BOSTON (AP) - Milan Lucic scored twice and the Bruins spoiled goalie Tim Thomas’ first game in Boston as a visitor with a 6-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
It was the third straight six-goal game for the Bruins, known more for their defense, following road wins of 6-1 and 6-3. The Atlantic Division leaders improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games.
Thomas won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2011 when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup. He spent one more season with them, took last season off and then joined the Panthers.
Zdeno Chara, Reilly Smith, Shawn Thornton and David Krejci also scored for Boston, which led 4-0 until Brad Boyes connected for Florida with 2:33 left in the second period. Dmitry Kulikov added a power-play goal for the Panthers 4 minutes into the third.
CAPITALS 5, SABRES 4, OT
BUFFALO, New York (AP) - Alex Ovechkin capped a four-point night by setting up Mike Green’s goal a minute into overtime to give Washington a win over Buffalo.
Ovechkin had two goals and two assists for his 14th multipoint game of the season. Green had two goals and an assist, and Troy Bouwer also scored in a game the Capitals never trailed.
Cody Hodgson had two goals and Christian Ehrhoff and rookie Phil Varone, with the first of his career, scored for Buffalo. The Sabres dropped to 1-4-3 in their past seven.
COYOTES 3, KINGS 0
GLENDALE, Arizona (AP) - Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored two goals, Thomas Greiss stopped 30 shots and Phoenix began an important five-game homestand with a win over Los Angeles.
Antoine Vermette had a goal and an assist to extend his points streak to five games, and Shane Doan had his 500th career assist on Ekman-Larsson’s second goal. That was more than enough for Greiss, who earned his second shutout this season and the third of his career.
The Kings labored after playing the night before, shut out for the second time in three games for their sixth loss in seven.
FLYERS 5, RED WINGS 0
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Scott Hartnell and Claude Giroux each had three points, Steve Mason made 33 saves and Philadelphia beat banged-up Detroit.
Adam Hall and Sean Couturier also scored for the Flyers, who snapped a four-game losing streak. The Flyers (26-22-6) won their eighth straight home game against the Red Wings (23-19-11), a franchise best against Detroit, which has not won in Philadelphia since the 1997 Stanley Cup final.
Mason recorded his second shutout of the season and the 21st of his career.
The Red Wings were without three of their top forwards in Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk.
SENATORS 3, BLUE JACKETS 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Jason Spezza scored a power-play goal with 5 minutes left and Stephane Da Costa had two goals to lead Ottawa over Columbus.
Craig Anderson had 34 saves for the Senators, who had lost two in a row and four of five.
Cam Atkinson and James Wisniewski had power-play goals for the Blue Jackets, who have lost three in a row after setting a franchise record with eight consecutive victories. Curtis McElhinney stopped 25 shots.
BLUES 3, DEVILS 0
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Alexander Steen gave St. Louis the early lead and Jaroslav Halak earned his fourth shutout of the season in a victory over New Jersey.
Brenden Morrow added a power-play goal midway through the third period and Maxim Lapierre scored into an empty net with 2:08 left. The Blues have won three straight and moved a point ahead of the Blackhawks, who played later at Calgary, for the Central Division lead.
The Blues cleaned up on defense a week after getting whipped 7-1 in New Jersey when Halak gave up four goals on 14 shots after relieving Brian Elliott. Halak has started all three games since, allowing a total of four goals.
The Blues are an NHL-best 17-3-1 against the Eastern Conference, and 9-0 at home.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, LIGHTNING 2
TORONTO (AP) - Nazem Kadri scored twice and James van Riemsdyk got the go-ahead goal late in the third period to lift Toronto over Tampa Bay.Jonathan Bernier made 40 saves in his first career start against the Lightning. Van Riemsdyk one-timed Phil Kessel’s feed past goalie Ben Bishop at 15:57 of the third for his team-leading 21st goal.
Kadri scored twice in less than 8 minutes to give the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead before the midway point of the second period, but Matthew Carle and Mark Barberio responded for Tampa Bay to tie it after 40 minutes.
Toronto avoided a three-game skid and halted the Lightning’s three-game winning streak.
CANADIENS 3, HURRICANES 0
MONTREAL (AP) - Carey Price stopped 36 shots for his third shutout of the season to lead Montreal past Carolina.
Brandon Prust, Brendan Gallagher and Max Pacioretty scored as Montreal ended its season-high four-game losing streak.
Anton Khudobin had 27 saves for Carolina, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.
Prust and Gallagher put the Canadiens on the scoreboard in the first period, and Pacioretty got his team-leading 22nd goal in the second.
PREDATORS 4, JETS 3
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) - Mike Fisher scored the tiebreaking goal for Nashville on a power play 42 seconds into the third period against Winnipeg.
Seth Jones, Roman Josi and Nick Spaling also scored for the Predators, who climbed out of last place in the Central Division by moving a point ahead of Winnipeg.
Chris Thorburn, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler had goals for the Jets, who lost for only the second time in eight games. That stretch included wins over Anaheim, which tops the NHL standings, and Stanley Cup champion Chicago.
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