Elliott propels Flyers in shutout
Brian Elliott made 16 saves for his 40th career shutout in the visiting Philadelphia Flyers’ 30 win over the sinking Detroit Red Wings on Monday night.
It was the Red Wings’ ninth consecutive loss (081), and the second straight time they’ve been shut out. This is their third losing streak of at least eight games this season.
“We’ve just got to play the right way,” Red Wings winger Justin Abdelkader said. “It’s got to be a game — I don’t want to say a perfect game, because there’s never any perfect games — but we’ve got to make sure we’re not giving teams easy chances.”
Scott Laughton, Kevin Hayes and defenseman Matt Niskanen scored for Philadelphia, which has won four of five (401). It was Elliott’s second shutout of the season.
Jonathan Bernier stopped 28 shots for Detroit, which was blanked for the sixth time this season. It was the second time the Red Wings have been shut out in consecutive games.
“I thought we were not very good at all. I thought Bernie kept us in the game,” coach Jeff Blashill said.
Laughton gave the Flyers a 10 lead 9:31 into the second period. He beat Bernier on the short side from the inside edge of the right circle with a shot along the ice.
“I’m just trying to find areas where I can get a chance. Obviously, the team is playing really well and I thought we were good tonight,” Laughton said. “We possessed the puck and created a lot of stuff in the offensive zone.”
Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 3: Mark Pysyk scored three times, his first career hat trick, and Florida beat host Toronto. Mike Hoffman had a goal and an assist for Florida, which trailed 31 early in the third period. Mike Matheson had three assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves in the Panthers’ seventh win in eight games.
Stars 5, Rangers 3: Joe Pavelski scored powerplay goals 16 seconds apart to lead visiting Dallas to victory. Stephen Johns and Blake Comeau scored 4:04 apart in the second period for Dallas, which improved to 30184 with its second straight win. Corey Perry also scored, and Anton Khudobin stopped 33 shots. New York had won two straight coming out of the AllStar break and a bye week as the front office weighs its options ahead of the Feb. 24 trade deadline.