Kakko’s late goal lifts Rangers past Canadiens 4-3

NEW YORK (AP) — Kaapo Kaako scored a power-play goal with 24 seconds left, and the New York Rangers stopped a five-game slide by topping the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday.

Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers, who got their first win since a 4-3 victory at Vancouver on Nov. 19. Adam Fox had two assists, and Jonathan Quick made 25 saves.

With Montreal’s Kirby Dach serving a four-minute, high-sticking penalty, Kaako got his fourth goal of the season.

The Canadiens trailed 3-1 after two periods. But Cole Caufield scored his 14th goal 4:16 into the third and Nick Suzuki tied it at 14:07.

Trocheck tipped the puck past Montreal goaltender Sam Montembeault at 19:56 to put New York ahead after Panarin and Montreal’s Mike Matheson scored earlier in the first.

Panarin put the Rangers ahead at 9:02, scoring on a 5-on-3 for New York’s first power-play goal since Nov. 12 at home against Winnipeg.

Montembault made 24 saves for Montreal.

PANTHERS 6, HURRICANES 0

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Spencer Knight made 20 saves, Mackie Samoskevich scored with less than a second left in the second period, and the Florida got four goals in the third to beat Carolina and complete a two-day sweep.

Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, Evan Rodrigues and Adam Boqvist also scored for Florida, which won 6-3 at Carolina on Friday. The Panthers have won three straight — that streak following a stretch of six losses in seven games for the Stanley Cup champions.

It was Knight’s fourth career shutout, his first since Nov. 9, 2022 — also at home against Carolina.

Spencer Martin made 23 saves on 28 shots for the Hurricanes, who have dropped four of their last six games (2-3-1). It was Martin’s fourth consecutive start for Carolina.

MAPLE LEAFS 5, LIGHTNING 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Auston Matthews picked up an assist in his return to the lineup and Joseph Woll stopped 38 shots as Toronto beat Tampa Bay

Chris Tanev had a goal and an assist and Mitch Marner added two assists. Nick Robertson, John Tavares and William Nylander also scored for Toronto. Matthews assisted on Nylander’s empty-net goal in the third period after missing nine games with an upper-body injury.

Mikey Eyssimont, Jake Guentzel and Cam Atkinson scored for Tampa Bay, which was without leading scorer Nikita Kucherov.

Toronto led 4-0 in the third before the Lightning scored three goals in just over a six minute span, cutting its deficit to a goal with 2:22 left.

CAPITALS 6, DEVILS 5

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Pierre-Luc Dubois, Rasmus Sandin and Taylor Raddysh each scored a goal and added an assist in Washingtons’ win over New Jersey Devils in a meeting featuring the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division.

Washington (17-6-1) matched its franchise record for consecutive road wins with seven.

The Capitals received goals from Andrew Mangiapane, Connor McMichael and Jakob Chychrun. Raddysh broke a 4-4 tie with a tip-in with 6:06 to play. Dubois scored 10 seconds later for a 6-4 cushion.

John Carlson recorded three assists for the Capitals. Chychrun has scored three goals in Washington’s last four games.

Charlie Lindgren stopped 22 shots for Washington. Jake Allen had 26 saves for the Devils.

PENGUINS 6, FLAMES 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Michael Bunting and Kris Letang each scored a power-play goal and added two assists, as Pittsburgh beat Calgary.

Philip Tomasino also scored on the power play as Pittsburgh has goals with the man advantage in six of its last eight games. Rickard Rakell equaled a season-long three-game goal streak with his 10th of the season, while Anthony Beauvillier and Blake Lizotte also scored. Sidney Crosby extended a four-game point streak with an assist.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves for his first win since Nov. 16 against San Jose.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri added a goal and assist each in the third period for Calgary, which has allowed multiple power-play goals in an NHL-high six games this season. The Flames have won just three of 13 road games this season.

Dan Vladar stopped 37 shots for Calgary.

FLYERS 3, BLUES 2, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Matvei Michkov scored 26 seconds into overtime and Philadelphia beat St. Louis.

Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster also scored for Philadelphia, and Aleksei Kolosov had 25 saves.

Dylan Holloway and Jake Neighbours scored for St. Louis. Jordan Binnington finished with 28 saves.

Neighbours tied the score with 19 seconds left in regulation, putting in a loose puck from just outside the crease.

Tippett tapped in the puck from the right side after a pass from Michkov at 9:15 of the first period.

Holloway tied it 1-1 with 8:49 remaining in the third, and Foerster scored on a rebound to put the Flyers back ahead 51 seconds later.

KINGS 5, SENATORS 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anze Kopitar, Trevor Moore and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and an assist, and Los Angeles beat Ottawa for their season-high third consecutive win.

Alex Laferriere and Adrian Kempe also scored for Los Angeles, and David Rittich made 20 saves.

Kopitar snapped a tie 1:37 into the third period, finding himself alone at the top of the crease before finishing for his eighth goal of the season.

Kempe added a power-play goal with 3:46 remaining after Ottawa was called for its second too many men penalty. Moore closed it out with an empty-netter.

Ottawa’s Adam Gaudette scored for the third straight game. Tim Stutzle also scored, and Anton Forsberg made 22 saves.

ISLANDERS 3, SABRES 0

NEW YORK (AP) — Simon Holmstrom scored twice and Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 shots for first shutout of the season as New York beat Buffalo.

Anders Lee also scored for New York, which had lost three straight (0-2-1). Sorokin’s shutout was the 19th of his career.

James Reimer finished with 17 saves for the Sabres in their third straight loss.

Lee converted a pass from Kyle Palmieri at 7:23 of the middle period. It was Lee’s 10th of the season, tying him with Palmieri and Brock Nelson for the team lead. Holmstrom followed with his sixth at 9:28 and added an empty-netter in the closing seconds.

The Islanders improved to 2-2-2 in their last five when leading after 40 minutes, and 7-2-2 for the season with such a lead.

WILD 3, PREDATORS 2, OT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Jared Spurgeon scored 1:00 into overtime and Minnesota beat Nashville.

Kirill Kaprizov and Declan Chisholm also scored for the Wild, who are 5-1-1 in their last seven games. Filip Gustavsson stopped 25 shots.

Fedor Svechkov and Ryan O’Reilly scored and Roman Josi had two assists for the Predators, who have lost four in a row — the last three in overtime. Juuse Saros had 25 saves.

Spurgeon, who scored twice in Friday’s win against Chicago, took a pass from Kaprizov in the slot and fired a high wrist shot that beat Saros for his third of the season.