FRIDAY AROUND THE NHL

Blue Jackets 4, Sabres 3

COLUMBUS

Boone Jenner broke a tie with 5:07 left and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves in Columbus’ victory over Buffalo. Nick Foligno and Sam Gagner had power-play goals, and David Savard also scored for the Blue Jackets. They have won three straight and seven of their last 10. Bobrovsky had a three-game shutout streak broken, but still got his NHL-leading 36th victory. Jenner corralled a loose puck and wrapped it around goalie Robin Lehner, and the Blue Jackets held on for their 43rd victory to tie the franchise season record set in 2013-14. Josh Gorges scored his first goal in more than a year, Evan Rodrigues and Rasmus Ristolainen also connected for Buffalo, and Lehner stopped 35 shots. The Sabres have lost four straight. Buffalo struck less than three minutes into the game. Rodrigues fired a shot from the slot into the top right corner of the net with Bobrovsky leaning to the left. He was the first to score on the Columbus goalie since Alex Galchenyuk of the Montreal Canadiens in overtime in the Blue Jackets’ 1-0 loss Feb. 28. Savard tied it at 6:09 of the period with a top-shelf wrister launched from just below the blue line off a faceoff. Later in the period, after some sharp passing around the zone by Columbus on a power play, Foligno made it 2-1 when he chipped in Alexander Wennberg’s shot. Zach Werenski got the second assist, and his 40th point of the season to break the Blue Jackets record for rookie scoring. Rick Nash had 39 in 2002-03. Gorges tied it again about five minutes into the second period when his shot from the left point again caught the Columbus goalie leaning the other way. It was Gorges’ first goal in 78 games.

Wild 7 Panthers 4

SUNRISE, FLA.

Zach Parise scored the go-ahead goal with 5:07 left Minnesota pulled away to beat reeling Florida. With the score tied 4, goalie James Reimer blocked a shot from the point by Jonas Brodin, but the puck bounced out to his left side where he didn’t see it and it sat in the crease. Parise swept the loose puck in. Mikael Granlund scored an empty-net goal with 1:10 left, his team-leading 22nd of the season, and Charlie Coyle added another empty-netter with 2.5 seconds left. Eric Staal scored twice for Minnesota, and Jason Pominville and Jason Zucker also connected. Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves before he was replaced by Devan Dubnyk to start the third period. Dubnyk stopped 11 shots. The Western Conference- leading Wild won for the first time in three games. The Panthers have lost seven of their past eight. Jaromir Jagr scored his 762nd NHL goal. Mark Pysyk had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Marchessault also scored. Reimer stopped 38 shots.

Red Wings 4, Blackhawks 2

DETROIT

Tomas Tatar had two goals and an assist, Jimmy Howard made 24 saves in his return and Detroit beat Chicago. Howard saw his first NHL action since injuring a knee Dec. 20 at Tampa Bay. Tatar scored what proved to be the winner late in the second period and added an insurance goal in the third period to end Detroit’s three-game losing streak. He has a team-high 17 goals. The Blackhawks lost for the second straight night and had their club-record road winning streak end at eight games. Trevor Van Riemsdyk and Artemi Panarin scored for Chicago.

Blues 4, Ducks 3

ST. LOUIS

Joel Edmundson scored with 20 seconds left and Jake Allen made 23 saves in St. Louis’ victory over Anaheim. Paul Stastny, Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan Reaves also scored to help the Blues win their third straight. Jakob Silfverberg, Chris Wagner and Rickard Rakell scored for the Ducks. They had won two in a row. Stastny snapped a 2-2 tie in the first minute of the third with a blast from the slot that eluded goalie John Gibson, who was making his first start after missing six games in a row with a lower-body injury. Silfverberg tied it at 3 on a power play with 10:36 left.

Associated Press