Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault scored two goals each for the Los Angeles Kings in a 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night in Denver.

Anze Kopitar had three assists, Gabriel Vilardi scored and Joonas Korpisalo made 28 saves for the Kings, who won their season-high fifth game in a row.

Evan Rodrigues and Nathan MacKinnon scored and Alexandar Georgiev stopped 26 shots for the Avalanche, who have lost four of their past five games (1-3-1).

The Kings scored on their first shot to take a 1-0 lead at 8:37 of the first period.

Los Angeles defenseman Matt Roy chipped the puck up the wall in his own zone to Kopitar, springing him loose on a two-on-one with Kempe, who scored with a one-timer off Kopitar’s feed.

Vilardi extended the lead to 2-0 at 17:10 of the first period.

Kopitar dug the puck out of the corner and made a short pass to Vilardi at the bottom of the left circle. Vilardi stopped the puck, rotated his feet and scored nearside from a sharp angle.

Rodrigues scored on a deflection to cut the gap to 2-1 at 14:59 of the second period.

Kempe netted his 32nd goal of the season with a backhand from the slot 24 seconds into the third period to make it 3-1.

The Avalanche capitalized on their third power play when MacKinnon scored with a wrist shot to make it 3-2 at 4:24.

The Kings answered 15 seconds later when Danault scored with a deflection in front of the net off a faceoff to make it 4-2.

Danault scored the 100th goal of his NHL career and his 18th of the season with the net empty to make it 5-2 with 2:35 remaining.

Kevin Fiala recorded his 46th assist of the season on Danault’s first goal, but he was limited in the third period after making knee-to-knee contact with Colorado’s Andrew Cogliano in the second period. Fiala leads Los Angeles with 68 points.

–Field Level Media

Robert Thomas scored a goal and added an assist to lead the St. Louis Blues past the visiting San Jose Sharks 4-2 Thursday.

Torey Krug, Sammy Blais and Jakub Vrana also scored for the Blues, who won for just the second time in their last 10 games.

Pavel Buchnevich had two assists for St. Louis and Jordan Binnington made 32 saves to earn his first victory since Feb. 16.

Erik Karlsson and Tomas Hertl scored for the Sharks, who are 2-9-1 in their last 12 games. Alex Barabanov had two assists and Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves.

The Sharks outshot the Blues 15-9 in the first period and took a 1-0 lead at the 10:23 mark.

Barabanov faked a shot from the left circle, then slid a pass to Karlsson at the right circle — and Karlsson scored before Binnington could slide over.

That was Karlsson’s 20th goal and 83rd point of the season, setting a new career-high point total.

Krug tied the game 1-1 by converting a three-on-two break with 7:29 left in the period. Thomas rushed the puck up the right wing, Alexey Toropchenko drove the net from the left wing and Krug stepped in as the trailer to score.

The Blues took a 2-1 lead midway in the second period. Colton Parayko dove in the neutral zone to tip the rolling puck ahead to Blais, who broke to beat Kahkonen.

The Sharks tied the game 2-2 with 5:29 left in the period. Barabanov stickhandled through the middle of the Blues zone and set up Hertl’s blast from the slot.

Vrana scored 2:53 into the third period to put the Blues up 3-2. After Buchnevich tried to jam the puck in at the right post, Vrana pushed the puck behind Kahkonen and off Karlsson.

Thomas scored a power-play goal to expand the Blues lead to 4-2 with 4:58 left. Brandon Saad made the centering pass from behind the net and Thomas ripped a one-time shot from the right faceoff dot.

–Field Level Media

Alec Martinez chipped in the game-winning marker with a head-first dive in overtime as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the host Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Thursday night.

After the Lightning tied it with two goals in the closing 2:07, Vegas center Jack Eichel sent a shot from the slot that was partially stopped by goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (17 saves).

As it trickled near the goal line, Martinez dove in and got a piece of the puck for his second goal as the Knights won for the fourth time in five games.

Keegan Kolesar, William Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson also scored as Vegas swept the season series from Tampa Bay and moved to 19-8-2 against the Eastern Conference.

With Adin Hill listed as day to day, Jonathan Quick stopped 34 shots in his second start and second win for the club.

Brayden Point’s two goals tied his career-high 41 set in the 2018-19 season. He also had an assist.

On Point’s 40th tally, Nikita Kucherov – who also had a goal — dished the primary assist to stretch his club-record home point streak to 23 games.

Kucherov added another helper on Point’s last-minute, tying goal. Mikhail Sergachev had two assists.

The Lightning played their second game without star defenseman Victor Hedman (undisclosed).

The visitors’ fourth line caught the Lightning in a two-on-one rush led by Teddy Blueger just 27 seconds into the match. He found Kolesar on the back post, leading to an easy tap-in for the right winger’s seventh goal.

But Point evened the game at 1-1 as the Lightning outshot Vegas 10-4 in the frame.

At 2:27 of the third while being fouled by Sergachev on a breakaway, Karlsson got enough of the puck to push it in for his 12th goal.

His short-handed tally was the eighth by Vegas and 11th allowed by the Lightning, which tied Tampa Bay with Vancouver and Detroit for the most in the league.

Just over three minutes later, Shea Theodore blistered a one-timer that knuckled its way, hit Stephenson and went in for the third-line center’s 13th tally for a 3-1 lead.

With Vasilevskiy off for the extra skater, Kucherov rocketed his 26th goal at 17:53. Point tied it on a six-on-four power play with 28 seconds left.

–Field Level Media

Pyotr Kochetkov returned from the minor leagues and made 19 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 on Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C.

Andrei Svechnikov scored slightly more than two minutes into the game and the tally held up for the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes.

Kochetkov was in the Carolina net for the first time since Jan. 15 after he was summoned from the American Hockey League following an injury to Antti Raanta earlier this week.

Carolina has a four-game winning streak and has won nine of its last 11 (9-2-0).

The Hurricanes have secured shutouts in three of their last four home games. The Flyers didn’t have a power play until less than nine minutes to play in the game.

Kochetkov stopped Joel Farabee’s breakaway in the second period after a Carolina defenseman fell to the ice in the neutral zone.

Philadelphia goalie Felix Sandstrom, who had appeared in just two Flyers games since Christmas, made 28 saves. His record dipped to 1-9-1 this season and 1-13-2 for his two-year career.

The Flyers dropped to 1-5-1 in their last seven games.

Right winger Tyson Foerster, a 2020 first-round draft pick, made his NHL debut for the Flyers. Teammate Elliot Desnoyers was in his third game of the season.

Svechnikov opened the scoring on a power play 2:09 into the game. He waited in the slot and converted off Martin Necas’ pass for his 23rd goal of the season.

The Hurricanes had three power plays in the first period, but just six total shots on goal. Only one of those shots came in an even-strength situation.

Carolina couldn’t solve Sandstrom in the second period despite 15 shots. Another chance was thwarted when Svechnikov’s rebound attempt into what looked like an open net was diverted by Foerster’s block.

The Flyers were without defenseman Tony DeAngelo, who played last season for Carolina, because of a two-game suspension handed out by the NHL following Tuesday night’s spearing incident at Tampa Bay.

–Field Level Media

Timo Meier scored the lone goal in the shootout to lift the visiting New Jersey Devils past the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Thursday night.

Meier, performing in the shootout for just the fifth time in his career, capped the fourth round by tucking a shot under the right blocker of Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper. The shootout tally was the second for Meier and his first since the 2019-20 season, when he was with the San Jose Sharks.

Erik Haula and Dawson Mercer scored in the second period for the Devils, who remained four points behind the first-place Carolina Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division by virtue of the Hurricanes’ 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Goalie Akira Schmid made 20 saves in regulation and overtime before denying the Caps in the shootout.

Trevor van Riemsdyk scored in the first and Dylan Strome tallied in the second for the Capitals, who lost for the ninth time in 12 games (3-8-1) but remained five points behind the second wild card, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

van Riemsdyk scored with 10 seconds left in the first period, when his shot glanced off Devils defenseman John Marino and trickled under Schmid’s legs.

The teams combined for three goals in a span of just under three minutes during the first half of the second period.

Capitals forward Tom Wilson was whistled for holding at 5:35 to set up the power play that yielded Haula’s game-tying goal 80 seconds later. Haula and Mercer traded the puck twice from opposite ends of the left faceoff circle before Haula sent an angled shot that glanced off Washington defenseman Alexander Alexeyev and past Kuemper.

Mercer put the Devils ahead just 37 seconds later. Kuemper turned back a shot by Tomas Tatar but Mercer put back the rebound into the open right corner of the net.

The Capitals tied the score with 10:10 left. T.J. Oshie beat Dougie Hamilton to Washington forward Sonny Milano’s chip deep into the Devils zone. Oshie then whirled and fired a shot that glanced off New Jersey forward Miles Wood. The puck bounced into the crease, where Strome beat Schmid from point-blank range.

–Field Level Media

Mika Zibanejad scored in the second round of the shootout and the visiting New York Rangers recorded a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

Zibanejad scored the only goal of the shootout when he made a wide move and then cut to his left. After getting Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault to commit to the right side, Zibanejad slid a backhander into the slightly vacated left side of the net.

Igor Shesterkin made Zibanejad’s clutch goal hold up by making a save on Alex Belzile in the third round of the shootout.

Zibanejad’s clutch goal helped the Rangers avoid a third straight loss and improve to 3-5-1 in their past nine contests.

Patrick Kane recorded his first two points since being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks last week. He scored the tying goal on a power play late in the second period and recorded the secondary assist on Jacob Trouba’s tying tally early in the second.

Alexis Lafreniere scored a power-play goal for the Rangers while Shesterkin made 23 saves, including a stop on Josh Anderson’s breakaway with about 9 1/2 minutes left in regulation.

Rookie Kaiden Guhle scored Montreal’s first goal on the opening shift before Belzile tallied late in the first. Anderson netted a short-handed goal midway through the second as the Canadiens fell to 0-3-2 in their past five with each game being decided by one goal.

Montembeault stopped 30 shots.

Following a giveaway by New York defenseman Adam Fox, Guhle cut to the net and lifted the puck over Shesterkin’s right shoulder 35 seconds in.
New York tied it when Lafreniere tipped in a blast by Fox for his ninth goal in the past 19 games 3:16 into the game.

Montreal took a 2-1 lead with 2:58 left when Belzile finished off an odd-man rush by lifting the puck over Shesterkin from the middle of the left circle.

Trouba tied it 43 seconds into the second on a shot from the right circle that soared over Montembeault’s shoulder after Panarin retrieved a loose puck.

Following a giveaway by Kane along the half boards in the offensive zone, Anderson finished off a breakaway with 6:40 remaining in the third for a 3-2
Montreal lead.

A little over a minute after his giveaway, Kane forged a 3-3 tie when he ripped a wrister from the left circle over Montembeault’s left shoulder.

–Field Level Media

Brock Nelson scored on a breakaway at 2:13 of overtime Thursday as the visiting New York Islanders rallied for a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was a Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference wild-card showdown. The Islanders, in the first wild-card spot, opened a two-point lead on Pittsburgh and swept the teams’ four-game season series.

Anders Lee added two goals, Hudson Fasching also scored and Nelson had two points for the Islanders, who won their third straight game.

New York goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 33 saves.

Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker and Josh Archibald scored and Jeff Petry had two assists for the Penguins, who have lost two of three (1-1-1).

Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry stopped 24 shots.

With New York down by two after the second period, Fasching closed the gap to 3-2 at 14:31 of the third. In the slot, he took a feed from Casey Cizikas along the right-wing boards, fought off coverage by Pittsburgh defenseman Jan Rutta and beat Jarry stick side.

With 1:15 left in regulation, Lee struck again, on a redirection, to tie it 3-3, with Sorokin pulled for an extra skater.

When he was called for interfering with New York’s Pierre Engvall in the first period, Evgeni Malkin had the dubious distinction of becoming Pittsburgh’s all-time leader in penalty minutes with 1,050 — in 1,045 games. He broke the mark previously held by Kevin Stevens (1,048 penalty minutes in 522 games).

The Islanders opened the scoring on the resulting power play. Bo Horvat got his own rebound and fed Lee, who converted on a shot from the low slot at 5:23.

Guentzel tied it 1-1 at 11:07 of the first when he redirected a knuckling point shot by Marcus Pettersson down to the ice and past Sorokin’s stick.

At 18:24 of the first, Zucker picked up his seventh goal in six games to push the Penguins in front 2-1. He converted a feed from Malkin, who was deep. From between the hash marks, Zucker beat Sorokin glove side.

Pittsburgh increased it to 3-1 at 10:49 of the second period. Brian Dumoulin let loose a floating shot from the left point, and it went in off Archibald’s arm in a crowd near the crease.

–Field Level Media

Darnell Nurse scored with 4:49 left in regulation as the Edmonton Oilers came from two goals down to defeat the host Boston Bruins 3-2 on Thursday night.

Nurse’s shot from the left point beat Jeremy Swayman for the game-winning tally, putting an end to Boston’s season-long, 10-game winning streak.

Evan Bouchard and Ryan McLeod also scored for Edmonton, which has won back-to-back games and four of its last five.

Stuart Skinner made 26 saves for the Oilers, including 10 in the final period.

David Pastrnak logged a goal and an assist while Brad Marchand also scored for the Bruins.

The loss was Boston’s first since Feb. 11. The Bruins had also been 35-0-2 when leading after two periods and 33-0-3 when scoring first this season.

Swayman stopped 19 of the 22 shots he faced in Boston’s net.

Boston had a 10-5 shots advantage and a 2-0 lead after the first period, but Edmonton scored once in the second and once more in the third to knot the score in advance of Nurse’s game-winning goal.

Edmonton’s league-leading power play (31.7 percent entering the game) didn’t even see the ice until the third period. The Oilers were 0-for-1 with the man advantage.

After an extended shift in Edmonton’s offensive zone, the hosts broke out and got on the scoreboard with their first shot on goal 3:51 into the game. Marchand corralled the puck off the boards on the left side, where he whipped a shot that leaked through Skinner.

Marchand has scored 20 goals in 12 of his 14 NHL seasons and became just the third Bruin to reach the mark in 10 straight campaigns, joining Patrice Bergeron and Johnny Bucyk.

Boston appeared to double its lead at 13:17 of the opening frame when Krejci buried a one-timer from the left dot, but the power-play goal was called back following an Edmonton challenge for offside.

The Bruins’ lead did reach 2-0 before the first intermission, however, as Pastrnak beat the buzzer with 0.3 seconds left on the clock, pumping home Krejci’s one-time feed in the slot.

Edmonton made it a 2-1 game with 9:16 left in the second. After Boston defenseman Matt Grzelcyk lost an edge at inside own blue line, Bouchard sniped home a shot from the slot to cap a four-on-one rush.

The Oilers tied the score 6:08 into the third, capitalizing on a rare Bergeron turnover as Devin Shore fed McLeod for an open finish in the low slot.

–Field Level Media