Bussi stops all three in shootout as Hurricanes edge Capitals 3-2 to pull even atop East

Brandon Bussi stopped all three shots in a shootout to lift the Carolina Hurricanes to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference standings.

The win pulled the Hurricanes even with Washington atop the conference and Metropolitan Division. Bussi ran his record to 10-1-0. The Carolina rookie stopped Anthony Beauvillier, Dylan Strome and Sonny Milano in the shootout. Strome also failed to convert a breakaway in overtime after two Carolina players collided.

Washington has lost all four of its shootouts this season.

Seth Jarvis had the lone goal in the shootout, but it was Logan Stankoven who gave him the opportunity by scoring the tying goal with 2:15 left in regulation. Nikolaj Ehlers scored for Carolina in the second.

Connor McMichael opened the scoring for Washington in the second, and Nic Dowd put the Capitals up 2-1 with 8:28 left in the third.

Bussi has now won eight straight. Only Cam Ward, with a nine-game run in 2009, has a longer streak in franchise history.

CANADIENS 4, PENGUINS 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jacob Fowler made 33 saves in his NHL debut and Montreal beat Pittsburgh 4-2.

Montreal gave the rookie plenty of support, as Alexandre Texier, Brendan Gallagher and Cole Caufield staked the Canadiens to a 3-0 lead through two periods. Oliver Kapanen also scored to help Montreal snap a two-game skid.

Bryan Rust scored and Erik Karlsson had a power-play goal for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby added an assist and is now four points from breaking Mario Lemieux’s franchise record for points. Lemieux is ninth all-time in NHL history.

Tristan Jarry stopped 25 shots for Pittsburgh, which lost its third straight and saw a four-game point streak end.

Montreal recalled the 21-year-old Fowler from Laval of the AHL after Tuesday’s 6-1 home loss against Tampa Bay. In that game, Jakub Dobes allowed three goals on 11 shots and Sam Montembeault gave up three goals on 10 shots in relief.

OILERS 4, RED WINGS 1

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Zach Hyman scored three goals and Connor McDavid had four assists as Edmonton beat Detroit.

Mattias Ekholm also scored and Leon Draisaitl had two assists for the Oilers, who have won three of their last four games. Stuart Skinner stopped 27 shots.

Simon Edvinsson scored for the Red Wings, who snapped a three-game win streak. Cam Talbot had 25 saves.

Hyman opened the scoring on a power play with 5:35 left in the first period, redirecting McDavid’s pass past Talbot.

Ekholm made it 2-0 at 2:46 of the second with a one-timer from the slot off a feed from McDavid.

Edvinsson got Detroit on the board with a sliding deflection past Skinner at 5:41.

Edmonton took a 3-1 lead with 2:12 remaining in the second as McDavid made a highlight reel no-look backhand pass through his legs in front to Hyman, who scored his second of the game.

Hyman added his hat trick goal and fifth of the season into an empty net with 1:17 remaining.

SHARKS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 2, OT

TORONTO (AP) — Alexander Wennberg scored with 2:49 left in overtime, and San Jose came back from a two-goal deficit to beat Toronto.

Wennberg scored the winner when he kicked the puck from his skate to his stick from in tight.

John Klingberg scored with 1:25 left in regulation and Dmitry Orlov scored his first goal of the season for San Jose in the second period. Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves for and Wennberg finished with two assists.

Dakota Joshua and Auston Matthews each scored a goal for Toronto and William Nylander added two assists. Dennis Hildeby had 29 saves.

Matthews made it 2-0 in the second period on a power play with his 13th goal of the season — and fourth in the last seven games. Toronto had converted two of its last 28 opportunities with the man advantage.

Orlov ended Hildeby’s shutout streak at 132 minutes, six seconds when he made the score 2-1 with 4:29 left in the second period. 

GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, FLYERS 2, OT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Mark Stone scored his second goal of the game 2:47 into overtime to give Vegas a victory over Philadelphia.

The winning goal was a partial gift, as Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny flubbed an attempted outlet pass near the Flyers net, allowing Vegas star Jack Eichel to take possession and then feed an onrushing Stone.

Zach Whitecloud scored in the first period for the Golden Knights. Trevor Zegras and defenseman Noah Juulsen had the goals for Philadelphia. 

The Golden Knights struck first when Ivan Barbashev sent the puck to Whitecloud and the defenseman beat Konecny’s backcheck and goalie Dan Vladar 6:07 into the game for his first goal of the season.

The Flyers tied it when Zegras slammed home a point-to-doorstep pass from Travis Sanheim, easily beating goalie Akira Schmid at 16:11.

The Golden Knights regained the lead in the second period with a power-play goal, helped by Vladar’s inability to catch a soft shot. The puck dropped into the crease, causing a scramble that Stone won for a 2-1 lead at 12:53.

The Flyers tied it again on a rare goal by Juulsen, who had uncharacteristically pinched into the offensive zone and was in the right spot to convert Christian Dvorak’s pass at 16:08 to make it 2-all after two periods.

PREDATORS 7, BLUES 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored four goals and the Nashville beat St. Louis for their fourth win in five games.

Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly and Michael Bunting also scored for Nashville. Luke Evangelista had three assists, and Roman Josi, Matthew Wood, Nick Blankenburg and Fedor Svechkov each had two. Juuse Saros finished with 24 saves.

Robert Thomas and Hugh McGing scored for St. Louis, and Philip Broberg had two assists. Jordan Binnington had 19 saves through two periods, and Joel Hofer had six in the third.

Stamkos gave the Predators a 1-0 lead 8:22 into the game, batting the rebound of his own shot out of the air and past Binnington.

Stamkos doubled the lead with 8:41 left in the opening period, knocking in the rebound of a shot through traffic by Roman Josi.

LIGHTNING 8, DEVILS 4

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nick Paul, Darren Raddysh and Pontus Holmberg each scored in the opening eight minutes to chase Jacob Markstrom, and the injury-depleted Tampa Bay defeated New Jersey.

The Lightning have strung together consecutive victories following a four-game skid, which culminated with back-to-back shutout losses. Oliver Bjorkstrand had two goals, Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point got one apiece and Nikita Kucherov recorded four assists as Tampa Bay combined to score 14 times in these two wins.

Jonas Johansson made 33 saves in his fifth start in a row in place of injured No. 1 goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is out at least two more games. Captain Victor Hedman joined Vasilevskiy and fellow defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak on injured reserve earlier Thursday after aggravating an undisclosed ailment earlier this week.

SENATORS 6, BLUE JACKETS 3

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tim Stützle scored twice, and the Ottawa Senators used a four-goal first period to beat Columbus, snapping a three-game skid.

Michael Amadio had a goal and two assists, David Perron and Drake Batherson each had a goal and an assist, and Claude Giroux also scored. Dylan Cozens finished with three assists, and Linus Ullmark made 22 saves for Ottawa, which had lost six of its past eight but has now won two straight on the road.

Boone Jenner had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets in his first game back after missing 14 with an upper-body injury. Dante Fabbro and Dmitri Voronkov also scored, and Zach Werenski added two assists as Columbus dropped its fourth straight.

Elvis Merzlikins was pulled after making two saves on five shots, allowing three goals for the 12th time in 13 starts. Jet Greaves stopped 21 in relief.

Perron opened the scoring at 6:58 of the first, poking in a loose rebound, and Batherson doubled the lead just over a minute later with a wrister from outside the crease. Stützle’s power-play goal with 5:05 left in the period made it 3–0 and sent Merzlikins to the bench.

ISLANDERS 5, DUCKS 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Anders Lee scored twice and had two assists, and David Rittich made 31 saves as New York beat Anaheim.

Simon Holmstrom had a goal and two assists and defensemen Travis Mitchell and Ryan Pulock each scored as the Islanders won for the fifth time in six games.

Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry scored for Anaheim, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Islanders leading scorer Bo Horvat left about seven minutes into the second with a lower-body injury after he became tangled with Anaheim defenseman Drew Helleson.

The Islanders took a 3-0 lead in the opening period, starting with Mitchell’s first NHL goal. The 26-year-old was playing his seventh game following his recall from Bridgeport of the AHL.

Lee made it 2-0, beating Ducks netminder Ville Husso on the power play. The Islanders captain scored again with the man advantage late in the first, his eighth goal. Lee has 297 career goals, fifth-most in franchise history.

Carlsson rifled a shot past Rittich in the second for his team-leading 17th goal.

Terry made it 3-2 with a short-handed goal early in the third. The Islanders pulled away when Holmstron scored his sixth and Pulock added his first.

BRUINS 6, JETS 3

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — David Pastrnak had two goals and two assists, leading Boston to a victory over Winnipeg.

Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm, Sean Kuraly and Casey Mittelstadt also scored for Boston. Joonas Korpisalo stopped 26 shots.

Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Morgan Barron had the goals for the Jets, who dropped their third straight game. Eric Comrie made 18 saves before 13,158 fans – Winnipeg’s smallest crowd of the season.

Pastrnak set up Lindholm for an insurance goal at 14:43 of the third period that made it 5-3. Pastrnak then scored into an empty net with 1:56 left.

WILD 5, STARS 2

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Marcus Johansson scored twice, Matt Boldy had a goal and two assists, and Minnesota beat Dallas, ending the Stars’ 11-game point streak.

Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and an assist, Zach Bogosian also scored, and Vladimir Tarasenko had two assists as Minnesota won its second straight after a two-game skid that followed its 12-game point streak (10-0-2). Filip Gustavsson stopped 16 shots.

Miro Heiskanen had a goal and an assist, and Jason Robertson also scored for Dallas, which was 9-0-2 during its streak. Jake Oettinger finished with 27 saves.

Johansson gave the Wild a 3-2 lead at 8:40 of the third, beating Oettinger with a one-timer from the right circle.

Boldy had an empty-netter with 1:31 remaining for his 17th goal of the season, and Johansson added one for his 11th with 50 seconds to go.

AVALANCHE 6, PANTHERS 2 

DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon was one of six Colorado players to score and the Avalanche cruised to a win over Florida.

Sam Malinski, Brock Nelson, Gavin Brindley, Artturi Lehkonen and captain Gabriel Landeskog also had goals. The Avalanche saw 13 different players record at least a point.

Colorado (22-2-7) now has a league-leading 51 points this season and became the sixth team over the last 20 years to reach the 50-point mark in 31 games or fewer.

Before the game, the Avalanche honored the 1995-96 Stanley Cup team, which captured the Mile High City’s first major professional sports championship. The Avalanche moved to town from Quebec before that season and swept Florida in the final.

Noah Gregor and Mackie Samoskevich scored for the Panthers. Daniil Tarasov was kept busy by the high-flying Avalanche offense and finished with 36 saves, including a stop of MacKinnon on a penalty shot. 

SABRES 3, CANUCKS 2 

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson each had a goal and an assist, and Buffalo beat the struggling Vancouver.

Zach Benson also scored for the Sabres and Alex Lyon stopped 29 shots as Buffalo won its second straight following a three-game skid.

Kiefer Sherwood and Max Sasson scored for the Canucks, and Thatcher Demko made 12 saves in his return from a lower-body injury he suffered on Nov. 11. Vancouver has lost six of its last seven (1-5-1).

Sasson gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead 6:15 into the second, but Thompson tied it nearly 3 minutes later and Benson’s power-play goal with 5:14 to go in the period gave the Sabres the lead.

Vancouver fell to 1-13-0 when trailing after two periods.

Dahlin got the the Canucks on the scoreboard first, scoring 7 1/2 minutes into the game.

Sherwood tied it with 11 seconds remaining in the first to snap his 10-game goal-scoring drought with his team-high 13th of the season.

The Canucks were without star center Elias Pettersson, who missed a second straight game with an upper-body injury.