Lightning’s lead slim after loss to Coyotes
Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist to lead the Arizona Coyotes to a 4-1 win against the Lightning last night in Tampa.
Tampa Bay has been in first place in the Eastern Conference since Oct. 19 but is just two points ahead of the Bruins, who have played two fewer games. The B’s can pull even with a win tonight in Winnipeg.
The Coyotes got two goals from defensemen as Trevor Murphy and Jacob Chychrun each scored to help Arizona improve to 17-12-6 since January. Brendan Perlini also scored for the Coyotes, and Antti Raanta had 19 saves.
Sabres 3, Maple Leafs 2 — Jack Eichel scored his second goal of the game midway through the third period to help last-place Buffalo end Toronto’s club-record home winning streak at 13 games.
Casey Nelson had the other goal for Buffalo, which got 39 saves from Chad Johnson to end a fourgame slide. Zemgus Girgensons added two assists.
Panthers 3, Islanders 0 — Evgenii Dadonov had a goal and an assist, and James Reimer stopped 32 shots for his fourth shutout of the season as visiting Florida moved closer to a playoff spot with shutout in New York.
Keith Yandle also had a goal and assist, and Nick Bjugstad scored to help Florida win for the 13th time in 17 games (13-3-1).
Capitals 4, Rangers 2 — Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 45th goal and Washington extended its winning streak to four games by beating host New York.
T.J. Oshie, Matt Niskanen and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for Washington. Nicklas Backstrom, who had four assists in a win against Montreal on Saturday, added two more to give him 44 this season.
Hurricanes 4, Senators 1 — Warren Foegele had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut, and Carolina beat Ottawa in Raleigh, N.C.
Brock McGinn and Valentin Zykov scored 98 seconds apart in the second period.
Canadiens 4, Red Wings 2 — Brendan Gallagher scored twice, including his 30th goal of the season, and Carey Price snapped a seven-game losing streak as host Montreal defeated Detroit.
Elsewhere in the NHL — The Minnesota Wild signed Boston University standout Jordan Greenway to a threeyear, entry-level contract. He is expected to join the Wild in time for tonight’s game at Nashville . . . .
Northeastern’s top forward line — Adam Gaudette, Dylan Sikura and Nolan Stevens — all signed with their NHL teams. Gaudette will forego his final season of collegiate eligibility to sign with the Vancouver Canucks, while Sikura and Stevens will join Chicago and St. Louis, respectively. All three will report directly to their NHL clubs . . . .
Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno is expected to miss 2-4 weeks with a lower-body injury.