gainey said of Kovalev. “You could see tonight he was dominant. Like any of those really strong players, once they get the sense that their game is together and the situation is provided, they go for it.

“He played a monster game tonight for us.”

Thrashers Beat Senators 6-3

Ilya Kovalchuk would give up all his goals for a shot at the playoffs.

That won’t happen this season, but Kovalchuk netted his 40th goal and the Atlanta Thrashers scored three times in less than three minutes of the second period to beat the Ottawa Senators 6-3 on Saturday night.

“I’d trade all my goals for a playoff spot,” said Kovalchuk, who has at least 40 goals in five consecutive seasons.

The Thrashers, who have won two straight and eight of 11, broke open a 2-2 game on goals by Tobias Enstrom, Marty Reasoner and Colby Armstrong in a span of 2:58.

Enstrom, who had two assists, scored his fifth goal on a power play at 13:12, giving Atlanta a 3-2 edge. Reasoner added his 13th goal 1:12 later before Armstrong notched his 19th goal 54 seconds later for a 5-2 lead.

Jason Spezza had two of Ottawa’s goals, giving him 29 this season, in the first period.

Kovalchuk, who also had an assist on Enstrom’s goal, scored his milestone goal with 10 seconds left in the opening period.

The seven-year veteran, who has 294 career goals, has registered four goals and five assists in his last four games. Nathan Oystrick scored earlier in the period for Atlanta.

“It’s easy to score when everybody plays well. We’re building some momentum for next year,” Kovalchuk said of the Thrashers (32-38-6). “I’ll try for (300 goals). A couple of hat tricks and you’re there.”

Spezza assisted on Ryan Shannon’s power-play goal at 1:50 of the third period. It was Shannon’s seventh of the season and third in three games for the Senators, who lost their second straight after winning five in a row.

“We played a decent first period, made good goals,” Spezza said. “Had a horrible second period, and they just outplayed us after that.”

Atlanta’s Slava Kozlov, who had two assists, scored his 24th goal on a power play at 9:23 of the third period.

Todd White and Eric Perrin each had a pair of assists, and Armstrong added an assist for the Thrashers. Johan Hedberg recorded his 100th career victory by making 18 saves.

“It only took almost 10 years, but it was nice to have it,” said the 35-year-old Hedberg, who has played for Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Dallas and Atlanta. “I noticed a week ago that I was closing in on it.”

The backup to Kari Lehtonen is 11-10-3 this season.

Ottawa rookie goalie Brian Elliott was removed after Reasoner’s goal. He gave up four goals on 21 shots. His replacement, Alex Auld, allowed Armstrong’s goal on the first shot he faced.

“By no means was it his fault,” Ottawa coach Cory Clouston said of Elliott. “They wanted it more than we did. It’s hard to explain that. The effort just wasn’t consistent enough at times.”

Ottawa’s Nick Foligno had an assist, giving him two goals and four assists in five games.

Coyotes Beat Canucks 5-1

At this point of the season, the Phoenix Coyotes don’t want to be in a position to further embarrass themselves.

Deep in the Western Conference and out of the playoff picture, the Coyotes put together a solid 60 minute effort, and beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1.

“After recent games, we were pretty disgusted with ourselves,” said captain Shane Doan, who scored his 27th goal of the season. “It was apparent we made sure that we do not embarrass ourselves.”

In the process, Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 34 shots, and Daniel Winnik, Ed Jovanovski, Viktor Tikhonov and Matthew Lombardi added goals. It was Phoenix’s highest-scoring game since beating Los Angeles 6-3 on Feb. 21. The four-goal margin was the largest for Phoenix this season.

Bryzgalov lost the shutout when Alex Burrows slammed in a puck that rebounded off the back boards with 1:45 left in the game.

“We did not execute, it was that simple,” said Burrows, who picked up his 24th of the season. “Once we got behind, it was tough coming back. We missed many shots, and their goalie stopped anything which got through.”

The five goals allowed are the most Vancouver has surrendered since a 5-3 loss Jan. 28 at home against Nashville. The Canucks lost in regulation for the second time in their last 11 games.

“This was a missed opportunity,” Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. “Our game wasn’t there, and execution was not where it needed to be.”

After the Coyotes failed to score on two power-play opportunities, Winnik beat Roberto Luongo at even strength with 5:55 left in the first period.

Phoenix made it 3-0 with goals in a 2:04 span early in the second.

First, Doan ripped a wrist shot past Luongo at 1:21. The goal was set up on a perfect pass from defenceman Keith Yandle from inside the Phoenix blue-line to the Vancouver side of centre ice.

Jovanovski followed with his seventh of the season on a power play at 3:25.

Phoenix upped its lead to 4-0 on a goal credited to Tikhonov at 10:30 of the second. As Tikhonov was called for a hooking penalty, he touched the puck inside the Vancouver line, but did not maintain control. When Vancouver defenceman Shane O’Brien attempted to poke check, the puck - last touched by Tikhonov - slide into a vacated Vancouver net.

“That’s definitely a first for me,” said Tikhonov. “I was actually wondering, ‘did that count?’ I didn’t know to celebrate or not.”

Canucks Beat Sharks 3-1

The Vancouver Canucks have become the team Mats Sundin envisioned in December when he signed as the biggest free-agent acquisition in franchise history.

The Canucks lost eight straight in January but now are on a 12-2 tear that’s generating playoff talk in the dressing room.

“You look at the roster, there’s no reason why this team shouldn’t be able to play like this on a consistent basis,” said Sundin after scoring the winner in a 3-1 victory Saturday over the San Jose Sharks.

“In my opinion all the ingredients are there to have a successful team so hopefully we can build on this.”

While the Canucks had lost seven straight to San Jose, they wanted to send a message to the Sharks, co-leaders in the tight Western Conference, in case they meet in the playoffs.

Kevin Bieksa, who sports what could be considered the start of a playoff beard, agreed it was a statement game for his fifth-place club.

“We’ve been winning for the last little while but to beat a quality team like San Jose, a team we haven’t beat all season, is huge for us,” said Bieksa whose power-play point shot provided insurance in the third period.

Goalie Roberto Luongo, who made 28 saves and snagged a labelled Jonathan Cheechoo shot while on his stomach with the game still on the line, said the Canucks sought to sow seeds of doubt in San Jose.

“We wanted to send a message just in case that we face these guys in the playoffs and let them know it’s not going to be an easy series.”

Defenceman Alex Edler, with his eighth goal of the season, and Sundin, who ended a 10-game scoring drought, provided a 2-0 lead with goals two minutes 47 seconds apart in the first six minutes.

While Edler’s shot was a blast from the point, Sundin combined with Pavol Demitra to finesse the puck behind goalie Brian Boucher.

“I had my momentum going to the left and it was such a great pass it was kind of an easy goal for me to score,” said Sundin who left Boucher sprawled on the ice.

“We moved the puck well. We had a lot of other chances too.”

Ryan Kesler, the third member of the line whose speed created chances off the rush, said the start was important as the Canucks won their fifth in a row to improve to 34-22-8.

“I thought we came out and really wanted this game,” said Kesler who assisted on both first-period goals.

“We were physical, we were skating well, we were generating offence which we haven’t in the past couple of games against these guys.”

Another key was Luongo’s save on Cheechoo, Kesler said.

“That’s a turning point. They get that and they get momentum and it’s a one-goal game and we’re scrambling.”

Joe Thornton cut the lead to a goal, scoring on the power play, with 2.9 seconds remaining in the second period.

A shot hit Shark defenceman Rob Blake, starting a goalmouth scramble. Defender Ryan Johnson tried to clear the puck but swept it onto Thornton’s stick.

Blake came off favouring his right leg and played only an 18-second shift in the third period. Coach Todd McLellan could not provide more information on the injury other than, “He’s obviously a little bit sore.”

Injuries have hit the Sharks hard as they lost their fourth game in a row for the first time in more than a year to fall to 42-12-10 but remained tied atop the West with Detroit.

They are missing starting goalie Evgeni Nabokov, who suffered a lower body injury in practice; forwards Marcel Goc, Claude Lemieux, Torrey Mitchell, Jeremy Roenick, and Mike Grier along with newly acquired defenceman Kent Huskins (foot surgery).

“It’s something you deal with all year,” Thornton said. “It’s just part of the game, different guys have to step up and play.”

Boucher, who stopped several screened shots during Vancouver’s second-period power plays, discounted the theory that struggling through injuries makes you stronger.

“If you had a choice to go through it or not you’d choose probably not to because you want to win every night.”

McLellan said the Sharks have to focus only on their game and compete harder in the first 10 minutes.

“Right now it’s about our game and our ability to come through this piece of adversity we’re in,” he said.

“It’s about starts, it’s about getting everyone to pull in the right direction. It’s not watching the standings and seeing who’s there.”

Maple Leafs Beat Senators 4-3

On Saturday night the Ottawa Senators needed to face the fact that they didn’t get the goaltending they needed.

Brian Elliott couldn’t come up with the big save as Pavel Kubina scored 33 seconds in overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs (25-26-12) a 4-3 victory. It was his second of the game.

Kubina beat Elliott through the legs on a goal the young goaltender should have stopped.

When asked about Ottawa’s goaltending, coach Cory Clouston was honest.

”He was inconsistent like the rest of us,” said Clouston. ”He made a couple of big saves, but if you look back there would be a couple goals he would want back. We’re not a good enough team to have one or two bad goals.”

In comparison, Leafs coach Ron Wilson was extremely pleased with his goaltender’s performance as Curtis Joseph picked up his second win of the season.

”Big thing for us is our goaltenders have made key saves when we need them,” said Wilson. ”That builds confidence up front.”

Jamal Mayers and Tim Stapleton, playing in just his second NHL game, also scored for the Leafs. Joseph, making his first start since January 1, stopped 29 shots.

Ryan Shannon, Jarkko Ruutu and Daniel Alfredsson scored for the Senators (23-29-9), while Elliott faced 38 shots.

Toronto’s blue-line was given a boost as Tomas Kaberle returned to the lineup after missing the 13 games with a broken hand and Mike Van Ryn returned from a leg injury after missing the last eight.

With both teams out of the playoff picture it was expected this latest instalment of the Battle of Ontario might lack some intensity, but the 20,050 at Scotiabank Place weren’t disappointed.

”The atmosphere here in this building when we come here is as good as anywhere,” said Joseph. ”There are lots of Leafs fans, but it gets loud and it’s a great atmosphere.”

Ottawa took control of the play early on as they pinned the Leafs in their own end, but couldn’t find a way to score. Minutes later Toronto’s Nik Antropov had a point blank shot, but couldn’t beat Elliott.

Toronto opened the scoring at the six-minute mark on a goal Elliott would most definitely want back. Mayers beat Elliott glove side with a wrist shot the Senators goaltender should have easily handled.

The Leafs made it 2-0 as Stapleton scored his first NHL goal as he took advantage of Jason Spezza’s misfortune. Spezza was trying to clear the puck out and instead ended up pushing it over the goal line.

”The first period was brutal,” said Ottawa’s Mike Fisher. ”We didn’t look like a team at all. The second period was really good and we played like we should have from the start.”

After being outshot 18-8 in the first the Senators came out with greater intensity and scored 29 seconds into the second to cut the lead in half as Ryan Shannon beat Joseph from the slot.

Four minutes later Ruutu tied the game as he jammed the puck in past Joseph short side.

The Leafs nearly regained the lead with just over two minutes remaining as Jason Blake had a breakaway, but Elliott came up with the big save.

Ottawa took its first lead of the game as Alfredsson beat Joseph with a slapshot through the legs early in the third period.

”It was a tough first period on home ice,” said Alfredsson. ”To be able to turn it around is a good sign.”

Kubina tied the game with just over five minutes remaining with a power-play goal.

”We didn’t help ourselves getting behind,” said Fisher. ”Parts of our game we have to still put together.”

In its last six games, Toronto has won twice in overtime, twice in shootouts and lost twice in shootouts.

”We have nothing to save it for,” said Mayers. ”We leave it on the line. We’re a young team, we’re hungry and we never give up.”

Alexandre Picard, playing in his first game after being a healthy scratch the last four, left the game after the first period with a lower-body injury and will be re-evaluated Sunday.

Stars’ Brad Richards Out with Wrist Injury

Dallas Stars forward Brad Richards’ injury will not need surgery but he will be out for longer than expected.

On Tuesday a specialist determined the forward will not need to go under the knife but will be in a cast for five weeks and out of the line-up for six to eight weeks.

The team placed Richards on injured reserve Tuesday.

Richards broke his right wrist in a 3-2 shootout victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.

He has 16 goals and 32 assists over his 55 games this season.

Sabres Beat Maple Leafs 4-1

Rookie goaltender Justin Pogge wasn’t even a full period into his first start on home ice before getting jeered by Toronto Maple Leafs fans.

Even though the score was 3-0 Buffalo at that point, Pogge could really only be faulted for one of the pucks that got by him. But that didn’t keep the crowd from cheering sarcastically when the 22-year-old goalie made an easy save.

“I think I probably deserved it,” said Pogge. “It’s just one of those things.

“Things don’t go your way all the time. You’ve got to keep your head down and keep playing.”

He played much better in the final 40 minutes, but most of the damage was already done as the Sabres skated away with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday night.

One of the most important thing the Leafs organization hopes to establish over the next two months is whether Pogge is more than just a former prospect. He’s now made four NHL starts and will be back in goal when Columbus comes to town Thursday.

At this point, it’s too soon to make a final judgment on him, which is why coach Ron Wilson would like the fans to be a little more patient.

“I don’t know if they’re expecting the way it’s written up that he’s the saviour of the franchise,” said Wilson. “We’re just trying to develop a goalie. I think (the jeers) just showed some of the frustration.

“Everyone’s just got to be patient and let him grow.”

Pogge is currently being given an opportunity that Brian Burke feels he hasn’t really earned. The Leafs GM bluntly said as much on a Toronto radio station Tuesday, noting that the organization is “force-feeding this kid into the NHL.”

It was an assessment Pogge agreed with after making 26 saves in the loss to Buffalo.

“That’s the truth,” he said. “If it was a playoff race, you wouldn’t want to be throwing a young guy in there. I’m happy to be getting a shot at it. I’m just fortunate for the situation.”

Drew Stafford led the way for Buffalo with two goals. Daniel Paille and Matt Ellis also scored for the Sabres (30-22-6), who moved into a tie for fifth in the Eastern Conference.

Pavel Kubina replied for the Maple Leafs (21-26-10).

The Sabres looked lacklustre in a loss to Carolina on Sunday and didn’t come out with much energy in this one either.

If not for some great play by Ryan Miller, the Leafs would have had an early lead. The Sabres goalie made a few fantastic saves with his team a man short, sprawling around the crease and keeping out a couple sure Toronto goals.

When the Sabres finally pushed back, they managed to get some pucks behind Pogge quickly. The taunts from the crowd came after Ellis made it 3-0 by slipping a weak shot behind him.

“That’s just a joke goal, you shouldn’t let that in,” said Pogge.

At the other end of the ice, Miller saw the whole thing as character-building. It took him a couple years to seize the No. 1 job in Buffalo and understands what a young goaltender needs to go through.

“You’re going to learn a lot more from nights like this than you’re going to learn, even from the American League,” said Miller, who finished with 27 saves. “For him to get some experience right now is going to only help him. He’s got the tools, he’s got the size, it looks like he’s starting to read some plays, he made a few nice saves tonight.

“But to be a consistent goalie at this level, you have to learn, you have to be in the nets, you have to be right out there. He’ll come along and they’re giving him every opportunity. He’ll be fine.”

Even Pogge acknowledged that he felt better after coming out in the second period and stopping all 13 shots he faced.

During that stretch, Kubina made it 3-1 with a power-play goal that had Leaf fans starting to think comeback. The chances of that ended with Kubina in the penalty box during the third period when Stafford got his second goal of the night.

It all added up to another loss in a season filled with many of them. The game did expose Pogge to some of the difficulties that come with playing for a franchise that is trying to rebound.

“The last four years we’ve had some tough times here,” said forward Matt Stajan. “The fans let you know, no matter who you are.”

And fortunately for Pogge, he’s not headed straight back to the American Hockey League this time.

He’s going to be around for the rest of this homestand and will get at least one more chance to make a better impression.

“This is great for him to go through this,” said Wilson. “If it was easy, I’d be worried about him being over-confident. This is going to force him to work harder on his game and that’s what he needs to do.”

Peter Forsberg Considers Retirement

Peter Forsberg’s foot problems have once again flared up, and the forward might hang up his skates for good.

According to the Denver Post, Forsberg, who recently returned to action with Modo of the Swedish Elite League wasn’t able to play Tuesday night because of the injury, and after when he spoke to the media he didn’t sound hopeful.

“I will think for a couple of days before I make a decision, but it doesn’t look good,” Forsberg told the media in Sweden.

The 35-year old told reporters at a news conference after Modo’s game against HV71 that he once again had his troublesome foot problems act up on Saturday.

“I don’t know what to do,” Forsberg said. “I can’t play if I don’t feel 100 percent. I don’t know what happens now. I have to check if there is some last thing we can do to fix the problem.”

While Forsberg was disappointed by his latest and perhaps final setback, it didn’t come as a shock.

“I am not that surprised. It has happened before and I was prepared for it this time as well,” Forsberg said. “It seems impossible to fix the problem. I have tried it all.”

Forsberg has 885 points in 706 career NHL games, and 171 points in 151 NHL playoff games. The two-time Stanley Cup winner was also named the NHL’s MVP award in 2003.

Blue Jackets Fredrik Modin Out with Injury

The Columbus Blue Jackets placed left-winger Fredrik Modin on injured reserve with a lower-body injury Tuesday.

The move is retroactive to Saturday when Modin was injured in the Blue Jackets’ 5-1 win at Carolina. He was evaluated by team physicians when the club returned to Columbus and is expected to miss at least a week.

Modin also spent time on the injured list in October and November with a groin injury.

The 34-year-old has nine goals and 16 assists in 49 games this season. In 813 career NHL games, he has 220 goals and 221 assists with the Blue Jackets, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs.

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