NHL roundup: Caps alone atop division after 1-0 SO win

[April 23, 2021]  Evgeny Kuznetsov was the shootout hero while goaltender Ilya Samsonov recorded the shutout as the visiting Washington Capitals claimed a 1-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday.

The Capitals took sole possession of first place in the East Division standings.

Kuznetsov won the game in the third round of the shootout when he went wide to his weak side, cut to the middle and then snapped a high shot home for the winner. Nicklas Backstrom also scored in the shootout for Washington, while Anthony Beauvillier was the lone Islanders skater to find the mark in the shootout.

Samsonov, who was especially sharp in the first period with 15 saves, finished with 26 saves through overtime.

Senators 3, Canucks 0

Drake Batherson scored a goal and added an assist while goaltender Matt Murray collected his second shutout of the season as visiting Ottawa defeated Vancouver.

Tim Stutzle and Connor Brown also scored for the Senators, who received a 31-save performance from Murray for his second shutout in three outings and the 13th of his career. Three of his shutouts have come against the Canucks, the only team he has blanked more than once.

Goaltender Thatcher Demko stopped 22 shots for Vancouver (18-19-3, 39 points), which saw its two-game winning streak end.

Avalanche 4, Blues 2

Andre Burakovsky scored twice as visiting Colorado defeated St. Louis to clinch a playoff berth. The Avalanche won their fifth straight game and beat the Blues for the fifth time in six tries this season.

Brandon Saad and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored for the Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon had three assists to extend his point streak to 12 games, and Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves to earn the victory. Colorado was playing its first game since April 14 after another COVID-19 shutdown.

Jaden Schwartz scored twice for the Blues (19-19-6, 44 points) and Tyler Bozak had two assists. Jordan Binnington made 25 saves in defeat.

Flyers 3, Rangers 2

James van Riemsdyk scored two power-play goals and Philadelphia held on to defeat host New York.

Jakub Voracek also scored as the Flyers avenged last month's 9-0 loss in New York.

Defenseman Brendan Smith scored the first goal for the Rangers, who dropped their second straight following four straight wins over the New Jersey Devils and fell eight points behind the Boston Bruins for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division.

Penguins 5, Devils 1

Bryan Rust and Kasperi Kapanen scored 25 seconds apart in the second period to help Pittsburgh hand visiting New Jersey its eighth straight loss.

Rust, Kapanen, Sidney Crosby and Teddy Blueger each had a goal and an assist, Cody Ceci also scored, and Kris Letang had two assists for Pittsburgh, which has won three of four.

Matt Tennyson scored for the Devils. Goalie Aaron Dell, who came on in relief Tuesday, started Thursday but did not finish. He gave up four goals on 15 shots before being replaced by Scott Wedgewood, who made seven saves.

Hurricanes 4, Panthers 2

Alex Nedeljkovic made 32 saves, and Sebastian Aho had two goals as Carolina beat host Florida for the sixth straight time.

With the win, Carolina grabbed sole possession of first place in the Central Division. Carolina also has two games in hand on Florida. Jordan Martinook and Nino Niederreiter added goals and Martin Necas posted three assists.

New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov (40) defends his net as defenseman Scott Mayfield (24) checks Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (19) during the first period at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Aleksander Barkov scored twice for the Panthers, and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves. Defenseman Keith Yandle played his 914th consecutive game, tying Garry Unger for the second-longest streak in NHL history. Doug Jarvis has the record at 964 games.

Bruins 5, Sabres 1

David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand each registered a goal and an assist as visiting Boston earned its season-high sixth win in a row, beating Buffalo.

Matt Grzelcyk, Nick Ritchie and David Krejci also scored while rookie Jeremy Swayman made 29 saves to improve to 5-1-0 for the surging Bruins, who have won 10 straight over the Sabres.

Rookie Arttu Ruotsalainen registered his third goal and Dustin Tokarski stopped 33 shots for the Sabres, who have lost three of four following a 2-0-1 stretch.

Lightning 3, Blue Jackets 1

Blake Coleman scored twice, Ondrej Palat broke his 13-game goal drought with the go-ahead tally and Tampa Bay beat visiting Columbus.

Coleman tied the game at 1 in the second period and added an empty-netter with 25 seconds left to secure the victory, but Palat's marker put Tampa Bay up for good in the third period. Goaltender Curtis McElhinney stopped 24 of 25 shots.

Columbus got a power-play goal from Seth Jones, and Oliver Bjorkstrand and Patrik Laine provided helpers for the Blue Jackets, who lost their eighth straight game.

Maple Leafs 5, Jets 3

Mitch Marner scored two goals and added an assist as Toronto snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over host Winnipeg.

Toronto extended its division lead over Winnipeg to six points with just two regular-season meetings left between the teams. It also gave the Jets their fifth loss in their last seven home matches.

Jack Campbell (12-2-1) recorded 34 saves to earn the victory in net. It was a nice bounce-back effort for Campbell who, when he last faced Winnipeg on April 15, was knocked out after yielding three goals on six shots.

Red Wings 7, Stars 3

Jakub Vrana scored a career-best four goals and Thomas Greiss made 43 saves as Detroit routed visiting Dallas.

Richard Panik, Luke Glendening and Sam Gagner scored the Red Wings' other goals, with Gagner adding an assist. Danny DeKeyser, Gustav Lindstrom and Filip Zadina each had two assists.

Radek Faksa and Denis Gurianov scored power-play goals for Dallas, and Joe Pavelski added his 20th goal of the season. Tanner Kero contributed two assists. Stars goalie Anton Khudobin was removed after allowing three goals on nine shots.

--Field Level Media