LDN - Sports

NHL roundup: Flyers slip past Avs

[March 29, 2018] Claude Giroux and Ivan Provorov each scored goals while Michal Neuvirth and Petr Mrazek combined for 27 saves Wednesday night as the Philadelphia Flyers gained two big points in the Eastern Conference playoff race with a 2-1 verdict over the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.

The result enabled Philadelphia to tie Pittsburgh for second place in the Metropolitan Division with 92 points, taking the Flyers out of the wild-card picture at least temporarily. Philadelphia bounced back after losing each of the previous two games in overtime.

Meanwhile, Colorado took a potentially costly defeat in its pursuit of a Western Conference playoff spot. The Avalanche stayed at 90 points, one behind the St. Louis for fourth place in the Central Division. They are also a point behind the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks.

Neuvirth, who was activated earlier Wednesday from injured reserve after missing more than a month with a lower-body injury, left the game with 8:07 gone in the second. Mrazek replaced him and saved all 17 shots he faced. Neuvirth stopped 10 of 11 shots.

Coyotes 3, Golden Knights 2

Kevin Connauton scored two goals and Antti Raanta made 27 saves to lead visiting Arizona to a victory over Vegas.

Richard Panik also scored for the Coyotes, who have earned back-to-back wins over the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning and the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights.

Alex Tuch and Erik Haula scored Vegas, which lost for the first time in five games against Arizona. The Golden Knights still hold a five-point lead in the division with five games to go.

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Capitals 3, Rangers 2 (OT)

Evgeny Kuznetsov scored 38 seconds into overtime to give Washington a victory over visiting New York.

Kuznetsov scored on a great individual effort, circling around a few New York players in the Rangers' zone and then beating goalie Henrik Lundqvist on a bullet from the left side. The Capitals have won five in a row and nine of their past 10 games.

Lundqvist came back after missing three games (sore back/neck) and turned in a solid performance with 30 saves. Washington goalie Braden Holtby made 35 saves.

Maple Leafs 4, Panthers 3

Auston Matthews scored his 30th goal of the season as host Toronto defeated Florida.

Matthews is the third Toronto player to reach 30 goals this season, joining James van Riemsdyk and Nazem Kadri. Van Riemsdyk, who also scored on Wednesday, leads the team with 35 goals.

Frederik Andersen stopped 30 shots to earn the win. Mitch Marner and Patrick Marleau also scored for Toronto. Marner, who also had an assist, has at least one point in 10 consecutive games. Jonathan Huberdeau had two goals and Evgenii Dadonov added one for the Panthers.

--Field Level Media

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