Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) exchanges blows with Toronto Maple Leafs center Max Domi (11) in the third period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, March 7, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
BOSTON (AP) – Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves and the Boston Bruins beat the weary Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Thursday night.
David Pastrnak, Trent Frederic, Morgan Geekie and Brandon Carlo scored to help Boston win for the 20th time at home this season. At 37-13-15, the Bruins trail Atlantic Division rival Florida by a point for the NHL lead.
Mitch Marner scored for Toronto, and Joseph Wall made 22 saves. The Maple Leafs were coming off a 2-1 overtime victory over Buffalo at home on Wednesday night. They are 10-3-0 in their last 13 – and 36-19-8 overall.
Boston extended its winning streak to seven games against Toronto, which last beat the Bruins on Nov. 22, 2022. The teams met Monday night in Toronto, with Boston also winning 4-1.
CAPITALS 6, PENGUINS 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Alex Ovechkin scored his 840th goal and added an assist to help Washington rout Pittsburgh.
Ovechkin passed Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey for 15th place on the NHL’s career scoring list. The Russian superstar has 1,532 points, one shy of Hall of Fame forward Mark Recchi in 14th.
The 38-year-old’s 10th goal in his last 15 games – a rebound early in the second period that put Washington firmly in control – moved him within 54 goals of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record career total of 894.
Charlie Lindgren, who got the start with Darcy Kuemper out with an illness, made 39 saves for his sixth career shutout.
Tom Wilson scored a short-handed goal less than two minutes into the game and added an assist for Washington. Nick Jensen, Sonny Milano and rookies Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko also scored for the Capitals, who won for the sixth time in nine games as they try to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
FLYERS 2, PANTHERS 1
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) – Garnet Hathaway scored off a rebound with 22 seconds left to lift Philadelphia past Florida.
Ryan Poehling also scored for Philadelphia. Samuel Ersson made 29 saves.
Gustav Forsling scored for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots. The Panthers had won six in a row.
BLUE JACKETS 4, OILERS 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Matthew Olivier, Alex Nylander and Dmitri Vornkov scored in the first period and Columbus ended Edmonton’s winning streak at five.
Daniil Tarasov stopped 29 shots for Columbus, which has won three of its last four but remains last in the Metropolitan Division. Jack Roslovic also scored.
Connor McDavid got his 100th point of the season with an assist for Edmonton. Zach Hyman and Corey Perry scored.
ISLANDERS 7, SHARKS 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Bo Horvat opened New York’s four-goal, second-period burst with his 25th goal and the Islanders routed San Jose.
Kyle McLean, Matthew Barzal and Sebastian Aho also scored in the second period, with the goals coming in a 5:01 span. Noah Dobson, Alexander Romanov and Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders, and Ilya Sorokin made 23 saves.
Horvat also had two assists, and Brock Nelson finished with three. The Islanders, beginning a four-game trip, are two points out of the final wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Thomas Bordeleau and Mike Hoffman scored for San Jose in its ninth straight loss. Magnus Chrona had 26 saves in his third career start. The Sharks traded Anthony Duclair to Tampa Bay before the game.
FLAMES 6, LIGHTNING 3
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Yegor Sharangovich had two goals and two assists, Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves and Calgary beat Tampa Bay for its sixth victory in seven games.
Dryden Hunt, Jakob Pelletier, Blake Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane also scored for the Flames.
Conor Sheary, Anthony Cirelli and Michael Eyssimont scored for Tampa Bay.
WILD 5, COYOTES 2
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – Joel Eriksson Ek broke a third-period tie with his 29th goal, Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves and Minnesota beat Arizona.
After Zach Bogosian pulled the Wild even at 2 two minutes into the third period, Ek beat goalie Karel Vejmelka with a wrist shot from the left circle at 7:16.
Kirill Kaprizov had his 30th goal, Brock Faber and Connor Seward added empty-netters and Mats Zuccarello had three assists. Minnesota has won two straight after a three-game skid dropped it nine points out of the final Western Conference wild card.
Clayton Keller and Michael Carcone scored seven seconds apart in the first 1:28 of the third to give Arizona a 2-1 lead. The Coyotes have lost two in a row and 16 of 18.
DEVILS 4, BLUES 1
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Timo Meier scored three goals and added an assist on an empty-net goal by Erik Haula and New Jersey beat St. Louis, giving New Jersey interim coach Travis Green his first win since replacing Lindy Ruff r this week.
Linemates Nico Hischier and Ondrej Palat each had two assists as the Devils snapped a three-game losing streak and won for only the fourth time in 11 games. Nico Daws made 23 saves for New Jersey.
Brandon Saad scored for St. Louis.
PREDATORS 4, SABRES 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Filip Forsberg scored three goals for his ninth career hat trick, leading Nashville past Buffalo.
Luke Evangelista also scored and Juuse Saros made 26 saves for Nashville, which is 9-0-1 in its last 10. Gustav Nyquist had three assists.
Bowen Byram scored and had an assist, Owen Power also had a goal and Eric Comrie made 21 saves for Buffalo, which has lost three straight.
KINGS 4, SENATORS 3, OT
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Kevin Fiala scored on a spinning backhander two minutes into overtime to lift Los Angeles past Ottawa for its third victory in four games.
Jacob Moverare had his first career goal, Quinton Byfield and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored and Cam Talbot made 28 saves.
Drake Batherson had a goal late in the third period to tie it at 3, Dominik Kubalik scored on the power play, and Brady Tkachuk had a goal for the Senators.
HURRICANES 4, CANADIENS 1
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Brady Skjei scored two goals, Frederik Andersen made 24 saves after a four-month absence and Carolina beat Montreal.
Stefan Noesen and Andrei Svechnikov also scored.
Joshua Roy scored for Montreal.
___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
