SUNRISE, Fla. — Mikael Backlund had an empty-net goal and a pair of assists, helping lift the Calgary Flames to their sixth straight victory with a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Friday night.
Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan also scored for the Flames, and David Rittich stopped 41 shots in his first start in seven games.
Evgenii Dadanov scored both goals for the Panthers, breaking a 19-game goal drought. James Reimer made 25 saves in his 16th consecutive start, but it wasn't enough to keep the Panthers from their fourth loss in five games.
CAPITALS 4, HURRICANES 3
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jay Beagle scored with 1.3 seconds remaining and the Washington Capitals rallied to beat the Carolina Hurricanes.
Brett Connolly notched the tying goal with 3:08 left, and Alex Ovechkin added his NHL-leading 28th goal and two assists for first-place Washington.
Lars Eller scored on the power play and Philipp Grubauer stopped 36 shots to help the Capitals earn their second come-from-behind victory in Raleigh in 10 nights. Washington won 5-4 in overtime on Jan. 2 on two late goals by Ovechkin.
The Hurricanes got power-play goals from Jordan Staal and Sebastian Aho — with each player assisting on the other's goal — and an even-strength goal from Jeff Skinner.
CANUCKS 5, BLUE JACKETS 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Sven Baertschi sparked a four-goal second period for Vancouver, Jacob Markstrom had 27 saves and the Canucks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Seth Jones put Columbus up 1-0 during a strong first period, but Vancouver powered ahead in the second. Baertschi, Erik Gudbranson, Brandon Gaunce and Alexander Edler scored, and Jake Virtanen added an empty-net goal with 9 seconds left in the third to help the Canucks snap a five-game skid.
Thomas Vanek and Henrik Sedin each had two assists for Vancouver, which won for just the third time since Dec. 7.
Sergei Bobrovsky let in four of the Canucks' 12 shots in the second period. He finished with 24 saves. Matt Calvert also scored for Columbus.
BLACKHAWKS 2, JETS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Rookie
Jan Rutta also scored for the Blackhawks, who ended the Jets' three-game winning streak and handed Winnipeg its first regulation loss in seven games (6-0-1).
The 32-year-old Glass lost a bid for his first career shutout when Patrik Laine scored with 3:41 left in the third period. Winnipeg, the high-scoring Central Division leaders, came on with a late flurry, but Glass was sharp in his fifth NHL game to improve to 3-1-1.
Chicago's No. 1 goalie, Corey Crawford missed his ninth game with an upper-body injury. No timetable is set for his return.
Anthony Duclair, acquired from Arizona on Wednesday as part of a four-player trade, had an assist in his Blackhawks debut.
OILERS 4, COYOTES 2
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Darnell Nurse scored twice on rising slap shots from the left circle and the Edmonton Oilers overcame an early two-goal deficit to beat the Arizona Coyotes.
Nurse broke a tie at 3:57 of the third period, beating goalie Antti Raanta above the glove from about the same spot where the 6-foot-4
Patrick Maroon and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored, Connor McDavid had two assists and Al Montoya stopped all 19 shots he faced in relief of Cam Talbot to help Edmonton end a three-game losing streak and win for the second time in nine games.
Brad Richardson and Josh Archibald scored in a 1:14 span early in the first for Arizona. The NHL-worst Coyotes were coming off their bye week.
The Associated Press
