Sabres blanked by Elliott
He makes 23 saves in his second shutout over Buffalo this season
Brian Elliott stopped 23 shots to shut out the Buffalo Sabres for a second time this season in leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-0 win on Saturday.
The Flyers were spurred by a replenished lineup in which four players returned after spending two weeks in the NHL’S COVID -19 protocol. They included Scott Laughton, who scored a breakaway goal to make it 3-0 late in the second period.
Sean Couturier had a goal and assist to extend his points streak to five games, in which he has four goals and five assists, and Shayne Gostisbehere also scored. Philadelphia won consecutive games for the first time since a five-game winning streak to close January.
The Sabres dropped to 2-6-1 in their past nine and played their second game without captain Jack Eichel, listed as day to day with a lower body injury.
Carter Hutton stopped 36 shots starting in place of Linus Ullmark, who will miss at least a month with a lower-body injury sustained in the first period of a 4-3 overtime loss to New Jersey on Thursday.
Jeff Skinner’s return to the lineup following a three-game benching didn’t make a difference. The 11th-year forward in the second season of an eightyear, $72 million contract has just one assist in 15 games this season, and now hasn’t scored in 19 games dating to last year.
Capitals 5, Devils 2: Garnet Hathaway and Daniel Sprong scored in the opening 5:06, as streaking Washington built a big lead and held off slumping New Jersey. Lars Eller added the third goal in the big first period and Jabub Vrana gave the Capitals breathing room with a third-period breakaway tally. Rookie Vitek Vanecek had 22 saves in his ninth win. Nic Dowd added an empty-net goal with less than a minute to play for Washington, 5-1-1 in its last seven after losing four straight. Nico Hischier and Pavel Zacha each scored for the second consecutive game for New Jersey, which has lost four of five.
Penguins 4, Islanders 3 (OT): Kris Letang got his second goal of the game 4:34 into overtime for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, which won for the sixth time in eight games. Jared Mccann also scored and Tristan Jarry made 24 saves as the Penguins beat the Islanders for the fourth time in five meetings this season. Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist, and Mathew Barzal and Josh Bailey also scored for the Islanders. Semyon Varlamov, starting for the fifth straight game, stopped 27 shots.
Predators 2, Blue Jackets 1: Mattias Ekholm scored a pair of secondperiod goals to lead Nashville.
Flames 6, Senators 3: Calgary used a balanced scoring attack, getting goals from six players in a win over Ottawa.
Maple Leafs 4, Oilers 0: Jack Campbell made 30 saves for his third NHL shutout and Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist for Toronto.
Lightning 5, Stars 0: Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for his second straight shutout and 23rd overall and defending champion Tampa Bay beat Dallas in the first Stanley Cup rematch of the season.
Hurricanes 4, Panthers 3 (SO): Martin Necas scored the winning goal in a shootout for Carolina.
Red Wings 5, Blackhawks 3: Frans Nielsen had a goal and an assist as Detroit posted its second straight win.
Wild 4, Kings 3 (OT): Matt Dumba scored in the final second of overtime to lead Minnesota.
Avalanche 6, Coyotes 2: Jacob Macdonald broke a tie with his first goal of the season and Colorado beat Arizona to sweep the two-day series.