nhl roundup | Tuesday’s games

Blue Jackets 4, Islanders 0

COLUMBUS

Sergei Bobrovsky recorded his second consecutive shutout and the Columbus Blue Jackets stayed in the NHL playoff hunt, beating the New York Islanders. Ryan Dzingel, Artemi Panarin, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cam Atkinson scored, and Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves and his eighth shutout of the season for the Blue Jackets, who are fighting to get above the wild-card line in the Eastern Division with six games to play. They started the day two points behind Montreal for the second Eastern Division wild-card spot and three points behind Carolina for the first. The Canadiens and Blue Jackets face off in Columbus on Thursday night. Thomas Greiss, who had shut out Columbus twice this season, finished with 29 saves. The Blue Jackets took advantage of a couple of New York mistakes to help salvage a win in the last of the four-game season series between the Metro Division rivals. Dzingel scored with a snipe over Greiss’ head 5:43 into the game from the left circle. That came near the end of a power play brought about by the Islanders having too many men on the ice. Panarin got his first goal in 13 games early in the second when Cam Atkinson batted at the puck in the neutral zone and pushed it behind the Islanders’ defense. Panarin picked it up and beat Greiss on the breakaway. Bjorkstrand scored his second goal in as many games with 8:46 remaining, and Atkinson added an empty-netter with 27 seconds left. New York, which started the day in second place in the Metro Division behind Washington, had a two-game win streak snapped.

Capitals 4, Hurricanes 1

WASHINGTON

Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 49th goal of the season to snap a four-game drought and help Washington beat the Carolina Hurricanes, increasing the Capitals’ division lead. Kuznetsov also set up T.J. Oshie’s first-period goal and helped on John Carlson’s insurance goal in the third to give him three assists on his bobblehead night. Braden Holtby made 27 saves and Nicklas Backstrom added an empty-netter off a pass from Ovechkin to give the Capitals their second consecutive victory. Carolina got a goal from Dougie Hamilton and 24 saves from Mrazek.

Canadiens 6, Panthers 1

MONTREAL

Tomas Tatar had two goals and an assist to lead the Montreal Canadiens over the Florida Panthers to remain in playoff position. Brett Kulak, Artturi Lehkonen, Phillip Danault and Max Domi also scored for the Canadiens (41-28-8), who have won four of five. Carey Price stopped 33 shots in his ninth consecutive start. Price has allowed 13 goals in his past eight games. Frank Vatrano scored for the Panthers (33-32-12), who were officially eliminated from playoff contention. James Reimer, who had not played in a month, was pulled in the first period after allowing three goals on nine shots. His replacement, Sam Montembeault, stopped 15 of 18 shots. The Panthers dropped to 1-5-0 in their past six games. Montreal is in a tight three-team playoff race with the Carolina Hurricanes and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Senators 4, Sabres 0

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

Craig Anderson stopped 35 shots for his second shutout of the season and the Ottawa Senators beat the Buffalo Sabres. Brian Gibbons had a goal and an assist, and Anthony Duclair, Rudolfs Balcers and Magnus Paajarvi also scored. The Senators won the first of a four-game homestand after going 1-2-0 on a three-game trip through Western Canada. Ottawa has won its last three home games and outscored those opponents 12-2. Carter Hutton made 27 saves for Buffalo, which lost its fourth straight.

Associated Press