NHL Capsules: Golden Knights edge Blackhawks 5-4 for 9th win in 10 games
CHICAGO – Reilly Smith had a goal and two assists, and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 on Friday night for their ninth win in 10 games.
Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson each had a goal and an assist as expansion Vegas won in its first trip to Chicago. Alex Tuch and Cody Eakin also scored, and Malcolm Subban made 28 saves.
The game was tied at 4 when Smith stole a pass and beat Jeff Glass on a breakaway for his 11th of the season 13:53 into the third.
Vinnie Hinostroza had a goal and two assists for Chicago, which was coming off a 2-3-1 trip. Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist, and Glass finished with 38 stops. Patrick Sharp and Nick Schmaltz also scored for the Blackhawks.
Penguins 4, Islanders 0
NEW YORK – Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists, Tristan Jarry stopped 31 shots for his second shutout of the season and Pittsburgh beat New York.
Daniel Sprong had two goals and an assist, Evgeni Malkin also scored and Dominik Simon added two assists for the Penguins, who had dropped four of six and were coming off a 4-0 loss at home to Carolina the previous night. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions pulled within one point of the Hurricanes for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Jaroslav Halak finished with 31 saves as the Islanders lost their season-high fifth straight – all in regulation – while getting outscored 25-8 during the skid.
The Islanders lost right wing Josh Bailey to a lower-body injury early in the first period and he did not return. Bailey leads the team with 38 assists and is tied with captain John Tavares for tops with 50 points.
Red Wings 4, Panthers 2
DETROIT – Anthony Mantha and Gustav Nyquist scored in the third period to lift Detroit over Florida for its fourth straight victory.
The Red Wings blew a 2-0 lead and had been outplayed for most of the night, but Mantha gave Detroit the lead back on the power play, and Nyquist added a breakaway goal with 4:38 remaining.
Andreas Athanasiou and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Red Wings. Mike Matheson and Aleksander Barkov scored for the Panthers, who had their game at Boston on Thursday night postponed because of severe weather. They were able to make it from there to Detroit to play Friday’s game as scheduled.
Jets 4, Sabres 3
WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Blake Wheeler and Jacob Trouba each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg topped Buffalo, extending its point streak to five games.
Wheeler has a point in five straight games, with five goals and three assists during that span. All five of those goals have been scored in the four games the right wing has played at center in place of injured Mark Scheifele.
The Jets are 4-0-1 in their last five and 24-11-7 overall, good for first place in the Central Division – one point ahead of idle St. Louis.
Winnipeg defenseman Dustin Byfuglien scored his first goal of the season in his 30th game. It was his second game back after missing 10 with a lower-body injury.
Bryan Little also scored for the Jets, who are 15-3-1 at home. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves and improved to 22-4-6.
Marco Scandella, Scott Wilson and Johan Larsson scored for the struggling Sabres.
Senators 6, Sharks 5, OT
OTTAWA, Ontario – Matt Duchene scored his second goal of the game seven seconds into overtime and Ottawa capped a four-goal comeback with a win over San Jose.
Down 5-2 to start the third period, the Senators got goals from Derick Brassard, Duchene and Mike Hoffman. Ryan Dzingel and Mark Stone also scored for Ottawa, and Craig Anderson made 30 saves.
Hoffman and Duchene raced for a 2-on-1 off the OT faceoff, and Hoffman slipped a backhand pass across the slot to Duchene, who pushed the puck past goalie Aaron Dell.
Tomas Hertl led the Sharks with two goals. Melker Karlsson, Chris Tierney and Brett Burns also scored. Dell stopped 37 shots.