Rookie Jimmy Vesey and Mats Zuccarello each scored in the shootout, and the New York Rangers beat the Nashville Predators, 2-1, Saturday night as the NHL’s best road team added yet another win to its record.
Vesey came out first to heavy boos from Nashville fans upset he chose to go to free agency rather than sign with the franchise that drafted him in 2012, and he beat Juuse Saros. Then Zuccarello scored to end the game.
Rick Nash scored in regulation, and the Rangers improved to 11-5-0 away from New York.
The Rangers finished off a two-game road swing with a second straight victory. Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves, including stopping Ryan Johansen to start the shootout. Craig Smith’s shot went wide for Nashville in the second frame.
Mike Fisher scored for Nashville, which has lost two straight and four of the last five.
Maple Leafs 2, Penguins 1 — Jake Gardiner scored two minutes into overtime and host Toronto ended a three-game skid. Evgeni Malkin scored for the Penguins, and Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray combined to make 47 saves. Fleury was forced to leave briefly in the first period after being cut on his neck by a skate. He got five stitches around his Adam’s apple.
Gardiner was set up by Mitch Marner, whose shot just shuffled past defenseman Derrick Pouliot in front. Nikita Zaitsev also scored for Toronto, which had dropped four straight at home.
The young Maple Leafs outshot the defending Stanley Cup champions 49-34 and got 33 saves from Frederik Andersen.
Stars 3, Flyers1 — Adam Cracknell scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period to lead Dallas over visiting Philadelphia, ending the Flyers’ 10-game winning streak.
Radek Faksa and Jordie Benn also scored for the Stars and Antti Niemi stopped 31 shots, including three during a Flyers power play in the closing minutes.
Cracknell broke a 1-1 tie at 2:27 of the third.
Flyers goalie Steve Mason stopped a shot by John Klingberg, but the puck rebounded to Cracknell’s feet and he sent a wrist shot into the net.
Benn, whose penalty gave Philadelphia its only power play with 2:58 left, scored into an empty net with 18 seconds to go.
Tyler Leier scored his first NHL goal in the first period for the Flyers, and Mason finished with 25 saves.
Niemi improved to 7-2-1 at home this season, and 5-1 against Philadelphia in his career.
Each team had good scoring chances in the first period. The Flyers struck first with 3:16 left. Nick Cousins fired a wrist shot at Niemi from the top of the right faceoff circle. The goalie made the save but the puck went out to Leier, who wristed it in from just outside the paint. Philadelphia outshot Dallas, 10-7, in a first period without a penalty.
The first penalties came 1:53 into the second when the Stars’ Jason Spezza and Flyers’ Brandon Manning went off for fighting.
Dallas tied it at 4:48 of the second. Antoine Roussel shot from the left faceoff dot. Mason made the save, but the puck rebounded to Faksa in the slot and he buried a wrist shot.
The Stars applied more pressure and outshot Philadelphia, 14-7, in the period. In a 4-second span with 5½ minutes remaining, the Stars’ Brett Ritchie had two shots saved by Mason and a third sent wide of the net.
The Flyers killed the only power play during the second, holding Dallas without a shot.
Canadiens 2, Capitals 1 — Carey Price bounced back from getting pulled the night before, making 20 saves as Montreal snapped host Washington’s six-game win streak.
Price returned to his usual, elite form and Artturi Lehkonen and Jeff Petry scored for Montreal.
The 2014-15 Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender beat last season’s winner, Braden Holtby of the Capitals, who stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced.
A day after glaring at Michel Therrien after Montreal’s coach yanked him for allowing four goals on 18 shots in a lackluster home loss to San Jose, Price made big stops on T.J. Oshie, Marcus Johansson and former teammate Lars Eller. Nicklas Backstrom scored a 5-on-3 power-play goal for the Capitals, who lost for the first time since Dec. 3 and in regulation for the first time since Dec. 1.
Hurricanes 2, Sabres 1 — Lee Stempniak and Sebastian Aho scored on Carolina's first two shootout attempts, lifting the Hurricanes over visiting Buffalo.
Cam Ward made 23 saves and stopped two shots in the shootout for Carolina, which has points in each of its last nine home games (8-0-1).
Joakim Nordstrom had a first-period goal for Carolina, and Evander Kane it late in the third.
Anders Nilsson stopped 21 shots for Buffalo, which won all three meetings against Carolina last season.
Senators 3, Devils 1 — Derick Brassard scored the go-ahead goal early in the second period, Mike Condon stopped 29 shots, and host Ottawa snapped a season-high three-game losing streak.
Bobby Ryan scored in the first period and Zack Smith added an empty-netter for the Senators.
John Moore scored and Keith Kinkaid finished with 28 saves for the Devils, who have lost five straight.
Ottawa went up 2-1 at 1:14 of the second period when Brassard tipped a shot by Zack Smith past Kinkaid. That goal was changed after originally being credited to Smith.
The Devils nearly tied the game a few minutes later when Taylor Hall beat Condon with a shot from the slot, but after hitting the post the puck was swept away by Dion Phaneuf.
Condon made a great save in the final minute before Smith scored into an empty net with 14 seconds to go.
Blackhawks 6, Blues 4 — Vinnie Hinostroza scored a late tiebreaking goal and Patrick Kane broke out of a 10-game goal-scoring drought as Chicago beat St. Louis.
Dennis Rasmussen, Brian Campbell, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Artemi Panarin also scored for the Blackhawks, who have won have four straight.
Scott Darling made 23 saves to improve to 9-2-2.
Patrik Berglund scored twice for the Blues, who had recorded at least 1 point in each of their last 14 home games. Alex Pietrangelo and Kyle Brodziak also scored for the Blues, who fell to 13-2-3 at home.
Hjalmarsson started the comeback by scoring in the first minute of third period to tie the score at 4-4.
Hinostroza converted with 4:25 left for his first game-winning goal of the season. Panarin added an empty netter.
Red Wings 6, Ducks 4 — In Detroit, Tomas Tatar got his first career hat trick, helping the Red Wings break out of a slump.
Wild 4, Coyotes 1 — Darcy Kuemper stopped 27 shots in his first start in nearly three weeks, and host Minnesota got its seventh straight win.
Ryan Suter and Tyler Graovac both ended goal-scoring droughts of at least 13 games, and Chris Stewart and Eric Stall also scored for the Wild.
Minnesota has won seven in a row for the first time since March 2013.
Kuemper started for the first time since a 5-4 loss at Vancouver on Nov. 29. The Wild haven’t lost in regulation since, and Minnesota has outscored opponents, 25-10, in its win streak.
Brendan Perlini ended Kuemper’s shutout bid with less than two minutes remaining, and Mike Smith made 26 saves for the Coyotes, facing several close shots and at least a couple that hit off the posts.
Stewart’s fifth goal of the season made it 3-0 at 3:24 of the third, and Staal added an empty netter with 36 seconds remaining to cap the scoring.
