Sippenforum » Weber off for hooking, Niskanen tied it on

NEW YORK -- Rick Nash scored the winning goal with 1:42 left, on New Yorks third shot of the third period, and the Rangers clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 2-1 victory over the NHL-worst Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. New York secured second place in the Metropolitan Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season. Drew Stafford gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead in the second, and Benoit Pouliot tied in in the final minute of the frame. Nash fired a one-timer off a cross-zone feed from Martin St. Louis, and sent the puck past Hacketts glove to break the 1-1 tie for his 26th goal. The Rangers then killed a late penalty against Brian Boyle, the third Sabres power play of the third period. Drew Stafford gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead in the second, and Benoit Pouliot tied in in the final minute of the frame. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23 shots in the win, New Yorks last home game of the season. The Rangers final game is at Montreal on Saturday. Hackett made 28 saves for the Sabres, 2-15-1 in their last 18 games. The Rangers dominated the Sabres 18-1 in shots in the second period, yet had only a 1-1 tie to show for it. Buffalo recorded the first five shots of the game, and New York didnt record its first until Pouliots partial breakaway 7:30 in. However, the Rangers had a 27-13 edge through 40 minutes. The Sabres made the most of their only second-period shot and grabbed a 1-0 lead on it with 10:54 left in the period. Buffalo defenceman Mike Weber drifted backward with the puck from the right circle toward the blue line, and flipped a shot toward the Rangers net. Stafford, stationed in front of Lundqvist, got enough of his stick on it to deflect it into the net for his 16th goal of the season. New York did nothing with its two power plays in the first period or its next two in the second after a two-goal performance with the man advantage Tuesday against Carolina. It took until there were only 30.4 seconds left in the middle frame to get even with the Sabres. Hackett had been tough up until then, including shaking off a hard one-timer off the stick of Brad Richards that struck him flush in the forehead portion of his mask with 2:11 remaining in the period. After being briefly attended to on the ice by medical personnel, Hackett got up off his knees and stayed in the game. Pouliot took a pass across the Sabres zone in the left circle and fired a drive past Hackett to tie it. It was Pouliots 15th goal of the season and third in five games. NOTES: Lundqvist had a run of 26 minutes, 32 seconds between saves -- spanning from the first period until the third. ... Stafford and Sabres D Henrik Tallinder both returned to the lineup after missing four games each due to injury. Stafford has six goals and nine points in his past 13 games. ... The Rangers didnt record their first shot in the third period until Carl Hagelins attempt with 6:20 left. ... New York didnt take a penalty until the third period. In Tuesdays win, the Rangers were unpenalized in a full game for the first time since Jan. 10, 2012, against Phoenix. Mitchell Trubisky Youth Jersey .Heres Ralph the Dog with the crew here at TSN jumping into the James Duthie TradeCentre selfie: Happy to drop by! RT @TSN_Sports: @tsnjamesduthie: Take this Ellen. Mitchell Trubisky Jersey . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. http://www.chicagobearfootballauthentic....y-bears-jersey/. Nat Borchers headed in the sole goal in the 54th minute, getting on the end of a Kyle Beckerman free kick. The defeat cost Sporting top spot in the Eastern Conference. Even a draw would have moved the Kansas City club above Columbus. Mitchell Trubisky Bears Jersey . The appointment of Boullier continues the behind-the-scenes restructuring at McLaren, who recently brought back former team principal Ron Dennis as its new chief executive.WASHINGTON - Torrey Mitchell scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:42 left, Jhonas Enroth stopped 43 shots, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Washington Capitals 2-1 Saturday night for their third straight win.Washingtons Braden Holtby made the initial save after Brian Gionta picked up a loose puck in the left circle, but Mitchell knocked in the rebound for his third goal of the season.Matt Moulson also scored for Buffalo, which began the day last in the league with 12 points and has won three in a row for the first time since Feb. 25-28.Matt Niskanen tied the score for Washington with a power-play goal at 5:54 of the third period, and Holtby finished with 24 saves.Enroth, starting in place of the injured Michal Neuvirth, made 20 saves in the second period alone, and closed with several in the final minute after Washington pulled its goalie.The Sabres were playing their first game since Tuesday following the postponement of Friday nights home game against the New York Rangers due to the severe snow storm in the Buffalo region.Washington had won two straight and five of seven.With Mike Weber off for hooking, Niskanen tied it on Washingtons 35th shot of the night. He took a pass from Nicklas Backstrom and his shot from the slot deflected off aa Sabres defender and past Enroth for his first goal of the season.dddddddddddd.The Capitals had gone four games without a power-play goal.Washington outshot Buffalo 31-14 over the first 40 minutes but trailed 1-0.Midway through the second, Tyler Ennis fired wide to the right of Holtby. The puck bounced off the end boards to Moulson left of the net, and he backhanded a shot past the sprawling Holtby at the 9:45 mark.The first 20 minutes were relatively quiet until Washingtons Michael Latta and Buffalos Marcus Foligno dropped their gloves and traded punches at the 17-minute mark.NOTES: The Sabres home game against the Rangers has been rescheduled for Friday, Feb. 20. Their game against the Ottawa Senators, scheduled to be played that night in Buffalo, has been moved to Monday, Dec. 15. ... Washington re-assigned RW Chris Brown to Hershey of the American Hockey League. Brown scored one goal in five games this season with the Capitals. ... Sabres D Nikita Zadorov played in his 10th NHL game of the season, thereby activating his three-year rookie contract. ... Buffalo C Cody McCormick left after being hit on the head by a skate in the first period and didnt return. ... Washington D Mike Green left with an upper body injury. Wholesale USA Soccer Jerseys discount uswnt jersey Wholesale AC Milan Jerseys Wholesale Arsenal Jerseys Wholesale A.S. Roma Jerseys Wholesale Atletico Madrid Jerseys Wholesale Chelsea Jerseys Cheap Barcelona Jerseys Bayern Munich Jerseys For Sale Cheap Borussia Dortmund Jerseys Cheap Inter Milan Jerseys Juventus Jerseys From China Leicester City Jerseys For Sale Discount Liverpool Jerseys Wholesale Manchester City Jerseys Manchester United Jerseys For Sale Wholesale Paris Saint-Germain Jerseys Real Madrid Jerseys From China Cheap Sevilla Jerseys Authentic Tottenham Hotspur Jerseys ' ' '