NHL ROUNDUP
Lightning 4, Maple Leafs 1
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 48 saves in his return from a broken left foot and Tampa Bay beat Toronto on Thursday night in a matchup of the NHL's top two teams. Alex Killorn and Tyler Johnson both scored for Tampa Bay during the final 36 seconds of the second period to make it 4-1. Vasilevskiy, who missed the previous 14 games, stopped all 23 shots he faced in the period. Anthony Cirelli and Nikita Kucherov also had goals for the Lightning (25-7-1), who have won eight in a row and lead Toronto by eight points in the Atlantic Division. The franchise record is a nine-game winning streak in 2016. Tampa Bay scored three times on 12 shots in the second. Killorn put home a backhand with 35.8 seconds left, and Johnson converted from the slot with 1.7 seconds to go. Toronto got a goal from Kasperi Kapanen, and Frederik Andersen stopped 17 shots. The Maple Leafs have lost three of four (1-2-1) after a five-game winning streak. Vasilevskiy got his glove on Patrick Marleau's point-blank chance and then trapped the loose puck with his pad early in the third. The Maple Leafs hit the crossbar or post three times in the first and Vasilevskiy made a left pad save on John Tavares' in-close backhand late in the period. Nazem Kadri had a nifty deflection stopped by Vasilevskiy and also hit the post during a power play midway through the second. Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead on Kucherov's power-play goal at 5:31 of the second that required a video review. A no-goal call on the ice was overturned when officials determined Andersen's glove save came behind the goal line. Kucherov also had an assist and has six goals and 29 points over the last 15 games.
Sabres 3, Coyotes 1
Jeff Skinner scored his 22nd goal of the season and Buffalo beat Arizona. Casey Mittelstadt and Evan Rodrigues also had goals for the Sabres, who won their second straight following a five-game skid. Carter Hutton returned after missing Buffalo's previous two games with an upper-body injury and made 25 saves. The Sabres improved to 11-3-2 at home, matching their win total from last season at KeyBank Center. Christian Fischer scored for Arizona and Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots. The Coyotes have lost four in a row after a four-game winning streak.
Blue Jackets 4, Kings 1
Artemi Panarin scored twice, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 shots and Columbus beat Los Angeles. Lukas Sedlak and Josh Anderson also scored and Cam Atkinson had assists on both Panarin goals as the Blue Jackets snapped a two-game losing streak and held on to second place in the Metropolitan Division, three points behind Washington. Dustin Brown had the lone goal and Jonathan Quick had 37 saves for the injury-ravaged Kings, who have lost three in a row and seven of their last nine while slipping to the bottom of the Pacific Division.
Canadiens 6, Hurricanes 4
Jeff Petry scored twice and Casey Price made 28 saves for his fourth consecutive victory as Montreal defeated Carolina. Matthew Peca, Brendan Gallagher, Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Shaw also scored for the Canadiens, who have won four of their last five games. Phillip Danault and Kenny Agostino each had two assists. Andrei Svechnikov had two goals, and Jaccob Slavin and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes. Petr Mrazek made 34 saves in place of injured Curtis McElhinney. The Canadiens were coming off a season-worst 7-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. The teams combined for seven goals in a back-and-forth third period.
Wild 5, Panthers 1
Nino Niederreiter scored twice, Ryan Suter had three assists and Devan Dubnyk finished with 30 saves as Minnesota defeated Florida. Eric Staal, Zach Parise and Jonas Brodin also scored for Minnesota, which was coming off a 7-1 win over Montreal on Tuesday. Niederreiter added an assist and has four goals in the last three games. Denis Malgin scored his second goal of the season for Florida. James Reimer stopped 21 shots for the Panthers, who are winless in their last four games.