NHL round-up: Rangers get big division win against Hurricanes

Artemi Panarin also scored for the Rangers and Mika Zibanejad had two assists. Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves.

Sebastian Aho had a first-period goal for the Hurricanes, who could have clinched an Eastern Conference playoff spot with a victory. Division-leading Carolina has 11 more games to go, so it will have ample chances. Frederik Andersen had 14 saves.

The third-place Rangers (42-20-10, 94 points) have points in eight of their last nine games. The Hurricanes (46-16-88, 100 points) lost for the fourth time in their last seven games (4-3-0).

Predators 2, Kraken 1 (SO)

Matt Duchene and Philip Tomasino scored in the shootout as Nashville defeated visiting Seattle.

Kiefer Sherwood scored in regulation for the Predators, who won their second consecutive game as they try to track down Seattle and others for a Western Conference wild-card playoff berth. Goaltender Juuse Saros made 27 saves.

Daniel Sprong tallied for Seattle, which tied an NHL record for the greatest second-season turnaround by an expansion franchise. The Kraken (86 points) have made a 26-point improvement from their inaugural campaign, equaling the mark set by the 1925/26 Boston Bruins and matched by the 1973/74 New York Islanders. Fill-in goaltender Joey Daccord stopped 23 of 24 shots.

Maple Leafs 6, Panthers 2

Auston Matthews scored two goals and visiting Toronto defeated Florida.

William Nylander and Mitchell Marner each had a goal and an assist for Toronto. Michael Bunting and Alexander Kerfoot also scored, while John Tavares had three assists and Mark Giordano added two. Matt Murray stopped 33 shots for the Maple Leafs, who are 2-1-0 three games into a five-game trip.

Matthew Tkachuk and Nick Cousins scored for the Panthers, who have lost two in a row. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.

Flyers 5, Wild 4 (SO)

Joel Farabee had a goal and an assist, goaltender Carter Hart didn't yield a goal in the shootout and host Philadelphia defeated Minnesota.

Scott Laughton, Rasmus Ristolainen and Tyson Foerster each scored a goal, Tony DeAngelo had two assists and James van Riemsdyk scored the lone shootout goal to seal the win for the Flyers. Hart made 20 saves and completed the shootout with a save against Matt Boldy.

Boldy scored two goals while Oskar Sundqvist and Marcus Foligno added one goal apiece for the Wild. Marcus Johansson contributed two assists for the Wild, who went 0-for-3 in the shootout.

Bruins 4, Canadiens 2

Tyler Bertuzzi and David Pastrnak each recorded a goal and an assist as Boston beat visiting Montreal.

Bertuzzi scored his first goal as a Bruin just 4:34 into the first period, while David Pastrnak's 49th of the season came at 2:36 of the second. Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci rounded out the scoring and Connor Clifton had two assists for Boston.

Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach each logged a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who have lost three of their last five games.

Capitals 6, Blackhawks 1

Defenseman John Carlson collected a goal and an assist in his return from a 36-game absence, lifting host Washington over Chicago.

Carlson was playing in his first game since sustaining a fractured skull and laceration of the temporal artery on December 23rd. Washington captain Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom each recorded a goal and an assist, and Conor Sheary, Anthony Mantha and Nic Dowd also tallied.

Defenseman Nikita Zaitsev scored early in the third period and Anton Khudobin turned aside 22 shots for the Blackhawks, who have lost 10 of their past 13 games (3-9-1).

Golden Knights 3, Flames 2

Jonathan Marchessault and Michael Amadio scored first-period goals and visiting Vegas held on to beat Calgary. Nicolas Roy also scored for the Western Conference-leading Golden Knights, who have won three straight.

Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson made 37 saves in his return to action after missing 18 games due to injury, but he left with 6:07 left in regulation. In relief, Jonathan Quick stopped all five shots he faced, his biggest on MacKenzie Weegar in the final minute.

Milan Lucic and Nazem Kadri scored for the Flames, whose playoff hopes took another big hit. Jacob Markstrom stopped 29 shots.

Senators 7, Lightning 2

Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist, Brady Tkachuk scored twice and host Ottawa tied its season high for goals in a trouncing of Tampa Bay.

In recording just their second victory in eight games (2-5-1), the Senators also got a goal and a helper from Erik Brannstrom.

For the Lightning, Brayden Point extended his career-high goal mark to 45, and Nikita Kucherov recorded his 102nd point with two assists.

Blues 4, Red Wings 3

Joel Hofer made 25 saves to lead St. Louis to a come-from-behind road win over Detroit.

Alexey Toropchenko, Brayden Schenn, Sammy Blais and Jake Neighbours scored for St. Louis. Robert Bortuzzo recorded two assists for the Blues, who split back-to-back games with the Red Wings.

Simon Edvinsson, Jake Walman and Alex Chiasson scored for Detroit, which took its fourth loss in five games.

Stars 3, Penguins 2

Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn scored in the third period and Jake Oettinger made 40 saves as Dallas hung on for a victory over visiting Pittsburgh.

Benn put in a rebound of Max Domi's shot, providing some important insurance for Dallas, which is 2-0-1 following back-to-back losses to sit atop the Central Division by one point over Minnesota.

Sidney Crosby recorded his 31st goal for Pittsburgh and Pierre-Olivier Joseph scored. The Penguins, who have lost five of six but own the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, failed to convert a 6-on-4 advantage in the final minute.

Canucks 7, Sharks 2

J.T. Miller, Andrei Kuzmenko, Conor Garland, Dakota Joshua and Phillip Di Giuseppe each had a goal and an assist as host Vancouver cruised past San Jose.

Vasily Podkolzin and Sheldon Dries also scored for the Canucks, who defeated the Sharks for the ninth straight time. Thatcher Demko finished with 17 saves to improve to 8-0-0 in eight career games against San Jose. Tyler Myers added two assists.

Tomas Hertl and Andrew Agozzino scored for the Sharks, who lost their eighth straight game (0-5-3) and fell for the 13th in the past 14 games (1-9-4). James Reimer stopped just 14 of 21 shots.

Jets 3, Ducks 2

Adam Lowry scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and also had an assist to push visiting Winnipeg past Anaheim.

Mason Appleton and Kyle Connor also scored for the Jets, who won for the third time in four games. Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 18 shots.

Cam Fowler and Frank Vatrano found the back of the net for the Ducks, who lost their third game in a row. Lukas Dostal made 30 saves.