National Hockey

MONTREAL — Despite losing their starting goaltender just over two minutes into the game, the Florida Panthers held up just fine.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Robert Thomas and Brendan Saad each had a goal and an assist, sending the St. Louis Blues to a 5-2 victory Thursday night over the Nashville Predators.

TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews scored twice early in the second period, Ilya Samosonov made 37 saves and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 on Thursday night. “Sammy was dialed in,” Matthews said.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist, Petr Mrazek made 37 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks won for the first time in the regular season in Philadelphia in more than 26 years with a 4-1 victory over the Flyers on Thursday night.

TORONTO — Ilya Samsonov kept his team in the fight early. Auston Matthews — looking more and more like last season's 60-goal man — took control from there.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jeremy Swayman made 31 saves to help the Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers 3-1 on Thursday night for their eighth victory in nine games.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes had just started to get their first looks at Max Pacioretty, who they hoped would become another needed scoring option for a Stanley Cup contender.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Ryan Miller grew up idolizing goalie Dominik Hasek, and upon signing with the Buffalo Sabres in 2002, fantasized of one day having his name and number hang from the arena rafters.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Flyers coach John Tortorella defended Russian defenseman Ivan Provorov’s decision to cite religious beliefs as his reason to boycott the team's pregame Pride celebration. “Provy did nothing wrong,” Tortorella said Thursday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Cam Fowler, Trevor Zegras and Adam Henrique each had a goal and an assist and the Anaheim Ducks overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 on Thursday night and snap a five-game losing streak.