Flyers explode for 4-goal second period, beat Panthers 5-1

PHILADELPHIA: Sean Couturier, Shayne Gostisbehere, Claude Giroux and Dale Weise all scored in the second period to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. The Flyers followed an 8-2 win against Washington with another dominant offensive effort, capped by the four-goal second. Wayne Simmonds stole the show after the fourth goal when he dropped agitated Panthers center Michael Haley with a left-handed punch. Simmonds waved his arms toward the crowd and exhorted them to get louder as he skated toward the locker room to serve his major penalty. He high-fived fans and the orange-and-black faithful went wild for a period on the short list of the best in three years under coach Dave Hakstol. Michal Neuvirth made the lead stand with 40 saves in his first win of the season. Valtteri Filppula scored an emptynetter for the Flyers.

PENGUINS 5, RANGERS 4, OT Sidney Crosby scored the tying goal with less than a minute remaining in regulation, Evgeni Malkin put in the winner 58 seconds into overtime and the Penguins beat the struggling Rangers. Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel and ex-Ranger Carl Hagelin also scored for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, who handed New York (1-5-1) its fourth straight loss. Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh turned the puck over in overtime and Kessel set up Malkin for the game-winning goal. Just before that, the Rangers iced the puck, leading to a faceoff in their zone. Michael Grabner put New York ahead 4-3 when he and David Desharnais completed a nifty give-and-go at the 8-minute mark of the third period.

MAPLE LEAFS 2, CAPITALS 0 Connor Brown scored the game-winning goal in the third period and Frederik Andersen stopped all 30 shots he faced for the shutout as the Maple Leafs continued their tremendous start by beating the Capitals. Toronto has won five of its first six games. Washington has now lost two in a row since top defenseman Matt Niskanen went out with a long-term upper-body injury. After getting a promotion to the third line, Brown picked up his second goal of the season and broke a 0-0 tie with 14:07 left in the third. Brown corralled a rebound of Morgan Rielly’s point shot and poked the puck between Braden Holtby’s legs.

CANUCKS 3, SENATORS 0

Brock Boeser and Alexander Burmistrov had a goal and an assist each in the Canucks’ win over the Senators. Thomas Vanek also scored for the Canucks (2-2-1), while Anders Nilsson made 32 saves for a shutout in his first start of the season. Craig Anderson turned aside 21 of 24 in net for Ottawa (3-1-2). The win snapped a three-game losing skid for the Canucks that started with a 3-2 shootout loss to Ottawa in Vancouver one week ago.

PREDATORS 4, AVALANCHE 1 Viktor Arvidsson and Roman Josi each scored a goal and added an assist to lead the Predators to a win over the Avalanche. Colton Sissons and Austin Watson also scored for Nashville, which has won three of their last four. Filip Forsberg and Alexei Emelin each had two assists and Pekka Rinne made 20 saves to earn his third victory of the season. Nathan MacKinnon had the lone goal for Colorado, losers of two straight.

DEVILS 5, LIGHTNING 4, SO

Kyle Palmieri scored the lone goal in a shootout, lifting the Devils to a win over the Lightning. Drew Stafford scored twice in regulation as New Jersey improved to 51-0. Palmieri and Brian Gibbons each had a goal in the first period, and Cory Schneider made 33 saves. Vladimir Namestnikov, Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay, which had its four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 5-1-1.

HURRICANES 5, OILERS 3

Teuvo Teravainen had a pair of goals and Jordan Staal a goal and three assists to help the Hurricanes beat the Oilers. Elias Lindholm and Jaccob Slavin also scored for the Hurricanes (2-1-1), who snapped a twogame losing skid. Mark Letestu, Ryan Strome and Milan Lucic tallied for the Oilers (1-4-0), who have now lost four in a row.

BLUE JACKETS 5, JETS 2

Jack Johnson’s goal 13:54 into the second period was the eventual winner as the Blue Jackets extended their winning streak to four with a commanding victory over the Jets. Cam Atkinson broke open a scoreless game just 36 seconds into the second period for the Blue Jackets (5-1-0), powering ahead of Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Trouba and muscling the puck past Winnipeg goalie Steve Mason. Nick Foligno, Lukas Sedlak and Zach Werenski had the other goals for Columbus, while Jonas Korpisalo made 24 saves for the win.—AP