Tkachuk breaks tie with 39th, Panthers beat Sabres 2-1

Tue, Apr 4, 2023
NHL News (AP)

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) - Matthew Tkachuk snapped a tie in the opening minute of the third period with his 39th goal and the Florida Panthers held off the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Tuesday night for their fourth consecutive victory.

Aaron Ekblad also scored for Florida, and Alex Lyon made 40 saves. The Panthers (40-31-7) moved into a tie with the New York Islanders for the top spot in the Eastern Conference wild-card standings. Florida owns the first tiebreaker because of its regulations wins.

Dylan Cozens scored for Buffalo, which had won four of five. Devon Levi made 34 saves in his first loss in two NHL starts.

DEVILS 5, PENGUINS 1

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Dawson Mercer scored his first career hat trick and New Jersey beat Pittsvburgh, putting the fading Penguins' bid for a 17th straight Stanley Cup playoff berth in serious jeopardy.

Dougie Hamilton and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils and Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves as New Jersey rebounded from its worst loss of the season, a 6-1 setback in Winnipeg on Sunday night.

Coupled with Florida's win over Buffalo, the Panthers moved a point ahead of the Penguins in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have four games left, but they don't play each other.

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Bryan Rust ruined Vanecek's bid for a fourth shutout this season when he scored his 20th of the season at 6:14 of the third period. Tristan Jarry had 32 saves for the Penguins, whose run of 16 straight postseason appearances is the longest active streak among the major North American sports leagues.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, BLUE JACKETS 2

TORONTO (AP) - Zach Aston-Reese scored twice, Joseph Woll made 24 saves and Toronto beat Columbus.

Woll was recalled from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis after Matt Murray left with a head injury Sunday in a loss to Detroit. Woll improved to 4-1-0 this season with the Maple Leafs.

Alexander Kerfoot and Auston Mathews, into an empty net, also scored for Toronto. Sam Lafferty had two assists.

Jack Roslovic and Eric Robinson scored for Columbus and Jet Greaves stopped 46 shots in his NHL debut.

RED WINGS 5, CANADIENS 0

MONTREAL (AP) - David Perron had two goals and an assist, Ville Husso returned from a lower-body injury to make 24 saves and Detroit beat Montreal.

Husso was back after sitting out seven games. Lucas Raymond, Matt Luff and Joe Veleno also scored and Jordan Oesterle and Olli Matta each had two assists. Detroit ended a three-game Canadian trip with consecutive victories.

Cayden Primeau made 16 saves for in his second start for Montreal this season.

Referee Marc Joannette ended his career with the game. He officiated more than 1,500 NHL games and three Stanley Cup finals.

HURRICANES 3, SENATORS 2, OT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Martin Necas scored with 40.1 seconds left in overtime to lift Carolina past Ottawa for its 50th victory of the season.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Brady Skjei both had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who maintained a three-point lead over New Jersey atop the Metropolitan Division.

Antti Raanta made 25 saves to improve to 18-2-3.

Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk scored for Ottawa. Leevi Merilainen made 34 saves in his NHL debut.

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