Stamkos, Bolts beat Canadiens
Steven Stamkos scored twice, and the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1, last night in Tampa, Fla., for their 10th win in 11 games.
Brayden Point got the tiebreaking goal in the third and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves as Tampa Bay picked up its eighth consecutive victory at home.
Brendan Gallagher scored and Carey Price stopped 31 shots for Montreal, which has lost seven of 10.
Nikita Kucherov negated a potential icing by getting past Canadiens defenseman Karl Alzner and sent a backhand pass from behind the net to Stamkos, who tied it at 1 with 12 seconds left in the second.
Kucherov has seven assists and 12 points during an eight-game point streak.
Panthers 3, Flyers 2 — In Sunrise, Fla., James Reimer stopped 29 shots, and Florida beat Philadelphia for its fourth straight victory.
Derek MacKenzie and Jonathan Huberdeau scored in the second period as the Panthers earned their first win over the Flyers since March 12, 2016, snapping a four-game losing streak against Philly. Jared McCann also scored.
Brian Elliott made 24 saves for the Flyers, who fell to 0-10-2 in first games after the Christmas break. Scott Laughton and Sean Couturier scored in the third period, the last with 2:02 to go.
Maple Leafs 7, Coyotes 4 — In Glendale, Ariz., Auston Matthews scored in Toronto’s three-goal first period in his Arizona homecoming.
Facing the Coyotes in Arizona for the second time in his career, the 20-year-old Matthews scored for the second time in as many games after missing six because of concussion-like symptoms.
Golden Knights 3, Kings 2 — David Perron scored 1:31 into overtime and visiting Vegas kept rolling through its strong inaugural season, beating Los Angeles for its sixth consecutive victory.
Canucks 5, Blackhawks 2 — Thomas Vanek had two goals and three assists, Brock Boeser added a goal and three assists, and host Vancouver snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Chicago.
Sharks 3, Flames 2 — Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donski scored in the shootout and host San Jose edged Calgary.
Pavelski also had a regulation goal and Timo Meier tied it in the third period for San Jose.
Elsewhere in the NHL — The NHL suspended Ottawa Senators defenseman Fredrik Claesson for two games for an illegal check to the head of Bruins forward Noel Acciari in Wednesday night’s 5-1 B’s victory.
He will forfeit $6,989 in salary. The money goes to the players’ emergence assistance fund. Claesson is eligible to return when Ottawa visits Detroit next Wednesday . . . .
Winnipeg Jets top-line center Mark Scheifele will miss 6-to-8 weeks with an upper-body injury. He was hurt in Winnipeg’s 4-3 win over Edmonton on Wednesday after taking a hit from the Oilers’ Brandon Davidson. Scheifele has 15 goals and 23 assists in 38 games this season . . . .
New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider is sidelined indefinitely with a blood clot in his right arm. The 26-year-old Kreider left a 1-0 shootout win over Washington the previous night.