SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Linus Ullmark stopped 27 shots and the NHL-leading Boston Bruins beat the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Wednesday night in a rematch of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
Boston improved to 14-1-3 overall and 4-0-0 after losses. The Bruins have 31 of a possible 36 points so far — by far the best in the league, yet slightly behind their pace from last season when they had 32 points through 18 games.
Boston finished with an NHL-record 135 points last season, then lost to Florida in seven games in the opening round of the playoffs while the Panthers went on to play in the Stanley Cup Final. Florida is 0-1-1 against the Bruins this season.
John Beecher and Jake DeBrusk scored in a 3:05 span in the second period to put Boston in control, and Charlie Coyle also scored for the Bruins.
Anton Lundell scored for Florida. The Panthers had won six in a row at home.
RANGERS 1, PENGUINS 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jonathan Quick made 32 saves for his 60th career shutout and Alexis Lafreniere scored early in the first period in New York’s victory over Pittsburgh.
In his first season with the Rangers as Igor Shesterkin’s backup, Quick has allowed only 11 goals while going 5-0-1 with two shutouts in six starts. New York (13-3-1) has won five of six overall and is 11-1-1 in its past 13 games.
Quick, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with Los Angeles, became the 20th goalie in NHL history to reach 60 shutouts. He ranks second among active goaltenders behind Minnesota’s Marc-Andre Fleury (73).
Tristan Jarry stopped 35 shots for Pittsburgh.
BLUE JACKETS 7, BLACKHAWKS 3
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Boone Jenner scored twice, Zach Werenski had a franchise-record four assists and Columbus beat Chicago to end a nine-game losing streak.
The Blue Jackets last won Nov. 2 and tied the team record for consecutive losses.
Kirill Marchenko Eric Gudbranson, Cole Sillinger and Dmitri Voronkov also scored and Elvis Merzlikins made 34 saves.
Connor Bedard, Jason Dickinson and Ryan Donato scored for Chicago.
JETS 3, LIGHTNING 2, OT
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Adam Lowry scored 1:39 into overtime and Winnipeg beat Tampa Bay for its fourth straight victory.
Lowry beat goalie Jonas Johansson from the left circle off a pass from Neal Pionk. Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele also scored and Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves.
Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay. The Lightning had won three in a row.
HURRICANES 6, OILERS 3
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Teuvo Teravainen and Seth Jarvis each had a goal and an assist and Carolina scored four goals in a 5:31 span in the first period against Edmonton.
Jesper Fast, Jack Drury, Martin Necas and Brent Burns also scored for Carolina. Starting goalie Antti Raanta left for precautionary reasons after the first period with an ailment. Pyotr Kochetkov made saves on 13 of 15 shots in the final two periods.
Zach Hyman scored twice for Edmonton. Mattias Ekholm also had a goal.
CAPITALS 4, SABRES 3, OT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dylan Strome scored with eight seconds left in overtime, lifting Washington past Buffalo Sabres for its fifth straight victory.
Alex Alexeyev, T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson also scored to help Washington improve to 6-0-1 in its last seven. Darcy Kuemper stopped 24 shots.
J.J. Peterka, Zach Benson and Dylan Cozens scored for Buffalo.
RED WINGS 4, DEVILS 0
DETROIT (AP) — Alex Lyon made 16 saves for his second career shutout, Robby Fabbri had a goal and an assist and Detroit beat New Jersey.
Fabbri capped a three-goal spree in a 1:12 span late in the first period in Detroit’s first game since returning from the NHL’s Global Series Sweden. Lucas Raymond extended his goals streak to four games, and Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider also scored.
ISLANDERS 3, FLYERS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Brock Nelson had two goals, Anders Lee also scored and New York beat Philadelphia.
Pierre Engvall and Adam Pelech each had two assists. and Ilya Sorokin stopped 34 shots to help the Islanders win their second straight after losing seven in a row (0-4-3).
Cam York and Joel Farabee scored for Philadelphia. The Flyers had won five straight.
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