Giroux’s go-ahead goal helps spoil Kane’s Rangers debut
NEW YORK » Claude Giroux broke a tie early in the third period, former Ranger Derick Brassard scored twice and the Ottawa Senators beat New York 5-3 on Thursday night to spoil Patrick Kane’s Rangers debut.
The Rangers led 3-2 entering the third after Vladimir Tarasenko scored a highlight-reel goal late in the second, but Ottawa scored twice in a two-minute span, then held on for its fourth straight victory.
Brassard — playing his 1,000th game — tied it at 1:35 with his 11th of the season off an assist from Giroux, who beat netminder Jaroslav Halak for his 26th goal at 3:26 to put Ottawa ahead to stay.
Shane Pinto and Tim Stutzle (empty net) also scored for Ottawa, and Cam Talbot made 29 saves.
Talbot denied Kane with a pad save with five minutes left in the third to preserve the win as the Rangers lost for only the second time in their last eight home games. The Rangers are still 24-8-4 since Dec. 5.
Ottawa has entered the playoff race with an 11-3-1 surge since losing at home to Winnipeg on Jan. 21.
Kane heard loud cheers when he skated out for the pregame warmups as fans cluttered rows on the New York side of the arena for a glimpse of the newest player wearing his customary No. 88.
Kane and his reunited Blackhawks teammate Panarin were the last two off the ice as Kane heard the roar of the crowd again before yet another thunderous during starting lineup introductions. BRUINS 7, SABRES 1 » David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists just a few hours after signing a new contract and surging Boston became the fastest team in NHL history to reach 100 points by beating Buffalo.
Jakub Lauko scored twice, Dmitry Orlov added a goal and two assists and Jeremy Swayman stopped 26 shots as the Bruins overcame the loss of Brad Marchand to a lower body injury to win their ninth straight.
Boston improved to 48-8-5 in its 61st game, besting the Montreal team from 1976-77 that reached 100 points in 62 games. The Bruins are on pace to surpass that Canadiens club for most points (132) in a season.
PENGUINS 5, LIGHTNING 4 » Jason Zucker scored his second goal of the game 2:13 into overtime, and Pittsburgh completed a three-game season sweep of Tampa Bay.
Zucker was wide-open in the slot and one-timed a shot past Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Penguins moved into the first wild card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, a point ahead of the New York Islanders.
KRAKEN 5, RED WINGS 4 » Oliver Bjorkstrand scored on a power play with 1:27 left in overtime, lifting Seattle to a win over Detroit.
The Kraken, in their second NHL season, are on pace to make its first postseason appearance as a Western Conference wild card or as one of the top three teams in the Pacific Division.
PREADTORS 2, PANTHERS 1 » Kevin Lankinen made 30 saves and Nashville put a dent in Florida’s playoff hopes.
Matt Duchene and John Leonard each scored for Nashville, which also beat Florida 7-3 at home on
Feb. 18. The Predators have won four of their last five games overall despite trading away a number of their key players before the NHL trade deadline which comes Friday.
Bruins lock up Pastrnak with 8-year, $90M deal
BOSTON » The Bruins were already on pace for the best record in NHL history when they added toughness and depth for what they hope will be a long playoff run this spring.
Now general manager Don Sweeney has helped secure the team’s future, too.
Boston signed All-Star forward David Pastrnak to an eight-year contract extension on Thursday that will pay $90 million — the sixth-richest deal in NHL history. The deal locks up one of the league’s MVP candidates through the 203031 season for $11.25 million per year.
“Our goal was all along to make him a lifelong Bruin,” Sweeney said. “We’re very happy to have David be a part of our team now and for the foreseeable future.”
Pastrnak, 26, is second to Edmonton’s Connor McDavid this season with 42 goals, adding 38 assists.