NHL roundup: Rangers step over Stars to win 8th straight

 

[February 21, 2024]  Igor Shesterkin made a season-best 41 saves and the host New York Rangers extended their winning streak to a season-high eight games by holding on for a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night.

Shesterkin, who won his fourth straight start, highlighted his 23rd win by making a strong left pad save on Jamie Benn with about six minutes left, then diving in the crease to stop an attempt by Tyler Seguin before the puck crossed the red line. He also protected the one-goal lead by doing a split and making a sprawling glove save on Wyatt Johnston with 2:34 left in the second.

Adam Fox and Kaapo Kakko scored to help the Rangers reach eight straight wins for the first time since winning nine in a row Oct. 25 to Nov. 15, 2015. Vincent Trocheck added an empty-net goal with 1:41 left in the third period.

Miro Heiskanen scored a power-play goal as Dallas dropped its third straight (0-1-2) and fell to 12-4-3 in its past 19 games. Goaltender Scott Wedgewood gave the Stars a chance at the win by making 23 saves.

Kings 5, Blue Jackets 1

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored two goals for Los Angeles against visiting Columbus.

Quinton Byfield and Drew Doughty each had a goal and an assist, Kevin Fiala also scored and Cam Talbot made 33 saves and contributed an assist for the Kings, who have won four in a row.

Adam Boqvist scored and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 31 shots for the Blue Jackets, who have dropped three of four.

Predators 5, Golden Knights 3

Cole Smith scored his third game-winning goal of the season and Kevin Lankinen made 23 saves as Nashville won in Las Vegas.

Luke Evangelista, Cody Glass, Tommy Novak and Gus Nyquist added a goal apiece and Roman Josi and Ryan McDonagh each had two assists for Nashville, which won its second straight game. The win moved the Predators into a tie with the St. Louis Blues for the second Western Conference wild-card spot at 60 points.

Alex Pietrangelo, William Karlsson and Michael Amadio scored and Alec Martinez added two assists for Vegas, which lost for the third time in four games. Adin Hill finished with 35 saves while dropping his third consecutive start.

Jets 6, Wild 3

Gabriel Vilardi scored twice and added an assist, Kyle Connor tallied once in a three-point performance and host Winnipeg beat Minnesota.

Nino Niederreiter collected one goal and one assist while Mason Appleton and Sean Monahan also scored for the Jets. Laurent Brossoit made 36 saves for Winnipeg, and Dylan DeMelo, Adam Lowry and Josh Morrissey each collected two assists.

Marco Rossi scored twice and Kirill Kaprizov produced one goal and assist for the Wild. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 24 shots.

Avalanche 3, Canucks 1

Ryan Johansen scored two goals, Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to extend his home point streak and Colorado beat Vancouver in Denver.

Feb 20, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; LA Kings center Trevor Lewis (61) battles for the puck with Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (90) and defenseman Jake Bean (22) in the second period at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Artturi Lehkonen had an empty-net goal and Alexandar Georgiev turned away 24 shots for Colorado, which has won two in a row after a 1-4-1 road trip. MacKinnon has now registered a point in all 27 Avalanche home games, which is tied for the seventh-longest stretch in NHL history. Wayne Gretzky holds the record with a 40-game streak for the Los Angeles Kings in 1988-89.

J.T. Miller scored and Thatcher Demko made 24 saves for the Canucks, who have lost three in a row for the first time this season.

Capitals 6, Devils 2

Alex Ovechkin collected two goals and an assist and Connor McMichael scored twice for his first career multi-goal game, lifting host Washington over New Jersey.

Ovechkin extended his point streak to nine games with his offensive outburst. Dylan Strome recorded a goal and two assists and Michael Sgarbossa scored his first goal of the season. Charlie Lindgren made 37 saves for the Capitals, who posted their third victory in four games in the season series vs. the Devils.

Alexander Holtz and Erik Haula scored for New Jersey.

Panthers 3, Senators 2 (OT)

Anton Lundell scored 1:36 into overtime as Florida won for the sixth straight time and 10th its last 11 games by beating Ottawa in Sunrise, Fla.

Lundell roofed the puck from a sharp angle along the left goal line as the Panthers moved past the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division and the top point total in the Eastern Conference. Matthew Tkachuk, who battled against his brother Brady all night, got an assist on the decisive play.

Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky (28 saves) outdueled Joonas Korpisalo (31 saves) in a terrific goalie battle. Bobrovsky leads Eastern Conference goalies with 28 wins. Brandon Montour had a goal and an assist and Aaron Ekblad also scored for the Panthers. Thomas Chabot logged a goal and an assist and Tim Stutzle scored the other goal for Ottawa, which took its third loss in four games.

Islanders 5, Penguins 4 (OT)

Adam Pelech scored his first goal of the season with a snap shot from the slot 57 seconds into overtime to give New York the win in Pittsburgh.

Brock Nelson, Mathew Barzal and Pelech each had a goal and an assist and Simon Holmstrom and Mike Reilly also scored for the Islanders, who snapped a three-game losing streak (0-1-2). Ilya Sorokin made 37 saves.

Marcus Pettersson, Lars Eller, Valtteri Puustinen and Drew O'Connor scored for the Penguins, who have lost two straight (0-1-1) and five of their past six (1-4-1). Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 stops.

--Field Level Media

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