NHL capsules: Nikita Kucherov, Lightning beat Canucks 5-2

TAMPA, Fla. – Nikita Kucherov stopped an 11-game goal drought, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for his NHL-best 32nd victory, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Thursday night.

Yanni Gourde, Adam Erne, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman also scored for the Lightning, who returned home after a 5-3 trip.

Vancouver’s Brock Boeser scored his 26th goal and Anders Nilsson stopped 31 shots.

Kucherov opened the scoring on his 28th goal by converting a rebound 14:36 into the first period.

After Gourde got his 20th goal during a power play at 1:38 of the second, Erne made it 3-0 with 6:20 left in the second in his first NHL game this season.

Stamkos completed Tampa Bay’s three-goal second when he picked his up 20th goal late in the period.

Coyotes 4, Wild 3, OT

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Clayton Keller scored Arizona’s fourth straight goal at 3:55 of overtime to give the Coyotes a comeback victory over Minnesota.

Nick Cousins scored twice for Arizona. His second goal tied it with 18.3 seconds remaining in regulation after Arizona pulled goalie Antti Raanta for an extra attacker.

Kevin Connaughton also scored, and Raanta stopped 25 shots.

Eric Staal, Matt Cullen and Mike Reilly scored to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead.

Golden Knights 5, Sharks 3

SAN JOSE, Calif. – James Neal and Jonathan Marchessault scored in a 3:29 span span in the third period, helping Vegas to the win.

Brayden McNabb, William Karlsson and Erik Haula also scored for the Golden Knights, who closed out a 4-2 road trip. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots.

Joe Pavelski scored twice for the Sharks, who lost their second straight. Timo Meier also scored, and Martin Jones made 28 saves.

Stars 4, Blackhawks 2

CHICAGO – Tyler Seguin scored twice, Ben Bishop made 37 saves and Dallas beat fading Chicago for its fourth straight win.

Tyler Pitlick connected with 4.5 seconds left in second period, and Stephen Johns also scored for the Stars, who strengthened their hold on the top wild card in the Western Conference and remained one point behind third-place St. Louis in the Central Division.

Jonathan Toews and Artem Anisimov scored for Chicago, which lost its fourth straight overall and sixth straight at home. Anton Forsberg blocked 26 shots.

Sabres 4, Islanders 3

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Sam Reinhart poked in a rebound with 4:14 left, and Buffalo beat New York after squandering a three-goal lead.

Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, and Ryan O’Reilly also scored. Robin Lehner stopped 26 shots to help Buffalo salvage the finale of a five-game homestand after going 0-3-1 in its previous four games.

John Tavares, Anders Lee and Ross Johnston scored for New York.

Senators 4, Predators 3, OT

OTTAWA, Ontario – Mike Hoffman scored 3:01 into overtime, lifting Ottawa past Nashville.

Chris DiDomenico, Max McCormick and Magnus Paajarvi also scored to help the Senators win for the fourth time in five games. Craig Anderson made 35 saves for his 15th win of the season.

P.K. Subban scored twice for the Predators (32-12-9), and Calle Jarnkrok picked up his 13th goal. Juuse Saros stopped 32 shots.

Veteran forward Kyle Turris returned to Ottawa for the first time since he was traded to the Predators in November. He received a standing ovation during a video tribute in the first period.

Blues 6, Avalanche 1

ST. LOUIS – Brayden Schenn scored twice and Vince Dunn had a career-high three assists to help St. Louis beat Colorado.

Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist, and Ivan Barbashev, Kyle Brodziak and Alex Pietrangelo also scored. The Blues scored more than four goals for the first time since Dec. 9.

Carter Hutton made 23 saves as St. Louis beat Colorado for the fourth straight time. The Blues have earned points against the Avalanche in 12 consecutive games. Gabriel Bourque scored for the Avalanche.

Flyers 5, Canadiens 3

PHILADELPHIA – Travis Konecny scored twice and Claude Giroux had a goal and two assists to help Philadelphia beat Montreal.

Jakub Voracek and Ivan Provorov also scored, and Shayne Gostisbehere had three assists. Logan Shaw, Artturi Lehkonen and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal.

Flames 3, Devils 2

NEWARK, N.J. – Johnny Gaudreau scored the go-ahead goal and set up linemate Sean Monahan’s second of the game, and Calgary won its third straight.

Backup David Rittich made 30 saves, giving Mike Smith a rare night off and helping the Flames improve to 15-5-5 on the road. Taylor Hall and Pavel Zacha scored for New Jersey.