Chris Kreider scored three goals, while Rick Nash added a goal and two assists as the New York Rangers spoiled the return of former coach John Tortorella by rolling to a 5-2 victory over his Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
Kreider netted two in the first period for his first NHL multi-goal game, and finished his hat-trick by tipping in Anton Stralman’s shot with his back to the net at 9 minutes, 38 seconds of the third. Kreider had scored only five goals — three this season — in his first 43 career games.
His effort brought a rain of hats onto the Madison Square Garden ice.
Photo: AFP
Nash and defenseman Michael Del Zotto connected in the second against starting goalie Roberto Luongo and backup Eddie Lack to turn the much-anticipated game into a rout.
David Booth and Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver.
BRUINS 3, BLUE JACKETS 1
In Boston, Milan Lucic scored a pair of goals, while Patrice Bergeron added another, lifting the Bruins to a victory over the Blue Jackets.
David Krejci added two assists for Eastern Conference-leading Boston, who are 10-2-2 in their past 14 games.
Boston’s Chad Johnson needed only 13 saves for the win in just his fifth start. No. 1 goalie Tuukka Rask was given the night off.
The Bruins have not lost at home in regulation in 11 games (9-0-2). Boston have won all three meetings between the teams this season.
Ryan Johansen scored a power-play goal for the Blue Jackets, who were outshot 36-14.
PENGUINS 5, PANTHERS 1
In Sunrise, Florida, Evgeni Malkin scored a goal and had three assists to lift the Penguins over the Panthers.
Jussi Jokinen, James Neal, Chris Kunitz and Joe Vitale also scored goals for Pittsburgh, who won their third straight game. Jeff Zatkoff stopped 39 shots, including 15 in the first period.
Malkin has four goals and 13 assists during an eight-game point streak.
Scottie Upshall scored for Florida and Tim Thomas allowed four goals on 13 shots. Thomas was replaced by Scott Clemmensen to start the third period. Clemmensen made eight saves.
Thomas also gave up four goals in the Panthers’ last game, a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday. Florida have lost four of their past five games.
DEVILS 1, SABRES 0, OT
In Newark, New Jersey, Steve Bernier scored at 4:19 of overtime and Cory Schneider made 15 saves and the Devils shut out the Sabres.
Schneider has won back-to-back games after beating Carolina on Friday night.
Andy Greene stole the puck and passed it to Bernier, who beat Jhonas Enroth with a high shot for the Devils.
Enroth stopped 23 shots for the Sabres.
CAPITALS 3, ISLANDERS 2, OT
In Uniondale, New York, Alexander Ovechkin scored at 2:07 of overtime to lift the Capitals to a victory over the Islanders.
Ovechkin’s goal came after Washington tied the game with a short-handed goal by Nicklas Backstrom 49 seconds left in the third period.
The Islanders seemed poised for their first win in six games after Thomas Vanek gave them a 2-1 lead with just under two minutes left.
The loss was the sixth straight for the Islanders and their 11th defeat in 13 games.
The goal was Ovechkin’s 21st of the season. Braden Holtby made 37 saves for the Capitals.
BLACKHAWKS 5, COYOTES 2
In Glendale, Arizona, Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist in a dominant first period, while Antti Raanta made 32 saves for his second NHL win as Chicago beat Phoenix to complete an impressive road trip.
After watching a 3-0 lead become 3-2 after a sloppy second period, Brandon Bollig’s goal with 9:11 left put it away for Chicago. Andrew Shaw and Niklas Hjalmarsson also scored for the Blackhawks, and Marian Hossa added an empty-net goal in Chicago’s sixth straight win to wrap up a seven-game, 13-day trip that saw them cement their status as one of the NHL’s top teams.
Rob Klinkhammer and Martin Hanzal scored for the Coyotes, who lost for the fourth time in five games.
CANADIENS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 2
In Montreal, Max Pacioretty scored twice and added an assist as Montreal defeated Toronto.
P.K. Subban and Tomas Plekanec also scored for the Canadiens and Carey Price stopped 34 shots.
James van Riemsdyk and Mason Raymond scored for the Leafs, while Jonathan Bernier made 35 saves.
The Canadiens wasted no time getting on the scoreboard after the Leafs’ Carl Gunnarsson took a penalty for interference in the game’s first minute.
Pacioretty scored his eighth of the season on the power play at 0:58 after taking a crisp pass from Subban, who was deep in his own zone. Pacioretty walked in on the breakaway and got off three shots on net before sliding one past Bernier’s outstretched leg.
Price got an assist on the goal, his first point of the season.
FLYERS 3, PREDATORS 2, SO
In Nashville, Tennessee, Vincent Lecavalier scored the only goal in the shootout, as Philadelphia started a six-game road trip by edging Nashville for their second straight win.
Claude Giroux scored in the first, and Sean Couturier’s goal at 13:06 of the third tied it up at 2-2 to help the Flyers reach the shootout.
Steve Mason made 34 saves and stopped Craig Smith, Matt Hendricks and Matt Cullen in the shootout for the win.
Mike Fisher and Colin Wilson each scored for Nashville, who have lost two straight.
The Predators were playing their fourth game in six nights and without captain Shea Weber who is day to day with an eye injury after taking a puck to the face in Thursday night’s 3-0 loss to the Oilers.
SHARKS 4, DUCKS 3, SO
In San Jose, California, Joe Pavelski scored in the shootout, whikle Antti Niemi stopped all three attempts to help San Jose beat Anaheim.
Logan Couture scored his first goal in eight games. Patrick Marleau and Marty Havlat also scored for the Sharks, who finished a season-long five-game homestand unbeaten and won their eighth in nine overall.
Corey Perry, Alex Grant and Ben Lovejoy scored for the Ducks, who had won three of their past four.
Niemi stopped 28 of 31 shots for his 15th win. Jonas Hiller saved 32 shots in taking the loss.
The Ducks have lost six of their past seven road games.
FLAMES 2, KINGS 1
In Los Angeles, Michael Cammalleri scored with 23 seconds remaining to give Calgary a victory over Los Angeles.
Cammalleri beat Ben Scrivens with a short backhand from the edge of the crease after getting the puck from Mikael Backlund.
It was the 10th goal for the former Kings forward, making him the first Calgary player to reach double digits. The veteran center spent his first five NHL seasons with the Kings.
Blair Jones had a short-handed goal during a 5 minute penalty kill in the second period for Calgary.
Karri Ramo made five of his 21 saves during the Kings’ long power play, helping end a string of 11 consecutive games in which the Kings gained at least one point in the standings.
Ramo was less than five minutes away from his first NHL shutout when Justin Williams tied it with his 200th regular-season goal.
AVALANCHE 3, WILD 2, SO
In Denver, Ryan O’Reilly scored the only goal in the shootout, while Semyon Varlamov stopped 35 shots as Colorado beat Minnesota.
Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon had a goal apiece to help the Avalanche sweep the home-and-home series with the Wild.
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