The Toronto Maple Leafs will have a new voice behind the bench.

The Maple Leafs fired coach Sheldon Keefe on Thursday after the team suffered yet another early exit from the NHL Stanley Cup play-offs.

Hired by Toronto in November 2019, Keefe led the Maple Leafs to the play-offs in each of his five seasons at the helm, but the team only advanced out of the first round once.

His firing came five days after Toronto's season ended in the first round with an overtime Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins.

"Today's decision was difficult. Sheldon is an excellent coach and a great man; however, we determined a new voice is needed to help the team push through to reach our ultimate goal," Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said in a statement. "We thank Sheldon for his hard work and dedication to the organisation over the last nine years, and wish him and his family all the very best."

Under Keefe, Toronto amassed a franchise-record 115 points in 2021-22, and the 2020-21 team won the club's first division title since 1999-2000.

Although Keefe coached the Maple Leafs to a 212-97-40 record in the regular season, the team sputtered in the play-offs, going just 16-21.

An Original Six franchise, the Maple Leafs are one of the NHL's most revered clubs, but their futility in the play-offs is galling.

Toronto has won just a single play-off series in the last 19 seasons and hasn't won the Stanley Cup in 56 seasons - the longest active drought by an NHL franchise.

Sam Reinhart scored two goals and Ryan Lomberg recorded the game-winner in the third period as the Florida Panthers stayed hot with a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers in Monday's showdown between division leaders.

Anton Lundell sealed Florida's fifth consecutive win and 11th in 12 games with an empty-net goal in the final minute, while Aleksander Barkov and Gustav Forsling had two assists in support of Sergei Bobrovsky's 26-save effort.

The win maintained the Panthers' two-point advantage on the Boston Bruins for first place in both the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division, with the Metropolitan-leading Rangers now four points back of Florida.

After the Rangers tied the game at 2-2 on Chris Kreider's power-play goal late in the second period, the Panthers outshot New York by a 12-6 margin while dominating the third.

Lomberg snapped the deadlock 6:11 into the period when his wrist shot got past New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin, and Lundell put the game out of reach by scoring with 59 seconds remaining.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead after one period on Will Cuylle's power-play goal, but Reinhart registered his 43rd and 44th goals of the season within a span of 2:45 in the second to put Florida ahead. His first of the night was his league-leading 25th in power-play situations.

Shesterkin stopped 25 of 28 shots for New York, which has now lost three of four following a franchise-record 10-game winning streak from Jan. 27-Feb. 24.

MacKinnon extends home point streak as Avalanche blank Blackhawks

Nathan MacKinnon increased his home point streak to 30 games with a two-goal, two-assist performance that helped the Colorado Avalanche cruise to a 5-0 rout over the badly struggling Chicago Blackhawks.

Justus Annunen stopped 37 shots to record his second shutout of Chicago in five days and send the Blackhawks to a seventh straight loss. The rookie netminder had 24 saves in Colorado's 5-0 win at Chicago on Thursday.

MacKinnon gave Annunen all the help he would need by blasting a shot past Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek 12:31 in. The Colorado captain's home point streak is the second-longest to start a season in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky's 40-game run with the Los Angeles Kings in 1988-89.

MacKinnon then set up Jonathan Drouin's goal later in the first period before adding another assist on Cale Makar's score with 7:22 left in the second that extended the Avs' lead to 3-0.

Zach Parise made it 4-0 when he redirected a drive from Caleb Jones five minutes after Makar's goal, and MacKinnon capped his four-point night with a power-play tally with 4:25 remaining. 

Mrazek finished with 32 saves in Chicago's ninth shutout loss of the season, tied with the San Jose Sharks for the most in the NHL.

Zacha's two goals lead Bruins past Maple Leafs

The Boston Bruins were able to keep pace with the Panthers in the Eastern Conference race by delivering a 4-1 win over the rival Toronto Maple Leafs behind Pavel Zacha's two goals and 32 saves from Jeremy Swayman.

Jake DeBrusk chipped in a goal and an assist and David Pastrnak had three assists to help the Bruins win for the second time in three outings following a three-game losing streak.

Morgan Geekie added a goal that put Boston ahead midway through the first period, and Zacha made it 2-0 by converting a power-play chance just under three minutes later.

Swayman came up with 13 saves during a second period in which DeBrusk produced the only goal, though Toronto's John Tavares scored for a second straight game to end the shutout bid 3:52 into the third.

Zacha completed his first multi-goal outing of the season by knocking in a feed from Pastrnak with 9:25 remaining.

Toronto, which had won nine of 10 coming in, received 23 saves from Joseph Woll.

Cody Glass recorded his first career hat trick and the Nashville Predators rolled past the Colorado Avalanche 5-1 for their eighth straight victory on Saturday.

Glass opened the scoring with 4:42 left in the opening period and gave Nashville a 2-1 lead with 5:34 to play in the second. He completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Tommy Novak had a goal and an assist and Juuse Saros stopped 25 shots for the Predators, who tied the second-longest winning streak in franchise history. They won 10 in a row from mid-February through early March 2018.

Nathan MacKinnon scored the lone goal for Colorado, which dropped to 2-5-1 in its last eight road games.

MacKinnon’s goal extended his point streak to nine games, during which he has five goals and 11 assists.

Bobrovsky lifts red-hot Panthers

Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 21 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and Sam Reinhart scored his 42nd goal as the Florida Panthers continued their surge with a 4-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Bobrovsky notched his 42nd career shutout to win for the ninth time in his last 10 starts.

Brandon Montour had a goal and two assists and Evan Rodrigues added a goal and an assist to help the Panthers improve to 14-2-0 in their last 16 games.

Florida, which won its league-best 21st road game, moved into sole possession of the Eastern Conference lead, two points ahead of Boston and the Rangers.

Detroit lost its second straight after six consecutive wins.

Maple Leafs beat Rangers in shootout

Max Domi scored the deciding goal in the shootout on his 29th birthday to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-3 win over the New York Rangers.

John Tavares, William Nylander and Mitch Marner scored in regulation for the Maple Leafs, who have won nine of their last 10 games to pull within six points of second-place Boston in the Atlantic Division.

Vincent Trocheck had a pair of goals for the Rangers, including the tying goal with 67 seconds to play in regulation.

New York lost for just the second time in 13 games (11-1-1) and is two points behind Florida for the Eastern Conference lead.

Auston Matthews added to his NHL-leading goal total and the Toronto Maple Leafs added to Arizona's misery, pulling away for a 4-2 win on Thursday to deal the Coyotes a 14th straight loss.

Matthews scored at 13:12 of the second period for his 53rd goal of the season - 12 more than the Florida Panthers' Sam Reinhart for the most in the league.

Matthews entered having gone back-to-back games without lighting the lamp following a five-game stretch in which he scored 10 goals.

The Maple Leafs (34-17-8) went ahead 3-0 on Matthews' goal and got back in the win column after their seven-game winning streak ended with a 6-2 home loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, their first defeat since February 10.

The Coyotes (23-31-5), meanwhile, are 0-12-2 since January 22, when they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2.

Arizona's losing streak is the longest in franchise history, and the longest by any team in a single season since the Buffalo Sabres dropped 18 in a row in 2020-21.

Matthew Knies opened the scoring for Toronto with his 11th goal of the season at 13:04 in the first period. 

Tyler Bertuzzi also scored for the Leafs, while William Nylander tallied an empty-netter for his 32nd goal of the season and added two assists.

Joseph Woll turned aside 30 shots in his return after missing 35 games with a high ankle sprain sustained on December 7.

His counterpart, Connor Ingram, stopped 22-of-25 shots, and fell to 0-6-2 with a 4.23 goals-against average in his last eight starts.

Alex Kerfoot and Logan Cooley each scored for Arizona, which has been outscored 64-33 during its losing streak.

Stankoven scores again as Stars move atop Central Division

Rookie Logan Stankoven scored in his third straight game as the Dallas Stars beat Winnipeg 4-1 on Thursday to move two points ahead of the Jets for first place in the Central Division.

The 21-year-old Stankoven didn't score in his NHL debut last Saturday, but has scored in each game since.

Stankoven's goal against the Jets capped a three-goal first period for the Stars (36-17-9).

Jason Robinson opened the scoring at 6:52 of the opening period with his 20th goal off an assist by Joe Pavelski, who 10 minutes later added his 21st goal of the season.

Roope Hintz ended the scoring with an empty-netter for his 24th of the season, while Jake Oettinger had 25 saves for his 100th win.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 32-of-35 shots for the Jets (37-16-5), whose four-game winning streak was snapped.

Winnipeg's lone goal came from Vladislav Namestnikov on the power play at 13:24 of the second period.

Predators rout Wild 6-1 for seventh straight win

The Nashville Predators extended their season high winning streak to seven games with a 6-1 rout of the Minnesota Wild.

Roman Josi had a goal and two assists, and Yakov Trenin, Cole Smith, Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly and Ryan McDonagh also scored for the Predators, who are outscoring their opponents 32-12 during their winning streak.

Minnesota's Connor Dewar opened the scoring at 9:51 of the first period, but Trenin was able to tie it up just 49 seconds later, scoring off a backhanded pass from Josi.

Just eight seconds later, the Predators (34-25-2) pulled ahead on an unassisted goal by Smith.

Nashville took a 3-1 lead in the second period on Forsberg's team-leading 29th goal on the power play.

Juuse Saros finished with 33 saves for the Predators, who had lost seven of nine (2-6-1) prior to their current winning streak.

Filip Gustavsson stopped 25-of-31 shots for Minnesota (28-26-6), which has lost two straight after losing just two of its previous nine games (7-1-1).

Jonathan Marchessault had two goals and an assist, Adin Hill made 28 saves and the Vegas Golden Knights ended the Toronto Maple Leafs’ seven-game winning streak with a 6-2 drubbing on Tuesday.

Ivan Barbashev, Mason Morelli, William Karlsson and Nicolas Roy also scored for Vegas, who never trailed en route to a win that ended a 1-4-1 swoon.

Tyler Bertuzzi and Ryan Reaves scored for Toronto as the Leafs’ top-flight offensive threats were frustrated all night.

Auston Matthews, who leads the NHL with 52 goals, was held off the scoresheet for just the second time since Jan. 15. He had totalled 14 points in his previous six games.

Red Wings on their longest win streak in 5 years

Shayne Gostisbehere scored two goals to lead the Detroit Red Wings in an 8-3 rout over the Washington Capitals, extending their winning streak to six games.

The last time the Red Wings won at least six straight was in the 2018-19 season.

Lucas Raymond, J.T. Compher, Patrick Kane, Dylan Larkin, David Perron and Joe Veleno all had multiple points in Detroit’s highest-scoring game since Nov. 15, 2017.

Detroit’s run has put the Red Wings (32-20-6) in position to end a seven-year play-off drought.

Hendrix Lapierre, Michael Sgarbossa and Max Pacioretty each scored for Washington, who had been 4-0-1 in their previous five games.

Josi, Predators run win streak to 6

Captain Roman Josi had two goals and an assist as the Nashville Predators won their sixth straight game, a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

Gustav Nyquist contributed a goal and two assists, and Juuse Saros made 24 saves as the Preds returned from a flawless five-game road trip and matched a season-high with a sixth consecutive victory.

The winning streak has pushed Nashville (33-25-2) into the final projected play-off spot in the Western Conference.

Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek each recorded three goals and three assists to lead a record-setting day for the Minnesota Wild, who set a franchise single-game high for goals in Monday's frantic 10-7 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello delivered a goal and three assists each for Minnesota, which overcame a three-goal second-period deficit by lighting the lamp seven times during the third to set a team record for goals in a period as well.

The Wild's offensive outburst also overshadowed a three-goal, one-assist performance from Vancouver's J.T. Miller. The game was the first to have three players record hat tricks since the Los Angeles Kings accomplished the feat in an 11-4 win over the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 8, 1992.

After Zuccarello's power-play goal with 33 seconds left in the second period cut the Canucks' lead to 5-3, the Wild scored five straight times in the first 5:12 of the third. Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov each struck twice during the flurry, which also included a goal from Marco Rossi.

The six goals in a span of 5:45 made the Wild the first team to score six times in that short a time frame since the Washington Capitals did so in a 4:47 stretch in a 10-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 3, 1999.

The Pacific Division-leading Canucks fought back, though, as goals from Nikita Zadorov and Brock Boeser got them within 8-7 with 2:08 left to play. Minnesota's Jonas Brodin scored into an empty net 61 seconds later, however, before Kaprizov completed his fourth career hat trick and second this season with an empty-netter in the final stages.

Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek matched the @mnwild record for points in a game while combining for a feat not witnessed in more than three decades.#NHLStats: https://t.co/wuATxuTB8f pic.twitter.com/Ga6OXyAPpY

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 19, 2024

Marc-Andre Fleury was credited with the victory after the Wild veteran stopped six of eight shots after replacing starter Filip Gustavsson to begin the third period. Minnesota extended its point streak to six games (5-0-1) despite Gustavsson yielding five goals on 16 shots.

The Canucks, meanwhile, have dropped two straight following a forgettable afternoon for netminder Casey DeSmith, who let in eight goals on just 25 shots.

Matthews' 49th goal helps Maple Leafs top Blues

Auston Matthews continued his recent goal-scoring tear by recording his league-leading 49th of the season, which helped the Toronto Maple Leafs stay hot as well with a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

Matthews' seventh goal in three games snapped a 1–1 tie 45 seconds into the third period, and the 2021-22 Hart Trophy recipient had an assist earlier to spark Toronto to a fourth consecutive win.

Mitchell Marner had three assists for Toronto, which also got a key short-handed goal from William Nylander that extended the Leafs' lead to 3-1 with 12:31 left to play.

After a scoreless first period, the Maple Leafs struck quickly in the second as Matthews set up Matthew Knies for a close-range shot that the rookie rocketed past St. Louis goaltender Joel Hofer just 22 seconds into the period.

Brandon Saad's power-play goal late in the second drew the Blues even, though the tie was short-lived as Matthews deposited a feed from Marner into the Blues' net in the opening minute of the third.

The Blues cut the deficit to 3-2 on Pavel Buchnevich's goal with 1:08 to play, but Bobby McMann sealed the win for Toronto with an empty-net score with 38 seconds left.

Hofer stopped 25 of 28 shots for St. Louis, which has lost two straight following an 8-2-0 stretch from Jan. 20-Feb. 15. Ilya Samsonov finished with 19 saves for Toronto.

Bruins stop four-game slide with shootout win over Stars

Charlie McAvoy scored in the ninth round of the shootout as the Boston Bruins rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars to halt their four-game losing streak.

McAvoy added two assists in regulation for Boston, which forced overtime on David Pastrnak's goal with 1:45 left in the third period. 

The Bruins later extended the game further when Brad Marchand beat Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger in the third round of the shootout to tie the deciding phase at 1-1.

Both Oettinger and Boston's Jeremy Swayman turned aside the next five skaters each faced before McAvoy converted his chance. Swayman then denied Craig Smith to end the game and hand Dallas a second straight defeat, though the Western Conference contenders did extend their point streak to five games (3-0-2).

Swayman finished with a career-high 43 saves before stopping eight of nine opponents in the shootout.

Goals from Boston's Jesper Boqvist and Dallas' Wyatt Johnston sent the teams into the first intermission tied at 1-1, and the Stars' Ryan Suter and the Bruins' Justin Brazeau scored 28 seconds apart less than two minutes into the second period.

Dallas went back ahead when Esa Lindell scored on a 2-on-1 rush with 9:16 left in the third, but Pastrnak later one-timed a feed from McAvoy past Oettinger with Swayman pulled for an extra attacker to tie the game at 3-3.

Oettinger finished with 27 saves.

Alexis Lafreniere's goal 1:53 into overtime lifted the New York Rangers to a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday in a matchup of division leaders that started up the NHL's post-All-Star break schedule.

The Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers trailed 1-0 in the third period before rallying behind goals from Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin that supported a sharp 32-save effort from Jonathan Quick.

Former Ranger Alexandar Georgiev shut out his ex-team for over 2 1/2 periods until Panarin's wrist shot bounced off Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon and deflected past the Colorado goaltender to tie the game at 1-1 with 8:43 left in regulation.

Lafreniere later ripped the puck by Georgiev on the Rangers' lone shot attempt in overtime to end the Central Division-leading Avalanche's three-game winning streak. Quick was credited with a secondary assist on the goal.

MacKinnon extended his point streak to 14 games when he rushed up the ice and fired a shot that beat Quick to the glove side with 1:46 remaining in the first period.

Georgiev finished with 29 saves, including 11 in the first period.

Engvall's late goal puts Islanders over Maple Leafs

Former Maple Leaf Pierre Engvall scored the tie-breaking goal in his return to Toronto to send the New York Islanders to a 3-2 victory over his ex-team.

Engvall knocked in a rebound of teammate Brock Nelson's shot with 2:02 left in the third period to snap a 2-2 deadlock and help stop New York's three-game losing streak. The forward was making his first appearance at Scotiabank Arena since being traded by the Maple Leafs to the Islanders on Feb. 28, 2023.

Mathew Barzal and Kyle MacLean also scored for New York to back 35 saves from Ilya Sorokin.

Former Islanders captain John Tavares had a goal and an assist for Toronto and briefly tied the game at 2-2 with a power-play tally with 4:48 remaining.

After Barzal recorded the lone goal of the first period, Mitchell Marner scored just 50 seconds into the second to pull the Maple Leafs even. The tied score lasted only two minutes, however, as MacLean beat Toronto goaltender Ilya Samsonov on a breakaway for his first NHL goal.

MacLean's father, John, is an Islanders' assistant coach.

Samsonov registered 26 saves for the Maple Leafs, who had a three-game winning streak halted.

Ryan McLeod snapped a tie with 3:05 left in the third period and the Edmonton Oilers rallied for their franchise-record 11th straight win Tuesday, 4-2 over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Goals by Auston Matthews – his league-leading 34th - and Morgan Rielly gave the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead before Leon Draisaitl got Edmonton on the board with 4:09 remaining in the second period.

Derek Ryan scored the equaliser early in the final period before McLeod whipped a close wrist shot past Martin Jones to give the Oilers their first lead of the night.

Evan Bouchard added an empty-net goal and Edmonton improved to 19-3-0 in its last 22 games.

Toronto has lost a season high-tying four in a row (0-3-1)

Connor scores in return as Jets rebound

Kyle Connor scored an empty-net goal after a 16-game absence and Mason Appleton ended a 25-game scoring drought to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders.

Gabriel Vilardi and Neil Pionk also scored and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 35 shots for the Jets, who bounced back after their eight-game winning streak and 14-game point run was halted with Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Philadelphia.

Winnipeg tied Vancouver with 62 points for the league lead.

Anders Lee had both goals as the Islanders dropped to 1-5-0 in their last six games.

Avalanche score 4 in 3rd period to beat Senators

Mikko Rantanen scored twice and the Colorado Avalanche tallied four unanswered goals in the third period in a 7-4 win over the Ottawa Senators.

Ottawa took a 4-3 lead into the third period, but Miles Wood scored 4:04 into the frame and Sam Malinski’s power-play goal 4:10 later put Colorado ahead for good.

Samuel Girard had three assists and Devon Toews added a goal and an assist as the Avalanche improved to 10-2-1 in their last 13 games.

Ridly Greig scored a pair of goals for Ottawa, which has dropped six of seven.

Lukas Dostal stopped a career-high 55 shots before Auston Matthews scored his league-leading 30th goal in overtime to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.

Dostal protected a 1-0 lead until John Tavares banged home a rebound on a power play with 5:43 left in regulation.

Frank Vatrano scored in the second period for the Ducks, who lost their third straight and dropped to 1-5-0 on a season-high eight-game homestand.

Toronto extended its streak of not being shut out to 181 games, a run that started in November 2021.

Hischier leads Devils over Capitals

Nico Hischier scored two goals and set up another on the eve of his 25th birthday to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 6-3 win over the Washington Capitals.

Dawson Mercer and Michael McLeod also scored twice for the Devils, who squandered a two-goal lead before recovering to win for the fourth time in five games.

Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and an assist for Washington to end a 10-game point drought. The Capitals dropped to 1-3-2 in their last six games.

Max Pacioretty went pointless in his Capitals debut, playing his first NHL game in nearly a year after tearing his right Achilles tendon.

Auston Matthews continued a sizzling stretch with two more goals and an assist to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-1 victory Saturday over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Matthews has goals in seven straight games, with 12 goals and 16 points during that span. He leads the NHL with 28 goals.

He is the first player with 27 or more goals through the first 30 games of a season since Jaromir Jagr did it for Pittsburgh in 1996-97.

William Nylander had a short-handed goal and two assists to extend his point streak to 11 games, while John Tavares also scored and Mitch Marner added two assists.

Justin Danforth had the lone goal for the last-place Blue Jackets, who dropped their fourth straight at home.

Stars score 2 in final 15 seconds to stun Predators

Craig Smith and Jani Hakanpaa scored goals in the final 15 seconds to rally the Dallas Stars to a shocking 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators.

With goalie Scott Wedgewood pulled for an extra skater and Dallas trailing 2-1, Smith scored off a goalmouth scramble with 15 seconds to play.

Hakanpaa then scored his first goal of the season with four seconds left to make it 3-2.

The Stars improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games, and became the first team in NHL history to secure a victory after scoring a tying and go-ahead goal in the final 15 seconds of regulation.

MacKinnon extends point streak as Avalanche win

Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to extend his point streak to 18 games and Alexander Georgiev made 24 saves to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes.

MacKinnon assisted on Valeri Nichushkin’s second-period goal to give him the second-longest point streak by a Colorado player, trailing only Paul Stastny’s 20-game run in 2006-07.

It was also MacKinnon’s 25th point in December. He’s three away from matching the franchise record for a single month set by Peter Stastny in February 1981 with the Quebec Nordiques.

Nathan MacKinnon notched the first four-goal game in Avalanche history and extended his point streak to 17 games Thursday as Colorado rallied for a 6-4 win over the Ottawa Senators.

MacKinnon opened the scoring 2:43 into the game and tallied again with 1:32 left in the first period for his 300th career goal. 

He completed his hat trick at 6:16 of the third period to lift the Avs into a 4-4 tie and scored into an empty net with 23 seconds left.

MacKinnon has 12 goals and 21 assists during his 17-game streak, the longest of his career.

Mikko Rantanen had a pair of power-play goals and Cale Makar had two assists in his return from a lower-body injury that sidelined him for three games.

Drake Batherson had a goal and an assist as the Senators lost their sixth in a row, the last two coming under interim coach Jacques Martin, who replaced the fired D.J. Smith on Monday.

Sabres respond with rout of Maple Leafs

Jeff Skinner returned from a three-game absence with two goals and an assist and the Buffalo Sabres responded to their worst loss of the season with a 9-3 rout of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tage Thompson had a goal and two assists and captain Kyle Okposo scored twice for the Sabres, who were coming off a 9-4 loss to Columbus on Tuesday, when the team was booed off the ice.

Rookie Devon Levi shook off allowing Auston Matthews’ league-leading 26th goal in the first period from a bad angle to stop 25 shots. He improved to 4-1-1 in his past six appearances.

Ilya Samsonov surrendered five goals on 19 shots before he was replaced in the second period by Martin Jones, who allowed four goals on 16 shots.

Toronto has allowed 14 goals in consecutive losses following a nine-game point streak.

Ovechkin ends drought in Capitals’ win

Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal in 15 games on a power play with 53 seconds left in overtime to lift the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Ovechkin’s sixth goal of the season and 828th of his career was his first since Nov. 18 and his 26th in overtime, extending his NHL record. It was also his 125th game-winner overall, second in league history behind Jaromir Jagr’s 135.

Anthony Mantha scored twice and John Carlson had three assists as Washington won its third straight.

Owen Tippett scored with 1:35 remaining in overtime to lead the surging Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

Ryan Poeling, who entered with two goals in 25 games this season, had the other two goals and Samuel Ersson stopped 24 shots as the Flyers improved to 7-0-2 in their last nine games.

Philadelphia already has 39 points in 31 games this season after it had 75 all last season and missed the playoffs.

Michael McLeod and Jesper Bratt tallied for New Jersey, which has points in nine of its last 12 games (8-3-1).

Rangers snap Maple Leafs’ point streak

Mika Zibanejad scored two goals and Igor Shesterkin turned aside 31 shots as the New York Rangers ended the Toronto Maple Leafs’ nine-game point streak, 5-2.

Braden Schneider, Alexis Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin also had goals to help the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers win their third straight.

Auston Matthews scored two more goals for Toronto, giving him 11 in his last seven games and a league-high 25.

The Leafs had been 6-0-3 in their last nine games.

Marchenko has hat trick as Blue Jackets roll

Kirill Marchenko had a natural hat trick and the Columbus Blue Jackets rolled to a 9-4 rout of the reeling Buffalo Sabres.

Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and two assists for the Blue Jackets, who had the second-highest scoring game in franchise history.

Columbus set the record in a 10-0 win over Montreal on Nov. 4, 2016.

Casey Mittelstadt had three assists as the Sabres dropped to 3-7-1 in their past 11 games. The nine goals were the most allowed by Buffalo since a 10-4 loss to Dallas in March.

Devon Levi was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals on 18 shots and was replaced by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who stopped 11 of 16 shots the rest of the way.

Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Ross Colton all had goals within a span of just over four minutes in the third period to rally the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-5 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday.

Rantanen scored with 6:29 left to play to tie the game, then earned his second assist of the night when MacKinnon recorded the eventual winning goal on a breakaway with 4:30 remaining.

Colton started Colorado's comeback by knocking in a rebound with 8:40 left that cut the Flames' lead to 5-4.

Calgary had gone ahead on late second-period goals from Connor Zary and Yegor Sharangovich, with the latter prompting Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar to replace goaltender Alexandar Georgiev after the second intermission.

Ivan Prosvetov stopped all 11 shots he faced in relief of Georgiev, who allowed five goals on 22 shots.

Former Colorado center Nazem Kadri put Calgary ahead in the first period before the Avalanche's Tomas Tatar tied it later in the frame. Colorado then took a 2-1 lead when Cale Makar scored on a power play 1:43 into the second.

Goals by Andrew Mangiapane and Blake Coleman sent the Flames back in front, but Ben Meyers scored off a feed from Andrew Cogliano with 5:03 left in the second to briefly draw the Avalanche even at 3-3.

Colorado snapped a two-game losing streak, while Calgary has now lost four of five. Dan Vladar finished with 31 saves for the Flames. 

Islanders blow late, recover to defeat Maple Leafs in overtime

Bo Horvat scored 46 seconds into overtime as the New York Islanders recovered from blowing a late lead to come through with a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto rallied from a two-goal deficit to force overtime when Morgan Rielly scored with seven seconds remaining in regulation. Horvat sent a feed from Mathew Barzal past Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov early in the extra session, however, to give New York its third consecutive win.

Rielly's goal did enable Toronto to extend its point streak to six games, a stretch in which it's gone 4-0-2. The Islanders are now 5-0-1 over their past six.

The Islanders took a 3-1 lead early in the second period on Kyle Palmieri's goal, but John Tavares scored on a redirection 7:43 into the frame to cut the Leafs' deficit to one.

Tavares, the former Islanders' captain, later recorded his 1,000th career point on Rielly's game-tying goal.

Auston Matthews' 19th goal of the season, a power-play score 5:50 into the contest, gave Toronto an early 1-0 edge before the Islanders forged ahead later in the period on goals from Brock Nelson and Casey Cizikas. 

Noah Dobson finished with three assists for New York, while Ilya Sorokin made 14 of his 37 saves in the third period and had two more in overtime.

Samsonov stopped 25 shots for Toronto.

Benn hits assist milestone as Stars down short-handed Red Wings

Miro Heiskanen had two goals and an assist to lead the way as the Dallas Stars rolled to a 6-3 victory over the depleted Detroit Red Wings. 

The Stars scored twice in all three periods, including four straight goals between the first and second, to get back on track after losing three of their four previous games. Esa Lindell and Jason Robertson each delivered a goal and an assist to support a 27-save effort from Jake Oettinger.

Jamie Benn assisted on Heiskanen's first goal, the 500th of the Dallas captain's career.

Detroit was dealt a third consecutive loss while playing without both captain Dylan Larkin and forward David Perron. Larkin is out with an upper-body injury he sustained from a cross-check by Ottawa's Mathieu Joseph in Saturday's loss to the Senators, while Perron began serving a six-game suspension for cross-checking Ottawa's Artem Zub in retaliation.

The Red Wings did take a 1-0 lead when Daniel Sprong scored 5:20 in, but goals by Heiskanen and Lindell later in the first period put Dallas ahead. Robertson and Matt Duchene then scored 2:14 apart in the second to extend the Stars' advantage to 4-1.

Jonatan Berggren quickly answered Duchene's goal to trim Detroit's deficit, and the Red Wings cut the lead to 4-3 when Joe Veleno scored on a power play with 6:39 remaining.

Joe Pavelski countered with a power-play goal 30 seconds after Veleno's strike, however, before Heiskanen sealed the win with an empty-netter inside the final minute.

James Reimer stopped 29 of 34 shots for Detroit.

William Nylander scored 3:09 into overtime to give the surging Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Sunday's final game of the NHL's Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden.

Nylander and Auston Matthews each had a goal and an assist to help Toronto extend its winning streak to four games. Morgan Rielly had a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs, who got 33 saves from Joseph Woll in a game in which they were outshot by a 36-25 margin.

Toronto finished 2-0-0 on the European trip after earning a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Stockholm on Friday. The slumping Wild are now 0-3-2 over their last five games, including a shootout defeat to the Ottawa Senators in Sweden on Saturday.

Minnesota did manage a point after third-period goals from Jake Middleton and Mats Zuccarello tied the game at 3-3. Zuccarello also assisted on Jon Merrill's goal that gave the Wild a 1-0 lead 2:37 into the contest.

Matthews' power-play tally and a goal from Matthew Knies put Toronto up 2-1 after one period, and Rielly scored 4:22 into the third to extend the advantage.

Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 21 saves for the Wild.

Poehling's three points help Flyers win fifth straight

The Philadelphia Flyers are on a strong run of their own after Sunday's 5-2 victory over the reeling Columbus Blue Jackets extended their winning streak to five games.

Ryan Poehling had a goal and two assists to lead improving Philadelphia, which moved to 10-7-1 on the season. The Flyers have missed the playoffs in each of the previous three seasons. 

Joel Farabee and Cam York added a goal and an assist to help back 20 saves from Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson.

Columbus has now lost nine consecutive games (0-7-2), including four straight in regulation. 

Farabee opened the scoring 5:11 in, though Columbus' Alexandre Texier tied the contest later in the first period before Bobby Brink's power-play goal just 1:11 into the second put the Flyers back in front.

Poehling scored short-handed later in the second period to give Philadelphia a 3-1 lead, though the Blue Jackets got back to within one when Boone Jenner re-directed a shot past Ericsson with 2:03 left in the stanza.

The Flyers took a 4-2 advantage on Travis Konecny's goal with 7:20 remaining before York scored into an empty net with under 2 1/2 minutes left.

Spencer Martin stopped 21 of 25 shots for the Blue Jackets.

Nedeljkovic stars as Penguins shut out Golden Knights

Alex Nedeljkovic made 38 saves in an outstanding return from a lower-body injury as the Pittsburgh Penguins shut out the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights by a 3-0 score.

Nedeljkovic registered his eighth career shutout in his first start since Oct. 24. Ryan Graves, Noel Acciari and Evgeni Malkin had goals to help the Penguins stop a two-game losing streak, with Jake Guentzel assisting on Malkin's score to extend his point streak to eight games.

Graves and Acciari, each of whom signed with Pittsburgh in the offseason, recorded their first goals with their new team. Graves' came just 2:13 into the contest, while Acciari scored off a Vegas turnover 11:39 into the second.

Malkin delivered his ninth goal of the season with an empty-net tally with 1:18 left.

Adin Hill stopped 30 of 32 shots for Vegas, which fell to 1-2-1 on its current five-game road trip.

John Tavares set up two goals and scored one of his own with 5:33 remaining to complete the Toronto Maple Leafs’ comeback in a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday at the NHL’s Global Series in Sweden.

Toronto entered the third period down 2-0 but Tyler Bertuzzi scored at 3:50 and William Nylander netted the equalizer with 6:57 left before Tavares’ seventh goal of the season 1:24 later gave the Maple Leafs their first lead of the game.

Nylander also had a goal and two assists to extend his franchise-record season-opening point streak to 16 games.

Ilya Samsonov made 27 saves as Toronto won its third straight and fourth in five games.

Daniel Sprong scored on a penalty shot and Lucas Raymond had the other goal for Detroit, which dropped to 1-2-2 in its last five.

The game was the second of four over five days at Avicii Arena in Stockholm. Ottawa beat Detroit on Thursday, and Minnesota will play the Senators on Saturday and the Maple Leafs on Sunday in the first four-team series outside North America.

Perfetti scores again as Jets win

Cole Perfetti scored in a fifth straight game and the Winnipeg Jets held off the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2.

Mason Appleton and Nikolaj Ehlers had the other goals and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots as Winnipeg notched its fifth win in six games.

Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka scored for the Sabres, who have lost three in a row.

Eric Comrie made 15 saves in his first action since suffering a lower-body injury on Oct. 27.

Stolarz the difference in Panthers’ win

Anthony Stolarz stopped 33 shots to make two first-period goals hold up as the Florida Panthers held on for a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks.

Stolarz allowed only Frank Vatrano’s power-play goal in the second period before turning away all 16 Anaheim shots in the third period.

Jakob Silfverberg thought he scored the tying goal midway through the third period, but there was no conclusive evidence to show that the puck crossed the goal line.

Anton Lundell set up goals by Eetu Luostarinen and Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the first period as Florida rebounded from Thursday’s loss to Los Angeles and won for the sixth time in seven games.