Steven Stamkos scored the only goal in a shootout, Andrei Vasilevskiy had 43 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 in a Stanley Cup Final rematch in Denver on Tuesday night.
Anthony Cirelli, Nikita Kucherov and Vladislav Namestnikov scored goals for the Lightning. Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, Artturi Lehkonen and Denis Malgin also had goals and Alexandar Georgiev turned away 32 shots for Colorado.
Stamkos beat Georgiev on the first chance in the shootout and Vasilevskiy made saves on MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen to help Tampa Bay sweep the season series with the Avalanche. The Lightning won their other matchup 5-0 at home last Thursday.
Colorado nearly won it late in regulation, but Vasilevskiy made a save on J.T. Compher in the final two minutes. Georgiev had to make a save on Kucherov in the final minute to send it to overtime.
Bruins 3, Stars 2 (OT)
David Pastrnak’s one-time goal with 1:16 remaining in overtime lifted Boston past host Dallas in a night matchup of NHL conference leaders.
After Pavel Zacha broke the puck into the offensive zone, Charlie McAvoy sent a cross-ice pass to the left circle where Pastrnak buried his 39th goal of the season. Zacha and Pastrnak each had a goal and an assist, and Taylor Hall also scored for Boston.
Jason Robertson scored his team-leading 34th goal of the season and added an assist on Roope Hintz’s goal for Dallas, which is 4-1-4 in its past nine games. Joe Pavelski assisted on both Stars tallies. Jake Oettinger stopped 34 shots in the Dallas net.
Penguins 3, Sharks 1
Jake Guentzel scored twice, Rickard Rakell had a goal and two assists and Pittsburgh beat host San Jose.
Denied on a breakaway with just over two minutes left and the Penguins ahead 2-1, Guentzel put the game away by tallying for the second time after taking a stretch pass from Sidney Crosby and hitting an empty net with 38 seconds remaining. Like Rakell, Crosby had a hand in every marker, dishing out three assists.
Sharks leading goal scorer Timo Meier scored an unassisted goal late to spoil the shutout bid. With the netminding tandem of Kaapo Kahkonen and James Reimer injured, Aaron Dell appeared in his fourth game this season and stopped 25 shots for San Jose.
Hurricanes 3, Capitals 2
Carolina’s Stefan Noesen converted the Hurricanes’ only power-play chance to provide the game winner in Washington.
Brent Burns and Paul Stastny had the first two goals for the Hurricanes. Goalie Frederik Andersen made 34 saves, including stopping all 13 shots he faced in the third period. T.J. Oshie and Joe Snively scored for the Capitals, who are 1-2 since the All-Star break. Goalie Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves.
Capitals star Alex Ovechkin didn’t play as the team announced earlier in the day that he would miss time because of a family matter. The teams meet again in an outdoor game at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., on Saturday.
Devils 3, Blue Jackets 2
Ryan Graves scored with two seconds remaining in the third period as New Jersey ended a seven-game road losing streak to Columbus.
The Devils ended their lengthy skid in Columbus on their final shift and improved to 13-2-3 in their past 18 contests thanks to Graves’ first career game-winning goal.
Yegor Sharangovich and Jesper Bratt also scored for the Devils, who lost a pair of one-goal leads and withstood getting 22 shots blocked and missing the net 20 times. Johnny Gaudreau scored a power-play goal and Adam Boqvist scored for the Blue Jackets, who haven’t posted consecutive wins since Dec. 9-11.
Canadiens 4, Blackhawks 0
Jake Allen made 22 saves for the shutout and Jonathan Drouin had three assists in Montreal’s shutout victory over visiting Chicago.
The Canadiens have won their last three games, matching their longest winning streak of the season. Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak had a goal and an assist, while defensemen Justin Barron and David Savard scored the Habs’ other goals.
The Blackhawks have lost their last two games and were held scoreless for the seventh time this season.
Senators 3, Islanders 2 (SO)
Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson scored in a shootout and goalie Kevin Mandolese, making his NHL debut, recorded 46 saves before turning back a pair of shootout attempts for Ottawa, which beat New York in Elmont, N.Y.
Mandolese and Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin each stopped the first attempts they faced in the shootout before Stutzle beat Sorokin stick side. Mandolese turned back Kyle Palmieri, after which Batherson clinched the win by firing a shot past Sorokin.
Stutzle scored in the second period and Brady Tkachuk scored in the third for the Senators, who have won six of seven (6-1-0). Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders, who have lost three straight (0-1-2).
Jets 3, Kraken 2 (SO)
Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the tying goal midway through the third period and the clinching goal in a shootout as host Winnipeg defeated Seattle.
Mark Scheifele also converted in the shootout, which the Jets won 2-0. Blake Wheeler tallied in regulation for the Jets, who won their third in a row. Goaltender David Rittich, starting for the ailing Connor Hellebuyck, stopped 27 of 29 shots.
Jared McCann scored his team-leading 25th goal for the Kraken and John Hayden tallied his second of the season on his 28th birthday. Philipp Grubauer stopped 38 of 40 shots, but it wasn’t enough as Seattle ended its five-game, post-All-Star break road trip 1-3-1.
Blues 6, Panthers 2
Brayden Schenn scored twice as host St. Louis defeated Florida, winning its second straight after losing five in a row.
Ivan Barbashev had a goal and two assists and Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist for the Blues, while Nick Leddy and Ryan O’Reilly also added goals for St. Louis. Jordan Binnington made 34 saves. But the Blues lost defenseman Torey Krug (lower body) and forward Brandon Saad (upper body) to injuries in the second period.
Eetu Luostarinen and Carter Verhaeghe scored for the Panthers, with Verhaeghe adding an assist. Matthew Tkachuk had two assists and Spencer Knight made 22 saves.
–Field Level Media
