PITTSBURGH (AP) - Brad Richards and Mats Zuccarello scored in a shootout, and the New York Rangers beat Pittsburgh 4-3 on Friday night to hand the Penguins a rare loss in the tiebreaker.
Benoit Pouliot scored twice in regulation for the Rangers, who bounced back from a home loss to Edmonton the night before and won for the fifth time in six games. Dan Girardi had the other New York goal.
The Penguins had won all four of their previous shootouts this season and 14 of their past 15 overall. Marc-Andre Fleury, who had not allowed a shootout goal all season, was beaten twice.
Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for the Rangers, running his winning streak to five games.
James Neal tied it for Pittsburgh with 2:56 left in regulation. Olli Maatta and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Penguins, who lead second-place New York by 16 points in the Metropolitan Division.
The Penguins lost for only the second time in their last 18 home games, ending a five-game home winning streak against the Rangers that dated to 2012.
HURRICANES 5, PANTHERS 1
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Riley Nash and Alexander Semin scored 87 seconds apart early in Carolina’s rout of Florida.
Brett Bellemore, Jiri Tlusty and Andrej Sekera also scored, and Jeff Skinner had two assists to help the Hurricanes win their seventh in 10 games. Anton Khudobin stopped 34 shots in his 16th straight appearance for Carolina.
Nick Bjugstad scored for Florida, which enters the Olympic break having lost five of six.
Tim Thomas stopped just 10 of the 14 shots he faced. He was pulled early in the second.
The Hurricanes improved to 30-7-4 at PNC Arena against the Panthers, winning both meetings this season.
DEVILS 2, OILERS 1, OT
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Devils defenseman Jon Merrill scored his first NHL goal 2:34 into overtime against Edmonton.
Cory Schneider made 19 saves and Andrei Loktionov scored in regulation as the Devils snapped a two-game skid.
Taylor Hall had the goal for the Oilers, who lost for only the second time in seven games (5-1-1). Ilya Bryzgalov made 22 saves for Edmonton, which was playing its final game before the Olympic break.
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