NHL Capsules: Flyers explode for 4-goal 2nd period, beat Panthers 5-1

PHILADELPHIA – Sean Couturier, Shayne Gostisbehere, Claude Giroux and Dale Weise all scored in the second period to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

The Flyers followed an 8-2 win against Washington with another dominant offensive effort, capped by the four-goal second.

Wayne Simmonds stole the show after the fourth goal when he dropped agitated Panthers center Michael Haley with a left-handed punch. Simmonds waved his arms toward the crowd and exhorted them to get louder as he skated toward the locker room to serve his major penalty. He high-fived fans and the orange-and-black faithful went wild for a period on the short list of the best in three years under coach Dave Hakstol.

Michal Neuvirth made the lead stand with 40 saves in his first win of the season. Valtteri Filppula scored an empty-netter for the Flyers.

Penguins 5, Rangers 4, OT

NEW YORK – Sidney Crosby scored the tying goal with less than a minute remaining in regulation, Evgeni Malkin put in the winner 58 seconds into overtime and the Penguins beat the struggling Rangers.

Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel and ex-Ranger Carl Hagelin also scored for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, who handed New York (1-5-1) its fourth straight loss.

Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh turned the puck over in overtime and Kessel set up Malkin for the game-winning goal. Just before that, the Rangers iced the puck, leading to a faceoff in their zone.

Michael Grabner put New York ahead 4-3 when he and David Desharnais completed a nifty give-and-go at the 8-minute mark of the third period.

Desharnais, Pavel Buchnevich and J.T. Miller scored in a span of 2:30 as the Rangers got three straight goals early in the second to take a 3-2 lead.

Penguins goalie Matt Murray and counterpart Henrik Lundqvist each made 28 saves in the first of four meetings this season between the division rivals.

Maple Leafs 2, Capitals 0

WASHINGTON – Connor Brown scored the game-winning goal in the third period and Frederik Andersen stopped all 30 shots he faced for the shutout as the Maple Leafs continued their tremendous start by beating the Capitals.

Toronto has won five of its first six games. Washington has now lost two in a row since top defenseman Matt Niskanen went out with a long-term upper-body injury.

After getting a promotion to the third line, Brown picked up his second goal of the season and broke a 0-0 tie with 14:07 left in the third. Brown corralled a rebound of Morgan Rielly’s point shot and poked the puck between Braden Holtby’s legs.

Holtby made 28 saves but couldn’t help as the Capitals’ offense couldn’t cash in on limited high-quality chances. Nazem Kadri scored an empty-net goal in the final minute.

Canucks 3, Senators 0

OTTAWA, Ontario – Brock Boeser and Alexander Burmistrov had a goal and an assist each in the Canucks’ win over the Senators.

Thomas Vanek also scored for the Canucks (2-2-1), while Anders Nilsson made 32 saves for a shutout in his first start of the season.

Craig Anderson turned aside 21 of 24 in net for Ottawa (3-1-2).

The win snapped a three-game losing skid for the Canucks that started with a 3-2 shootout loss to Ottawa in Vancouver one week ago.

That game also started the Senators on a three-game winning streak that came to an end Tuesday as captain Erik Karlsson made his regular-season debut following off-season foot surgery.

Predators 4, Avalanche 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Viktor Arvidsson and Roman Josi each scored a goal and added an assist to lead the Predators to a win over the Avalanche.

Colton Sissons and Austin Watson also scored for Nashville, which has won three of their last four.

Filip Forsberg and Alexei Emelin each had two assists and Pekka Rinne made 20 saves to earn his third victory of the season.

Nathan MacKinnon had the lone goal for Colorado, losers of two straight.

Devils 5, Lightning 4, SO

NEWARK, N.J. – Kyle Palmieri scored the lone goal in a shootout, lifting the Devils to a win over the Lightning.

Drew Stafford scored twice in regulation as New Jersey improved to 5-1-0. Palmieri and Brian Gibbons each had a goal in the first period, and Cory Schneider made 33 saves.

Vladimir Namestnikov, Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay, which had its four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 5-1-1.

Kucherov’s goal was his eighth in seven games. He has scored at least once in every game this season, and the 24-year-old right wing became the sixth player in modern NHL history to score at least one goal in the first seven games of a season.

Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy, Wayne Gretzky, Ken Hodge and Tony Tanti are the others. Lemieux holds the record with at least one goal in the first 12 games of the 1992-93 season.

Peter Budaj made his first start of the season for the Lightning and had 30 saves.

Hurricanes 5, Oilers 3

EDMONTON, Alberta – Teuvo Teravainen had a pair of goals and Jordan Staal a goal and three assists to help the Hurricanes beat the Oilers.

Elias Lindholm and Jaccob Slavin also scored for the Hurricanes (2-1-1), who snapped a two-game losing skid.

Mark Letestu, Ryan Strome and Milan Lucic tallied for the Oilers (1-4-0), who have now lost four in a row.

Blue Jackets 5, Jets 2

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Jack Johnson’s goal 13:54 into the second period was the eventual winner as the Blue Jackets extended their winning streak to four with a commanding victory over the Jets.

Cam Atkinson broke open a scoreless game just 36 seconds into the second period for the Blue Jackets (5-1-0), powering ahead of Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Trouba and muscling the puck past Winnipeg goalie Steve Mason.

Nick Foligno, Lukas Sedlak and Zach Werenski had the other goals for Columbus, while Jonas Korpisalo made 24 saves for the win.

Mason returned as starter Tuesday after Connor Hellebuyck backstopped the Jets (3-3-0) to three straight wins. Mason stopped 34 shots.

Stars 3, Coyotes 1

DALLAS – Radek Faksa, Dan Hamhuis and Alexander Radulov scored their first goals of the season, and the Stars held off the winless Coyotes.

Arizona (0-5-1) remained the only NHL team without a victory. The Coyotes tried to rally from a 2-0 deficit, beginning with a second-period goal by Jason Demers. They outshot Dallas 15-9 in the third, but goalie Ben Bishop stopped all 15 shots for his third win.

Radulov scored into an empty net with 52 seconds left.

The Stars (3-3) have won two straight for the first time this season. They can equal their longest winning streak of 2016-17 with a victory Thursday at Arizona.

Adin Hill made his NHL debut in goal for the Coyotes and had 31 saves.

Bishop finished with 27 saves.

Golden Knights 5, Sabres 4, OT

LAS VEGAS – David Perron scored two goals, including the game-winner with 1:08 left in overtime, to lead the Golden Knights to a victory over the Sabres.

The Sabres scored three third-period goals in less than 10 minutes, including Evander Kane’s game-tying goal with 8.9 seconds left in regulation.

Reilly Smith had a goal and an assist for Golden Knights.

With the win, Vegas (5-1-0) is the first Western Conference team to 10 points.

Sharks 5, Canadiens 2

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Logan Couture scored a pair of goals and the Sharks extended their dominance of the Canadiens.

Joe Pavelski, Tomas Hertl and Joe Thornton also scored for the Sharks, who have won the past 11 home games against the Canadiens, a streak that dates to Nov. 23, 1999.

Jonathan Drouin and Shea Weber scored for the Canadiens, who are winless since an opening night victory at the Buffalo Sabres.

Martin Jones stopped 28 of 30 shots for the Sharks, who finish their season-opening homestand with a 2-3 record. Carey Price, who stopped 31 of 35, fell to 2-7-1 in 10 games against the Sharks.