Vasilevskiy lifts Lightning to a victory over Kings

TAMPA, FLA. » Andrei Vasilevskiy made 44 saves, Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist, and the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 Saturday night.

Tampa Bay also got goals from Alex Killorn, Cedric Paquette and Nikita Kucherov.

Jonny Brodzinski, Kyle Clifford and Christian Folin scored for the Kings, who nearly came back from a three-goal deficit entering the third period. Jonathan Quick stopped 13 of 14 shots after replacing Darcy Kuemper early in the second.

The Lightning retired Vincent Lecavalier’s No. 4 during a pregame ceremony. Lecavalier, who tops the franchise list for game played (1,037) and goals (383), joined Martin St. Louis as the only Tampa Bay players to have their jerseys retired. SABRES 4, BRUINS 2 » Scott Wilson had a goal and an assist during Buffalo’s big second period, helping the Sabres cool off Tuukka Rask and the Bruins.

Evander Kane and Benoit Pouliot also scored during the second and Rasmus Ristolainen added an empty-netter with 29 seconds remaining. Former Bruins goalie Chad Johnson made 25 saves.

The Sabres had lost four of five and enteBuffalo star Jack Eichel left midway into the opening period, favoring his right knee after falling awkwardly on a check by Boston defenseman Matt Grzelcyk along the boards behind the Bruins’ net. MAPLE LEAFS 6, SENATORS 3 » Mitch Marner had two goals and three assists, helping Toronto to its seventh win in eight games. PREDATORS 3, CANADIENS 2 » Ryan Ellis scored the only goal in the shootout, sending the Predators to the win. Scott Hartnell and Kevin Fiala scored in regulation for Nashville. BLUE JACKETS 6, DEVILS 1 » Artemi Panarin and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had a goal and an assist, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 35 shots and Columbus snapped a five-game losing streak. WILD 3, BLACKHAWKS 0 » Devan Dubnyk made a season-high 44 saves and Charlie Coyle scored twice, leading the Wild to the victory. HURRICANES 3, AVALANCHE 1 » Brock McGinn scored twice, powering Carolina to the win.

Capitals sign Eller to $17.5M deal

WASHINGTON » The Capitals have signed center Lars Eller to a $17.5 million, five-year contract extension.

Eller will count $3.5 million against the salary cap through the 2022-23 season. General manager Brian MacLellan announced the deal Saturday. The 28-year-old Dane was in the final year of his contract with the Capitals and would have become a free agent on July 1.