Sunday in the NHL | Rangers back to winning ways

Vincent Trocheck had two goals and an assist, goaltender Igor Shesterkin stopped 26 pucks and the New York Rangers snapped a four-game losing streak on Sunday with a 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings .

Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin added a goal and an assist each. Alexis Lafrenière scored the other goal for Rangers and defenseman Adam Fox picked up two assists.

Rangers defender K’Andre Miller was ejected from the game for spitting at defender Drew Doughty late in the first period.

Miller’s ejection left Rangers with just five defenders for the rest of the game. This is the second time in as many days that the Rangers have found themselves in such a situation at this position.

On Saturday, Ryan Lindgren left the game against the Washington Capitals after sustaining what appeared to be a left shoulder injury following a first-period hit by TJ Oshie.

For the Kings, Viktor Arvidsson hit the target on a power play late in the second period. Matt Roy also scored early in the third period and Phillip Danault assisted on both goals.

Goaltender Jonathan Quick blocked four of the seven shots he received before being taken out of the game after Trocheck’s second goal, scored early in the second period. In relief at Quick, Pheonix Copley made 12 saves.

The Kings are 1-2-1 since the start of this five-game road trip.

Shesterkin rebounded after being taken out of Saturday’s game in which he conceded five goals on 22 shots in a 6-3 loss to the Capitals.

Trocheck scored both of his goals within one minute 35 seconds early in the second period to give Rangers a 3-0 lead. His second goal of the game was his 19^e of the season.

The Kings came within a goal when Roy scored his ninth goal of the season, 1:27 into the third period. But Panarin replied 44 seconds later and Zibanejad added his 31^e of the season at 5:26.

Lafrenière had scored his 11^e of the season after 14 minutes of play in the first half.

Simmi Buttar, Associated Press

The Wild win in overtime

Kirill Kaprizov scored with 20 seconds left in overtime, completing a hat trick, and led the Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.

Marc-André Fleury blocked 22 of 24 shots for the Wild, which trailed 2-0 heading into the third period.

Mathieu Olivier and Liam Foudy scored for the Blue Jackets, while Elvis Merzlikins made 42 saves.

Merzlikins hadn’t conceded for the first 40 minutes of the game before Kaprizov scored twice in the first six minutes of the third period to equalise.

Kaprizov first deflected a shot directly in front of the net for the Wild’s first goal at 1:15.

Then, as the Wild took advantage of their first power play of the game, Foudy was found faulted for a stick blow to the face of Wild defender Calen Addison.

Just as the five-on-three power play was about to expire, Kaprizov collected a loose puck in the slot and fired a wrist shot that beat Merzlikins, for his 36^e goal of the season.

Kaprizov narrowly missed completing his hat trick in regulation time on a breakaway, but his shot found the post.

Towards the end of extra time, Addison made a pass that Kaprizov sent into the open net for the winning goal.

Patrick Donnelly, Associated Press

Varlamov, Islanders hand Jets third straight loss, 4-0

Semon Varlamov picked up his second shutout of the season with a 23-save performance and the New York Islanders handed the Winnipeg Jets a third straight loss, 4-0, on Sunday.

Bo Horvat, shorthanded, Alexander Romanov, Brock Nelson and Adam Pelech, in an empty net, scored the goals for the Islanders (31-25-7).

In nets for the Jets (35-24-1), David Rittich blocked 20 of the 23 shots he received.

The Jets’ record at their Canada Life Center castle is 20-10-0 this season.

Horvat opened the scoring at 7:56 of the first period, beating Rittich with a long shot that went over the Jets goaltender’s right shoulder.

The Islanders doubled their lead thanks to a veiled shot from Romanov at 4:22 of the second period.

Nelson scored the visitors’ third goal with 79 seconds left in the second period after accepting a pass from Zach Parisé.

For Nelson, it was his 60^e point of the season, a personal career high. He has 16 points in his last 17 games.

Horvat also scored a personal best with his 62^e point of the season.

The Jets were outshot 12-1 in the first period and only got their second shot of the game about five minutes into the middle period.

Acquired on Saturday from the Nashville Predators, Nino Niederreiter did not wear a Jets uniform. Niederreiter had visa issues to deal with, so the Jets recalled forward Axel Jonsson-Fjallby.

Jim Bender, The Canadian Press

Penguins score six goals in second period

Sidney Crosby kicked off a second-period blast and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 on Sunday night.

Crosby’s goal, with 4:32 remaining in the middle period, broke a 2-2 tie and started a streak in which the Penguins scored five goals in four minutes 27 seconds.

That backfire capped a six-goal second period and helped the Penguins post a second straight win after a four-game losing streak.

Crosby donned his 26^e goal of the season and he became the first active player – and the 14^e in NHL history – to have 13 seasons or more than 70 points.

Evgeni Malkin scored his 23^e goal of the season and added an assist. Drew O’Connor, Teddy Blueger, Jeff Carter, Jason Zucker and Brian Dumoulin also found the back of the net for the winners.

Goaltender Casey DeSmith blocked 26 pucks.

On the Lightning side, Nikita Kucherov scored his 23^e goal of the campaign and he became the fastest player to reach 700 points in the history of the organization.

Brayden Point, with its 36^e of the season, and Anthony Cirelli, with his ninth, scored the other goals for the Lightning, which has lost four of its last six games.

Brian Elliott made 29 saves.

Dan Scifo, Associated Press

Matthews scores twice to lead Maple Leafs to win

Auston Matthews scored twice, Mark Giordano hit the target on his return to Seattle and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Kraken 5-1 on Sunday night.

Timothy Liljegren had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs and John Tavares completed.

Mitchell Marner added three assists while William Nylander and Michael Bunting had two each.

Goalkeeper Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves.

Vince Dunn scored the only goal for the Kraken.

Phillip Grubauer started the game in front of the Kraken goal and allowed four goals on 21 shots. Martin Jones replaced him early in the second period and he stopped 11 shots.

Dunn had given the Kraken the lead at 3:47 of the first period thanks to his 11^e of the season but Giordano tied the game 71 seconds later.

Giordano was the captain of the Kraken until he was traded to the Maple Leafs for a draft pick on March 20.

Matthews scored his first goal of the game at 4:15 of the middle period, which ended Grubauer’s night’s work. He added his 28^e of the season with 7:29 remaining in the third period.

Mark Moschetti, Associated Press

Easy victory for the Predators against the Coyotes

Roman Josi scored twice on Sunday night and the Nashville Predators won their third straight game by beating the Arizona Coyotes 6-2.

Josi first scored on a wrist shot early in the second period. The Predators captain made it 5-2 with a power play goal six minutes into the third period.

Josi, who also had an assist in the game, has 17 goals this season.

Juuse Saros stopped 26 shots for the Predators, who are currently at 10^e standings in the West. Connor Ingram, who made his NHL debut with the Predators, stopped 28 shots for the Coyotes.

Yakov Trenin, Matt Duchene, Tommy Novak and Cody Glass scored the other goals for the Predators. Duchene’s goal was his 18^e this season, one less than the team leader, Filip Forsberg, who is currently injured.

Shayne Gostisbehere opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal for the Coyotes at 5:55 of the first period. Nick Schmaltz, whose pass provided the first goal, also scored for the Coyotes. This was his 17^e goal of the season.

Jack Thompson, Associated Press