Kings top short-handed Panthers
Kings 4, Panthers 1: Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown scored second-period goals and Jonathan Quick had 41 saves to help visiting Los Angeles defeat shorthanded Florida on Thursday night.
Olli Maatta scored for the first time in 75 games and Arthur Kaliyev added a third-period goal for the Kings, who improved to 3-0-1 in their last four games.
Matt Kiersted scored his first NHL goal and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 31 shots for the Panthers, who played with only 16 skaters, instead of the usual 18, because of a virus outbreak and injuries.
The Panthers had to recall four players from their AHL affiliate in Charlotte earlier Thursday to fill the roster. Forwards Grigori Denisenko and Cole Schwindt, along with defensemen Kiersted and Chase Priskie were brought in for the game. Schwindt made his NHL debut.
“The league goes on,” Panthers forward Sam Reinhart said.
Florida was without seven players because of COVID-19 protocols, including defenseman Aaron Ekblad and forward Frank Vatrano. They were ruled out Thursday, a day after it became clear the Panthers were in the midst of a virus outbreak.
The Panthers said Wednesday that five other players – Sam Bennett, Radko Gudas, Ryan Lomberg, Brandon Montour and Carter Verhaeghe – along with an unidentified member of the team’s travel party were in protocols and also unavailable for the game against the Kings.
But the situation clearly worsened either later Wednesday or early Thursday, with a number of players not on the ice for the team’s morning skate.
“It’s about everybody staying safe and being healthy,” Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. “It’s not easy seeing some guys go into protocol, but we have to play and have to be ready.”
It just wasn’t enough, and Florida went without getting a point for the third consecutive game – the first time such a slump has happened to the Panthers this season.
Kiersted opened the scoring at 14:56 of the first period. Jonathan Huberdeau, from the right circle, centered a pass to the onrushing Kiersted, who took the puck and fired a backhander past Quick.
It was all Kings from there. Maatta tied the score at 17:05 when his centering pass, intended for Trevor Moore, deflected off Weegar’s stick and into the net. It was Maatta’s first goal since Feb. 4. 2020, at Minnesota.
Lightning 2, Senators 1: Andrei Vasilevskiy set an NHL record for wins in a calendar year, Steven Stamkos picked up his 900th career point and host Tampa Bay beat Ottawa.
Vasilevskiy made 25 saves to get his 63rd win in 2021 regular-season and playoff games. He broke the record of 62, established by Pittsburgh goalie MarcAndre Fleury in 2009.
Stamkos and Martin St. Louis (953) are the only Tampa Bay players to reach 900 points. The center is also the 118th NHL player to accomplish the feat.
Victor Hedman had a goal and an assist, and Alex Killorn also scored for the Lightning, who lost 4-0 at Ottawa last Saturday. Tampa Bay is 7-1-1 over the last nine games.
Ottawa’s Anton Forsberg made a number of strong stops among his 25 saves. He recorded his first career shutout in Saturday’s win over Tampa Bay.
The Senators, who had won five of six, got a goal from Thomas Chabot.
Hurricanes 5, Red Wings 3: Nino Niederreiter’s second goal of the game 18 seconds into the third period was the tiebreaker, and the short-handed host Carolina beat Detroit.
Tony DeAngelo and Jack Drury, who made his NHL debut, joined Niederreiter with first-period goals, and Vincent Trocheck added an empty-net score for the Hurricanes, who played with 16 skaters due to COVID protocols.
Frederik Andersen made 23 saves. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Teuvo Teravainen and Martin Necas each had two assists for Carolina.
Sam Gagner, Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the Red Wings. Former Carolina goalie Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 29 shots.
The NHL allowed the Hurricanes, who had a scheduled game Tuesday night at Minnesota postponed, to play with two fewer skaters than normal after calling up three players from the minor leagues under an emergency exemption.
Carolina was without team scoring leader Sebastian Aho, second-leading scorer Andrei Svechnikov, captain Jordan Staal, Ian Cole, Seth Jarvis and Steven Lorentz.
DeAngelo and Brett Pesce, both defensemen, were back on the ice for the Hurricanes after missing seven games because of COVID protocols.
The Red Wings have COVID cases, too. Robby Fabbri and Michael Rasmussen missed their first game of the season.
On Niederreiter’s tiebreaking goal, he collected the puck off the boards and buried a tough-angled shot past Nedeljkovic.
Golden Knights 5, Devils 3: Nicolas Roy scored the last of Vegas’ four straight goals, Robin Lehner made 23 saves and the visiting Golden Knights beat New Jersey for their third straight win.
Dylan Coghlan, William Carrier, William Karlsson and Roy scored for the Golden Knights, who have won six of seven and improved to 5-1-1 all-time against the Devils. Jonathan Marchessault added an empty-net goal with 1:07 left.
The Devils lost their fourth in a row and fell to 2-8-2 in their last 12 games. Jack Hughes, Tomas Tatar and Jimmy Vesey scored for New Jersey. Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves.