NHL ROUNDUP
Bruins 5, Islanders 2
Patrice Bergeron scored three goals to lead Boston to a victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night, giving the Bruins at least a point for the 15th consecutive game. Brad Marchand had a goal and two assists as Boston improved to 11-0-4 since its last regulation loss Dec. 14 against Washington — its best stretch since going 15-0-1 from March 2-30, 2014. Ryan Spooner had a goal and an assist, and Anton Khudobin stopped 22 shots. Jordan Eberle and John Tavares scored for New York, which has dropped seven of 10 — with each of the losses coming in regulation. Jaroslav Halak made 29 saves while facing fewer than 35 shots for the first time in his last 11 games. Bergeron completed his third career hat trick — just 12 days after a four-goal, five-point night at home against Carolina — when he took a pass from Marchand, spun and fired the puck in from the left circle at 3:45 of the third period. It was his 19th goal of the season. Tavares pulled the Islanders within two with about 5 1/2 minutes remaining with his 25th goal. Marchand capped the scoring with his 20th with just over a minute to go. Boston won for the second straight night after giving up the first goal of the game in the first period. The Bruins did the same thing in a 4-1 win at home against Montreal on Wednesday night. In this one, they took control with two goals in the second period and sealed it with two more in the third. Spooner put Boston ahead 2-1 near the midpoint of the second. Off a faceoff in the Islanders' zone to Halak's left, Spooner backhanded the puck past the goalie for his seventh at 9:47. Just 15 seconds after New York's Anders Lee was sent off for tripping, Bergeron extended the Bruins' lead to 3-1. After Torey Krug's initial shot went off Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech's leg, Bergeron got the puck on the right side and beat Halak for his 18th of the season with 6:11 left in the middle period. Krug got his 200th career assist. Eberle got the Islanders on the scoreboard 7:35 into the game. Mathew Barzal intercepted Brandon Carlo's pass in the Bruins' zone and passed to a streaking Eberle, who beat Khudobin from the inside edge of the right circle for his 15th. Barzal got his 32nd assist and 47th point — both tops among all NHL rookies. The Bruins tied it with 6:19 left in the first when Bergeron took a pass from Marchand and fired it past Halak from the inside edge of the right circle.
Devils 4, Capitals 3
Taylor Hall scored on a breakaway 34 seconds into overtime and New Jersey beat Washington. Sami Vatanen collected his third assist of the game on the winning goal, a shot over the shoulder of goaltender Braden Holtby. Drew Stafford, Andy Greene and Miles Wood also scored for the Devils, who have won two straight after breaking a sixgame winless streak (0-3-3). Keith Kinkaid had 16 saves and the Devils killed off all five Washington power plays. Brett Connolly scored twice and Dmitry Orlov had a goal for the Capitals, who lost for only the second time in eight games. The Capitals, however, extended their streak of getting a point against New Jersey to 14 games (12-0-2). Holtby made 28 saves, but gave up three breakaway goals. Coming off a midseason break, the Capitals struggled to find their skating legs and didn't pick up their game until the third period. Connolly eventually tied it with 3:48 left in regulation beating a screened Kinkaid after taking a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Devils had taken leads of 1-0 and 3-1 midway through the second period before Washington rallied. Fourteen seconds after Wood scored on a breakaway to give New Jersey a two-goal lead, Orlov ripped a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle past Kinkaid. Greene had given the Devils a 2-1 lead 3:33 into the second period, beating Holtby in close on a counter attack. Former Capital Marcus Johansson made a nice pass to send Stafford on a breakaway and he beat Holtby with a backhander at 8:01 of the first period. It was his second goal in three games after being a healthy scratch for seven straight. Connolly tied it a little more than four minutes later, firing a puck into an open net after Lars Eller redirected T.J. Oshie's pass to the other side of the net.
Rangers 4, Sabres 3
Pavel Buchnevich scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period, lifting the New York Rangers over Buffalo. Rick Nash scored twice for the second straight game and Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves for the Rangers, who won their second straight after three consecutive losses. Buchnevich knocked the puck past Robin Lehner at 16:02, a minute after the Sabres had tied it for the third time on a goal by Rasmus Ristolainen. The goal was the 12th of the season for Buchnevich, who also had two assists. The Rangers (24-17-5) have won 11 of their last 14 games against Buffalo, which fell to an Eastern Conference-worst 11-25-9. Buffalo defenseman Justin Falk had tied the contest with his first goal of the season when his long slot eluded Lundqvist at 17:10 of the second. Falk's shot from the point slid through just as Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei and Sabres forward Sam Reinhart skated in front of Lundqvist and seemed to hamper his view. Falk's previous goal came 100 games ago in March 2015, when he was playing for Columbus. J.T. Miller, who scored the overtime winner when the Rangers beat the Sabres 3-2 in the Winter Classic at Citi Field on Jan. 1, scored midway through the second to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Miller's 10th goal came on the power-play at 8:26 of the second when he rifled the puck past Lehner. David Desharnais assisted. Lundqvist has dominated the Sabres in recent seasons with an 8-2-0 record since Oct. 31, 2013. He improved to 21-11-4 on the season. Nash opened the scoring at 1:24 of the first on a breakaway, beating Lehner high to the glove side. Nash has points in nine of last 14 games against the Sabres with 11 goals and five assists overall. Nash hadn't scored in 12 games before his two-goal performance in a 5-1 over Philadelphia on Tuesday. The 33-year-old right wing, who has 429 career goals, could become an unrestricted free agent in July after his current eight-year contract expires. Sabres forward Kyle Okposo knotted the score at 1 with his eighth goal at 18:41 of the first. He slid a rebound past Lundqvist, with assists to Reinhart and Jack Eichel, who has 18 points in his last 13 games. Nash scored his second of the game and 13th of the season at 6:49 of the third to snap a 2-2 tie, but Ristolainen tied the contest at 3 with a power-play goal at 15:01.