Galchenyuk nets three in Habs win
Alex Galchenyuk completed his hat trick shortly after Paul Byron and Noah Juulsen scored 1:43 apart in the third period, lifting the Montreal Canadiens over the Islanders, 6-3, last night in New York.
Galchenyuk scored his third goal into an empty net with 49 seconds left and also had an assist. Brendan Gallagher also scored for Montreal, which improved to 2429-10 with its second straight win.
The Canadiens visit the Bruins today at the Garden. Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty left last night’s game in the third period with a lower-body injury. Montreal’s Charlie Lindgren stopped 32 shots. New York dropped to 29-29-7 with its fifth straight loss. Tanner Fritz, Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson scored, and Jaroslav Halak made 19 saves.
Jets 4, Red Wings 3 — Patrik Laine scored his 32rd and 33rd goals of the season to help host Winnipeg beat De- troit, its sixth win in eight.
Dustin Byfuglien and Ben Chiarot also scored and Con- nor Hellebuyck made 30 saves for his 33rd victory of the season.
Rangers 3, Flames 1 — Henrik Lundqvist became the first goalie to stop 50 or more shots in consecutive victories since the NHL began tracking saves in 1955, lifting New York in Calgary.
Lundqvist tied a career high with 50 stops on his 36th birthday. No Rangers goalie had made 50 saves in a win since Mike Richter in 1996 before Lundqvist beat Vancou- ver 6-5 in overtime Wednesday night.
“We kept them under 55 (shots) today, so we made his night a little lighter,” Rangers defenseman Marc Staal joked.
Recently acquired center Ryan Spooner led New York with a goal and an assist. The 26-year-old has one goal and six assists in three games since he was dealt for Rick Nash.
Hurricanes 3, Devils 1 — Teuvo Teravainen and Justin Williams scored in the third period and host Carolina overcame yet another goal by New Jersey’s Taylor Hall.
Teravainen’s redirection at 9:37 of the third period made it 2-1, and Williams added an empty-net goal with 21 seconds remaining. Derek Ryan also scored and Cam Ward stopped 25 shots to help Carolina to its second straight win since dropping six straight.
The Hurricanes temporarily pulled into a tie with Co- lumbus for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.
Panthers 4, Sabres 1 — In Sunrise, Fla., Aleksander Barkov scored his 24th goal of the season, James Reimer made 24 saves in his first start in six games and surging Florida beat Buffalo. The Panthers have won five straight and are 12-3-0 in their past 15.
Avalanche 7, Wild 1 — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and three assists, Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists and Colorado thrashed Minnesota for its 13th win in 14 home games.
Elsewhere in the NHL — Linesman Don Henderson’s lawsuit against former Calgary Flames defenseman Den- nis Wideman has been set aside by a judge to be handled by an arbitrator within the league. The $10.25 million lawsuit was filed by Henderson after he was hit from behind during a 2016 game against the Nashville Predators.