David Pastrňák and David Krejčí scored during Boston’s big 7:3 victory over Florida. Pastrňák scored the winning goal to make it 4-0. Krejčí then broke up the onslaught of the opponent, who, with three strikes in five minutes, got to a one-goal lead. The Bruins also scored in their 19th home game of the season.
Boston led Florida 3-0 after the first period. When Pastrňák came on for Spencer Knight on a power play from Patrice Bergeron and increased the difference to four goals, it looked like the winner was decided. But the Panthers got back into the game with three goals in five minutes.
The Bruins took a two-goal lead in the 32nd minute from Krejčí, who “cleared” the loose puck into the half-open goal and scored his tenth goal of the season. “I felt the stick and saw that the puck didn’t cross the goal line. I just passed it past the lying goalkeeper,” Krejčí described his shot.
Captain Bergeron secured Boston’s victory with two final period goals. The Bruins won their 25th game of the season and extended their lead over New Jersey and Carolina to eight points atop the Eastern Conference.
“I think we all realized it wasn’t a 100% performance from start to finish. A mistake in the second half could have cost us some points. Luckily the lads united and didn’t let their opponents turn the score around It’s important to learn from the mistakes we’ve made,” said Boston coach Jim Montgomery.
Arizona twice responded quickly to goals from Montreal in the second period, but fell short of the win despite shooting superiority. Mike Hoffman scored 68 seconds in overtime to end Montreal’s three-game hitting streak.
“We had a lot of good chances, but unfortunately we couldn’t finish them. I think we had a good game that we should have gotten more than a point from,” said Coyotes first scorer Nick Schmaltz.
Karel Vejmelka took the whole game for Arizona against Montreal but didn’t stop a 2:3 overtime loss. At least he had 23 tackles to help score, with the most important coming midway through the third period when a helpless Cole Caufield appeared in front of him. The 21-year-old striker immediately looked for a gap in the concretes, but Vejmelka was able to react quickly and kept the puck under him.
The gala display of goaltenders was seen by spectators in Denver, where Colorado beat the New York Islanders 1-0 after separate forays. Alexandar Georgiev and Ilya Sorokin did not miss a single shot out of 72. Only local Evan Rodrigues got through the shootout with a successful forehand bluff.
Defense also ruled in Columbus, where he visited Dallas. The hockey Stars won 2:1 on the ice of the worst team in the Eastern Conference and scored for the fourth time in a row. Jason Robertson scored the winning goal in the 59th minute.
Jordan Kyrou scored the first hat-trick in the NHL. The 24-year-old St. Louis forward spearheaded a 5-1 victory in Vancouver to give the Blues their fourth straight victory. Buffalo also won for the fourth time in a row. The Sabers hockey players won 3:2 on the ice of Western Conference leader Vegas and moved to 10th in the East.
Washington – Detroit and Nashville – Edmonton ended in a 4:3 tie after overtime. Thanks to a 3-pointer by Nic Dowd, the Capitals handed the Red Wings their sixth straight loss. Defenseman Alexandre Carrier decided the victory for Nashville in the third minute of regulation time.
NHL results:
Boston-Florida 7:3 (3:0, 2:3, 2:0)
Goals: 49th and 54th Bergeron, 11th Clifton, 15th Carlo, 17th Coyle, 22nd. Parsnip32. Tailor – 24. Reinhart, 26. E. Staal, 29. Verhaeghe. Shots on goal: 26:39. Spectators: 17,850. Stars of the match: 1. Bergeron, 2. Marchand, 3. Carlo (all Boston).
Washington – Detroit 4:3 in overtime. (0:2, 2:0, 1:1 – 1:0)
Goals: 36. and 36. Dowd, 46. E. Gustafsson, 65. Orlov – 8. Perron, 16. Sundqvist, 45. Raymond. Shots on goal: 42:19. Spectators: 18,573. Stars of the game: 1. Dowd, 2. Orlov, 3. Gustavsson (all Washington).
Columbus – Dallas 1:2 (0:0, 0:1, 1:1)
Goals: 60. K. Johnson – 21. W. Johnston, 59. J. Robertson. Shots on goal: 28:34. Spectators: 16,402. Stars of the match: 1. Oettinger (Dallas), 2. Tarasov (Columbus), 3. W. Johnson (Dallas).
Colorado – NY Islanders 1:0 Mon. raids
I decide. raid Rodrigues. Shots on goal: 46:26. Spectators: 18,110. Stars of the match: 1. Georgiev, 2. Rodrigues (both Colorado), 3. Sorokin (NY Islanders).
Nashville – Edmonton 4:3 in overtime. (1:1, 2:1, 0:1 – 1:0)
Goals: 5. Ekholm, 23. Gross, 33. Duchene, 63. A. Carrier – 25. and 42. Nugent-Hopkins, 9. Puljujärvi. Shots on goal: 35:33. Spectators: 17,558. Game Stars: 1. A. Carrier, 2. Duchene, 3. Ekholm (all Nashville).
Arizona – Montreal 2:3 in overtime. (0:0, 2:2, 0:0 – 0:1)
Goals: 22. Schmaltz, 28. Maccelli – 21. Caufield, 25. Dvorak, 62. Hoffman. Shots on goal: 39:26. Vejmelka he took 60 minutes and 25 seconds for Arizona, conceded three goals on 26 shooting and had an 88.5% save percentage. Spectators: 4600. Stars of the match: 1. Hoffman, 2. Montembeault (both Montreal), 3. Schmaltz (Arizona).
Vancouver – St. Louis 1:5 (0:0, 1:3, 0:2)
Goals: 33. Mikheev – 31., 42. and 50. Kyrou, 34. Nathan Walker, 39. Thomas. Shots on goal: 34:27. Spectators: 18,692. Stars of the match: 1. Kyrou, 2. Thomas, 3. Tarasenko (all St. Louis).
Las Vegas – Buffalo 2:3 (0:0, 0:3, 2:0)
Goals: 44. Stephenson, 58. Reilly Smith – 22. J. Skinner, 28. T. Thompson, 34. Pilut. Shots on goal: 43:18. Spectators: 17,808. Game Stars: 1. Luukkonen, 2. T. Thompson (both Buffalo), 3. Reilly Smith (Vegas).
NHL Tables:
Eastern Conference:
Atlantic Division:
1. | Boston | 31 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 123:69 | 52 |
2. | Toronto | 32 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 103:78 | 44 |
3. | Tampa Bay | 30 | 20 | 1 | 9 | 110:86 | 41 |
4. | Buffalo | 32 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 127:109 | 34 |
5. | Florida | 33 | 15 | 4 | 14 | 111:111 | 34 |
6. | Detroit | 31 | 13 | 7 | 11 | 91:101 | 33 |
7. | Montreal | 32 | 15 | 2 | 15 | 92:112 | 32 |
8. | Ottawa | 31 | 14 | 2 | 15 | 97:98 | 30 |
Metropolitan Division:
1. | New Jersey | 31 | 21 | 2 | 8 | 107:77 | 44 |
2. | Caroline | 31 | 19 | 6 | 6 | 92:81 | 44 |
3. | New York Rangers | 33 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 109:90 | 41 |
4. | Pittsburgh | 31 | 18 | 4 | 9 | 108:89 | 40 |
5. | New York Islanders | 33 | 18 | 2 | 13 | 104:92 | 38 |
6. | Washington | 34 | 17 | 4 | 13 | 104:99 | 38 |
7. | Philadelphia | 32 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 77:106 | 27 |
8. | Columbus | 31 | 10 | 2 | 19 | 84:125 | 22 |
Western Conference:
Central Division:
1. | Dallas | 33 | 19 | 6 | 8 | 118:91 | 44 |
2. | Winnipeg | 31 | 20 | 1 | 10 | 103:80 | 41 |
3. | Minnesota | 31 | 18 | 2 | 11 | 100:89 | 38 |
4. | Colorado | 30 | 17 | 2 | 11 | 91:81 | 36 |
5. | St.Louis | 32 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 99:114 | 33 |
6. | Nashville | 30 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 76:93 | 30 |
7. | Arizona | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 83:111 | 25 |
8. | Chicago | 30 | 7 | 4 | 19 | 68:116 | 18 |
Pacific Division:
1. | vegas | 34 | 22 | 1 | 11 | 112:94 | 45 |
2. | The Angels | 34 | 17 | 5 | 12 | 112:122 | 39 |
3. | Seattle | 30 | 17 | 3 | 10 | 103:96 | 37 |
4. | Edmonton | 33 | 17 | 2 | 14 | 118:114 | 36 |
5. | Calgary | 32 | 14 | 6 | 12 | 97:100 | 34 |
6. | Vancouver | 31 | 13 | 3 | 15 | 103:122 | 29 |
7. | San Jose | 33 | 10 | 6 | 17 | 100:120 | 26 |
8. | Anaheim | 32 | 9 | 3 | 20 | 79:135 | 21 |