Pascal Dupuis scored twice and Evgeni Malkin had a goal in his return to the lineup, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night for their 14th straight win.
Chris Kunitz had a goal and an assist, while Sidney Crosby had two assists to push his league-best points total to 56 as the Penguins moved within three victories of their own NHL record for consecutive wins. Malkin, back from an upper-body injury, got his first goal in three weeks.
Tomas Vokoun had 20 saves and his first assist, while getting his 50th career shutout.
Photo: Reuters
Al Montoya, making just his fourth start of the season, made 39 saves for Winnipeg, but the Jets were no match for the NHL’s hottest team.
The league record for consecutive wins was set by the Mario Lemieux-led Penguins in 1992-1993. Pittsburgh host the New York Islanders today and Buffalo on Tuesday. If the Penguins win those games, they will head to New York to face the Rangers on Wednesday with a chance to tie the mark.
SENATORS 3, RANGERS 0
In Ottawa, Ben Bishop turned aside 24 shots to earn his second career NHL shutout, leading Ottawa to a win over New York.
Andre Benoit, Guillaume Latendresse and Colin Greening scored for the Senators, while Mika Zibanejad and Chris Neil chipped in with two assists apiece.
Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for the Rangers.
When the Senators finally relieved the pressure after about a minute, they went down ice and Latendresse beat Lundqvist with a low shot from the faceoff circle. Greening scored into an empty net with just over two minutes to play.
KINGS 4, BLUES 2
In St Louis, Missouri, Mike Richards scored the go-ahead goal with 2:43 to play, while Jonathan Quick made 20 saves as Los Angeles continued their dominance of St Louis.
Dustin Brown had a goal and an assist, and Trevor Lewis and Justin Williams also scored for the Kings. Jarret Stoll assisted on Lewis’ goal, giving him 100 with Los Angeles.
The win gives the Kings only their second sweep of a season series against St Louis after first doing it in 2005-2006. Los Angeles have beaten the Blues eight straight times, including a 4-0 sweep in last season’s Western Conference semi-finals.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored both goals and Jaroslav Halak made 36 saves for the Blues.
MAPLE LEAFS 6, HURRICANES 3
In Toronto, Joffrey Lupul scored the go-ahead goal with 3:10 remaining, helping Toronto hold off a Carolina comeback and beat the Hurricanes.
Lupul raced past Joe Corvo and beat Justin Peters for his seventh goal this season.
Jay McClement sealed it with his sixth of the season on an empty-netter with 45 seconds to go before Nikolai Kulemin added his sixth with three seconds left — also into an empty net.
Tyler Bozak, Cody Franson and Dion Phaneuf also scored for Toronto.
Eric Staal, Jordan Staal and Alexander Semin scored for the Hurricanes, who rallied from a 2-0 hole for a 3-2 lead early in the third before extending their winless streak to seven games.
COYOTES 7, PREDATORS 4
In Nashville, Tennessee, Radim Vrbata had two goals and an assist, while Rostislav Klesla added four assists as Phoenix scored six times in the opening period to cruise to a win over Nashville.
Martin Hanzal, David Moss, Matthew Lombardi, Keith Yandle and Antoine Vermette also scored for the Coyotes, who snapped a seven-game losing streak — thanks to their big first period that included five goals in a span of 6:40.
The Coyotes’ seven goals were just one short of the number they had in the entirety of their skid. Phoenix had 10 goals in the last two nights after being outscored 16-5 in the previous six games.
ISLANDERS 4, FLYERS 3
In Philadephia, Pennsylvania, Colin McDonald scored two goals and Josh Bailey tallied the clinching score in the shootout as New York beat Philadelphia for their fourth straight road win.
John Tavares also scored for the Islanders, who improved to 10-4-1 away from home this season to pull into a tie with the Rangers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Scott Hartnell scored twice and Mike Knuble also had a goal for the Flyers, who blew a two-goal lead while falling further out of the playoff hunt. Philadelphia last missed the playoffs in 2007.
The Isles, who last made the playoffs in 2007, dominated the final two periods of regulation after falling behind 2-0 in the first.
In other NHL play, it was:
‧ Panthers 5, Sabres 4
‧ Canucks 4, Avalanche 1
‧ Sharks 2, Red Wings 0
‧ Oilers 6, Blue Jackets 4
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