Artemi Panarin scored a brace, Mika Zibanejad had three points and the New York Rangers scrubbed the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-0 on Saturday night.
Patrick Kane also added two assists for the Blueshirts, who posted their second victory in three days over the Penguins. The two teams have met three times in less than a week, as the Penguins defeated Rangers 3-2 last Sunday in overtime.
Zibanejad opened the scoring in the first period with his 36th of the season. Then, at the very end of the first, Panarin took advantage of a massive attack to double the Rangers lead.
The Rangers opened the machine in the second period. Vladimir Tarasenko and Chris Kreider scored in less than three minutes to chase Tristan Jarry out of the game. The Penguins goaltender yielded four times to the Rangers’ 17 shots.
Things didn’t improve for the Penguins with Casey DeSmith in goal. DeSmith was surprised by the Rangers’ first-ever shot, as Jacob Trouba tricked him with a shot from the corner of the rink. Panarin then scored his second of the game before the end of the period.
Igor Shesterkin was solid in goal for Rangers with a 33-save shutout, his second only this season. The Russian goalkeeper had made six last year.
Islanders pass Penguins in playoff race
Jean-Gabriel Pageau had a goal and an assist for the New York Islanders in a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves for the Islanders (36-27-8), who are 6-2-1 in their last nine games.
In the hunt for the fourth ace, the Islanders are now ahead of the Penguins in the standings. Their division rivals, however, have two games in hand.
Kevin Labanc scored and Kaapo Kahkonen made 29 saves for the Sharks (19-37-14), who have lost six straight games (0-4-2).
Labanc gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 7:51 of the first period. Coming out of the penalty box, the forward beat Sorokin with a good shot into the top of the net.
Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Pulock and Zach Parise scored the other Islanders goals. Alexander Romanov blacked out the score sheet on Parise’s net.
The Panthers explode in third and overthrow the Devils
Sam Reinhart scored two of the team’s four goals in the third period and the Florida Panthers came from behind to eventually defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-2.
Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk also found the back of the net for the Panthers while goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves.
The Panthers remained in the thick of the battle for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They collected at least one point in the standings in a sixth straight game (5-0-1).
Nico Hischier and Jesper Boqvist, both in the second period, hit the mark for the Devils, who suffered a third straight loss. Rookie goaltender Akira Schmid stopped 36 shots.
Hischier opened the scoring while shorthanded at 2:16 of the middle period, following intercepting a bad pass at the entrance to the offensive zone.
Just over five minutes later, Boqvist made it 2-0 for the Devils, taking advantage of Bobrovsky and two of his teammates lying on the ice following a goalie save.
Barkov scored the Panthers’ first goal at 6:14 of the third period, following a bizarre play that started with a Brandon Montour shot that hit Anthony Duclair as he headed for the net. The puck landed on the paddle of Barkov’s stick, who didn’t miss.
The Panthers added two goals in 50 seconds. Reinhart deflected a Montour shot first at 7:54. Tkachuk followed up with a backhand shot that beat Schmid.
Reinhart added an empty net goal.
Robertson hits 40-goal mark and makes difference in overtime
CALGARY — Jason Robertson scored the game-winning goal in overtime for his second goal of the game in the Dallas Stars’ 6-5 win over the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
Robertson scored with just 12 seconds left in overtime. He became the first player in Stars history to reach 40 goals in two consecutive seasons.
Joe Pavelski, Wyatt Johnston, Radek Faksa, Jason Robertson and Jani Hakanpaa also scored for the Stars. Roope Hintz had three assists and Jake Oettinger stopped 33 shots.
Rasmus Andersson and Mackenzie Weegar each had a goal and two assists for the Flames. Calgary sits four points behind the Winnipeg Jets, who hold the final playoff spot in the West.
Elias Lindholm had a goal and an assist, while Blake Coleman and Nick Ritchie also scored for the Flames. Jacob Markstrom stopped 20 shots in the game.
The Stars scored twice in the first two minutes of the game.
However, the Flames scored three unanswered goals in the space of six minutes 38 seconds in the second period to briefly lead 4-3, but Robertson tied the game for the Stars before the period was even over.
Canucks beat Kings in shootout
LOS ANGELES — Elias Pettersson scored a power play goal, Thatcher Demko stopped 38 shots and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday night.
Brock Boeser also scored in regulation time for the Canucks. JT Miller and Quinn Hughes each had two assists, and Demko stopped an Adrian Kempe penalty shot midway through the second period.
Carl Grundstrom and Alex Edler scored for the Kings in play. Joonas Korpisalo made 15 saves.
Miller and Andrei Kuzmenko scored in the penalty shootout. Demko stopped both Kings attempts.
The Kings haven’t lost in regulation in their last nine games and are 12-2-3 since the All-Star break.
Keller takes care of the Blackhawks
Clayton Keller continued his career-best season with one goal and two assists as the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2.
Keller now has 32 goals and 75 points in 70 games so far this season. He easily surpassed his career-high 65 points, set in his first full NHL season in 2017-18.
Jujhar Khaira had however opened the mark on the side of the Hawks from the 35th second of play. Barrett Hayton replied on the side of the Coyotes at the end of the second. The young center player seems to be coming out of his shell these days, having amassed eight points in his last four outings.
Caleb Jones briefly restored the Hawks’ lead in the final period with a massive attack, but the Coyotes exploded with three unanswered goals. Keller, Juuso Valimaki and Matias Macelli enabled André Tourigny’s troops to claim victory.
Ivan Prosvetov did well in front of the Coyotes goal with a 32-save performance.