Friday, March 18, 2016

Recaps of last night's NHL games

DALLAS (AP) Jamie Benn scored two goals to give him a career-best 36, and the Dallas Stars took sole possession of first place in the Western Conference by rallying for a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

Benn's winning goal 11:50 into the third period came about 2 minutes after Stephen Johns' first NHL goal as the Stars dropped the Lightning to 31-2-0 when leading after two periods.

Dallas (93 points) is two points ahead of St. Louis atop the West. Both teams have 10 games remaining.

Steven Stamkos had two goals for the Lightning (85 points), who stayed in third in the Atlantic Division and fell four points behind division-leading Florida, a 4-1 winner at Toronto.

KINGS 4, RANGERS 3, OT

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Anze Kopitar scored the tying goal with 4:10 to play and tipped home the winner at 1:34 of overtime, propelling the Los Angeles Kings past the New York Rangers.

The Pacific Division-leading Kings rallied from a two-goal deficit for their third straight win over a certain playoff team. Los Angeles won after trailing to start the third period for the NHL-best eighth time this season.

Dustin Brown had a goal and an assist, Kyle Clifford scored in the third and Jeff Carter had three assists for the Kings, who pulled six points ahead of the Anaheim Ducks in their quest for their second division title in franchise history.

J.T. Miller had a goal and an assist, and Dan Boyle and Kevin Hayes also scored for the Rangers, who haven't won back-to-back games in March.

PENGUINS 4, HURRICANES 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Sidney Crosby scored a pair of highlight-reel goals and thePittsburgh Penguins rallied past the Carolina Hurricanes for their fourth straight victory.

Crosby beat Eddie Lack with a slick backhander in the first and added a redirect from his knees in the second to extend his points streak to 10 consecutive games as Pittsburgh strengthened its grip on seventh in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff race. Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist and Nick Bonino picked up his fifth of the year. Rookie Matt Murray shook off a slow start to finish with 31 saves.

Phillip Di Giuseppe and Riley Nash scored for the Hurricanes.

PANTHERS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 1

TORONTO (AP) - Jussi Jokinen scored two unusual goals to help lift the Florida Panthers over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Jokinen wasn't attempting to score on either goal against the Maple Leafs, with two passing attempts pinging off Toronto sticks and beating Jonathan Bernier.

Jaromir Jagr and Teddy Purcell added empty-net goals for the Panthers, who won for the fourth time in five games. Florida is three wins from matching its franchise record of 43.

Morgan Rielly scored for the Leafs, who had a two-game win streak snapped.

DEVILS 7, WILD 4

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Devante Smith-Pelly, Mike Sislo and Adam Henrique scored two goals apiece and the New Jersey Devils had their best offensive performance of the season in a victory over the Minnesota Wild.

Reid Boucher also scored, Tyler Kennedy added a season-high three assists and Keith Kinkaid made 28 saves as New Jersey snapped a three-game home losing streak.

Nino Niederreiter, Jared Spurgeon, Justin Fontaine and Mikko Koivu scored for the Wild, who squandered a chance to move ahead of Colorado into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

PREDATORS 4, ISLANDERS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - James Neal and Ryan Johansen each scored a goal and added an assist to lead the Nashville Predators past the New York Islanders.

Ryan Ellis and Austin Watson also scored for Nashville, which has recorded at least one point in the standings in 16 of their last 17 games.

Rookie Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson had the goals for the Islanders, who have lost of four of their last five.

RED WINGS 3, BLUE JACKETS 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Henrik Zetterberg and Darren Helm scored in the third period to lead the Detroit Red Wings past theColumbus Blue Jackets.

Luke Glendening also scored and Jimmy Howard stopped 27 shots as Detroit moved a point ahead of Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference's second wild-card playoff spot.

Alexander Wennberg spoiled Howard's shutout bid on a power-play goal with 1 minute to go, ending the Blue Jackets' home scoreless streak at 156:02. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 19 saves as Columbus lost its third straight.

COYOTES 3, SHARKS 1

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Shane Doan scored with 1:31 left, Mike Smith stopped 27 shots in his first home game in nearly four months and the Arizona Coyotes took advantage of two disallowed goals - one for offside and the other for kicking the puck into the goal - to beat the San Jose Sharks.

Doan scored his 25th goal of the season by squeezing a shot past Martin Jones from a tough angle. Michael Stone also scored and Antoine Vermette added an empty-net goal.

Tomas Hertl scored for the Sharks, who had won four straight road games.

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