THURSDAY AROUND THE NHL

Penguins 3, Blue Jackets 0

PITTSBURGH

Matt Murray stopped 25 shots for his 10th career shutout and the Pittsburgh Penguins opened a pivotal home-and-home with the Columbus Blue Jackets by rolling to a victory. Phil Kessel scored for the first time in 17 games for the Penguins. Nick Bjugstad collected his ninth of the season for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby took a high stick from Columbus’ Boone Jenner in the third period but returned to add an empty-net goal and extend his goal streak to six consecutive games.

Bruins 4, Panthers 3

BOSTON

Patrice Bergeron scored twice, including the winner with 7.2 seconds remaining as the Boston Bruins scored twice in the final minute to beat the Florida Panthers, pushing their points streak to 18 games. Brad Marchand won a battle in the corner and shuffled the puck to Bergeron, who fired a wrist shot from the left circle past screened Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo to cap the Bruins’ improbable comeback.

Red Wings 3, Rangers 2, SO

DETROIT

Andreas Athanasiou scored in the third period and had the only goal in a shootout, lifting the Detroit Red Wings over the scuffling New York Rangers. Tyler Bertuzzi also scored and Jimmy Howard made 32 saves for the Red Wings, who ended their longest skid of the season.

Islanders 4, Senators 2

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

Valtteri Filppula scored twice to lead the New York Islanders to a win. Anthony Beauvillier and Casey Cizikas also scored for the Islanders, who moved into a first-place tie with the Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division. Thomas Greiss stopped 35 shots. Brady Tkachuk and Oscar Lindberg scored for the Senators, while Anders Nilsson made 27 saves.

Wild 3, Lightning 0

TAMPA, FLA.

Jason Zucker scored all three of Minnesota’s goals for his first career hat trick, Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves for his second shutout of the season and the Wild beat Tampa Bay. Ryan Donato had a pair of assists for Minnesota, which blocked 18 shots by Tampa Bay.

Associated Press