National Hockey

Tampa Bay Lightning (9-2-1, first in the Central Division) vs. Florida Panthers (8-1-2, second in the Central Division) Sunrise, Florida; Saturday, 7 p.m.

Ottawa Senators (2-12-1, seventh in the North Division) vs. Winnipeg Jets (8-4-1, fourth in the North Division) Winnipeg, Manitoba; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Ottawa enters the matchup with Winnipeg after losing four games in a row.

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings finally got the fast start they had been waiting for. And the finish wasn't bad, either.

LAS VEGAS — Max Comtois grew up watching the Pittsburgh Penguins and was a big fan of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

VANCOUVER — Life in Vancouver has felt a little unnatural for Calgary Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom this week. After spending seven seasons with the Canucks, for the first time he hit the ice at Rogers Arena as an opponent on Thursday.

MONTREAL — After starting the season on long-term injured reserve and missing the first month of action, Mike Smith wanted to make sure he was well prepared when he finally returned to the Edmonton Oilers crease.

Sidney Crosby scored the only goal of the shootout to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-3 comeback victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

CHICAGO — When Mikko Koivu announced his retirement Tuesday, it created an opportunity for Kevin Stenlund to take on a more regular role with the Columbus Blue Jackets. So far, so good.

DALLAS — Nino Niederreiter scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Dallas Stars 5-3 on Thursday night, their third win this season against the defending Western Conference champions.

Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Connor Murphy could be sidelined for two weeks with a right hip injury, and Andrew Shaw is facing an uncertain future after the pesky forward sustained another head injury.