Jarry spoils Kessel's return, Penguins beat Coyotes 2-0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tristan Jarry spoiled Phil Kessel's return to Pittsburgh, turning aside all 33 shots to post his second consecutive shutout as the Penguins edged the Arizona Coyotes 2-0 Friday night.
Kessel helped Pittsburgh to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017 before being traded to the Coyotes in exchange for Alex Galchenyuk last summer. He received a rousing ovation during the first period and played 21 inspired minutes but couldn't solve Jarry.
Jarry won for the fifth time in six starts and is making a serious case to supplant Matt Murray as Pittsburgh's top goaltender.
Evgeni Malkin broke a scoreless tie 7:13 into the third period to put the Penguins in front. Brandon Tanev chipped in an empty netter with two seconds remaining as the Penguins won their fifth straight meeting with the Coyotes.
Antti Raanta finished with 24 saves but couldn't quite match Jarry, who stole the show during Kessel's highly anticipated return.
NEW YORK (AP) — Nate Thompson scored with less than two minutes left in the third period and Montreal beat New York for its second victory in the last 11 games.
Brendan Gallagher also scored for the Canadiens. Carey Price made 29 saves and improved to 7-2-0 in his last nine games at Madison Square Garden.
Brendan Smith scored for the Rangers. Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves in his second straight start in place of Henrik Lundqvist, who was feeling under the weather.
The loss was the Rangers' 17th in their last 23 games against the Canadiens since the start of 2013.
When these teams met in Montreal on Nov. 23, they played an instant classic. The Canadiens led 4-0 before the Rangers stormed back to win 6-5.
BLACKHAWKS 2, DEVILS 1, SO
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Kirby Dach scored in the fifth round of the shootout to lift Chicago over New Jersey.
Chicago won its second game in two nights. Corey Crawford preserved the victory by stopping Jack Hughes on the final shootout attempt to cap a night in which he won his 250th game. He had 29 saves.
Alex DeBrincat scored in the second period for Chicago, and Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane also connected in the shootout.
Taylor Hall scored for the Devils, who are 0-2 under interim coach Alain Nasreddine. Mackenzie Blackwood had 28 saves, but he was defenseless when Dach roofed his shootout attempt.
Nikita Gusev and Jesper Boqvist scored for New Jersey in the shootout, while Kyle Palmieri and Hall were stopped in addition to Hughes.
Hughes, the top pick in this year's draft, returned to the lineup after missing three games with a lower body injury.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl and Alex Chiasson each had a goal and an assist as Edmonton moved back into the top spot in the Pacific Division with a win over Los Angeles.
Mikko Koskinen made 35 saves for the Oilers (18-10-3), who improved to 8-4-2 at home.
Michael Amadio scored for the Kings (11-17-2), who have lost three straight games and 10 in a row on the road.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jakub Vrana scored the go-ahead goal less than two minutes into the third period and Washington beat Anaheim in a physical battle Friday night.
Travis Boyd and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for Washington. Braden Holtby had 24 saves.
Ryan Getzlaf and Adam Henrique scored for Anaheim. Ryan Miller had 33 saves.
The game comes 2½ weeks after the Capitals’ Garnet Hathaway was given a three-game suspension for spitting on the Ducks’ Erik Gudbranson after the players paired off late in Washington’s 5-2 home victory.
Gudbranson and Hathaway squared off twice Friday.