NHL capsules: Stastny breaks tie in 3rd, Blues beat Golden Knights 2-1

ST. LOUIS – Paul Stastny broke a third-period tie with his eighth goal of the season, Carter Hutton continued his strong play in goal and the St. Louis Blues beat the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 on Thursday night.

Alexander Steen also scored for the Blues, who won their third straight. Hutton made 32 saves, including two tough stops early in the third while the game was tied.

Hutton, making his third consecutive start, earned his eighth win of the season and is 12-3 in his last 15 starts.

Erik Haula scored for Vegas, which had its NHL expansion record eight-game winning streak snapped. Marc-Andre Fleury made 37 saves but lost for the first time in six starts.

Canadiens 2, Lightning 1, SO

MONTREAL – Carey Price made 44 saves, Paul Byron scored the only goal in a shootout and Montreal ended a five-game losing streak with a victory over Tampa Bay.

Max Pacioretty scored in regulation for the Canadiens in their first victory since Dec. 22.

Nikita Kucherov scored his 26th goal for the Lightning.

Pacioretty opened the scoring at 20 seconds of the second period, ending his 13-game goal drought that dated to Nov. 30. Andrei Vasilevskiy, coming off two straight shutouts, saw his scoreless streak end at 184 minutes, 49 seconds.

Hurricanes 4, Penguins 0

PITTSBURGH – Sebastian Aho scored twice, Cam Ward stopped 21 shots and Carolina blanked Pittsburgh.

The Hurricanes also beat the Penguins 2-1 last Friday in Carolina. Aho got the winning goal in the first matchup, and this time he iced the two-time defending Stanely Cup champions after Jeff Skinner and Teuvo Teravainen scored. Aho assisted on Teravainen’s goal and has 10 points during a six-game point streak.

Ward got his first shutout of the season and 26th of his career. He has wins in 10 of his last 13 games and has earned Carolina a point in eight straight.

The Penguins have dropped eight of their past 12 and haven’t won back-to-back games since Dec. 1-2. Matt Murray had 29 saves.

Maple Leafs 3, Sharks 2, SO

TORONTO – Auston Matthews and Tyler Bozak scored in a shootout to give Toronto a victory over San Jose in a game that opened with a fight that saw the Maple Leafs’ Nazem Kadri rip out part of Joe Thornton’s mountain-man beard.

Toronto killed off Mitch Marner’s high-sticking penalty that gave the Sharks a 4-on-3 skating advantage for the final 1:50 of overtime.

Kevin Labanc was the lone successful San Jose shooter in six tries against Frederik Andersen in the tiebreaker. Former Shark Patrick Marleau hit the post on his attempt.

Matthews and Kadri scored in regulation for Toronto, and Brenden Dillon and Chris Tierney countered for San Jose.

Toronto snapped a three-game losing streak and a 10-game slide (0-8-2) against the Sharks.

Thornton and Kadri dropped the gloves just two seconds in after slashing each other at the opening faceoff.

Flyers 6, Islanders 4

PHILADELPHIA – Ivan Provorov had two goals and an assist, and Sean Couturier had a goal, an assist and participated in one of several fights for Philadelphia in a feisty victory over slumping New York.

Travis Konecny energized his teammates with a first-period scrap, then scored to cap a four-goal second. Wayne Simmonds and Michael Raffl also scored for the Flyers, who overcame a poor third period for their second win in six games.

Brian Elliott made 27 saves in his 15th straight start, two nights after an ugly loss to Pittsburgh.

Cal Clutterbuck scored twice, and John Tavares and Ryan Pulock added third-period goals for the Islanders in their season-high fourth straight loss. Thomas Greiss allowed five goals on 31 shots but got little help from a defense that continues to struggle without injured Johnny Boychuk.

Wild 6, Sabres 2

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Nino Niederreiter had a hat trick in his return from injury, Mikko Koivu contributed a goal and two assists, and the finally fully healthy Minnesota Wild beat Buffalo.

Niederreiter, who missed the previous five games because of a lower leg injury, needed less than 25 minutes of game time to get the second hat trick of his seven-year career. His parents were even in attendance from his native Switzerland.

Niederreiter scored just 69 seconds in, snapping a behind-the-net pass from Mikael Granlund beneath the pads of Sabres goalie Robin Lehner. Granlund had three assists.

Devan Dubnyk took a shutout into the third period for the Wild, until Sam Reinhart scored early and Evander Kane got a goal late. Dubnyk is 11-2-1 in his last 15 starts since Nov. 9.

Daniel Winnik and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Wild, who improved to 11-1-1 in their last 13 home games.

Stars 4, Devils 3

DALLAS – Tyler Seguin scored his team-leading 20th goal short-handed, Alexander Radulov had a goal and two assists and Dallas beat New Jersey.

Brett Ritchie had the tiebreaking goal on a power play after a second straight penalty against Sami Vatanen, and the Devils matched their season high with a fourth straight loss. The skid follows a season-best five-game winning streak that started with a win at home over the Stars.

Radulov’s 15th goal got Dallas even early in the second period, and Ben Bishop stopped 39 shots for his fifth win in a season-high ninth straight start.

Taylor Hall had a goal and two assists for the Devils, who scored in the final minute of each of the first two periods, starting with Brian Boyle on a power play with 14 seconds left in the first.

Avalanche 2, Blue Jackets 0

DENVER – Jonathan Bernier made 18 of his 34 saves in the third period for his second shutout of the season, leading Colorado past Columbus.

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist and Matt Nieto also scored for the Avalanche, who have won four straight for the first time since January 2016. Colorado’s win was its 21st, one fewer than all of last season, and the team’s 45 points are three fewer than 2016-17.

Bernier has played in the last three games – starting two – because of a lower-body injury to No. 1 goaltender Semyon Varlamov.

Sergei Bobvrosky stopped 30 shots for the Blue Jackets, who are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games.

Coyotes 3, Predators 2, OT

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Christian Fischer scored off Jakob Chychrun’s rebound at 2:41 of overtime to give Arizona a comeback win over Nashville.

The goal was reviewed, then challenged by the Predators and reviewed again. Arizona won for the third time in six games.

The Coyotes trailed 2-1 for much of the third period, until Nick Cousins tied it with 2:49 to play and Arizona on a power play. Anthony Duclair scored for the Coyotes in the second.

The Predators scored twice within 17 seconds of game time to take a 2-1 lead. Ryan Ellis scored with 8.7 seconds left in the second period, and Craig Smith netted a goal eight seconds into the third.

Nashville has lost three of four.

Antti Raanta made 17 of his 37 saves in the first period as Arizona was outshot by 14.

Flames 4, Kings 3

CALGARY, Alberta – Sean Monahan and Micheal Ferland each had a goal and an assist as Calgary scored four times in the second period for a comeback victory over Los Angeles.

The Flames trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes, but Ferland sparked the rally at 2:34 when his shot squeezed under the pads of Jonathan Quick.

By the time Monahan capped the outburst on a wrist shot at 19:15, Calgary was ahead 4-2 and had completely taken over the game – outshooting the Kings 17-5 in the second period.

Troy Brouwer and Mark Jankowski also scored for Calgary. Mike Smith made 28 saves.

Tanner Pearson scored twice for Los Angeles, including with 1:31 left to make it close. Derek Forbort also had a goal for the Kings, who earned four out of six possible points on their road trip through Western Canada.

Oilers 2, Ducks 1, SO

EDMONTON, Alberta – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the shootout winner and Edmonton snapped a four-game skid with a victory over Anaheim.

Kris Russell scored in regulation for the Oilers, outscored 10-0 in their previous two games.

Ryan Kesler scored for the Ducks, who had won three in a row.