SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Brad Marchand capped his Florida debut by setting up Sam Bennett’s winner with 41.1 seconds left in overtime, and the Panthers defeated the Utah Hockey Club 2-1 on Friday night.
Bennett had both goals for Florida, including one in the second with Mackie Samoskevich and Aleksander Barkov assisting. Utah tied it early in the third on Sean Durzi’s third of the year.
The win pushed Florida back into first in the Atlantic Division at 44-25-3 with 91 points, one more than Toronto and two more than Tampa Bay. All three of those teams have 10 games remaining, and Florida faces those clubs three times — two with Toronto, one with the Lightning — down the stretch.
HURRICANES 4, CANADIENS 1
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sebastian Aho and Taylor Hall scored 2:24 apart in the second period, and Carolina beat the slumping Montreal.
Jackson Blake had a goal and two assists, Andrei Svechnikov also scored, and Seth Jarvis had two assists for Carolina in its 10th win in 12 games. Frederik Andersen stopped 14 shots.
Josh Anderson scored for Montreal, which has lost five straight (0-3-2). Sam Montembeault had 21 saves.
BLUE JACKETS 7, CANUCKS 6, SO
COLUMBUS (AP) — Boone Jenner had two goals, Kent Johnson had the lone score of the shootout and Columbus rallied from a pair of multi-goal deficits to beat Vancouver and move into a tie for the final wild card in the Eastern Conference.
The Blue Jackets trailed 3-0 less than 14 minutes into the game, but evened it midway through the second period. Vancouver scored the next two to go up 5-3 before Columbus rallied again.
Jenner, who also had an assist, has scored in three straight games. The Blue Jackets are tied with Montreal for the second wild card with 75 points.
It is the first time since 2016 Columbus has trailed 3-0 after the first period and come back to win.
Columbus’ Dante Fabbro had a goal and two assists while Olivier, Denton Mateychuk and Kirill Marchenko each had a goal and an assist. Elvis Merzlikins made 31 saves.
JETS 4, DEVILS 0
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves for his NHL-best seventh shutout of the season and fast-starting Winnipeg regained the league points lead, beating New Jersey for their 50th victory.
Alex Iafallo scored twice, Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist and David Gustafsson also scored. At 59-19-4, Winnipeg moved a point ahead of Eastern Conference-leading Washington.
Iafallo opened the scoring 58 seconds in, and Gustafsson made it 2-0 at 1:52. Iafallo added a power-play goal in the second, and Scheifele had his 36th of the season in the period.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5, BLACKHAWKS 3
CHICAGO (AP) — Pavel Dorofeyev scored a power-play goal with 3:10 left to snap a tie, and Vegas rallied for their fifth straight win, over Chicago.
Victor Olofsson scored twice for the Golden Knights, who overcame the first career hat trick by Chicago’s Ryan Donato.
Mark Stone had a goal and an assist, Brett Howden scored an empty-netter and William Karlsson added three assists for Vegas. Adin Hill made 18 saves.
DUCKS 5, RANGERS 4, OT
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mason McTavish scored 59 seconds into overtime, and Anaheim overcame a two-goal deficit in the final six minutes of regulation for a victory over New York.
After Olen Zellweger tied it with 1:45 left, McTavish scored his 20th goal on Jackson LaCombe’s pass to finish a stirring comeback by the Ducks, who are all but certain to miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.
Leo Carlsson had a goal and three assists in the former No. 2 overall pick’s first career four-point game for Anaheim. Cutter Gauthier scored the Ducks’ first goal in the third, and Alex Killorn got an early short-handed goal. Lukas Dostal made 27 saves.
J.T. Miller, Alexis Lafrenière and Adam Fox had a goal and an assist apiece for New York, which has lost five of six.
The Associated Press
