Aho’s short-handed goals stifle Panthers
Hurricanes inch past Florida atop Central
SUNRISE, Fla. — Sebastian Aho scored two short-handed goals as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 on Thursday.
Nino Niederreiter and Jordan Martinook also scored, Alex Nedeljkovic made 30 saves, and Martin Necas had three assists for the
Hurricanes (31-10-5), who have won six consecutive games against the Panthers (30-135) this season.
Carolina, which has played two fewer games than Florida, pulled two points ahead of the Panthers atop the Central Division.
Aleksander Barkov scored twice for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 shots. The Panthers lost for the first time at home in eight games.
Trailing 3-2, the Panthers were on a 6-on-4 power play in the final minute, but Aho’s empty-net goal made it 4-2 with 15.2 seconds to go.
■ Avalanche 4, Blues 2: At St. Louis, Andre Burakovsky scored twice for Colorado, which clinched a playoff berth and improved to 181-2 in its past 21 games. The Avs are 5-1-0 against St. Louis this season, outscoring the Blues 20-11.
■ Capitals 1, Islanders 0, SO: At Uniondale, N.Y., Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the decisive shootout goal to back Ilya Samsonov, who stopped 26 shots through overtime for his third shutout and second this season.
■ Maple Leafs 5, Jets 3: At Winnipeg, Manitoba, Auston Matthews scored his Nhl-leading 34th goal for Toronto on a pass from Mitch Marner 27 seconds into the first period, and Marner notched two goals.
■ Senators 3, Canucks 0: At Vancouver, British Columbia, Matt Murray had 31 saves in his 13th shutout and second this season, and Drake Batherson had a goal and an assist in Ottawa’s third straight win.
■ Penguins 5, Devils 1: At Pittsburgh, Kasperi Kapanen returned after missing 13 games with a left foot injury and had a goal and an assist, backing Tristan Jarry, who stopped 30 shots.
■ Flyers 3, Rangers 2: At New York, James van Riemsdyk scored two power-play goals for Philadelphia to back Brian Elliott, who had 33 saves, as the Flyers halted a twogame skid.
■ Red Wings 7, Stars 3: At Detroit, Jakub Vrana scored four goals to back Thomas Greiss, who had 43 saves, as Detroit matched its win total from last season in 22 fewer games.
■ Lightning 3, Blue Jackets 1: At Tampa, Fla., Blake Coleman scored twice to back Curtis Mcelhinney, who had 24 saves, as Columbus fell to 0-7-1 in its past eight games.
■ Bruins 5, Sabres 1: At Buffalo, N.Y., David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists to back rookie Jeremy Swayman, who stopped 29 shots in Boston’s sixth straight victory.