PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby scored, and the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Ottawa Senators 6-4 on Thursday night.
Jake Guentzel’s team-best 21st goal of the season was a much-needed empty-netter, as Pittsburgh nearly blew a four-goal lead in the third period.
Mike Matheson scored twice, Dominik Simon also had a goal and Tristan Jarry stopped 39 shots for the Penguins, who have won three straight and 14 of 16. Pittsburgh has won 10 in a row at home against Ottawa and has points in 13 consecutive home games versus the Senators dating to Feb. 13, 2013.
Drake Batherson had Ottawa’s lone goal in the first two periods, and the Senators trailed 5-1 entering the third. But they scored the next three goals, trimming the deficit to one.
Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves for Ottawa. Anton Forsberg stopped six shots in the first period before getting pulled.
BRUINS 4, CAPITALS 3
BOSTON (AP) — Charlie McAvoy scored a power-play goal with 45 seconds left in the third period, lifting Boston over Washington.
David Pastrnak had two goals and Jake DeBrusk also scored for the Bruins, who cashed in on a late opportunity when Washington’s Nic Dowd was called for tripping with just 2:34 left in the third. DeBrusk set up McAvoy for a wrist shot from the slot that gave the Bruins the lead for good after Washington rallied from deficits of 2-1 and 3-2.
Erik Haula had two assists for Boston, and Linus Ullmark stopped 14 shots.
Evgeny Kuznetsov, Lars Eller and Nicklas Backstrom scored for Washington. Alex Ovechkin assisted on Kuznetsov’s goal, extending his point streak to six straight games. Vitek Vanecek stopped 29 shots for the Capitals.
BLUE JACKETS 2, FLYERS 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia dropped its 10th straight game for the second time this season, the first team to accomplish that ignominious feat in more than a decade.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Patrik Laine both scored and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 33 shots for Columbus.
The Flyers also lost 10 straight games from Nov. 18 to Dec. 18; the first skid cost coach Alain Vigneault his job after the first eight games. Interim coach Mike Yeo lost the final two games and, of course, all 10 in this streak.
The last team to lose 10 straight twice in one season was Colorado in 2010-11.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, CANADIENS 3, OT
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Shea Theodore scored in overtime and Vegas beat Montreal.
The Golden Knights salvaged the final game of an extended homestand after two road games were postponed due to COVID-19, closing out the stretch 3-3-2 before opening a rugged road trip Monday at Washington.
The Golden Knights outshot the Canadiens 53-27, with Montreal’s Sam Montembeault making 49 saves. Chandler Stephenson, William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for the Golden Knights. Robin Lehner stopped 24 shots.
Michael Pezzetta, Tyler Toffoli and Mike Hoffman scored for the Canadiens.
AVALANCHE 4, KINGS 1
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kiefer Sherwood scored his first goal in nearly three years, Mikko Rantanen had a power-play goal and Colorado stayed hot with a win over Los Angeles.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Devon Toews also scored for the Avalanche, who have won five straight and are 10-0-1 in their past 11. Darcy Kuemper made 40 saves as Colorado won the second game of a back-to-back after defeating Anaheim 2-0 on Wednesday.
Anze Kopitar had a power-play goal and Jonathan Quick made 23 saves for the Kings, who have lost three straight.
Los Angeles will play 10 of its next 11 on the road, returning home Feb. 15 against Edmonton in a game that was postponed from December because of concerns about cross-border travel.
KRAKEN 3, SHARKS 2
SEATTLE (AP) — Carson Soucy had the first two-goal game of his career, Calle Jarnkrok scored in the third period and Seattle beat San Jose.
Seattle won consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 27 and 29, when the Kraken won at Florida and Buffalo. Seattle snapped a nine-game losing streak with a shootout victory over Chicago on Monday.
Soucy scored at 4:18 of the second period and again at 8:25 after Seattle fell behind on the opening shift of the game when Tomas Hertl scored his 21st of the season just 38 seconds after puck drop.
Timo Meier, who scored a franchise-record five goals in San Jose’s previous game, continued to find the net with a power-play goal midway through the third that made it 3-2.
STARS 5, SABRES 4
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Tyler Seguin and Jason Robertson each scored twice, including consecutive goals late in the third period, to lift Dallas over Buffalo.
Seguin tied it with 7:37 left on a power play, then set up Robertson’s go-ahead goal with 3:32 remaining, also on a power play.
Roope Hintz added a goal and an assist, John Klingberg had three assists and Braden Holtby made 20 saves as the Stars opened a four-game trip by ending a streak of seven losses on the road. Dallas also snapped a three-game skid overall.
Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and an assist for the Sabres, who have lost nine in a row at home. Jack Quinn tallied his first NHL points with a goal and an assist, Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens also scored, and Henri Jokiharju had two assists. Aaron Dell stopped 42 shots.
PANTHERS 6, OILERS 0
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky made 40 saves for his first shutout of the season and Florida beat ice-cold Edmonton.
Aleksander Barkov had two goals and an assist for the Panthers, who improved to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.
Carter Verhaeghe, Anthony Duclair, Sam Bennett and Owen Tippett also scored for Florida.
Mikko Koskinen stopped 22 shots as the Oilers lost their seventh straight. Edmonton has a 2-11-2 record in its last 15 games, and disgruntled fans threw Oilers jerseys on the ice after Tippett’s late goal made it 6-0.
PREDATORS 5, JETS 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ryan Johansen and Mikael Granlund each scored a goal and assisted on another to lead Nashville over Winnipeg.
Eeli Tolvanen, Luke Kunin and Tanner Jeannot also scored for Nashville, which halted a four-game skid. Roman Josi had two assists and Juuse Saros made 36 saves.
Pierre-Luc Dubois and Mark Scheifele scored for Winnipeg, and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 18 shots. Josh Morrissey added two assists.
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