NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Chris Kreider had his second hat trick in five games and the Rangers beat the slumping New Jersey Devils 6-1 on Thursday night in a game marred by a late injury to New York goalie Igor Shesterkin.
Kreider, who scored three times in a loss to Philadelphia on Feb. 24, has nine goals in his last six games, and 13 overall. He completed his natural hat trick 23 seconds into the final period after scoring twice in the second. His fourth career hat trick came on five shots.
Shesterkin seemed to hurt his right leg with just under six minutes to play when he stretched to stop a 2-on-1 break and shot by Damon Severson. He went down without contact and had to helped off the ice, dragging the leg.
Shesterkin kept the Rangers in the game in the first period by stopping 13 of 14 shots. He finished with 32 saves in helping the Rangers win their second straight and their fifth in seven. Pavel Buchnevich, Brendan Smith and Alexis Lafreniere also scored for New York.
Jack Hughes scored for the Devils.
LIGHTNING 3, BLACKHAWKS 2, OT
CHICAGO (AP) — Alex Killorn scored 4:59 into overtime, with the puck barely over the line at the horn, and Tampa Bay beat Chicago for its sixth straight victory.
Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli also scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves in another stellar performance.
Killorn got a piece of Victor Hedman’s long shot from above the slot just before time expired. Killorn’s fourth goal was upheld after a video review.
Alex DeBrincat and Ryan Carpenter scored for the Blackhawks in the opener of a three-game series. The teams play again Friday night, and then finish the series Sunday.
ISLANDERS 5, SABRES 2
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Matt Martin scored twice and New York beat Buffalo in the opener of a three-game series.
Noah Dobson, Anthony Beauvillier and Jordan Eberle also scored for New York, and rookie Ilya Sorokin stopped 16 shots. The Islanders improved to 5-0-1 in their last six overall and 8-0-2 at the Nassau Coliseum to remain the only team without a regulation loss at home.
Taylor Hall and Rasmus Ristolainen scored for Buffalo.
FLYERS 4, PENGUINS 3
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Claude Giroux scored his second goal of the night on a tap-in with 2:08 remaining and Philadelphia overcame an early Pittsburgh deluge.
Scott Laughton and Sean Couturier also scored for the Flyers. They trailed by three following a 71-second first-period onslaught by Pittsburgh.
Brian Elliott overcame a rough start to stop 26 shots as Philadelphia won its first game after falling behind 3-0 since earning a shootout victory over Buffalo on Oct. 25, 2016.
Kris Letang, Mark Friedman and Jared McCann scored during Pittsburgh’s early binge.
CANUCKS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 1
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Jake Virtanen scored twice, leading Vancouver past NHL-leading Toronto Maplein the opener of a two-game set.
Bo Horvat also scored for Vancouver, and Thatcher Demko stopped 32 shots.
Pierre Engvall scored for the Maple Leafs off an assist from Ilya Mikheyev.
The teams meet again Saturday in Vancouver
JETS 4, CANADIENS 3, OT
MONTREAL (AP) — Pierre-Luc Dubois scored at 4:29 of overtime to lift Winnipeg past Montreal in the opener of two-game series.
Dubois fired a rolling puck past goalie Jake Allen for his fifth of the season. Winnipeg improved to 5-0 in overtime this season, and Montreal fell to 0-4.
Paul Stastny scored twice, and Mathieu Perreault added a goal for Winnipeg. The Jets have won six of seven to improve to 15-7-1. Corey Perry, Brendan Gallagher and Tyler Toffoli also scored for Montreal. The Canadiens are 1-3 under interim head coach Dominique Ducharme.
The teams will meet again Saturday night in Montreal.
BLUE JACKETS 3, STARS 2
DALLAS (AP) — Boone Jenner had a goal and an assist, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eric Robinson added third-period goals, and Columbus beat struggling Dallas.
Korpisalo stopped 22 shots for the Blue Jackets. They have won two straight after going 0-4-1.
The Stars have lost four straight. Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson scored third-period goals after Dallas had been blanked for a span of 189:46, having been shut out in its two previous games.
The teams will meet again Saturday night at American Airlines Center.
PANTHERS 5, PREDATORS 4
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Aaron Ekblad had two goals and two assists to lead Florida past Nashville.
Carter Verhaeghe, Mason Marchment and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored, Aleksander Barkov had three assists and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves.
Mattias Ekholm, Filip Forsberg, Colton Sissons and Ryan Johansen scored for Nashville.
FLAMES 7, SENATORS 3
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Dillon Dube had his first career hat trick to help Calgary beat Ottawa.
Despite the win, Calgary fired coach Geoff Ward after the game and hired Darryl Suter, who previously coached the Flames from 2002-06.
Sean Monahan, Derek Ryan and Brett Ritchie each had a goal and an assist for Calgary. Josh Leivo also scored, and Matthew Tkachuk had three assists. David Rittich made 29 saves in his sixth straight start for the Flames.
Josh Norris had a goal and an assist for the Senators in their second straight loss since beating the Flames 5-1 at home Monday. Artem Anisimov and Ryan Dzingel also scored.
HURRICANES 5, RED WINGS 2
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jordan Staal and Jesper Fast scored early in the third period to help Carolina beat Detroit.
Andrei Svechnikov, Svechnikov, Martin Necas and Nino Niederreiter also scored for the Hurricanes.
Filip Zadina scored twice for the Red Wings.
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