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Pittsburgh
Sidney Crosby ended his march to 1,000 career points in typically unselfish fashion. The Pittsburgh Penguins star wasted little time before starting his quest for the next thousand.
The Pittsburgh captain fed Chris Kunitz for a first-period goal against Winnipeg on Thursday to become the 86th player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-point plateau, added an assist on Phil Kessel’s game-tying goal in the third and then put the winner past Connor Hellebuyck with 21 seconds left in overtime as the Penguins escaped with a 4-3 victory.
Crosby finished with three points to push his total 1,002. Evgeni Malkin also scored for Pittsburgh, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 44 shots for the Penguins, who improved to 6-0-2 since the All-Star break.
Patrik Laine scored his 27th for Winnipeg. Paul Postma collected his first and Dustin Byfuglien his eighth for the Jets. Hellebuyck made 35 saves, but couldn’t get a handle on Crosby’s 31st of the season and 369th goal of his career.
Islanders 4, Rangers 2: Andrew Ladd scored twice to lead the Islanders to a victory over the crosstown-rival Rangers. Anders Lee and Nikolay Kulemin also scored, and Thomas Greiss stopped 25 shots to help the Islanders improve to 8-0-2 in their last 10 at home. John Tavares had two assists for his 12th multipoint game of the season. The Islanders, who swept the four games between the teams a year ago, beat the Rangers for the second time in three meetings this season. Nick Holden and Jimmy Vesey scored for the Rangers, whose season-high six-game winning streak was snapped. Henrik Lundqvist finished with 19 saves. Ladd had an empty-netter with 1:10 left, and then nearly got another in the final minute when he hit a goalpost.
Sabres 2, Avalanche 0: Sam Reinhart and Evander Kane scored, Robin Lehner made 23 saves and Buffalo beat Colorado. The Sabres moved within three points of Toronto for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot. They have won consecutive games for the first time since a three-game winning streak from Jan. 20-24. Lehner got his fifth career shutout and second of the season. The Avalanche lacked energy in the fourth of a season-long five-game road trip. Colorado has lost five in a row and 11 straight on the road. This was the Avalanche’s ninth shutout loss. Calvin Pickard made 30 saves.
Senators 3, Devils 0: Mike Condon made 21 saves in recording his fifth shutout of the season, Dion Phaneuf scored on a power play and Ottawa beat New Jersey. Erik Karlsson scored on a point shot that crawled into the net and Kyle Turris shot into an empty net in the final four minutes to give the Senators their third win in four games. Cory Schneider stopped 32 shots, but the Devils lost for the second time in regulation (4-2-1) in their last seven games. Phaneuf broke a scoreless tie with a rocket from the left point with 1:59 left in the second period. The puck hit the upper right corner of the net and came out quickly, leaving some players wondering whether the puck had gone in the goal. A video review upheld Phaneuf’s ninth of the season and third in four games.
Blues 4, Canucks 3: Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen scored third-period power play goals to lift streaking St. Louis to a win over Vancouver. Magnus Paajarvi and Jori Lehtera also scored, and Kevin Shattenkirk had three assists for the Blues, who won their sixth straight game. Jake Allen made 18 saves. St. Louis improved to 7-1 since Mike Yeo took over as coach, which is the best start for a coach in Blues history.
Wild 3, Stars 1: Darcy Kuemper stopped 34 shots, Erik Haula had a goal and an assist and the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 3-1 on Thursday night. Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon also scored for the Wild. Minnesota hasn’t lost consecutive games in over two months and extended its point streak against the Stars to seven games. Cody Eakin scored his second goal this season and Kari Lehtonen had 23 saves for the Stars, who have lost seven of eight.
Oilers 5, Coyotes 2: Leon Draisaitl and Oscar Klefbom each had a goal and two assists as Edmonton overcame a slow start to beat Arizona. Matt Hendricks, Mark Letestu and Patrick Maroon also scored for the Oilers, who are just 2-4 in their past six. Former Union College standout Josh Jooris and Martin Hanzal had the goals for the Coyotes, who won their previous two.
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