Chris Kreider snapped a third-period tie with his 300th career goal and Alexis Lafreniere recorded his first career hat trick in the New York Rangers’ 8-5 victory over the host Arizona Coyotes on Saturday in Tempe, Ariz.
Lafreniere added two assists and Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists as the Rangers (50-20-4, 104 points) scored five times in the third to win their fifth straight. New York reached 50 wins for the sixth time in team history.
Kreider snapped a 3-3 tie 5:45 into the third with his milestone goal on a deflection of a pass by Lafreniere. Kreider’s 35th goal occurred after he had a goal disallowed due to goaltender interference late in the second.
Kreider was not the only Rangers player to reach a milestone. Jonathan Quick made 27 saves for his 392nd regular-season victory to surpass Ryan Miller as the winningest American-born goalie. Matias Maccelli, Nick Bjugstad and Logan Cooley each had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes.
Panthers 3, Red Wings 2 (SO)
Aleksander Barkov scored twice in the final eight minutes of regulation, helping Florida rally to a shootout win over visiting Detroit.
The Panthers’ Sam Reinhart had the only goal in a three-round shootout.
Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon, who was Florida’s backup last season, was spectacular before falling short in the end. Lyon, who has lost 10 straight games, finished with 36 saves and two more in the shootout.
Avalanche 7, Predators 4
Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists, Cale Makar had a goal and two assists, and Colorado clinched a playoff spot with a win over Nashville in Denver.
Jonathan Drouin had a goal and an assist, Yakov Trenin scored against his former team, Artturi Lehkonen and Casey Mittlestadt each had a power-play goal and Mikko Rantanen had three assists for Colorado. MacKinnon leads the NHL with 127 points and Rantanen reached 100 points. Justus Annunen turned away 22 shots in relief of Alexandar Georgiev, who had nine saves.
Gustav Nyquist had a goal and an assist, Dante Fabbro, Mark Jankowski and Cole Smith also scored and Kevin Lankinen made 35 saves for Nashville.
Bruins 3, Capitals 2 (SO)
Kevin Shattenkirk tallied the game-winning goal in the fifth round of a shootout as Boston edged host Washington.
Boston killed off Hampus Lindholm’s four-minute double-minor for a high stick to the face of Washington’s T.J. Oshie in overtime before breaking a skid of three losses in four games. Lindholm and John Beecher also scored while Jeremy Swayman made 18 saves for the Bruins.
Washington tied the score on two occasions on goals by Michael Sgarbossa and John Carlson, the latter who was playing in his 1,000th career NHL game. Charlie Lindgren made 27 saves for the Capitals, who have lost back-to-back games (0-1-1) after a three-game win streak.
Golden Knights 2, Wild 1 (OT)
Jonathan Marchessault scored an empty-net goal with 1:30 remaining in overtime to lift Vegas over Minnesota in St. Paul, Minn.
Michael Amadio also scored for the Golden Knights, who increased their season total to 90 points and strengthened their playoff positioning. Vegas improved to 5-0-1 in its past six games.
Kirill Kaprizov scored the lone goal for the Wild. Minnesota, in a desperate move to try to gain two points for a playoff push, pulled its goaltender for an extra skater in overtime but the strategy backfired with an empty-net goal.
Oilers 6, Ducks 1
Connor McDavid scored twice and added an assist as Edmonton cruised to a win over visiting Anaheim.
The victory gives the Oilers the season series sweep against the Ducks and extends Edmonton’s win streak to three games. The Oilers have won seven of their past 10. Mattias Ekholm scored and had two assists, while Adam Henrique, Warren Foegele and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers. Hyman added an assist. Leon Draisaitl, Vincent Desharnais and Evan Bouchard each had two assists.
Alex Killorn scored the lone goal for the Ducks, who have lost four straight and are 1-10-1 in their past 12 games. John Gibson stopped 31 shots.
Maple Leafs 3, Sabres 0
Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 60th goal of the season and Ilya Samsonov made 34 saves for his third shutout of the season, leading visiting Toronto to a shutout victory over Buffalo.
Matthews, alone by the left side of the crease, tapped in a rebound of a Conor Timmons shot into an open net with 5:37 remaining to increase Toronto’s lead to 3-0. The goal tied his career high and equaled the franchise record he set in 2021-22. Matthews became just the ninth player in NHL history with multiple 60-goal seasons. John Tavares and Nicholas Robertson also scored and Timmins added two assists for Toronto.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 19 saves for Buffalo, which is seven points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Stars 3, Kraken 0
Jake Oettinger made 17 saves for his second shutout of the season as Western Conference-leading Dallas defeated host Seattle for its season-high seventh consecutive victory.
Wyatt Johnston, Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz scored goals for the Stars, who are one point behind the New York Rangers in the chase for the Presidents’ Trophy, which goes to the team with the NHL’s best regular-season record and includes home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs. Johnston also assisted on the team’s final goal.
Goaltender Joey Daccord stopped 27 of 29 shots for the Kraken, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.
Lightning 4, Islanders 1
Anthony Cirelli notched two goals and an assist as Tampa Bay extended its point streak to nine games in a win over visiting New York.
Steven Stamkos potted his 545th career marker, moving him past Maurice Richard and into 32nd in all-time goals. Darren Raddysh found the net, and Brandon Hagel set a career high with 66 points in a season with two assists. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves in his 28th win.
New York’s Kyle Palmieri scored, Mike Reilly assisted for his 100th career point, and goalie Semyon Varlamov posted 36 saves.
Hurricanes 3, Canadiens 0
Pyotr Kochetkov made 26 saves and Carolina reached another milestone while winning without an even-strength goal, defeating host Montreal.
Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis scored for the Hurricanes, while Jake Guentzel posted two assists. Jarvis and Aho also each added an assist as Carolina eclipsed the 100-point mark. Kochetkov notched his fourth shutout of the season and the eighth of his career.
Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault made 27 saves, but Montreal, which went 0-for-3 on power plays, sustained its third shutout of the season. The Canadiens hadn’t been blanked since Dec. 7.
Blue Jackets 4, Penguins 3 (SO)
Damon Severson, the ninth shooter, deked and scored on a backhander as Columbus broke a six-game losing streak with a shootout win over visiting Pittsburgh.
Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist and Mathieu Olivier and Kirill Marchenko also scored for the Blue Jackets, who erased a two-goal deficit in the third. They were 0-5-1 during their skid. Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins made 30 saves through overtime.
Bryan Rust had a goal and an assist and Drew O’Connor and Rickard Rakell also scored for the Penguins, who got 35 saves from Alex Nedeljkovic through overtime.
Senators 3, Jets 2
Brady Tkachuk scored the game-winner and picked up an assist as Ottawa topped host Winnipeg.
Boris Katchouk and Ridly Greig also scored for the Senators, while Erik Brannstrom, Mark Kastelic, Drake Batherson, Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson added helpers. Joonas Korpisalo had 28 saves in the win, Ottawa’s season-best fifth in a row.
Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele got goals for Winnipeg, which has lost a season-worst six straight games. Sean Monahan, Dylan DeMelo, Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey assisted on the goals. Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves in his 500th career game for the Jets.
Flames 4, Kings 2
Nazem Kadri collected one goal and one assist as host Calgary snapped a five-game losing skid with a victory over Los Angeles.
Martin Pospisil, Blake Coleman and MacKenzie Weegar also scored for the Flames, while Andrei Kuzmenko and Yegor Sharangovich both posted a pair of assists and goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 16 saves.
Adrian Kempe scored once and added an assist while Anze Kopitar also tallied for the Kings, who have dropped two straight games and hold the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot. Goalie David Rittich stopped 31 shots and Kevin Fiala collected two assists in the loss.
Sharks 4, Blues 0
Mackenzie Blackwood made 35 saves for his 10th career shutout as visiting San Jose blanked St. Louis to snap its nine-game losing streak.
Filip Zadina, Mikael Granlund, Luke Kunin and Jan Ruuta scored for the Sharks, who won for just the second time in their last 20 games.
Joel Hofer made 16 saves for the Blues, who suffered just their second regulation loss in 10 games.
Blackhawks 5, Flyers 1
Lukas Reichel, Philipp Kurashev, and Joey Anderson each had a goal and assist and Arvid Soderblom made 30 saves to boost visiting Chicago to a win against slumping Philadelphia.
Chicago has won six of its past 10 games, including three of the last four. While five victories during that stretch are against clubs in the bottom five of the Western Conference, the Blackhawks’ latest triumph came at the expense of an East playoff contender.
Tyson Foerster put Philadelphia on the board 17 seconds into the second period, scoring on a wrist shot from just inside the blue line. The Flyers hit the post 10 seconds later, but the Blackhawks withstood the flurry.
–Field Level Media