Kucherov brace lifts Lightning to victory
TAMPA: Nikita Kucherov scored twice to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.
Louis Domingue stopped 28 shots to help the Lightning end a two-game slide and move back to four points ahead of Boston for the top overall spot in the Eastern Conference standings. Victor Hedman also scored and Steven Stamkos added two assists.
Tampa Bay killed off five Edmonton power-play chances and kept Connor McDavid off the scoresheet, leaving him four points behind Kucherov for the league lead in points.
Ty Rattie scored for Edmonton and Al Montoya finished with 37 saves.
Patrik Laine scored twice to extend his point streak to 15 games and tie Alex Ovechkin for the NHL goal lead, and Winnipeg beat Dallas 4-2 to match the franchise wins record at 43.
The second-year sniper has 43 goals, matching t he t otal from Ovechkin, the Washington star and Laine’s boyhood favourite.
Laine’s point streak is the longest active run in the NHL and adds to his league record for the longest point streak by a teenager. The streak includes 18 goals and eight assists.
Ben Chiarot also scored and Blake Wheeler added an empty-netter for Winnipeg. Mattias Janmark and Jamie Benn each scored for Dallas.
Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves for the Jets in the second game of a six-game homestand. The last time they reached 43 wins was 2014-15, when they made the play-offs for the first time since relocating to Winnipeg from Atlanta.
In Las Vegas, William Karlsson scored a hat-trick to lead the Golden Knights over the Flames 4-0.
Colin Miller also scored as Vegas snapped a four-game home losing streak and improved to 25-9-2 at T Mobile Arena.
Marc-Andre Fleury, who made his 20th start in 21 games, made 42 saves. In getting his 48th career shut-out and fourth of the season, Fleury moved into a tie with Chris Osgood for 12th all-time among the goaltenders at 401.
Patrik Berglund scored 3:31 minutes into overtime, and St Louis came from behind for a 5-4 victory at lowly Chicago.
Defencemen Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn each had a goal and three assists for the Blues, who are trying to rally for a playoff wild card in the Western Conference. Alexander Steen had a goal and an assist, and Vladimir Sobotka also scored.
Wayne Simmonds scored two goals to help lift hosts Philadelphia past Washington 6-3.
Nathan MacKinnon kept up his torrid scoring with two goals and an assist, Semyon Varlamov was sharp in making 37 saves and Colorado beat Detroit 5-1 to extend the Red Wings’ skid to 10 games.
In New York, Trevor van Riemsdyk scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period and Scott Darling made 26 saves as the Hurricanes beat the Islanders 4-3.