Crosby enjoys grand evening
Sidney Crosby ended his march to 1,000 career points in typically unselfish fashion last night in Pittsburgh. The Penguins star wasted little time before starting his quest for the next thousand.
The Pens captain fed Chris Kunitz for a first-period goal against Winnipeg to become the 86th player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, added an assist on Phil Kessel’s game-tying goal in the third and then put the winner past Connor Hellebuyck with 21 seconds left in overtime as the Penguins escaped with a 4-3 victory.
Crosby finished with three points to push his total to 1,002. Evgeni Malkin also scored for Pittsburgh, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 44 shots for the Penguins, who improved to 6-0-2 since the All-Star break.
Patrik Laine scored his 27th for Winnipeg. Paul Postma collected his first and Dustin Byfuglien his eighth for the Jets. Hellebuyck made 35 saves, but couldn’t get a handle on Crosby’s 31st of the season and 369th goal of his career.
Senators 3, Devils 0 — In Newark, N.J., Mike Condon made 21 saves in recording his fifth shutout of the season, Dion Phaneuf scored on a power play and Ottawa beat New Jersey.
Erik Karlsson scored on a point shot that crawled into the net and Kyle Turris shot into an empty net in the final four minutes to give the Senators their third win in four games.
Cory Schneider stopped 32 shots, but the Devils lost for the second time in regulation (4-2-1) in their last seven games.
Islanders 4, Rangers 2 — Andrew Ladd scored twice to lead the Islanders over the crosstown-rival Rangers in Brooklyn.
Anders Lee and Nikolay Kulemin also scored, and Thomas Greiss stopped 25 shots to help the Islanders improve to 8-0-2 in their last 10 at home.
Nick Holden and Jimmy Vesey scored for the Rangers, whose season-high sixgame winning streak was snapped.
Sabres 2, Avalanche 0 — Sam Reinhart and Evander Kane scored, Robin Lehner made 23 saves to post his fifth career shutout as host Buffalo beat Colorado.
The Sabres moved within three points of Toronto for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot. Colorado has lost five in a row and 11 straight on the road.
Wild 3, Stars 1 — In St. Paul, Minn., Darcy Kuemper stopped 34 shots, Erik Haula had a goal and an assist and Minnesota beat Dallas. Blues 4, Canucks 3 — Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen scored thirdperiod power play goals to lift streaking St. Louis over visiting Vancouver.
Oilers 6, Flyers 3 — Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists to regain the NHL scoring lead, and host Edmonton beat Philadelphia.
Coyotes 5, Kings 3— Brendan Perlini scored twice, Jordan Martinook added short-handed and empty-net goals in the third period and Mike Smith made 41 saves to lift visiting Arizona over Los Angeles.
Elsewhere in the NHL — Anaheim Ducks forward Antoine Vermette was suspended 10 games for slashing a linesman in apparent anger after a faceoff. Vermette didn’t immediately announce whether he will appeal the suspension to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and an independent arbitrator.