Johnson’s hat trick keys Lightning win
Tyler Johnson’s slow start seems like a long time ago now. Johnson had three goals, Jake Dotchin scored a tie-breaking goal midway through the third period, and the host Tampa Bay Lightning beat Carolina 5-4 on Tuesday night.
“Just being in the right spot at the right time,” Johnson said.
NHL-leading Tampa Bay also got a goal from Victor Hedman, and Brayden Point had three assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.
“It was a good game all around,” said Johnson, who has 12 of his 16 goals since Dec. 1.
Justin Faulk, Elias Lindholm, Brock McGinn and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes. Cam Ward stopped 29 shots.
“It’s tough,” Faulk said. “They’re at the top of the standings for a reason. When they get those leads, they do a pretty job of either building on them or keeping them.”
Dotchin made it 4-3 with his first goal in 14 games at 9:27 of the third. Johnson then completed his third regular-season hat trick when he stole the puck from Noah Hanifin and scored from just outside the crease at 14:54.
Lindholm scored with 1:18 left to cut it to 5-4, but the Lightning hung on. Flames 3, Wild 2: Dougie Hamilton scored 2:39 into overtime to lift visiting Calgary to its season-high fourth straight win. Micheal Ferland and Sean Monahan each had a goal and an assist. Mikael Granlund and Jared Spurgeon scored for Minnesota, which lost for just the third time in its past 14 home games. Predators 2, Oilers 1: Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist, helping host Nashville to its 11th consecutive win against Edmonton. Craig Smith also scored for the Predators. Connor McDavid scored for the Oilers, who have lost seven of eight. Panthers 7, Blues 4: Vincent Trocheck had two goals and an assist, helping visiting Florida snap a threegame losing streak. Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov each had a goal and two assists. Vladimir Tarasenko and Paul Stastny each had a goal and an assist for St.Louis, and Colton Parayko and Tage Thompson also scored. Blackhawks 8, Senators 2: Nick Schmaltz and Jonathan Toews each scored two goals and Patrick Kane had a goal and four assists, and visiting Chicago routed Ottawa. Richard Panik, Patrick Sharp and Jan Rutta also scored for the Blackhawks. Anton Forsberg made 25 saves. Mark Stone and Derick Brassard scored for the Senators. Capitals 3, Canucks 1: John Carlson, Lars Eller and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored to help host Washington beat Vancouver for its fifth consecutive victory. Backup goalie Philipp Grubauer stopped 37 of 38 shots in his third win this season, the Capitals’ NHL-best 10th straight home win. Jets 7, Sabres 4: Kyle Connor had two goals and an assist and Nikolaj Ehlers also scored twice, leading visiting Winnipeg to its third straight victory. Patrik Laine and Dustin Byfuglien also scored for the Jets. Joel Armia added an empty-netter. Jack Eichel had two goals and an assist and Ryan O’Reilly had a goal for Buffalo.