Blake Comeau scored 2 minutes, 24 seconds into overtime to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 1-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots, registering his sixth shutout of the season just hours after the Penguins thought their starting goalie had the mumps.
Fleury, who recorded his 34th NHL shutout, was tested after missing Wednesday’s practice with illness, but results came back negative and he was cleared for Thursday’s game.
Sidney Crosby also returned Thursday after missing three games with the mumps, as the Penguins managed three wins and five of a possible six points without their captain. They have won six of nine.
Comeau’s goal was his 11th of the season. He tapped the winner past goalie Calvin Pickard after Evgeni Malkin deflected Rob Scuderi’s shot from the point in front.
Pickard stopped 47 shots for the Avalanche, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.
HURRICANES 4, MAPLE LEAFS 1
Justin Faulk had a goal and an assist as the Carolina Hurricanes broke a six-game losing streak with a win over previously surging Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Hurricanes (9-19-3), who entered with the NHL’s worst record, had scored only one goal in each game of their skid. Their offensive outburst snapped the Maple Leafs’ six-game winning streak.
Chris Terry, Andrej Sekera and Elias Lindholm also scored for Carolina. Nathan Gerbe and Eric Staal both had two assists.
The Hurricanes are 19-7-1 against the Maple Leafs in the last 27 meetings.
Dion Phaneuf scored for Toronto, while the Maple Leafs’ Jonathan Bernier stopped 33 shots. Cam Ward had 25 saves for Carolina.
CAPITALS 5, BLUE JACKETS 4, OT
Eric Fehr scored 42 seconds into overtime to lead the Washington Capitals over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Capitals extended their point streak to seven games and snapped the Blue Jackets’ winning streak at seven.
Joel Ward, Jason Chimera, Karl Alzner and Troy Brouwer also scored for the Capitals, who are 5-0-2 in their last seven games — including a 20-round shootout loss at Florida on Tuesday. Braden Holtby had 22 saves.
Nick Foligno had two goals and an assist, Michael Chaput scored his first NHL goal and Jack Johnson also tallied for the Blue Jackets, who fell one short of tying the team’s longest winning streak. Bobrovsky stopped 31 shots.
Columbus went past regulation for the fifth straight game and for the sixth time in seven.
PANTHERS 2, FLYERS 1, SO
Dave Bolland scored the winning goal in the shootout to lead the Florida Panthers over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Brandon Pirri also had a goal in the shootout for Florida (14-8-8), which played beyond regulation for the fourth straight game.
The Panthers were coming off Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over Washington that set an NHL record by going 20 shootout rounds.
Nick Bjugstad scored the winning tally in the shootout of that game, but missed against Philadelphia.
This one took six rounds as only Pirri and Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek scored in the three regulation rounds of the shootout.
After Bolland beat Steve Mason, Roberto Luongo stopped Sean Couturier to send the Panthers to the win.
Florida improved to 4-4 in shootouts while Philadelphia dropped to 0-5.
Scottie Upshall scored in regulation for Florida. Voracek scored Philadelphia’s goal.
In other results, it was:
‧ Ducks 2, Canadiens 1
‧ Kings 6, Blues 4
‧ Sharks 4, Oilers 3
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