NEW YORK (AP) — Anthony Mantha had two goals and an assist, Rickard Rakell scored twice and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to defeat the New York Islanders 8-3 on Monday night in a crucial game in the competitive Eastern Conference playoff race.
The Penguins trailed 3-1 midway through the second period before scoring four times in less than 6 1/2 minutes to take over. Their seventh goal on their 28th shot eight minutes into the third chased Ilya Sorokin, who was done in by porous defense in front of him and relieved by backup David Rittich.
Pittsburgh with the regulation victory leapfrogged New York into second place in the Metropolitan Division, 90 points to 89. The Penguins have eight games left in the regular season compared to seven for the Islanders, who could find themselves outside a spot as early as Tuesday night depending on results of their next game and others in contention in the East.
Returning from a one-game injury absence, Sidney Crosby was one of 15 skaters on his team to register a point in a significant bounce back from losing at home to Dallas without him on Saturday. Longtime running mate Evgeni Malkin missed a fourth consecutive game and is considered day to day.
AVALANCHE 9, FLAMES 2
DENVER (AP) — Nazem Kadri scored twice on the power play against his former team as part of a 26-shot, five-goal first period and the Colorado cruised to a win over Calgary.
The 26 shots is tied for second-most in a period in franchise history. The Avalanche finished with 49 shots — tied for their season high — as they increased their lead to eight points over Dallas in the race for the NHL’s top mark.
Jack Drury kicked off the scoring spree 2:31 into the game, followed by back-to-back power play goals from Kadri over a 66-second span. Captain Gabriel Landeskog and Parker Kelly also added goals before the first-period horn sounded.
Nathan MacKinnon added his 49th goal in the second period, along with two assists in the third. Martin Necas, Sam Malinski and Artturi Lehkonen each scored in the final period. The nine goals tied a season high.
Cale Makar notched three assists before leaving the game with an upper-body injury.
Scott Wedgewood made 27 saves for Colorado.
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