NHL Capsules: Panarin, Blackhawks beat Islanders 2-1 for 6th straight win

CHICAGO – Artemi Panarin scored with 1:14 left in regulation and then had the clinching goal in the shootout, helping the Chicago Blackhawks beat the New York Islanders 2-1 on Friday night for their sixth consecutive victory.

Jonathan Toews also scored in the tiebreaker as Chicago pulled within one point of idle Minnesota for the top spot in the Western Conference. Corey Crawford made 31 saves in his first start since Feb. 23.

After Toews beat Thomas Greiss with a wrist shot, Crawford turned away Joshua Ho-Sang. Patrick Kane was stopped by Greiss and Nikolay Kulemin shot it off the right post before Panarin finished off the victory for the Blackhawks.

Greiss made 30 stops for New York, and Brock Nelson scored his 14th goal in the second. The Islanders had won four of five, including a 5-4 victory at Dallas on Thursday night.

Penguins 5, Lightning 2

PITTSBURGH – Mark Streit made an instant impact in his debut with Pittsburgh, beating Peter Budaj early in the third period to lift the Penguins over Tampa Bay.

Evgeni Malkin scored twice off assists from Phil Kessel and added an assist of his own in his 700th career game as Pittsburgh snapped a two-game losing streak. Justin Schultz had a goal and an assist and Tom Kuhnhackl put in an empty-netter for the Penguins as they swept the season series from the Lightning.

Matt Murray finished with 27 saves as Pittsburgh pulled back into a tie with Columbus for second place in the crowded Metropolitan Davison.

Adam Erne picked up his first NHL goal for Tampa Bay and Nikita Kucherov collected his 28th, but the Lightning lost precious ground in the scramble for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Budaj stopped 30 shots in his first start with the Lightning after coming over in a trade from Los Angeles.

Flames 3, Red Wings 2, OT

CALGARY, Alberta – Mikael Backlund scored in overtime after Detroit’s Tomas Tatar tied it with 1.8 seconds left in the third period, and Calgary beat the Red Wings for its sixth straight win.

After Michael Frolik and Johnny Gaudreau nearly scored earlier in OT, Backlund blasted a shot past Petr Mrazek 3:56 into the extra session.

Kris Versteeg and Matthew Tkachuk also scored for Calgary, and Brian Elliott made 35 saves. The Flames are six points up on Los Angeles and seven points ahead of St. Louis for the first wild card in the Western Conference.

Darren Helm also scored for Detroit. The Red Wings opened the night 10 points out of a playoff spot and last in the Eastern Conference.

Ducks 5, Maple Leafs 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Rickard Rakell scored twice, Jonathan Bernier made 37 saves and Anaheim returned from its bye week with a win over Toronto.

Sami Vatanen and Jakob Silfverberg also scored to help the Ducks get their third straight win at home and maintain a two-point lead over Calgary for third in the Pacific Division. Patrick Eaves added an empty-net goal with 1:14 remaining for his first since being acquired from Dallas.

Nazem Kadri scored on the power play, Zach Hyman added his ninth goal of the season and Curtis McElhinney made 31 saves as the Maple Leafs dropped their fifth in a row.

Jets 3, Blues 0

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Connor Hellebuyck stopped 29 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and the Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues 3-0 on Friday night.

Blake Wheeler scored twice, including on a first-period power play, and the Jets handed the Blues their fifth consecutive loss. Bryan Little added an empty-netter for his 18th of the season with 2:16 remaining in regulation, and Wheeler added another empty-net goal about a minute later.

Hellebuyck improved to 21-15-3 in his ninth straight start. Blues netminder Carter Hutton made 37 saves.

Coyotes 4, Hurricanes 2

RALEIGH, N.C. – Jordan Martinook scored midway through the third period to lift Arizona over Carolina.

Shane Doan added a power-play empty-net goal with 58 seconds left and also had two assists. Christian Dvorak and Alex Goligoski also scored for Arizona, which snapped a five game skid against Carolina and a two-game slide overall. Louis Domingue made 32 saves.

Carolina got goals from Lee Stempniak and Jordan Staal to erase an early 2-0 deficit, but still lost its fourth straight. Cam Ward stopped 18 shots.