NHL Capsules: Nick Bonino lifts Pittsburgh Penguins over Buffalo
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Nick Bonino scored the go-ahead goal with 5:29 left and the Pittsburgh Penguins clinched their 11th straight playoff berth with a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.
Sidney Crosby and Conor Sheary also scored, and Matt Murray made 29 saves. The Penguins (46-17-9) improved to 8-1-1 in their past 10 and are in the hunt to finish with the NHL’s best record.
Sam Reinhart scored for a Sabres team that’s sputtering on offense. Buffalo has just five goals in regulation in its past five games.
The score would’ve been more lopsided if not for Sabres goalie Robin Lehner, who made 31 saves.
Capitals 4, Flames 2
WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin had a goal and two assists, T.J. Oshie scored his 30th of the season and the NHL-leading Washington Capitals defeated the surging Calgary Flames.
The top line of Ovechkin, Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom dominated the entire game. Ovechkin led all players with a season-high 11 shots, finally beating Flames goaltender Brian Elliott late in the third period for his 29th goal.
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Kevin Shattenkirk also scored, and Backstrom had three assists as the Capitals snapped Elliott’s franchise-record winning streak at 11 games. Elliott kept his team in it by stopping 36 shots as Calgary lost for just the fifth time in 22 games.
Playing his 300th career game, counterpart Braden Holtby celebrated his bobblehead night by making 29 saves for Washington, which has 102 points.
Sean Monahan and former Capitals winger Troy Brouwer scored for the Flames.
Devils 3, Rangers 2 (OT)
NEWARK, N.J. – Joseph Blandisi scored on an odd-man rush with 54.6 seconds left on the clock in overtime, and New Jersey handed New York a rare road loss.
John Quenneville set up Blandisi’s third goal of the season, and Quenneville and Taylor Hall also scored for the Devils. New Jersey got just its second win in 14 games (2-10-2) behind 38 saves by Cory Schneider, including a stop on Kevin Hayes in close just before Blandisi’s winner.
The win was the Devils’ first in four games against the Rangers this season.
Oscar Lindberg and Rick Nash scored for the Rangers, who lead the NHL with 26 road wins. Antti Raanta made 26 saves, but had no chance on Blandisi’s backhand after the forward took a pass from Quenneville and got behind defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
Senators 3, Bruins 2
BOSTON – Kyle Turris scored twice and Craig Anderson made 33 saves as Ottawa beat Boston to end a four-game losing streak.
Mike Hoffman had two assists for the Senators, who moved six points ahead of Boston for second place in the Atlantic Division with their first win since March 11.
Tom Pyatt also scored for Ottawa, which never trailed and went up for good on Turris’ goal 4:04 into the third period.
Torey Krug had a goal and an assist, and David Krejci also scored in Boston’s third straight defeat. Tuukka Rask made 19 saves for the Bruins.
Red Wings 2, Canadiens 1 (OT)
MONTREAL – Anthony Mantha scored at 4:10 of overtime to lift Detroit over Montreal.
Mantha got his 15th goal of the season on a wrist shot from close range to give the Red Wings their third win in four games.
Justin Abdelkader scored early in the first period for Detroit. Artturi Lehkonen tied it for the Canadiens at 17:31 of the third.
Coyotes 5, Lightning 3
TAMPA, Fla. – Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal and an assist during Arizona’s three-goal third period, Louis Domingue stopped 36 shots and the Coyotes damaged Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes.
Arizona, with the NHL’s second-worst record, also got goals from Christian Fischer, Christian Dvorak, Radim Vrbata and Connor Murphy.
Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov and Vladislav Namestnikov scored for the Lightning, who remained four points behind Toronto for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves.
Ekman-Larsson and Vrbata scored two minutes apart early in the third as the Coyotes went up 4-3. Murphy had a late empty-netter that went off Hedman’s glove.
Hurricanes 4, Panthers 3
SUNRISE, Fla. – Jeff Skinner scored two goals, including the game-winner with 3:55 left, to lead Carolina past Florida.
Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, and Teuvo Teravainen also scored. Cam Ward stopped 33 shots.
Keith Yandle, Reilly Smith and Aleksander Barkov scored for the Panthers. Reto Berra made 21 saves in his first start since being recalled from the minors March 3. Jaromir Jagr added two assists and has 41 points this season.
Skinner scored the decisive goal off a pass from Derek Ryan. Skinner has five goals in his last three games and leads the team with 28 goals and 51 points this season.
Jets 3, Flyers 2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and two assists, and Winnipeg edged Philadelphia for its third straight victory.
Mathieu Perreault added a goal and an assist to help the Jets post their second three-game winning streak of the season.
The teams were tied 1-all until Wheeler beat goalie Steve Mason at 7:02 of the third period. After a Flyers turnover in their end, Scheifele scored his 29th of the season at 13:51.
Matt Read scored with two seconds left after the Flyers pulled Mason for an extra attacker. Jordan Weal also scored and Claude Giroux had a pair of assists for Philadelphia. Mason stopped 30 shots.
Michael Hutchinson made 24 saves for the Jets in his first start since Jan. 16.
Canucks 5, Blackhawks 4 (OT)
CHICAGO – Daniel Sedin scored a power-play goal 2:12 into overtime and Vancouver beat Chicago to end a six-game slide.
With his twin brother, Henrik Sedin, screening goalie Scott Darling, Daniel Sedin connected on a high, long shot. The score withstood a video review for goaltender interference and snapped the Blackhawks’ five-game winning streak.
Chicago rookie Ryan Hartman scored his second goal of the game with 1:03 left in the third period to tie it at 4. The Blackhawks rallied with three goals in the third to send it to overtime.
Vancouver’s Brandon Sutter scored two goals to end a 13-game drought. Sutter, along with Henrik Sedin and Reid Boucher, connected on three of the Canucks’ first five shots as Vancouver pounced on Chicago mistakes to build a 4-1 advantage.
Ryan Miller made 40 saves as the Canucks were outshot 44-15.
Marian Hossa scored his 23rd goal and Richard Panik his 20th in the third period to help Chicago storm back late for a second straight game.
Chicago All-Star Corey Crawford made just six saves on 10 shots before being relieved by Darling at 2:15 of the third.
Wild 3, Sharks 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Martin Hanzal and Charlie Coyle scored 15 seconds apart late in the second period, and Minnesota stopped a five-game losing streak by holding off San Jose.
David Schlemko and Patrick Marleau had goals for the Sharks shortly before the second intermission, too, giving each team two scores in a 63-second span to set a record for the fastest four-goal stretch in Wild history.
Martin Jones made 24 saves for the Sharks, who lost their season-high fourth straight game.
Matt Dumba scored on a power play in the first period to give the Wild a recently rare early lead, and Devan Dubnyk stopped 21 shots for his 37th win – tied for second-most in the NHL. Minnesota improved to 3-8 in March.
Blues 4, Avalanche 2
DENVER – Magnus Paajarvi and Jaden Schwartz scored in the third period to send St. Louis past Colorado.
Patrik Berglund had two goals, including an empty-netter to seal it for the Blues. They tied idle Nashville for third place in the Central Division with 83 points, and St. Louis holds the tiebreaker by virtue of more regulation and overtime wins.
The Blues have won eight of 11 overall and 14 of their last 20 road games.
Jake Allen finished with 26 saves for St. Louis, which played most of the game without center Paul Stastny after he was hit on the foot by a shot in the first period.
John Mitchell had a goal and an assist, Mark Barberio also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for Colorado, which has lost three straight. The Avalanche, last in the NHL with 43 points, fell to 11-23-2 at home. Their 11 home wins are the fewest in the league.