Big second period leads Flames past Panthers
SUNRISE, Fla. Mikael Backlund had an empty-net goal and a pair of assists, helping lift the Calgary Flames to their sixth straight victory with a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Friday night.
Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan also scored for the Flames, and David Rittich stopped 41 shots in his first start in seven games.
Evgenii Dadanov scored both goals for the Panthers, breaking a 19-game goal drought. James Reimer made 25 saves in his 16th consecutive start, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Panthers from their fourth loss in five games.
Tkachuk put Calgary ahead 2-1 on his goal at 10:38 of the second period when Travis Hamonic’s shot bounced off Reimer’s right skate and Tkachuk poked in the rebound.
Gaudreau stretched the Flames’ lead to 3-1 on his power-play goal with 3:45 left in the second. Gaudreau’s shot from the left circle went under Reimer’s arm, off the post and into the net.
The Panthers closed to 3-2 on Dadanov’s second goal with 6:57 left in the third. Dadanov fired a shot from the right side that beat Rittich.
Backlund’s empty-netter with 45.1 seconds remaining sealed the win for the Flames.
Dadanov gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead on his power-play goal at 27 seconds into the second. Jonathan Huberdeau passed from the right side to Dadanov in the slot and fired a wrist shot past Rittich.
CAPITALS 4, HURRICANES 3
The Carolina Hurricanes learned a tough lesson over the past 1 1/2 weeks: No lead is safe on home ice against the Washington Capitals.
Jay Beagle scored with 1.3 seconds remaining and the Capitals rallied to beat the Hurricanes 4-3 on Friday night. Brett Connolly notched the tying goal with 3:08 left, and Alex Ovechkin added his NHL-leading 28th goal and two assists for the first-place Capitals, who lost to the Hurricanes a night before in Washington.
CANUCKS 5, BLUE JACKETS 2
Sven Baertschi sparked a four-goal second period for Vancouver, Jacob Markstrom had 27 saves and the Canucks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Friday night.
Seth Jones put Columbus up 1-0 during a strong first period, but Vancouver power ahead in the second. Baertschi, Erik Gudbranson, Brandon Gaunce and Alexander Edler scored, and Jake Virtanen added an empty-net goal with nine seconds left in the third to help the Canucks snap a five-game skid.
Thomas Vanek and Henrik Sedin each had two assists for Vancouver, which won for just the third time since Dec. 7.
BLACKHAWKS 2, JETS 1
Rookie centre David Kampf scored his first NHL goal and added an assist on his birthday, Jeff Glass blocked 31 shots and the Chicago Blackhawks held off the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Friday night.
Jan Rutta also scored for the Blackhawks, who ended the Jets’ threegame winning streak and handed Winnipeg its first regulation loss in seven games (6-0-1).