Jets give stars a break, still win
MONTREAL With some top veterans sitting out, youngsters took centre stage for the Winnipeg Jets.
Sami Niku scored in his first NHL game and Kyle Connor got his 30th goal of the season in overtime as the Jets downed the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Add to that Patrik Laine’s 44th of the season to move only two behind Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead.
“Any goal you score in this league is great, but overtime, and the way we stuck with it the whole game, it’s awesome,” said 21-year-old Connor. “This group is so good.
“We all push each other every day.”
Nikolaj Ehlers, with his 29th, and Jack Roslovic also scored for the Jets (50-20-10), who moved to three points back of first place overall and Central Division rival Nashville with two games remaining for both clubs. The Jets finish the regular season with home games Thursday against Calgary and Saturday against Chicago.
Winnipeg, which ended a four-game road trip, had already established a club record for wins in a season. The Jets have now won nine of their last 10 games.
Alex Galchenyuk forced overtime with a power-play goal at 18:18 of the third period. Artturi Lehkonen, Paul Byron and Kerby Rychel also scored for Montreal (28-40-12) in its last home game of the season.
Montreal outshot the Jets 40-32.
The lineups had a pre-season look as the Jets rested Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Adam Lowry, Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey with what were called minor injuries, while Montreal has regularly been using several minor league call-ups of late.
PANTHERS 2, PREDATORS
1
SUNRISE, Fla. — Filip Forsberg’s apparent tying goal with 0.6 seconds left was disallowed due to goalie interference, giving the Florida Panthers a win over the Nashville Predators.
Viktor Arvidsson was posted in front of Florida goalie Roberto Luongo on the play, and his stick made contact with Luongo as he tried to shove in a rebound. The puck slid under Luongo in the crease, and Forsberg swooped in for an easy score. It was called a goal on the ice, but replay officials ruled that Arvidsson had interfered with Luongo.
LIGHTNING 4, BRUINS 0
TAMPA, Fla. — Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves, Braydon Coburn and Ryan Callahan both had two assists during a three-goal second period, and Tampa Bay beat Boston to move into a tie for the Atlantic Division lead with the Bruins.
BLUE JACKETS 5, RED WINGS 4, OT
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Pierre Luc-Dubois scored in overtime to lift Columbus and keep its playoff plans on track.
Artemi Panarin tied it for Columbus when he put back his own rebound late in the third period. That set the stage for Dubois’ shot from the slot 2:55 into the extra period.
ISLANDERS 5, FLYERS 4, OT
NEW YORK — Mathew Barzal had two goals and an assist, including the go-ahead score after New York gave up a three-goal lead in the third period, and the Islanders beat the playoff-chasing Philadelphia Flyers.
DEVILS 5, RANGERS 2
NEWARK, N.J. — Taylor Hall and rookie Will Butcher scored two goals apiece, and New Jersey moved to the brink of its first playoff berth since 2012.