National Hockey

MONTREAL (AP) — Jonathan Drouin was the only scorer in the shootout, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Thursday night in a mostly empty Bell Centre because of the rise of COVID-19 cases.

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers have finally broken out of their serious slump. Jesse Puljujarvi had two goals and an assist as the Oilers defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Thursday to snap a six-game skid, the last five of which came at home.

MONTREAL — No cheers rained down from the stands on Jonathan Drouin when he scored the shootout winner on home ice Thursday night.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Tage Thompson scored the only goal in a shootout, lifting the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Filip Forsberg had two goals and an assist and the Nashville Predators beat the streaking Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Thursday night in a game between rosters wrecked by COVID-19 outbreaks.

NEW YORK (AP) — Cal Clutterbuck scored twice and Semyon Varlamov stopped 40 shots for his first win of the season as the New York Islanders beat the depleted Boston Bruins 3-1 on Thursday night.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nicolas Roy scored the last of Vegas' four straight goals, Robin Lehner made 23 saves and the Golden Knights beat the New Jersey Devils 5-3 Thursday night for their third straight win.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy set an NHL record for wins in a calendar year, Steven Stamkos picked up his 900th career point and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 on Thursday night.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Nino Niederreiter’s second goal of the game 18 seconds into the third period was the tiebreaker, and the short-handed Carolina Hurricanes beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 Thursday night.

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown scored second-period goals and Jonathan Quick had 41 saves to help the Los Angeles Kings defeat the short-handed Florida Panthers 4-1 on Thursday night.