- Associated Press - Saturday, February 20, 2021

STATELINE, Nev. (AP) - Nathan MacKinnon scored a dazzling goal more than nine hours after assisting on another to highlight a most unusual and lengthy outdoor game at Lake Tahoe that the Colorado Avalanche won 3-2 over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.

The game started in bright sunshine that led to a delay of more than eight hours following the first period because of poor ice conditions and ended in the dark 10 hours, 37 minutes later.

The Avalanche were the better team during both parts of the game and got the victory thanks in large part to MacKinnon, who assisted on Samuel Girard’s first-period goal and scored his own in the second.

Devon Toews added an insurance goal and Philipp Grubauer finished with 27 saves for the Avalanche.

Alec Martinez and Alex Tuch scored for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury made 36 saves.

PENGUINS 3, ISLANDERS 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Sidney Crosby had two assists in his 1,000th NHL game and Pittsburgh beat the Islanders.

Kris Letang scored twice, including a tiebreaking goal in the third period, to help Pittsburgh win for the fourth time in five games. Mike Matheson also scored, and Tristan Jarry made 33 saves.

Jordan Eberle and Brock Nelson scored for New York. The Islanders have dropped two straight following a season-high eight-game points streak.

Crosby became the 25th active skater to play in 1,000 games. He’s also the first player in Penguins history to play 1,000 games with the team.

OILERS 7, FLAMES 1

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Connor McDavid scored a natural hat trick and added two assists, leading Edmonton in a rout of Calgary.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two goals and Alex Chiasson and Josh Archibald also scored for Edmonton. Mikko Koskinen made 43 saves for the Oilers.

Andrew Mangiapane scored for the Flames. Jacob Markstrom made 10 saves on 15 shots before being pulled in favor of David Rittich in the second period. Rittich made seven saves on nine shots.

MAPLE LEAFS 5, CANADIENS 3

TORONTO (AP) - Auston Matthews scored twice to increase his NHL-leading goals total to 18 and added two assists in Toronto’s victory over Montreal.

Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists, Travis Boyd and Alexander Kerfoot also scored and Frederik Andersen stopped 30 saves. Morgan Rielly added two assists to help the NHL-leading Maple Leafs improve to 14-3-2.

Matthews also had two goals and two assists Thursday night at home in a 7-3 victory over Ottawa. He’s the sixth player in franchise history to have a 16-game points streak, two back of record-holders Darryl Sittler and Ed Olczyk.

Matthews scored both goals against the Canadiens on the power play.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Paul Byron and Tyler Toffoli scored for Montreal, and Carey Price stopped 22 shots.

RANGERS 4, CAPITALS 1

WASHINGTON (AP) - Alexis Lafreniere scored his second NHL goal, Artemi Panarin had two assists and New York made the best of a new-look lineup, beating Washington for its second consecutive victory.

Lafreniere, the top pick in the 2020 draft, cashed in on his promotion to New York’s top line by scoring for the first time in eight games. Panarin set up Lafreniere on the doorstep late in the second period, and his shot provided the rebound for Chris Kreider’s power-play goal in the first.

With a goal and an assist, Ryan Strome made history as the first player to record 100 points apiece with the Rangers and Islanders. Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves, Mika Zibanejad sealed it with an empty-netter with 2:12 left and New York strung together back-to-back wins for just the second time this season.

The Capitals struggled to match the Rangers’ energy early in a game moved up to an afternoon start, falling behind 3-0 before Dmitry Orlov scored his first goal of the season with 38.2 seconds left in the second period.

HURRICANES 4, LIGHTNING 0

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves for first NHL shutout and Carolina beat Tampa Bay.

Vincent Trocheck, Sebastian Aho, Cedric Paquette and Andrei Svechnikov scored for the Hurricanes. They have won five of six and have a six-game points streak. It was the first of four consecutive games between the teams, with Saturday’s game coming as part of a revised schedule.

Tampa Bay has yet to score in two meetings, including an overtime loss, with the Hurricanes this season. Nedeljkovic stopped 13 shots in the second period.

SHARKS 5, BLUES 4

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Logan Couture scored his second goal of the game midway through the third period and San Jose held off St. Louis.

After the Blues overcame deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 to tie it during a wild second period, Couture scored on a wrist shot with 8:09 left in the third. The puck deflected off goalie Jordan Binnington’s back and in. It was Couture’s team-leading ninth goal.

The Sharks entered 0-7-1 in their previous eight against the Blues dating to the 2019 playoffs.

Brayden Schenn, Zach Sanford, Ryan O’Reilly and Jordan Kyrou scored for St. Louis. The Sharks also got goals from Evander Kane, Rudolfs Balcers and Patrick Marleau.

Sharks goalie Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves.

SABRES 3, DEVILS 2

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Sam Reinhart scored two goals and Buffalo beat New Jersey to snap a four-game losing streak.

Defensemen Colin Miller also scored and Linus Ullmark made 25 saves for the Sabres, who had not won since beating the Devils in a shootout Jan. 30.

Kyle Palmieri and P.K. Subban scored in the third period for the Devils, who welcomed center Nico Hischier for his first game this season by naming him captain.

KINGS 4, COYOTES 2

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Alex Iafallo scored two goals, Cal Peterson stopped 22 shots and Los Angeles beat Arizona for its fourth straight victory.

The Kings beat the Coyotes 3-2 on Thursday when Gabriel Vilardi scored in the fourth round of a shootout. Vilardi came through again, beating Darcy Kuemper with a wrister shortly after Arizona’s Phil Kessel tied it. Trevor Moore also scored for Los Angeles, and Iafallo sealed it with an empty-net goal.

Kessel scored for the second straight game and had an assist. Derick Brassard also scored.

RED WINGS 2, PANTHERS 1

DETROIT (AP) - Mathias Brome scored his first NHL goal late in the second period and Detroit held off Florida.

Patrik Nemeth added his first goal of the season for the Red Wings, and Jonathan Bernier made 38 saves.

Alex Wennberg scored for Florida.

PREDATORS 4, BLUE JACKETS 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Calle Jarnkrok scored in the first and third periods, Pekka Rinne made 21 saves and Nashville beat Columbus to split the two-game series.

The Predators broke a 2-2 tie with two goals in the first 45 seconds of the third period. Jarnkrok beat Elvis Merzlikins from the slot 16 seconds in, and Filip Forsberg followed with his team-leading eighth goal off a faceoff.

Colton Sissons also scored for Nashville. Gabriel Carlsson got his first NHL goal, and Boone Jenner also scored for the Blue Jackets.

WILD 5, DUCKS 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Kevin Fiala had two goals and an assist, Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves and Minnesota beat Anaheim to sweep the two-game set.

Joel Eriksson Ek, Victor Rask and Mats Zuccarello also scored for the Wild.

David Backes scored, and John Gibson made 24 saves for Anaheim.

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More AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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