Teams start to make moves ahead of Monday

The defending Stanley Cup champions found a way to get better, the NHL’s top team solved a problem that has hurt it in the past, and another filled a major void created by an injury.

Some of hockey’s best teams got a head start on the trade deadline Saturday by making important moves and scooping up some of the hottest players on the market. The cap-strapped, reigning champion Tampa Bay Lightning surrendered three draft picks to get defenseman David Savard, and the Florida Panthers did something to compensate for Aaron Ekblad’s absence by acquiring defenseman Brandon Montour.

“I wanted to get David Savard on our team, and the sooner the better,” Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said. “It’s really, really hard to win the Stanley Cup . ... If there was an opportunity for me to add a good player to our group to give it a little bit of a boost, I felt like I owed it to them to make that happen.”

FLYERS 3, BRUINS 2 » Sean Couturier broke a tie midway through the third period to help the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins.

Brian Elliott stopped 29 shots to help Philadelphia move within four points of Boston for the fourth and final playoff spot in the NHL’s East Division.

STARS 4, PANTHERS 1 » Rookie Jason Robertson scored twice for his first multigoal NHL game in Dallas’ victory over Florida. BLACKHAWKS 4, BLUE JACKETS3» Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist, Kevin Lankinen stopped 23 shots and the Chicago Blackhawks rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets. RED WINGS 5, HURRICANES 4, SO » Adam Erne scored in the seventh round of the shootout as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes.

JETS 5, CANADIENS 0 » The Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck made 19 saves for his second shutout of the season.