Chychrun’s late winner lifts Capitals, snaps Sabres’ 8-game win streak

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jakob Chychrun scored with 1:33 left to play, Charlie Lindgren made 29 saves, and the Washington Capitals beat Buffalo 2-1 on Thursday night to snap the Sabres’ eight-game win streak.

Chychrun’s goal came when forward Aliaksei Protas passed to the defenseman in the circle and he fired it past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for his 23rd goal of the year.

Ryan Leonard also scored for the Capitals, who won for the second time in the past three games.

Sam Carrick scored for the Sabres and Luukkonen made 20 saves.

Carrick’s second goal in three games gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 6:02 of the first period after a no-look backhand pass from Beck Malenstyn.

Leonard tied the game at 2:14 of the second period when he fired a shot past Luukkonen while on a two-on-one.

Chychrun won it for the Capitals at 18:27 of the third.

BLUES 3, HURRICANES 1

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Jimmy Snuggerud scored twice to lead St. Louis to a win over Eastern Conference-leading Carolina.

Snuggerud scored a tying goal in the second period and added a go-ahead score in third for the Blues, who were coming off an overtime loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

Jordan Binnington starred for St. Louis, stopping 31 of the 32 shots he faced. Pavel Buchnevich scored his 15th of the season into an empty net in the final minute and Dylan Holloway assisted on both goals by Snuggerud, who has been on a offensive tear recently as the Blues won for the sixth time in eight games.

Snuggerud had his fourth straight multi-point game and scored in his fourth straight. The 21-year-old forward had a goal and two assists against the Islanders after recording a goal and assist in wins over Anaheim and San Jose. He has 15 goals and 19 assists in 53 games.

Mark Jankowski scored for the Hurricanes, who had their 12-game home points streak halted. Brandon Bussi made 14 saves.

SHARKS 4, BRUINS 2

BOSTON (AP) — Colin Graf scored a short-handed goal and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 38 shots to help San Jose win and hand the Bruins their first loss in Boston since Christmas.

Tyler Toffoli assisted on Michael Misa’s goal in the first period and was credited with their second when Macklin Celebrini’s shot bounced off Jeremy Swayman’s blocker, off Toffoli and into the net. Graf made it 3-0 at 3:13 of the third period when Alexander Wennberg led him through the neutral zone for the breakaway.

William Eklund gave the Sharks a 4-0 lead with 12 minutes left, batting his own rebound out of the air and past Swayman. Fraser Minten’s goal 10 seconds later spoiled Nedeljkovic’s shutout, and David Pastrnak cut the deficit to 4-2 with Swayman pulled for an extra skater in the final minute.

Swayman stopped 24 shots for Boston, which had won 13 straight at the TD Garden since their last loss on Dec. 23.

LIGHTNING 4, RED WINGS 1

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jake Guentzel and Gage Goncalves each scored twice, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves and Tampa Bay beat Detroit.

Tampa Bay won for just the third time in the past nine games since the Olympic break to move within two points of Buffalo for the Atlantic Division lead. Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov each had two assists.

J.T. Compher scored for the Red Wings, and John Gibson stopped 24 shots. Detroit has just one win the past five games (1-3-1), but remained in the No. 1 wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

Tampa Bay started the second period on a carryover power play and wasted little time taking advantage of it when Guentzel took a backhand pass from Kucherov and had a lane toward the net. Guentzel got to the middle of the zone and beat Gibson at 49 seconds.

PANTHERS 2, BLUE JACKETS 1, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sam Reinhart scored 2:20 into overtime to lift Florida over Columbus. 

Sam Bennett also scored for the Panthers. His power-play wrist shot 1:28 into the third period sent the game to overtime. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves in the win for the Panthers.

Adam Fantilli scored for the Blue Jackets, and Elvis Merzlikins had 19 saves.

The Blue Jackets dominated the first two periods, outshooting the Panthers 24-10. Florida came back strong in the third period and dominated in overtime.

Reinhart scored his team-leading 29th goal of the season on the power play. Matthew Tkachuk assisted on Reinhart’s goal, giving him three goals and four assists over his last four games.

The Panthers played without Brad Marchand, Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe.

FLAMES 5, DEVILS 4

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — John Beecher scored his first two goals for Calgary, and Mikael Backlund recorded his 600th career NHL point with a third-period goal in the Flames’ 5-4 win over New Jersey.

Former Devils Kevin Bahl and Yegor Sharangovich each also scored for Calgary. Dustin Wolf made 26 saves, and the Flames blocked 21 shots, claiming just their second win in their past eight games.

Luke Hughes had one goal and one assist, and Jack Hughes, Maxim Tsyplakov and Simon Nemec each scored for New Jersey. Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves and had an assist.

Beecher, who was a healthy scratch the past two games, had his first career short-handed goal less than one minute into the second period.

With Calgary up 2-1, he stole the puck from Jack Hughes in the neutral zone then banked his rebound in off Markstrom after the Devils goalie stopped Beecher’s initial shot.

MAPLE LEAFS 6, DUCKS 4

TORONTO (AP) — William Nylander broke a tie on a power play 36 seconds into the third period and Toronto beat Anaheim to end an eight-game losing streak.

The victory was tempered by the loss of captain Auston Matthews on a knee-on-knee hit from Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas with four minutes left in the second period. Matthews stayed down favoring his left leg before being helped to the locker room. Gudas was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct.

Matthews scored earlier to end a 12-game goal drought.

Matias Maccell had a goal and two assists, and John Tavares and Benoit-Olivier Groulx also scored. Matthew Knies had three assists to go along with an empty-net goal, and Nylander added two assists. Joseph Woll made 36 saves.

Cutter Gauthier, Ian Moore, Pavel Mintyukov and Alex Killorn scored for Pacific Division-leading Anaheim. Lukas Dostal stopped 22 shots.

STARS 7, OILERS 2

DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson had two goals and two assists to tie a career high in points and Jamie Benn also scored twice as surging Dallas beat Edmonton.

The Stars are 13-0-1 in their last 14 games. The franchise’s only longer point streak is a 15-game run during the 1998-99 season (12 wins, three ties).

Wyatt Johnston had a power-play goal and two assists, and Sam Steel had a goal and an assist. Matt Duchene closed the scoring for Dallas with 1:03 left.

Jake Oettinger stopped 30 shots for his 27th win, third most among NHL goaltenders.

Johnston’s goal was his NHL-best 22nd power-play score, tying Dino Ciccarelli’s franchise-record total for the 1986-87 Minnesota North Stars.

Robertson has 36 goals and Johnston 35, both among the NHL’s top 10. They scored 33 seconds apart early in the second period for a 5-0 lead.

FLYERS 3, WILD 2, SO

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Travis Konecny scored the lone goal in a shootout to give Philadelphia a victory over Minnesota.

After Flyers goalie Dan Vladar stopped all three Wild attempts, Konecny ended it with a wrister over Jesper Wallstedt’s shoulder.

Emil Andrade and Owen Tippett scored in regulation, and Vladar made 21 saves for the Flyers. They’ve have won six of eight.

Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov scored for Minnesota. Quinn Hughes had two assists, and Wallstedt made 24 saves. The Wild are 3-0-2 in their last five.

Philadelphia outshot Minnesota 10-2 in the first period and scored the first goal when Andrae took a feed from Trevor Zegras in the high slot, skated in and fired a wrister that slipped between Wallstedt’s pads with 1:24 to go in the period.

RANGERS 6, JETS 3

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Alexis Lafreniere had a goal and an assist to lead New York to a victory over Winnipeg.

Adam Edstrom, Gabe Perreault, Tye Kartye and Adam Fox also scored, and Noah Laba added an empty-net goal for New York, which scored five goals on only 16 shots. Igor Shersterkin stopped 24 shots.

Gabriel Vilardi, Kyle Connor and Isak Rosen scored for Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck made 11 saves as the Jets slipped to 3-2 on their eight-game homestand.

The Rangers scored goals 4:11 apart in the third to take a 5-3 lead. Perreault gave New York the edge when he shoveled the puck past Hellebuyck at 6:57. Edstrom beat Hellebuyck from in front at 11:08.

The Rangers led 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3. Every time Winnipeg tied the score, New York re-took the lead, taking advantage of getting players in front of the net.

BLACKHAWKS 3, MAMMOTH 2, OT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Connor Bedard scored off a rebound off a post at 3:57 of overtime to give Chicago a victory over Utah.

Bedard, Tyler Bertuzzi and Frank Nazar each had a goal and an assist and Spencer Knight stopped 29 shots to help the Blackhawks sweep the season series in their third meeting with Utah in 12 days.

In the 3-on-3 overtime, Alex Vlasic blasted a shot off the post, Bedard controlled the rebound and snapped it into the net. The young star then pounded on the glass in celebration.

Dylan Geunther and JJ Peterka scored for Utah, and Karel Vejmelka made 20 saves. The Mammoth hold the first wild card in the Western Conference — six points ahead of San Jose.

Bertuzzi tied it at 1 on a 4-on-3 power play 2:18 into the third period. He leads the NHL with 10 road power-play goals.

AVALANCHE 5, KRAKEN 1

SEATTLE (AP) — Nazem Kadri scored his first goal since rejoining Colorado and Nathan MacKinnon added his NHL-leading 44th score of the season as the Avalanche beat Seattle.

Kadri, acquired from the Calgary Flames on March 6, gave Colorado a 4-1 lead when he tipped a shot by Sam Malinski past Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer, who replaced Joey Daccord to start the second period. Kadri spent three seasons with the Avalanche, and won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022. 

Colorado scored three goals on 15 shots against Daccord, who was pulled for the fourth time this season. 

Martin Necas opened the scoring with his career-high 30th goal of the season off a cross-ice pass by MacKinnon. 

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 6, PENGUINS 2

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Pavel Dorofeyev had two goals and an assist and Vegas beat Pittsburgh.

Vegas, which had lost six of seven, snapped a three-game losing streak that dropped them to third place in the Pacific Division.

With Edmonton losing 7-2 in Dallas earlier in the night, the Golden Knights moved into sole possession of second place. The Penguins remained tied with the New York Islanders in the Metropolitan Division.

Clinging to a 3-2 lead after the first two periods, the Golden Knights scored twice on their first four shots of the third on goals from Dorofeyev and Jack Eichel to pull away.

Dorofeyev has a career-high 54 points, two more than last season.

Eichel added an assist to go along with his 24th goal of the season. He has six points in his last six games, and goals in three consecutive games.

Colton Sissons and Mitch Marner also scored for the Golden Knights, and Adin Hill made 24 saves. Marner also had an assist, while rookie Braeden Bowman finished with two assists.

CANUCKS 4, PREDATORS 3, SO

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Vancouver scored a pair of third-period goals to erase a two-goal deficit then got a shootout goal from Jake DeBrusk to beat Nashville.

The Canucks trailed 3-1 after two periods, but Marco Rossi scored with 4:05 to play to make it 3-2 and Filip Hronek tied it at 3-all with 1:01 left in regulation.

Brock Boeser also scored in regulation for Vancouver.

Tyson Jost scored twice for Nashville, and rookie Matthew Wood added a goal.

Juuse Saros made 24 saves for the Predators. Nikita Tolopilo stopped 16 shots for Vancouver.