Highlights of Monday's NHL games

[March 21, 2017]  March 20 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Monday's National Hockey League games:

Predators 3, Coyotes 1

Ryan Ellis scored two goals and Pekka Rinne stopped 25 shots Monday night as the Nashville Predators warmed up after a sluggish first period for a 3-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes in Bridgestone Arena.

Nashville won for the fourth time in five games and snapped a third-place tie with St Louis in the Central Division.

The Predators grabbed the lead five minutes into the second period when Viktor Arvidsson jumped on a giveaway from Christian Dvorak in the slot and chipped a wrister over Mike Smith for his 27th goal of the season, before Ellis added his two markers.

Rinne's bid for his 43rd career shutout ended at 16:05 of the third period when Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored a power-play goal.

Maple Leafs 4, Bruins 2

Tyler Bozak scored on a power-play with less than two minutes left in the third period to break a tie and lift Toronto past Boston.

Morgan Rielly, William Nylander and Nazem Kadri also scored for the Maple Leafs, who swept the season series from the Bruins 4-0. The final two Toronto goals were into an empty net.

David Backes and Dominic Moore scored for Boston.

Sabres 2, Red Wings 1

Robin Lehner made 34 saves and Buffalo scored twice on the power-play against Detroit. It was the third straight victory for the Sabres over the Wings, the first time Buffalo managed that since the 1988-89 NHL season.

The Sabres opened the scoring at 9:01 of the first period when Jack Eichel took a pass from Ryan O'Reilly at the top of the left faceoff circle and snapped a long wrist shot past Petr Mrazek.

The power-play produced again 8:59 into the second period when Matt Moulson scooped a backhand shot past Mrazek.

Tomas Tatar scored his sixth goal in as many games to get the Red Wings on the board at 12:53 of the second period.

Stars 1, Sharks 0

Curtis McKenzie scored the lone goal and Kari Lehtonen stopped all 30 shots he faced in his second shutout of the season and 36th of his career for Dallas.

The Sharks were shut out for just the fifth time this season. San Jose has now lost three consecutive games for the second time this season, the first time since November.

Oilers 2, Kings 0

Cam Talbot made 35 saves for his second consecutive shutout, and Connor McDavid's two assists brought him to 82 points on the season, alone atop the NHL scoring chart, one ahead of Boston's Brad Marchand.

Patrick Maroon opened the scoring just 1:04 after the opening faceoff. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick (29 saves) stopped the first shot from Connor McDavid. The puck bounced into the air, and Maroon took a swipe and knocked it into the goal.

The Oilers doubled the lead at 12:47 of the first. With the Kings' Jake Muzzin in the penalty box for interference, Milan Lucic slammed home the rebound off a McDavid shot.

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