PHILADELPHIA — Phil Kessel and Conor Sheary scored in a four-goal second period to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-1 win over the scuffling Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
Ryan Reaves and Tom Kuhnhackl also scored in the second to help the Penguins beat their in-state rivals again. Both teams started the night outside the Eastern Conference playoff standings.
Flyers goalie Brian Elliott, who made his 14th straight start, allowed the four goals on just eight shots in the second period and was yanked for Michal Neuvirth in the third.
The Penguins lost goalie Tristan Jarry to an injury in the second. Jarry, who had a 1.56 goals-against average and .943 save percentage over his last three games, appeared to take a stiff shot off his blocker hand and was checked by the team trainer. Matt Murray kept the Flyers scoreless the rest of the game.
The Penguins’ scoring burst came in just four minutes and they needed only 40 seconds during that span to score twice and take a 3-1 lead. Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby had an assist on Kessel’s 17th goal, but the Penguins also got goals from fourth-liners Reaves and Kuhnhackl to break the game open. Reaves snapped a 1-all tie with his second and Sheary scored 40 seconds later for his 11th. Kuhnhackl got his second of the season to make it 4-1.
Reaves and Kuhnhackl each scored against Philadelphia’s top defensive pair, Robert Hagg and Travis Konecny, and the Flyers were unable to build on a huge road win at Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay.
Jamie Oleksiak made it 5-1 with a power-play goal in the third to seal just the Penguins’ fourth win over the last 11 games.
Jordan Weal scored his fourth of the season for the Flyers.
CAPITALS 5, HURRICANES 4: Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 26th goal 1:57 into overtime as visiting Washington topped Carolina for its third straight win.
Ovechkin also tied it with 7:15 left in regulation, with Nicklas Backstrom assisting on both goals. Alex Chiasson, Devante Smith-Pelly and Dmitry Orlov each scored for the Capitals, who went to overtime for the sixth time in eight games.
LIGHTNING 2, MAPLE LEAFS 0: Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots for his NHL-best sixth shutout of the season to lead Tampa Bay at Toronto.
Vasilevskiy got his league-leading 26th win, and Cedrick Paquette and Alex Killorn scored for Tampa Bay, which won for the 12th time in 14 games.
SHARKS 4, CANADIENS 1: Timo Meier scored twice and visiting San Jose rebounded from its worst loss of the season.
Joe Thornton and Marc-Edouard Vlasic also scored for the Sharks (21-12-4), who were coming off a 6-0 setback Sunday in Dallas. San Jose has won 4 of 5.
Andrew Shaw scored for Montreal (16-20-4), which has lost five straight games and scored just four goals during that span.
WILD 5, PANTHERS 1: Matt Cullen and Eric Staal each scored twice and host Minnesota snapped Florida’s five-game winning streak.
Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves for Minnesota, which has won 3 of 4. Charlie Coyle added an empty-net goal and Jared Spurgeon had three assists. Zach Parise made his season debut for the Wild after missing the first 39 games while recovering from back surgery.
Staal had his fourth multigoal game of the season in adding to his team lead with 17 goals. Cullen had his first multigoal game since April 7, 2016, doubling his season output.
Jonathan Huberdeau scored his 14th goal for Florida. James Reimer stopped 23 of the 26 shots he faced before leaving the game during the second period with an injury after Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad and Wild forward Mikael Granlund fell on him.
Harri Sateri made his NHL debut in replacing Reimer, allowing one goal on six shots.
BLUE JACKETS 2, STARS 1: Oliver Bjorkstrand scored two third-period goals 1:18 apart as Columbus rallied to win at Dallas.
The Stars took a 1-0 lead 44 seconds into the third period on a goal by Devin Shore. But Bjorkstrand scored at 4:54 and 6:12.
BLUES 3, DEVILS 2: Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko scored shootout goals as St. Louis got past visiting New Jersey.
Tarasenko gave the Blues a 1-0 lead in the first period, but New Jersey’s Nico Hischier tied it midway through the second.
The Blues regained the lead in the final two minutes of the period on a goal by Vladimir Sobotka.
The Devils tied the game on Taylor Hall’s power-play goal in the third.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
