Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Daniil Tarasov (40) blocks a shot, and Pittsburgh Penguins' Reilly Smith (19) can't get his stick on the rebound with Erik Gudbranson (44) defending during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
March 28, 2024 - 10:32 PM
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin scored twice to reach the 20-goal milestone for the 15th time and Pittsburgh extended their mastery over Columbus with a 3-2 win on Thursday night.
The Russian became the 31st player in league history to score 20 goals in 15 seasons, doing it with a pair of power-play blasts — one from the right circle, one from the left circle — that erased one-goal deficits.
Drew O’Conner’s 12th goal 35 seconds into the third period put Pittsburgh in front to stay. Sidney Crosby had two assists for the Penguins to boost his career total to 995, 11th on the NHL’s career list. The longtime captain also has nine points in Pittsburgh’s last three games.
Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 17 shots for the Penguins, who improved to 21-3-2 in their last 26 meetings with the Blue Jackets.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Thursday:
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ISLANDERS 3 PANTHERS 2
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period to help lift the New York Islanders past Florida.
Ryan Pulock and Mathew Barzal also scored and Casey Cizikas had two assists for New York, which had lost six of its last seven and dropped in the Eastern Conference wild-card standings.
Aleksander Barkov became the first player in Panthers history to reach 700 points with the franchise with his second-period goal. Vladimir Tarasenko and Aleksander Barkov also scored and Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves for Florida, which has lost eight of nine and missed out on a chance to earn a post-season berth.
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CANADIENS 4 FLYERS 1
MONTREAL (AP) — Montreal captain Nick Suzuki reached 30 goals for the first time in his NHL career and added an assist to help the Canadiens beat Philadelphia.
Cayden Primeau made 29 saves as Montreal won its third straight in its Bell Centre return after a five-game trip. Jesse Ylonen also scored and Joel Armia and Jake Evans added empty-netters.
Juraj Slafkovsky extended his points streak to a career-high nine games with an assist on Suzuki’s goal. Mike Matheson had three assists.
Primeau had shutouts in his previous two home games and held Philadelphia off the scoresheet until Owen Tippett broke through with 1:01 left.
Philadelphia lost its third consecutive game amid the Eastern Conference playoff race.
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SENATORS 2 BLACKHAWKS 0
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Claude Giroux and Parker Kelly scored, and Ottawa beat Chicago for their fourth consecutive victory.
Anton Forsberg made 19 saves in his second shutout of the season and No. 5 for his career.
It was Ottawa’s first win against Chicago since Dec. 20, 2016, snapping an 11-game skid.
Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek made 32 saves. The last-place Blackhawks had won two straight games.
Fans piled near the glass during warm-ups to see Chicago rookie Connor Bedard, but the 18-year-old centre was kept off the scoresheet.
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MAPLE LEAFS 5 CAPITALS 1
TORONTO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice to give him six goals in seven games, Joseph Woll made 24 saves in a bounceback performance and Toronto beat Washington.
Mark Giordano scored following a long injury absence, and Conner Dewar and Bobby McMann added goals to help Toronto improve to 41-22-9.
Nic Dowd replied for Washington, and Charlie Lindgren stopped 43 shots. The Capitals dropped to 36-27-9 as they fight for a playoff spot.
Woll was solid after giving up a goal on the first shot in his last two starts, including Tuesday night in a 6-3 loss to New Jersey that left coach Sheldon Keefe fuming at the entire roster’s “immature” performance.
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HURRICANES 4 RED WINGS 0
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Frederik Andersen made 24 saves, Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis each had a goal and two assists, and Carolina clinched a playoff berth with a win over Detroit.
Aho and Jarvis scored 57 seconds apart in Carolina’s four-goal second period, with Martin Necas and Brady Skjei adding the other goals. All four goals came in a 12-minute span. Jake Guentzel had two assists.
Carolina will be in the post-season for the sixth consecutive season. It’s only the second time that has happened in franchise history, and the first time since the relocation from Hartford, Connecticut, in 1997.
Andersen, who turned in his second shutout in his past five outings, improved to 7-0-0 since returning from an absence of more than four months.
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WILD 3 SHARKS 1
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Matt Boldy broke a tie 18 seconds into the third period and Minnesota beat NHL-worst San Jose to pick up a couple points in their slim playoff bid.
Joel Eriksson Ek also scored, Ryan Hartman added an empty-net goal and Kirill Kaprizov had two assists. Filip Gustavsson made 26 saves and assisted on Hartman’s goal to help Minnesota improve to 7-1-3 in its last 11 games.
Having not played in five days, Minnesota began the night nine points back of Vegas for the final wild-card berth in the Western Conference and three points behind St. Louis. Minnesota has 10 games left, including against the Golden Knights on Saturday.
Mikael Granlund scored and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 29 shots for the Sharks. San Jose, which has an NHL-worst 40 points, has dropped nine straight and 18 of 19. However, this marked the first time in eight games the Sharks allowed fewer than four goals.
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BLUES 5 FLAMES 3
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brandon Saad scored his sixth winning goal of the season, lifting St. Louis to a victory over Calgary.
Jordan Binnington made 25 saves and also had a pair of assists to give him seven in his career.
Pavel Buchnevich scored two goals including an empty netter while Zack Bolduc and Jake Neighbours also scored for the Blues, who are 7-1-1 in their last nine games.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored two goals and Jonathan Huberdeau had the other for the Flames, who have lost five in a row and eight of their last 10 games. Dustin Wolf made 14 saves.
Saad scored the go-ahead goal 2:04 into the third period, taking a pass from Jordan Kyrou behind the net and wristing the shot past Wolf. In the Blues’ last meeting in Calgary, Saad scored a pair of goals including the winner with 48 seconds left in regulation.
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GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4 JETS 1
WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Ivan Barbashev broke a late tie and added an empty-netter, Logan Thompson made 39 saves and Vegas beat Winnipeg.
Barbashev made it 2-1 with a high backhander past Connor Hellebuyck with 5:29 left, then scored into the empty net with 1:45 remaining.
Pavel Dorofeyev opened the scoring late in the first period, and Jack Eichel also had an empty-net goal. Defending champion Vegas improved to 40-25-8, going 7-3-1 in its last 11 and 2-0-1 on a four-game trip.
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RANGERS 3 AVALANCHE 2 (SO)
DENVER (AP) — Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck scored shootout goals, Igor Shesterkin made 38 saves through overtime and two more in the shootout to lead the NHL-leading New York Rangers to a win over Colorado.
Chris Kreider and Kaapo Kakko scored in regulation for New York, which won its fourth in a row to reach 102 points, tops in the league.
Casey Mittelstadt and Devon Toews had goals for Colorado, which has dropped two straight following a nine-game winning streak.
Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon had his 19-game point streak ended when he went without a point at home for the first time this season. MacKinnon had at least one in the first 35 games, which is second in NHL history to Wayne Gretzky’s 40-game streak in 1988-89.
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OILERS 4 KINGS 1
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists and Edmonton beat Los Angeles in a matchup of teams jostling for home ice in a possible first-round playoff clash.
Leon Draisaitl had three assists, Evan Bouchard had a goal and an assist, and Adam Henrique and Cody Ceci also scored for the Oilers. They are 44-23-4, going 15-2-2 at home since Jan. 1 to move five points up on the Kings for second place in the Pacific Division with a game in hand.
Stuart Skinner made 32 saves, allowing only Arthur Kaliyev’s goal.
Los Angeles dropped to 38-23-11, falling a point back of Vegas into a wild-card position. The Kings had won four in a row.
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COYOTES 8 PREDATORS 4
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Logan Cooley had his first NHL hat trick, Clayton Keller added a goal and three assists and Arizona snapped Nashville's point streak at 18 games with a victory.
Nashville had been 16-0-2 since its last loss Feb. 15 at home against Dallas. It was the longest points streak in Predators history and the longest in the NHL this season.
Arizona won its second straight and went 3-0-1 against the Predators this season. Connor Ingram made 30 saves for the Coyotes.
Cooley, a 19-year-old rookie, had the first multi-goal game of his career and has 16 goals for the season. He scored an unassisted empty-netter to finish it off.
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KRAKEN 4 DUCKS 2
SEATTLE (AP) — Tye Kartye scored the go-ahead goal with 6:57 left in the third period and Seattle rallied to beat Anaheim to sweep a two-game set.
Jaden Schwartz, Andre Burakovsky and Matty Beniers all had power-play goals for the Kraken, who overcame a 2-1 deficit after allowing two short-handed goals early in the third period. Jared McCann had three assists and Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves.
Seattle has beaten Anaheim six straight times, including a 4-0 win on Tuesday night that snapped an eight-game losing streak.
Jakob Silfverberg had a goal and an assist and Isac Lundestrom also scored for the Ducks, who are 1-9-1 in their last 11 games. Lukas Dostal stopped 24 shots.
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STARS 3 CANUCKS 1
VANCOUVER, B.C. (AP) — Roope Hintz had a goal and two assists and Western Conference-leading Dallas wrapped up a playoff spot, beating Vancouver for their sixth straight victory.
Jake Oettinger stopped 27 shot to help Dallas improve to 46-19-9 and open a three-point lead over second-place Vancouver in the West.
Jamie Benn added a goal and an assist, Jason Robertson had an empty-netter and Joe Pavelski had two assists. J.T. Miller scored for Vancouver, and Casey DeSmith made 31 saves.
Benn gave Dallas a 2-1 lead on a power play with 3:08 left, scoring a snap shot from the slot. The Stars captain has points in eight straight games and goals in six.
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