nhl roundup | Thursday’s games

Penguins 5, Sabres 0

BUFFALO, N.Y.

Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist, Sidney Crosby added two assists and the surging Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres. Nick Bjugstad and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, which has won six of seven and sits third in the Metropolitan Division. Brian Dumoulin and Patric Hornqvist also scored, and Casey DeSmith made 26 saves for his fourth career shutout. Carter Hutton stopped 21 shots for the Sabres, who matched a franchise record with three consecutive shutout losses.

Capitals 5, Flyers 2

PHILADELPHIA

Brett Connolly had two goals and an assist to help the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers. Evgeny Kuznetsov added a goal and an assist, and Lars Eller and Tom Wilson also scored as the Capitals remained two points ahead of the second-place New York Islanders atop the Metropolitan Division. Braden Holtby stopped 22 shots. James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton scored for Philadelphia, and Carter Hart finished with 27 saves.

Senators 2, Blues 0

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

Anders Nilsson stopped 34 shots for his second shutout of the season as the Ottawa Senators beat the St. Louis Blues. Christian Wolanin and Chris Tierney scored to help Ottawa snap a three-game losing streak. The shutout was Nilsson’s sixth of his career. Jake Allen made 19 saves in the loss for the Blues (36-27-7).

Lightning 5, Red Wings 4

DETROIT

Steven Stamkos tied Vincent Lecavalier for Tampa Bay’s career lead in goals, Nikita Kucherov scored twice in the third period and the Lightning rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings led 3-0 in the second when Stamkos scored on the power play to start Tampa Bay’s comeback. His 383rd goal pulled him even with Lecavalier, and the NHL-leading Lightning weren’t done. The league’s highest-scoring team added four goals in the third, with Kucherov and Tyler Johnson scoring 26 seconds apart to give Tampa Bay the lead with 11:10 remaining. Kucherov made it 5-3 with 3:22 left. Brayden Point also scored early in the third for the Lightning. Madison Bowey, Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader and Michael Rasmussen scored for the Red Wings, who lost for the 12th time in 13 games. Tampa Bay tied its franchise record of 54 wins, set last season.

Islanders 2, Canadiens 1

UNIONDALE, NY

Anders Lee scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period and Thomas Greiss stopped 33 shots as the New York Islanders beat the Montreal Canadiens. Adam Pelech also scored in the second period to help the Islanders win for the fourth time in five games to remain two points behind first-place Washington in the Metropolitan Division. Jordie Benn had the tying goal for Montreal late in the second, and Carey Price finished with 36 saves.

Associated Press