Tampa Bay Lightning occupies a good spot with six point lead
Brayden Point netted his fourth career hat trick during a career-high six-point night as the Tampa Bay Lightning roared back in the third period against the visiting New York Rangers, topping the visitors 6-3 on Thursday night. Point produced three goals and three assists as the Lightning stormed back from a 3-2 third-period deficit with four unanswered goals. Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov scored an empty-net goal and posted four assists. Steven Stamkos and Anthony Duclair also scored, Victor Hedman managed two helpers and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots as the Lightning improved to 5-2-1 in their past eight games.
New York received a goal and an assist from Jack Roslovic while Artemi Panarin and Braden Schneider also tallied, but the Rangers had their three-game winning streak end. Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves. Evgeny Kuznetsov notched his first goal since joining Carolina in a victory against Eastern Conference-leading Florida in Raleigh, N.C.
Seth Jarvis, Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov also scored for the Hurricanes, who won for the fourth time in five games. Jaccob Slavin had two assists.
The Panthers lost for just the second time in 10 games despite 31 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Florida suffered its sixth shutout of the season. Coyotes 4, Red Wings 1 Clayton Keller and Nick Bjugstad each had a goal and an assist and visiting Arizona handed Detroit its seventh consecutive loss. Logan Cooley and Michael Carcone had the other goals for the Coyotes, who defeated the Red Wings for the second time in less than a week. They blanked Detroit 4-0 in Arizona on Friday with Connor Ingram making 28 saves.
Detroit’s slide is its longest since a 10-game losing streak during November and December 2019. Lucas Raymond scored the Red Wings’ lone goal, while Alex Lyon made 23 saves. Senators 3, Blue Jackets 2 (SO) Claude Giroux and Tim Stutzle each scored in the third period and again in the shootout to lift visiting Ottawa to a victory against Columbus. Anton Forsberg made 35 saves for the Senators, who had lost seven of eight. Boone Jenner and Alexander Nylander scored, Johnny Gaudreau had two assists and Elvis Merzlikins made 35 saves for the Blue Jackets, who blew a 2-0 third-period lead and lost for the fourth time in the past five games.
Sabres 4, Islanders 0
Victor Olofsson, Dylan Cozens and Zach Benson scored within a five-minute span in the second period as Buffalo blanked New York and inched closer to an Eastern Conference wild-card spot. The 18-year-old Benson capped his first multi-goal game by adding an empty-netter late in the third for the Sabres, who haven’t made the playoffs in an NHL-record 12 consecutive seasons but closed within three points of the Islanders and Detroit Red Wings in the race for the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped all 21 shots he faced for the Sabres, who tied a season high by winning their third straight game. Ilya Sorokin recorded 33 saves for the Islanders, who have been blanked in consecutive losses after a season-high six-game winning streak. Wild 2, Ducks 0
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 16 shots he faced and the Minnesota Wild held on for a 2-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night in Saint Paul, Minn. Zach Bogosian and Kirill Kaprizov each scored a goal for the Wild, who improved to 5-0-1 in their past six games. Minnesota has not lost in regulation since March 2. Anaheim was shut out for the seventh time this season and the first time since Feb. 13. The Ducks dropped their fourth consecutive game and fell to 1-5-0 in their last six. Flames 4, Golden Knights 1
Blake Coleman scored twice, Yegor Sharangovich collected one goal and one assist and host Calgary rode four third-period goals to a victory over Vegas. Matt Coronato also scored for the Flames, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf made 28 saves, and Dryden Hunt collected two assists. Anthony Mantha scored for the Golden Knights, who saw their two-game winning streak end. Adin Hill stopped 33 shots. Penguins 6, Sharks 3
Rookie John Ludvig had the go-ahead goal in the third plus an assist as Pittsburgh downed visiting San Jose. Noel Acciari, Jeff Carter, Evgeni Malkin, Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust also scored, and Drew O’Connor and Pierre-Olivier Joseph each had two assists for the Penguins, who had lost four straight (0-3-1). Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry made 29 saves. Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Klim Kostin each had a goal and an assist, Fabian Zetterlund also scored, and Mikael Granlund added two assists for the Sharks, who are on a 1-9-2 slide. San Jose goaltender Magnus Chrona made 25 saves. Capitals 2, Kraken 1
Connor McMichael scored on a breakaway at 11:36 of the third period, breaking a tie and giving Washington a victory against host Seattle. T.J. Oshie, playing in front of his hometown fans, also scored for the Capitals and goaltender Charlie Lindgren made 23 saves. Washington snapped a two-game skid, winning for the first time on its five-game Western swing. The Capitals pulled within one point of the New York Islanders and Detroit in the chase for the second and final Eastern Conference wild-card berth. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored and goalie Joey Daccord stopped 21 of 23 shots for the Kraken, who fell to 0-2-1 on their five-game homestand and dropped to sixth in the Western Conference’s wild-card race. Bruins 2, Canadiens 1 (OT)
Jake DeBrusk scored the game-winning goal 25 seconds into overtime as Boston beat host Montreal.
Danton Heinen scored his fourth goal against Montreal this season, helping Boston go 3-0-1 against the Canadiens. Linus Ullmark made 18 saves as the Bruins logged their third victory in four games. Nick Suzuki scored Montreal’s lone goal, and Sam Montembeault stopped 22 shots. Maple Leafs 6, Flyers 2 Tyler Bertuzzi, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Pontus Holmberg and Timothy Liljegren each had one goal and one assist to lift Toronto past host Philadelphia. Matthew Knies contributed one goal for the Maple Leafs. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves. Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster scored one goal each for the Flyers. Philadelphia goaltender Samuel Ersson allowed three goals in the first period and was then replaced by Felix Sandstrom, who allowed three more in the final two periods.
Timo Meier and Chris Tierney each had a goal and an assist for the Devils, who scored three goals in the first 5:12 of the second period. Allen, acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on Friday, allowed goals on two of the first three shots he faced, but shut out the Stars over the final two periods, making 30 saves. Wyatt Johnston and Craig Smith scored for the Stars, who have lost two in a row after winning five straight. Oettinger was pulled after allowing four goals on 10 shots. Scott Wedgewood stopped eight of the 10 shots he faced.
