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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

NHL Capsules: Penguins beat Flyers, move into 1st in Metropolitan Division

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Phil Kessel (81) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against Philadelphia Flyers’ Petr Mrazek (34) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, March 7, 2018, in Philadelphia. Pittsburgh won 5-2. (Matt Slocum / Associated Press)
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA – Conor Sheary scored two goals, Sidney Crosby had three assists and the Pittsburgh Penguins moved into first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.

Phil Kessel, Jamie Oleksiak and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, who have won three straight. Pittsburgh (39-25-4, 82 points) moved one point ahead of idle Washington and three in front of third-place Philadelphia.

Travis Konecny and Jakub Voracek had goals for the Flyers, who lost their fourth in a row.

The teams combined for six goals in an electrifying second period.

Flames 5, Sabres 1

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Sam Bennett and Mark Jankowski scored three minutes apart in the first period and the Calgary Flames snapped a four-game skid.

Calgary improved to 1-3-1 in its last five games to gain ground in the tightly contested Western Conference playoff race. With 76 points, the Flames jumped into 10th place, a point ahead of idle St. Louis, and within one of Los Angeles and Colorado. Mark Giordano also had a goal and assist, while Sean Monahan and Dougie Hamilton also scored.

The Flames won at Buffalo for just the second time in 14 trips (2-8-3 and a tie), and first time in regulation since a 3-1 win on March 15, 1996.

Rookie David Rittich stopped 25 shots before having his first career shutout bid spoiled when Casey Nelson scored with 18 seconds remaining.

Coyotes 2, Canucks 1

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Derek Stepan scored with 58 seconds left in the third period, leading the Arizona Coyotes over the Vancouver Canucks.

Clayton Keller assisted on the winning goal and also scored in the first period for the Coyotes, who are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games.

Backup Darcy Kuemper made 16 saves in place of starter Antti Raanta, who missed the game due to injury.

Jussi Jokinen scored for the Canucks, who have lost four of their past five games and will likely be without star rookie Brock Boeser for the rest of the regular season after he injured his back against the New York Islanders on Monday night. Jacob Markstrom stopped 32 shots.