NHL roundup: Crosby lifts Penguins with OT magic

Send a link to a friend  Share

[March 30, 2018]  Sidney Crosby batted in his own rebound 19 seconds into overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday in Newark, N.J.

Crosby, coming in from the left side, clanged a shot off the right post. The puck flew back in front of the net, where Crosby batted in the waist-high rebound past goalie Keith Kinkaid for his 28th goal of the season. It was his 13th career overtime winner.

Patric Hornqvist and Kris Letang each had a goal and an assist and Conor Sheary also scored for the Penguins, who moved into sole possession of second place in the Metropolitan Division, two points ahead of Philadelphia. Brian Dumoulin added two assists and Matt Murray finished with 28 saves.

Blake Coleman, Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri each scored New Jersey, currently in the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Kinkaid stopped 31 shots for the Devils, who saw their three-game winning streak end.

Bruins 4, Lightning 2

David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron scored key goals, and Tuukka Rask made 26 saves as Boston leapfrogged visiting Tampa Bay into first place in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.

Pastrnak's 32nd goal of the season late in the first period was the Bruins' second in the final minute of the opening frame. Bergeron's 28th goal with 8:01 remaining in the third added some important insurance before Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman scored his 15th with 6:06 left.

With 107 points, the Bruins are now one point ahead of the Lightning with a game in hand. Tampa Bay had been in first place in the division since Oct. 19.

Canucks 2, Oilers 1

Derrick Pouliot's goal at the two-minute mark of the third period gave Vancouver a win over visiting Edmonton.

Pouliot now has five career NHL goals -- and all have been game-winners. He became the first player in league history to start his career with five game-winning goals.

The Canucks, who got a second-period goal from Sam Gagner, posted their third straight win and fourth in five games. The Oilers took their third consecutive loss despite Connor McDavid's first-period goal.

Blue Jackets 5, Flames 1

Pierre-Luc Dubois collected his first career hat trick and Sergei Bobrovsky made 37 saves as Columbus beat host Calgary to regain third place in the Metropolitan Division.

With 18 goals on the season, Dubois, the third overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, set a franchise record for most goals by a rookie. The victory was the 12th in 13 games for the Blue Jackets. Columbus coach John Tortorella collected his 128th win with the team, also a franchise mark.

Markus Hannikainen and Markus Nutivaara also scored for Columbus. Chris Stewart scored the Flames' lone goal with 21.4 seconds left in the third period.

Predators 5, Sharks 3

Juuse Saros made 39 saves and stopped a penalty shot, and Filip Forsberg had three assists as Nashville set a franchise record for points in a season with a victory over visiting San Jose.

Ryan Ellis, Viktor Arvidsson and Craig Smith each had a goal and an assist, and Kyle Turris and Nick Bonino also scored for Western Conference-leading Nashville. The Predators improved to 11-2-2 in March while playing before their 100th consecutive sellout at Bridgestone Arena.

Mikkel Boedker had a goal and an assist, and Logan Couture and Brenden Dillon also scored for San Jose.

Kings 4, Coyotes 2

Jeff Carter's third goal of the night broke a deadlock with less than five minutes remaining in the third period as Los Angeles won consecutive games for the first time in March, beating visiting Arizona.

 [to top of second column]

Carter, who missed 55 games due to a lacerated ankle tendon sustained in the second week of the season, has recorded 13 goals and 17 points in 17 games since returning to action.

Anne Kopitar added an empty-netter with 1.7 seconds left for his career-high 35th goal of the season.

Senators 3, Panthers 2 (OT)

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored on an overtime penalty shot, his second goal of the night, to lead host Ottawa to a comeback victory over Florida.

Pageau, who was hauled down during a breakaway late in a wild overtime that featured multiple scoring chances at both ends, went down the ice and buried a five-hole shot on James Reimer with just 16 seconds left.

The Senators, long ago eliminated from playoff contention, snapped a six-game losing skid, while the Panthers ended up lamenting a lost point in the standings. Florida sits three points behind the New Jersey Devils for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Wild 5, Stars 2

Matt Dumba scored a goal and added three assists as Minnesota downed visiting Dallas. Dumba's four-point night marked his NHL career high for single-game production.

The victory was only Minnesota's second in five games. However, the Wild tightened their hold on third place in the Central Division. Dallas, the sixth-place team in the Central, lost for the eighth time in 10 games and saw its dimming playoff hopes fade further.

Zach Parise netted two goals for the Wild. Mikael Granlund scored a goal and added two assists, while Jason Zucker had a goal and an assist for Minnesota. Jamie Benn and Devin Shore scored for Dallas.

Red Wings 6, Sabres 3

Anthony Mantha scored his team-leading 24th goal of the season, and Detroit pulled away for a win at Buffalo.

Dylan Larkin, Darren Helm, Andreas Athanasiou, Danny DeKeyser and Evgeny Svechnikov also scored for the Red Wings. Detroit has won back-to-back games for the first time since February. Jack Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly and Evan Rodrigues scored for Buffalo, which has lost five of its past six games.

Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard stopped 29 of 32 shots for his 21st win of the season and the 220th win of his career. Only Terry Sawchuk (351) and Chris Osgood (317) have won more games with the franchise.

Blackhawks 6, Jets 2

Tomas Jurco scored twice, and Collin Delia made 25 saves to win his abbreviated NHL debut as Chicago rolled to a victory over visiting Winnipeg.

Delia filled in on short notice for Blackhawks goaltender Anton Forsberg, who was hurt while warming up before the game. Minus Forsberg, the team lined up amateur Scott Foster as an emergency backup.

The move to call up Foster proved necessary. Delia was forced to leave the game with an apparent leg injury with 14:01 left. That meant Foster -- a 36-year-old who played at Western Michigan more than a decade ago -- stepped in to make his NHL debut. The Ontario native stopped all seven shots he faced and was swarmed by grinning teammates after the final horn sounded.

--Field Level Media

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.

Back to top