nhl-roundup:-rangers’-zibanejad-scores-five-goals

NHL roundup: Rangers’ Zibanejad scores five goals

Sports

Mika Zibanejad scored his fifth goal of the game 33 seconds into overtime as the New York Rangers survived blowing four one-goal leads and recorded a wild 6-5 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals on Thursday night.

Zibanejad became the third Ranger with a five-goal game and raised his season total to a career-high 38 by finishing off a breakaway. No NHL player had scored five goals in a game this season.

Zibanejad became the first Ranger to produce a five-goal game since Mark Pavelich in 1983. Don Murdoch also scored five in October 1976. Zibanejad scored a power-play goal in the first period, added two even-strength goals and then netted another power-play tally with 1:42 remaining to give New York a 5-4 lead.

Alexander Ovechkin scored his second goal of the game with 43 seconds remaining in regulation. Carl Hagelin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Garnet Hathaway also scored for Washington, which is 6-9-2 in its past 17 games.

Flyers 4, Hurricanes 1

Ivan Provorov, Michael Raffl, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Sean Couturier each scored a goal to lift host Philadelphia past Carolina.

Scott Laughton recorded two assists for the surging Flyers, who won their season-high eighth in a row. The Flyers improved to 24-5-4 at home. Philadelphia played without James van Riemsdyk, who is expected to be out at least four weeks with a broken right index finger.

Justin Williams scored the lone goal for the struggling Hurricanes, who dropped their fourth straight.

Bruins 2, Panthers 1 (OT)

Torey Krug scored with 51.7 seconds remaining in overtime, lifting Boston to a win over Florida in Sunrise, Fla.

It was Florida’s eighth straight home loss, breaking a dubious franchise record set in 2003. The Panthers were the highest-scoring team in the NHL and on a six-game win streak at the All-Star break. Since then, they are 5-10-3.

The Bruins, who have won four straight games, own the best record in the NHL with 98 points. Patrice Bergeron also scored for Boston, and Jaroslav Halak had 32 saves. Mackenzie Weegar produced the Panthers’ goal.

Wild 3, Sharks 2

Alex Stalock made a season-high 40 saves and Zach Parise and Ryan Suter each had a goal and an assist as visiting Minnesota moved into the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference with a victory over San Jose.

Alex Galchenyuk also scored a goal for Minnesota, which has 75 points and leapfrogged four teams to the wild-card spot. Vancouver, Nashville, Winnipeg and Arizona are all one point behind.

Joe Thornton and Stefan Noesen scored goals for San Jose, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Martin Jones finished with 24 saves.

Kings 1, Maple Leafs 0 (SO)

Jonathan Quick made 36 saves in his first shutout of the season, and host Los Angeles extended its winning streak to a season-best four games by blanking Toronto.

Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe scored in the shootout for Los Angeles. Frederik Andersen made 30 saves for Toronto for his third shutout of the season and 19th of his NHL career. It was the first 1-0 game for either team this season.

The Maple Leafs remain five points in front of the Florida Panthers for third in the Atlantic Division. The Panthers lost 2-1 in overtime to the visiting Boston Bruins on Thursday, extending their winless streak to four games.

Penguins 4, Sabres 2

Patric Hornqvist scored two goals to help visiting Pittsburgh down Buffalo.

Marcus Pettersson and Sidney Crosby also scored, and Evgeni Malkin had two assists for the Penguins, who have won two straight coming off a six-game losing streak. Goaltender Matt Murray stopped 28 of Buffalo’s 30 shots.

Jake McCabe and Marcus Johansson scored for the Sabres, who have lost five in a row. Jonas Johansson made 28 saves.

Lightning 4, Canadiens 0

Andrei Vasilevskiy posted his third shutout of the season, Victor Hedman tallied twice, and Tampa Bay earned a season-series sweep of visiting Montreal.

Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots to earn his 21st career shutout, adding to his franchise record. Hedman scored at even strength and on the power play.

Nikita Kucherov recorded a goal and an assist — giving him points in 20 of his past 21 games — and Alex Killorn notched his career-high 25th goal. Kevin Shattenkirk produced his 300th career assist.

Blackhawks 4, Oilers 3

Alex DeBrincat scored twice, and Corey Crawford stopped 21 shots to boost host Chicago past Edmonton for its fourth straight victory.

The Blackhawks moved within four points of the final Western Conference playoff spot while snapping the Oilers’ three-game winning streak.

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews also scored for Chicago, and Adam Boqvist had two assists. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Josh Archibald and Kailer Yamamoto were the Edmonton goal-scorers, with Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse providing two assists apiece.

Senators 4, Islanders 3

Anthony Duclair scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period as host Ottawa beat struggling New York.

Connor Brown, Mikkel Boedker and Brady Tkachuk also scored for the Senators, who have won three of four. Goalie Craig Anderson made 37 saves.

Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock scored for the Islanders, who have lost five straight (0-3-2) since acquiring center Jean-Gabriel Pageau from the Senators hours before the Feb. 24 trade deadline. Pageau, who spent the first seven-plus years of his career with Ottawa, received a standing ovation during a scoreboard tribute in the first period.

Predators 2, Stars 0

Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene ended lengthy goal droughts by scoring on the power play, and Juuse Saros made 33 saves for his third shutout of the season as Nashville snapped a three-game slide with a win over visiting Dallas.

Fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Predators rode some solid special teams play to take the front end of a home-and-home set with Dallas. Nashville went 2-for-4 on the power play and killed all four penalties to beat the Stars for the first time in three meetings this season.

The teams square off again Saturday afternoon in Dallas.

-Field Level Media