Ilya Sorokin’s goaltending against Stars gives the Islanders a much-needed win

NEW YORK (AP) — Ilya Sorokin gave the New York Islanders the type of elite goaltending they needed facing one of the NHL’s top teams while in the thick of a playoff chase, making 26 saves to beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Thursday night.

Sorokin was locked in from the drop of the puck, denying Colin Blackwell on a shorthanded breakaway 10 minutes in and making a handful of other 10-bell saves on quality scoring chances in the first period alone. He was perfect on a pair of penalty kills, one each in the second and third periods, and allowed only one goal on a 6-on-5 with three minutes left to Matt Duchene.

Bo Horvat scored his 30th goal of the season five minutes in and Calum Ritchie later picked up the 11th of his rookie year to provide enough offensive support. Matthew Schaefer, the face of the franchise at 18 years old, assisted on each to reach 54 points and tie Hall of Famer Denis Potvin for the second most by a rookie defenseman in Islanders history.

CANADIENS 2, BLUE JACKETS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — Zachary Bolduc scored the winner with his first goal since Dec. 23, and Montreal edged Columbus.

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Jayden Struble — with his first of the season — also scored, and Jakub Dobes made 25 saves as Montreal won its third consecutive game.

Damon Severson scored for Columbus, and Jet Greaves stopped 18 shots.

The Blue Jackets fell to 19-4-4 since Rick Bowness replaced Dean Evason as head coach Jan. 12. They climbed from 28th overall to second in the Metropolitan Division ahead of Thursday’s games.

The Canadiens, meanwhile, sit third in the Atlantic Division with 11 games remaining.

PENGUINS 4, OTTAWA 3, SO

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Ben Kindel scored the shootout winner to lead Pittsburgh to a win over Ottawa.

Rickard Rakell scored twice and had an assist, and Erik Karlsson also scored for the Penguins, who moved into second in the Metropolitan Division.

Drake Batherson scored twice and Nick Cousins also scored for the Senators. Tim Stutzle added two assists.

Both Linus Ullmark and Stuart Skinner made huge saves in overtime to force the shootout.

KRAKEN 4, LIGHTNING 3, OT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Brandon Montour scored his second goal of the game 2:47 into overtime to give Seattle a victory against Tampa Bay.

Bobby McMann and Kaapo Kakko each had a goal and an assist. Philipp Grubauer stopped 30 shots for Seattle, which snapped a four-game losing streak.

Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist, Anthony Cirelli and Corey Perry both scored, and Charle-Edouard D’Astous had two assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 15 saves. Tampa Bay improved to 4-0-2 in the last six games.

Montour picked up the puck from Shane Wright and beat Vasilevskiy to keep Seattle in the playoff race in the Western Conference.

WILD 3, PANTHERS 2

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Joel Eriksson Ek scored the winning goal with 4.4 seconds left to lift Minnesota past Florida.

Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman also had goals for the Wild and Jesper Wallstedt made 18 saves.

Minnesota, which is 3-4-1 in its last eight, entered Thursday’s game five points behind second-place Dallas and 12 points ahead of fourth-place Utah in the Central Division. The Panthers entered Thursday 12 points behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

Aaron Ekblad hammered a shot inside the left post to tie it for Florida with 1:13 left. But Eriksson Ek answered with the winner in the closing seconds of the third period.

FLYERS 5, BLACKHAWKS 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alex Bump and Sean Couturier scored in the first three minutes of the game and Philadelphia used the fast start to cruise to a win over Chicago.

Bump, Noah Cates and Christian Dvorak had a goal and an assist each for the Flyers, who have won six of their last eight games to stay in the chase for a wild-card playoff spot. Denver Barkey also had a goal for Philadelphia and Samuel Ersson made 25 saves.

Connor Bedard scored his 30th goal of the season for Chicago to become the third Blackhawks player with a 30-goal season at age 20 or younger, joining Jonathan Toews (34 in 2008-09) and Eric Daze (30 in 1995-96).

Spencer Knight had 37 saves for Chicago.

BLUES 2, SHARKS 1, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Dylan Holloway scored with 3 seconds left in overtime to lift St. Louis to a victory over San Jose.

Dalibor Dvorsky also scored for the Blues, who won their third straight. Joel Hofer made 24 saves.

Alexander Wennberg had the lone goal for the Sharks, who have dropped six in a row (0-5-1). Yaroslav Askarov made 11 saves before leaving with an injury and was replaced by Alex Nedeljkovic.

With the game tied at 1, the Sharks tried to win it when Macklin Celebrini passed to Dmitry Orlov, whose wrist shot went wide. Phillip Broberg got the rebound and sent a long pass down the left side to a streaking Holloway, who caught up with the puck, skated in front of the net and put a backhander past Nedeljkovic for the win.

DEVILS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nico Hischier scored two goals to lead New Jersey to a victory over Nashville.

Jesper Bratt scored a goal and added two assists, Timo Meier scored an empty-net goal, and Jacob Markstrom made 16 saves for the Devils, winners of five of six. Jack Hughes and Jonas Siegenthaler had two assists apiece.

Reid Schaefer and Steven Stamkos scored and Justus Annunen made 26 saves for the Predators, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.

Nashville entered Thursday three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for the Western Conference’s second wild card berth.

AVALANCHE 3, JETS 2

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored his 47th and 48th goals of the season to propel Colorado to a victory over Winnipeg.

Jack Drury scored his career-high ninth goal of the season for the NHL-leading Avalanche, who ended a four-game road trip with a 4-0-0 record. Artturi Lehkonen added an assist in his return after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury.

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 22 shots for Colorado.

Mark Scheifele scored twice and leads the Jets with 34 goals.

Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves.

CAPITALS 7, MAMMOTH 4

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Alex Ovechkin had his 29th career hat trick, Ivan Miroshnichenko scored twice, and Washington beat Utah to snap a two-game losing streak.

Anthony Beauvillier and Rasmus Sandin also scored for the Capitals, while Logan Thompson made 35 stops for Washington, which scored four unanswered goals after falling behind 3-1.

Dylan Guenther scored twice for Utah. Logan Cooley and MacKenzie Weegar added a goal apiece and Vitek Vanecek made 17 saves for the Mammoth, who have dropped six of their last seven games at home.

DUCKS 3, FLAMES 2, OT

CALGARY, AlbeRta (AP) — Mikael Granlund capped off his hat trick scoring on the power play with 1 second remaining in overtime to give Anaheim a victory over Calgary.

Granlund has seven goals during a four-game goal streak that has him up to 19 on the season as Anaheim extended its winning streak to four games.

The Pacific Division-leading Ducks opened the night with a five-point cushion on the Edmonton Oilers and a six-point lead on the Vegas Golden Knights.

Rookie Matvei Gridin and Blake Coleman scored for Calgary, which extended its point streak to five games (4-0-1). Gridin stretched his point streak to four games (one goal, three assists).

OILERS 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, OT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Evan Bouchard scored at 3:10 of overtime, shortly after Edmonton killed off a Vegas penalty, and the Oilers defeated the Golden Knights in a game with playoff implications.

The Oilers extended their lead for second place in the Pacific Division to two points over the Golden Knights. They are five points behind first-place Anaheim.

Edmonton captain Connor McDavid scored a goal and picked up two assists. His first assist gave him 800, the third-fastest player to reach that milestone. He got there in 785 games, behind only Wayne Gretzky (527 games) and Mario Lemieux (661).

McDavid, who has 121 points this season, has scored four goals in three games. Matt Savoie, a 22-year-old rookie, scored a goal for his fourth point (three goals, one assist) over six games since joining the top line. Zach Hyman also scored and Connor Ingram made 26 saves.

KINGS 4, CANUCKS 0

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves for his third shutout of the season and 39th of his career to lead Los Angeles to a victory over Vancouver.

Trevor Moore had a goal and an assist for the Kings, and Scott Laughton, Artemi Panarin and Quinton Byfield also scored. Mikey Anderson had a pair of assists.

The victory moved the Kings within one point of the Nashville Predators, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff race.

One of the best stops by Kuemper, whose last shutout was on Dec. 6 against Chicago, came at the 10:43 mark of the first period when Teddy Blueger launched a blast from the slot and the goalie kicked out his right leg to send the puck soaring with the toe of his skate.

Kevin Lankinen made 34 saves for the Canucks, who lost their fourth straight game. Vancouver has been shut out five times this season, with four coming at home.

The Associated Press