BC’s Demko victorious in NHL debut
Former Boston College star Thatcher Demko made 26 saves in his first NHL start, and Alex Edler scored 1:21 into overtime to give the Canucks a wild 5-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets yesterday in Vancouver, British Columbia, after blowing a three-goal lead in the final four minutes of regulation.
Jussi Jokinen had a goal and two assists against his former team, and Darren Archibald, Bo Horvat and Nikolay Goldobin also scored for the Canucks, who tied a season-high with their fourth straight win and fifth in six games after a sevengame skid.
Seth Jones had a goal and three assists, and Pierre-Luc Dubois, Zach Werenski and Cam Atkinson scored in a 2:27 span in the final four minutes of regulation for the Blue Jackets, who are 12-1-1 in their last 14 games.
Demko, picked 36th overall in the 2014 draft, was called up from AHL Utica because backup goalie Anders Nilsson has the flu.
Jets 3, Maple Leafs 1 — Josh Morrissey and Dustin Byfuglien scored 1:10 apart in the second period as Winnipeg won in Toronto.
Andrew Copp had the other goal for Winnipeg, while Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 shots in a matchup of the only two Canadian teams headed to the playoffs. Patrick Marleau scored for Toronto, and Curtis McElhinney had 26 saves.
Devils 4, Islanders 3 — In Newark, N.J., Taylor Hall scored two goals and New Jersey beat New York to take took a major step toward its first playoff berth since 2012.
Coupled with Florida’s 5-1 loss to the Bruins, the Devils opened a five-point lead over the Panthers in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, and moved within a point of idle Philadelphia for the top wild-card spot. Both teams have four games left in the regular season, one fewer than Florida.
Stefan Noesen and Blake Coleman each had a goal and assist and Keith Kinkaid had 27 saves as the Devils won for the seventh time in 10 games (7-2-1). Tanner Fritz, Anthony Beauvillier and Chris Wagner scored for the Islanders, who have lost 16 of their last 19.
Penguins 5, Canadiens 2 — Patric Hornqvist picked up his 200th career goal and two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh clinched its 12th straight playoff berth by beating visiting Montreal.
Phil Kessel, Riley Sheahan, Conor Sheary and Carl Hagelin also scored for the Penguins, which improved to 17-1-1 in their last 19 games at PPG Paints Arena. Matt Murray had with 24 saves.
Jeff Petry and Jonathan Drouin scored for the Canadiens, who lost for the fifth time in seven games.
Rangers 2, Hurricanes 1 — In Raleigh, N.C., Ryan Sproul scored, Kevin Hayes added a shorthanded goal and Henrik Lundqvist made 40 saves as New York eliminated Carolina from the playoff race.
Red Wings 2, Senators 0 — Jimmy Howard stopped 31 shots for his first shutout of the season, and 24th of his career, while Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou scored as host Detroit beat Ottawa.
Elsewhere in the NHL — The playoff-chasing Colorado Avalanche received a big blow when goalie Semyon Varlamov and defenseman Erik Johnson were ruled out for the remainder of the regular season due to injuries.