Toronto claims decision in clash of heavyweights

Austin Matthews scored on a power play with 2:53 remaining to propel the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night in Newark.

Michael Bunting tied the game on a rebound with 4:50 to play, and Calle Jarnkrok and Mitch Marner also scored for the Maple Leafs. Ilya Samsonov was outstanding in goal, making 30 saves.

Erik Haula had two goals and an assist and a stitched-up Ondrej Palat had a goal and two assists for New Jersey, which is 17-4-3 since Jan. 7.

Vitek Vanecek had 21 saves for the Devils.

Matthews, who had not scored in three games, got his 29th goal of the season on William Nylander’s second nice setup of the game. It came a minute after Timo Meier was sent off for high-sticking. PENGUINS 5, BLUE JACK

ETS 4 (OT): Sidney Crosby’s power-play goal 2:45 into overtime finished off a frantic rally as host Pittsburgh slipped past Columbus.

The Penguins trailed the Blue Jackets, who began the night with the NHL’S worst record, by four early in the second period but found a way to win for the fifth time in six games.

Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker and Danton Heinen scored in a 3:38 span early in the third period to pull the Penguins even. Crosby’s 28th goal of the season — a blast from the left circle in the extra period — allowed Pittsburgh to escape.

PANTHERS 2, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 1: Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves to help host Florida end Vegas’s three-game winning streak.

Ryan Lomberg and Aleksander Barkov each scored a goal for the Panthers, who have won two in a row as they keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Florida is 4-1-0 all-time against the Golden Knights in Sunrise.

Shea Theodore scored the lone goal of the game for Vegas. Adin Hill made 40 saves in the loss.

Florida opened the scoring at 4:25 on a blistering snapshot off the stick of Lomberg. LIGHTNING 5, FLYERS 2:

Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov each had two goals and an assist as Tampa Bay turned back visiting Philadelphia to snap a five-game skid.

Ross Colton also scored, Mikhail Sergachev had two assists and Alexei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves for the Lightning. Tampa Bay had been 0-4-1 since a 3-0 victory at Detroit on Feb. 25.

Morgan Frost and Brendan Lemieux scored for Philadelphia, and Carter Hart made 34 saves.

After each team scored once in the first period, the Lightning took command with three goals in the second.

HURRICANES 4, CANADIENS 3 (SO): Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored the deciding goal in the sixth round of the shootout as visiting Carolina rallied to upend Montreal.

Brent Burns and Teuvo

Teraivainen also scored in the tiebreaker for the Hurricanes, and Rem Pitlick and Nick Suzuki tallied for the Canadiens.

Jaccob Slavin, Brady Skjei and Jesper Fast had goals in regulation and Brett Pesce had two assists for the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes, who won their third straight.

Antti Raanta started in goal and gave up two goals on 10 shots in the first period before leaving with an apparent injury. ISLANDERS 3, SABRES 2:

Josh Bailey and Hudson Fasching each had a goal and an assist in the third period as host New York edged Buffalo in Elmont.

Casey Cizikas also scored and Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves as the Islanders improved to 10-3-3 in their past 16 games. New York is in position for the first wild-card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Dylan Cozens and Kyle Okposo scored and Ukko-pekka Luukkonen finished with 36 saves for the Sabres.

FLAMES 1, WILD 0 (SO):

Tyler Toffoli scored in the sudden death round of the shootout to send Calgary to a victory in St. Paul, Minn.

Toffoli beat Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson five-hole to end the game, which nearly ended in overtime.

Gustavsson made 26 saves for Minnesota, while Jacob Markstrom stopped all 40 shots in net for Calgary for his first shutout of the year.