Ottawa used its defense to spur its offense Wednesday as the six Senators defensemen tallied seven assists in the team’s 5-2 home victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
Tim Stutzle had a goal and an assist while Ridly Greig, Nick Cousins, Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk also scored. Blueliner Artem Zub finished with two assists, while Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson, Tyler Kleven, Jordan Spence, and Nick Jensen also finished with assists.
James Reimer only needed to stop 16 shots as the Avalanche mustered a season-worst 18 shots, five fewer than their previous low.
Parker Kelly tallied his 11th of the season for Colorado, which fell for the third time in four games, and Valeri Nichushkin scored for the first time since he got a hat trick on New Year’s Eve. Brock Nelson assisted to give him points in six of his last seven contests, while Jack Drury and Keaton Middleton also set up scores.
Blue Jackets 5, Flyers 3
Sean Monahan scored the go-ahead goal with 3:28 remaining in the third period to fuel host Columbus past Philadelphia, who got a hat trick from Travis Konecny in the loss.
Konecny’s third goal came with 4:46 to play to tie the game at 3-3. Little more than a minute later, Monahan regained the lead for Columbus after converting a feed from defenseman Damon Severson at the doorstep. Charlie Coyle collected a goal and an assist on a night in which the Blue Jackets commemorated his 1,000th NHL game by giving him a silver stick, a Rolex and artwork.
Kirill Marchenko scored his team’s co-leading 19th goal, Erik Gudbranson added his first, and Mathieu Olivier found the empty net to send Columbus to its seventh win in the last eight games.
Islanders 5, Rangers 2
Ondrej Palat opened the scoring in his first game for the host New York Islanders to give his new team a lead it never relinquished in a win over the undermanned New York Rangers in Elmont, N.Y.
Palat, who was acquired along with two draft picks from the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday in exchange for right winger Maxim Tsyplakov, also had an assist for the Islanders, who have outscored the Rangers 12-2 while going 3-0-0 against their rivals this season. The teams conclude their season series Thursday night in Manhattan. Simon Holmstrom, Mathew Barzal, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Emil Heineman also scored for the Islanders.
Mika Zibanejad and Taylor Raddysh scored for the reeling Rangers, who scratched leading scorer Artemi Panarin, a pending unrestricted free agent, due to “roster management.” Newsday reported Panarin will not play for the Rangers before the Olympic break begins Feb. 6.
–Field Level Media
