Florida shuts out Ottawa, 2-0
SUNRISE, FLA. >> Anthony Stolarz stopped 24 shots and had an assist, Anton Lundell and Nick Cousins scored, and the Florida Panthers shut out the Ottawa Senators for the third time this season with a 2-0 victory on Tuesday night.
It was the second instance of Florida shutting out a team three times in one season, the other coming when the Panthers blanked Montreal three times in 2017-18. And it was a needed win for playoff-bound Florida, with the Panthers winning for just the fourth time in their last 13 games (4-7-2).
Joonas Korpisalo stopped 27 shots for Ottawa, which has four games left and will miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. The Senators were 0-3-1 against Florida this season, getting outscored 16-2 in those contests.
The Panthers opened a four-game homestand that’ll end the regular season and wasted little time taking control, with Lundell getting a power-play goal for his 12th of the season and Cousins netting his seventh of the season just 2:46 apart in the opening period.
CAPITALS 2, RED WINGS 1>> Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome scored a minute apart late in the second period, Charlie Lindgren finished with 42 saves and Washington held on to beat Detroit in a matchup of teams vying for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Capitals moved a point past Detroit for the conference’s second wild card and snapped a season-long, six-game losing streak. The Red Wings have lost six of their last eight games, hurting their chances of ending an eightyear playoff drought.
Ovechkin became the first NHL player with at least 30 goals in 18 seasons, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Mike Gartner.
Patrick Kane scored with 1.1 seconds left and Alex Lyon stopped 21 shots for the Red Wings.
MAPLE LEAFS 5, DEVILS 2>> Auston Matthews scored his 66th goal and inched closer to becoming the ninth player in NHL history to tally 70 in a season in leading Toronto’s victory over New Jersey, ending the disappointing Devils’ playoff hopes.
Mark Giordano and Tyler Bertuzzi scored in a 9-second span late in the the second period to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 lead en route to their sixth win in seven games. Nicholas Robertson also scored and Joseph Woll made 18 saves.
Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer scored for New Jersey, while Jake Allen made 32 saves.
Matthews 66th came on a shot from the circle that beat Allen at 7:33 of the final period. He has now scored in six straight games. Bertuzzi added his 21st of the season late, scoring into an empty net.
ISLANDERS 4, RANGERS 2>> Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist, Noah Dobson added two assists and the New
York Islanders used a threegoal first period to propel them to a win against the Eastern-Conference leading New York Rangers on Tuesday night.
Semyon Varlamov finished with 34 saves, Mike Reilly, Kyle Palmieri and Anders Lee also scored goals and the Islanders extended their winning streak to five games, inching closer to a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Chris Kreider and Long Island native Adam Fox scored power-play goals for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves, but the Rangers’ three-game winning streak ended.
Mika Zibanejad left the game in the third period following a collision with Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech and did not return. LIGHTNING 5, BLUE JACKETS 2>> Steven Stamkos had three goals and an assist, NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov picked up his fourth straight three-point game with three assists, and playoff-bound Tampa Bay beat Columbus.