Lightning beat Penguins 2-1 in OT for 8th straight victory
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Yanni Gourde’s wrist shot from in close 2:45 into overtime gave the streaking Tampa Bay Lightning a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
The Lightning picked up their eighth straight win when Gourde took a cross-ice feed from Brayden Point and ripped the puck over Matt Murray’s right arm. Gourde’s seventh goal of the season created a mob scene near the Pittsburgh net as Tampa Bay improved to 20-2-1 since Dec. 23.
Mikhail Sergachev scored his ninth goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots for Tampa Bay, which played the third period and overtime without leading scorer Nikita Kucherov. He left late in the second with a lower-body injury.
Evgeni Malkin got his 18th goal for Pittsburgh and Murray finished with 36 saves.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Florida’s fourth line of Mike Matheson, Mark Pysyk and Noel Acciari each scored and accounted for eight points as the Panthers snapped a three-game losing streak.
Frank Vatrano and Brett Connolly also scored as the Panthers won for only second time (2-4-1) since returning from the All-Star break. Sam Montembeault had 25 saves in his first start since Nov. 24.
Jack Hughes, Kevin Rooney and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Devils, who saw their season-high six-game (3-0-3) point steak snapped. Louis Domingue made 28 saves in getting a start for MacKenzie Blackwood, who had shutouts in his last two starts.
Florida coach Joel Quenneville dressed eight defensemen for the game and the strategy worked to perfection.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Sam Reinhart jammed in a loose puck for the go-ahead goal 57 seconds into the third period in the Buffalo’s win over Detroit.
Marcus Johansson had a goal and assist and Conor Sheary also scored in a game the Sabres overcame two one-goal deficits. Carter Hutton stopped 27 shots, and Buffalo won for just he third time in nine (3-5-1) games.
Detroit’s Darren Helm scored twice for his 11th multi-goal game and first since scoring twice on Oct. 17, 2016. Anthony Mantha had two assists in playing his first game after missing 20 with a rib injury and punctured lung.
Jonathan Bernier stopped 22 shots for Detroit.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, COYOTES 2, OT
TORONTO (AP) — Kasperi Kapanen scored 3:43 into overtime and Toronto beat Arizona.
Zach Hyman had two goals in regulation for Toronto, and Alexander Kerfoot added two assists. Jack Campbell stopped 35 shots.
Carl Soderberg and Christian Dvorak scored for Arizona. Adin Hill made 38 saves.
NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Pulock scored the tiebreaking goal with 41 seconds remaining and the Islanders recovered after giving up a three-goal and beat Philadelphia.
Josh Bailey, Jordan Eberle and Leo Komarov each had a goal and an assist, and Matt Martin also scored to help the Islanders win for the fifth time in eight games (5-1-2). Mathew Barzal had three assists.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 35 shots as New York beat its Metropolitan Division rival for the third time in three meetings this season. The Islanders, splitting home games between the Nassau Coliseum and Barclays Center, improved to 7-0-3 in Brooklyn.
Travis Konecny, Robert Hagg and Sean Couturier scored for the Flyers, who lost for the fourth time in 12 games (8-3-1). Claude Giroux and Scott Laughton each had two assists, and Brian Elliott finished with 20 saves.
