Malkin's hat trick powers Penguins past Sharks 5-2

By WILL GRAVES
AP Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Matt Murray wanted to feel a sense of normalcy, so the Pittsburgh Penguins goalie went back to work Tuesday night for the first time since his father, James, died this month.

"I just tried to come in and forget about the fact I hadn't played in a while and try to get lost in the game," Murray said.

There were no outward signs of emotion. No tears. That's simply not the understated Murray's way. Looking as sharp as he has all season, the 23-year-old Murray stopped 40 shots in a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks, including a handful of spectacular stops early that kept the Penguins in it long enough to rally for their eighth win in 10 games.

"Matt's a mature kid," Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. "He's grounded. I think he has good perspective on where he's at and the opportunity in front of him."

Murray took a leave of absence following his father's death on Jan. 16. He returned last week but stayed out of the lineup while rookie Casey DeSmith filled in capably as the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions have slowly pulled themselves out of an early-season funk.

By Tuesday morning, Murray was ready to go and he responded by looking very much like the player who backstopped the Penguins to consecutive championships, including a six-game triumph over San Jose in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final.

"We try to support him and know it's huge game for him and hope it gives him a little like push, little bit of confidence," center Evgeni Malkin said.

Malkin did his part, picking up his 12th career hat trick over the final 20:04. The Russian star's 24th goal of the season late in the second period tied it. His 25th early in the third gave Pittsburgh the lead for good and his 26th rolled into an empty net with just more than a minute remaining.

"Like last couple weeks, I feel like I'm so lucky, but it's fine," Malkin said. "It helps the team to win. I feel like my shots, it's coming."

Brent Burns and Logan Couture scored power-play goals for the Sharks but San Jose dropped its second straight game without Joe Thornton, who is out indefinitely with a right leg injury.

Martin Jones finished with 26 saves but also gave the puck away behind the San Jose net in the third period. Patric Hornqvist intercepted Jones' sloppy clearing attempt and fed it in front to a streaking Malkin, who had little trouble putting it into an open net 6:01 into the third.

"You can't beat yourself on the road, let alone going into the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions' building, and that's exactly what we did," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said.

Bryan Rust, hindered by injuries this season, scored twice and nearly beat Malkin to a hat trick but his attempt at an empty-netter clanged off the crossbar. Moments later, Malkin didn't miss.

"I won't hear the end of that for a while," Rust said with a laugh.

Rust's first goal since Nov. 27 on a slick backhand that slid by Jones gave Pittsburgh the lead 11:09 into the first, but the Sharks used a pair of power-play goals in the second to surge ahead. Burns slipped a wrist shot from the point through traffic to tie it at the game's midway point, and Couture pounded home a rebound 18:35 into the second for his 200th career goal.

San Jose's momentum didn't last.

With time winding down in the second, Burns tried a backhand clear behind the San Jose net that Pittsburgh's Phil Kessel chased down in the corner before feeding it to Malkin, who ripped it by Jones with just four seconds left to even things up and give the Penguins a serious boost.

"There are mistakes here and there," Couture said. "Mistakes happen. They scored on a couple tonight. Next game, that probably won't happen. Or next game, we'll probably get those ones. So, I thought we played really well."

NOTES: Penguins captain Sidney Crosby got an assist on Malkin's empty-netter to extend his point streak to 10 games. ... Malkin played in his 754th career game, passing Jean Provonost for fourth-most in franchise history. ... The Sharks scratched forward Jannik Hansen, C Daniel O'Regan and D Tim Heed. The Penguins scratched D Chad Ruhwedel, D Matt Hunwick and forward Ryan Reaves. ... Pittsburgh went 0 for 3 on the power play. The Sharks were 2 for 5 with the man advantage.

UP NEXT

Sharks: Continue their five-game road trip Wednesday in Detroit.

Penguins: Host the Washington Capitals on Friday.

Sateri gets 1st career win as Panthers beat Islanders 4-1

By VIN A. CHERWOO
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Harri Sateri had a long road to the NHL, and he was all smiles after his first career victory.

The 28-year-old rookie stopped 32 shots to help the Florida Panthers beat the New York Islanders 4-1 Tuesday night.

Selected by San Jose in the fourth round of the 2008 NHL draft, the native of Finland spent four seasons in the minors before playing the last three years with Podolsk Vityaz of the KHL. He made his NHL debut Jan. 2 at Minnesota and got his fourth straight start against the Islanders with Roberto Luongo and James Reimer sidelined by lower-body injuries.

"It's a dream come true," Sateri said of his first win after coming in 0-3-0 with 4.59 goals-against average. "Finally I'm here."

Mike Matheson, Evgenii Dadonov, Keith Yandle and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Florida, which snapped a three-game skid and improved to 3-6-1 since closing December with five straight victories.

"We were on top of them all night, we didn't allow a lot of outnumbered rushes," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "We tracked really well in the neutral zone, we squeezed well and we denied a lot of entries. I thought that was the difference."

Adam Pelech scored for the Islanders, who have lost four of six. Jaroslav Halak, starting for the sixth straight game and 15th in the last 17, finished with 36 saves.

"We just weren't executing that well and just weren't as quick to pucks as we needed to be," New York captain John Tavares said. "We just didn't make it tough enough on their goaltender. We just didn't have our best today."

Florida was in control from the start. Yandle increased the lead to 3-0 on a long slap shot from the left point near the blue line at 4:14 of the third period. It was his fifth goal of the season.

Pelech, playing in his 100th career game, ended Sateri's shutout bid 55 seconds later with his second.

Sateri had to make several nice stops down the stretch to preserve the two-goal lead, including two saves on Anders Lee with about 8 1/2 minutes to go, a wrist shot in front by Brock Nelson 90 seconds later, and a tip by Lee with 6 1/2 minutes left.

"He's played well enough for us to win, we just haven't been able to be good enough for him," Yandle said. "I thought tonight he was awesome. We played well enough to get him a win."

Huberdeau added his 17th with 1:11 remaining. It was his eighth goal and 16th point in the last 14 games.

The win moved the Panthers 10 points behind Philadelphia for the last wild card in the Eastern Conference. The New York Rangers, Islanders and Carolina are also in front of Florida, all bunched up within two points of the Flyers.

"No one's waving the white flag here," Boughner said. "I'm going to scrape every point we can. Tonight was a great start for that after the All-Star break."

Matheson got Florida on the board 8:57 into the game with a hard wrist shot from the right point that ricocheted off the back of the crossbar and back out. Matheson's fifth of the season was confirmed after a video review.

Dadonov made it 2-0 with 5:20 left in the second when he scored on a wraparound inside the right post. It was Dadonov's fourth goal and ninth point in his last nine games.

NOTES: Former Islanders great John Tonelli took part in the ceremonial puck drop before the game. Tonelli was on the Islanders' four Stanley Cup championship teams from 1980-83 and had 206 goals and 338 assists in seven seasons in New York. ... Former Islanders coach Jack Capuano, now the associate coach under Boughner, returned to Brooklyn for the first time since he was fired Jan. 17, 2017. Capuano spent 6 1/2 seasons as head coach of the Islanders, leading them to their first postseason win since 1993 when they beat Florida in the first round of the 2016 playoffs. He received mild applause when he was announced during a brief tribute on the videoboard during a timeout in the first period. ... Islanders C Casey Cizikas was activated off IR and returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury. He was the left wing on the third line with Brock Nelson and Alan Quine. ... Tavares played in his 638th game, tying Derek King for 10th place on franchise list.

UP NEXT

Panthers: At Buffalo on Thursday night

Islanders: At Toronto on Wednesday night.

Devils snap 4-game skid with 3-1 win over Sabres

By JOHN WAWROW
AP Hockey Writer

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Following the Devils' pregame skate Tuesday, forward Taylor Hall wasn't sure what to expect upon returning to the lineup after missing three games with a sore right thumb.

Nothing appeared to be bothering New Jersey's top offensive threat come the third period, when Hall fired in a shot from the left circle for the decisive goal in a 3-1 win over Buffalo. Sabres goalie Robin Lehner actually got a piece of the shot with his glove, but the puck still had enough momentum to trickle behind him.

"Sometimes you get in the game and adrenaline takes over and you find a way to feel good," Hall said afterward. "Not to make myself sound like a warrior, but you play through stuff, and a lot of the guys in this room are."

The Devils have plenty to feel better about in coming out of the NHL All-Star break by snapping a four-game skid that included two shutout losses.

Kyle Palmieri scored an empty-net goal and added an assist, and Miles Wood also scored in a game the Devils never trailed. Backup goalie Keith Kinkaid stopped 27 shots in his first game since missing three with a groin injury. He started in place of Cory Schneider, who missed his fourth game since also hurting his groin.

This was the type of fresh start veteran defenseman Andy Greene hoped the Devils would get after a four-day break, and following a difficult stretch in which they went 2-7-3.

"It's a mental reset and that was important for us," Greene said. "This is only one game, but hopefully this is the start of a good run here."

The Sabres, by comparison, reverted to their past troubles by continuing their home woes while failing to build off the momentum of sweeping a three-game swing through Western Canada.

Jake McCabe scored a power-play goal, and the Eastern Conference's last-place team opened a five-game homestand with a loss that dropped the Sabres to 6-13-2 in Buffalo. That doesn't include a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers in the Winter Classic at Citi Field, which was considered a Sabres "home" game.

"It's tough. We want to bring that hockey that we showed that we can play out west to this arena," McCabe said of a road trip in which the Sabres outscored their opponents by a combined 11-1. "We need to bring that for our fans and for this city. And tonight's unacceptable."

McCabe's goal cut the Devils' lead to 2-1 with 5:02 remaining. The Sabres were unable to capitalize on their fourth and final power-play opportunity when Devils rookie Nico Hischier was penalized for cross-checking with 2:45 remaining.

Kinkaid made a key save during a scramble in front with 1:30 left. He reached out with his left arm to turn aside Ryan O'Reilly's chance from in close.

Wood opened the scoring 5:49 into the second period by bursting up the left wing and then cutting through the crease to backhand the puck into the open right side.

Lehner, who finished with 25 saves, set a career best with his shutout streak that ended at 145 minutes and 15 seconds, topping his previous best by more than 19 minutes. He had stopped a combined 63 shots in a 5-0 win over Edmonton and a 4-0 victory over Vancouver last week.

Wood's goal also ended the shutout streak shared by Lehner and backup Chad Johnson at 199:19 - a little under 27 minutes short of the franchise record.

NOTES: Before the game, the Sabres held a moment of silence in tribute to USA Hockey executive Jim Johannson, who died unexpectedly on Jan. 21. General manager Jason Botterill, U.S.-born coach Phil Housley and forward Jack Eichel spoke fondly of Johannson in a video broadcast on the scoreboard. Housley referred to Johannson as "the classiest guy you'd ever want to meet." ... Devils coach John Hynes said Schneider is scheduled to begin skating on his own in the next day or so. ... In discussing the Devils' skid earlier in the day, Hall provided an amusing quote that didn't exactly add up by saying: "Hockey's a funny game. It goes in 10-game segments. We started off 9-2 and then in our last 11, I think we're 2-9-2. So what team are we?"

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

Sabres: Host the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

Henrique scores twice, Ducks end Bruins' streak with 3-1 win

By DOUG ALDEN
Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) -- A quick start for the Anaheim Ducks finished Boston's run of 18 straight games with a point.

Adam Henrique and Jakob Silfverberg scored in the first period, when Anaheim held Boston to just five shots, and the Ducks held on for a 3-1 victory Tuesday night.

"We did a good job in the first period. We had some jump going," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.

The Ducks became the first team to beat the Bruins in regulation since Washington's 5-3 win Dec. 14 at Boston. Cam Fowler and Rickard Rakell had two assists apiece for Anaheim.

John Gibson stopped all 25 shots he faced before leaving in the third period after taking a puck off his chest earlier in the period. Ryan Miller played the final 7:25 and nearly completed a shutout for the Ducks before Ryan Spooner scored for Boston with 41 seconds left.

"We're trying to get on a streak of our own. I think we've been trending in the right direction with our hockey," Miller said.

Henrique scored into an empty net with 6.1 seconds remaining to seal it for the Ducks, who halted Boston's five-game winning streak and a stretch of 18 games with at least one point (14-0-4), which tied for the second-longest in franchise history.

"At some point it's going to happen. Hopefully we realize we need to be good from when they drop the puck," Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. "We weren't moving our feet at the beginning. We had no forecheck or sustained pressure."

Anton Khudobin stopped 24 shots for the Bruins, who never recovered after being outshot 15-5 in the first period and falling behind 2-0 on goals by Silfverberg and Henrique.

"I thought we did a good job of that, controlling the play and obviously coming out with the lead," Henrique said. "Especially against this team at home, with the way they've been playing for a really long time, it was a big start for us."

The Ducks have won eight straight against the Bruins, who haven't beaten Anaheim since a 3-2 shootout win on Oct. 21, 2013.

The Bruins, who got away with several slow starts while riding their streak into the All-Star break, could not rally this time.

"It was disappointing the way we came out. We got the result that shows for it," Bergeron said. "You're not going to be able to get back in games every time."

Anaheim took a 1-0 lead when Khudobin couldn't quite hang onto a long backhand by Fowler. The puck fell from Khudobin's glove and slid across the crease, where it appeared to be knocked in by Bruins captain Zdeno Chara as he went crashing into his own net 9:04 into the game. Silfverberg was credited with the goal and assists went to Fowler and Rakell, who set up the Ducks' second goal a few minutes later when Henrique scored.

The Ducks were on a power play and worked the puck around the corners, then to Henrique in the right circle for a wrist shot that beat Khudobin on the stick side at 13:59.

"We get a bounce that went our way and then we scored a power-play goal to give us a 2-0 game and we kind of rode that the rest of the way," Carlyle said. "I think we were guilty of trying to play too cute in the second. We had opportunities to direct pucks toward the net and we decided to pass off. We got a little bit sloppy in the neutral ice with turnovers. We can't do that."

Gibson needed a few minutes to regroup after a hard shot from Bergeron hit him in the ribs early in the third, then ended up leaving with 7:25 left and was replaced by Miller.

"He looked like he was kind of having a little trouble. Hopefully it's nothing that's going to affect him too long," Miller said.

NOTES: The Ducks opened a five-game road trip against Atlantic Division teams. ... Boston LW Anders Bjork left after the first period with an upper-body injury. ... Boston was without leading scorer Brad Marchand, who sat out the second of a five-game suspension for throwing an elbow last week against New Jersey.

UP NEXT

Ducks: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.

Bruins: Host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.

Jaromir Jagr clears waivers, expected to play in Czech league

Jaromir Jagr cleared waivers on Monday after the Calgary Flames placed him on waivers Sunday.

Jagr, 45 is expected to play in the Czech Republic. But his future in the NHL is uncertain.

Jagr has posted 766 goals (3rd all-time), 1155 assists, (5th all-time) for 1921 points (2nd all-time) in 1733 career NHL games played (3rd all-time).

He has a resume of two Stanley Cups, three Lester B. Pearson Awards, one Hart Trophy,  and one Masterton Trophy.

Rakell, Boeser lead Pacific Division to NHL All-Star win

By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Vancouver's Brock Boeser was more than happy to just be at the NHL All-Star game, mingling with some of the high-profile players he grew up admiring.

Leaving Amalie Arena as the first rookie to take MVP honors since Mario Lemieux in 1985 on Sunday far exceeded anything he imagined possible.

"Shocked," the 20-year-old said Canucks star said, describing his reaction. "I never would have dreamt this any time in life."

Rickard Rakell had two goals and Boeser, Johnny Gaudreau and Drew Doughty also scored to help the Pacific Division beat the Atlantic 5-2 in the championship game of a four-team divisional tournament played in an entertaining three-on-three format adopted for the All-Star game in 2016.

The NHL's leading rookie scorer with 24 goals and 19 assists for the Canucks also had a helper in the final after scoring to put his team ahead for good in the Pacific's 5-2 semifinal victory over the Central Division.

"I was definitely nervous coming into it," said Boeser, the only rookie among 15 first-time All-Stars. "(I said) enjoy this, just have fun, smile. That's what I did."

Goalies Marc-Andre Fleury and Mike Smith teamed to allow just four goals in the two games the Pacific won to claim the $1 million winner-take-all prize.

Mike Green had two goals for the Atlantic, one off both Fleury and Smith in the final.

Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov had three goals in the Atlantic's 7-4 semifinal win over the Metropolitan Division, however the Lightning's young star was shut out in the championship game.

"After we saw that we won the first game, we said we needed to tighten up a little bit and play a little harder there for the cash," said Gaudreau, who plays for the Calgary Flames.

"We made sure we were ready to go. (Because) now there's something to play for in the finals," said Smith, who stopped six of seven shots in the second half. "Our guys did a good job to up the tempo."

All-Star weekend began with a free outdoor concert headlined by Fitz and the Tantrums and also featured a three-day fun fest for fans, as well as the annual skills competition that wrapped up Saturday's festivities.

Adding spice and a unique flavor to the experience was Tampa's annual Gasparilla Pirate Invasion, which drew what officials estimated as an additional 200,000 people to the downtown waterfront for a parade and other activities.

Players walked the red carpet, posing for pictures and signing autographs before entering Amalie Arena for the first All-Star game played in Tampa since 1999, the last of Wayne Gretzky's 18 appearances in the midseason showcase that shifts to San Jose, California, next season.

"Tampa proved it's a great hockey town," said Lightning first-time All-Star Brayden Point, added to the game because of an injury to Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman. "It's awesome."

With the Lightning's Jon Cooper coaching the Atlantic Division, and the team with the NHL's best record represented by a league-high four players, the sellout crowd of 19,092 roared its approval when the Atlantic-Metropolitan semifinal began with goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, plus Kucherov, Point and Steven Stamkos on the ice at the same time.

Kucherov's hat trick in the Atlantic's semifinal win was the first for an All-Star game since the NHL instituted the three-match, three-on-three tournament format.

"He's a magical player," Cooper of the 24-year-old two-time All-Star who's among the league's leading scorers.

Point, Toronto's Auston Matthews and Buffalo's Jack Eichel also scored for the Atlantic, which rallied from a 3-1 deficit after Vasilevskiy allowed early goals to Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, Philadelphia's Claude Giroux and Washington's Alex Ovechkin.

Boeser snapped a 2-2 tie, James Neal of the Western Conference-leading Vegas Golden Knights scored two goals, and Edmonton's Connor McDavid had four assists in the Pacific's semifinal win over the Central Division.

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Live Blog: NHL All-Star Gane updates

UPDATE 2:

The Atlantic Division defeated the Metropolitan Division 7-4 to advance to the NHL All-Star Game final against the Pacific Division.

UPDATE 1:

The Pacific Division defeated the Central Division in the first semifinal game of the NHL All-Star Game on Sunday in Tampa.

Nathan MacKinnon and P.K. Subban scored for the Central, and Drew Doughty, James Neal (2), Brock Boeser, and Brent Burns scored for the Pacific.

For the Central, Pekka Rinne made 4/4 saves, while Connor Hellebuyck made 5/8 saves.

For the Pacific, Marc-Andre Fleury and Mike Smith each made 7/8 saves.