UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) - Brock Nelson scored with just under seven minutes left and Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves as the New York Islanders edged Washington 1-0 on Tuesday night to pull even with the Capitals for first place in the East Division.
Varlamov and Vitek Vanecek matched each other save for save for more than 50 minutes before Nelson scored his team-leading 14th goal assisted by defenseman Ryan Pulock at 13:05 of the third period.
Varlamov earned his fourth shutout this season and the 31st of his career. It was the first time he blanked his former Capitals team in a regular-season game.
New York improved to 16-1-2 at Nassau Coliseum, remaining the only team in the NHL with just one regulation loss at home.
The Islanders are 11-4-4 in games decided by a single goal, including a 6-4 record in regulation.
SABRES 5, DEVILS 3
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin scored and set up the winning goal by Casey Mittelstadt as Buffalo snapped a 10-game road winless streak with a win over New Jersey.
Ramus Asplund, Brandon Montour and Rasmus Ristolainen also scored for the Sabres, who recently snapped an 18-game winless streak. Linus Ullmark made 27 saves to beat the Devils for the fourth time this season.
Damon Severson, Jesper Bratt and Pavel Zacha scored for New Jersey, which is 1-4-2 in its last seven games. Scott Wedgewood made 13 saves in his first start in five games.
RANGERS 8, PENGUINS 4
NEW YORK (AP) - Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists, Adam Fox had a goal and two assists and the Rangers beat Pittsburgh.
Colin Blackwell, Mika Zibanejad, Ryan Strome, Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko and Pavel Buchnevich also scored for New York, which extended its point streak to four games (3-0-1). It was the first time in 11 years that eight Rangers scored in a game.
Igor Shesterkin made 42 saves in his fourth consecutive start.
Jared McCann, Mike Matheson, Jake Guentzel and Brian Dumoulin scored for Pittsburgh, which lost for the second time in seven games. Casey DeSmith allowed four goals on eleven shots before being replaced by Tristan Jarry. Defenseman Kris Letang chipped in with two assists.
DUCKS 5, SHARKS 1
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - David Backes and Nicolas Deslauriers each had a goal and an assist, and Anaheim stopped San Jose’s four-game win streak.
Adam Henrique, Isac Lundestrom and Max Comtois also scored for Anaheim, which had lost three in a row. John Gibson made 34 saves.
Patrick Marleau scored a power-play goal for San Jose, and Martin Jones made 29 stops.
HURRICANES 5, PANTHERS 2
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Vincent Trocheck scored a pair of power-play goals against his former team, Jordan Staal also scored twice and Carolina rallied past Florida.
Jesper Fast had a late goal for Carolina, and Sebastian Aho had three assists.
Aleksander Barkov scored both goals for the Panthers, whose six-game winning streak - the longest active run in the league - was snapped. The Panthers had been 18-0-1 when leading after two periods.
BLUE JACKETS 4, LIGHTNING 2
COLOMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Zac Dalpe scored for the first time in 4 1/2 years, Joonas Korpisalo made 36 saves and Columbus beat Tampa Bay.
Max Domi and Jack Roslovic each had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets, who rebounded after losing three in a row. Nick Foligno also scored.
Tampa Bay has dropped two straight and five of seven overall while relinquishing first place in the Central Division to the Florida Panthers. Ross Colton and Luke Schenn scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 26 saves.
BRUINS 4, FLYERS 2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Patrice Bergeron recorded a hat trick and reached 900 career points, and Brad Marchand’s short-handed goal led Boston past Philadelphia.
Marchand’s goal midway through the third period helped put more distance between the Bruins and Flyers for the final playoff spot in the East Division. The Bruins now hold a five-point lead over the Flyers for fourth.
Bergeron added an empty-netter in the final minute.
Jake Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere scored for the Flyers.
Philadelphia’s Carter Hart was outplayed by fellow 22-year-old goalie Jeremy Swayman. Hart finished with 22saves. Swayman stopped 40 of 42 shots.
PREDATORS 3, RED WINGS 2, SO
DETROIT (AP) - Ryan Johansen and Roman Josi scored in the shootout to lift the Nashville over Detroit.
The Predators improved to 4-0 in shootouts.
Dylan Larkin and Filip Zadina failed to score in the first shootout of the season for the Red Wings.
Adam Erne and Danny DeKeyser scored in regulation for Detroit. Thomas Greiss had 29 saves.
Mikael Granlund and Luke Kunin scored for Nashville. Juuse Saros made 25 saves.
BLACKHAWKS 4, STARS 2
CHICAGO (AP) - Kirby Dach, Dominik Kubilik and Alex DeBrincat scored, Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, and Chicago beat Dallas.
The Stars rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period, but goaltender Kevin Lankinen stopped Dallas’ Roope Hintz in the slot with 93 seconds to play after goals by Andrew Cogliano and Radek Faksa closed the gap.
The victory stopped Chicago’s two-game losing streak, and extended Dallas’ losing skid to two games, dropping them to sixth-place in the Central Division. The Blackhawks remain in fourth place.
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