(Reuters) – Jonathan Huberdeau scored a goal and contributed four assists as the Florida Panthers crushed the short-handed Tampa Bay Lightning 9-3 on Thursday night in Sunrise, Fla.
Taking advantage of a Lightning team that was without its top two goalies due to COVID-19 protocol, the Panthers produced their highest-ever goal total against the Lightning. The previous high came in an 8-2 win on Feb. 28, 2006. It was also one goal short of the Florida record against any team.
Anthony Duclair had two goals and an assist for the Panthers, who got a goal and an assist each from Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen, Frank Vatrano and Aleksander Barkov. Maxim Mamin and Aaron Ekblad added a goal apiece.
The Panthers took advantage of third-string Lightning goalie Maxime Lagace, who made 21 saves and allowed six goals before being lifted following the second period. Fourth-stringer Hugo Alnefelt made seven saves and allowed three goals in the third.
Blue Jackets 4, Predators 3 (SO)
Gustav Nyquist scored the winner in the fifth round of the shootout to give Columbus a win over visiting Nashville.
Boone Jenner had a goal and an assist and Patrik Laine and Alexandre Texier also scored for the Blue Jackets, who were playing their first game since Dec. 16. Columbus’ Elvis Merzlikins finished with 31 saves.
Ryan Johansen, Nick Cousins and Michael McCarron scored goals while Matt Duchene added a pair of assists for the Predators. David Rittich made 26 saves.
Islanders 4, Sabres 1
Mathew Barzal, playing his first game following a stint in COVID-19 protocol, scored New York’s first goal and added two assists in a win over Buffalo in Elmont, N.Y.
Kieffer Bellows scored the game-winning goal and contributed an assist. Anders Lee and Noah Dobson also scored for the Islanders, who played for the first time since Dec. 19.
Kyle Okposo, who spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Islanders, scored for the Sabres, who lost both ends of a back-to-back set. Sabers goalie Malcolm Subban recorded 28 saves.
Hurricanes 4, Canadiens 0
Teuvo Teravainen scored a short-handed goal and a power-play goal as Carolina blanked Montreal in Raleigh, N.C.
Carolina’s four goals came on special teams, while Antti Raanta turned in a 26-save shutout. Nino Niederreiter and Seth Jarvis also scored for the Hurricanes, who got three assists from Jaccob Slavin and two from Sebastian Aho en route to their seventh win in eight games.
Sam Montembeault made 34 saves for the Canadiens, who are 1-7-2 during their past 10 games.
Sharks 3, Flyers 2 (OT)
Tomas Hertl scored with 31 seconds left in overtime to lift host San Jose past Philadelphia, which nonetheless extended its season-high point streak to seven games (5-0-2).
Down 2-1 late in regulation, the Flyers got a goal from Joel Farabee with 4:03 to go. Logan Couture and Brent Burns scored in regulation for the Sharks, who got 23 saves from James Reimer. Philadelphia’s Morgan Frost had the game’s first goal.
The loss overshadowed a strong performance by Philadelphia netminder Felix Sandstrom in his NHL debut. With Carter Hart on the COVID-19 reserve list and ex-Shark Martin Jones having played Wednesday night, the 24-year-old Swede stepped in to make 43 saves — more than any other Flyers goalie in his first NHL contest.
Flames 6, Kraken 4
Matthew Tkachuk scored the go-ahead goal with 2:26 left in the third period as Calgary, playing its first game since Dec. 11, won at Seattle.
Johnny Gaudreau scored twice and Milan Lucic, Andrew Mangiapane and Noah Hanifin also tallied for the Flames, who snapped a four-game winless streak (0-3-1). Tkachuk and Gaudreau each notched three points, and Calgary goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves.
Mark Giordano, playing his first game against the Flames after spending 15 seasons in Calgary, had a goal and two assists for the Kraken. Calle Jarnkrok added a goal and two helpers, Jared McCann had a goal and one assist, and Yanni Gourde also scored. Chris Driedger stopped 34 of 39 shots as Seattle lost for the second night in a row.
Kings 2, Canucks 1 (OT)
Jonathan Quick made 17 saves and stopped four of five attempts in the shootout to lift Los Angeles to a win against visiting Vancouver.
Brendan Lemieux scored in regulation and Viktor Arvidsson and Adrian Kempe scored in the shootout for the Kings.
Bo Horvat scored the tying goal in the third period and Jaroslav Halak made 34 saves for the Canucks, who were coming off a 2-1 overtime win at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night, their seventh straight victory.
–Field Level Media
