Lightning’s defense shines in shutout
The NHL’s highest-scoring team leaned on its defense to snap a two-game losing streak.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves in his second shutout of the season, and the Lightning got goals from defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Dan Girardi in a 2-0 victory in Buffalo on Tuesday night.
“When you’re on a little bit of a slide, we’re just trying to get back to basics,” Tampa Bay forward Tyler Johnson said. “Keep it simple, get pucks to the net and get some of those dirty goals.”
Tampa Bay is off to the best start in team history (17-5-2) but had lost consecutive games for the first time this season.
Vasilevskiy leads the NHL with 16 wins and has six career shutouts in 101 starts.
“He’s one of, if not the best goalie in the world right now,” Johnson said.
Robin Lehner stopped 24 shots for the Sabres, who were held scoreless for the second straight game and have lost nine of 10.
“It wasn’t a bad performance but not good enough,” Lehner said. “Good enough is not enough right now. We need to claw back. We need to do something special.”
Stars 3, Golden Knights 0: Radek Faksa scored three goals and Ben Bishop registered his second shutout of the season for visiting Dallas. Faksa scored all of his goals in the second period, and Bishop stopped 34 shots for the Stars. The Knights had won eight straight on their home ice, tying the record for an expansion team set by the Toronto Arenas in 1917-18.
Kings 4, Red Wings 1: Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar scored 2:10 apart late in the second period to put visiting Los Angeles ahead. Jonathan Quick made 23 saves, including some spectacular stops in the second period that
kept Los Angeles down a goal. Adrian Kempe scored early in the period and Kopitar’s second goal of the game gave Los Angeles a three-goal cushion with seven-plus minutes left.
Maple Leafs 4, Flames 1: Roman Polak scored his first goal of the season and Frederik Andersen made 19 saves for visiting Toronto. The game was scoreless until late in the first period when Polak gave the Leafs a lead they would not relinquish with a fluke goal that pinballed off two Calgary players on the way into the net. Nikita Zaitsev, Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov, with an empty-netter, also scored for Toronto.
Islanders 5, Canucks 2: Calvin de Haan and Jordan Eberle scored goals one minute apart in the first period to spark New York at home. Eberle has goals in three straight games and recorded his 400th NHL point. Andrew Ladd, Anders Lee and John Tavares also scored for New York. Thomas Vanek and Bo Horvat scored for Vancouver, and Anders Nilsson stopped 31 shots.
Blue Jackets 3, Hurricanes 2: Cam Atkinson and Artemi Panarin scored in
the Zach shootout Werenski to had lift host a goal Columbus. and an assist, and Josh Anderson also scored for the Blue Jackets, who won their first game after their season-best six-game winning streak ended. Columbus has won five in a row at home. Joonas Korpisalo, making a rare start in place of Sergei Bobrovsky, made 29 saves in regulation and overtime for the Blue Jackets.
Predators 3, Blackhawks 2: Pekka Rinne made 37 saves for host Nashville. Filip Forsberg, Austin Watson and Roman Josi scored goals for the Predators, who have won 10 of 12. Tommy Wingels and Lance Bouma had the goals for Chicago, which had its two-game winning streak snapped.
Panthers 5, Rangers 4: Denis Malgin scored with 1:09 left and visiting Florida recovered after giving up two three-goal leads. Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov, Jamie McGinn and Micheal Haley also scored for Florida. James Reimer finished with 33 saves. On the winning goal, Malgin fired a shot from the inside edge of the left circle to beat goalie Ondrej Pavelec for his first of the season. Chris Kreider had two goals and an assist for New York.
Oilers 3, Coyotes 2: Ryan NugentHopkins scored 4:20 into overtime to give Edmonton the win at home. Zack Kassian and Matt Benning also scored for the Oilers, who have won two in a row for just the second time this season. Christian Fischer and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored for Arizona, which has lost three of its past four.