BOSTON (AP) — The Edmonton Oilers escaped a scare when NHL scoring leader Connor McDavid limped off the ice late in Thursday night’s 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins, minutes after Darnell Nurse scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:49 remaining.
McDavid struggled to the bench after a knee-on-knee collision with teammate Derek Ryan. But the two-time NHL MVP returned to help the Oilers hold on when Boston pulled goalie Jeremy Swayman for an extra skater in the final minutes.
Boston led 2-0 after one, but Evan Bouchard scored in the second and Ryan McLeod tied it six minutes into the third. Stuart Skinner made 26 saves to snap Boston’s 10-game winning streak and deprive the Bruins of a chance to be the first team in the league to clinch a playoff berth.
Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak scored, and Swayman stopped 19 shots for the Bruins, who could have set an NHL record as the fastest-ever to 50 wins.
HURRICANES 1, FLYERS 0
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Pyotr Kochetkov returned from the minor leagues and made 19 saves as Carolina blanked Philadelphia.
Andrei Svechnikov scored an early power-play goal and that was enough for the Hurricanes, who’ve won four games in a row and nine of their last 11. Carolina has back-to-back home shutouts and hasn’t allowed a goal in three of its last four games at home.
Kochetkov was recalled from Chicago of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis for his first NHL action since Jan. 15 after goalie Antti Raanta suffered an injury Tuesday night at Montreal.
Philadelphia’s Felix Sandstrom was a hard-luck loser with 27 saves, though he fell to 1-9-1 this season.
DEVILS 3, CAPITALS 2, SO
WASHINGTON (AP) — Erik Haula and Dawson Mercer scored 37 seconds apart, trade deadline pickup Timo Meier had the shootout winner and New Jersey beat the fading Washington Capitals to keep pace in the Metropolitan Division playoff race.
Akira Schmid made 20 saves in regulation and overtime and was a perfect 4 of 4 in the shootout to pick up his seventh win in 10 starts this season. Meier was the only player to score in the shootout, making up for a couple of recent penalties since joining the Devils.
Darcy Kuemper made 38 saves in regulation and overtime, but fell to 0-6-2 in his career against New Jersey, the only NHL team he has not beaten.
Trevor van Riemsdyk and Dylan Strome scored for the banged-up Capitals, who were without injured defensemen Nick Jensen and Martin Fehervary for a third consecutive game.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, LIGHTNING 3, OT
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Alex Martinez scored 3:09 into overtime as Vegas defeated Tampa Bay for the seventh time in 10 games since Vegas entered the NHL for the 2017-18 season
Jack Eichel’s shot from the slot was stopped by Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, but the puck slipped through his pads and sat in the crease as Martinez dove and poked it into the open net for the win.
William Karlsson, Chandler Stephenson and Keegan Kolesa scored for Vegas. Jonathan Quick made 34 saves.
Brayden Point scored twice, Nikita Kucherov added a goal and Vasilevskiy finished with 17 saves for Tampa Bay.
KINGS 5, AVALANCHE 2
DENVER (AP) — Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault each scored twice as Los Angeles earned its fifth straight win.
Gabriel Vilardi also added a goal and Anze Kopitar had three assists for the Kings, who remain tied with Vegas for the top spot in the Western Conference. No team in the West has been hotter than the Kings since the All-Star break, going 10-2-1.
Joonas Korpisalo stopped 28 shots.
Evan Rodrigues and Nathan MacKinnon scored for the slumping Avalanche, who are 1-3-1 over their last five games. MacKinnon’s goal extended his home points streak to 15 games. Alexandar Georgiev finished with 26 saves.
STARS 10, SABRES 4
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jamie Benn had a goal and two assists, Radek Faksa scored twice and the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars enjoyed their best offensive output in 14 years.
Joe Pavelski, Joel Kiviranta, rookie Wyatt Johnston, Evgenii Dadonov and Mason Marchment also scored in a game the Stars had 16 players earn at least a point. Jake Oettinger stopped 25 shots and Dallas improved to 5-1-1 in its past seven and 4-0-1 in its past five road games.
Jeff Skinner had a goal and assist for Buffalo. Newcomer Greenway, acquired in a trade last week with Minnesota, Kyle Okposo and Victor Olofsson also scored. Eric Comrie stopped 39 shots in having a four-game winning streak snapped.
The extra depth could prove necessary after forward Tyler Seguin did not return when he was cut along the left leg after getting tangled up with Buffalo’s Jordan Greenway 11 minutes into the first period. Seguin was spotted walking on crutches with his left leg heavily wrapped following the game.
RANGERS 4, CANADIENS 3, SO
MONTREAL (AP) — Mika Zibanejad scored the shootout winner, giving the New York Rangers the victory over Montreal.
Patrick Kane scored his first goal with the Rangers and Alexis Lafreniere and Jacob Trouba added goals in regulation. Artemi Panarin finished with three assists. Igor Shesterkin made 23 saves as New York snapped a two-game losing streak.
Kaiden Guhle, Alex Belzile and Josh Anderson scored for Montreal, which lost its fifth straight. Sam Montembeault stopped 30 shots.
ISLANDERS 4, PENGUINS 3, OT
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brock Nelson scored on a breakaway in overtime and the New York Islanders rallied to defeat Pittsburgh.
Nelson beat Tristan Jarry to the blocker side at 2:13 of the extra period as the Islanders — who trailed 3-1 late in the third — swept the season series against the Penguins for the first time in franchise history. New York also solidified its first winning record on the road at Pittsburgh since the 2014-15 season.
Anders Lee had two goals and Hudson Fasching also scored for the Islanders, who scored twice in the final 5:29 of regulation to force overtime. Ilya Sorokin stopped 33 shots and assisted on the winning goal for New York, which is two points ahead of Pittsburgh for the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker and Josh Archibald scored for Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry made 24 saves for the Penguins, who have lost two of three following a four-game winning streak. Pittsburgh has lost 10 of its last 11 against division opponents.
COYOTES 4, PREDATORS 1
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Rookie Ivan Prosvetov stopped 39 shots, Brett Ritchie scored in his Arizona debut and the Coyotes beat Nashville.
Ritchie scored in the first period of his first game since being traded from Calgary on Friday. Barrett Hayton and Jack McBain scored 49 seconds apart in the third period, and Nick Schmaltz added an empty-net goal.
Juuse Saros had 39 saves and Cody Glass scored for the Predators but they went 0 for 6 on the power play and had too many defensive breakdowns in the third period.
BLUES 4, SHARKS 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jakub Vrana scored his first goal with St. Louis and highlighted the Blues’ victory over San Jose.
Robert Thomas, Sammy Blaise and Torey Krug also scored for the Blues. Jordan Binnington made 32 saves in his 50th start of the season and improved to 1-5-2 in his last eight starts.
Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson scored for San Jose. Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves and slipped to 1-5-0 against the Blues in his career. The Sharks fell to 2-9-1 their past 12 games.
SENATORS 5, KRAKEN 4
SEATTLE (AP) — Alex DeBrincat scored the tiebreaking goal with less than three minutes remaining in the third period to lead Ottawa past Seattle.
Shane Pinto, Jakob Chychrun, Claude Giroux and Patrick Brown also scored for Ottawa. Mads Sogaard made 29 saves. Nick Holden and Tim Stutzle each had two assists for Ottawa. Giroux, Mathieu Joseph and Jake Sanderson also recorded an assist.
Jared McCann scored twice and Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz added goals for the Kraken, who had their five-game winning streak halted. Philipp Grubauer had 26 saves. Alex Wennberg, Yanni Gourde and Daniel Sprong each had an assist, and Schwatz extended his points streak to five games.
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The Associated Press
