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    Thursday, April 25, 2024

    NHL roundup

    Colorado goaltender Pavel Francouz stops a shot by Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat during the second period of Saturday's game in Tampa, Fla. Colorado won, 6-2. (Jason Behnken/AP Photo)

    Avalanche 6, Lightning 2

    Pavel Francouz overcame some pregame jitters to get his second win in two career starts.

    Francouz made 44 saves, Tyson Jost had three goals, and Colorado beat high-powered Tampa Bay on Saturday night to remain the only NHL team without a regulation loss this season.

    "It was a great challenge," Francouz said. "Of course I was a little bit nervous about the game. But I was trying to see it as fun. It was a fun night."

    The 29-year-old Francouz followed up his first career start and win Oct. 12 against Arizona with a number of nifty saves, including a post-to-post pad stop in the first on Ondrej Palat.

    "Frankie was great," Colorado left wing Gabriel Landeskog said. "He made some really amazing saves."

    Colorado's 7-0-1 start is the second-longest season opening point streak in franchise history, behind only the 9-0-2 start in 2000-01.

    Jost opened the scoring 3:09 into the game and completed his first career hat trick with a pair of goals coming 2:49 apart early in the second period.

    "We had some big nights from some guys," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "The Jost line, for me, was outstanding especially the first half of the game. Those guys were a big difference maker tonight."

    Colorado, 3-0-1 on a six-game road trip, also got goals from Landeskog, Nazem Kadri and Mikko Rantanen. Colin Wilson had three assists.

    Yanni Gourde and Victor Hedman scored for the Lightning, who returned home after a 3-2-1 road trip. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 shots.

    "Look, we've been on the road pretty much the entire year since opening night," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "There is a history in this league coming back off long road trips that you're hoping you can get through the game. Did our guys battle, did they work? They did. We got burned by a good team on a few errors in execution."

    The Avalanche went up 2-1 when Jost got his second goal at 3:17 of the second. After Landeskog scored at 5:48, Jost made it 4-1 just 18 seconds later from in-close off a pass by J.T. Compher.

    Compher had two assists.

    Kadri, Rantanen, who deked out two defenders, and Hedman had third-period goals.

    Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov sent a penalty-shot backhander in the third over the net.

    "We had enough chances," Cooper said. "But all that matters is how many go into the net and they had way more than us."

    Tampa Bay's top line of Kucherov (six), Steven Stamkos (seven) and Brayden Point (one) combined for 14 shots but were pointless.

    Referee Kelly Sutherland left early in the first period with an undisclosed injury and did not return. Colorado D Cale Makar lost his balance skating through the low slot during an in-close scoring chance and collided with Sutherland in the corner.

    Islanders 3, Blue Jackets 2 (OT)

    Brock Nelson scored 33 seconds into overtime, lifting the Islanders to their fourth straight win.

    Nelson beat Joonas Korpisalo from the slot off a feed from Nick Leddy.

    Columbus' Boone Jenner tied the score late in the second period when he pounced on a puck that fell out of New York goalie Thomas Greiss' glove after a shot by Dean Kukan. The third period was scoreless.

    Mathew Barzal and Michael Dal Colle also scored for the Islanders. Greiss had 34 saves.

    Seth Jones scored and Korpisalo finished with 31 saves as Columbus lost in overtime for the second consecutive night.

    Devils 1, Canucks 0

    Jack Hughes scored his first career goal in his first NHL game against his older brother Quinn Hughes, helping the Devils top the Canucks.

    Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 25 shots in his third career shutout, sending New Jersey to its second straight victory after starting the season with six straight losses.

    Jack Hughes, 18, played in his eighth NHL game after he was selected by New Jersey with the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft. Quinn Hughes, 20, was a first-round selection by Vancouver in 2018.

    There were approximately 80 Hughes family members and friends on hand for their first NHL matchup.

    Thatcher Demko made 23 saves for Vancouver.

    Golden Knights 3, Penguins 0

    Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots against his former team, leading the Golden Knights to the road win.

    Fleury recorded his 445th win, tying Terry Sawchuck for seventh on the NHL career list. Fleury, who made his second career start for Vegas against the Penguins in Pittsburgh, also registered his 57th career shutout.

    The Golden Knights won for the fourth time in five games. Paul Stastny scored his fourth of the season, a power-play goal in the second period, and William Karlsson and Mark Stone added empty-netters in the final 90 seconds.

    Tristan Jarry made 21 saves for Pittsburgh, which had won five in a row.

    Stars 4, Flyers 1

    Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell and Corey Perry scored to help Dallas snap a five-game losing streak.

    Ben Bishop stopped 38 shots for the slow-starting Stars, who improved to just 2-7-1. The Stars only took 16 shots against a listless Flyers team playing their first home game in 10 days.

    Sean Couturier scored for Philadelphia, and Carter Hart made just 12 saves.

    Canadiens 5, Blues 2

    Brendan Gallagher, Jonathan Drouin and Nick Suzuki scored in the second period, leading Montreal to the victory.

    Jordan Weal and Shea Weber also scored for the Canadiens, who won for the third time in four games. Carey Price made 32 saves in his 325th win, passing Sean Burke for 27th on the NHL career list.

    St. Louis dropped its fourth straight game. Jaden Schwartz and David Perron scored for the Stanley Cup champions, and Jake Allen made 20 saves in his first home start since Jan. 8.

    Coyotes 5, Senators 2

    Conor Garland had a goal and an assist, Antti Raanta stopped 34 shots and the surging Coyotes outlasted the Senators.

    Kyle Capobianco posted his first NHL goal for the Coyotes, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson also scored in the first period. Carl Soderberg added a goal in the third period and Lawson Crouse had an empty-netter for Arizona, which has 20 goals during a five-game points streak.

    Raanta, who was injured most of last season, earned his first win since last Nov. 2 against Carolina.

    The Senators made a late push, pulling within two goals after Vladislav Namestnikov and Chris Tierney scored in the third period. Craig Anderson stopped 23 shots.

    Panthers 3, Predators 2 (SO)

    Vincent Trocheck scored the deciding goal in the shootout to give Florida the road win.

    Denis Malgin and Brett Connolly scored in regulation for Florida, which has won two of three. The Panthers have gone to overtime in four of their eight games this season.

    Florida's Sam Montembeault made 25 saves and denied all three Nashville shooters in the shootout.

    Roman Josi and Kyle Turris scored for Nashville, which has lost three of four. Ryan Ellis had two assists for the Predators, who played their first overtime game of the season.

    Sabres 4, Sharks 3

    Zemgus Girgensons scored with 7:45 left and Buffalo continued its surprising start with a victory over San Jose.

    Marcus Johansson had a goal and an assist for Buffalo (7-1-1), which is coming off its sixth straight losing season.

    The Sabres are looking to end an eight-year playoff drought. They have the Eastern Conference's best record.

    San Jose had a three-game winning streak snapped after opening the season with four straight losses.

    Kings 4, Flames 1

    Jeff Carter had a goal and assist, Jonathan Quick made 23 saves and Los Angeles snapped a three-game losing streak.

    Tyler Toffoli, Anze Kopitar and Ilya Kovalchuk also scored for the Kings, who put the game out of reach with a three-goal second period. Quick got his first victory of the season in his fourth start. He was on track to get a shutout until Mikael Backlund scored on a penalty shot with 2:10 remaining.

    David Rittich, who came in with a 2.55 goals-against-average, allowed four goals on 28 shots in two periods. Cam Talbot came in for the final 20 minutes and made eight saves for the Flames, who have dropped three straight road games.

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