Florida Panthers 5-1 Chicago Blackhawks
The Florida Panthers overturned a very early deficit to beat the visiting Chicago Blackhawks 5-1.
It took just seven seconds for the guests to go in front through Landon Slaggert. The Chicago lead would last for five minutes before Jonah Gadjovich levelled things up for the hosts. Sam Reinhart then put his team in front at the midway point of the period.
The Panthers then added to their lead towards the end of the second period as Matthew Tkachuk fired home. Then, 10 seconds into the final frame, the home team gave the Blackhawks a taste of their own medicine - scoring just mere seconds after the intermission. Evan Rodrigues put the game out of reach with his marker. Carter Verhaeghe rounded out the scoring halfway through the period.
Florida's win saw their coach Paul Maurice notch up his 900th as head coach, becoming just the fourth person to do so. His 125th victory as Panthers boss kept them in third spot in the Eastern Conference. The Blackhawks slumped to a 36th defeat on the season, remaining second bottom in the West.
Boston Bruins 6-3 New York Rangers
In an Original Six matchup, the Boston Bruins topped the New York Rangers 6-3 in an entertaining game.
It took until the midway point of the opening period for Charles McAvoy to put the hosts ahead via a power play. The lead would last a mere 34 seconds, before J.T. Miller, playing his first game in his second stint with the Rangers, tied it up.
David Pastrnak put Boston back in front with 2:51 to go in the opening period. The hosts then got both of the goals in the second period. First, Charlie Coyle scored 3:39 into the period to put them up 3-1, before a Pavel Zacha power play goal towards the end of the frame made the lead go up to three.
Miller would get his second of the game 35 seconds into the final period to give the Rangers some hope. But, that would not last long as the three-goal lead was restored less than a minute later by Pastrnak. Jonny Brodzinski scored the Rangers' third goal of the game with 9:13 left, but they could not get any closer. With 3:22 left, Pastrnak got his hat-trick to lead the Bruins to victory.
Ending a two-game losing streak, Boston are now level on points with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the final playoff spot in the East. The Rangers fall further back of the postseason places, with the defeat being their third on the spin.
Washington Capitals 4-5 Winnipeg Jets (OT)
In the battle of the runaway conference leaders, the Winnipeg Jets edged the Washington Capitals 5-4 in overtime on the road.
Cole Perfetti opened the scoring 9:13 into the game, for the Jets, before Dylan Samberg made it 2-0 a few minutes later.
It took the Caps 72 seconds of the second period to get on the scoreboard as Pierre-Luc Dubois halved their deficit. Alex Iafallo gave Winnipeg their second two-goal lead of the contest at the four-minute mark of the period. However, Taylor Raddysh brought the hosts back to within one with his goal less than a minute later. The rest of the period flew by without another marker, but it was still a high-quality contest between the conference pacesetters.
Josh Morrissey got the Jets' fourth goal of the game a minute and 10 seconds after intermission. Again finding themselves a pair of goals down, Washington still did not give in. Tom Wilson made it 4-3 with 12:34 left in regulation before Alexander Ovechkin scored his 877th NHL goal to tie things up. However, the Caps would end up losing this one, as Morrissey scored the winner 1:57 into overtime.
The Jets managed to stretch their lead to nine at the top of the Western Conference with what was their sixth victory in a row. For the Caps, who are seven points clear in the East, it was the second straight game they lost 5-4 in overtime.
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