Penguins get past Knights
Third-period goals by Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel ruined former teammate Marc-Andre Fleury’s homecoming as the Penguins defeated the Vegas Golden Knights, 5-4, last night in Pittsburgh.
Fleury, who won three Stanley Cups with the Penguins, including the past two seasons, returned for the first time since Vegas selected him in the expansion draft last summer. Fleury, who stopped 33 shots, beat his former teammates in December in Las Vegas.
In the first meeting between the teams in Pittsburgh, Malkin gave the Pens a 4-2 lead with his 30th of the season at 3:09 of the third period. Kessel extended the lead to 5-2 a little more than three minutes later on a one-touch, backdoor feed from Malkin.
Jake Guentzel, Ryan Reaves and Ian Cole also scored for Pittsburgh, which won for the fifth time in six games.
Matt Murray, Fleury’s former understudy in Pittsburgh, made 21 saves to top his mentor.
William Karlsson scored his 28th of the season on the power play for the Golden Knights. James Neal, who spent four seasons in Pittsburgh, got his 23rd. Ryan Carpenter and Jonathan Marchessault scored in the third period.
Capitals 3, Blue Jackets 2 — Nicklas Backstrom scored the winning goal with 43 seconds left, Braden Holtby made 37 saves and Washington beat host Columbus.
Brandon Dubinsky tied the score for Columbus late in the third period and the game appeared headed to overtime before Backstrom jumped on a pass from T.J. Oshie and beat Sergei Bobrovsky for his 200th career goal.
John Carlson and Tom Wilson also scored as the Capitals rallied to break a two-game skid and hang onto first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Bobrovsky had 22 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four in a row and nine of 11.
Flyers 2, Hurricanes 1 — In Raleigh, N.C., Jordan Weal scored with 3.1 seconds left in overtime and Philadelphia beat Carolina.
Brian Elliott, making his first start since missing four games with a lower-body injury, stopped 27 shots for the Flyers, who had gone 0-3-1 in a four-game stretch that followed a run of eight wins in nine games.
Senators 5, Devils 3 — Matt Duchene had a goal and two assists as Ottawa beat visiting New Jersey.
Mike Hoffman, Chris DiDomenico, Colin White and Zack Smith also scored for Ottawa. Craig Anderson made 30 saves.
Travis Zajac, Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Devils. Keith Kinkaid allowed four goals on 20 shots before being replaced by Eddie Lack.
Ducks 4, Sabres 3 — Adam Henrique scored 1:36 into overtime and Anaheim snapped a three-game skid by beating host Buffalo.
Panthers 3, Canucks 1 — In Sunrise, Fla., Aleksander Barkov scored twice, including the go-ahead goal late in the second period, to lead Florida past Vancouver.
Wild 6, Blues 2 — Jason Zucker tied a career high with his 22nd goal and Devan Dubnyk made 35 saves to help Minnesota defeat host St. Louis.
Jets 4, Coyotes 3 — Dustin Byfuglien had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg edged Arizona, becoming the second NHL team to reach 20 home wins this season.
Flames 3, Blackhawks 2 — Michael Stone scored with 3:30 left and visiting Calgary beat Chicago for the second time in four days.
Avalanche 3, Sharks 1 — In Denver, Gabriel Bourque and Tyson Jost scored 2:14 apart in the second period, Jonathan Bernier stopped 39 shots and Colorado beat San Jose.