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NHL roundup: Habs, Niemi (52 saves) tame Panthers

[January 16, 2019] Montreal backup goalie Antti Niemi was incredible in a record-setting 52-save outing, and the Canadiens strung together a three-goal second period to claim a 5-1 win over the visiting Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

Shea Weber, Phillip Danault, Max Domi, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Brendan Gallagher scored for the Canadiens, who have won four of five and swept their back-to-back games to start the week. Montreal was victorious in Boston on Monday, beating the Bruins 3-2 in overtime.

With Montreal playing its third game in four days, Niemi started and frustrated the Panthers, particularly in a 21-shot third period. Niemi ran his record to 8-4-1.

Niemi established a career high for saves, and Florida eclipsed its record for most shots against an opposing goalie, totaling 53, including Mike Hoffman's goal. The Panthers fired 52 on Los Angeles Kings backstop Kelly Hrudey in 1993.

Islanders 2, Blues 1 (OT)

Valtteri Filppula scored 1:37 into overtime as host New York edged St. Louis. Jordan Eberle scored in the first period for the Islanders, and David Perron replied in the third for the Blues.

In the extra session, Islanders center Mathew Barzal took a pass from Anthony Beauvillier and skated back toward center ice as Beauvillier dashed toward the bench, where Filppula was waiting to take his spot on the ice.

Filppula was alone for a couple of seconds as the Blues swapped out defenseman Alex Pietrangelo for Vince Dunn. Barzal hit an open Filppula in stride, and the center, with Dunn in desperate pursuit, shuffled the puck for a couple steps before he fired a shot that sailed beyond the grasp of goalie Jordan Binnington and into the far corner of the net.

Predators 7, Capitals 2

Viktor Arvidsson finished with a hat trick, and Nick Bonino added two goals as Nashville defeated visiting Washington.

Arvidsson scored once in the first period and twice more in the second as Nashville got six goals in the opening 40 minutes and sent the Capitals on the way to their third consecutive loss. Rocco Grimaldi and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for the Predators. Goalie Juuse Saros got the win, finishing with 26 saves.

The loss dropped the Capitals into a tie for first place in the Metropolitan Division with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie scored for Washington.

Sharks 5, Penguins 2

Tomas Hertl notched a hat trick as sizzling San Jose outplayed visiting Pittsburgh for its seventh consecutive win.

Marcus Sorenson and Joe Thornton also scored for San Jose, Evander Kane recorded three assists, and Brenden Dillon had two assists. Goaltender Martin Jones stopped 22 of 24 Penguins shots to win his eighth straight start.

Kris Letang scored on a strong individual effort and Derick Brassard scored late for Pittsburgh. Penguins goalie Matt Murray made 24 saves and had his nine-start winning streak halted.

Rangers 6, Hurricanes 2

Mika Zibanejad scored twice in the first period, added two assists and tied a career high with four points as New York extended its home winning streak over Carolina to 16 games.

Zibanejad recorded his 10th career two-goal game and second of the season by scoring twice in a span of 1:41 in the first period to put New York ahead 3-1 after 20 minutes.

Pavel Buchnevich and Tony DeAngelo also had two goals apiece for the Rangers. Saku Maenalanen scored twice for the Hurricanes.

Blue Jackets 4, Devils 1

Columbus continued its recent dominance against the Metropolitan Division, defeating visiting New Jersey.

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Panthers right wing Evgenii Dadonov (63) plays the puck next to Montreal Canadiens goaltender Antti Niemi (37) during the third period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

The Blue Jackets' top line of Cam Atkinson, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Artemi Panarin each contributed a goal and an assist as Columbus improved to 11-3-0 in its last 14 games, a hot streak that has been buoyed by success against division rivals. The Blue Jackets have won seven of their past eight games against Metropolitan Division opponents.

Boone Jenner also scored for Columbus. New Jersey got a goal from Blake Coleman.

Wild 3, Kings 2 (SO)

Jason Zucker scored a shootout goal, and Minnesota ended a two-game losing streak with a victory that completed a season sweep of Los Angeles in Saint Paul, Minn.

The Kings missed all three of their shots in the shootout, with Wild goaltender Alex Stalock saving two of them, while Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar hit the post on his attempt. Stalock sealed the victory with a save on a Dustin Brown wrist shot.

Eric Staal and Nino Niederreiter scored in regulation for the Wild, who had lost three of their previous four games. The Kings got regulation goals from Ilya Kovalchuk and Jeff Carter.

Lightning 2, Stars 0

Ondrej Palat and Mikhail Sergachev provided all the offense, and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was perfect between the pipes as visiting Tampa Bay defeated Dallas.

Vasilevskiy made 35 saves -- including 13 in each of the first two periods -- to backstop the NHL-leading Lightning to a fourth win in five games. It was his third shutout of the season and the 15th of his career.

The Stars, who got 19 saves from Anton Khudobin lost their third game in a row.

Red Wings 3, Ducks 1

Gustav Nyquist and Darren Helm scored late in the third period as host Detroit defeated slumping Anaheim.

Danny DeKeyser assisted on the last two goals for Detroit. Anthony Mantha scored the other goal for the Red Wings, who trailed 1-0 entering the final period. Detroit's Jimmy Howard made 23 saves.

Rickard Rakell scored the lone goal for the Ducks, who have lost a club record 12 straight to fall to the .500 mark. John Gibson made 22 saves for Anaheim, which is 0-8-4 during the slide.

Jets 4, Golden Knights 1

Kyle Connor had two goals and an assist, and Laurent Brossoit made 43 saves to lead Winnipeg to a victory over visiting Vegas.

Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist, Blake Wheeler finished with two assists, and Mathieu Perreault also scored a goal for Winnipeg, which won for the fifth time in six games while improving to 18-6-2 at home. It was the seventh straight victory for Brossoit, who improved to 10-1-1 this season.

Brandon Pirri scored for the Golden Knights. It was the first meeting between the two teams since Vegas clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Final with a 2-1 victory over the host Jets on May 20 in Game 5 of the Western Conference final.

--Field Level Media

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