Stamkos ties team record, Lightning rally past Red Wings 5-4
DETROIT (AP) — Steven Stamkos tied Vincent Lecavalier for Tampa Bay's career lead in goals, Nikita Kucherov scored twice in the third period and the Lightning rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 on Thursday night.
The Red Wings led 3-0 in the second when Stamkos scored on the power play to start Tampa Bay's comeback. His 383rd goal pulled him even with Lecavalier, and the NHL-leading Lightning weren't done. The league's highest-scoring team added four goals in the third, with Kucherov and Tyler Johnson scoring 26 seconds apart to give Tampa Bay the lead with 11:10 remaining. Kucherov made it 5-3 with 3:22 left.
Brayden Point also scored early in the third for the Lightning. Madison Bowey, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader and Michael Rasmussen scored for the Red Wings, who lost for the 12th time in 13 games. Tampa Bay tied its franchise record of 54 wins, set last season.
PENGUINS 5, SABRES 0
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist, Sidney Crosby added two assists and Pittsburgh blanked Buffalo.
Nick Bjugstad and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and an assist for the surging Penguins, who have won six of seven and sit third in the Metropolitan Division. Brian Dumoulin and Patric Hornqvist also scored, and Casey DeSmith made 26 saves for his fourth career shutout.
Carter Hutton stopped 21 shots for the Sabres, who matched a franchise record with three consecutive shutout losses. It happened for the first time last season during a three-game stretch that concluded with a 4-0 loss to Pittsburgh.
STARS 4, WILD 1
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Radek Faksa, Roope Hintz and Joel L'Esperance scored in a span of 2:22 early in the second period, and Dallas hung on to beat Minnesota after goalie Ben Bishop got hurt.
Anton Khudobin stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced in relief of Bishop, who made seven saves and established a franchise record by stretching his scoreless streak to 240:53 before exiting with a lower-body injury.
Alexander Radulov added an empty-netter for the Stars, who have won six of their last seven games — five in regulation.
Jason Zucker had the only goal for the Wild, who took a big hit in the Western Conference wild-card race with their third consecutive loss. They're in ninth place with 74 points and 11 games to go, trailing Arizona by three points for the final spot.
Minnesota is 1-6-3 in its last 10 home games since Jan. 19.
The Stars, meanwhile, moved into a tie with St. Louis for third place in the Central Division with 79 points. They have 12 games remaining, as do the Blues.
ISLANDERS 2, CANADIENS 1
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Anders Lee scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period and Thomas Greiss stopped 33 shots as New York beat Montreal.
Adam Pelech also scored in the second period to help the Islanders win for the fourth time in five games to remain two points behind first-place Washington in the Metropolitan Division.
Jordie Benn had the tying goal for Montreal late in the second, and Carey Price finished with 36 saves.
Lee converted on a 2-on-1 with Matthew Barzal for his team-leading 25th goal of the season with 2:57 remaining.
JETS 4, BRUINS 3
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists to help Winnipeg hand Boston its third straight loss.
Blake Wheeler added a goal and an assist, and Jacob Trouba and Nikolaj Ehlers also scored for the Jets. Patrik Laine had two assists and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 36 shots as Winnipeg moved three points ahead of Nashville atop the Central Division.
Charlie McAvoy, Joakim Nordstrom and Charlie Coyle scored for Boston and David Krejci had two assists. Tuukka Rask finished with 20 saves.
Ehlers scored the eventual game-winner with just under 7 minutes left after Trouba put the Jets ahead 3-2 earlier in the third period. Coyle got Boston within one with 2:56 remaining, but the Bruins couldn't tie it up.
CAPITALS 5, FLYERS 2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brett Connolly had two goals and an assist to help Washington maintain its lead atop the Metropolitan Division.
Evgeny Kuznetsov added a goal and an assist, and Lars Eller and Tom Wilson also scored as the Capitals stayed two points ahead of the second-place New York Islanders in the division. Braden Holtby stopped 22 shots.
James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton scored for Philadelphia, and Carter Hart finished with 27 saves. The Flyers remained five points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
SENATORS 2, BLUES 0
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Anders Nilsson stopped 34 shots for his second shutout to lead Ottawa.
Christian Wolanin and Chris Tierney scored to help the Senators snap a three-game losing streak. The shutout was Nilsson's sixth of his career.
Jake Allen made 19 saves in the loss for the Blues (36-27-7).
The rebuilding Senators had two players making NHL debuts — defenseman Erik Brannstrom and forward Max Veronneau.
COYOTES 6, DUCKS 1
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Vinnie Hinostroza's first career hat trick sent Arizona past Anaheim.
Hinostroza scored his third goal of the night with 51 seconds left, and hats came flying out of the crowd onto the ice.
Jason Demers added a goal and an assist for the rolling Coyotes, who have won 10 of 12. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Mario Kempe also scored, and Alex Goligoski had two assists.
Arizona's victory coupled with Minnesota's loss to Dallas moved the Coyotes three points ahead of the slumping Wild for the second Western Conference wild card. Both teams have 11 games remaining.
Darcy Kuemper stopped 37 shots for his 13th win since Feb. 9, and was credited with an assist.
Jakob Silfverberg scored for Anaheim, which had won four of six.
PANTHERS 4, SHARKS 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Mike Hoffman scored a tiebreaking goal on the power play late in the second period and Florida denied San Jose a chance to clinch a playoff berth.
Hoffman also set up Frank Vatrano's insurance goal in the third to send the Panthers to their third straight win following a six-game skid. Florida moved within seven points of Columbus for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot but has only 12 games left to make up that margin.
Jamie McGinn and Dryden Hunt also scored for the Panthers, and rookie Sam Montembeault made 26 saves to win his first career road start.
Melker Karlsson and Kevin Labanc scored for the Sharks, who had their six-game winning streak snapped. San Jose looked tired playing for the third time in four nights and missed an opportunity to become the first Western Conference team to clinch a postseason slot. More importantly, the Sharks failed to increase their one-point lead over second-place Calgary in the Pacific Division race. The Flames have one game in hand.
Martin Jones made 23 saves in San Jose's second regulation loss at home since Dec. 20.
PREDATORS 3, KINGS 1
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Colton Sissons had a goal and an assist, Pekka Rinne made 25 saves and Nashville kept pace in the Central Division race with a victory over Los Angeles.
Viktor Arvidsson and Craig Smith also scored for the Predators, who snapped a two-game skid with a comfortable win over the last-place Kings.
Led by Sissons' first multipoint game since Jan. 7, Nashville remained one point behind Central-leading Winnipeg. The defending division champion Predators also increased their lead over third-place St. Louis and Dallas to six points, although the Jets, Blues and Stars all have two games in hand on Nashville.
Austin Wagner scored and Jonathan Quick stopped 31 shots for the Kings, who opened a five-game homestand by losing for the 14th time in 16 games.