NHL abstract: After the 1-Zero SO victory, the caps are alone on the highest of the division

Evgeny Kuznetsov was the shootout hero while goalkeeper Ilya Samsonov recorded the shutout as the visiting Washington Capitals beat the New York Islanders 1-0 on Thursday.

The capitals alone took first place in the East Division standings.

Kuznetsov won the game in the third round of the shootout when he went far on his weak side, cut in the middle, and then shot home a high shot for the winner. Nicklas Backstrom also scored in the shootout for Washington, while Anthony Beauvillier was the only islander skater to find the brand in the shootout.

Samsonov, who was particularly sharp in the first phase with 15 saves, ended the extra time with 26 saves.

Senators 3, Canucks 0

Drake Batherson scored a goal and added an assist while goalkeeper Matt Murray garnered his second shutout of the season visiting Ottawa and defeating Vancouver.

Tim Stutzle and Connor Brown also scored goals for the Senators, who received 31 saves from Murray for his second shutout in three games and the 13th of his career. Three of his shutouts have faced the Canucks, the only team he’s hidden more than once.

Goalkeeper Thatcher Demko stopped 22 shots for Vancouver (18-19-3, 39 points), which ended the winning streak in two games.

Avalanche 4, Blues 2

Andre Burakovsky scored twice when visiting Colorado and defeating St. Louis to secure a spot in the playoffs. The Avalanche won their fifth game in a row, beating the Blues for the fifth time in six attempts that season.

Brandon Saad and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare also scored a goal for the Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon had three assists to expand his streak to 12 games and Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves to take the win. Colorado played its first game since April 14th after another COVID-19 shutdown.

Jaden Schwartz scored two goals for the Blues (19-19-6, 44 points) and Tyler Bozak had two assists. Jordan Binnington made 25 saves in one defeat.

Flyer 3, Rangers 2

James van Riemsdyk scored two power play goals and Philadelphia beat hosts New York.

Jakub Voracek also scored when the Flyers avenged their 9-0 defeat in New York last month.

Defender Brendan Smith scored the first goal for the Rangers, who lost their second straight after four straight wins against the New Jersey Devils and fell eight points behind the Boston Bruins for fourth and final play-offs in the East Division.

Penguins 5, devil 1

Bryan Rust and Kasperi Kapanen created a gap of 25 seconds in the second half to help Pittsburgh visit New Jersey for the eighth consecutive year.

Rust, Kapanen, Sidney Crosby and Teddy Blueger each had a goal and an assist, Cody Ceci also scored and Kris Letang had two assists for Pittsburgh, who won three out of four.

Matt Tennyson scored for the Devils. Goalkeeper Aaron Dell, who came for relief on Tuesday, started on Thursday but didn’t finish. He gave up four goals in 15 shots before being replaced by Scott Wedgewood, who made seven saves.

Hurricanes 4, Panthers 2

Alex Nedeljkovic made 32 saves and Sebastian Aho scored two goals when Carolina beat hosts Florida for the sixth straight time.

With the victory, Carolina took sole ownership of first place in the Central Division. Carolina also has two games in hand in Florida. Jordan Martinook and Nino Niederreiter added goals and Martin Necas made three assists.

Aleksander Barkov scored twice for the Panthers and goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky scored 25 saves. Defenseman Keith Yandle played his 914th game in a row, joining Garry Unger for the second-longest streak in NHL history. Doug Jarvis has the record of 964 games.

Bruins 5, Sabers 1

David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand each recorded one goal and one assist as the Boston visit scored their sixth straight win of the season against Buffalo.

Matt Grzelcyk, Nick Ritchie and David Krejci also scored one goal, while rookie Jeremy Swayman scored 29 saves to improve to 5-1-0 for the aspiring Bruins who won 10 straight over the Sabers.

Rookie Arttu Ruotsalainen registered his third goal and Dustin Tokarski stopped 33 shots for the Sabers, who lost three out of four after a 2-0-1 stretch.

Blitz 3, blue jackets 1

Blake Coleman scored twice, Ondrej Palat broke his 13-game drought on the grid and Tampa Bay defeated Columbus.

Coleman linked the game with 1:25 seconds left in the second half to secure the win. Palats Marker gave Tampa Bay the final lead in the third half. Goalkeeper Curtis McElhinney stopped 24 of 25 shots.

Columbus got a power play goal from Seth Jones, and Oliver Bjorkstrand and Patrik Laine helped the Blue Jackets, which lost their eighth game in a row.

Maple Leafs 5, Jets 3

Mitch Marner scored two goals and added an assist as Toronto suffered a streak of five losses with a win over hosts Winnipeg.

Toronto expanded its division lead over Winnipeg to six points, and there were only two regular season meetings between the teams. It also gave the Jets their fifth loss in their last seven home games.

Jack Campbell (12-2-1) made 34 saves to claim victory on the net. It was a nice rebound for Campbell, who was eliminated in six shots after three goals when he last faced Winnipeg on April 15.

Red wings 7, stars 3

Jakub Vrana scored the top four goals of his career and Thomas Greiss scored 43 saves when Detroit visited Dallas.

Richard Panik, Luke Glendening and Sam Gagner scored the Red Wings’ other goals, with Gagner adding an assist. Danny DeKeyser, Gustav Lindstrom and Filip Zadina each had two templates.

Radek Faksa and Denis Gurianov scored power play goals for Dallas and Joe Pavelski added his 20th goal of the season. Tanner Kero contributed two templates. Star goalkeeper Anton Khudobin was removed after scoring three goals in nine shots.

– Field level media

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