Viktor Arvidsson scores three goals, Elias Lindholm gets tiebteaker in Bruins’ win over Stars

By Canadian Press on March 31, 2026.

BOSTON (AP) — Viktor Arvidsson had three goals including two empty-netters, Elias Lindholm scored a tiebreaking, power-play goal 13 seconds into the third period and the Boston Bruins helped their playoff push with a 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night.

Marat Khusnutdinov and Henri Jokiharju also scored for the Bruins, who won their fourth straight game and hold the Eastern Conference’s top wild-card spot. David Pastrnak collected three assists, and Joonas Korpisalo made 13 saves.

Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston each had a goal for Dallas, and Jake Oettinger stopped 17 shots. Johnston’s was his 41st.

SABRES 4, ISLANDERS 3

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Bowen Byram flipped a long shot into an empty net with 1:43 remaining to lead Buffalo to a victory over New York.

The Sabres became the NHL’s 11th franchise to reach 2,000 wins — and the first team not added in the league’s first expansion in 1967 when the NHL went from six teams to 12. Buffalo joined in the second wave of expansion joining the NHL with Vancouver in 1970.

Jack Quinn and Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist, and Peyton Krebs also scored for the Sabres, who reached 100 points for the 10th time in franchise history and first since finishing with 100 in 2009-10. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 25 saves for the Sabres.

Brayden Schenn, Calum Ritchie and Anders Lee scored, and Bo Horvat added three assists for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves.

CANADIENS 4, LIGHTNING 1

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jakub Dobes stopped 36 shots and Montreal won their sixth straight game, beating Tampa Bay.

Juraj Slavkovsky, Mike Matheson and Cole Caufield each had a goal and an assist. Nick Suzuki added an empty-net goal as the Canadiens moved to within two points of Tampa Bay for second place in the Atlantic Division.

Dobes won his fourth consecutive start and recorded his sixth consecutive game allowing two-or-fewer goals.

Jake Guentzel scored for Tampa Bay, which lost in regulation for the first time in nine games. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 19 saves.

PANTHERS 6, SENATORS 3

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Noah Gregor scored eight seconds into the game to open an early five-goal barrage by Florida, Matthew Tkachuk had his first four-point game since December 2024 and the Panthers defeated Ottawa.

Carter Verhaeghe scored two goals and added an assist for Florida, while Seth Jones had three assists — including one on Gregor’s history-making goal.

Gregor’s goal was the fastest to open a game in Panthers history — two seconds ahead of Johan Garpenlov’s goal at the 10-second mark of a game against Colorado in October 1996 — and the fastest to start a game in the NHL this season.

A.J. Greer and Mackie Samoskevich also scored for Florida, while Sam Bennett added two assists and Daniil Tarasov stopped 22 shots for the Panthers.

RANGERS 4, DEVILS 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Conor Sheary and J.T. Miller scored first-period goals and Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves as New York defeated New Jersey

Rookie Jaroslav Chmelar and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers, who won their third straight on home ice in regulation. They only had four wins in 60 minutes in their first 34 home games this season. Adam Fox added two assists.

The game also included a rare goalie fight between Shesterkin and Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom midway through the third period.

Connor Brown scored for New Jersey, who have six wins in their last nine games to keep slim playoff hopes alive.

PENGUNS 5, RED WINGS 1

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Egor Chinakov had a goal and an assist, Evgeni Malkin added an assist in his return to the lineup and Pittsburgh raced past sagging Detroit.

A night after blowing out the New York Islanders on the road, Pittsburgh followed it up with another impressive performance against one of the teams it is trying to fend off for a playoff spot.

Chinakov, Rickard Rakell, and Anthony Mantha scored first-period goals to give the Penguins a massive early cushion that the Red Wings never really threatened to overcome. Justin Brazeau ended a 12-game goal drought, and Stuart Skinner stopped 22 shots for Pittsburgh, which remained in second place in the Metropolitan Division with seven games left in the regular season despite missing veteran forward Bryan Rust, who was a late scratch with a lower-body injury.

Detroit, which was in first place in the Atlantic Division at the season’s midway point, has dropped four of five and remains on the outside of the chase for one of the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots. Dylan Larkin scored to reach the 30-goal plateau for the fifth straight season, but John Gibson, a Pittsburgh native, struggled early and was pulled after the first period while falling to 6-10-1 all-time against his hometown team.

CAPITALS 6, FLYERS 4

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored twice and hit the 30-goal mark for the 20th time in his NHL career, and Washington beat Philadelphia.

Tom Wilson also had two goals, Jakob Chychrun had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Leonard added a goal and an assist. Pierre-Luc Dubois had four assists for the Capitals, who have won three straight as they try to climb back into playoff position.

Travis Sanheim, Carl Grundstrom, Christian Dvorak and Denver Barkey scored and Porter Martone made his NHL debut for the Flyers, whose three-game winning streak came to an end.

HURRICANES 5, BLUE JACKETS 2

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Nikolaj Ehlers scored the go-ahead goal with 7:18 remaining and Carolina reached the 100-point mark for the fifth time in franchise history, defeating reeling Columbus.

Ehlers added two assists as the Hurricanes remained tied with Buffalo for the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov had a power-play goal and an assist. Shayne Gostisbehere and Logan Stankoven also scored with the man advantage, and Jordan Martinook added a short-handed, empty-net goal. Brandon Bussi stopped 23 shots.

The Associated Press

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