Bobrovsky makes 29 saves as Panthers stay undefeated
The Florida Panthers became the 14th team in NHL history to start 7-0-0 by beating the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Wednesday night — with coach Joel Quenneville on the bench a day after he was named in a report about the Chicago Blackhawks improperly handling sexual assault claims.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves for the Panthers, and Eetu Luostarinen scored the go-ahead goal. Anthony Duclair and Mason Marchment also scored, and Owen Tippett added an empty-net goal. Sam Reinhart and Gustav Forsling each had two assists.
“It gets more and more fun every game,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. “We just keep working and find a way to get better and we’re having a lot of fun. And I don’t think anybody wants to stop.”
Charlie Coyle scored for the Bruins, and Linus Ullmark made 23 saves in his third consecutive start.
Quenneville is scheduled to meet with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Thursday about the report, which detailed an investigation into how the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks — the team Quenneville coached to the Stanley Cup — did not promptly and properly handle sexual assault claims a player made against an assistant coach.
Quenneville was not made available to the media after the game.
William Nylander scored in overtime to lift Toronto over Chicago.
The Leafs snapped a fourgame losing streak with the victory, and extended the Blackhawks’ record to 0-6-1 since the start of the season.
John Tavares and David Kampf also scored for Toronto,
and Jack Campbell stopped 25 shots. Chicago got 36 saves from Kevin Lankinen, and goals from Kirby Dach and Alex DeBrincat.
Robby Fabbri tied it early in the third period, captain Dylan Larkin scored in overtime and Detroit came back to beat Washington.
Alex Ovechkin scored his eighth goal of the season and Evgeny Kuznetsov his fifth to stake Washington to a 2-0 lead. Ovechkin’s goal was the 738th of his career, putting him three back of Brett Hull for fourth on the NHL career list.
Lightning’s Kucherov out 8-10 weeks
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov is expected to be out 8-10 weeks after undergoing an unspecified surgery for an unspecified lower-body injury.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions announced Kucherov’s prognosis with no additional details Wednesday. The timeframe would mean Kucherov could be back playing just before or after the New Year.
Kucherov was Tampa Bay’s leading scorer on each of the past two Stanley Cup runs. He missed the entire regular season last year recovering from hip surgery and returned for the first game of the playoffs.
Kings’ Doughty out
Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty will be out for about eight weeks with a bruised right knee.
Doughty will need six weeks of recovery from the first significant injury of his 14-year NHL career before he begins skating again. The Kings hope the 2016 Norris Trophy winner can return to the lineup in less than two months, Kings general manager Rob Blake said.