Tonight in the NHL

Kings shut out Senators 2-0

Jonathan Quick made 34 saves and the Los Angeles Kings shut out the Ottawa Senators 2-0 on Thursday night.

Anze Kopitar and Andreas Athanasiou put the needle on for the Kings, who secured a seventh straight victory.

Filip Gustavsson let the Senators believe it, repelling 32 shots, but the Ottawa squad couldn’t beat Quick.

The Senators have lost their last six home games and are 0-5-1 in their last six games.

DJ Smith’s men knew the duel against the Kings would be tough, but things turned sour when they lost other players due to COVID-19 protocols.

On Thursday, goaltender Matt Murray, defenseman Nikita Zaitsev and forward Alex Formenton were placed in NHL protocol. They joined defenders Josh Brown, Victor Mete and Nick Holden as well as forwards Austin Watson, Connor Brown and Dylan Gambrell.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press

Oilers win in Boston

Leon Draisaitl had two goals and one assist, edging teammate Connor McDavid for the top NHL scorers and leading the Edmonton Oilers to a 5-3 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

Evan Bouchard, Zach Hyman and Cody This also scored and Mikko Koskinen stopped 26 shots for the Oilers.

McDavid collected one assist to extend his streak of games with at least one goal to 12 since the start of the season.

After starting the game tied for the NHL lead with 23 points, McDavid fell behind Draisaitl (12 goals, 14 assists).

David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Brandon Carlo found the back of the net for the Bruins.

Linus Ullmark stopped 23 shots for Boston, who lost at home for the first time this season.

The teams held a pre-game ceremony honoring Colby Cave, the former Bruins and Oilers player who played 67 games in the NHL before dying in April 2020 at the age of 25 due to cerebral hemorrhage.

The Bruins showed a video in his memory, and his wife, Emily Cave, dropped the puck for the formal face-off.

The Boston Bruins Foundation auctioned sticks used by both teams to benefit the Colby Cave Memorial Fund.

Jimmy Golen, Associated Press

Mackenzie Blackwood gives Devils a shutout

Mackenzie Blackwood made 42 saves and the New Jersey Devils shut out the New York Islanders 4-0 on Thursday night.

Blackwood recorded his seventh career NHL shutout thanks to his highest save of the season.

Janne Kuokkanen found the back of the net shorthanded, Tomas Tatar scored on the power play as Dawson Mercer and Dougie Hamilton added a evenly matched goal.

The Devils posted a third straight victory and are 4-1-2 in their last seven games.

Ilya Sorokin blocked 30 pucks for the Islanders, who suffered a second straight loss in regulation after going 5-0-2 in their last seven games.

Blackwood, who was making a third start this season, stopped 16 shots in the first period, 14 in the second and 12 in the third. It was his first shutout since March 28 in Boston.

Vin A. Cherwoo, The Canadian Press

Jets win 4-1 over Sharks

Nate Schmidt’s first goal in a Winnipeg Jets uniform proved to be the game-winning goal in a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

Acquired in an off-season trade with Vancouver, the defenseman fired a point-receiving shot behind James Reimer at 14:11 of the second period to make the Jets 2-1.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored a goal and an assist. Kyle Connor and Jansen Harkins also scored for Winnipeg (7-3-3).

Andrew Copp added two assists.

Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves for the Jets, who were playing their fifth game of a seven-game home series (3-1-1).

Andrew Cogliano scored for San José (7-5-1). Reimer stopped 30 shots for the Sharks, who are 1-1-0 on their five-game road trip.

Seven Sharks players and head coach Bob Boughner missed the game because they are on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list.

They are expected to join the team ahead of Saturday’s road game in Colorado.

Judy Owen, The Canadian Press

Jeff Carter gives victory to the Penguins in shootout

Jeff Carter scored the deciding goal in the shootout and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Thursday night.

Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry, who has struggled in a shootout this season, stopped Anton Lundell to secure the victory for his team. Jarry also frustrated Aleksander Barkov and former Penguins Patric Hornqvist.

Jonathan Huberdeau scored the tying shootout goal for the Panthers, who lost their third straight game after opening the season with wins in 10 of their first 11 games.

Bryan Rust also hit the back of the net in a shootout for Florida, and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang.

Evan Rodrigues had his fourth goal and Teddy Blueger his third in regulation for Pittsburgh.

Jarry made 36 saves for the Penguins, who won for the second time in seven games.

Barkov scored his ninth goal in regulation and Frank Vatrano scored his third for Florida.

Bobrovsky made 31 saves.

Dan Scifo, Associated Press

Avalanche crush Canucks 7-1

Valeri Nichushkin scored on his return to play from an injury, Mikko Rantanen had one goal and two assists and the Colorado Avalanche overcame the absence of star center Nathan MacKinnon to rout the Vancouver Canucks 7 -1 Thursday evening.

Logan O’Connor and Devon Toews each added a goal and an assist, Gabriel Landeskog, Darren Helm and JT Compher also scored and Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves.

Nils Hoglander scored for Vancouver on the Avalanche’s 6-0 count, and Thatcher Demko allowed six goals on 26 shots before being retired after two periods for the Canucks.

Jaroslav Halak replaced Demko and stopped eight shots in the third period.

The Canucks were trailing 3-0 when they landed their second shot on goal.

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar announced Wednesday that MacKinnon would miss about three weeks with a lower body injury sustained Saturday in a loss to Columbus.

Compher was in the center of the first row with Landeskog and Rantanen.

Mike Cranston, Associated Press