Jacob Fowler made 31 saves for his first career shutout in the host Montreal Canadiens’ 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
The 21-year-old Fowler, playing his fourth game since being recalled from the AHL’s Laval Rocket, denied Kevin Hayes on a breakaway 5:16 into the game and thwarted Connor Dewar’s point-blank tip attempt with a right-pad save 54 seconds into the middle period. His first career win came against the Penguins on Dec. 11.
In the first of a back-to-back, home-and-home series between the teams, Josh Anderson scored twice and Juraj Slafkovsky and Owen Beck added goals for the Canadiens, who are 4-1-1 in their last six.
Stuart Skinner stopped 17 of 20 shots for Pittsburgh, which lost its eighth in a row (0-4-4) and were shut out 4-0 for the second consecutive game. Anthony Mantha hit two goal posts for the Penguins.
Rangers 5, Flyers 4 (SO)
Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck scored in the opening two rounds of the shootout as host New York rallied to beat Philadelphia.
Panarin slipped a backhander by goalie Samuel Ersson and Trocheck scored on a wrist shot from close range that went over Ersson’s stick. Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecy in the shootout after helping New York kill two power plays in overtime. Panarin scored both of New York’s first two goals after sitting out Thursday’s game with an illness.
The Flyers fell to 10-0-1 when carrying a lead into the third period after scoring four times in the second. Travis Sanheim and Owen Tippett scored 23 seconds apart to put the Flyers ahead. Zegras scored Philadelphia’s second power-play goal and Rodrigo Abols added a short-handed goal.
Red Wings 5, Capitals 2
Detroit drew first blood in a home-and-home situation with a road victory over Washington.
John Leonard, James van Riemsdyk, Elmer Soderblom, Moritz Seider and Dylan Larkin all scored for the victorious side, while John Gibson stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced en route to his seventh consecutive winning start. For Leonard, it was his first goal with the Red Wings after he was called up from the AHL to replace Patrick Kane.
Aliaksei Protas and Martin Fehervary both tallied and Logan Thompson made 37 saves for the Capitals. These two teams will return for the second half of the home-and-home set on Sunday.
Wild 5, Oilers 2
Matt Boldy scored a pair of goals and Minnesota pulled away to earn the win over visiting Edmonton.
Vladimir Tarasenko added a goal and an assist for the Wild, who won their seventh game in a row. Ryan Hartman and Nico Storm scored one goal apiece. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson turned aside 28 of 30 shots to pick up the victory. Hartman and Kirill Kaprizov both finished with six shots on goal to lead the Wild.
Andrew Mangiapane and Connor McDavid scored one goal each for the Oilers, who lost for the first time in the past three games. Calvin Pickard allowed four goals on 36 shots. Pickard made the start one day after Edmonton placed newly acquired goaltender Tristan Jarry (lower body) on injured reserve. McDavid led the Oilers with six shots on goal.
Senators 6, Blackhawks 4
David Perron scored two goals early in the third period to lift host Ottawa to a win over Chicago.
Senators captain Brady Tkachuk scored his fourth goal in three games, and Tim Stutzle collected a goal and two assists to record his fifth multi-point performance during his six-game point streak. Fabian Zetterlund scored and set up a goal and Tyler Kleven added his first goal of the season. Leevi Merilainen made 20 saves for Ottawa, which has won three in a row.
Ilya Mikheyev halted a 20-game goal-less drought by scoring twice for the Blackhawks, Andre Burakovsky tallied on the power play and Nick Lardis added his first career NHL goal. Arvid Soderblom turned aside 34 shots for Chicago, which has lost five in a row.
Sabres 3, Islanders 2 (SO)
Josh Norris scored the decisive goal in the shootout for host Buffalo, which squandered a two-goal lead before continuing its resurgence with a win over struggling New York.
Rasmus Dahlin scored in the first period and Tage Thompson scored in the second for the Sabres, who have won five straight. Alex Lyon, who has been in net for all five wins, made 32 saves in regulation and overtime.
Barzal scored in the final minute of the second and Emil Heineman forced overtime by scoring on the power play in the last minute of regulation for the Islanders, who have lost three straight. New York is without Bo Horvat (left ankle), Kyle Palmieri (knee) and Alexander Romanov (shoulder). David Rittich recorded 30 saves.
Blues 6, Panthers 2
Justin Faulk scored the go-ahead goal with 0.7 seconds left in the second period and St. Louis coasted past Florida in Sunrise, Fla.
Jake Neighbours and Robert Thomas scored twice each for the Blues, and Jonatan Berggren added one goal and two assists. Neighbours leads the Blues with 10 goals this season. Also for the Blues, Cam Fowler posted his 400th career assist on the first goal. Joel Hofer made 27 saves to earn the win.
Florida’s Daniil Tarasov posted 25 saves, and the Panthers got one goal each from A.J. Greer and Sam Reinhart. Despite the loss — which broke Florida’s four-game win streak — the Panthers are 7-2-0 in their past nine games.
Canucks 5, Bruins 4 (SO)
Liam Ohgren scored the only shootout goal in the seventh round after tallying a goal and an assist in regulation, lifting visiting Vancouver to a come-from-behind win over Boston.
Kevin Lankinen broke an 0-5-1 drought with a 38-save performance, making six stops in overtime before pitching a shutout in the shootout. The win is Vancouver’s fourth straight on a five-game trip. Also for the Canucks, Linus Karlsson registered his first career two-goal game and added an assist, while Max Sasson also scored.
Morgan Geekie had a goal and an assist, while Pavel Zacha, Tanner Jeannot and Andrew Peeke also lit the lamp for Boston, which is 1-2-1 in its last four games and lost its first game in extra time this season. Jeremy Swayman made 18 stops in his fourth straight start for Boston.
Predators 5, Maple Leafs 3
Nashville nabbed a vital two points with a win over visiting Toronto.
Luke Evangelista scored on a highlight-reel play in the third period to give the Predators a 3-2 lead, twisting past an overcommitted Morgan Rielly and shoveling the puck over the shoulder of goaltender Joseph Woll before his own momentum brought him down to the ice.
Steven Stamkos bagged a goal and assist for the home team, while Brady Skjei chipped in with two helpers. Nashville’s Juuse Saros stopped 19 of 22 shots. Bobby McMann tallied two points for Toronto with a goal and an assist and Woll turned away 29 of 32 shots.
Lightning 6, Hurricanes 4
Jake Guentzel scored the go-ahead goal in the third period as Tampa Bay snapped a four-game home losing streak by rallying for a victory over Carolina.
After answering Carolina’s three-goal first period with three goals in the second, the Lightning traded goals in the third until Guentzel jammed home a marker for a 5-4 edge at 6:38. Guentzel then added his 17th goal, an empty-netter. Ryan McDonagh tallied a goal and an assist, and Gage Goncalves, Brayden Point and Jack Finley also found the twine. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves.
Eric Robinson, Jackson Blake, Bradly Nadeau and Andrei Svechnikov scored goals for Carolina, but the Metropolitan club lost both games (0-1-1) of its back-to-back set. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 23 shots and Jesperi Kotkaniemi posted his 200th NHL point with an assist.
Ducks 4, Blue Jackets 3
Pavel Mintyukov scored the eventual game-winner as Anaheim topped visiting Columbus.
Mikael Granlund scored and added an assist, and Jacob Trouba and Mason McTavish also found the back of the net for the Ducks, who won for just the second time in six outings (2-3-1). Lukas Dostal made 23 saves to improve to 3-0-0 in three career games against the Blue Jackets.
Zach Werenski scored and added an assist, and Dmitri Voronkov and Mason Marchment also tallied for the Blue Jackets, who dropped to 1-6-1 in their last eight outings. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 24 shots.
Flames 6, Golden Knights 3
Mikael Backlund scored two goals for the second straight game and Connor Zary and MacKenzie Weegar each had three assists to lead host Calgary to a victory over Vegas.
Joel Farabee scored a short-handed goal, and Adam Klapka, Ryan Lomberg and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored goals. Devin Cooley made 34 saves for Calgary, which improved to 7-1-1 in its last nine home games.
Mark Stone had a goal and an assist, Mitch Marner had two assists and Reilly Smith and Kaedan Korczak also scored goals for Vegas, which had an eight-game point streak snapped. Akira Schmid stopped 20 of 25 shots.
Kraken 4, Sharks 2
Eeli Tolvanen and Chandler Stephenson each had a goal and an assist as Seattle rallied to defeat host San Jose Sharks to snap a four-game losing streak.
Defensemen Ryker Evans and Ryan Lindgren scored 2:32 apart early in the third period for Seattle, which won for just the second time in its past 12 games (2-9-1). Goaltender Joey Daccord made 34 saves.
Adam Gaudette and Collin Graf scored for San Jose, which lost its second straight following a three-game winning streak. Yaroslav Askarov stopped 28 of 31 shots.
–Field Level Media
