St. Louis Blues left-wing Jaden Schwartz threads the puck between two defenders and past Nashville Predators' goaltender Carter Hutton to score during the second period of their NHL game in St. Louis Thursday. — AP
NEW YORK — The Tampa Bay Lightning got an unlikely hat trick from rookie center Cedric Paquette, sending a strong statement to another Eastern Conference power and jumping into first place with a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings Thursday. The Lightning (31-15-4) set a franchise record with their ninth straight home win, getting a big night from Paquette, who came into the night with only six goals all season. Tampa Bay moved above the Red Wings (28-12-9) and Islanders with a conference-leading 66 points while Detroit had its six-game win streak snapped. Bruins 5, Islanders 2 The Boston Bruins scored a pair of goals in less than two minutes spanning the second and third periods as they opened the post-All-Star portion of the schedule by beating the New York Islanders. Kevan Miller snapped a 2-2 tie by scoring with 3.4 seconds left in the second and defenseman Torey Krug scored 1:45 into the third for the Bruins (26-16-7), who also got 43 saves from Tuukka Rask. Center John Tavares and right-winger Michael Grabner scored for the Islanders (32-15-1). Canadiens 1, Rangers 0 Max Pacioretty scored with 4:17 remaining in the third period as the Montreal Canadiens emerged with a victory against the New York Rangers. Carey Price made 24 saves for his third shutout of the season for Montreal (31-13-3). Rangers (27-15-4) goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was flawless for nearly 46 minutes and finished with 25 saves. Flyers 5, Jets 2 Behind goals from Chris VandeVelde, Wayne Simmonds, Nick Schultz and Brayden Schenn, the Flyers won their third straight overall to sweep the two-game season series with the Jets. Philadelphia (21-22-7) has won six of its last eight home games and Winnipeg (26-16-8), which entered with the most road points in the NHL (33), has lost two straight overall after reeling off five straight wins. Panthers 3, Blue Jackets 2 Sean Bergenheim scored the game-winning goal on a deflection with 6:52 left in the third period as the Florida Panthers defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets. The play was reviewed for a possible high stick but was ruled a good goal, helping the Panthers (21-15-10) snap a five-game overall losing streak and a six-game home skid, one short of the franchise record. Stars 6, Senators 3 Jamie Benn scored two goals to help make a winner out of Jason Spezza in his return to Canadian Tire Centre. Spezza, the former Senators captain who was traded to the Stars (22-19-7) in the off-season, was held pointless in his first game back in Ottawa. Robin Lehner made 37 saves for Ottawa (19-19-9). Coyotes 3, Maple Leafs 1 Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and center Martin Hanzal scored early in the third period and the Arizona Coyotes went on to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sam Gagner added a power-play goal late in the third period for the Coyotes (17-25-6), who snapped a seven-game losing streak. The Maple Leafs (22-24-4) have lost eight games in a row. Sharks 6, Ducks 3 The San Jose Sharks scored five times in the second period, breaking a 1-1 tie on the way to a victory over Anaheim. San Jose (26-17-6) featured six different goal-scorers and fell a score short of the team record of six goals netted in one period. The Ducks fell to 32-11-6 with the loss. Blues 5, Predators 4 (SO) T.J. Oshie and Kevin Shattenkirk scored in the shootout to give the St Louis Blues a win over the Nashville Predators. The win improved the Blues (30-13-4) to 8-0-1 in their last nine games and pulled them within three points of the Central Division-leading Predators (31-10-6). Wild 1, Flames 0 Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk kicked aside 30 shots and star left-winger Zach Parise scored the game-winner in a victory over the Flames. The Wild (22-20-6) won back to-back games in Alberta and now have points in five of their past six outings. The Flames (26-20-3), meanwhile, squandered a stellar performance by their own goalie Jonas Hiller who finished with 31 saves. Oilers 3, Sabres 2 Anton Lander led the way with a goal and two assists as the Oilers overcame an early 1-0 deficit, scoring three-straight goals and then fending off a late Sabres to prevail. Though the teams are only one spot apart in the standings, the Oilers came into the contest a respectable 5-5-2 in their last 12 games, while the Sabres were 0-12 in that span, all of the losses in regulation. — Reuters
