Carolina strikes late, ends Panthers’ road win streak
Sebastian Aho scored with 18.9 seconds left as Carolina halted Florida’s 11-game road win streak with a 1-0 victory Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 44 shots in his seventh shutout and third this season, and the Panthers fell one win short of tying the NHL record for consecutive road victories.
Florida had won six in a row overall and 10 of its previous 11. The Hurricanes won their fourth straight and sixth in seven games.
Thursday’s matchup was a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Final and felt like a postseason game. Both playoff games in Raleigh in May went into overtime, including Game 1, which was decided in four overtimes.
Aho lifted the Hurricanes to the win in this one when he beat Sergei Bobrovsky after a shot attempt by Andrei Svechnikov was blocked before it could get to the net. Bobrovsky had 28 saves.
The goalies did the heavy lifting. Kochetkov’s glove save on Evan Rodrigues on an odd-man rush 3:30 into the third period was one of many highlights for the Carolina netminder.
Bobrovsky was almost as spectacular. He also got help from the cage. Jordan Martinook had a shot ring off the left post in the first period, and Tony D’angelo had one in the second.
■ Rangers 5, Devils 1: At Newark,
N.J., Alexis Lafreniere had two goals and Artemi Panarin three assists to back Igor Shesterkin, who stopped 39 shots and had an assist in New York’s ninth straight victory — its longest win streak in eight seasons. The Rangers killed all five New Jersey power plays, including a fiveminute major and a double minor.
■ Blues 4, Islanders 0: At St. Louis, Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad combined for three goals in a 32-second span of the second period, Buchnevich scored midway through the third for his fourth hat trick, and Jordan Binnington stopped 38 shots in his 15th shutout and third this season.
■ Penguins 4, Canadiens 1: At Pittsburgh, Bryan Rust and Drew O’connor scored 21 seconds apart in the second period to back Tristan Jarry, who stopped 31 shots in Pittsburgh’s second win in seven games. Montreal lost its fourth in a row and sixth in seven games.
■ Red Wings 2, Avalanche 1, OT: At Detroit, Patrick Kane scored with 1:18 left in overtime to back Alex Lyon, who had 30 saves in Detroit’s first win over Colorado since 2016. The Avs had won 10 in a row over the Red Wings, with a 47-21 scoring edge in that span.
■ Flames 3, Bruins 2, OT: At Calgary, Alberta, Nazem Kadri scored with 1:04 left in overtime of Calgary’s second straight win. Charlie Coyle had two goals for Boston, which fell to 7-0-4 in its past 11 road games.
■ Kraken 5, Canucks 2: At Seattle, Jared Mccann had a goal and three assists and Jordan Eberle two goals and an assist as Seattle dealt Nhl-leading Vancouver its fourth straight loss.
■ Predators 4, Kings 1: At Los
Angeles, Colton Sissons scored an emptynet goal and had two assists to back Juuse Saros, who had 27 saves, as Los Angeles’ four-game win streak ended.
■ Capitals 5, Lightning 3: At Tampa, Fla., Rasmus Sandin scored to break a 3-all tie with 4:59 left as Washington won its third in a row and handed Tampa Bay its third straight loss.
■ Senators 4, Stars 1: At Ottawa, Ontario, Josh Norris scored twice to back Anton Forsberg, who had 14 saves. Dallas was outshot 30-15 in its fourth straight loss.