Tavares gets 400th goal, Toronto wins
John Tavares scored his 400th goal, Matt Murray made 34 saves in his return to Pittsburgh and the Toronto Maple Leafs raced by the Penguins 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Tavares added an assist on the night he became the 107th player in NHL history to reach 400 goals. The 14-year veteran beat Casey DeSmith from the slot 12:04 into the first period, part of an early surge by the Maple Leafs that pushed them to their fifth win in seven games.
“(Scoring 400 is) just that much more meaningful when you do it on a night where we get two points and the group plays well, everyone contributes,” Tavares said.
Murray, who won Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017, held his ground in the second period after Pittsburgh trimmed an early three-goal deficit to one, buying Toronto time to eventually pull away.
Devils 5, Canadiens 1: Jack Hughes scored twice and visiting New Jersey extended its winning streak to 10 games. Dougie Hamilton, Jesper Bratt, and John Marino also scored for New Jersey. Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves.
Lightning 5, Stars 4: Alex Killorn scored from the left circle on a 2-on-1 at 3:43 of overtime for host Tampa Bay. Lightning captain Steve Stamkos got the second assist on the goal, making him the second Tampa Bay player to reach 500 assists.
Panthers 5, Capitals 2: Carter Verhaeghe scored twice in the final minutes for host Florida. Verhaeghe, who had six goals and 12 points in Florida's sixgame playoff series win over Washington last spring, scored on a loose puck to give the Panthers a two-goal lead with 3 minutes remaining before scoring into an empty net with 1:24 left.
Canucks 5, Sabres 4: Bo Horvat had a goal and two assists as visiting Vancouver snapped a three-game skid.
Bruins hire law firm: The Boston Bruins hired a law firm led by former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to review their player vetting process after signing prospect Mitchell Miller and then rescinding his contract offer. Miller was convicted of assault in 2016 for bullying a Black classmate with developmental disabilities in middle school.