Hat trick, with an asterisk, sends Rangers past Bruins
Artemi Panarin needed to beat a goaltender only once to notch his seventh hat trick and third this season, leading the New York Rangers past host Boston 5-2 in a battle of division leaders Thursday.
Panarin was credited with his second goal of the night when Bruins right wing Jake Debrusk knocked the puck into the Boston net with 35 seconds left in the second period. Panarin capped the hat trick with an empty-net goal with 52 seconds left in the Rangers’ third win in four games. They closed within one point of the Bruins for the NHL’S best record.
■ Devils 4, Jets 1: At Newark, N.J., Jack Hughes scored two of New Jersey’s three power-play goals, and brother Luke Hughes had a career-best three assists as the Devils had a 41-19 edge in shots and halted Winnipeg’s three-game win streak. Ex-golden Knight Laurent Brossoit, who stopped 37 shots, had his five-game win streak snapped.
■ Blues 5, Senators 2: At Ottawa, Ontario, Jordan Kyrou had a goal and two assists to back Joel Hofer, who stopped 37 shots, as St. Louis won for the fifth time in six games and moved within two points of the Golden Knights for the West’s final playoff berth.
■ Predators 3, Panthers 0: At Sunrise, Fla., Filip Forsberg had two goals and an assist, Kevin Lankinen stopped 33 shots in his third shutout and first this season, and Nashville extended its point streak to a franchise-record 16 straight games (140-2).
■ Hurricanes 3, Flyers 2, OT: At
Raleigh, N.C., Seth Jarvis scored 1:28 into overtime in Carolina’s fifth straight win and eighth in nine games. Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots to improve to 5-0-0.
■ Red Wings 6, Islanders 3: At Detroit, Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp scored twice for Detroit, which won for the third time in four games. New York had a 36-24 edge in shots in its sixth straight loss.
■ Oilers 8, Sabres 3: At Edmonton, Alberta, defenseman Mattias Ekholm had two goals and an assist for Edmonton, which scored five unanswered goals in the third period of its fourth win in five games.
■ Canucks 4, Canadiens 1: At Vancouver, British Columbia, Nikita Zadorov scored twice in the first period as Vancouver improved to 6-1-1 in its past eight games. Montreal lost its fourth in a row.
■ Ducks 4, Blackhawks 0: At Anaheim, Calif., Lukas Dostal stopped 29 shots in his first shutout, Alex Killorn scored twice in the second period, and Anaheim halted a seven-game slide.
■ Lightning 4, Sharks 1: At San Jose Calif., Brayden Point had two goals and an assist in Tampa Bay’s fifth straight win. San Jose lost its sixth in a row and 15th in 16 games.