two first-period goals
Adidas Blake Comeau Jersey , Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 35 shots to earn his NHL-leading 35th victory and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Washington
Capitals 4-2 Tuesday night in a matchup between division leaders.Chris Kunitz
also scored in the opening period, which ended with Tampa Bay up 3-0. That was
enough of a cushion for Vasilevskiy, an All-Star who came in with a 2.34
goals-against average.After Alex Ovechkin notched his NHL-high 36th goal for
Washington to make it 3-2 at 11:02 of the third period, Nikita Kucherov clinched
it with a breakaway goal with 7:02 remaining.Article continues below ...The
victory improved Tampa Bay’s NHL-best record to 40-17-3 and kept the Lightning
ahead of surging Boston in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.Lars
Eller scored a power-play goal for the Capitals, who lead Pittsburgh by one
point in the Metropolitan Division.FLYERS 3, CANADIENS 2, OTPHILADELPHIA (AP) –
Jakub Voracek scored the tying goal with 1:25 left in regulation and then got
the game-winner 1:26 into overtime to lift Philadelphia past Montreal.Voracek
also had an assist and Nolan Patrick had the other goal for Philadelphia, which
improved to 7-0-2 in its last nine games. The Flyers, third in the Metropolitan
Division, pulled two points behind second-place Pittsburgh and three behind
first-place Washington.Paul Byron and Jeff Petry scored for Montreal, which lost
its sixth straight. The Canadiens‘ NHL-worst road record fell to 8-19-2.With
Philadelphia goalie Alex Lyon pulled for an extra attacker, Voracek sent the
game to overtime with a slap shot from the point that deflected off Montreal’s
Max Pacioretty and through goalie Carey Price’s five-hole.Voracek netted the
game-winner when he skated to the slot and fired a wrist shot past Price’s glove
side.BLUE JACKETS 2, DEVILS 1NEWARK
Adidas Erik Condra Jersey , N.J. (AP) – Defenseman Scott Harrington broke a second-period tie with his second goal of the season, and slumping Columbus
snapped a three-game skid and ended New Jersey’s four-game winning streak.Boone
Jenner also scored as the Blue Jackets moved into the second wild-card position
in the Eastern Conference with 65 points, one ahead of Carolina and the
Islanders. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves in helping the Blue Jackets win for
the fifth time in 15 games (5-9-2).Taylor Hall scored for the Devils to extend
his point-scoring streak to 12 games, tying David Pastrnak of the Bruins for the
league-high this season. He also pushed his personal point-scoring streak to 19
games. He missed three games with a thumb injury, so the league does not
consider that to be part of his current streak.Keith Kinkaid had 17 saves for
New Jersey, which holds the first wild-card spot in the conference.PREDATORS 3,
RED WINGS 2DETROIT (AP) – Viktor Arvidsson scored his third goal in two games
and Nashville ended its seven-game skid to Detroit.Scott Hartnell and Kyle
Turris also scored, and Juuse Saros stopped 34 shots for the Predators, who
ended a three-game losing streak in Detroit since a win on Nov. 19, 2013.Andreas
Athanasiou and Tomas Tatar scored for the Red Wings, and Jimmy Howard finished
with 26 saves.SHARKS 3, BLUES 2ST. LOUIS (AP) – Logan Couture and Mikkel Boedker
each had a goal and an assist, sending San Jose to a victory over slumping St.
Louis.Joonas Donskoi also scored and Martin Jones made 30 saves for the
Sharks
Adidas Anton Khudobin Jersey , who have won five of their last six games.Ivan Barbashev and Vladimir Tarasenko had the goals for the Blues, who
have lost a season-high four straight.All five goals were scored in the second
period.KINGS 4, JETS 3WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) – Dion Phaneuf scored on the power
play for his third goal in four games with Los Angeles, helping the Kings cap a
seven-game road trip with a win over Winnipeg.Alec Martinez also scored on the
power play, Dustin Brown’s goal late in the third period stood as the winner and
Torrey Mitchell had the other goal for the Kings. Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 shots
to win his fifth straight start.Anze Kopitar picked up an assist on Brown’s
goal, giving him his 800th NHL point in his 900th career game.Patrik Laine
scored on the power play with 49 seconds left to trim the deficit for Winnipeg.
Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien had the other Jets goals, and Laine added an
assist.Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves for the Jets, who completed a 6-3-1
homestand.It was the third consecutive win for the Kings, who were coming off a
3-1 victory at Chicago the night before and went 4-3 on their trip.MAPLE LEAFS
1, PANTHERS 0TORONTO (AP) – Frederik Andersen made 40 saves, James van Riemsdyk
scored his 25th goal with 28 seconds left in the first period and surging
Toronto blanked Florida.The shutout was Andersen’s career-best fifth of the
season. The 28-year-old goalie has reached 30 wins for the third time.The Maple
Leafs have won 11 of 12 and improved to 14-4-2 since Jan. 4.The Panthers have
dropped back-to-back games after opening their five-game road trip with three
straight wins. Florida entered the night six points out of a wild-card spot in
the Eastern Conference.Roberto Luongo stopped 30 shots in the loss.BRUINS 3,
OILERS 2EDMONTON
Adidas Chris Terry Jersey , Alberta (AP) – David Krejci broke a tie with 1:04 remaining and Boston rallied for three goals in the third period to beat
Edmonton.Noel Acciari and Matt Grzelcyk also scored for the Bruins, who have won
seven of nine and are one point back of Tampa Bay for first place in the
Atlantic Division and overall NHL standings.Ryan Strome and Jujhar Khaira had
the goals for the Oilers, who have lost seven of eight.Strome got the Oilers on
the scoreboard on a 2-on-1 break with 1:31 left in the first period as Edmonton
was being outshot 13-2 to that point. Khaira made it 2-0 with about 8 1/2
minutes left in the second.Boston, which had a 29-14 advantage on shots through
40 minutes, got on the board 4:37 into the third when Acciari swung a puck that
bounced off Strome and in. Grzelcyk put the puck past a diving Talbot during a
flurry to tie it with eight minutes left.AVALANCHE 5, CANUCKS 4, OTVANCOUVER,
British Columbia (AP) – Nathan MacKinnon scored Colorado’s fifth power-play goal
of the game 3:36 into overtime, lifting the Avalanche past Vancouver to cap a
comeback from three goals down.With Daniel Sedin off for hooking, Tyson Barrie
passed to MacKinnon, who fired a shot from the faceoff circle past Canucks
goalie Anders Nilsson.Barrie, who had four assists, tied it with 3:01 remaining
in the third period.Tyson Jost
Adidas Dennis Cholowski Jersey , Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog also scored for Colorado. MacKinnon also had three assists, Rantanen added two and
Landeskog one. Semyon Varlamov finished with 24 saves.Brandon Suter and Nikolay
Goldobin each had a goal and an assist for the Canucks in a wild second period.
Darren Archibald and Bo Horvat also scored for Vancouver. Nilsson stopped 29
shots. NEW YORK (AP) — Nashville Predators forward Austin Watson’s suspension
for domestic abuse has been reduced from 27 to 18 games by an arbitrator.The NHL
and the NHL Players’ Association announced arbitrator Shyam Das’ decision
Thursday.Commissioner Gary Bettman handed down the suspension last month. Watson
pleaded no contest in July to a charge of domestic assault stemming from an
incident in June, and the NHL found Watson engaged in unacceptable off-ice
conduct.The Predators weren’t involved in Watson’s appeal but have supported the
forward . Watson has been able to use the team’s resources and practice with
Nashville during his suspension, and he was on the ice Tuesday night in full
uniform before the Predators’ home opener as the team hung banners for winning
the Central Division and Presidents’ Trophy last season.“We are aware of its
reduction to 18 games,” the Predators said in a statement. “As previously
stated, our focus has and will continue to be the health and well-being of
Austin and his family.”Now Watson is eligible rejoin the Predators on Nov. 15
when they wrap up a five-game road trip Arizona. If the 27-game ban had stood,
he would have been out until Dec. 3.The NHL does not have a written domestic
abuse policy and has chosen to judge each incident separately. Slava Voynov is
currently still suspended indefinitely for a 2014 incident.Watson was charged in
an incident June 16 with his girlfriend after a witness flagged down a police
officer to a gas station in Franklin, Tennessee. Watson told police he and his
girlfriend were arguing and that he pushed her. Officers said they found red
marks on her chest, and she said Watson caused them. Watson pleaded no contest
to domestic assault on July 24.As part of that plea, Watson can have the
misdemeanor charge dismissed by fulfilling terms of the diversion program.
Watson must serve three months of probation and complete both an in-patient
treatment program and a batterer’s intervention program.The 18th pick overall in
2010, Watson scored a career-high 14 goals with five assists in 76 games last
season. He had five goals and three assists in 13 playoff games.
