RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Ethan Bear scored with 5:40 left and Sebastian Aho added an empty-netter to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-0 on Thursday night.
Bear collected a loose puck along the boards near the Avalanche bench and fired a long shot that slipped through Darcy Kuemper. It was the breakthrough moment in a matchup of the league’s top two teams in terms of points percentage, one that came after the Hurricanes and Avalanche had come up empty on a combined 68 shots to that point.
The Hurricanes added the clinching score after the Avalanche pulled Kuemper with about three minutes left, with Aho stealing Gabriel Landeskog’s pass near center ice and skating in for the score with 1:32 left.
Antti Raanta had 36 saves for his second shutout this season for the Hurricanes. They have won eight of 10.
Kuemper made 35 saves for NHL-leading Colorado.
SABRES 3, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 1
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Craig Anderson stopped 30 shots to win his 300th career game and Buffalo beat Vegas, with former Sabres captain Jack Eichel mostly booed in his first visit to his former home.
Victor Olofsson scored the go-ahead goal on the power play with 3:44 remaining.
And charging up Sabres fans even further was Buffalo’s opening goal being scored by Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch sealing the win by scoring into an empty net with 36 seconds remaining. Both players were acquired in the trade that sent Eichel to Vegas on Nov. 4.
PANTHERS 7, FLYERS 4
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sam Reinhart had his sixth career hat trick, Carter Verhaeghe scored twice and Florida beat Philadelphia for its fifth straight victory.
Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad each had four assists for Florida. Anthony Duclair also scored, and Aleksander Barkov had two assists for Florida, which tied a season best by scoring three times on the power play. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 34 shots.
James van Riemsdyk, Cam Atkinson and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers.
COYOTES 5, MAPLE LEAFS 4, OT
TORONTO (AP) — Defenseman Jakob Chychrun scored his second goal of the game at 2:17 of overtime to lift Arizona past Toronto.
Arizona recovered for its fourth straight victory after blowing a 4-1 lead in the third period. Alex Galchenyuk had a goal and an assist, Travis Boyd and Christian Fischer also scored, and Scott Wedgewood made 34 saves.
Chychrun scored the winner off a pass from Matias Maccelli after Toronto star Auston Matthews felt he was interfered with on the backcheck.
Matthews scored his NHL-leading 44th goal. Alexander Kerfoot had a goal and two assists for Toronto, and Pierre Engvall and William Nylander also scored.
FLAMES 4, LIGHTING 1
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Johnny Gaudreau had his sixth career hat trick to extend his points streak to seven games and help Calgary beat Tampa Bay.
Gaudreau has 26 goals.
Mikael Backlund also scored for Calgary, and Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves. The Flames are 15-2-1 in their last 18 games and 13-1-1 in their last 15 home games.
Alex Killorn scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 28. The Lightning have lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season.
BRUINS 4, BLACKHAWKS 3
BOSTON (AP) — David Pastrnak snapped a tie with 17.2 seconds left and Boston beat Chicago for its eighth victory in 10 games.
Pastrnak finished with two goals and an assist. Jack Ahcan scored his first career goal, and Charlie Coyle also scored and Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves.
Brandon Hagel scored twice for Chicago, and Alex DeBrincat extended his streak to five straight games with a goal, giving him 34 for the season.
ISLANDERS 6, BLUE JACKETS 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Anders Lee had his first career hat trick and Ilya Sorokin stopped 25 shots for his sixth shutout of the season in New York’s victory over Columbus.
Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist, Brock Nelson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored and Ryan Pulock and Anthony Beauvillier each had three assists to help New York win for the second time in three games.
Joonas Korpisalo made 27 saves in his first start since Jan. 31st for the Blue Jackets.
WILD 6, RED WINGS 5, SO
DETROIT (AP) — Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Fiala scored in a shootout, lifting Minnesota past Detroit.
Matt Boldy scored twice in regulation, and Zuccarello, Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek also had goals to help Minnesota sweep the season series. Cam Talbot made 29 saves and stopped Jakub Vrana and Dylan Larkin in the shootout.
Vrana and Lucas Raymond each scored twice in regulation, and Jordan Oesterle had a goal with 2:51 left that tied it at 5 for Detroit.
BLUES 6, RANGERS 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Robert Thomas scored twice and St. Louis beat New York to snap a four-game losing streak.
David Perron, Jake Walman, Ivan Barbashev and Ryan O’Reilly also scored for the Blues and Ville Husso made 27 saves.
Ryan Strome and K’Andre Miller scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin gave up four goals on 17 shots before replaced by Alexander Georgiev.
JETS 2, DEVILS 1
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Kyle Connor scored his team-leading 35th goal late in the second period to snap a tie and lead Winnipeg past New Jersey.
Eric Comrie made 33 saves while beating the team for which he made one start last season. Defenseman Brenden Dillion also scored for the Jets.
Jack Hughes scored for the Devils.
SENATORS 4, KRAKEN 3, OT
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Josh Norris scored twice in his 100th career game, including a power-play goal 2:34 into overtime, and Ottawa beat Seattle.
It was the first meeting between the Senators and the expansion Kraken.
Brady Tkachuk and Parker Kelly also scored for the Senators, and Anton Forsberg made 30 saves. Jared McCann, Ryan Donato and Mason Appleton scored for the Kraken.
PREDATORS 4, DUCKS 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Matt Duchene had two goals and an assist, Juuse Saros made 27 saves and Nashville beat Anaheim for its third straight victory.
Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists, and Colton Sissons also scored for the Predators.
Adam Henrique scored for Anaheim.
SHARKS 4, KINGS 3, OT
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tomas Hertl scored 1:13 into overtime and Zach Sawchenko made 33 saves to get his first career win for San Jose.
Brent Burns and Nick Bonino each scored on the power play, Alexander Barbanov had a goal, and the Sharks ended a three-game skid.
Trevor Moore had a goal and two assists, Andreas Athanasiou and Phillip Danault each had a goal and an assist, and the Kings had a three-game winning streak broken as top defensemen Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson and forward Viktor Arvidsson were not available because of injuries. Jonathan Quick allowed four goals on 30 shots.
The Associated Press