Bruins top Devils to gain on Toronto
Boston six points up in battle for second place in the Atlantic Division
Patrice Bergeron scored twice and reached the 30-goal mark for the fifth time and the streaking Boston Bruins beat the New Jersey Devils 5-1 on Thursday night to open a six-point lead over Toronto in the race for second place in the Atlantic Division.
David Pastrnak, Danton Heinen and David Backes also scored for the Bruins, who are 16-3-1 in their past 20 games. Tuukka Rask made 22 saves to improve to 18-2-3 in his past 23 games.
Boston, which has given up two goals while winning its past three games, and the Maple Leafs, who were idle, each have eight regular-season games left.
Drew Stafford scored for the Devils, ending a 34-game goalscoring drought. Cory Schneider made 22 saves as New Jersey lost for the ninth time in 12 games (2-9-1).
Boston’s top line of Bergeron, Pastrnak and Brad Marchand combined for eight points in the game, including the first two goals.
Canadiens 4, Islanders 0: Carey Price stopped 27 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and Montreal beat New York to remain in the hunt for an Eastern Conference playoff spot. Joel Armia, Shea Weber, Jonathan Drouin and Jordan Weal also scored for the Canadiens (39-28-7), who won their second straight after dropping two in a row. Thomas Greiss gave up four goals on 22 shots for the Islanders (42-25-7) before being pulled in the second period. Robin Lehner made 12 saves in relief.
Lightning 6, Hurricanes 3: Ryan Callahan scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period, and Tampa Bay picked up its seventh straight win. Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists and Tyler Johnson, Anthony Cirelli, Brayden Point and Ryan Mcdonagh all scored for the Lightning, who scored four unanswered goals in the third period.
Panthers 4, Coyotes 2: Aleksander Barkov scored two goals and Jonathan Huberdeau had three assists as Florida won for the first time in three games. Mike Hoffman and Mackenzie Weegar also scored goals for the Panthers. Roberto Luongo made 32 saves and broke a five-game losing streak. Blues 5, Red Wings 2: Ivan Barbashev recorded his first career NHL hat trick to lead St. Louis past Detroit. Oskar Sundqvist and Pat Maroon also scored for the Blues. Rookie Jordan Binnington made 20 saves, improving to 19-4-1.
Penguins 2, Predators 1 (SO): Sidney Crosby’s goal in the shootout gave Pittsburgh a win over Nashville. Bryan Rust scored in regulation for the Penguins, who moved into a secondplace tie with the New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division with 91 points each. Matt Murray made 27 saves. Avalanche 3, Stars 1: Philipp Grubauer made a season-high 44 saves (23 in the third period), defensemen Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie scored goals and Colorado beat Dallas. Flyers 3, Blackhawks 1: Carter Hart made 40 saves and James van Reimsdyk snapped a tie in the third period, helping Philadelphia beat Chicago. Oilers 4, Blue Jackets 1: Edmonton scored unanswered goals by Zack Kassian, Connor Mcdavid and Ryan Nugent-hopkins, on a power play, and beat Columbus. Kyle Brodziak also scored for the Oilers. David Savard scored for Columbus.
Flames 5, Senators 1: Craig Anderson had 31 saves for Ottawa, but his offense didn’t give him much help.