Panarin scores tying goal, shootout winner as the Rangers edge Islanders
NEW YORK >> Artemi Panarin scored late in the third period to tie game and tallied the shootout winner as the New York Rangers rallied to defeat the New York Islanders 3-2 for a franchise-record 54th win on Saturday.
Igor Shesterkin made 33 saves, Braden Schneider scored a short-handed goal and Vincent Trocheck ended the shootout with another goal as the Rangers inched closer to winning the Presidents’ Trophy for the NHL’s best regular-season record.
Panarin scored to the open the shootout against Ilya Sorokin. After Kyle Palmieri hit the post and Brock Nelson was stopped by Shesterkin, Trocheck ended the exciting game between the long-time rivals with a shot into the lower corner of the net that ended the Islanders’ six game winning streak.
Brock Nelson had scored twice in second period to put the Islanders ahead 2-1 but Panarin scored his 48th goal with 4:17 remaining to tie the game and help the Rangers end a two-game slide.
The Islanders are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games and moved closer to clinching a playoff spot, thanks to their late-season surge under Patrick Roy who replaced Lane Lambert as head coach on Jan. 20. The Islanders are third in the Metropolitan Division with 90 points and two games remaining.
Sorokin finished with 40 saves.
STARS 3, KRAKEN 1 >> Defenseman Miro Heiskanen had a goal and two assists, and Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist as the Dallas Stars beat the Seattle Kraken 3-1 on Saturday to clinch the Central Division title for the first time in eight years.
Craig Smith also scored for the Stars, who remain in contention for both the top seed in the Western Conference and the Presidents’ Trophy with one game to play in the regular season.
Heiskanen scored Dallas’ final goal on a wrap-around with 7:37 left to play for his fourth game of at least three points this season.
The Stars’ other goals came late in periods. Smith with 2.5 seconds left in the first period and Robertson with 35.9 left in the second, coming on a 5-on-3 power play.
Three Seattle shots struck either the crossbar or a post.
Jake Oettinger stopped 26 shots. Kailer Yamamoto spoiled Oettinger’s bid to shut out Seattle for the second time in two weeks late in the third period.
JETS 7, AVALANCHE 0 >> Josh Morrissey and Adam Lowry scored 10 seconds apart in a four-goal first period that chased Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev from the net, and the Winnipeg Jets moved into the driver’s seat for the Central Division’s second seed with a 7-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves for his fifth shutout of the season.
Sean Monahan and Lowry each had two goals, while Gabriel Vilardi and Tyler Toffoli also scored to help the Jets extend their win streak to six in a row. Winnipeg led 7-0 after two periods as 10 players had a point. It’s the first time in franchise history the team has scored seven consecutive goals in a game, according to NHL Stats.
The Dallas Stars wrapped up the Central Division title by beating Seattle earlier in the day. It set the stage for Colorado and Winnipeg meeting in the first round, with all that remains to sort out is which team has homeice advantage. The Jets are two points ahead of the Avalanche for the No. 2 spot in the division with two games to play. They also hold the tiebreaker. SENATORS 5, CANADIENS 4 >> Brady Tkachuk had two goals and an assist, Drake Batherson scored the only goal in the shootout and the Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 on Saturday night.
Shane Pinto and Thomas Chabot also scored for Ottawa, which swept the season series against the Canadiens 3-0 and extended its winning streak against Montreal to nine games.
CAPITALS 4, LIGHTNING 2 >> John Carlson scored the goahead goal on a power play with 11:31 left, Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves in another strong performance when his team needed him and the Washington Capitals kept their playoff hopes alive by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Saturday.
Sonny Milano scored twice and Nic Dowd provided an insurance goal with 3:14 remaining as the Capitals won for just the second time in nine games to at least temporarily move into the Eastern Conference’s second and final wild-card spot. They may need to win their final two games of the season to return to the postseason after missing last year.
PANTHERS 3, SABRES 2 >> Sam Reinhart got his 55th goal of the season with 1:02 left in overtime, and the Florida Panthers clinched home ice for at least Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs by beating the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in the next-to-last regular-season game for both teams on Saturday.
Reinhart took a pass from Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov and delivered the winner. Anton Lundell and Kevin Stenlund also scored for Florida, and Matthew Tkachuk had an assist — his 60th of the season, the third straight year he’s had that many. FLYERS 1, DEVILS 0 >> Travis Konecny scored a shorthanded breakaway goal and Samuel Ersson stopped 20 shots to keep the Philadelphia Flyers’ miniscule postseason hopes alive with one game left to play in a 1-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.
The Flyers entered Saturday with two games left while Pittsburgh, Washington and Detroit all had three games remaining as they competed for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
RED WINGS 5, MAPLE LEAFS 4 >> Dylan Larkin scored on a power play 41 seconds into overtime and the Detroit Red Wings overcame Auston Matthews’ 69th goal of the season to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Saturday night.
Alex DeBrincat scored twice, David Perron had a goal and an assist, Simon Edvinsson also scored and J.T. Compher had two assists for Detroit, which led 4-1 after one period. James Reimer stopped 32 shots against his former team in his 500th NHL game.