NEW YORK (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves for his 400th career win, and the Florida Panthers defeated the New York Rangers 3-1 on Thursday.
Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe scored early first-period goals for Florida. Lundell opened the scoring 44 seconds in, beating Igor Shesterkin alone in the slot. Verhaeghe added to the Panthers’ lead at the 2:42 mark.
Alexis Lafreniere scored 4:44 into the game to halve Florida’s early lead, but it was the only time New York was able to beat Bobrovsky.
Sam Bennett gave Florida a two-goal lead 6:59 into the second period.
From there, Florida held on to win in a rematch of last spring’s Eastern Conference Final, which the Panthers won in six games.
Shesterkin finished with 26 saves for the Rangers.
WILD 4, LIGHTNING 2
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Matt Boldy broke a tie 54 seconds into the third period, and Minnesota remained unbeaten in regulation, topping Tampa Bay.
Minnesota improved to 5-0-2. Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves for his first victory of the season and the 562nd of his career.
Boldy’s power-play goal gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead. Kirill Kaprizov scored twice, the second into an empty net, and Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal.
Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov scored in the second period for Tampa Bay. The Lightning lost for the first time in four home games.
Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 14 saves in his third loss in a row.
Kaprizov gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 6:23 of the first period. Tampa Bay rallied on second-period goals 2:36 apart by Hagel and Kucherov. Ek tied it late in the second.
STARS 5, BRUINS 2
BOSTON (AP) — Casey DeSmith made 25 saves, Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene had a goal and two assists each and Dallas handed Boston their third straight loss.
The Stars also got goals from Jason Robertson, Logan Stankoven and Roope Hintz. Mason Marchment had two assists as Dallas scored four unanswered goals after David Pastrnak gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 11:57 of the first period.
Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves for the Bruins, who cut the Stars’ lead to 4-2 on Justin Brazeau’s goal at 10:41 of the second period. Still down two goals with time winding down in the third period, Boston pulled Swayman.
Hintz supplied the finishing touch with an empty-netter with 2:02 remaining.
RED WINGS 5, DEVILS 3
DETROIT (AP) — Patrick Kane scored a go-ahead, power-play goal with 3:32 remaining and Detroit extended their winning streak to three games, beating New Jersey.
Christian Fischer and Alex DeBrincat scored 26 seconds apart late in the first period for Detroit. Dylan Larkin also supplied a power-play goal and Michael Rasmussen added an empty-netter, while Cam Talbot made 40 saves.
Nico Hischier scored two power-play goals for the Devils, who have lost three straight. Jacob Markstrom stopped 15 shots.
Devils forward Erik Haula scored in his 700th game. He’s the 22nd Finnish player to reach that games-played milestone.
BLUES 5, MAPLE LEAFS 1
TORONTO (AP) — Jordan Binnington made 40 saves, Dylan Holloway scored twice and St. Louis beat Toronto, spoiling coach Craig Berube’s first game against the Blues since they fired him in December.
Berube led St. Louis to the franchise’s only Stanley Cup in 2019.
Philip Broberg, Alexandre Texier and Jake Neighbours also scored to help St. Louis improve to 5-3-0. Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich each had two assists.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored for Toronto, and Joseph Woll stopped 22 in his first start of the season after coming off injured reserve from a groin problem earlier in the day. The Maple Leafs fell to 4-4-0.
The Blues opened the scoring on their third shot when Broberg fired a puck through traffic. Holloway doubled the advantage on a power play.
Ekman-Larsson got the Maple Leafs on the board in the second with his first goal for Toronto, but Texier made it 3-1 before the period was out.
HURRICANES 4, FLAMES 2
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves and assisted on Eric Robinson’s empty-netter, helping Carolina beat Calgary 4-2 for their first loss in regulation this season.
Martin Necas had a goal and an assist and Jack Roslovic and Seth Jarvis also scored for Carolina (4-2-0). Sebastian Aho had an assist to extend his points streak to five games.
Jake Bean scored his first goal for the Flames (5-1-1). Jonathan Huberdeau also scored and Dan Vladar made 39 saves.
Quick goals by Necas and Roslovic to start the second period gave Carolina a 3-0 lead by 1:59. Bean scored in the second for Calgary, and Huberdeau cut it to a goal with 6:55 left in the third.
Carolina opened the scoring midway through the first on Jarvis’ power-play goal.
AVALANCHE 5, UTAH 1
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Justus Annunen had 25 saves, and Colorado beat Utah for their fourth straight win.
Ross Colton opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season. Cale Makar also scored in the first. Casey Mittelstadt and Ivan Ivan struck both scored in the second period — Ivan’s goal on a power play. Joel Kiviranta had an unassisted goal late to cap the scoring.
Colton struck midway through the first period, snapping the puck past Vejmelka on a power play. Makar then blasted home a second long-distance snap shot, extending Colorado’s lead.
Mittelstadt sent in a close-range wrist shot for a three-goal advantage. Ivan’s power-play goal put Colorado up 4-0 heading into the third.
Mittelstadt, Nikolai Kovalenko and Mikko Rantanen each had a pair of assists for the Avalanche.
Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves in his second start for Utah, who has allowed nine goals over two games. Lawson Crouse had Utah’s lone goal with 4:32 left in the game.
The Associated Press
