Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

First Posted: 4/11/2013

as 2 goals, Pens beat Lightning 6-3

AP Photo TPA106, TPA108, TPA109, TPA107, TPA104

Eds: APNewsNow. Penguins 6, Lightning 3. With AP Photos.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jussi Jokinen scored two goals and added an assist, Pascal Dupuis had a goal and two assists, and the Eastern-Conference leading Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 Thursday night.

Chris Kunitz, Evgeni Malkin and Tanner Glass had the other Pittsburgh goals. Dupuis has three goals and eight points during a four-game points streak.

Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang was back in the lineup and had an assist after missing the previous six games with a lower body injury. The Penguins are still without center Sidney Crosby (broken jaw), left wing James Neal (concussion) and defenseman Paul Martin (hand).

Teddy Purcell had two goals for the Lightning. Brett Connolly had the other Tampa Bay goal.

PNewsNow. Senators 3, Flyers 1. With AP Photos.

By DAN GELSTON

AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Colin Greening scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period, and the Ottawa Senators snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

Flyers forward Claude Giroux was hit with a double-minor penalty for high-sticking with 6:07 left. Greening buried a wrister past Ilya Bryzgalov for his eighth goal seconds later for the 2-1 lead.

The Senators won for the first time since March 28. They had lost the first four games of a seven-game trip and claimed sixth place in the Eastern Conference. They are tied in points with the New York Islanders, two points in front of the eighth-place New York Rangers.

Daniel Alfredsson scored an empty-net goal with 6.9 seconds left. Zack Smith also scored for Ottawa.

Giroux had the lone goal for the Flyers.

K102, MACK107, MACK104, MACK103, MACK105, MACK106

Eds: APNewsNow. Islanders 2, Bruins 1. With AP Photos.

By HOWARD ULMAN

AP Sports Writer

BOSTON (AP) — Josh Bailey scored twice and the New York Islanders added another big win in their surge toward the playoffs by beating the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday night.

The Islanders, seeking their first trip to the postseason in seven years, improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games. They started the day tied with Ottawa and the New York Rangers with 44 points.

New York kept pace with Ottawa, which won at Philadelphia. The eighth-place Rangers were idle.

The Bruins fell to 5-2 in their last seven games one night after moving into second place in the East with a 5-4 win at New Jersey.

Bailey’s fourth goal in six games and ninth of the season snapped a 1-1 tie at 13:12 of the second period. Tyler Seguin had tied it for Boston earlier in the period.

f berth with 5-1 win over Sabres

AP Photo NYGW104, NYGW103, NYGW101, NYGW105

Eds: APNewsNow. Canadiens 5, Sabres 1. With AP Photos.

By JOHN WAWROW

AP Sports Writer

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Peter Budaj stopped 14 shots, and the Montreal Canadiens clinched a playoff berth and regained the Northeast Division lead with a 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.

P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov had a goal and assist each, and Rene Bourque, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher also scored for the Canadiens.

In earning its fourth postseason berth in five years, Montreal is returning to the playoffs after bottoming out last year, when the Canadiens finished last in the Eastern Conference.

Montreal (26-9-5) also jumped back atop the Northeast, one point ahead of Boston, which was beaten 2-1 by the New York Islanders.

Budaj had his shutout bid snapped 6:45 into the third period when Brian Flynn scored a short-handed goal by capping a 2-on-0 break.

Capitals 3, Hurricanes 1. With AP Photos.

By JOSEPH WHITE

AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Capitals finished off a month’s worth of role reversal Thursday night, winning their sixth straight and extending the Carolina Hurricanes’ losing streak to seven with a 3-1 victory.

Troy Brouwer and Mike Green scored second-period goals, Brouwer added an empty-netter and Braden Holtby made 43 saves for the Southeast Division leaders almost one month to the day after their playoff hopes appeared buried following a shutout loss to the then-surging Hurricanes.

Jeff Skinner scored in the first period, and Justin Peters had 28 stops for the Hurricanes, who now trail the Capitals by 12 points — an incredible 22-point swing from March 12, when Carolina beat Washington 4-0 at the Verizon Center.

. Blues 2, Wild 0. With AP Photos.

By DAVE CAMPBELL

AP Sports Writer

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Brian Elliott notched his third straight shutout, stretching his streak to 189 minutes, 31 seconds without a goal, and the St. Louis Blues won their sixth straight game by beating the Minnesota Wild 2-0 on Thursday night.

Roman Polak ended a 120-game streak without a goal, and Andy McDonald also scored, sending the Wild to their sixth loss in eight games. They have been shut out in three of four, the only times they have been blanked all season.

The Wild have six goals in six games, and their scoreless streak is at 121 minutes, 25 seconds.

The last time the Blues won at least six straight was Oct. 22-Nov. 7, 2010, a seven-game streak. They have given up five goals during the run.

Eds: APNewsNow. Jets 7, Panthers 2. With AP Photos.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Evander Kane scored two goals and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Florida Panthers 7-2 on Thursday night to tie the New York Rangers for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Aaron Gagnon, Andrew Ladd, Grant Clitsome, Dustin Byfuglien and Chris Thorburn also scored to help Winnipeg win its third straight and increase its points total to 44. The Jets are two points behind Southeast Division-leading Washington.

T.J. Brennan and Tomas Fleischmann scored for Florida.

w. Sharks 3, Red Wings 2, SO. With AP Photos.

By LARRY LAGE

AP Hockey Writer

DETROIT (AP) — Patrick Marleau scored the winner in the shootout and had a short-handed goal early in the game, lifting the San Jose Sharks to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.

Antti Niemi made 27 saves through overtime, while Jimmy Howard stopped 28 shots for Detroit. Niemi got his glove on Niklas Kronwall’s slap shot with 44 seconds left in the extra period, giving the Sharks a chance in the shootout.

San Jose, trying to earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, is in fourth place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of St. Louis and Los Angeles. The Kings were facing Colorado later Thursday

The Red Wings, clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, are hoping to extend the franchise’s streak of consecutive postseason appearances to 22 but have lost five of their last seven games.