LDN - Sports

NHL roundup: Blue Jackets' Atkinson nets hat trick

[March 16, 2018] Cam Atkinson recorded a hat trick, and the Columbus Blue Jackets extended their winning streak to six games with a 5-3 victory over the host Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

Oliver Bjorkstrand and Boone Jenner also had goals for the Blue Jackets, who pulled into a tie with Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Claude Giroux scored his 26th goal and got his 83rd point of the season for Philadelphia but went to the dressing room after getting hit in the face with the puck midway through the second period.

Shayne Gostisbehere and Andrew MacDonald also scored for the Flyers, who are 1-6-1 in March after winning six straight to close February.

Predators 3, Coyotes 2

Kyle Turris and Kevin Fiala set up each other's third-period goals as Nashville came back to beat host Arizona.

The league-leading Predators trailed 2-1 going into the third period, but Turris erased that deficit just 22 seconds into the final frame by finishing a three-way passing play with Fiala and Craig Smith. Turris ended the night with a goal and two assists. Fiala netted the winner at the 4:31 mark of the final period.

Pekka Rinne made 32 saves for the Predators, who are on a 12-0-1 run in the past 13 games. Coyotes goalie Darcy Kuemper stopped 26 shots.

Kings 4, Red Wings 1

Anze Kopitar scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period as part of a four-point performance, sending host Los Angeles past Detroit.

Jonathan Quick stopped 20 shots en route to his 28th win of the season, helping the Kings continue a sequence of alternating wins and losses in their past seven games. The defeat was the eighth in a row (0-7-1) for the Red Wings, who fell to 0-3-0 on their five-game Western swing.

Drew Doughty and Kopitar each had three assists for Los Angeles, which got a goal and an assist from Dustin Brown.

Panthers 3, Bruins 0

James Reimer made 46 saves on his 30th birthday as Florida defeated visiting Boston.

Reimer, who hadn't played since March 2, has won five of his past six starts and has three shutouts this season.

Florida, which got goals from Aaron Ekblad, Nick Bjugstad and Vincent Trocheck, improved to 16-4-1 since Jan. 30. The Panthers, who have won nine of their past 10 home games, also got two assists from Evgenii Dadonov and one from Bjugstad.

Capitals 7, Islanders 3

T.J. Oshie scored twice as Washington pulled away from host New York.

Lars Eller, Dmitry Orlov, Andre Burakovsky, Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson also scored for the Capitals, who broke open a tie game by scoring four unanswered goals in a 38-minute span between the first and third periods.

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Washington's Philipp Grubauer made 35 saves. Evgeny Kuznetsov had three assists while Backstrom and Orlov had two assists apiece.

Penguins 5, Canadiens 3

Patric Hornqvist scored his second goal of the night to cap a three-point game and break a deadlock as Pittsburgh triumphed at Montreal.

With the score tied 3-3, Hornqvist netted the winner with 7:36 remaining in the third period. Carl Hagelin created a rush that ended with Hornqvist redirecting the puck into the cage for his fourth goal in the past four games. It was also Hornqvist's 400th career point.

The Penguins tied Washington for top spot in the Metropolitan Division, although the Capitals have two games in hand.

Maple Leafs 5, Sabres 2

James van Riemsdyk had two goals and an assist, and Toronto cruised to a victory in Buffalo.

Connor Carrick, Tyler Bozak and Patrick Marleau also scored for Toronto, which picked up its third consecutive win.

Van Riemsdyk recorded his third multiple-goal performance of the season to go along with his fourth three-point outing. Toronto goaltender Curtis McElhinney stopped 38 of 40 shots to improve to 9-4-1.

Jets 6, Blackhawks 2

Kyle Connor scored twice, Bryan Little and Jack Roslovic each had a goal and an assist, and host Winnipeg overpowered Chicago.

Paul Stastny and Joel Armia also scored for Winnipeg, which snapped a three-game skid. Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves to improve to 36-11-9.

Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp scored for the Blackhawks. Chicago has allowed six-plus goals nine times this season.

Avalanche 4, Blues 1

Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen scored two goals apiece as Colorado won at St. Louis.

MacKinnon's two first-period goals staked the Avalanche to a 2-0 lead. He added an assist while extending his points streak to 10 games and now has 10 goals and 10 assists during that stretch.

Rantanen scored his second goal in the game's final minute to cap a four-point night.

--Field Level Media

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