Sunday in the NHL | The Panthers defeat the Blue Jackets 5-2

Gustav Forsling had a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers scored three goals in the third period to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 on Sunday afternoon.

The Panthers posted a third consecutive victory, a fourth road victory in their last five outings and remained in second place in the Atlantic Division.

Carter Verhaeghe got the 200^e point of his career, Aleksander Barkov scored on a power play while Matthew Tkachuk and Eetu Luostarinen added empty-net goals.

Sam Reinhart contributed to two goals and had his 13^e game this season with at least two points and goaltender Anthony Stolarz stopped 18 shots.

In the defeat, the Blue Jackets’ fourth in their last five games, Yegor Chinakov and Dmitri Voronkov found the back of the net. Goalkeeper Jet Greaves made 32 saves.

Forsling’s goal, his first since Nov. 6, came just 62 seconds into the game on a shot from the right faceoff circle after the Panthers had controlled the puck from the opening faceoff.

Marchenko allowed the Blue Jackets to tie the score at 7:04 but the Panthers responded 21 seconds later thanks to a goal from Verhaeghe.

The next goal didn’t come until the third period when Barkov scored with 37 seconds left on a Panthers power play.

The Blue Jackets pulled Greaves in favor of a sixth skater with 4:36 remaining in the third period. Less than a minute later, Voronkov allowed the Blue Jackets to cut the visitors’ lead to just one goal.

Associated Press

A 1^D victory in almost two years for Calvin Pickard, the Oilers win 4-1

Calvin Pickard made 26 saves to sign his first victory in almost two years and the Edmonton Oilers earned their seventh straight win, this time 4-1 against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.

Pickard, who agreed to a two-year, two-way contract with the Oilers in July 2022, had not won an NHL game since January 28, 2022 with the Detroit Red Wings.

Derek Ryan, Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid scored the Oilers’ first three goals, then Evander Kane completed the scoring in an empty cage. Kane and McDavid also had an assist.

Bouchard collected at least one point in an 11^e consecutive match. McDavid extended his own streak to nine games.

Jesper Bratt responded for the Devils, who had won their previous three games. He denied Pickard a shutout at 4:53 of the third period.

Akira Schmid blocked 26 pucks for the Devils.

Stuart Skinner had gotten the previous seven starts in net for the Oilers.

Shane Jones, The Canadian Press

A double for Nic Dowd, the Capitals defeat the Blackhawks 4-2

Nic Dowd scored two goals and the Washington Capitals defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Sunday for their second straight victory.

Anthony Mantha, Dylan Strome and Dowd scored 7:12 apart in the second period to give the Capitals the lead. Dowd then put the finishing touches by scoring his fourth goal of the campaign with 4:02 remaining in the third.

Beck Malenstyn had two assists and Darcy Kuemper stopped 33 pucks for the Capitals.

Philipp Kurashev scored once and assisted on another goal for the Blackhawks, who had just won two games in a row for the first time this season. Connor Murphy was the other scorer for the crowd favorites.

Connor Bedard retained the lead in scoring among NHL rookies by adding two assists to his record. Arvid Soderblom stopped 23 pucks.

The Capitals once again benefited from an excellent performance from their goalie. The day before, former Montreal Canadiens Charlie Lindgren had blanked the New York Rangers.

Matt Carlson, Associated Press

Jonathan Quick and the Rangers defeat the Kings 4-1

Mika Zibanejad and Jimmy Vesey scored in the second period, Jonathan Quick stopped 25 pucks against his former team, and the New York Rangers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 on Sunday.

The Kings suffered their second straight road loss after setting a new NHL mark with 11 straight wins on the road to start the season. The Kings lost 3-2 in overtime to the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Vincent Trocheck collected three assists. Jonny Brodzinski and Will Cuylle were the other scorers for the Rangers, who had lost two games in a row for the first time this campaign before hosting the Kings.

Quick, who improved to 8-0-1, had to make an acrobatic save on Carl Grundstrom at 13:39 of the third to bring the Madison Square Garden crowd to their feet.

Quebecer Phillip Danault put an end to Quick’s shutout hopes at 6:37 of the third on the power play. Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar had assists.

Danault left the game midway through the first after being hit by a shot from Zibanejad. He then returned with a facial protector.

Quick played 16 seasons with the Kings, winning 370 games while maintaining a 2.46 goals-against average. He won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014 and was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy at the end of the 2011-12 and 2015-16 seasons.

Allan Kreda, Associated Press

Gabe Vilardi decides and the Jets win 4-2 against the Ducks

Gabe Vilardi broke the tie with 1:42 remaining in the third period and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Sunday.

It was Vilardi’s first goal this season. His shot from the left circle fooled John Gibson to make it 3-2 in favor of the Jets.

The Jets came from behind after losing forward Kyle Connor to a knee injury in the second. Ducks defenseman Ryan Strome received a match penalty for a knee strike at the end of the sequence.

The Jets have won four straight and nine of their last 12, while the Ducks suffered a third straight loss and lost 12 of their last 13 meetings.

Nino Niederreiter and Morgan Barron also scored for the Jets. Mark Scheifele sealed the outcome with an empty net goal, and Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves.

Alex Killorn and Adam Henrique lit the red light for the Ducks. Gibson stopped 27 pucks.

Doug Padilla, Associated Press

The Wild wins 3-0 and inflicts an 8 on the Kraken^e defeat in a row

Filip Gustavsson blocked 24 pucks to record his second shutout of the season and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-0 on Sunday.

Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Joel Eriksson Ek threaded the needle for the Wild, who improved to 5-2-0 since head coach John Hynes took over for Dean Evason, who was fired on Nov. 27 . It was Gustavsson’s fifth career shutout.

Joey Daccord stopped 23 pucks for the Kraken, who suffered an eighth consecutive loss. Washington State has been shut out twice during this streak, which is the second-worst in franchise history.

The Kraken had lost nine games in a row from December 2021 to January 2022, in its first NHL season.

Before the game, the Kraken announced that goaltender Philipp Grubauer was placed on injured reserve with a lower body injury. He will be out for at least seven days.

Grubauer was injured during the second period of a game against the Lightning on Saturday. The Tampa club won 4-3 in overtime.

Mark Moshetti, Associated Press