SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Anthony Stolarz stopped 25 shots and had an assist, Anton Lundell and Nick Cousins scored, and the Florida Panthers shut out the Ottawa Senators for the third time this season with a 2-0 victory on Tuesday night.
It was the second instance of Florida shutting out a team three times in one season, the other coming when the Panthers blanked Montreal three times in 2017-18. And it was a needed win for playoff-bound Florida, with the Panthers winning for just the fourth time in their last 13 games (4-7-2).
Joonas Korpisalo stopped 27 shots for Ottawa, which has four games left and will miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. The Senators were 0-3-1 against Florida this season, getting outscored 16-2 in those contests.
The Panthers opened a four-game homestand that’ll end the regular season and wasted little time taking control, with Lundell getting a power-play goal for his 12th of the season and Cousins netting his seventh of the season just 2:46 apart in the opening period.
CAPITALS 2, RED WINGS 1
DETROIT (AP) — Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome scored a minute apart late in the second period, Charlie Lindgren finished with 42 saves and Washington held on to beat Detroit in a matchup of teams vying for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Capitals moved a point past Detroit for the conference’s second wild card and snapped a season-long, six-game losing streak. The Red Wings have lost six of their last eight games, hurting their chances of ending an eight-year playoff drought.
Ovechkin became the first NHL player with at least 30 goals in 18 seasons, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Mike Gartner.
Patrick Kane scored with 1.1 seconds left and Alex Lyon stopped 21 shots for the Red Wings.
MAPLE LEAFS 5, DEVILS 2
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Auston Matthews scored his 66th goal and inched closer to becoming the ninth player in NHL history to tally 70 in a season in leading Toronto’s victory over New Jersey, ending the disappointing Devils’ playoff hopes.
Mark Giordano and Tyler Bertuzzi scored in a 9-second span late in the the second period to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 lead en route to their sixth win in seven games. Nicholas Robertson also scored and Joseph Woll made 18 saves.
Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer scored for New Jersey, while Jake Allen made 32 saves.
Matthews 66th came on a shot from the circle that beat Allen at 7:33 of the final period. He has now scored in six straight games. Bertuzzi added his 21st of the season late, scoring into an empty net.
ISLANDERS 4, RANGERS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist, Noah Dobson added two assists and the New York Islanders used a three-goal first period to propel them to a win against the Eastern-Conference leading New York Rangers on Tuesday night.
Semyon Varlamov finished with 32 saves, Mike Reilly, Kyle Palmieri and Anders Lee also scored goals and the Islanders extended their winning streak to five games, inching closer to a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Chris Kreider and Long Island native Adam Fox scored power-play goals for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves, but the Rangers’ three-game winning streak ended.
Mika Zibanejad left the game in the third period following a collision with Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech and did not return.
LIGHTNING 5, BLUE JACKETS 2
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos had three goals and an assist, NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov picked up his fourth straight three-point game with three assists, and playoff-bound Tampa Bay beat Columbus.
Anthony Cirelli and Stamkos scored 16 seconds apart to break an early third-period tie before Stamkos made it 5-2 on an empty-netter to complete his 13th hat trick.
Brayden Point had the other Tampa Bay goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves. Kucherov has 139 points.
The Lightning hold the top Eastern Conference wild card and trail Toronto by six points for third place in the Atlantic Division. Both teams have four games left.
CANADIENS 9, FLYERS 3
MONTREAL (AP) — Juraj Slafkovsky scored his first career hat trick, and Montreal dealt stumbling Philadelphia their eighth straight defeat with a blowout win.
The 20-year-old Slafkovsky put Montreal up 4-0 with his third goal on a breakaway midway through the second period and received a deafening standing ovation from the Bell Centre crowd when the goal was announced.
Christian Dvorak — in his return from a 42-game absence — and Brendan Gallagher both scored twice while Josh Anderson and Joel Armia also found the back of the net for Montreal. Sam Montembeault made 33 saves and Jordan Harris had three assists as the Canadiens snapped a three-game skid.
Ryan Poehling had two goals and Joel Farabee also scored for Philadelphia, which suffered another blow to its end-of-season playoff chase.
HURRICANES 4, BRUINS 1
BOSTON (AP) — Andrei Svechnikov opened the scoring with a lacrosse-style goal and Carolina beat Boston.
Svechnikov, who also had an assist, surprised goalie Jeremy Swayman by cradling the puck with his stick blade and flicking it into the net about midway through the second period. It was his 19th goal of the season.
Teuvo Teravainen, Jake Guentzel and Seth Jarvis also scored as the Hurricanes pulled away for their third straight win and fifth in their last six. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 22 shots.
The Hurricanes reached 50 wins and pulled within three points of the New York Rangers for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference.
STARS 3, SABRES 2
DALLAS (AP) — Joe Pavelski scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection with his back to the net and playoff-bound Dallas got their 50th win of the season over Buffalo.
Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston also had goals while Thomas Harley had two assists for the Stars, who won for the 10th time in 11 games and have a Western Conference-high 109 points with three games to play. They moved within one point of the Rangers for the most in the NHL after New York lost its game.
Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin had goals in the first period for Buffalo, which failed to score on two power plays in the third period.
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 19 shots. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had 22 saves for Buffalo.
JETS 4, PREDATORS 3, OT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kyle Connor scored at 1:52 of overtime to give Winnipeg a victory over Nashville.
Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists, Gabriel Vilardi and Dylan DeMelo also scored and Connor Hellebuyck made a season-high 45 saves for Winnipeg, winners of four straight.
Tommy Novak, Spencer Stastney and Ryan O’Reilly scored and Juuse Saros made 18 saves for Nashville, losers of five of seven. Kiefer Sherwood and Roman Josi each had two assists.
With the overtime loss, the Predators clinched a playoff spot. After missing the playoffs last season, the Predators have reached the postseason in nine of the last 10 years.
In overtime, Connor and Scheifele came in on Saros on a 2-on-1, with Connor beating the goaltender with a wrist shot from the left side.
AVALANCHE 5, WILD 2
DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon notched his seventh career hat trick as part of a four-point performance, and Colorado broke out of a two-game funk with a win over the Minnesota.
Artturi Lehkonen and Cale Makar also scored for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 20 shots in a bounce-back performance after allowing 12 goals in his previous two games.
The win kept Colorado in second place in the Central Division with 104 points. The team trails Dallas by five points with three games left. Colorado also stays ahead of Winnipeg, which beat Nashville 4-3 in overtime Tuesday to climb to 102 points.
Colorado hosts the Jets on Saturday in what could be a pivotal game for seeding purposes. The top two spots in the division earn home-ice advantage in the first round.
DUCKS 3, KINGS 1
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Alex Killorn and Trevor Zegras scored in the third period, and Anaheim Ducks prevented the Los Angeles Kings from securing a playoff spot with a win.
Frank Vatrano also scored, Lukas Dostal made 36 saves, and the Ducks beat their Freeway Faceoff foes for the first time in three meetings. The season series concludes in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Akil Thomas scored and Cam Talbot made 24 saves for the Kings, who had won three straight games.
Los Angeles will have to wait to confirm a third straight playoff appearance, and the defeat also put the chance to avenge two straight first-round losses to Edmonton at risk. Vegas is one point behind the Kings for third place in the Pacific Division with a game in hand.
KRAKEN 5, COYOTES 0
SEATTLE (AP) — Shane Wright scored 68 seconds into the first period for his fourth goal in four games since being called up from the AHL, Philipp Grubauer made 39 saves in his second shutout of the season, and Seattle beat Arizona.
André Burakovsky, Justin Schultz, Brandon Tanev and Will Borgen also scored as the Kraken won for the fifth time in seven games with the end of the regular season drawing closer.
But with the playoffs no longer possible for Seattle, most of the attention has shifted to its young players called up from Coachella Valley of the AHL and specifically Wright, who won’t turn 21 until early in 2025.
FLAMES 3, SHARKS 2, OT
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Andrei Kuzmenko scored a power-play goal 2:58 into overtime and Calgary came back to beat San Jose.
Kuzmenko put in the puck off a scramble in front for the Flames, who had lost three straight and eight of nine. Rasmus Andersson and Nazem Kadri also scored for Calgary, which converted two of its three power-play opportunities.
“We’re scoring goals, and they’re crucial goals in these hockey games,” Kadri said. “As a group, I think we take pride in trying to give our group a boost of energy. When things aren’t going too well, we’re accountable with one another. I think that’s important. When you’re playing with confidence, obviously it’s a lot smoother.”
William Eklund and Jacob MacDonald had the goals for San Jose.
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