Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists, and Bryan Rust added a goal and two assists Tuesday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins downed the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2.
Pittsburgh won its NHL-best 22nd home game and moved into first place in the Metropolitan Division, overtaking an idle Washington Capitals team that had led the division since Oct. 19.
Anthony Angello, Jason Zucker and Teddy Blueger also scored for the Penguins, who built a 5-0 lead in the second period and are 6-1-1 in their past eight games.
Goaltender Tristan Jarry won his fourth straight start, making 34 saves.
Blues 3, Devils 0
Ivan Barbashev scored twice, and Jordan Binnington made 17 saves as St. Louis blanked visiting New Jersey.
It was Binnington’s second shutout of the season and the seventh of his career. Jaden Schwartz also scored for the Blues, who snapped their 0-3-2 winless streak and won for just the third time in 13 games.
Louis Domingue stopped 36 of 39 shots for the Devils. He struggled earlier this month, going 0-2-2 with a 4.23 goals-against average and a save percentage of .869 through four games, but he single-handedly kept the Blues from turning it into a rout.
Red Wings 4, Canadiens 3
Andreas Athanasiou scored two third-period goals as host Detroit completed its first four-game series sweep of Montreal in franchise history.
Mike Green and Robby Fabbri also scored for the Red Wings, who rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third to snap a four-game losing streak. Jonathan Bernier made 19 saves in the win.
Nate Thompson, Jeff Petry and Nick Suzuki scored for the Canadiens, who have lost five straight. Carey Price made 21 stops for Montreal, which led 2-0 after the first period.
Flyers 5, Blue Jackets 1
Travis Konecny collected a goal and two assists to propel host Philadelphia past Columbus in the opener of a home-and-home series.
Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier, Jakub Voracek and defenseman Philippe Myers also tallied for the Flyers, who leapfrogged Columbus and the idle New York Islanders into third place in the Metropolitan Division. Philadelphia will vie for a four-game season sweep of Columbus on Thursday when it visits Ohio.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux set up Voracek’s goal midway into the third period for his 235th career power-play assist, passing Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke for the franchise record.
Hurricanes 4, Predators 1
Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho each scored as Carolina moved back over the playoff line with a win in Nashville.
The victory elevated Carolina into the second Eastern Conference wild-card slot. The Hurricanes, who are 7-3-1 in their last 11 games, sit only one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
The loss snapped Nashville’s three-game winning streak. The Predators missed their own chance to gain ground in the Western Conference wild-card race and dropped to 3-7-0 over their last 10 home games.
Jets 6, Kings 3
Jansen Harkins, Mason Appleton and Blake Wheeler scored goals in a 5-minute, 20-second stretch of the second period, and Winnipeg surged to a home victory over Los Angeles.
Nikolaj Ehlers, Patrik Laine and Wheeler added third-period goals, while Jack Roslovic, Mark Scheifele and Ehlers had two assists each for the Jets. Goalie Connor Hellebuyck recovered from an early goal allowed to make 31 saves in the win.
Dustin Brown scored two goals for the Kings, including one 35 seconds into the game. Martin Frk added a third-period tally, and goalie Calvin Petersen made 29 saves for Los Angeles in his third game of the season.
Senators 7, Sabres 4
Artem Anisimov and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each had two goals as Ottawa scored four straight times in the first period to erase a two-goal deficit and beat visiting Buffalo.
Pageau also posted two assists for the Senators, who overcame a 2-0 hole by coming alive during a wild first period. They won back-to-back contests for the first time since a three-game run from Nov. 19-22 and also won their third straight over Buffalo to take the season series 3-1-0.
Defenseman Brandon Montour recorded two goals with an assist, and rookie Victor Olofsson posted one of each for the Sabres, who had won three in a row.
–Field Level Media
