Crosby scores league-leading 34th goal in Penguins win
PITTSBURGH: Sidney Crosby scored his NHLleading 34th goal, Matt Murray made 35 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 at blustery Heinz Field on Saturday night.
Matt Cullen, Nick Bonino and Chad Ruhwedel also scored for Pittsburgh, which thrilled the capacity crowd of 67,318 at the home of the NFL’s Steelers by capitalizing on some shaky goaltending by Michal Neuvirth. Jake Guentzel picked up two assists, and the Penguins drew within five points of Metropolitan Division-leading Washington.
Jakub Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere scored for Philadelphia, but Neuvirth stopped just 25 of 29 shots as the Flyers dropped to 0-3 in outdoor games. Even worse, Philadelphia failed to pick up any ground as it tries to stay within shouting distance of one of the two wildcard spots in the Eastern Conference.
Blue Jackets 7 Islanders 0: In Columbus, Ohio, Josh Anderson and Nick Foligno each scored twice, sending Columbus to a romp over New York.
The high-energy Blue Jackets didn’t show any rust in their first game back following their five-day break, unlike many teams that have struggled coming out of the bye week this season. Columbus scored three times in the first period, chasing Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss.
David Savard had a goal and three assists, Boone Jenner and Jack Johnson also scored and backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped all 24 shots for the Blue Jackets, who ended New York’s three-game winning streak. Columbus has a comfortable hold on the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, while the Islanders are in a tight race for the final playoff berth.
Kings 4 Ducks 1: In Los Angeles, Jonathan Quick made 32 saves in his return from a groin injury and Tyler Toffoli scored two of Los Angeles’ four third-period goals.
Quick missed 59 games after injuring the groin in the first period of the season opener Oct. 12 against San Jose, and he took advantage of a timely end to Los Angeles’ recent offensive power outage.
Dustin Brown added his 10th goal of the season, and Jeff Carter scored an empty-net goal, securing a much-needed two points in the Kings’ chase for a wild card in the Western Conference after losing four of their previous five games.
Rangers 4 Devils 3, OT: In Newark, N.J., Mika Zibanejad scored 1:16 into overtime and New York rallied to beat New Jersey.
Chris Kreider, Oscar Lindberg and Adam Clendening also scored for the Rangers. Antti Raanta had 36 saves, including a stop on a breakaway by Kyle Palmieri just before Zibanejad scored for the first time in 16 games.
Zibanejad took a long pass from Brady Skjei, faked a shot and slid the puck between the goaltender’s legs.
Predators 5 Capitals 2: In Nashville, Tennessee, Filip Forsberg scored the winning goal and had two assists as Nashville scored three in the second period in beating Washington.
Forsberg missed becoming the first in NHL history with a hat trick in three consecutive games. He still notched his seventh goal in three games as Nashville won its second straight and third in four games.
Roman Josi scored twice, and Mike Fisher and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal. Ryan Johansen had three assists.
Canadiens 3 Maple Leafs 2, OT: In Toronto, Andrew Shaw scored 1:06 into overtime and Montreal beat Toronto for the 14th consecutive time.
Max Pacioretty and Alex Galchenyuk had the other goals for the Canadiens, who increased their Atlantic Division lead to four points over Ottawa and five on Toronto.