Aleksander Barkov scored a first-period hat trick and also had two assists and Matthew Tkachuk added two goals and two assists as the Florida Panthers cruised to a 7-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday in Sunrise, Fla.

Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist, Eetu Luostarinen scored a goal and Brandon Montour added three assists for Florida, which snapped a three-game losing streak while producing a season-high goal total.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for the Panthers, who improved to 5-1-0 in their past six games against the Canadiens.

Arber Xhekaj had a goal and an assist and Josh Anderson also scored a goal for Montreal, which took its fourth straight loss (0-3-1). Sam Montembeault finished with 34 saves.

Lightning 2, Rangers 1 (SO)

Alex Killorn scored in the shootout’s sixth round as Tampa Bay won its sixth straight home game by rallying to beat New York.

After the Lightning’s Brayden Point — who tied the game at 1-1 with a third-period goal — and the Rangers’ Artemi Panarin scored in the first three rounds, Killorn entered with speed and beat Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin with a shot past the backstop’s blocker.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (45 saves) then denied Adam Fox on the final shootout attempt as the Lightning improved to 14-4-1 on home ice. Mika Zibanejad scored in regulation for New York, and Shesterkin finished with 39 saves.

Kings 5, Avalanche 4 (SO)

Viktor Arvidsson and Adrian Kempe scored shootout goals, Pheonix Copley made 23 saves through regulation and overtime and two more in the shootout, and Los Angeles beat Colorado in Denver.

Arvidsson added two assists, Alex Iafallo had a goal and an assist, and Gabriel Vilardi, Phillip Danault and Sean Walker had goals for Los Angeles. Cale Makar had a goal and two assists, Evan Rodrigues had a goal and an assist, J.T. Compher and Andrew Cogliano also scored, and Alexandar Georgiev turned away 23 shots for the Avalanche.

With the Kings down 4-2 entering the third, Iafallo cut the deficit to 4-3 with a power-play goal at 1:11, and Walker tied it at 14:20.

Senators 4, Capitals 3 (OT)

Alex DeBrincat scored twice, including the game-winner in overtime, and Ottawa won at Washington.

Jake Sanderson and Tim Stutzle also scored for the Senators, who improved to 6-2-1 in their past nine games. Claude Giroux had two assists, including one in OT, and Cam Talbot made 20 saves for the win.

Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for the Capitals, who had a five-game winning streak end. Nick Jensen logged two assists, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 41 shots.

Coyotes 6, Maple Leafs 3

Jack McBain scored two goals, including the game-winner with 6:17 remaining, and Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves as Arizona scored four unanswered goals in the third period to defeat Toronto in Tempe, Ariz.

Barrett Hayton had a goal and two assists, Nick Bjugstad had a goal and an assist and Jakob Chychrun and J.J. Moser also scored goals for the Coyotes, who won their third straight game while improving to 6-1-1 in their past eight home games.

Calle Jarnkrok, Pontus Holmberg and Alexander Kerfoot scored goals for the Maple Leafs, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Conor Timmins added two assists and Matt Murray made 17 saves for Toronto.

Jets 4, Canucks 2

Mark Scheifele’s seventh career hat trick lifted Winnipeg to a win over visiting Vancouver.

Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored, Josh Morrissey and Kyle Connor each had two assists and Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves for the Jets, who ended a season-worst, three-game losing streak.

Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist while Conor Garland also scored and Collin Delia made 35 saves for the Canucks, whose three-game winning streak was snapped.

Stars 4, Wild 1

Tyler Seguin scored two goals and Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist as Dallas topped Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minn.

With the score tied 1-1 after the second intermission, Dallas jumped ahead on Johnston’s tip-in score at 3:29 of the third period. Jamie Benn extended the Stars’ lead with a power-play marker 10 minutes later, and Seguin iced the game with a late empty-net score.

Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for Dallas. The Wild lost for just the second time in nine games (7-2-0) and saw their seven-game home winning streak end. Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov scored, and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 39 shots.

Flyers 4, Sharks 3 (OT)

Travis Konecny scored twice and Tony DeAngelo tallied the overtime winner to cap a three-point game as Philadelphia Flyers won at San Jose.

Goaltender Samuel Ersson, making just his second career start, made 25 saves for his first NHL victory. Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett collected one goal and one assist.

For the Sharks, Tomas Hertl scored twice in a three-point outing, Kevin Labanc collected one goal and one assist and Erik Karlsson extended his point streak to 11 games with a pair of assists. Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 22 shots.

Islanders 2, Blue Jackets 1

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Mathew Barzal scored for New York, which continued surging with a win over Columbus in Elmont, N.Y.

Ilya Sorokin made 20 saves and carried a shutout into the final minute for the Islanders, who capped a perfect three-game homestand in which they outscored the opposition 12-3.

Emil Bemstrom scored with 21.1 seconds left for the Blue Jackets, who have lost seven straight, all in regulation. Joonas Korpisalo recorded 34 saves.

Sabres 6, Red Wings 3

Kyle Okposo recorded his third career hat trick, Casey Mittelstadt scored twice and Buffalo extended its season-high winning streak to five games with a win over visiting Detroit.

Jeff Skinner scored for the fifth time in four games, while JJ Peterka, Owen Power and Zemgus Girgensons each had two assists for the Sabres, who were playing for the first time since Dec. 19 after the recent excessive snowfall in western New York postponed two games. Buffalo is 7-1-1 in its past nine games.

The Red Wings scored three straight goals in the first 7:11 of the third period after trailing 5-0 entering the frame. Dominik Kubalik had two of the goals, but Detroit couldn’t complete the comeback.

Blues 3, Blackhawks 1

Jordan Binnington made 21 saves as St. Louis defeated visiting Chicago.

Binnington improved to 6-0-1 in seven career games against the Blackhawks. Josh Leivo, Calle Rosen and Brandon Saad scored for the Blues, who have earned points in eight of their past nine games (5-1-3).

Patrick Kane scored and Alex Stalock made 26 saves for reeling Chicago, which is 2-17-1 in its past 20 games.

–Field Level Media

The Carolina Hurricanes are on a stellar run, and the Florida Panthers are coming off one of their best performances of the season.

Now, an intriguing matchup is on tap when the teams meet Friday night in Raleigh, N.C.

The Hurricanes will be aiming for a franchise-record 10th consecutive victory. They tied the mark by claiming their ninth straight game on Tuesday, 3-0 over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.

“We always stay with the same game plan,” Hurricanes forward Martin Necas said. “All the guys are playing great.”

While Carolina has enjoyed two days off, the Panthers arrive after earning a 7-2 home victory against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. That was Florida’s first game following a five-day holiday layoff.

“I thought it was important for us after Christmas to come back and start stringing together some wins,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said.

Aleksander Barkov’s hat trick in the first period set the tone for the Panthers, who compiled a season-high goal total. Barkov was back from a three-game absence caused by a knee injury, and he finished with five points.

“He changes every part of your game,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said.

Florida lost the three games that Barkov missed, scoring a total of six goals in those games.

“He’s our best player, one of the best in the NHL and so very lucky to be able to play with him and have him on my team,” Tkachuk said.

The Panthers are 3-4-0 in road games in December going into their final game of the month.

The visit to Raleigh is bound to be far from ordinary for Maurice, who has had two stints as coach of the Hurricanes. He is in his first season with the Panthers.

The Panthers-Hurricanes game also offers family flavor with the Staal brothers — Florida defenseman Marc Staal and Carolina center/captain Jordan Staal — going head to head.

The Hurricanes are also on a franchise-record, 15-game points streak. The latest wave of success also includes a seven-game home winning streak, tied for the fourth-longest such stretch in team history.

Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour has tried to deflect emphasizing the winning streak but acknowledged that it ultimately could be important.

“It doesn’t really matter much right now,” Brind’Amour said. “It will probably mean more at the end of the year when we look back and hopefully that was a good stretch and got us hopefully where we want to be.”

There are questions about goaltending for the Hurricanes given that Antti Raanta has played in the past three games while rookie sensation Pyotr Kochetkov has been dealing with a minor ailment that has left him as the backup.

Raanta posted his first shutout since March on Tuesday. Carolina has four shutouts this season, tied with the New York Islanders for the NHL lead.

The Hurricanes’ line centered by Jordan Staal continues to be productive. Wingers Jesper Fast and Jordan Martinook have benefitted.

“It feels like they are making up for all of the times that they were all over the place,” Brind’Amour said. “All of a sudden, it is evening out a little bit. They are doing it right.”

The Staal line has combined for 19 points (eight goals and 11 assists) across the past five games. The group’s total for 12 December games sits at 14 goals and 15 assists.

–Field Level Media

Travis Konecny scored twice and Tony DeAngelo tallied the overtime winner to cap a three-point game as the visiting Philadelphia Flyers claimed a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

Goaltender Samuel Ersson, making just his second career start, made 25 saves for his first NHL victory. Owen Tippett collected one goal and one assist.

For the Sharks, Tomas Hertl scored twice in a three-point outing, Kevin Labanc collected one goal and one assist, and Erik Karlsson extended his point streak to 11 games with a pair of assists. Goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 22 shots.

Karlsson’s helpers gave him 50 points in 37 games. Only Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey and Al MacInnis needed fewer games to reach 50 points to start a season. Karlsson has collected two goals and 16 assists in his 11-game run.

However, it was Philadelphia’s dynamic defenseman who was the hero 70 seconds into overtime when DeAngelo finished a give-and-go with Ivan Provorov during a three-on-one rush for his seventh goal of the season.

The Flyers trailed 3-1 early in the third period, but Tippett pulled them within one at 5:57 of the frame when he buried a golden chance from the slot.

Then Konecny notched his second of the night, and 17th of the season, to force overtime. Shortly after the Flyers killed a penalty, they had the goalie pulled for an extra attacker and Konecny buried a long shot with 2:05 remaining in regulation.

Konecny has scored 12 goals in the last 16 games and has collected eight points in a four-game point streak.

The Sharks appeared to have the game in hand by early in the third.

Hertl opened the scoring at the 9:38 mark of the first period when he took a feed from Karlsson and quickly snapped a low shot into the net.

Konecny replied 47 seconds later with his 16th goal of the season by deflecting DeAngelo’s point shot.

Hertl’s second goal of the game, and 13th of the season, came when he finished a nifty three-way passing play with Timo Meier and Logan Couture for the power-play maker at 8:29 of the second period.

Meier’s assist gave him 10 points in a six-game point streak.

Labanc ripped home a high shot from the right faceoff dot 52 seconds into the third period to make it a 3-1 game.

–Field Level Media

Viktor Arvidsson and Adrian Kempe scored shootout goals, Pheonix Copley made 23 saves through overtime and two more in the shootout, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 in Denver on Thursday night.

Arvidsson added two assists, Alex Iafallo had a goal and an assist and Gabriel Vilardi, Phillip Danault and Sean Walker had goals for Los Angeles.

Cale Makar had a goal and two assists, Evan Rodrigues had a goal and an assist, J.T. Compher and Andrew Cogliano also scored and Alexandar Georgiev turned away 23 shots for the Avalanche.

The Kings took the lead midway through the first period. Jaret Anderson-Dolan brought the puck deep into the Colorado zone and sent a drop pass to Vilardi, whose one-timer beat Georgiev at 8:56. It was his 16th goal of the season.

Compher got the Avalanche even with a power-play goal early in the second period. Rodrigues sent a pass to Mikko Rantanen at the right side of the crease, and he slid it to Compher on the other side, who tapped it in at 4:36. It was his sixth of the season.

Los Angeles went back in front later in the second. Arvidsson got the puck in the right circle and passed it to Danault as he skated down the left side. Danault beat Georgiev at 13:59 for his 11th goal of the season.

Colorado grabbed momentum with three goals in a span of 2:49 at the end of the second. Cogliano tied it when he beat Copley with a snap shot at 15:58, his fifth goal of the season.

Just 45 seconds later, Makar skated into the Kings end and beat Copley to the far side for his ninth goal of the season to make it 3-2.

The Avalanche added another at 18:47 when Rodrigues tapped in a touch pass from Rantanen for his ninth of the season, but Los Angeles rallied in the third.

Iafallo cut the deficit to 4-3 with a power-play goal at 1:11, his sixth goal of the season, and Walker tied it at 14:20 with his second of the season.

–Field Level Media

Alex DeBrincat scored twice, including the game-winner in overtime, and the Ottawa Senators defeated the host Washington Capitals 4-3 on Thursday.

Jake Sanderson and Tim Stutzle also scored for Ottawa.

Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for Washington, which had a five-game win streak come to an end.

DeBrincat scored the game-winning goal at 1:31 of overtime on a two-on-none with Claude Giroux, his 13th tally of the season.

Earlier, DeBrincat had tied the game at 3-3 at 14:26 of the third period. The primary assist came from Shane Pinto.

Before that the teams combined for five goals in the second period.

Ovechkin gave Washington a 1-0 lead 1:15 into the period, getting loose for a breakaway during a Senators line change to score his 23rd goal of the season. It was also the 803rd career goal for Ovechkin.

Strome made it 2-0, firing home a one-timer at 3:37 after a feed from Conor Sheary on the rush.

Sanderson responded for Ottawa and made it 2-1 at 8:30 of the period, sneaking a shot from the point through traffic and past goaltender Darcy Kuemper for his second goal of the season.

Kuznetsov made it 3-1 at 15:56 on a two-on-one rush with Ovechkin, but elected to keep the puck himself and shoot for his sixth goal of the season.

Stutzle ended the goal rush with 16 seconds left in the period, finishing off a pass from Giroux, who had made a diving play to force a Washington turnover. It was Stutzle’s 12th goal of the campaign.

Cam Talbot stopped 20 of 23 shots in the victory. Kuemper made 41 saves in the loss.

Kuemper was busy on a night where Washington struggled to control the puck. According to the NHL stat sheet, the Capitals committed 15 giveaways compared to zero by Ottawa.

–Field Level Media