Game Results

Oh so close to getting the 2 points in the final road game of the season.

SYR-4
LE-5 (OT)

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 5 goals on 25 shots for the loss. Yuck.

First Period
LE Thomas, (22) (Hishon, Lauridsen), 4:13
SYR Sexton, (8) (Palat, Richard), 18:28

Second Period
SYR Namestnikov, (6) (Sustr, Korobov), 10:50 (PP)
LE Connolly, (9) (Thomas, Beaupre), 14:14
LE Vincour, (15) (Pock, Sullivan), 18:34 (PP)

Third Period
SYR Sustr, (1) (Korobov, Namestnikov), 2:03 (PP)
SYR Devos, (6) (Brown, Taormina), 3:26
LE Vincour, (16) (Hishon, Carey), 9:42

Overtime
LE Agozzino, (19) (Walker, Pock), 2:49

Ondrej Palat got the extremely rare penalty shot in Overtime, but failed to convert against Lake Erie netminder Kent Patterson.

Congratulations to Andrej Sustr on his first pro point, first pro goal, and first pro multi-point game.

Tanner Richard got a helper. In related news, water is wet.

Syracuse is now 3 points back of Providence and 1 points back of Springfield in the conference and 3 points ahead of Binghamton in the division. They head home for a hugely important 5 game homestand to finish the regular season. With Ryan Malone back for Tampa Bay, might Coach Zettler get back one of his star players for the kick at the finish line?

Box score from TheAHL.com.

KHL Playoffs (Russia):

Gagarin Cup Finals
Dynamo Moscow 3 vs. Chelyabinsk 2
Dynamo Moscow Leads the Series 2-0
Nikita Nesterov, Chelyabinsk, 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIM, 1 SOG
Playoff totals: 15 GP, 0-3-3, -3, 6 PIM
Regular season totals (KHL): 35 GP, 0-1-1, +6, 14 PIM
Regular season totals (MHL): 2 GP, 0-0-0, E, 0 PIM

Dynamo Moscow potted 2 Third Period goals to overcome a 2-1 deficit to defeat Traktor Chelyabinsk in Game Two of their Gagarin Cup Finals series 3-2. Ex-Lightning draft pick Marek Kvapil had a goal in the match for Dynamo. Lightning prospect Nikita Nesterov again switched positions to play a little forward in the match, going 67% on draws in 12:02 of ice time. Unfortunately, Nesterov was on the ice for Dynamo's game winning goal, which put Traktor in a tough 2-0 series hole. Coincidentally, seeing time on the ice on that goal was potential Lightning draft target Valery Nichushkin, who is Nesterov's teammate. Game Three is Thursday.

Ontario Hockey League

(E2)Barrie Colts 4 @ (E3)Oshawa Generals 0
Barrie leads best-of-7 Eastern Conference Semifinals, 3-0

D Jake Dotchin, BAR: 0-0-0, +1, 2 PIM
Playoff totals: 7 GP, 0-2-2, +4, 12 PIM
Season totals: 66 GP, 4-18-22, E, 81 PIM
With Barrie: 28 GP, 2-6-8, -1, 42 PIM
With Owen Sound: 38 GP, 2-12-14, +1, 39 PIM

Barrie took a commanding 3-0 series lead on the Gens by winning Game 3, 4-0. Undrafted import goaltender Mathias Niederberger from Germany stopped 35 shots for the shutout. Lightning prospect Jake Dotchin played another strong physical game. The Colts can close out the series on Tuesday in Oshawa.

End of the road?

TB-2
WSH-4

Ben Bishop allowed 3 goals on 37 shots for the loss. We're starting to see what the book is on Bishop now. He's tough as nails to score on in close but may be a little more vulnerable from long range a la Martin Brodeur and a few other bigger-sized goaltenders. I've been pleasantly surprised how he handles himself as a puck handler, on top of that.

First Period
01:52 TB Lecavalier (8), (St. Louis, Salo)

Second Period
03:14 WSH Ovechkin (24), (Hillen, Backstrom)
06:37 TB Killorn (7), (Lecavalier, Carle)
12:54 WSH Carlson (6), (Ward, Hillen)
16:21 WSH Ward (8), (Perrault, Chimera)

Third Period
19:55 WSH Ovechkin (25), (Ribiero)(EN)

Vincent Lecavalier was the game's third star. He has 3 points in 3 games since returning from the broken foot.

It's a tough, tough way to see your season possibly slip away. The past 2 nights saw a pair of 1 goal games that could've easily gone the other way, and just 1 or 2 mistakes and bad bounces made the difference. It's a shame, and the kind of thing that should keep these guys up at nights during the offseason. My biggest regret is that the outcome of these games may very well have gone the other way had Victor Hedman been in the lineup. Again, it's a shame.

The Lightning's divisional deficit grows back to 8 points, with seemingly not enough games left to close the gap.

Alex Killorn had a beautiful goal and was -1 with 2 shots in 16:19.

Matt Taormina was -1 with 1 hit and 2 blocked shots in 16:52.

Tyler Johnson had 1 shot, 1 hit, and was 58% on draws in 11:15.

Richard Panik was -1 with 1 blocked shot in 13:15. The guy has got to quit giving away the puck in the neutral zone. It's a career killing bad habit.

Radko Gudas was -1 with 2 shots and 7 hits in 19:26.

Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.

KHL Playoffs (Russia):

Gagarin Cup Finals
Dynamo Moscow 2 vs. Chelyabinsk 1
Dynamo Moscow Leads the Series 1-0
Nikita Nesterov, Chelyabinsk, 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIM, 1 SOG
Playoff totals: 14 GP, 0-3-3, -2, 6 PIM
Regular season totals (KHL): 35 GP, 0-1-1, +6, 14 PIM
Regular season totals (MHL): 2 GP, 0-0-0, E, 0 PIM

Nikita Nesterov was on the ice for Sergei Soin's game winning goal in Chelyabinsk's 2-1 Game One loss to Dynamo Moscow in the opener of the Gagarin Cup Finals. The defenseman played 14:26 in the match. Caps first rounder Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the only goal of the contest for Traktor. Game Two is Monday.