Sidney Crosby scored his NHL-leading 34th goal, Matt Murray made 35 saves, and the Penguins beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-2, in a Stadium Series matchup Saturday night at blustery Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
Matt Cullen, Nick Bonino, and Chad Ruhwedel also scored for Pittsburgh, which thrilled the capacity crowd at the home of the NFL’s Steelers by capitalizing on some shaky goaltending by Michal Neuvirth.
Jake Guentzel picked up two assists, and the Penguins drew within 5 points of Metropolitan Division-leading Washington.
Jakub Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere scored for Philadelphia, but Neuvirth stopped just 25 of 29 shots as the Flyers dropped to 0-3 in outdoor games. Philadelphia failed to pick up any ground as it tries to stay within shouting distance of one of the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference.
Kings 4, Ducks 1 — Jonathan Quick made 32 saves in his return from a groin injury, and Tyler Toffoli scored two of Los Angeles’s four third-period goals against visiting Anaheim.
Quick missed 59 games after he was injured in the first period of the Oct. 12 season opener against San Jose.
Dustin Brown added his 10th goal of the season and Jeff Carter scored an empty-net goal, securing a much-needed 2 points in the Kings’ chase for a wild card in the Western Conference after losing four of their previous five games.
Quick mostly looked sharp in his return, even doing the splits well out in front of his crease to deny Nick Ritchie on a power play in the first period, but could not prevent the Ducks’ lone goal by Andrew Cogliano.
Rangers 4, Devils 3 — Mika Zibanejad scored 1:16 into overtime and New York rallied to defeat New Jersey in Newark.
Chris Kreider, Oscar Lindberg, and Adam Clendening also scored for the Rangers. Antti Raanta had 36 saves, including a stop on a breakaway by Kyle Palmieri just before Zibanejad scored for the first time in 16 games.
The win was the Rangers’ third in three games against New Jersey this season.
Predators 5, Capitals 2 — Filip Forsberg scored the winning goal and had two assists as host Nashville scored three times in the second period to defeat Washington.
Forsberg, who had a hat trick in his previous two games, missed becoming the first in NHL history with a hat trick in three consecutive games.
He still notched his seventh goal in three games as Nashville won its second straight and third in four games. Roman Josi scored twice, and Mike Fisher and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal.
Blue Jackets 7, Islanders 0 — Josh Anderson and Nick Foligno each scored twice, sparking the Blue Jackets to a romp over New York in Columbus.
The Blue Jackets didn’t show any rust in their first game back following their five-day break, scoring three times in the first period to chase Rangers goalie Thomas Greiss.
David Savard had a goal and three assists, Boone Jenner and Jack Johnson also scored, and backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped all 24 shots for the Blue Jackets.
Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 2 — Andrew Shaw scored 1:06 into overtime to give Montreal its 14th consecutive win against host Toronto.
Auston Matthews scored twice for the Maple Leafs and tied the game at 1:19 of the third period.
Carey Price made 32 saves for Montreal, which won for the second time in its last six games.