Jackets, Wild extend streaks
Penguins snap back after lopsided loss; Caps romp
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Sergei Bobrovsky made 36 saves as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Friday night for their 12th straight win.
Columbus improved to 23-5-4, the best start in franchise history. It has not lost since Nov. 26. Montreal, which outshot Columbus 37-24, fell to 21-9-4.
It was Bobrovsky’s NHL-best 20th win. He kept Columbus in the game despite an apathetic third period in which the Blue Jackets took just five shots.
WILD 7, RANGERS 4: In New York, Mikko Koivu, Nino Niederreiter and Marco Scandella scored in a strong burst early in the second period, and Minnesota earned its franchise-record 10th straight win.
Mikael Granlund, Jason Zucker, Matt Dumba and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Wild, which chased Henrik Lundqvist with four goals on 13 shots.
Coyle added three assists, while Koivu and Zucker had three points apiece. Eric Staal (two assists) and Granlund both finished with two points.
PENGUINS 4, DEVILS 1: In Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby scored his NHL-leading 24th goal as the Penguins rebounded nicely from their worst performance of the season.
Chad Ruhwedel got the first goal of his career for Pittsburgh. Eric Fehr and Patric Hornqvist also scored for the Penguins, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 22 saves.
The Penguins improved to 8-0-1 in their last nine home games while offering an immediate response after getting crushed 7-1 in Columbus on Thursday.
CAPITALS 4, LIGHTNING 0: In Washington, John Carlson scored two goals, Alex Ovechkin also scored and Braden Holtby stopped 23 shots for his third shutout of the season, leading Washington to the win against Tampa Bay.
Carlson beat Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy 55 seconds into the game, and scored again at 15:42 of the first. The defenseman has three goals on the season.
Ovechkin scored his 15th goal midway through the second period. ISLANDERS 5, SABRES 1: In New York, Ryan Strome had a goal and an assist and Thomas Greiss made 28 saves as New York beat Buffalo.
John Tavares had a power-play goal for New York, and Andrew Ladd, Anthony Beauvillier and Calvin de Haan also scored. Defenseman Travis Hamonic had two assists as the Islanders snapped a three-game home losing streak. AVALANCHE 2, BLACKHAWKS 1 (OT): In Chicago, Nathan MacKinnon scored 25 seconds into overtime to lift Colorado to a win over Chicago.
Cruising in with Tyson Barrie on a 2-on1 break, MacKinnon beat Corey Crawford
withand endeda high the shot Avalanche’sthat ticked five-gameoff the post losing HURRICANESstreak. 3, BRUINS 2 (OT): In Raleigh, N.C., Teuvo Teravainen scored 3:01 into overtime as Carolina won for the ninth time in its last 10 home games.
Justin Faulk and Jordan Staal also scored for the Hurricanes, now 9-0-1 in their past 10 at home. Staal scored his 15th career short-handed goal in the second period. RED WINGS 4, PANTHERS 3 (SO): In Sunrise, Fla., Thomas Vanek and Frans Nielsen scored in the shootout as Detroit beat Florida.
Anthony Mantha, Drew Miller and Nielsen scored for Detroit. Jared Coreau made 31 saves for his first career win in his second start. FLAMES 4, CANUCKS 1: In Calgary, Alberta, Flames defenseman Mark Giordano scored two goals less than 10 minutes apart in the second period to lead Calgary over Vancouver.
Mikael Backlund also scored for the Flames, and Matthew Tkachuk had an empty-net goal that sent Calgary into the Christmas break 8-3-0 in its last 11 games. Backlund added two assists, as did Dougie Hamilton and Michael Frolik. MAPLE LEAFS 4, COYOTES 1: In Glendale, Ariz., Coyotes captain Shane Doan scored his 400th goal in his 1,500th game, and Toronto rookie Auston Matthews had an assist in his first NHL game in his hometown as the Maple Leafs beat Arizona.
Leo Komarov scored twice, and Connor Brown and William Nylander also scored for Toronto.
STARS 3, KINGS 2 (OT): In Dallas, Esa Lindell scored 1:07 into overtime as Dallas defeated Los Angeles.
Lindell, a rookie defenseman, skated in 2-on-1 on Kings goalie Jeff Zatkoff. Stars captain Jamie Benn eased a pass from the right side to Lindell at the left faceoff circle for his third goal this season.
RESCHEDULED GAME: The NHL said the Detroit-Carolina game that was postponed earlier this week has been rescheduled for March 27 in Raleigh, N.C.