This Tie Could Prove Costly for Edmonton

The Edmonton Oilers couldn’t have found an uglier tie in the bargain bin at a garage sale.

“It’s the worst tie you can imagine,” defenseman Janne Niinimaa said after Edmonton blew a 3-0 lead and had to settle for a 3-3 tie with the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio.

Ray Whitney’s third-period rebound goal brought the Blue Jackets back -- again. They had not picked up a point after trailing by three goals in the franchise’s first 216 games but did it for the second time in 12 games. Down 4-1 against Vancouver on Feb. 5, they came back for a 4-4 tie.

“It wasn’t a great game. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves,” Whitney said. “We played well to get back and get a point, but we didn’t feel good about getting behind 3-0. It’s better than a loss.”

Anson Carter had two goals and Niinimaa had two assists for the Oilers, whose winless streak stretched to nine games (0-5-2-2).

It was a costly tie for the Oilers, who hold a three-point edge on Nashville (68-65) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Nashville 5, Chicago 4 -- Scott Walker beat Jocelyn Thibault from in close with 2:11 remaining in overtime at Nashville and the Predators remained in ninth place in the West with 65 points.

The Blackhawks led, 4-3, after Steve Thomas scored with 5:29 left in the second period and came within a second of winning. But David Legwand’s shot on a power play bounced off Thibault’s blocker and Rem Murray put in the rebound at 19:59.

St. Louis 2, Minnesota 0 -- Rookie Curtis Sanford made 27 saves for his first NHL shutout and Pavol Demitra scored both goals at St. Louis.

Sanford, in his second stint with the Blues this season after being recalled from Worcester on Feb. 25, improved to 5-0 in his NHL career.

The victory moved the Blues back into a first-place tie with Detroit in the Central Division with 80 points. St. Louis is seven points in front of the Wild in the Western Conference

New Jersey 2, Washington 1 -- Jamie Langenbrunner tied the game with 32.6 seconds left in regulation, and set up Scott Stevens’ goal in overtime at East Rutherford, N.J.

Stevens’ first goal of the season, with 2:06 remaining in overtime, dropped the Capitals into a first-place tie with Tampa Bay in the Southeast Division.

Martin Brodeur made 28 saves as the Devils extended their unbeaten streak to five games (3-0-2) and moved within two points of the Senators in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Tampa Bay 2, Ottawa 1 -- Nikolai Khabibulin made 30 saves and Vincent Lecavalier scored the go-ahead goal in the second period at Ottawa.

Lecavalier scored with 54.6 seconds left in the period. The Senators opened the scoring at the 10-minute mark of the second period on Jody Hull’s second goal of the season.

Colorado 4, Pittsburgh 1 -- Former Kings Steven Reinprecht and Rob Blake scored goals 1:41 apart in the third period to help the Avalanche win at Denver.

Colorado tied the score at 1-1 when Reinprecht lifted his own rebound over goalie Johan Hedberg at 1:37 of the period. Blake scored a short-handed goal at 3:42.

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New York Islanders 2, Buffalo 1 -- Jason Blake’s goal with 2:18 remaining in overtime gave the Islanders the win at Uniondale, N.Y. Blake, rushing down with Dave Scatchard on a two-on-one, beat goalie Mika Noronen with a wrist shot to the left side.

Montreal 1, Vancouver 1 -- Donald Audette’s goal in the third period at Montreal enabled the Canadiens to end a five-game losing streak.

Audette got his fourth goal of the season at 6:47 of the period. Ed Jovanovski gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead when he scored only 49 seconds into the final period.

New York Rangers 5, Florida 2 -- The Rangers scored three times in the first period at Madison Square Garden to hand the Panthers their third straight loss.

The Rangers have won four of their last six to move within three points of eighth-place Boston in the race for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

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Philadelphia 3, Boston 2 -- Jeremy Roenick scored his second goal of the game one minute into overtime at Boston as the Flyers, 5-1-2 in their last eight games, improved to 21-0-3 when leading after two periods.

Toronto 4, Carolina 1 -- Alex Mogilny’s goal gave the Maple Leafs a 2-1 lead at 10:08 of the second period before 19,362 at the Air Canada Centre.

The Hurricanes have won only three of their last 30 games (3-19-4-3).

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Calgary 4, San Jose 3 -- Chris Drury had a goal and an assist during a four-goal third period as the Flames rallied at Calgary.