Schneider, Devils sharp
Goalie makes 30 stops for 1st shutout since last season
Cory Schneider made 30 saves in posting his first shutout since November 2017 and New Jersey beat undermanned Ottawa 4-0 in a game in which both teams gave indications they were getting ready to make trades in the next few days.
Travis Zajac, Steven Santini, Kurtis Gabriel and Miles Wood scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games.
Anders Nilsson had 27 saves for the Senators, whose 22-33-5 record is the worst in the NHL this season.
Mark Stone, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel, the Senators’ first, second- and fourth-leading scorers, were all healthy scratches. Wild 4, Rangers 1: Zach Parise had a goal and an assist, and Minnesota ended a five-game skid with a win over New York. Mikael Granlund and Jared Spurgeon also scored and Jordan Greenway added an empty-net goal. Devan Dubnyk made 33 saves for the Wild, who earned their first victory since Feb. 9 at New Jersey. Despite their recent struggles, the Wild are still in the race for one of the final playoff spots in the Western Conference. Pavel Buchnevich scored for the Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves.
Lightning 2, Sabres 1 (SO): Nikita Kucherov became the fastest player to 100 points in a season since Mario Lemieux, and he and Steven Stamkos scored in the shootout to lift Tampa Bay. Kucherov became the league’s first 100-point player this season with his 30th goal. He got there in 62 games, one more than it took Lemieux in 1996-97. Andrei Vasilevskiy had 29 saves and stopped both shootout attempts he faced. Rasmus Dahlin scored for Buffalo, and Carter Hutton stopped 39 shots.
Oilers 4, Islanders 3 (OT): Connor Mcdavid scored 1:22 into overtime to lift Edmonton over New York. The Islanders scored three times in the first period, but could not connect again. Capitals 3, Maple Leafs 2: Alex Ovechkin scored the 650th goal of his career and Braden Holtby made 40 saves as Washington defeated Toronto. Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist, and Brett Connolly also scored for Washington, which won consecutive games for the first time in two weeks. Lars Eller added two assists. Andreas Johnsson and John Tavares scored for Toronto. Frederik Andersen made 25 stops.
Sharks 4, Penguins 0: Tomas Hertl scored a pair of first-period power-play goals, Martin Jones stopped 26 shots and San Jose took advantage of sloppy play by Pittsburgh. Brent Burns picked up his 12th of the season, and Evander Kane added a shorthanded goal for the Sharks, who beat Casey Desmith three times in the opening 14 minutes. Hurricanes 4, Panthers 3: Justin Williams had two goals and an assist and Carolina rallied from two goals down to beat Florida. Nino Niederreiter had a goal and an assist, and Justin Faulk also scored a goal Florida, which has won seven of its past nine games. Peter Mrazek made 27 saves.
Canadiens 5, Flyers 1: Brendan Gallagher earned his first career hat trick and Montreal defeated Philadelphia. Rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Canadiens, who won their second straight. Carey Price stopped 29 shots for his 25th victory. Predators 2, Kings 1: Roman Josi had a goal and an assist as the Nashville topped Los Angeles and moved atop the Central Division with its third win in four games. The Predators have 77 points, one more than Winnipeg (76), though the Jets have three games in hand on Nashville. Stars 5, Blues 2: Jamie Benn had his first multi-goal game since early October and Dallas ended St. Louis’ franchise-record 11-game winning streak.