Jagr ties for second in career points as Panthers beat Sabres
SUNRISE: Jaromir Jagr had three assists to pull into a tie for second place on the NHL’s career points list, Aleksander Barkov and Vincent Trocheck scored in the shootout, and the Florida Panthers beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Tuesday night. Jagr pulled even with Mark Messier with 1,887 points, trailing only Wayne Gretzky (2,857). Roberto Luongo stopped 33 shots, including both attempts in the shootout, to pull into a tie with Terry Sawchuk for fifth all-time in the NHL with 447 wins. Nick Bjugstad had his first goal of the season, Keith Yandle also scored and Barkov had a goal and two assists for the Panthers. Rasmus Ristolainen and San Reinhart each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres. Evander Kane also scored and Robin Lehner made 36 saves.
BLUE JACKETS 3, KINGS 2, SO
Cam Atkinson had two goals and scored in the shootout, helping Columbus get its franchiserecord 10th straight victory. Curtis McElhinney made 44 saves and Sam Gagner scored the decider in the shootout, keeping the Blue Jackets unbeaten since Nov 26. Columbus earned a point for the 12th straight game, improved to 21-5-4 and hosts the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins tonight with a chance to jump into first place in the brutally competitive Metropolitan Division. Jeff Carter scored twice for Los Angeles, including a tying goal 10:16 into the third period, and also got a goal in the shootout. Peter Budaj stopped 25 shots but allowed goals on 2 of 3 shootout attempts.
WILD 2, AVALANCHE 0
Devan Dubnyk made 18 saves for his NHL-leading fifth shutout this season and Minnesota won its eighth straight. Charlie Coyle scored his team-leading 11th goal and Mikko Koivu added his eighth for the Wild, who have outscored their past five opponents 19-5. Minnesota has allowed a leaguelow 58 goals in 31 games. Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov returned after missing four games with a groin injury and stopped 31 of 33 shots. The Avalanche have lost four consecutive games and 11 of 13 while being outscored 49-26. Dubnyk entered leading the league in goals-against average (1.62) and save percentage (.947) and tied with Boston’s Tuukka Rask for the lead in shutouts.
ISLANDERS 4, BRUINS 2
Thomas Greiss stopped 48 shots, Anders Lee scored twice and had an assist, and the New York Islanders snapped a five-game winless streak. Thomas Hickey and Nikolay Kulemin also scored for the Islanders in their first win since beating St. Louis on Dec. 8. New York was outscored 24-12 while going 0-4-1 in the five games since. Greiss took a shutout into the third period and was able to hold off the Bruins after they pulled to 3-2 on goals by Anton Blidh and Dominic Moore. Greiss made 23 saves in the third period and got a little cushion when Lee scored a power-play goal with 6:58 left to put the Islanders back up two. The Bruins lost for the fourth time in their last five at home.
PENGUINS 7, RANGERS 2
Sidney Crosby scored his NHL-leading 22nd goal, Evgeni Malkin had a goal and two assists and Pittsburgh moved into a tie with the Rangers atop the crowded Metropolitan Division. Bryan Rust, Phil Kessel, Justin Schultz, Patric Hornqvist and Nick Bonino also scored for the Penguins, who improved to 8-0-2 in December. Matt Murray made 26 saves and is unbeaten in regulation in his last 13 home starts as the Penguins cruised despite missing injured defensemen Kris Letang and Trevor Daley. Michael Grabner collected his team-high 14th goal for New York and Matt Puempel added his second, but New York struggled to keep pace with Pittsburgh. Antti Raanta stopped 40 of 47 shots and allowed four third-period goals after the Rangers had pulled within 3-2.
CANADIENS 5, DUCKS 1
Jeff Petry had a goal and two assists and Montreal beat Anaheim. Paul Byron had a goal and a helper while Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty and Chris Terry also scored for the Canadiens. Ironman Andrew Cogliano scored for the Ducks, who looked sluggish coming off a 3-2 win Monday night in Toronto. Anaheim ends a six-game trip Thursday night in Ottawa. Cogliano played his 738th consecutive game to pass Jay Bouwmeester for the fifth longest streak in NHL history. It’s the longest since Steve Larmer played his 884th in a row in 1993. Cogliano has the second-longest stretch from the start of a career behind Doug Jarvis’s 964 games. Montreal outshot the Anaheim 34-13.
BLUES 3, STARS 2, OT
David Perron put in a wraparound goal at 1:55 of overtime, lifting St. Louis past Dallas. On a delayed penalty, Perron picked up a loose puck to the left of the net, skated behind it and scored from the right side before Dallas goalie Antti Niemi could recover. St. Louis’ Patrik Berglund had tied the game 2-2 with 31 seconds left in the second period. Jaden Schwartz scored in the first period for the Blues and Jake Allen had 36 saves. Jason Spezza scored for a 2-1 lead less than a minute before Berglund tied the game, and assisted on Patrick Eaves’ power-play goal in the first period. Niemi finished with 19 saves.
SENATORS 4, BLACKHAWKS 3
Derick Brassard and Tom Pyatt scored 10 seconds apart during Ottawa’s three-goal second period, and the Senators won their third straight. Bobby Ryan added a goal and an assist as Ottawa stopped a seven-game road losing streak against Chicago, earning its first win at the United Center since March 28, 2001. Dion Phaneuf scored a power-play goal, and Kyle Turris had two assists. Artemi Panarin, Tyler Motte and Richard Panik scored for the Blackhawks, who had won five in a row and six of seven. Scott Darling made 26 saves while dropping to 6-3-1 in 10 starts since Corey Crawford had an emergency appendectomy on Dec. 3. Chicago played without center Artem Anisimov for the second straight game due to an upper body injury, and forward Marian Hossa left in the first period. The Blackhawks did not provide a reason for Hossa’s departure.
LIGHTNING 4, RED WINGS 1
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves in relief of Ben Bishop as Tampa Bay beat Detroit in a game where both starting goalies left due to injuries. Bishop was hurt 12 minutes into the first period, going down after kicking out his right leg to make a pad save on Nick Jensen’s shot. The Lightning said Bishop, who skated gingerly to the bench, has a lower-body injury. Detroit’s Jimmy Howard departed with 12:41 remaining in the second. He was unable to put weight on his right leg following a goalmouth scramble involving Jensen and Tampa Bay’s Erik Condra. Jensen, making his NHL debut, assisted on Anthony Mantha’s goal with 10.5 seconds left in the third. Brian Boyle, Jonathan Drouin, Brayden Point and Vladislav Namestnikov scored for the Lightning, who are 3-7-2 over their last 12 games. Tampa Bay is 3-0 against Detroit this season.
PREDATORS 5, DEVILS 1
James Neal scored twice in the first period, Juuse Saros stopped 27 shots and Nashville beat New Jersey. Ryan Johansen and Mattias Ekholm each had a goal and an assist, Filip Forsberg also scored and Viktor Arvidsson had three assists for the Predators. Sergey Kalinin spoiled Saros’ bid for his first NHL shutout with 4:49 remaining, and Cory Schneider finished with 32 saves for the Devils, who have lost seven straight. Arvidsson found Neal across the ice on a 2-on-1 and Neal beat Scheider glove-side 5:43 into the game. Neal scored again at 7:15 as he fired a shot from the right circle to beat Schneider on the far post.
SHARKS 4, FLAMES 1
Joonas Donskoi scored twice to lead San Jose to its fifth win in six games. Patrick Marleau and Paul Martin also scored for the Sharks, who are 72 at home since dropping two in a row in early November. Sam Bennett scored for the Flames, who lost for just the third time in 10 games. Martin Jones stopped 20 of 21 shots for his fourth victory in five starts. Chad Johnson recorded 30 saves in 34 chances. The Sharks muscled up to score four times within an 11-minute span in the second period, which included Donskoi’s first career multi-goal contest.
CANUCKS 4, JETS 1
Jannik Hansen scored twice and Bo Horvat got his 10th goal of the season, helping Vancouver beat Winnipeg. Horvat scored an empty-netter after Sven Baertschi got a goal in the third period for Vancouver, and Jacob Markstrom had 31 saves. Henrik Sedin added two assists. Blake Wheeler scored and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 20 shots for the Jets. In a scheduling quirk, Winnipeg will remain in Vancouver and play the Canucks again on Thursday night. Hansen put Vancouver up 2-1 3:19 into the third period with his fifth of the season. The veteran wing took a pass from Daniel Sedin at the blue line and delayed for a moment before ripping a shot past Hellebuyck with Henrik Sedin screening in front.