Tuesday's hockey: Carolina's Svechnikov dazzles with lacrosse-style goal
Boston — Andrei Svechnikov opened the scoring with a lacrosse-style goal and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Svechnikov, who also had an assist, surprised goalie Jeremy Swayman by cradling the puck with his stick blade and flicking it into the net about midway through the second period. It was his 19th goal of the season on a dazzling move that isn't new to his coach.
"He's kind of revolutionized it," Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That one was impressive – how fast it was. And again, that's a big goal in the game.”
Teuvo Teravainen, Jake Guentzel and Seth Jarvis also scored as the Hurricanes pulled away for their third straight win and fifth in their last six. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 22 shots.
The Hurricanes reached 50 wins and pulled within three points of the New York Rangers for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference.
“I've said this for years, what a great group it is,” Brind’Amour said, adding that they “just keep seeming to find new guys that” fit into the culture. “It's just special for me because I get to come to work with these guys every day. We're pushing through something special and we'll see where it goes.”
Charlie McAvoy scored the only goal for the Bruins, whose four-game winning streak came to an end. Boston still leads the Atlantic Division at 46-18-15 with three games to go. Swayman finished with 22 saves.
“If there's anything to learn from this or use sort of in context, it's that this is playoff hockey,” McAvoy said. “We're going to se these teams again and it's who's going to adapt and who's going to be able to elevate from the beginning of the series to the end.”
(At) Florida 2, Ottawa 0: Anthony Stolarz stopped 25 shots and had an assist, Anton Lundell and Nick Cousins scored, and the Panthers shut out the Senators for the third time this season.
It was the second instance of Florida shutting out a team three times in one season, the other coming when the Panthers blanked Montreal three times in 2017-18. And it was a needed win for playoff-bound Florida, with the Panthers winning for just the fourth time in their last 13 games (4-7-2).
Joonas Korpisalo stopped 27 shots for Ottawa, which has four games left and will miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. The Senators were 0-3-1 against Florida this season, getting outscored 16-2 in those contests.
Toronto 5, (at) New Jersey 2: Auston Matthews scored his 66th goal and inched closer to becoming the ninth player in NHL history to tally 70 in a season in leading Toronto's victory over New Jersey, ending the disappointing Devils’ playoff hopes.
Mark Giordano and ex-Red Wing Tyler Bertuzzi scored in a 9-second span late in the the second period to give the Maple Leafs a 3-2 lead en route to their sixth win in seven games. Nicholas Robertson also scored and Joseph Woll made 18 saves.
Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer scored for New Jersey, while Jake Allen made 32 saves.
N.Y. Islanders 4, (at) N.Y. Rangers 2: Bo Horvat had a goal and an assist, Noah Dobson added two assists and the New York Islanders used a three-goal first period to propel them to a win against the Eastern-Conference leading New York Rangers on Tuesday night.
Semyon Varlamov finished with 32 saves, Mike Reilly, Kyle Palmieri and Anders Lee also scored goals and the Islanders extended their winning streak to five games, inching closer to a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Chris Kreider and Long Island native Adam Fox scored power-play goals for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin made 25 saves, but the Rangers’ three-game winning streak ended.
(At) Tampa Bay 5, Columbus 2: Steven Stamkos had three goals and an assist, NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov picked up his fourth straight three-point game with three assists, and playoff-bound Tampa Bay beat Columbus.
Anthony Cirelli and Stamkos scored 16 seconds apart to break an early third-period tie before Stamkos made it 5-2 on an empty-netter to complete his 13th hat trick.
Brayden Point had the other Tampa Bay goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves. Kucherov has 139 points.
The Lightning hold the top Eastern Conference wild card and trail Toronto by six points for third place in the Atlantic Division. Both teams have four games left.
(At) Montreal 9, Philadelphia 3: Juraj Slafkovsky scored his first career hat trick, and Montreal dealt stumbling Philadelphia their eighth straight defeat with a blowout win.
The 20-year-old Slafkovsky put Montreal up 4-0 with his third goal on a breakaway midway through the second period and received a deafening standing ovation from the Bell Centre crowd when the goal was announced.
Christian Dvorak – in his return from a 42-game absence – and Brendan Gallagher both scored twice while Josh Anderson and Joel Armia also found the back of the net for Montreal. Sam Montembeault made 33 saves and Jordan Harris had three assists as the Canadiens snapped a three-game skid.
Ryan Poehling had two goals and Joel Farabee also scored for Philadelphia, which suffered another blow to its end-of-season playoff chase.
(At) Dallas 3, Buffalo 2: Joe Pavelski scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection with his back to the net and playoff-bound Dallas got their 50th win of the season over Buffalo.
Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston also had goals while Thomas Harley had two assists for the Stars, who won for the 10th time in 11 games and have a Western Conference-high 109 points with three games to play. They moved within one point of the Rangers for the most in the NHL after New York lost its game.
Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin had goals in the first period for Buffalo, which failed to score on two power plays in the third period.
Winnipeg 4, (at) Nashville 3 (OT): Kyle Connor (Michigan) scored at 1:52 of overtime to give Winnipeg a victory over Nashville.
Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists, Gabriel Vilardi and Dylan DeMelo also scored and Connor Hellebuyck made a season-high 45 saves for Winnipeg, winners of four straight.
Tommy Novak, Spencer Stastney and Ryan O’Reilly scored and Juuse Saros made 18 saves for Nashville, losers of five of seven. Kiefer Sherwood and Roman Josi each had two assists.
With the overtime loss, the Predators clinched a playoff spot. After missing the playoffs last season, the Predators have reached the postseason in nine of the last 10 years.
(At) Anaheim 3, L.A. Kings 1: Alex Killorn and Trevor Zegras scored in the third period, and the Ducks prevented the Kings from securing a playoff spot.
Frank Vatrano also scored, Lukas Dostal made 36 saves, and the Ducks beat their Freeway Faceoff foes for the first time in three meetings.
Akil Thomas scored and Cam Talbot made 24 saves for the Kings, who had won three straight games.
Los Angeles will have to wait to confirm a third straight playoff appearance, and the defeat also put the chance to avenge two straight first-round losses to Edmonton at risk. Vegas is one point behind the Kings for third place in the Pacific Division with a game in hand.
(At) Seattle 5, Arizona 0: Shane Wright scored 68 seconds into the first period for his fourth goal in four games since being called up from the AHL and Philipp Grubauer made 39 saves in his second shutout of the season.
André Burakovsky, Justin Schultz, Brandon Tanev and Will Borgen also scored as the Kraken won for the fifth time in seven games with the end of the regular season drawing closer.
Wright, Seattle’s first-round pick in 2022, had 20 goals in 53 games in the AHL this season and has immediately carried that production into his limited stint with the Kraken.
(At) Colorado 5, Minnesota 2: Nathan MacKinnon notched his seventh career hat trick as part of a four-point performance, and the Avalanche broke out of a two-game funk.
Artturi Lehkonen and Cale Makar also scored for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 20 shots in a bounce-back performance after allowing 12 goals in his previous two games.
The win kept Colorado in second place in the Central Division with 104 points. The team trails Dallas by five points with three games left. Colorado also stays ahead of Winnipeg, which beat Nashville 4-3 in overtime Tuesday to climb to 102 points.
Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy had goals for a Wild team that was officially eliminated from postseason contention. Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves.
Calgary 3, (at) San Jose 2 (OT): Andrei Kuzmenko scored a power-play goal 2:58 into overtime and Rasmus Andersson and Nazem Kadri also scored for Calgary.
William Eklund and Jacob MacDonald had goals for San Jose.
The last-place Sharks have dropped four of five. San Jose would clinch the worst record in the NHL and have a 25.5% chance of winning the top pick in the draft lottery if Chicago wins at St. Louis on Wednesday.
Playoff tracker
Atlantic
▶ Bruins (107)
▶ Panthers (104)
▶ Maple Leafs (101)
Metropolitan
▶ Rangers (110)
▶ Hurricanes (107)
▶ Islanders (87)
Wild card
▶ Lightning (95)
▶ Capitals (85)
(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)
▶ Penguins (84)
▶ Red Wings (84)
▶ Flyers (83)
▶ Sabres (79)
▶ Devils (79)
If playoffs started Wednesday
Eastern Conference playoff matchups
▶ (1M) Rangers vs. Capitals (WC2)
▶ (A2) Panthers vs. Maple Leafs (A3)
▶ (1A) Bruins vs. Lightning (WC1)
▶ (2M) Hurricanes vs. (3M) Islanders
Remaining games in wild-card race
Islanders (87)
▶ Home (2): Canadiens, Penguins
▶ Away (1): Devils
Capitals (85 points)
▶ Home (2): Lightning, Bruins
▶ Away (2): Sabres, Flyers
Red Wings (84)
▶ Home (1): Canadiens
▶ Away (3): Penguins, Leafs, Canadiens
Penguins (84)
▶ Home (3): Wings, Bruins, Predators
▶ Away (1): Islanders
Flyers (83 points)
▶ Home (2): Devils, Capitals
▶ Away (1): Rangers
Devils' Hughes out for rest of season
New Jersey Devils All-Star forward Jack Hughes is going to miss the rest of the season because of a shoulder injury that will require surgery this week.
The Devils announced the decision Tuesday less than two hours before they were to face the Toronto in their penultimate home game this season. The Maple Leafs won 5-2, eliminating New Jersey from playoff contention less than a year after they set a franchise record for points in a season with 112.
Hughes, who has 27 goals and 47 assists, will have the surgery on Wednesday. It will be performed by Dr. Peter Millett in Vail, Colorado.
“In recent conversations with Jack, his family and representatives, the Devils athlete care staff, and Devils’ Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jonathan L. Glashow, it was determined that Jack should be held out of game action for the rest of this season and proceed with shoulder surgery,” the Devils said in a statement.
Hughes sustained an upper body injury on Jan. 5 in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks and did not return until Feb. 8. He was hurt in the same game that Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick in last year's draft, broke his jaw.
Hughes was also hurt on Sunday in a game against Nashville, another upper body injury. Earlier in the day, the team said Hughes would miss the game Tuesday night.
“I just think with where we’re at this time, it’s time to shut him down,” Devils interim coach Travis Green said. "It’s no secret he’s been struggling a little bit. Kudos to him to continue to play and try to help this team get into the playoffs. You know, we just hope that the time is right to get that done now.”
Fleury part of prank war
Colorado forward Brandon Duhaime has put the brakes on pulling pranks after losing all four of his tires and seeing a garden planted on the hood of his car.
Chalk up another win for Minnesota goaltender Marc-André Fleury, Duhaime's former teammate who is the master of mischief.
Duhaime started the prank war when he decorated Fleury’s car with mounds of unrolled toilet paper.
Fleury ended it when he went to Home Depot on Monday to round up gardening and auto supplies, stealthily slinked into the Ball Arena players' parking lot and went to work on “customizing” Duhaime’s Jeep.
Fleury took off the tires, chained them to a fence and placed the car on cinder blocks. He piled dirt on the hood, along with the lug nuts and a socket wrench. He finished it off with an arrangement of colorful flowers and a note that read: “My dear friend … If you would like to know where the keys to the lock are and the tools to put the tires back on send me an apology video.”
Fitting, since Fleury’s nickname is “Flower.”
“I think white flag’s coming up,” Duhaime said Tuesday, hours before the Avalanche played the Wild. “I think I’m done.”
Michigan-area hockey this week
Tuesday
▶ Washington 2, Detroit 1
Thursday
▶ Red Wings at Pittsburgh, 7 (BSD/950)
▶ Michigan vs. Boston College in Minnesota, 8:30 (ESPNU)
Friday
▶ Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7 (AHL/96.1)
▶ NTDP U17s at Youngstown, 7
Saturday
▶ Red Wings at Toronto, 7 (BSD/CBC/97.1)
▶ Grand Rapids at Chicago, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Youngstown at NTDP U17s, 7
Sunday
▶ Grand Rapids at Chicago, 4 (AHL/96.1)