Blues beat Avalanche 2-1, extend win streak to nine games
St. Louis Blues right wing Alexey Toropchenko, left, congratulates goaltender Jordan Binnington after an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
DENVER (AP) — Zack Bolduc and Pavel Buchnevich each scored a goal for St. Louis and the Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Saturday to extend their win streak to nine consecutive games.
Bolduc opened the scoring with 9:03 left in the first period and Nathan MacKinnon scored on one-timer for the Avalanche to make it 1-1 about a minute later. The 29-year-old MacKinnon has 52 points (18 goals, 34 assists) in 49 regular-season games against the Blues, in addition to 17 points (9, 8) in 11 playoff games.
The Avalanche, who had a four-game win streak snapped, went into the game allowing an NHL-best 2.00 goals per game since Feb. 1.
The Blues took a 2-1 lead in the four-game regular-season series between the teams. The Avs won 5-0 at home on Jan. 31 while the Blues won 3-1 on Feb. 23 in St. Louis.
FLYERS 7, SABRES 4
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Matvei Michkov had his second straight two-goal game and Samuel Ersson made 17 saves as Philadelphia beat Buffalo.
Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster, Ryan Poehling and Jakob Pelletier also scored for the Flyers, who won their second straight game after coach John Tortorella was fired on Thursday.
Jack Quinn scored twice, and Alex Tuch and John-Jason Peterkaas added goals as the Sabres had their three-game winning streak halted in the opener of a three-game trip. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had 25 stops.
Michkov opened the score about six minutes in, scoring on a wrist shot off assists from Travis Konecny and Yegor Zamula. He scored his second — again off an assist from Konecny — on a backhand shot with 9:24 remaining in the second. With another two-goal performance, the 20-year-old increased his point totals to 24 goals and 32 assists in 73 games.
LIGHTNING 5, ISLANDERS 3
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Brayden Point scored twice and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist as Tampa Bay beat New York.
Nick Perbix and Jake Guentzel also scored for the Lightning. Jonas Johansson made 35 stops.
Marc Gatcomb, Anthony DeAngelo and Ryan Pulock scored for the Islanders, who lost their fourth straight game. Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves.
The Lightning won their third straight and matched the idle Florida Panthers’ 91 points atop the tight Atlantic Division, where the Toronto Maple Leafs entered Saturday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings just a point back.
DEVILS 5, WILD 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Nico Hischier scored three goals for his second hat trick of the season and New Jersey beat Minnesota.
Paul Cotter and Tomas Tatar also scored, Jesper Bratt had two assists, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 22 shots for the Devils. New Jersey won for the second time in six games (2-3-1).
Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman scored and Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves for the Wild, who have lost three of four.
Minnesota is tied with St. Louis for the top wild card in the Western Conference, with the teams six points ahead of Vancouver. The Blues beat Colorado 2-1 Saturday for their ninth straight win.
After New Jersey was blanked 4-0 Friday in Winnipeg, Hischier scored 29 seconds into the game and Cotter scored before six minutes elapsed for a 2-0 lead.
Hischier made it 3-1 early in the third, but Hartman answered two minutes later for the Wild. Hischier completed his first three-goal game since Nov. 25 with a power-play goal with 5:10 remaining. Hischier has a career-high 33 goals this season.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, PREDATORS 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist, and Vegas beat Nashville for their sixth straight win.
Reilly Smith and Brett Howden also scored and Shea Theodore had two assists for Vegas. Adin Hill made 23 saves.
Ryan O’Reilly scored and Justus Annunen stopped 27 shots for Nashville, which has lost three of four.
Tied 1-1 entering the third period, Smith scored the go-ahead goal at 6:25 on a Vegas power play. Howden added an empty-netter in the final minute to give him a goal in three straight games.
O’Reilly gave Nashville a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 5:53 of the second.
Eichel tied it at 8:26, tapping home a rebound after Theodore’s shot hit traffic in front and landed at Eichel’s feet. The goal extended his point-scoring streak to six games.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, KINGS 1
LOS ANGELES (AP) — John Tavares scored twice and Toronto defeated Los Angeles.
Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist, Anthony Stolarz made 35 saves, and the Maple Leafs are 5-1-1 in their past seven games.
Alex Laferriere scored, Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves, and the Kings had their franchise-record 15-game home point streak snapped. It was their first regulation loss at home since falling 5-1 to Pittsburgh on Jan. 20.
Laferriere put the Kings ahead early in the second period, but Matthews tied it up 1-1 early in the third with his second career short-handed goal.
Tavares then put Toronto in front by putting in Matthews’ rebound during a 4-on-3 power play with less than eight minutes remaining. He picked up an empty-netter with 1:35 remaining.
SENATORS 3, BLUE JACKETS 2
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Drake Batherson and Jake Sanderson scored for Ottawa and they beat Columbus in a matchup of teams vying for playoff spots.
Ridly Greig had a goal and an assist as Ottawa won for the third time in four games and strengthened its hold on the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. Linus Ullmark had 29 saves.
Boone Jenner and Kirill Marchenko scored for Columbus, which was coming off a 7-6 shootout win over Vancouver the previous night. Daniil Tarasov finished with 24 saves.
The Blue Jackets remained tied with Montreal and the New York Rangers with 75 points — eight points behind Ottawa. The Canadiens hold the second wild card by virtue of more regulation wins than the Blue Jackets and more games remaining than the Rangers.
RED WINGS 2, BRUINS 1
DETROIT (AP) — Lucas Raymond and Marco Kasper scored, Cam Talbot stopped 21 shots and Detroit beat Boston.
Detroit, clinging to flickering playoff hopes, won for just the fourth time in 15 games. The Red Wings are tied with the New York Islanders — one point behind Montreal, Columbus and the New York Rangers, who are tied for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
The rebuilding Bruins, who traded captain Brad Marchand at the trade deadline, have lost eight straight for the first time since dropping 10 games in a row in 2010.
Morgan Geekie pulled Boston within a goal early in the second period on a power play and Jeremy Swayman finished with 20 saves. The Bruins pulled Swayman with 1:56 left to add an extra skater, but couldn’t score again.
OILERS 3, FLAMES 2, OT
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl got his second goal of the night 2:25 into overtime, and Edmonton beat Calgary to snap a two-game skid.
Viktor Arvidsson also scored and Darnell Nurse had two assists for the Oilers, who were again without star forward Connor McDavid, defenseman Mattias Ekholm and goalie Stuart Skinner. Calvin Pickard had 26 saves to get the win as Edmonton moved into a tie with Los Angeles for second place in the Pacific Division.
Yegor Sharangovich and Brayden Pachal scored for the Flames, who have lost two straight and sit seven points behind St. Louis and Minnesota for a wild card. Dustin Wolf had 26 saves.
In the extra period, Jeff Skinner dropped the puck back to Draisaitl in the slot and he blasted a shot past Wolf for his league-leading 51st goal of the season.
RANGERS 6, SHARKS 1
SAN JOSE (AP) — Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox each scored two goals, Jonathan Quick had 21 saves, and New York beat San Jose.
Jonny Brodzinsky and Vincent Trocheck also scored for New York.
Cam Lund scored a power play goal for San Jose for his first career point, and Sharks goalie Alexandar Georgiev had 27 saves.
Panarin, who scored his team-leading 32nd and 33rd goals, got New York started scoring twice in less than two minutes in a first period in which the Rangers out-shot San Jose 14-5. His first goal broke a scoreless tie at 12:04 of the first and then next at 13:58 made it 2-0.
STARS 5, KRAKEN 1
SEATTLE (AP) — Jason Robertson netted his 33rd goal of the season, Jake Oettinger finished with 34 saves, and Dallas clinched a playoff spot with a victory over Seattle.
For the fourth consecutive season, Dallas will vie for the Stanley Cup and now sit four points behind Winnipeg for the best record in the conference.
Robertson’s goal about eight minutes into the first period tied the game at 1-1 then Roope Hintz scored on the power play with 1:36 left until the second to put the Stars ahead for good.
Mason Marchment added a power-play goal in the third, part of an efficient night where the Stars registered just 21 shots on goal, but kept the pressure on the Kraken defensemen.
The Stars added two more goals in the final 20 minutes.