Karlsson breaks tie, Golden Knights beat Rangers 2-1

By AP
Published

LAS VEGAS (AP) William Karlsson scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday night.

James Neal also scored and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots to improve to 9-2-1 in front of a season-high 18,234 in attendance.

The Western Conference-leading Golden Knights have the top home record in the NHL at 18-2-1. The expansion team is 9-0-1 in its last 10 at home, including nine straight wins.

Behind excellent puck movement on the winner, defenseman Deryk Engelland found Jonathan Marchessault with a blueline-to-blueline pass. Marchessault then pushed the puck forward to Reilly Smith, who found Karlsson at the right dot for a one-timer for his team-high 22nd of the season.

Mika Zibanejad scored for the Rangers and Ondrej Pavelec, making his 10th appearance of the season, finished with 32 saves.

LIGHTNING 5, RED WINGS 2

DETROIT (AP) - Dan Girardi had a goal and an assist in the first period before blocking a shot above the shoulders in the second period and leaving Tampa Bay's victory over Detroit.

Girardi turned his head to the left when Detroit's Martin Frk took a shot on a power play and the puck appeared to hit the defenseman in the neck. He lay face down on the ice while a doctor evaluated him on the ice and was eventually able to sit up. Girardi later skated slowly off the ice with teammates at his side and walked toward the dressing room. The team confirmed in the second intermission that Girardi would not return to play, adding initial reports were he was OK.

Girardi assisted on Tyler Johnson's goal that put Tampa Bay up 2-0. Yanni Gourde and Nikita Kucherov restored two-goal leads in the second and third periods. Gourde added a second goal of the night late in the game, putting the Lightning ahead 5-2.

Louis Domingue stopped 34 shots for the NHL-leading Lightning. They avoided losing three straight for the first time this season.

Detroit had won a season-high four straight. Gustav Nyquist and Justin Abdelkader scored in the second and third period to pull the Red Wings within a goal. Detroit's Petr Mrazek made 19 saves, filling in for Jimmy Howard, who was out with a lower-body injury.

PENGUINS 6, BRUINS 5, OT

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Evgeni Malkin got his second goal of the game at 2:51 of overtime to rally Pittsburgh past Boston.

Phil Kessel set up Malkin, who one-timed a shot over Tuukka Rask's pad during a 2-on-1.

Malkin and Kessel scored power-play goals in regulation, Kris Letang, Jamie Oleksiak and Riley Sheahan also connected, and Sidney Crosby had three assists. The Penguins got consecutive victories for the first time since Dec. 1-2 when topped Buffalo twice.

Matt Murray stopped all six shots he faced in relief of Tristan Jarry, who made 14 saves on 19 shots before he was pulled after the Bruins' fifth goal.

Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, David Backes, Noel Acciari and Ryan Spponer scored in regulation for Boston. The Bruins lost, but earned a point for the 11th straight game (8-0-3).

CAPITALS 4, BLUES 3, OT

WASHINGTON (AP) - Nicklas Backstrom scored at 4:17 of overtime and Alex Ovechkin had a power-play goal and an assist to help Washington beat St. Louis.

Recognizing a change of possession in Washington's end late in overtime, Backstrom headed down ice, received a long pass from T.J. Oshie and beat goalie Carter Hutton for his ninth goal of the season.

Ovechkin tied it at 2 on the power play 8 eight minutes into the third with his 27th goal, and Lars Eller gave the Capitals the lead with 9:11 left. The lead did not last long, with Carl Gunnarson credited with a goal after his shot into pack of players evaded goaltender Braden Holtby with 4:09 remaining.

Holtby made 30 saves. The Capitals have won four in a row overall and nine consecutive home games.

Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist for the Blues, and Alexander Steen also scored. They have lost two in a row and six of their last seven road games.

BLACKHAWKS 4, OILERS 1

CHICAGO (AP) - Anton Forsberg made 32 saves, and Nick Schmaltz and Alex DeBrincat scored in the first period in Chicago's victory over slumping Edmonton.

Brandon Saad and Jordan Oesterle also scored to help the Blackhawks win at home for the first time since Dec. 17. Jonathan Toews extended his point streak to four games.

It was Forsberg's first win since Nov. 11 and just the second of his first season in Chicago. Forsberg had been the backup all year, but his role had come into question after Jeff Glass came up the minors and played well with starter Corey Crawford sidelined by an upper-body injury.

Darnell Nurse scored for the Edmonton. The Oilers have dropped six of seven.

ISLANDERS 5, DEVILS 4, SO

NEW YORK (AP) - Jaroslav Halak made 42 saves and Brock Nelson scored the only goal in the shootout and New York beat New Jersey to snap a five-game losing streak.

Nelson beat Cory Schneider in the fifth round of the shootout after the Islanders overcame a 4-2 to force overtime. The Devils lost their fifth straight.

Cal Clutterbuck and rookie Sebastian Aho it with third-period goals after Miles Wood and Taylor Hall gave the Devils a 4-2 lead early in the period.

Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for New York, Travis Zajac scored twice for New jersey

FLYERS 4, SABRES 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Sean Couturier scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and added an empty-netter to help Philadelphia beat Buffalo for its third straight victory.

Couturier has four goals in two games and 42 points, three more than his previous career best.

Michal Neuvirth stopped 30 shots, Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov also scored, and Jakub Vorack had two assists to give him an NHL-high 43.

Ryan O'Reilly scored for Buffalo. The Sabres finished a seven-game trip 1-4-2.

BLUE JACKETS 3, PANTHERS 2, SO

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Josh Anderson scored the deciding goal in the eighth round of the shootout, lifting Columbus past Florida.

Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky stopped Jared McCann's attempt to secure the victory.

Nick Foligno and rookie Pierre-Luc Dubois scored power-play goals for Columbus. Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov scored for Florida, with Barkov tying it with 1:34 left in the third period.

CANADIENS 5, CANUCKS 2

MONTREAL (AP) - Brendan Gallagher broke a tie midway through the third period, and Carey Price made 34 saves in Montreal's victory over Vancouver.

Karl Alzner, Alex Galchenyuk, Paul Byron and Max Pacioretty also scored for Montreal. The Canadiens were coming off a shootout victory over Tampa Bay on Thursday night that snapped a five-game losing streak. Daniel Sedin and Michael Del Zotto scored for Vancouver.

JETS 4, SHARKS 1

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) - Mathieu Perreault scored twice, Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves and Winnipeg beat San Jose to extend its home winning streak to five games.

Matt Hendricks and Marko Dano also scored to help the Central Division-leading Jets improve to 16-3-1 at home and 25-11-7 overall. Logan Couture had a power-play goal for San Jose.

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