Aho leads ’Canes to victory over Predators
Bobrovsky, Blue Jackets down Rangers in highscoring contest
RALEIGH, N.C. — Sebastian Aho had three goals and an assist to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Nashville Predators 6-3 on Sunday.
The Hurricanes won for the seventh time in eight games.
Justin Williams, Saku Maenalanen and Lucas Wallmark also scored for Carolina, which has won five straight at home. Petr Mrazek made 20 saves for his third win in four starts.
It was the first hat trick of the season for Aho. The All-Star center has five goals in the past two games, running his teambest total to 21 for the season.
Nashville, which had earned at least a point in seven straight games, got two goals from Filip Forsberg and another from Colton Sissons, but goaltender Pekka Rinne was chased in the second period.
BLUE JACKETS 7, RANGERS 5:
In Columbus, Ohio, Sergei Bobrovsky returned from a team suspension and stopped 22 shots as the Blue Jackets held off a late surge and defeated New York.
Cam Atkinson and Artemi Panarin each had a goal and an assist, Ryan Murray had two assists and nine other players picked up points in the offensive explosion for Columbus. But, two goals by the Rangers late in the third period turned it into a closer game.
The Blue Jackets have won four of the last five, despite being terrible on the power play. They managed the wild victory over the Rangers despite coming up empty on five power plays.
Mats Zuccarello had two goals, and Ryan Stome, Chris Kreider and Jimmy Vesey also scored for the Rangers. Alexandar Georgiev, spelling starter Henrik Lungqvist on the second night of a back-to-back, had 33 saves.
JETS 4, DUCKS 3:
in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Bryan Little scored at 4:49 of overtime to give the Jets a 4-3 victory over Anaheim, extending the Ducks’ losing streak to a franchise-record 11 games.
Blake Wheeler, Patrik Laine and Ben Chiarot also scored and Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves to help the Jets improve to 5-2-0 in their last seven games. They have won four straight at home.
Brian Gibbons, Rickard Rakell and Andrew Cogliano scored and John Gibson stopped 30 shots for the Ducks. They are 0-7-4 during the skid.
Chiarot tied it at 3 with 5:55 left in the third period with a bouncing shot that went past Gibson.
ISLANDERS 5, LIGHTNING 1:
In New York, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck each had a goal and an assist, Thomas Greiss stopped 38 shots, and the Islanders beat league-leading Tampa Bay.
Brock Nelson, rookie Devon Toews and Josh Bailey also scored as New York had three goals in the opening five minutes and went on to get their 11th win in 14 games.
CANUCKS 5, PANTHERS 1:
In Vancouver, British Columbia, Loui Eriksson had a goal and two assists as the Canucks dealt Florida its sixth straight loss.
Ben Hutton, Markus Granlund, Brock Boeser and Jay Beagle also scored for Vancouver. Jacob Markstrom stopped 23 shots.
In Calgary, Alberta, Mark Giordano had two goals and an assist in his 800th career game and Calgary routed Arizona.
Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals, and Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Sam Bennett also scored for Calgary, which has won five straight and improved to 8-1-1 in its last 10.
FLAMES 7, COYOTES 1: