Meier scores twice, Sharks win 4-1 to extend Canadiens' skid

Associated Press

MONTREAL (AP) -- The Montreal Canadiens called a team meeting after a loss to the San Jose Sharks extended their losing streak to five games.

Reporters were kept waiting for more than 15 minutes outside the dressing room as Canadiens players discussed the listless play of late that has left them well out of playoff position with half the season still to play.

"We didn't have everyone on board and that's frustrating," captain Max Pacioretty said after Tuesday night's 4-1 defeat. "All things considered, coming back from a road trip and where we are in the standings and knowing how many games we dropped and how many people are struggling, that's upsetting.

"We have to find a way to compete harder and win more battles."

Timo Meier had two goals, and Joe Thornton and Marc-Edouard Vlasic also scored for the Sharks (21-12-4), who were coming off a 6-0 setback Sunday in Dallas. San Jose has won four of five.

"We carried the puck with a lot of speed into the other end and I think we had them on their heels for most of the night," said Sharks veteran Logan Couture.

Andrew Shaw scored for Montreal (16-20-4), which has just four goals in the last five games and now has to face the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

The Canadiens were starting a five-game homestand after a dismal 2-5-0 road trip.

They had some early chances against the Sharks, but seemed to sag when Thornton opened the scoring 12:57 into the game. By the third period, fans were booing the home side.

"Not good," Pacioretty said. "We play with pride.

"The best part about playing in Montreal is the fans and the city and the passion for hockey, so when we take that out of the building through poor play and through not winning or being exciting and scoring goals and giving the fans a show, it's upsetting. Especially when it's your job to produce."

Pacioretty, a steady 30-goal scorer in recent seasons, has only eight in 40 games and has not scored since Nov. 30, but he's not the only Canadiens player struggling to find the net. Among others, Jonathan Drouin has only five goals, and none since Nov. 29.

Montreal coach Claude Julien said frustration has crept in.

"When that happens, the compete level isn't where it should be," he said. "We're just not doing our jobs out there.

"We need to refocus and get back to being committed to doing the job in all areas."

San Jose outshot Montreal 33-31.

The Canadiens wasted a string of early chances, and San Jose scored first. Justin Braun shot wide from the right point but Thornton stopped the puck and put it in from the side of the net at 12:57.

Vlasic finished a 2-on-1 with Mikkel Boedker at 11:27 of the second.

Montreal broke a drought of 132 minutes without a goal at 16:07, but it took a two-man advantage to do it. And the Canadiens didn't even shoot the puck into the net, as Pacioretty's pass to Shaw went off the center's skate and past goalie Aaron Dell.

Meier was at the edge of the crease to finish a tic-tac-toe play with Chris Tierney and Kevin Labanc on a power play at 19:50. Meier got his second of the game and eighth of the season when he picked the top corner against Carey Price on an off-wing rush down the right side 1:13 into the third.

Dell made 30 saves and has won six straight starts.

NOTES: A moment of silence, along with a scoreboard video tribute, was observed before the game for former Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Johnny Bower, who died last week at the age 93. ... In a sign of how impotent Montreal's attack has been, minor league call-up Nicolas Deslauriers won the December edition of the Molson Cup, a team award based on three-star selections.

UP NEXT

Sharks: Thursday night at Toronto.

Canadiens: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

Ovechkin's 2nd goal leads Capitals past Hurricanes 5-4 in OT

By JOEDY McCREARY
AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The Washington Capitals felt they gave away two goals. Alex Ovechkin got them right back when it mattered most.

Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 26th goal 1:57 into overtime and the Capitals beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Tuesday night for their third straight win.

"It's almost like whenever he decides to end it, he can just go do it," linemate Devante Smith-Pelly said.

Ovechkin also tied it with 7:15 left in regulation, with Nicklas Backstrom assisting on both goals. Alex Chiasson, Smith-Pelly and Dmitry Orlov each scored for the Capitals, who went to overtime for the sixth time in eight games and have won four of those.

Teuvo Teravainen and Elias Lindholm scored in the third period, and Victor Rask had two goals for the Hurricanes, who trailed by two midway through the second. They rallied to take a short-lived lead midway through the third before Ovechkin struck twice to snap their six-game home winning streak.

After Sebastian Aho hit the post in OT for Carolina, Ovechkin headed the other way and fired a shot from the right circle that beat Cam Ward to end it.

"If we're sitting here and (Aho's shot) goes in, it's a whole different situation," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "But it didn't, and then Ovie made a good play, and that's what he does, right?"

Ovechkin tied it at 4 by beating Ward with a slick backhand.

Ward made 21 saves for the Hurricanes, who turned a one-goal deficit into a lead in bang-bang fashion.

Lindholm tied it with 14:20 left on a snap shot from between the circles. Aho's forecheck started the sequence that ended with a shot by Teravainen that caromed off the back boards, off the stick of Washington defenseman Brooks Orpik and into the net with 12:53 remaining.

The game's first goal came after Washington defenseman John Carlson gave the puck away in front of goalie Braden Holtby, and Rask cashed in.

"I think the response was there," Ovechkin said. "I think everybody kind of took it to the next level in their game. (The thinking was) we don't deserve to lose the points. At least if we lose in overtime or the shootout, it's one thing, but we were leading the whole game and it was kind of a lucky bounce off Brooks' stick. It was a good response, and we finished it up in overtime."

Holtby stopped 34 shots for the Capitals, who turned their early self-inflicted deficit into a two-goal lead midway through the second.

Chiasson tied it 78 seconds after Rask's goal, off a slick backdoor feed from Chandler Stephenson. Smith-Pelly put Washington up 2-1 with 7:07 left in the first on a snap shot from the circle that beat Ward stick side.

Orlov made it 3-1 with 11:12 left in the second when he chased down his rebound and poked it past Ward.

NOTES: Carolina C Lucas Wallmark went to the dressing room with an injury midway through the third. Peters said he didn't have an update. ... Washington D Matt Niskanen (upper body injury) didn't make the trip. ... This was the first of three meetings between the teams during an 11-day span. The division rivals play only once more after that, on March 30 in Washington.

UP NEXT

Capitals: Host the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.

Hurricanes: Begin a four-game road trip Thursday night at Pittsburgh.

Penguins score 4 in 2nd period to top Flyers 5-1

By DAN GELSTON
AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Ryan Reaves can be quick to drop his gloves and start a timely fight to spark his team. With his gloves on, Reaves instead found another way to lift Pittsburgh with an opportune goal.

Reaves had a rare goal and an assist, and the Penguins scored four times in the second period to beat the scuffling Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 on Tuesday night.

In the waning minutes of Pittsburgh's rout, Reaves joked that he was still looking for a scrap to set himself up for a Gordie Howe hat trick. He tallied only his second goal and third assist of the season - leaving out the fight he thought for sure he'd get to hit for hockey's cycle.

"That would be a first time, for sure," he said, laughing. "I asked (Jake) Voracek but he said no. I was very shocked. He's pretty tough."

The Penguins could afford to yuck it up in the locker room after fourth-liners Reaves and Tom Kuhnhackl helped put the game away in the second period. Phil Kessel and Conor Sheary also scored in the second as Pittsburgh beat its state rival once again. Both teams began the night outside the Eastern Conference playoff standings.

"You want to bury your rivals," Reaves said.

Flyers goalie Brian Elliott, making his 14th straight start, allowed the four goals on just eight shots in the second period and was yanked for Michal Neuvirth in the third.

"You want to be at your best. I wasn't and I don't think anybody can say they were, either," Elliott said.

The Penguins lost goalie Tristan Jarry to an injury in the second. Jarry, who had a 1.56 goals-against average and .943 save percentage over his last three games, appeared to take a stiff shot off his blocker hand and was checked by the team trainer. Matt Murray kept the Flyers scoreless the rest of the way.

The Penguins' scoring burst came in just four minutes and they needed only 40 seconds during that span to score twice and take a 3-1 lead. Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby had an assist on Kessel's 17th goal, but the Penguins also got goals from fourth-liners Reaves and Kuhnhackl to break the game open. Reaves snapped a 1-all tie with his second and Sheary scored 40 seconds later for his 11th. Kuhnhackl got his second of the season to make it 4-1.

Reaves and Kuhnhackl each scored against Philadelphia's top defensive pair, Robert Hagg and Travis Konecny, and the Flyers were unable to build on a huge road win at Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay.

"First 30 minutes of this hockey game, there's very little that I would change," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said.

It was the next 30 that gave Philadelphia fits.

Jamie Oleksiak made it 5-1 with a power-play goal in the third to seal just the Penguins' fourth win over the last 11 games.

"We definitely needed a game like that where the offense is clicking and we're playing good defense," Reaves said. "It's something to build off, but we need to string a couple of those together."

Jordan Weal scored his fourth of the season for the Flyers.

Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux had his streak of seven straight games with an assist snapped.

"We know we're a better team than that and we'll have to answer next game," Giroux said.

NOTES: Penguins defensemen Kris Letang and Justin Schultz returned from injuries. Letang had missed the last three games and Schultz had missed 11 because of undisclosed injuries. ... Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson received a huge ovation when he was introduced in the first period. ... The Flyers' bench door appeared to break in the third. ... Oleksiak scored his first goal for Pittsburgh since he was acquired last month from Dallas. ... Crosby has 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 29 career games at Philadelphia. ... Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin and forward Carter Rowney also were injured.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

Flyers: Also play Thursday in the second of a four-game homestand against the New York Islanders.

Bruins score 3 in third, pull away to beat Islanders 5-1

By CHRISTIAN ARNOLD
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask helped the Boston Bruins keep up their winning ways to start the new year.

Bergeron had the go-ahead goal in the second period and the surging Bruins scored three times in the third to pull away for a 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night. Tuukka Rask stopped 25 shots as Boston improved to 7-0-2 in their last nine, the longest streak of games with at least a point this season.

Danton Heinen, Brad Marchand, Tim Schaller and Noel Acciari also scored for the Bruins,

"We knew it was coming this year," Marchand said. "We had a lot of injuries and we knew we just needed some time to come together a bit, but you see the way some young guys are stepping up. It just seems like everyone is connecting. Every line has that chemistry."

Jordan Eberle had New York's goal and Jaroslav Halak finished with 33 saves as the Islanders lost their third straight. Josh Bailey was held without a point, ending his career-high streak at 11 games.

New York was 5-8-2 in December and the latest loss pushed the Islanders out of a playoff position with Carolina picking up a point in a shootout loss to Washington and having a game in hand.

"Adversity is hitting us between the eyes right now as a group, as a staff, as players," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "We've got to find a way. If you're going to use words like flat or a little sluggish at times in the second or third it's concerning, but it's not going away.

"We have three really big games and we have to figure it out."

After being outshot 12-9 in the first period, the Bruins held the Islanders to just 14 shots through the final 40 minutes and beat them for the second time in two meetings this season.

"We just tried to stick to our game plan and our systems," Boston's Sean Kuraly said. "Be quick through the neutral zone and hold onto pucks down low, and be a good puck possession team. I think for most of the game we did that."

It was a fluky goal from Bergeron that put the Bruins ahead 2-1 in the second. A centering pass to Marchand took a funny deflection right to Bergeron on the side of the net and the Bruins' forward banked it in off Halak at 8:28. Marchand got his 200th career assist on the play.

Marchand then got his 16th goal at 9:04 of the third after the Islanders turned over the puck and David Pastrnak led an odd-man rush to make it 3-1.

Schaller deflected the puck out of the air to give the Bruins a three-goal lead with just under five minutes left in the game, and Accaiari added an empty-netter with 2:13 remaining.

"We know they're down a few guys, so you have to force those young kids to make plays," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I don't think we turned it over much. If we did we reloaded pretty well. That was a bit of the game plan, force them to break out and go 200 feet.

"When we get buzzing we're a decent forechecking team. We have some heavy lines and even our skilled lines are good at handling the puck."

The Bruins extended their record to 12-1-2 in their last 15 contests against Eastern Conference opponents.

Boston opened the scoring with a goal off a draw in the middle of the first period. Riley Nash won the faceoff and the puck went right to Heninen, who fired the puck past Halak at 8:17.

Eberle evened the score just over a minute later after he forced a turnover in front of the net and slid the puck past the extended leg of Rask for his 14th.

NOTES: The NHL announced Tuesday that Rask was named first star for December and Bailey was the second star. ... The Bruins scratched forwards Anders Bjork and Paul Postma and defenseman Frank Vatrano. ... Forward Tanner Fritz made his NHL debut against Boston after the Islanders called him up from the AHL on Monday. ... Forward Alan Quine and defenseman Dennis Seidenberg were scratched for New York.

UP NEXT

Bruins: Host Florida on Thursday night.

Islanders: At Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Vasilevskiy's 6th shutout helps Lightning beat Maple Leafs

Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) -- Andrei Vasilevskiy showed the Toronto Maple Leafs why he's one of the NHL's most dominant goalies this season.

Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots for his NHL-best sixth shutout of the season to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 2-0 victory over the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.

Vasilevskiy got his league-leading 26th win, and Cedrick Paquette and Alex Killorn scored for Tampa Bay, which won for the 12th time in 14 games.

"It feels good," Vasilevskiy said. "Sometimes (our defense) is able to help me and sometimes I'm able to help them."

The 23-year-old Russian is enjoying a career season with Tampa Bay. When the Lightning parted ways with goalie Ben Bishop last season, they did so with the hope that Vasilevskiy was ready to become the team's undisputed starter.

He's played in 12 playoff games, including two appearances during the team's Stanley Cup Final run in 2015, but there was always a question of how he would handle the spotlight and workload that comes with being the true No. 1.

So far, he's proven worthy of the promotion.

"It's just been a pleasure to watch him grow in this league," Lightning coach John Cooper said. "He makes us a little bigger on the bench, that's for sure."

Frederik Andersen had 34 saves for Toronto, which lost its third straight and is 3-6-1 in its last 10 games.

Tampa Bay controlled much of the pace during the first period, outshooting Toronto 25-12. The Lightning opened the scoring when Chris Kunitz stripped the puck from Andersen while the goalie was handling it behind the net. Kunitz centered a pass to Paquette in the slot and he converted at 12:00 for his first goal since last Jan. 21.

"It was that type of goal where everyone was just on their checks," Kunitz said.

The Lightning added to their lead when Killorn's shot from the circle went through Andersen's legs. Initially, game officials let play resume as they ruled no goal at the time but after 22 seconds the league office called in to interrupt play and award Tampa the goal at with 3:06 remaining.

"I didn't think it went in at the time, I didn't see it unless it would have hit the back of the net," Killorn said of the sequence. "But I knew when the buzzer went, it was a goal."

The Leafs' best chance to score came in the second period when Mitch Marner had a breakaway. He cut across and forced Vasilevskiy to stretch across the net to make a pad save.

"He made a really good play and I think I got lucky a little bit," Vasilevskiy said of Marner's chance.

Marner had a solid second, highlighting an issue the Leafs have had at points throughout the year: slow starts.

"I thought the first period for him and that line was not very good. Then I thought he dominated the game in the second and third," Babcock said of Marner. "When you're going to be a driver on our team like he's going to be, it's every night. You've got to be ready to go right from the get-go."

NOTES: Leafs C Nazem Kadri returned to the lineup after missing two games with an upper-body injury. ... Toronto C Frederik Gauthier made his regular-season debut.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At Montreal on Thursday night in the middle game of a five-game trip.

Maple Leafs: Host San Jose on Thursday night in the second of a stretch of six straight at home.

NHL Morning Skate – Jan. 2, 2018

MONDAY’S RESULT

Home Team in Caps

NY Rangers 3, BUFFALO 2 (OT)

LUNDQVIST, RANGERS WIN FOURTH OUTDOOR GAME AT WINTER CLASSIC

The Sabres scored 27 seconds into the third period to tie the game, but J.T. Miller (1-1—2) netted the winning goal at 2:43 of overtime to lift the Rangers to victory in the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Citi Field. New York improved to 4-0-0 all-time in regular-season outdoor games, the most such wins by any team.

* The Rangers and Sabres played the fifth overtime game in the NHL’s 24 regular-season outdoor contests – and second straight on New Year’s Day.

* Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves to register his fourth win in an NHL outdoor game, the most of any netminder. Lundqvist, who has a 1.98 goals-against average and .934 save percentage in outdoor games, is the only goaltender with more than two wins in such contests.

* Lundqvist (775 GP) recorded the 423rd win of his NHL career to tie Tony Esposito (423 W in 886 GP) for eighth place on the all-time list. Roberto Luongo (459 W in 981 GP) – who ranks fourth in NHL history – is the only active goaltender with more victories.

QUICK HITS: 2018 BRIDGESTONE NHL WINTER CLASSIC 

* A sellout crowd of 41,821 fans attended the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, bringing total attendance for the League’s 24 regular-season outdoor games to 1,284,097, an average of 53,504 per game.

SNEAK PEEK AT TUESDAY’S ACTION

CLUBS LOOK TO CONTINUE HOT STREAKS INTO 2018

Tampa Bay, Vegas and Florida are among the clubs looking to bring recent hot streaks into 2018 as 24 teams take the ice on Tuesday:

* The Lightning (28-8-2, 58 points) – who are 12-3-0 since Nov. 28 – aim to become the first team to reach 60 points in 2017-18 when they visit the Maple Leafs (23-15-2, 48 points). Tampa Bay holds a four-point lead atop the League standings, guided by the offensive efforts of forward Nikita Kucherov – who leads the NHL in goals (25) and points (56) – and defensively by goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy – who has the most wins (25) and shutouts (5) of any netminder.

* The Western Conference-leading Golden Knights (26-9-2, 54 points) begin 2018 with a home-ice matchup against the Ducks (18-14-8, 44 points), who have lost only once in their past five games (Dec. 27 vs. VGK). Vegas, meanwhile, has recorded at least a point in each of its past 12 games (11-0-1), including an active seven-game win streak – only Los Angeles has won eight straight games this season (8-0-0 from Nov. 25 – Dec. 9).

* The Panthers (17-16-5, 39 points) set out for a sixth consecutive when they begin a five-game road trip against the Wild (20-16-3, 43 points). Florida last had a win streak of at least six games in 2015-16 when the club established a franchise record with 12 straight victories from Dec. 15 – Jan. 10. James Reimer has been in net for all five wins during this run, posting a 1.29 goals-against average, .952 save percentage and two shutouts in that span.

Miller's OT goal lifts Rangers past Sabres in Winter Classic

By VIN A. CHERWOO
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — J.T. Miller was in the perfect spot in front of the goal to take advantage of a rebound in overtime and keep the New York Rangers perfect in four regular season outdoor games.

Miller scored a power-play goal 2:43 into the extra period to lift the Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Monday in the NHL’s 10th Winter Classic at Citi Field.

The Rangers went on the power play 2:15 into overtime when Jacob Josefson was whistled for tripping Jimmy Vesey. On the winner, Kevin Shattenkirk fired a shot that rebounded right to Miller, who put it in.

“Fortunate to get a good shot to the net,” Miller said. “Not too often they come right on the stick like that.”

Paul Carey and Michael Grabner scored in the first period for the Rangers, who improved to a league-best 4-0 in outdoor games during the season. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 31 shots to help New York improve to 6-2-3 in its last 11 overall.

“We talked about going into this game there’s no way you’re going to look back at this as a great memory if you don’t win,” said Lundqvist, who is 4-0-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average outdoors. “Now we got a big win and we can always look back at this game as a great experience.”

Rasmus Ristolainen had a goal and an assist, Sam Reinhart also scored and Kyle Okposo had two assists for the Sabres. Robin Lehner finished with 39 saves for Buffalo, which has just 10 wins this season but is 4-3-5 in its last 12 games.

“The first 10 minutes were not very good, we were kind of dipping our toe in,” Okposo said. “Once we calmed down and played our game, we played well. So I’m proud of the guys, proud of the way we played.”

The game, played at the home of baseball’s New York Mets, was on the 10th anniversary of the Sabres’ 2-1 shootout loss to Pittsburgh in Buffalo in the first Winter Classic. This was also the league’s 24th regular season outdoor game.

Lundqvist made a sensational save on an attempt by Zemgus Girgensons with 2:12 remaining to keep the score tied.

“It was a fun game to play,” Lundqvist said. “Overall, I thought we were the better team, but we took a lot of penalties that put us on our heels a little bit.”

The national anthem was performed by the Every Voice Choirs, a New York City-based group of children born in 2008, the year of the first Winter Classic. The Goo Goo Dolls, a rock band that started in the Buffalo area, performed during the first intermission.

Despite the official temperature at puck drop at 20.5 degrees, the game drew a sellout crowd of 41,821.

“It was loud, the crowd was behind both teams,” Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh said. “It was great for us to find a way to come through in overtime.”

There was a shadow across about half the ice lengthwise at the start of the game. By the middle of the opening period, the shadow was at least partially covering about two-thirds of the ice, with the team benches in sun along the outfield edge and facing where home plate usually sits. The playing surface was completely in the shade at the start of the second period, except for the side boards to Lehner’s right on the first base side of the field.

The Sabres trailed 2-0 after one period before Reinhart cut the deficit in half 56 seconds into the second period on a rebound of Ristolainen’s shot.

Shortly before that, Lehner made a stellar stop on a short-handed breakaway by Grabner that would’ve given the Rangers a three-goal lead.

The Sabres tied it 27 seconds into the third as Ristolainen fired a wrist shot off a pass from Ryan O’Reilly.

“We got the momentum back,” Lehner said. “We start working hard, they start taking penalties. We got back to the game. Unfortunately we got a penalty there (in overtime).”

New York got on the scoreboard at 4:09 of the first as Carey got a pass from Jesper Fast and fired it past Lehner from straightaway.

Grabner made it 2-0 at 8:20. Marc Staal sent the puck of Lehner’s back as he spun around and skated past the left side of the goal, and it came to Grabner at the right side and he put it in for his 18th of the season.

NOTES: Lundqvist also got his 423rd career victory, tying Tony Esposito for eighth place all-time on the NHL’s career list. ... Lundqvist, McDonagh and Staal have played in each of the Rangers’ four regular season outdoor games. ... Buffalo LW Benoit Pouliot played in his fifth outdoor game, tying Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brad Richards, Brent Seabrook and Jonathan Toews for the most. Pouliot previously appeared in two Heritage Classic games — for Montreal on Feb. 20, 2011, and Edmonton on Oct. 23, 2016 — and the Rangers’ Stadium Series games in Jan. 2014. ... The Sabres gave up a home game to be in this one since the Rangers are contractually obligated to play all their home games at Madison Square Garden for a tax exemption. ... Rangers coach Alain Vigneault earned his 635th win, breaking a tie with Darryl Sutter for sole possession of 11th place on the NHL’s all-time list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Host Chicago on Wednesday night

Sabres: At Minnesota on Thursday night in the fifth game of a stretch of seven straight away from Buffalo.