Jonathan Marchessault and Jack Eichel each had a goal and an assist in a four-goal first period and the Vegas Golden Knights extended their point streak to seven games with a 6-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

Anthony Mantha and Noah Hanifin also scored in the opening period and Brett Howden also tallied for Vegas, which has gone 6-0-1 in its last seven games to pull within three points of Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division.

Logan Thompson made 27 saves to win his sixth straight start in his 99th career game.

Quinn Hughes scored twice for the Canucks, who have lost three of four but are five points up on the Oilers for first in the Pacific.

Ullmark perfect in Bruins’ win

Linus Ullmark turned away 32 shots and assisted on Charlie Coyle’s short-handed, game-winning goal in the third period to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-0 victory over the Nashville Predators.

David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha had a goal and an assist apiece to help Boston win for the third time in four games and extend its Atlantic Division lead to four points over Florida.

Juuse Saros made 30 saves for the Predators, who dropped their third in a row following a franchise-record 18-game point streak.

Surging Penguins rally past Devils

Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby each scored twice during the Penguins’ five-goal third period and Pittsburgh remained in the playoff race with a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.

The Devils took a 3-1 lead into the third period, but Crosby scored on a power play at 6:48 and Malkin’s first goal of the game just over a minute later tied it.

Rickard Rakell’s goal with 3:44 left put the Penguins ahead and Malkin made it 5-3 32 seconds later. Crosby’s empty-net goal closed the scoring.

Pittsburgh is 4-0-2 in its last six games and had moved within three points of Washington for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Marc-Andre Fleury took sole possession of second place on the NHL's all-time wins list for a goaltender by posting a 21-save shutout and leading the Minnesota Wild to a 5-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Monday.

Fleury broke a tie with Hall of Famer Patrick Roy with his 552nd career victory, and did so in style with his 74th career shutout and the 39-year-old's first this season.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored both short-handed and on a power play to help Fleury achieve the feat and end a four-game losing streak for Minnesota. Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Foligno contributed a goal and an assist each. 

The Wild took control early by forcing an Islanders' penalty just over a minute in, and Zuccarello scored on the resulting power play for a quick 1-0 lead.

Connor Dewar scored off a New York turnover 2:18 into the second to extend Minnesota's advantage, and Eriksson Ek got his first of the night with the Wild on a 5-on-4 later in the period to increase the margin to 3-0.

Eriksson's short-handed goal came with 3:51 remaining and Foligno completed the rout by tipping in a pass from Frederick Gaudreau in the final minute.

Fleury needed to make just three saves during the Wild's dominant second period before recording eight more in the third to finish off his historic shutout.

The Islanders were dealt a fourth loss in five games and pulled star goaltender Ilya Sorokin following the second intermission after he allowed three goals on 32 shots.

Crosby, Jarry star as Penguins end Kraken's nine-game winning streak

Sidney Crosby scored two goals to support a 22-save shutout from Tristan Jarry as the Pittsburgh Penguins stopped the Seattle Kraken’s franchise-record nine-game winning streak with a 3-0 victory.

Drew O’Connor added a goal and Rickard Rakell finished with two assists to help Pittsburgh bounce back from overtime defeats in its previous two games and hand the Kraken their first loss since Dec. 18.

Seattle also had a 13-game point streak (11-0-2) halted despite a solid effort from goaltender Joey Daccord, who turned aside 30 of 32 shots.

Daccord made 12 saves in the first period to keep the game scoreless, but the Penguins broke through just 49 seconds into the second when O’Connor converted a backhand feed from Bryan Rust.

Crosby made it a 2-0 lead just 2:43 later before capping his two-goal day with an empty-net strike with 2:21 left to play.

Jarry’s shutout was his fifth of the season, tied with the Arizona Coyotes’ Connor Ingram for tops in the NHL.

Kings snap eight-game skid behind big third period

Trevor Moore had two goals and the Los Angeles Kings scored four times in the third period to come through with a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes and end an eight-game losing streak.

Moore, Phillip Danault, Alex Laferriere and Pierre Luc-Dubois all had goals in the final 19 minutes to send the Kings to their first victory of 2024. Los Angeles had gone 0-4-4 since its most recent victory on Dec. 27.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, had gone 7-0-1 over their previous eight games.

Danault added two assists and David Rittich recorded 30 saves for the Kings, who struck three times in the first 5:20 of the third to break a 1-1 deadlock after two periods.

Danault put Los Angeles ahead by knocking in the carom of teammate Vladislav Garikov’s off-target shot 61 seconds into the third. Laferriere sent a wrist shot past Carolina goaltender Antti Raanta just 1:20 later to extend the lead, and Dubois’ one-timer with 14:40 remaining increased the margin to 4-1.

The Hurricanes got closer on Jack Drury’s goal with 11:02 left to play, but failed to close the gap further before Moore put the game away with a short-handed empty-net tally with 1:16 remaining.

Moore scored the game’s lone goal of the first period before Jordan Martinook answered for Carolina 5:38 into the second to extend his goal streak to three games.

Raanta stopped just 20 of 24 shots before being pulled after allowing Dubois’ goal.

Sidney Crosby scored a tie-breaking goal on the power play to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-5 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

Crosby had a pair of assists in the first period before his goal at 11:19 in the third period snapped a 5-all tie.

It was the second straight multi-point game for the 36-year-old Crosby, who is tied for seventh in the league with 22 goals and earlier in the day was named an NHL All-Star for the 10th time.

Drew O’Connor, Ryan Graves, Jake Guentzel, Lars Eller and Jeff Carter also scored for the Penguins (19-14-4), who have now earned at least one point in seven of their last eight games, going 6-1-1 since December 18.

The Atlantic Division-leading Bruins (23-8-6) rallied from three goals down to tie the score on Brad Marchand's second goal of the game early in the third period, but ended up losing for the first time in five games.

David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie each finished with a goal and two assists, while Jeremy Swayman finished with 29 saves for Boston.

 

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.

 

Sidney Crosby scored twice on the power play in the second period and Tristan Jarry stopped 20 shots as the Pittsburgh Penguins earned their first win of the season with a 4-0 victory over the Washington Capitals on Friday.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and three assists and Reilly Smith also scored to help the Penguins rebound from Tuesday’s season-opening loss to Chicago.

Washington lost its debut under new coach Spencer Carbery and was shut out for the first time in 49 season openers.

Backup Charlie Lindgren made 31 saves in place of Darcy Kuemper, who was away while his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child.

 

Coyotes edge Devils in shootout

Karel Vejmelka was perfect in the shootout and the Arizona Coyotes recovered after giving up a two-goal lead in a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.

Nick Bjugstad and Nick Schmaltz scored in the shootout and Vejmelka turned away attempts by Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt to give Arizona a win in its season opener.

Bratt had two goals and an assist in regulation, and Dougie Hamilton scored one goal and set up another for New Jersey, which was coming off a 4-3 win over Detroit in its season opener.

Star winger Artemi Panarin proved the difference in Game 7 for the New York Rangers, with his goal in overtime clinching a 4-3 win and the series on Sunday.

Overtime seemed fitting for what has been such a tight series, and the 30-year-old Russian put the Rangers up in rare circumstances, shooting through a wall of Penguins players in a power-play to score.

It was the third-straight come-from-behind victory in the series for New York, who tied the game with 5:45 left in regulation via Mika Zibanejad.

Rangers coach Gerard Gallant felt the conditions did not suit Panarin but he had the requisite skill to save his side when it mattered most.

"He's the guy, when it gets to overtime, I said to myself that he was going to score," Gallant said after the win. "If we get the winning goal, it's going to be him. Sure enough, he makes a great play.

"You know what? Honestly, the ice wasn't great tonight. The puck was bouncing and it affects his game more than the other guys. People get frustrated at times. I think we saw a little of that.

"I just thought he wasn't having his best night. He tried hard, he competed and got some pucks out. He usually makes a lot of plays and tonight it just wasn't there, but you just get a feeling with a guy like him that he can do that for you. And that's what he does."

The Penguins were bolstered by the return of Sidney Crosby after he missed Game 6 with an upper-body injury, caused by a hit from Jacob Trouba. The visitors equalised on a power-play following a penalty for high-sticking from Trouba and though they hit the lead, could not manage to see the series out.

In Sunday's other result, Johnny Gaudreau's goal in overtime secured the series for the Calgary Flames against the Dallas Stars, moving to the second round with a 3-2 win.

The Florida Panthers twice came back from a one-goal deficit to defeat the Washington Capitals 3-2 in overtime, tying the series at 2-2.

Heading into the contest trailing 2-1, and playing on Washington's home ice, the Panthers were put on the back foot early after T.J. Oshie opened the scoring in the first period.

Carter Verhaeghe tied things up less than 10 minutes later, before Evgeny Kuznetsov put the Capitals back in front in the third period off an assist from legendary teammate Alex Ovechkin.

With just over two minutes to play, Sam Reinhart tied it at 2-2 to force an extra period, where Verhaeghe would slot the winner five minutes in to steal the game on the road.

Speaking to post-game media, two-goal hero Verhaeghe said the result adds to the belief of what this team – dubbed the 'Comeback Cats' – can accomplish.

"We wanted to come in and have our best game of the series, and I think we did a pretty good job," he said.

"It’s just kind of a building block. We know we have another level to get to, and we’re a great team, so I think it’s just building some confidence."

Fellow goal-scorer Reinhart added that the backs-to-the-wall nature of the battle was everything he enjoyed as a competitor.

"Those are the kind of situations you want to be in as a hockey player," he said. "It’s a game that can really go either way at the end of it – we stuck with it, and we’re happy with the result."

Washington's Ovechkin – a three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner for league MVP – was clear about the next course of action, and not overreacting to a painful loss.

"At the end, it was bad bounces and it goes in," he said. "It is going to be a tough, long series, so move on. Forget about it, move on."

It was much smoother sailing for the Colorado Avalanche, beating the Nashville Predators 5-3 to sweep their series 4-0. J.T Compher and Cale Makar both collected a pair of assists each for the Avalanche.

The Pittsburgh Penguins received a vintage performance from future Hall-of-Famer Sydney Crosby as he slotted one goal and dished two assists in his side's 7-2 win against the New York Rangers, taking a 3-1 series lead in the process.

Lastly, the Calgary Flames won a crucial Game 4 on the road against the Dallas Stars 4-1 to tie their series at 2-2, despite Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger making 50 saves.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was quick to back goaltender Louis Domingue, following their 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday.

The Rangers tied their playoff series up at 1-1 after Pittsburgh's 4-3 win in triple-overtime at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

One of the key figures in that overtime win, Domingue was given a start by Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, but gave up key goals to Ryan Strome and Chris Keider via deflections.

Crosby backed his teammate following the loss, bringing saves he did make with Game 2 in the balance in perspective.

"The fourth was a bad bounce, a couple of tips there," Crosby said. "I thought he [Domingue] was solid. I thought he made some big saves, especially when there was a one or two-goal difference, that kept us in it."

The two-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner believes the Penguins simply need to start better and put three periods of hockey together to progress past the Rangers.

"It's the playoffs," Crosby said. "There are going to be swings of momentum but I thought that in both games, as they've gone on, we've probably gotten better. We just have to find a way to come out of the gates a bit better.

"You don't want to get down two, we've done that a couple of times now. It's not something we want to make a habit of.

"We get that late one and we had some really good chances early in the third and didn't convert, and they got a bounce. That's what it came down to."

In other NHL playoff results on Thursday, a Cale Makar goal gave the Colorado Avalanche a 2-1 overtime win over the Nashville Predators, moving to 2-0 in their series.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers tied up respective series with the Calgary Flames and Washington Capitals.

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