Bruins win 5th straight, beat Jets 4-1 in matchup of 1st-place teams

Boston Bruins' Jakub Lauko (94) celebrates after his goal with Morgan Geekie (39), Derek Forbort (28) and Trent Frederic (11) during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Winnipeg Jets, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

BOSTON (AP) — Charlie Coyle scored the tiebreaking goal late in the opening period and Boston’s tight defense carried the Bruins to their fifth straight victory, 4-1 over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night in a matchup of top NHL teams.

Jake DeBrusk and Jakub Lauko also scored as Boston improved to 10-1-3 in its last 14 games. Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves for the Bruins, who lead the Eastern Conference with 67 points.

DeBrusk had a short-handed goal with 5:25 left and Brad Marchand added an empty-netter. Winnipeg had given up no more than two goals in 14 consecutive games, and three or fewer in 34 straight games — one short of the modern NHL record set by the 2015 Minnesota Wild.

Vladislav Namestnikov scored for the Jets, who lead the Central Division with 64 points. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 17 shots.

DEVILS 6, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5, OT

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Tyler Toffoli scored 2:35 into overtime to complete his second hat trick of the season as New Jersey rallied past Vegas.

Curtis Lazar added two goals and Nico Hischier also scored for the Devils, who had lost three of four. Simon Nemec and Nathan Bastian each had two assists, and Vitek Vanecek stopped 28 shots.

Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and Nicolas Roy added a goal and two assists for Vegas. Pavel Dorofeyev and Chandler Stephenson also scored for the Golden Knights. Logan Thompson finished with 32 saves.

The Devils trailed 5-3 late in the second period before Toffoli scored with 16 seconds remaining and Lazar got his second of the night at 9:14 of the third to tie it.

PANTHERS 4, PREDATORS 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist in Florida's victory over Nashville.

Sam Reinhart also scored and Brandon Montour and Matthew Tkachuk added empty-net goals for the Panthers, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves, and Sam Bennett had three assists.

Jeremy Lauzon scored and Juuse Saros stopped 34 shots for the Predators, who have lost three of four.

The goal was Reinhart’s career-high 34th of the season. Reinhart also extended his point streak to 10 games, one shy of his career best. During the streak, he has 11 goals and three assists.

COYOTES 5, PENGUINS 2

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Lawson Crouse scored a bizarre goal in the third period, Connor Ingram stopped 25 shots and Arizona ended an 11-game losing streak to Pittsburgh.

Crouse was credited with a goal on a delayed penalty by the Coyotes when Evgeni Malkin mishandled a pass from Kris Letang and the puck trickled into the empty net as the Penguins swapped their goalie for an extra attacker. Crouse was the last Arizona player to touch the puck and got the power-play goal that put the Coyotes up 4-2.

The gaffe overshadowed Sidney Crosby’s 577th career goal, which tied him with Mark Recchi for 21st place on the NHL’s career list.

Lars Eller also scored and Tristan Jarry made 22 saves for the Penguins.

Jason Zucker had a goal and an assist for Arizona. Juuso Valimaki, Alex Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad also scored.

CANUCKS 2, BLACKHAWKS 0

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Thatcher Demko stopped 31 shots for his fifth shutout of the season as Vancouver blanked Chicago.

Pius Suter and Quinn Hughes scored, and Andrei Kuzmenko had two assists to help the Canucks earn their third straight win. It was the eighth career shutout for Demko, who got his seventh straight victory and ninth in his last 10 starts.

Petr Mrazek made 27 saves for the Blackhawks.

SHARKS 4, KINGS 3, SO

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Fabian Zetterlund scored the first goal of the game and the clinching goal in a shootout to lift San Jose over slumping Los Angeles.

William Eklund and Justin Bailey also scored in regulation for the NHL-worst Sharks, who earned their first road win against a Western Conference opponent this season and won their second consecutive game overall.

Logan Couture and Zetterlund converted in the shootout. Kaapo Kahkonen made 44 saves and denied both Los Angeles shooters in the tiebreaker.

Drew Doughty, Trevor Moore and Quinton Byfield scored for the Kings, who have lost 11 of 13. Doughty salvaged a point for Los Angeles with a power-play goal during a 6-on-4 advantage with 1:58 remaining in the third period to tie it.

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