SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Linus Ullmark stopped 27 shots and the NHL-leading Boston Bruins beat the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Wednesday night in a rematch of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
Boston improved to 14-1-3 overall and 4-0-0 after losses. The Bruins have 31 of a possible 36 points so far — by far the best in the league, yet slightly behind their pace from last season when they had 32 points through 18 games.
Boston finished with an NHL-record 135 points last season, then lost to Florida in seven games in the opening round of the playoffs while the Panthers went on to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Florida is 0-1-1 against the Bruins this season.
John Beecher and Jake DeBrusk scored in a 3:05 span in the second period to put Boston in control, and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Bruins.
Anton Lundell scored for Florida. The Panthers had won six in a row at home.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2, STARS 1, OT
DALLAS (AP) — Jack Eichel scored 1:57 into overtime after initially whiffing at the puck to push Stanley Cup champion Vegas past Dallas in a Western Conference Final rematch.
The Golden Knights were back at the American Airlines Center for the first time since their 6-0 rout to wrap up the conference final in Game 6.
Michael Amadio cored in regulation for Vegas and Aiden Hill made 32 saves. Roope Hintz scored for Dallas.
RANGERS 1, PENGUINS 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jonathan Quick made 32 saves for his 60th career shutout and Alexis Lafreniere scored early in the first period in New York’s victory over Pittsburgh.
In his first season with the Rangers as Igor Shesterkin’s backup, Quick has allowed only 11 goals while going 5-0-1 with two shutouts in six starts. New York (13-3-1) has won five of six overall and is 11-1-1 in its past 13 games.
Quick, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with Los Angeles, became the 20th goalie in NHL history to reach 60 shutouts. He ranks second among active goaltenders behind Minnesota’s Marc-Andre Fleury (73).
Tristan Jarry stopped 35 shots for Pittsburgh.
BLUES 6, COYOTES 5
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Nick Leddy and Alexey Toropchenko had short-handed goal 33 seconds apart, Kevin Hayes broke a third-period tie and St. Louis outlasted Arizona.
The teams combined for 10 goals in 22 minutes spanning the first and second periods int he third NHL game in 30 years to have five tying goals in the first 35 minutes.
St. Louis chased Karel Vejmelka with four goals before the midpoint of the second period. The Coyotes chased Jordan Binnington not long after that with their fifth.
Brayden Schenn, Colton Parayko and Robert Thomas also scored for St. Louis. Lawson Crouse. Michael Carcone, Nick Bjugstad, Jason Zucker and Nick Schmaltz scored for Arizona.
BLUE JACKETS 7, BLACKHAWKS 3
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Boone Jenner scored twice, Zach Werenski had a franchise-record four assists and Columbus beat Chicago to end a nine-game losing streak.
The Blue Jackets last won Nov. 2 and tied the team record for consecutive losses.
Kirill Marchenko Eric Gudbranson, Cole Sillinger and Dmitri Voronkov also scored and Elvis Merzlikins made 34 saves.
Connor Bedard, Jason Dickinson and Ryan Donato scored for Chicago.
JETS 3, LIGHTNING 2, OT
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Adam Lowry scored 1:39 into overtime and Winnipeg beat Tampa Bay for its fourth straight victory.
Lowry beat goalie Jonas Johansson from the left circle off a pass from Neal Pionk. Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele also scored and Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves.
Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay. The Lightning had won three in a row.
HURRICANES 6, OILERS 3
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Teuvo Teravainen and Seth Jarvis each had a goal and an assist and Carolina scored four goals in a 5:31 span in the first period against Edmonton.
Jesper Fast, Jack Drury, Martin Necas and Brent Burns also scored for Carolina. Starting goalie Antti Raanta left for precautionary reasons after the first period with an ailment. Pyotr Kochetkov made saves on 13 of 15 shots in the final two periods.
Zach Hyman scored twice for Edmonton. Mattias Ekholm also had a goal.
AVALANCHE 5, CANUCKS 2
DENVER (AP) — Riley Tufte, called up from the minors earlier in the day, scored the go-ahead goal 24 seconds into the third period to lift Colorado past Vancouver.
Cale Makar added a goal later in the third on a breakaway, and Mikko Rantanen scored into an empty net. Valeri Nichushkin and Jonathan Drouin also scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves.
J.T. Miller and Nils Hoglander scored for the Canucks.
CAPITALS 4, SABRES 3, OT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dylan Strome scored with eight seconds left in overtime, lifting Washington past Buffalo for its fifth straight victory.
Alex Alexeyev, T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson also scored to help Washington improve to 6-0-1 in its last seven. Darcy Kuemper stopped 24 shots.
J.J. Peterka, Zach Benson and Dylan Cozens scored for Buffalo.
KRAKEN 7, SHARKS 1
SEATTLE (AP) — Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde each had a goal and an assist in Seattle’s four-goal first period in a rout of NHL-worst San Jose.
Brandon Tanev and Adam Larsson also scored in the opening 20 minutes to help the Kraken get to the .500 mark for the first time this season at 8-8-5.
Eeli Tolvanen scored twice in the third, Jared McCann added a goal and Joey Daccord made 13 saves. Bjorkstrand finished with three assists.
Mike Hoffman scored for San Jose. The Sharks are 0-9 on the road and 3-15-1 overall.
CANADIENS 4, DUCKS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Alex Newhook scored with 3:20 remaining and Montreal beat Anaheim to snap a four-game losing streak.
Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson also scored, and Sam Montembeault made 30 saves.
Mason McTavish had two goals and an assist, and Frank Vatrano had a goal and an assist in the Ducks’ fourth straight loss.
RED WINGS 4, DEVILS 0
DETROIT (AP) — Alex Lyon made 16 saves for his second career shutout, Robby Fabbri had a goal and an assist and Detroit beat New Jersey.
Fabbri capped a three-goal spree in a 1:12 span late in the first period in Detroit’s first game since returning from the NHL’s Global Series Sweden. Lucas Raymond extended his goals streak to four games, and Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider also scored.
ISLANDERS 3, FLYERS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Brock Nelson had two goals, Anders Lee also scored and New York beat Philadelphia.
Pierre Engvall and Adam Pelech each had two assists. and Ilya Sorokin stopped 34 shots to help the Islanders win their second straight after losing seven in a row (0-4-3).
Cam York and Joel Farabee scored for Philadelphia. The Flyers had won five straight.
PREDATORS 4, FLAMES 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Juuse Saros made 24 saves to help Nashville beat Calgary for its third straight victory.
Colton Sissons, Ryan O’Reilly, Alexandre Carrier and Juuso Parssinen scored for Nashville. Noah Hanifin and Yegor Sharangovich countered for Calgary.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
The Associated Press
