NHL Capsules: Sabres get rare home win over East-leading Lightning
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Ryan O’Reilly scored a goal and added two assists in the Buffalo Sabres’ 5-3 win over the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.
Backup Chad Johnson stopped 26 shots to pick up just his fourth win and first in nine home appearances this season. Sam Reinhart scored twice, including an empty-netter with 8 seconds left.
Scott Wilson, with the go-ahead goal, and Nicholas Baptiste also scored for the Sabres, who won for just the second time in their past eight home games (2-5-1).
Lightning rookie Yanni Gourde scored his 22nd goal of the season and extended his point streak to seven games. Ryan Callahan and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored.
The Lightning had won six straight at Buffalo. The Sabres, who sit last in the East, have now beaten the conference’s two top teams in a span of four days.
Penguins 6, Senators 3
PITTSBURGH – Jake Guentzel scored twice, Zach Aston-Reese scored his first two NHL goals and Pittsburgh beat Ottawa.
Evgeni Malkin scored his 31st and Kris Letang his fourth for the Penguins, who have won seven of nine and 12 of their last 16. Sidney Crosby, who scored his 400th career goal on Sunday, finished with three assists.
Pittsburgh is riding a nine-game home winning streak, the longest since a franchise-record 13-game run during the 2013-14 season. The Penguins haven’t lost in Pittsburgh since a 4-0 defeat by Carolina on Jan. 4.
Matt Murray stopped 30 shots for Pittsburgh.
Derick Brassard, Colin White and Mike Hoffman all scored for the Senators, who lost for the third time in five games.
Predators 4, Blues 3, OT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Filip Forsberg scored on a penalty shot at 1:19 of overtime to give the Predators a wild comeback victory over the Blues.
After trailing by three goals entering the third period, Nashville rallied for three goals in the span of 6:42 to tie it and force overtime.
In overtime, Kyle Turris sent Forsberg in on a breakaway, and he was tripped from behind by Jaden Schwartz in front of the St. Louis goal and he was awarded a penalty shot.
On his attempt, Forsberg snapped a wrist shot past Blues goaltender Carter Hutton to win it.
Hutton, a former Predator, made 29 saves.
Austin Watson scored twice and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for Nashville.
Wild 3, Rangers 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Devan Dubnyk made 32 saves, and Minnesota’s early three-goal lead held up in 3-2 win over New York.
Eric Staal, Zach Parise and Marcus Foligno all scored in the first 6:17 for Minnesota, which ran its home point streak to a franchise-record 13 games (10-0-3).
John Gilmour scored his first NHL goal in his third game for New York, and Kevin Hayes added his 13th goal of the season. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 26 shots for the Rangers.
The Wild haven’t lost at home since Dec. 16 against Edmonton and own the league’s longest home point streak of the season. They’ve outscored opponents 49-25 during the run.
Devils 5, Flyers 4, SO
PHILADELPHIA – Travis Hall scored twice in regulation, Drew Stafford had the only tally in the shootout and New Jersey snapped a four-game losing streak.
John Moore and Nico Hischier also tallied goals in regulation for the Devils.
Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist and Radko Gudas, Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton also scored for the Flyers, who learned earlier Tuesday that starting goalie Brian Elliott will be out for at least five weeks.
Philadelphia remained in sixth place in the Eastern Conference while the Devils stayed in seventh but pulled within two points of Philadelphia.
Keith Kinkaid made 31 saves and stopped all three Flyers attempts in the shootout.
Hurricanes 7, Kings 3
RALEIGH, N.C. – Justin Faulk had his first career hat trick, Jeff Skinner scored twice, and the Hurricanes routed the short-handed Kings.
Faulk’s three goals came in a span of 12:21 as Carolina raced out to a 5-0 lead and he became the 10th defenseman in NHL history to score a natural hat trick.
Jacob Slavin and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes, who won their third straight and finished their eight-game homestand 5-2-1. Cam Ward made 27 saves.
Slavin opened the scoring 6:40 into the game and Faulk scored just over two minutes later. He scored again on a slap shot in the waning minutes of the first period, and completed his hat trick with another slap shot 1:17 into the second period.
Anze Kopitar, Tyler Toffoli, and Torrey Mitchell scored for Los Angeles, which was without key forwards Dustin Brown (suspension) and Trevor Lewis (injury). Jonathan Quick saved 16 of 20 shots before being pulled following Faulk’s third goal.
Blue Jackets 4, Islanders 1
NEW YORK – Oliver Bjorkstrand and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored power-play goals in the second period to give Columbus the lead, and the Blue Jackets went on to a win over the Islanders.
Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson scored in the third period, defenseman Zach Werenski had three assists as the Blue Jackets had a season-high 51 shots and won their second straight since an 0-4-1 skid. Bjorkstrand and Dubois had assists on each other’s goals, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 shots.
John Tavares scored for the Islanders, who have lost six of their last eight (2-5-1).
Jaroslav Halak finished with a season-high 47 saves, including all 26 in another Columbus onslaught in the first period.
Red Wings 2, Ducks 1
DETROIT – Dylan Larkin and Frans Nielsen scored in the first two periods and the Red Wings held off the Ducks.
Adam Henrique pulled Anaheim within a goal with 3:54 left in the game. The Ducks pulled John Gibson with a minute remaining in regulation to have an extra skater, but couldn’t score to extend the game.
The Red Wings skated off the ice with a sense of relief after blowing third-period goals in recent games.
The Ducks were dominant in the first, outshooting Detroit 16-5, and still trailed after Larkin scored off Kevin Bieksa’s giveaway in front of net with 6:28 left in the period.
Nielsen scored late in the second to put the Red Wings up 2-0 even though they were held to single digits in shots.
Jets 4, Capitals 3
WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Defenseman Tyler Myers scored 3:35 into overtime as the Jets came back from a two-goal deficit to beat the Capitals.
Mark Scheifele sent a pass back to Myers, who quickly fired the puck past Braden Holtby for his sixth goal of the season.
Scheifele had scored his second goal of the game to tie it 3-3 with 15 seconds left in the third period when his low shot went through traffic and between Holtby’s pads. The goal was short-handed as Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien had been called for slashing Jay Beagle with 1:17 left.
Niklas Backstrom, Andre Burakovsky and John Carlson scored for the Capitals (32-17-7). Holtby made 40 saves for the Capitals and became the second goalie in franchise history to play 20,000 minutes. Olaf Kolzig played 41,260 minutes.
Bruins 5, Flames 2
BOSTON – Patrice Bergeron and Riley Nash scored two goals apiece, helping the Bruins beat the Flames.
David Backes had two assists for the Bruins, who won for the sixth time in seven games and won’t play at home again for two weeks. Zdeno Chara had an empty-net goal and Tuukka Rask stopped 27 shots.
Calgary had won four of five. Sam Bennett and Johnny Gaudreau scored for the Flames, and David Rittich had 35 saves.
Down 4-2, the Flames gambled by pulling Rittich for an extra skater and Chara made them play with an end-to-end shot with 3:46 left to play.
Coyotes 2, Sharks 1
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Alex Goligoski scored in his third straight game to help the Coyotes beat the Sharks.
Goligoski also extended his streak of games in which he’s at least one point to five. He has seven points over that stretch. The Coyotes have won three of their last four games and have consecutive wins for just the second time since Nov. 18.
Arizona upset a Sharks team scrambling to make the playoffs and in desperate need of a win. San Jose lost for the third time in five games.
Golden Knights 5, Blackhawks 2
LAS VEGAS – Reilly Smith scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the Golden Knights beat the Blackhawks.
The Golden Knights, who swept the season series 3-0, also got third-period goals from Brad Hunt, David Perron and Tomas Nosek. Ryan Carpenter also scored and Marc-Andre Fleury had 29 saves for Vegas, which snapped a two-game home losing streak.
One night after Arizona ended a nine-game losing streak to the last-place Blackhawks, the Western Conference-leading Golden Knights sent Chicago to its season-high seventh straight loss. The Blackhawks have been outscored 29-12 during their losing streak.
Tommy Wingels and Alex DeBrincat scored for the Blackhawks, while Jeff Glass stopped 32 shots.