COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Damon Severson broke a scoreless tie in the third period, Elvis Merzlikins stopped 28 shots for his first shutout of the season and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the New York Islanders 2-0 on Wednesday night.
It was the first time this season the Blue Jackets (5-3-1) have won two straight, but they have earned seven of a possible eight points in their last four games.
After both goalies turned away some great shots in the first two periods, Severson’s shot from a sharp angle on the right caromed off the skate of New York defenceman Ryan Pulock and into the net 5:43 into the third. It was Severson’s second goal of the season.
Semyon Varlamov made 24 saves for the Islanders (3-5-2) but was pulled for a sixth skater with 2:30 left. Justin Danforth then scored an empty-netter 27 seconds later.
JETS 6, RED WINGS 2
DETROIT (AP) — Kyle Conner had a goal and two assists to top 500 points for his career, and Winnipeg beat Detroit.
Neal Pionk scored two goals for the Jets while Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and an assist, and Nino Niederreiter and Colin Miller also scored. Connor Hellebuyck made 19 saves to help Winnipeg bounce back from its first loss of the season against Toronto on Monday.
Connor, who entered the game with 499 career points, extended his season-opening point streak to 10 games. He has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) this season.
Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat scored power-play goals for Detroit, which has lost three straight. Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider each had two assists, and Alex Lyon had 23 saves.
LIGHTNING 5, AVALANCHE 2
DENVER (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the first of three Tampa Bay goals in the opening 5 1/2 minutes and the Lightning beat Colorado.
Jake Guentzel and Conor Geekie also scored in the early flurry against goalie Kaapo Kahkonen, who was making his season debut for Colorado after being claimed off waivers from Winnipeg.
Tampa Bay’s Anthony Cirelli added an empty net goal with 1:20 left in regulation.
Ivan Ivan tipped in a shot from Cale Makar for a power-play goal late in the first period. Makar added a goal in the third period.
Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 33 saves, picking up his 299th career victory.
Makar and Nathan MacKinnon were both credited with an assist on Ivan’s goal, extending their season opening point streak to 11 games.
UTAH 5, FLAMES 1
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and two assists, Connor Ingram stopped 30 shots and Utah beat Calgary.
Alexander Kerfoot, Barrett Hayton, Maveric Lamoureux, and Clayton Keller also scored to help end Utah’s four-game skid.
Anthony Mantha scored for the Flames, who lost their fourth straight. Dustin Wolf finished with 23 saves.
Kerfoot and Hayton both scored on long shots to give Utah a two-goal lead in the first. Mantha pulled one back early in the second, only for Lamoureux to counter following a takeaway and drill a 60-foot slap shot 17 seconds later.
Sergachev snapped the puck home during a 5-on-3 advantage to make it a three-goal margin late in the second. Keller’s third-period power play goal capped the scoring.
KINGS 6, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anze Kopitar had a goal and two assists, including the his 800th career assist as Los Angeles defeated Las Vegas.
Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and an assist, and Warren Foegele, Alex Laferriere and Joel Edmundson also scored for Los Angeles, which has won three of its last four. Brandt Clarke added three assists and Mikey Anderson had two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves.
Kopitar’s assist on Fiala’s power-play goal at 6:23 of the third period made him the fifth player born outside of North America to reach 800 assists, joining Jaromir Jagr (1,155), Evgeni Malkin (809), Nicklas Lidstrom (878) and Henrik Sedin (830). Kopitar also joins Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby (1,013) and Malkin along with Detroit’s Patrick Kane (818) as active skaters to reach the milestone.
Pavel Dorofeyev had two goals and Tanner Pearson also scored for Vegas. Ilya Samsonov stopped 20 shots.
DEVILS 6, CANUCKS 0
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, Jacob Markstrom stopped 20 shots for his 21st career shutout as New Jersey overpowered Vancouver.
Dawson Mercer and Jack Hughes each had a goal and an assist, and Timo Meir, Ondrej Palat and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Devils. Markstrom’s shutout was his first with New Jersey.
Arturs Silovs finished with 17 saves in his first game since Oct. 15 for Vancouver, which snapped a five-game point streak (4-0-1).
The Associated Press