NHL roundup: Rangers pull away from rival Islanders, Hurricanes continue form
Nearly a month after rallying for a 6-5 overtime win at the Stadium Series in East Rutherford, the Rangers trailed 1-0 in the first period and scored the final three goals of the game in the first of three meetings between the teams in the final month of the regular season.
Mika Zibanejad and Will Cuylle scored in New York's three-goal second period. Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere tallied in the third as the Rangers won for the fifth time in six games and improved to 16-3-1 in their past 20 contests.
Bo Horvat scored twice for the Islanders, who saw their losing streak reach four games following a six-game winning streak.
New York goalie Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves against his close friend Ilya Sorokin, who allowed five goals on 31 shots.
Golden Knights 3, Devils 1
Jack Eichel scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and Logan Thompson made 20 saves to lead Vegas to a victory over slumping New Jersey in Las Vegas.
William Carrier and William Karlsson also scored goals and Noah Hanifin added two assists for the Golden Knights, who moved into a tie for third place in the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles Kings at 79 points.
Thompson, making his first start since he allowed seven goals in a loss at Buffalo March 2, won his first game since blanking San Jose 4-0 on February 19.
Nico Hischier scored for New Jersey, which lost for the fourth time in its last five games. Jake Allen, acquired at the trade deadline from Montreal, stopped 34 of 36 shots.
Jets 6, Blue Jackets 1
Tyler Toffoli had two goals and an assist as visiting Winnipeg beat Columbus.
Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist and Sean Monahan had two assists for the Jets, who are tied with the Colorado Avalanche (91 points) atop the Central Division. Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves.
Brendan Gaunce scored, and Elvis Merzlikins made 21 saves for the Blue Jackets.
Hurricanes 7, Senators 2
Dmitry Orlov scored two goals to go with two assists and Carolina won its third game in a row by blasting host Ottawa.
Jake Guentzel notched his first goal with the Hurricanes and Evgeny Kuznetsov, Seth Jarvis, Jalen Chatfield and Brendan Lemieux also scored for Carolina, which reached the seven-goal mark for the second time in eight days.
Sebastian Aho supplied three assists. Guentzel, who was in his fourth game with the Hurricanes since a trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins, made the score 6-2 in the third period with his goal. It was Carolina's third goal in a four-goal final period.
Thomas Chabot and Tim Stutzle scored for the Senators, whose three-game winning streak was wiped away. Chabot also had an assist. Goalie Anton Forsberg yielded seven goals on 38 Carolina shots.
Penguins 6, Red Wings 3
Sidney Crosby ended a goal drought and added an assist to help lift Pittsburgh over visiting Detroit.
Reilly Smith, Valtteri Puustinen and Lars Eller also had a goal and an assist each, and Michael Bunting and Drew O'Connor also scored for the Penguins, who have won two of three. Pittsburgh goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves against his former team.
Lucas Raymond scored twice and Christian Fischer also scored for the Red Wings, who have lost eight of nine. Detroit goaltender Alex Lyon made 32 saves.
Blues 4, Ducks 2
Robert Thomas scored twice and Pavel Buchnevich picked up three assists as St. Louis dispatched visiting Anaheim.
Jake Neighbours and Kevin Hayes also scored for the Blues, who extended their winning streak to four games. Justin Faulk finished with two assists for St. Louis and Joel Hofer made 26 saves.
Troy Terry scored twice and Lukas Dostal made 23 saves for the Ducks, who lost their sixth straight game.
Blackhawks 5, Sharks 2
Ryan Donato, Kevin Korchinski and Joey Anderson scored in an 83-second span midway through the third period to lift host Chicago over San Jose.
Connor Bedard accounted for the final margin with an empty-net goal with 0.3 seconds left. Bedard and Philipp Kurashev both had a goal and an assist, and Tyler Johnson had two assists for the Blackhawks.
Ryan Carpenter and Klim Kostin scored for the Sharks, who lost their fourth straight and remained at 39 points, four behind Chicago and fewest in the NHL.