Canucks top Kings to end skid
Vancouver jumps out to 4-0 lead, hangs on for 4-3 road win
LOS ANGELES — Sven Baertschi scored twice, Ryan Miller made 41 saves and the Vancouver Canucks ended a four-game losing streak by holding on for a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.
Henrik Sedin had a goal, Nikolay Goldobin scored in his Canucks debut and Bo Horvat had three assists as Vancouver won in regulation for just the second time in its last nine games.
Trevor Lewis and Anze Kopitar each scored a power-play goal, Alec Martinez scored a shorthanded goal and Ben Bishop made 17 saves in his home debut for Los Angeles, which missed out on a chance to move three points ahead of St. Louis for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Baertschi gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead 11:37 into the first period, taking advantage of a rebound off Loui Eriksson’s shot to score his 14th goal of the season.
Sedin then benefited from a deflection off Drew Doughty’s stick that put the Canucks up 2-0 with 1:32 left in the first.
Baertschi’s second goal, 6:38 into the second, came when Nic Dowd inadvertently kicked the puck in after Baertschi knocked down Horvat’s bouncing miss.
Goldobin scored on a breakaway midway through the second to make it 4-0
CANADIENS, 4 RANGERS 1
NEW YORK — Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens showed off their resurgent form under coach Claude Julien with a big Eastern Conference win.
Price made 26 saves and the Canadiens extended their winning streak to five games with a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Shea Weber, Artturi Lehkonen, Andrew Shaw and Jordie Benn scored for the Canadiens.
The Canadiens swept all three meetings with the Rangers this season, and the teams could meet in the first round of the playoffs next month.
Chris Kreider scored and Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves for the Rangers, who have lost three of their past four overall and four in a row at home.
JETS 6, AVALANCHE 1
WINNIPEG — Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and two assists each as the Winnipeg Jets routed the Colorado Avalanche 6-1 on Saturday.
Making his 10th straight start, Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck had a shutout until Gabriel Landeskog scored with 15.4 seconds left in the game. He had 22 saves one day after he had a 29-save shutout against the St. Louis Blues.
Patrik Laine scored his rookie leading 32nd goal, Mark Scheifele his 27th, Ehlers notched his 21st and Wheeler his 20th.
Defencemen Ben Chiarot tallied his first goal of the season in his 53rd game and Jacob Trouba had his sixth marker for the Jets.
SENS 3, BLUE JACKETS 2
OTTAWA — Zack Smith scored the winner as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Saturday night.
Viktor Stalberg scored his first goal since joining the Senators ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Erik Karlsson scored his 11th of the season as Craig Anderson made 25 saves.
Brandon Saad and Sam Gagner scored for the Blue Jackets. Joonas Korpisalo, playing just his eighth game, made 24 saves in the first regulation loss for Columbus in five games (3-1-1).
OILERS 4, WINGS 3
EDMONTON — Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist as the Edmonton Oilers started an eight-game homestand with a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
Zack Kassian, Jordan Eberle and Patrick Maroon also scored for the Oilers, who have won two games in a row.
Anthony Mantha, Darren Helm and Dylan Larkin responded for the Red Wings, who have lost two straight.
Cal Talbot made 22 saves in the Edmonton net, while Petr Mrazek stopped 34 shots for Detroit.