Penguins up to 2nd place in division
PITTSBURGH: Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary scored power-play goals and Scott Wilson picked up his eighth of the season as the Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Sunday.
Matt Murray finished with 33 saves for the Penguins, who moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division with a week to go in the regular season.
Jeff Skinner collected his 33rd goal of the season for Carolina and Justin Faulk’s 17th of the year halfway through the third period gave the Hurricanes momentum but Pittsburgh tightened up in front of Murray to beat Carolina for the seventh straight time.
Eddie Lack made 23 stops for the Hurricanes in his first start since being taken to the hospital with a strained neck last week. The loss inched Carolina closer to missing the play-offs for an eighth consecutive season.
In Columbus, Braden Holtby stopped 35 shots, Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist and Washington held on to beat Columbus 3-2.
TJ Oshie and Matt Niskanen also scored for the Capitals, who improved to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. Washington lead Pittsburgh by five points in the Metropolitan Division. The Blue Jackets are another point back in third.
Holtby’s 41st win of the season also tied him with his Blue Jackets counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky for best in the league.
Oscar Lindberg and Chris Kreider scored 2:09 minutes apart in the third period, and New York held on to beat Philadelphia 4-3 for their first home victory in six weeks.
Mika Zibanejad and Brendan Smith scored in the first period, and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 20 shots to help the Rangers win at Madison Square Garden.