NHL roundup: Blues’ Jay Bouwmeester collapses on bench; game vs. Ducks postponed

ANAHEIM, Calif. – St. Louis defenseman Jay Bouwmeester collapsed on the bench during a break in play in the first period, prompting the Blues and Anaheim Ducks to postpone their game Tuesday night.

Bouwmeester appeared to be awake and alert as he was being transported out of the arena to a hospital.

Teammates immediately called for medical help after Bouwmeester slumped over with 7:50 left in the first period. He appeared to be grabbing a drink of water when he began to slowly fall. Emergency medical personnel rushed to the Blues bench.

After a couple of minutes, the 36-year-old Bouwmeester was taken out on a stretcher through a tunnel next to the Blues bench and transported to a hospital.

Bouwmeester’s father was at the game as part of the team’s annual Dads Trip.

Ducks and Blues players gathered to see what was wrong before Bouwmeester was taken away. The teams then went to their dressing rooms, and the game was called off a few minutes later tied at 1.

The 36-year-old Bouwmeester is in his 17th NHL season and has for that time been known for his strong skating and conditioning. He helped the Blues win the Stanley Cup last season and won an Olympic gold medal with Canada in 2014.

Bouwmeester was skating in his 57th game this season, the 1,241st of his NHL career. He skated 1:20 in his last shift before collapsing and logged 5:34 of ice time in the game.

He played all but four games last year and hasn’t missed a game this season.

Oilers 5, Blackhawks 3

EDMONTON, Alberta – Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists, former Spokane Chiefs star Kailer Yamamoto scored twice and Edmonton won without captain Connor McDavid in the lineup.

Riley Sheahan and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers (30-20-6), who will be without McDavid for two to three weeks because of a left quadriceps injury.

Brandon Saad, Jonathan Toews and Adam Boqvist had the goals for the Blackhawks (25-23-8), who have lost four in a row.

Lightning 2, Penguins 1

PITTSBURGH –Yanni Gourde’s wrist shot from in close 2:45 into overtime lifted Tampa Bay over Pittsburgh.

The Lightning picked up their eighth straight win when Gourde took a cross-ice feed from Brayden Point and ripped the puck over Matt Murray’s right arm. Gourde’s seventh goal of the season created a mob scene near the Pittsburgh net as Tampa Bay improved to 20-2-1 since Dec. 23.

Mikhail Sergachev scored his ninth goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots for Tampa Bay, which played the third period and overtime without leading scorer Nikita Kucherov. He left late in the second with a lower-body injury.

Evgeni Malkin got his 18th goal for Pittsburgh and Murray finished with 36 saves.

Panthers 5, Devils 3

NEWARK, N.J. – Florida’s fourth line of Mike Matheson, Mark Pysyk and Noel Acciari each scored and accounted for eight points as the Panthers snapped a three-game losing streak.

Frank Vatrano and Brett Connolly also scored as the Panthers won for only second time (2-4-1) since returning from the All-Star break. Sam Montembeault had 25 saves in his first start since Nov. 24.

Jack Hughes, Kevin Rooney and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Devils, who saw their season-high six-game (3-0-3) point steak snapped. Louis Domingue made 28 saves in getting a start for MacKenzie Blackwood, who had shutouts in his last two starts.

Florida coach Joel Quenneville dressed eight defensemen for the game and the strategy worked to perfection.

Sabres 3, Red Wings 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Sam Reinhart jammed in a loose puck for the go-ahead goal 57 seconds into the third period in Buffalo’s win over Detroit.

Marcus Johansson had a goal and assist and Conor Sheary also scored in a game the Sabres overcame two one-goal deficits. Carter Hutton stopped 27 shots, and Buffalo won for just he third time in nine (3-5-1) games.

Detroit’s Darren Helm scored twice for his 11th multi-goal game and first since scoring twice on Oct. 17, 2016. Anthony Mantha had two assists in playing his first game after missing 20 with a rib injury and punctured lung.

Jonathan Bernier stopped 22 shots for Detroit.

Maple Leafs 3, Coyotes 2, OT

TORONTO – Kasperi Kapanen scored 3:43 into overtime and Toronto beat Arizona.

Zach Hyman had two goals in regulation for Toronto, and Alexander Kerfoot added two assists. Jack Campbell stopped 35 shots.

Carl Soderberg and Christian Dvorak scored for Arizona. Adin Hill made 38 saves.

Islanders 5, Flyers 3

NEW YORK – Ryan Pulock scored the tiebreaking goal with 41 seconds remaining and the Islanders recovered after giving up a three-goal and beat Philadelphia.

Josh Bailey, Jordan Eberle and Leo Komarov each had a goal and an assist, and Matt Martin also scored to help the Islanders win for the fifth time in eight games (5-1-2). Mathew Barzal had three assists.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 35 shots as New York beat its Metropolitan Division rival for the third time in three meetings this season. The Islanders, splitting home games between the Nassau Coliseum and Barclays Center, improved to 7-0-3 in Brooklyn.

Travis Konecny, Robert Hagg and Sean Couturier scored for the Flyers, who lost for the fourth time in 12 games (8-3-1). Claude Giroux and Scott Laughton each had two assists, and Brian Elliott finished with 20 saves.

Rangers 4, Jets 1

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Chris Kreider scored twice and the Rangers snapped Winnipeg’s three-game win streak.

Ryan Strome and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and assist for the Rangers.

Nikolaj Ehlers had Winnipeg’s lone goal. The loss also ended the Jets’ five-game point streak (4-0-1).

Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves for Winnipeg, which was playing the third game (2-1-0) of a season-long six-game homestand.

Igor Shesterkin stopped 42 shots for New York. He started the game, left with six minutes remaining in the first, but returned for the start of the second and stayed in. Henrik Lundqvist made one save in his brief appearance.

Wild 4, Golden Knights 0

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Kevin Fiala had a goal and two assists, and Minnesota matched its season high with three power-play scores on the way to a win over Vegas.

Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon and Zach Parise scored with the man advantage, giving the Wild an NHL-leading 15 power-play goals in 33 opportunities over their last 11 games.

Alex Stalock stopped 26 shots for his third shutout of the season, making him 12-5-3 in his last 20 decisions as he keeps pushing to become the team’s top goalie.

Marc-Andre Fleury, making his 10th start in the Vegas net in the last 11 games, was pulled by coach Peter DeBoer after making 16 saves through two periods. Malcolm Subban relieved him.

Stars 4, Hurricanes 1

DALLAS – Jamie Benn got his sixth career hat trick – despite putting only two pucks in the net – and Dallas beat Carolina.

Benn scored the game’s first goal in the first period, added a power-play tally in the second and was awarded his third with 1:19 to play when he was pulled down on the way to shooting at an empty net.

The score was tied 1-all before Denis Gurianov and Benn scored 2:30 apart in the second on a recently potent Stars power play.

Sebastian Aho scored for Carolina against Anton Khudobin, who made 24 saves for his third straight win.

Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 33 shots, equaling his season high.

Avalanche 3, Senators 0

DENVER – Mikko Rantanen scored in the first period following a terrific twirl move, Philipp Grubauer stopped 34 shots for his second shutout of the season and Colorado blanked Ottawa.

Valeri Nichushkin scored a power-play goal in the third for the Avalanche, who’ve won five straight.

Nichushkin gave Grubauer and the Avalanche a little more breathing room midway through the third. Captain Gabriel Landeskog added an empty-netter with just over a minute remaining after the Senators pulled Marcus Hogberg for an extra skater.

Ottawa dropped to 0-4-2 over its last six games. Hogberg made 33 saves.