Bad night to be a goalie in Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio Johnny Gaudreau and the goal scorers on both sides had a fun, wild Tuesday night.
For Calgary goalie Mike Smith? Not so much.
“Not the way you draw it up,” Smith said.
Gaudreau had two goals and two assists, and the Flames scored five goals in the second period to rally past the Columbus Blue Jackets 9-6.
“It’s just one of those games,” said Smith, who combined with Dave Rittich to stop 24 shots. “The chances were there and the pucks were finding a way to get in.”
Cam Atkinson netted a hat trick for Columbus to extend his point streak to 11 games, but the Blue Jackets lost their second straight.
“We played a really good first period, then for whatever reason sat back and let them play,” Atkinson said. “I don’t think we checked hard. We made it a really easy game for them, and they just capitalized.”
Sean Monahan also had two goals and two assists for Calgary, which scored five straight goals for a 6-4 lead during the second period.
Monahan opened that barrage 1:55 into the second, and Elias Lindholm, Matthew Tkachuk, Noah Hanifin and TJ Brodie followed with goals. Tkachuk, Hanifin and Brodie scored in a span of 1:53.
Monahan, Gaudreau and Austin Czarnik each scored in the third period for Calgary, which earned a point in its fifth straight game to stay atop the Pacific Division and improved to 17-9-2.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 of 26 shots for the Blue Jackets before being replaced in the third period by Joonas Korpisalo.
Zach Werenski, Josh Anderson and Nick Foligno also scored for Columbus.
LIGHTNING 6, RED WINGS 5, SO
DETROIT — Nikita Kucherov and defenceman Victor Hedman scored in a shootout to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a comeback victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
The Lightning, who have won seven of eight, erased a 5-3 deficit in the third period and overcame Frans Nielsen’s hat trick.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, SABRES 3, OT
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Auston Matthews scored his second goal with three seconds on the clock in overtime, and the Toronto Maple Leafs matched their best start in 84 years with a win over the Buffalo Sabres.
PANTHERS 5, BRUINS 0
SUNRISE, Fla. — Roberto Luongo made 33 saves in his 77th career shutout, Mike Hoffman scored twice and the Florida Panthers beat the Boston Bruins.
Luongo, who returned to the lineup after missing five games with a knee injury, passed Ed Belfour and Tony Esposito for sole possession of ninth place on the NHL’s all-time shutout list.
CANADIENS 5, SENATORS 2
MONTREAL — Max Domi scored twice and added an assist and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and two helpers as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators.
PENGUINS 6, AVALANCHE 3
PITTSBURGH — Patric Hornqvist’s natural hat trick in the third period powered the Pittsburgh Penguins past the Colorado Avalanche.
JETS 3, ISLANDERS 1
NEW YORK — Jacob Trouba and Adam Lowry scored 22 seconds apart early in the third period, rallying the Winnipeg Jets to a victory over the New York Islanders.