Ryan Johansen scored two goals to back 37 saves from Alexandar Georgiev as the Colorado Avalanche extended their winning streak to four games with Monday's 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Cale Makar added a goal and an assist for the Central Division-leading Avalanche, who also received an empty-net goal from Valeri Nichushkin and two assists from Nathan MacKinnon to stop the Lightning's five-game point streak. Tampa Bay came in 4-0-1 over its last five outings.

Georgiev had 13 saves in the first period and Johansen scored unassisted 7:12 in to put Colorado in front. Johansen struck again 1:48 into the second before Makar made it a 3-0 lead with a power-play goal less than two minutes later.

Anthony Cirelli scored the Lightning's lone goal in the final minute of the second period, but Georgiev stopped all 12 Tampa Bay attempts in the third before Nichuskin scored into an empty net with 3:14 left.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 of 22 shots in the Lightning goaltender's second game back from offseason back surgery.

Blue Jackets send skidding Bruins to third straight loss

Spencer Martin made 31 saves and Yegor Chinakhov had a goal and an assist as the surging Columbus Blue Jackets dealt the suddenly slumping Boston Bruins a 5-2 loss.

Dmitri Voronkov, Ivan Provorov, Kirill Marchenko and Justin Danforth also had goals as Columbus won for the third time in four games following a 4-11-4 start to the season.

The Bruins, meanwhile, have suffered three straight regulation losses following a sizzling 14-1-3 start. 

Voronkov scored the lone goal in the first period before the Blue Jackets extended the lead to 3-0 on goals by Provorov and Chinakhov in the second. Marchenko pushed the margin further with a power-play goal 4:51 into the third.

Matthew Poitras and John Beecher had third-period goals for Boston, which pulled starting goaltender Jeremy Swayman after Provorov scored 5:38 into the second.

Swayman stopped 17 of 19 shots before departing, while Linus Ullmark turned back 18 of 20 chances in relief.

Tuch scores twice as Sabres pull away from Rangers

Alex Tuch had a pair of goals and the Buffalo Sabres scored three times late in the third period to pull away for a 5-1 win over the New York Rangers.

Tuch, Casey Mittelstadt and Kyle Okposo all scored in the final 4:29 of the game after New York cut its deficit to 2-1 on Mika Zibanejad's goal with just over eight minutes elapsed in the third period.

Mittelstadt, Victor Olofsson and Owen Power each had two assists to help Buffalo move to 3-1-1 over its last five games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen finished with 25 saves for the Sabres.

Buffalo had taken a 2-0 lead on JJ Peterka's goal in the first period and Tuch's first of the night, which came with 27 seconds left in the second.

Igor Shesterkin stopped 34 of 38 shots for the Rangers, who had a three-game winning streak snapped and sustained just their fourth regulation loss of the season. 

David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists and the Boston Bruins scored the game’s first five goals in a 5-2 win Tuesday over the Buffalo Sabres, who lost star forward Tage Thomspon to injury.

Pastrnak’s 11th goal was the second of five straight by Boston, which improved to 3-0-1 in its last four games and leads the NHL with 26 points.

Thompson will miss significant time after he was injured blocking a shot by Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy in the second period.

The shot went off Thompson’s left wrist, and he winced in pain before heading back to the bench. He did not return.

Thompson is third on the Sabres with six goals and six assists for 12 points. He was among the league leaders last season with career highs of 47 goals and 94 points.

Crosby’s hat trick powers streaking Penguins

Sidney Crosby notched his 16th career hat trick and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the reeling Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 for their fifth consecutive victory.

Crosby extended his point streak to nine games and completed his hat with the tiebreaking goal with 5:32 remaining before sealing the win with an empty-net tally.

Pittsburgh is 9-0-1 in its last 10 meetings wit Columbus, which has lost six straight (0-4-2).

Lindgren, Capitals shut out Golden Knights

Charlie Lindgren turned away 35 shots to lead the surging Washington Capitals to a 3-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.

Lindgren made a one-goal lead stand up until Washington scored twice in the final minute, including Connor McMichael’s empty-net goal.

Dylan Strome and Beck Malenstyn also scored to help the Capitals win their third straight and seventh in nine games (7-1-1).

Vegas lost in regulation for the third time in four games after opening the season 11-0-1.

The Boston Bruins clinched the Presidents' Trophy on Thursday but quickly turned their focus towards the postseason, with coach Jim Montgomery "looking forward to that grind".

The Bruins have been the NHL's outstanding team this season and moved to 121 points – out of the reach of any rival – with a 2-1 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Their 58th win of the campaign set a new team record, but Montgomery is keen to ensure this is not the extent of their achievements.

After a victory that he acknowledged was "not the standard we've seen all year", he said: "We're not at our game, and there's fatigue that comes in. It's not easy, but we're finding ways to win.

"It's been a magical season so far, and we know the hardest part is ahead of us, and we're looking forward to that grind."

Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron was slightly more interested in revelling in their Presidents' Trophy success, the fourth in team history.

"Of course you're proud," he said. "A lot of games and a lot of hard work.

"I'm proud of the way we've done it, sticking to our process and growing as a team."

The Bruins have seven games left in the regular season and need five more wins to set a new NHL record for wins in a single season.

Jonathan Quick was reported to be unhappy with the trade that took him away from the Los Angeles Kings this week, but he was soon back at the top of the Pacific Division.

Goaltender Quick was included in a trade deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets as the Kings moved for Joonas Korpisalo.

A two-time Stanley Cup champion in LA, Quick paid the price for a difficult season but was said to have remained in the city amid frustration at his departure.

Rather than heading to Columbus, he will instead make the shorter trip to Las Vegas after the Golden Knights agreed their own trade with the Blue Jackets.

Starting Golden Knights netminder Logan Thompson is out injured, potentially presenting the opportunity for Quick to come straight into the team.

The veteran's new Golden Knights team-mates are tied with the Kings at the top of the division.

Vegas will play the Kings once more this season, on April 6.

The Los Angeles Kings have traded goaltender Jonathan Quick to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

According to widespread reports, the Kings moved to push through the deal late on Tuesday.

The package is said to include defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo moving the opposite way.

It comes on the back of three-time Stanley Cup winner Patrick Kane moving from the Chicago Blackhawks to the New York Rangers in another high-profile trade.

Quick had played close to 750 games for the Kings, whom he started his career with in the 2007-08 season, and has been part of two Stanley Cup title-winning squads.

When prized free agent Johnny Gaudreau chose to sign a massive deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday, the hockey world was stunned by the news.  

But Gaudreau himself did not give the decision a second thought, signing for seven years and $68million.  

"I wanted to come here. This was always a place circled on my list," Gaudreau said during his introductory news conference.  

The Blue Jackets have developed a reputation with some in NHL circles as struggling to retain talent after trading away young core players like Seth Jones and Cam Atkinson, and Gaudreau addressed those concerns head-on.  

"I'm not really sure about any other players. We're not talking about why people don't want to be at Columbus; it's not a topic in the locker room," he said.

"For me, I just heard so many great things from former players, and it made me feel really comfortable with my decision to come here." 

Since their inception in 2000, Columbus have never won a division crown and have yet to play in a Conference final series. The Blue Jackets missed the playoffs last season with a 37-38-7 record.  

"I think there's a lot of potential," the 28-year-old winger said. "I thought it was a good spot for me personally. We can have a lot of success here.

"They've got good players on this team. And I'm really looking forward to jumping in with this group. I've heard a lot of great things. 

"They're a close-knit group, and that's who you want to play with are guys who get along in the locker room and love coming to the rink and working together every single day, and it's just a healthy environment to be around, and that's exciting to me."

Gaudreau spent the beginning of his career with the Calgary Flames, tallying 609 points (210 goals, 399 assists) in 602 games. He set career highs with 40 goals and 75 assists last season.  

A New Jersey native, Gaudreau had been linked to teams in the U.S. Northeast, including the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers, before ultimately choosing Columbus.  

The biggest name in this year’s NHL free-agent market has found a new home, as high-scoring forward Johnny Gaudreau signed a seven-year contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

According to reports, the deal has an average annual value of $9.75 million. 

Gaudreau had the best season of his nine-year career in 2021-22, setting career-highs with 40 goals, 75 assists and 115 points in 82 games with the Calgary Flames. Only Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid (123) had more points last season than Gaudreau, who led the NHL with a plus-64 rating.  

A native of Salem, New Jersey, Gaudreau had been speculated to be eyeing a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers or New Jersey Devils, but the Blue Jackets, by all accounts, entered the mix later in the day and landed the six-time All-Star.  

Columbus finished sixth in the Metropolitan Division last season and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.  

Gaudreau has 210 goals and 609 points in 602 career games, all with the Flames. 

The Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens have taken the number of NHL teams to shut down through the holiday break to nine due to coronavirus concerns.

It was announced by the league on Monday that the Blues Jackets' games against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday and Thursday had been postponed.

The Canadiens' games prior to the break had already been called off amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, with a total of 42 games now having been postponed this season.

Developments involving Columbus and Montreal came a day after the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs also shut down through the holiday break.

The Boston Bruins, Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers had already announced shut-downs.

Cross-border games between the United States and Canadian teams have been postponed through the holiday break due to the concern about travel been the two countries and "the fluid nature of federal travel restrictions".

The NHL and National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) are also discussing the matter of player participation in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

A decision is expected to be announced in the coming days. 

The league has until January 10 to pull out of the Winter Games without being penalised financially, but it retains the right to cancel its plans up until players are scheduled to travel to Beijing in early February.

Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks has passed away at the age of 24.

A statement on the Jackets' official website on Monday confirmed that the Latvian died after suffering a head injury in a fall on July 4.

According to reports, local emergency services were called to a residence in Novi, Michigan around 22:00 local time.

Jason Meier of the Novi Police Department told ESPN: "There appears to have been a fireworks malfunction, which caused a group of people to flee from the hot tub, including the deceased, who slipped and hit his head on the concrete."

President of hockey operations John Davidson said: "We are shocked and saddened by the loss of Matiss Kivlenieks, and we extend our deepest sympathies to his mother, Astrida, his family and friends during this devastating time.

"Kivi was an outstanding young man who greeted every day and everyone with a smile and the impact he had during his four years with our organization will not be forgotten."

Kivlenieks had played eight games since signing for Columbus as a free agent in May 2017, but was expected to challenge for more game time in the coming season.

He had also represented his native Latvia, including as they hosted the 2021 edition of the IIHF World Championships.

Nick Foligno reflected on a "pretty amazing day" after joining the Toronto Maple Leafs in a three-team trade.

The Maple Leafs landed Columbus Blue Jackets captain Foligno, who can become an unrestricted free agent after this season, on Sunday.

Columbus receive a first-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2020 Draft as part of the deal.

The San Jose Sharks gain a fourth-round pick in 2021 from the Maple Leafs for forward Stefan Noesen.

Foligno, 33, has been the Blue Jackets' skipper for almost six years but is looking forward to a new challenge.

He said: "It was an emotional couple of days. I have the utmost respect for [Columbus general manager] Jarmo [Kekalainen] and how he brought this to my attention, talking about how if there was something that made sense for the team that he would try to keep me in the loop, and that meant a lot to me.

"Ultimately, it's always what's best for the team, but he was able to fill me in on some things and see where I was headed, and it just fell into place where it worked out to come to Toronto.

"It's been a pretty amazing day once you've made the decision, but a hard day obviously with all the emotion attached to Columbus. Now that it has sunk in and how excited I am to join this team and help in any way I can, it really gets me going."

Foligno has scored 16 points in 42 games this season. He has played a mammoth 950 regular-season games for the Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators, tallying 482 points - with 203 goals and 279 assists.