Carolina Hurricanes Take on Boston Bruins

The sixth-seeded Carolina Hurricanes will try to take a commanding three games to one lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals when they host the top-seeded Boston Bruins in Game 4 at RBC Center.

After losing a 4-1 decision in Game 1, the Hurricanes have posted consecutive wins in this best-of-seven set. The most recent victory came Wednesday evening in Game 3 at RBC, where Carolina was 26-14-1 during the regular season. The Hurricanes have come out on top in three of four home tests so far in the playoffs.

Boston, meanwhile, will try to earn a split in Raleigh with a win tonight before hosting Game 5 at TD Banknorth Garden on Sunday. The Bruins were 24-13-4 on the road this season and have a 2-1 record as the guest in the postseason.

The Bruins, who swept Montreal in the opening round, had won their first five games in the playoffs this year before getting handed losses in the last two meetings with Carolina.

Carolina's Game 3 win came in dramatic fashion as Jussi Jokinen scored 2:48 into overtime to lift the 'Canes to a 3-2 decision. It was Jokinen's second game-winner of the playoffs.

Jokinen, who had just seven goals in 71 games during the regular season, notched his fifth of these playoffs and added an assist in quickly becoming a clutch postseason performer. The Finnish winger beat the third-period buzzer to give the 'Canes a win in Game 4 of their quarterfinal matchup with New Jersey, then lit the lamp late in regulation to tie Game 7 with the Devils.

Eric Staal collected his team-leading seventh goal and 10th point during the playoffs, logging the first power-play goal of this series in the process for Carolina, which is a perfect 6-0 in the postseason when Staal scores.

Staal is now one point shy of Ron Francis' 38 for the franchise playoff scoring mark. Sergei Samsonov scored and set up Jokinen's overtime winner.

Cam Ward was tested with 23 shots, turning back 21 in the win. Since allowing four goals on 24 shots in Game 1, Ward has turned aside 57-of-59 shots thrown his way by Boston.

Mark Recchi scored the third-period equalizer to force OT and Tim Thomas made 38 saves for Boston, which has yet to register a goal with the man advantage in this series and on each of its last 16 power plays dating back to Game 2 of the quarterfinals against Montreal. Staal's marker was also the first power- play goal allowed by Boston this postseason.

Milan Lucic added his first goal of the playoffs for the Bruins.

Boston had a great deal going for it heading into this matchup, including the fact that the Bruins are undefeated all-time against the Hurricanes in the postseason. This is the fourth time the Bruins have faced the Carolina/Hartford franchise in the playoffs.

This is just the second time the teams are meeting in the playoffs since the club moved to Carolina prior to the 1997-98 campaign. Boston ousted the Hurricanes in six games during the opening round of the 1999 playoffs.

Boston also dominated the regular season series against the 'Canes this year, as it took all four meetings and outscored Carolina by an 18-6 margin in the process.

Detroit Red Wings Beat Anaheim Ducks 6-3

Johan Franzen and Marian Hossa each scored twice to help the Detroit Red Wings beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-3 on Thursday night, tying the Western Conference semifinal series at two games each.

After Franzen scored two first-period goals, Hossa broke a 2-2 tie with goals in a 3:05 span of the second period.

Franzen added an assist on Hossa's first goal,

Game 5 is Sunday in Detroit, and Game 6 is Tuesday night in Anaheim.

Mikael Samuelsson also scored, Henrik Zetterberg added an empty-netter, and Valterri Flippula had two assists for the Red Wings.

Chris Osgood made 25 saves for Detroit, while the Red Wings were able to chase Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller after Samuelsson's goal early in the third.

Hiller, who had made 59 saves in the Ducks' 4-3 triple-overtime win in Game 2 and 45 saves in a 2-1 victory in Game 3, allowed five goals on 33 shots before being replaced by Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Corey Perry had two goals and an assist for Anaheim. Scott Niedermayer also scored, and Ryan Getzlaf had two assists.

Perry took a feed from Chris Pronger and swiftly moved down the right wing before whisking a slap shot inside the far post just 42 seconds after the opening faceoff.

Anaheim continued to control play, building a 5-1 shot advantage before the Red Wings got on track.

Franzen tied it, beating Hiller with a quick wrist shot from the high slot off a drop pass from Flippula. Franzen then deflected in Niklas Kronwall's point shot with 36 seconds remaining in the first to make it 2-1.

Franzen has shown a significant ability to raise his game in the post-season.

During the Red Wings' championship run last year, the Swede scored 12 goals in his first 12 playoff games before sustaining a concussion against Dallas. After missing six games, he scored a goal in the Cup final.

Wasting little time returning to that form this season, Franzen leads Detroit with six post-season goals and he generated at least a point in each of the Red Wings' first six playoff games before being shut down by the Ducks in Game 3.

Franzen responded Thursday with his first multigoal game of this post-season. He had three multigoal games, including two three-goal games, last year.

Perry scored his second goal snapping in a shot from slot off a feed from Getzlaf at 11:03 of the second to tie it 2-2.

Hossa then put a wrist shot from the right circle inside the post to Hiller's left for his first goal of the series, giving Detroit a 3-2 lead with 3:58 to go in the second.

Working on a power play 3:05 later, Hossa drilled a slap shot from the right point past Hiller to give Detroit its first two-goal lead of the series.

Hossa also had two goals in Game 4 in Detroit's sweep of Columbus in the first round. He has six career multigoal games in the playoffs.

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.

Canucks and Blues in First Round Match-Up

Not too many clubs had a better finish to the season than the Vancouver Canucks. The St. Louis Blues were one of them.

The two streaking clubs kick off their Western Conference quarterfinals matchup tonight at Vancouver's GM Place.

Vancouver closed out January on an eight-game losing streak, dropped nine in a row at home and put a playoff berth in doubt with a 22-20-8 record. However, a February 3 home win over Carolina ignited a 23-7-2 stretch to finish the season and also sparked what went on to be a franchise-record 11-game home winning streak.

The Canucks have lost just once in regulation at home since January 30, going 13-1-2 over that stretch. That was a big part as to why Vancouver was able to overtake Calgary for the Northwest Division title and the West's third seed.

For the Blues to make the postseason for the first time since 2004, they had to climb out of an even bigger hole. St. Louis at one point in time found itself 15th overall in the West before using an NHL-best 25-9-7 record in the second half to jump into the sixth spot in the conference.

In fact, St. Louis' victory in its final regular-season game vaulted the team from eighth to sixth, helping it avoid a first-round meeting with San Jose.

Both clubs have their goaltenders to thank in part for their strong finishes. Vancouver netminder Roberto Luongo missed 24 games between November 24 and January 13 due to a groin injury, but won 12 of 13 starts from February 3- March 7 on the way to a 33-13-7 season with a 2.34 goals against average and a franchise-record nine shutouts.

Luongo has been to the playoffs once in his career, going 5-7 with a 1.77 GAA in 12 games with Vancouver in 2006-07. He started three of the Canucks' four meetings with the Blues this year, going 2-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA.

St. Louis goaltender Chris Mason was 1-2-0 with a 3.44 GAA in his three starts versus Vancouver in a four-game series that the two clubs split.

Mason became the Blues' undisputed No. 1 goaltender when Manny Legace was assigned to the minors on February 7 and he started each of the Blues' final 33 games. Mason ended with a 27-27-7 record in 57 games with a 2.41 GAA and six shutouts, going 24-8-6 record in his last 38 games. However, he has made just five postseason appearances, going 1-4 with a 3.45 GAA with Nashville.

St. Louis overcame a rash of injuries this season, including long-term ailments to Erik Johnson (right knee), Erik Brewer (back) during the season and Paul Kariya. Kariya skated in just 11 games thanks to left and right hip injuries, though a return in the postseason is possible.

With no Kariya, Brad Boyes led the Blues in goals, assists and points. He had 33 tallies, including 16 on the power play, to go along with 39 helpers and a career-best 72 points. David Backes was the Blues' other 30-goal scorer, notching a career-high 31, to give St. Louis a pair of skaters with at least 30 goals for the first time since 2002-03 when current Canuck Pavol Demitra and Keith Tkachuk turned the trick.

Tkachuk added 25 goals and 49 points in a season for the Blues that saw the 37-year-old reach 1,000 points in his career, just the seventh U.S.-born skater to reach the mark. Tkachuk is a veteran of 85 playoff games -- 37 of them with the Blues -- and has 28 goals and 28 assists in the postseason.

Vancouver's offense was dominated by a pair of 28-year-olds in twin brothers Daniel and Henrik Sedin. The duo both notched a team-best 82 points, with Daniel posting a club-high 31 goals and Henrik leading the way with 60 assists that ranked eighth in the league.

The Canucks have two veterans to help out the brothers in Mats Sundin and Demitra. Sundin, signed by the Canucks in December after holding off on retirement, has 35 goals and 74 points in 83 career playoff games -- most of that with Toronto -- while Demitra owns 20 goals and 30 assists in 77 postseason battles.

Vancouver and St. Louis have met twice in the postseason, with the Canucks winning both series in seven games despite getting outscored 48-44. The Blues haven't played the Canucks in the postseason since a seven-game 2003 conference quarterfinals loss. in First Round Match-Up.

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.