Lightning continues hot streak, tops Sabres
Washington not only falls to Columbus, but loses goalie Holtby to eye injury
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Steven Stamkos broke a tie with 5:16 remaining in the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning’s 5-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.
Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Ondrej Palat and Ryan Callahan also scored. The Lightning has won 18 of 20.
Sam Reinhart, Tage Thompson and Marco Scandella scored for Buffalo.
Scandella gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead at 5:54 of the third. But 23 seconds later, the Lightning took advantage of a giveaway by Sabres defenseman Lawrence Pilut, and Stamkos found Kucherov for his 22nd goal of the season.
Stamkos then put Tampa Bay ahead for good late.
BLUE JACKETS 2, CAPITALS 1 (OT): In Washington, Cam Atkinson scored his 25th goal of the season, Artemi Panarin connected in overtime and Columbus beat Washington after the Capitals lost All-Star goaltender Braden Holtby to an eye injury.
Holtby took a stick to the left eye from Atkinson through his mask in the second period. Holtby left the game, giving way to backup Pheonix Copley. The Capitals said Holtby was still being evaluated.
Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo stopped 32 shots in his second consecutive start in place of Sergei Bobrovsky, who backed up after being scratched Thursday for disciplinary reasons. Coach John Tortorella did not commit to starting Bobrovsky in the second half of his team’s back-to-back this weekend.
After Atkinson beat Holtby a minute into the game on a breakaway, Columbus was cruising toward a regulation victory until Evgeny Kuznetsov tied it with 1:06 left.
But Panarin snapped Washington’s winning streak at four games and gave the Blue Jackets back-to-back wins with a power-play goal 3:30 into overtime.
BRUINS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 2: In Toronto, David Pastrnak scored the winning goal late in the second period for Boston.
Sean Kuraly had a goal and two assists, David Krecji also scored, and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves. Boston moved within two points of Toronto for second place in the Atlantic Division.
RANGERS 2, ISLANDERS 1: In New York, Mats Zuccarello scored late in the third period as the Rangers beat the host Islanders for their first victory at Barclays Center.
Zuccarello redirected the winner with his skate from in front of the net for his fifth goal of the season as the Rangers won in Brooklyn for the first time since the Islanders began playing home games there in 2015.
DEVILS 3, FLYERS 2: In Newark, N.J., rookie Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves in his return from an injury, helping New Jersey beat Philadelphia.
Damon Severson, Nico Hischier and Miles Wood scored for New Jersey. The Devils handed the Flyers their ninth loss in 10 games.
RED WINGS 5, WILD 2: In St. Paul, Minn., Tyler Bertuzzi had his first career hat trick as Detroit beat Minnesota to end a three-game losing streak.
Playing in his 100th career game, Bertuzzi completed his three-goal performance at 8:38 of the third period, converting a feed from Nyquist by lifting a backhand past Devan Dubnyk.
3, AVALANCHE 0: In Montreal, Carey Price stopped 28 shots for his third shutout of the season and 43rd overall to help Montreal beat Colorado.
Brett Kulak, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jordie Benn scored in the third period. The Canadiens had lost three of their last four. The Avalanche has lost nine of 10.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, BLACKHAWKS 3 (OT): In Chicago, Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore scored 1:19 into overtime when Chicago’s Carl Dahlstrom slid the puck into his own net.
Theodore was driving when Dahlstrom knocked it away and through the legs of goaltender Collin Delia.
SHARKS 4, SENATORS 1: In San Jose, Calif., Brent Burns scored his fourth game-winning goal and Martin Jones made 27 saves as San Jose defeated Ottawa.
The Sharks, who own the second-best home record this season at 16-4-4, have won six straight games and are 8-1-0 in their last nine.
KINGS 5, PENGUINS 2: In Los Angeles, Jeff Carter had a goal and two assists for LA in its win over Pittsburgh.
BLUES 3, STARS 1: In Dallas, Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice for St. Louis.
COYOTES 3, OILERS 2 : In Edmonton, Alberta, Conor Garland scored a pair of power-play goals to lead Arizona.
CANADIENS