Check out the reports of games played on Friday in the NHL.
Predators defeat Capitals 3-2
Ryan McDonagh scored the game-winning goal late in the third period, Kevin Lankinen made 30 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Friday for their third straight win.
Thomas Novak and Yakov Trenin also hit the mark for the Predators, who are 4-0-1 in their last five games and are closing in on a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Sonny Milano and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel scored for the Capitals and continue to prove they deserve to stay in the lineup when forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson make their debuts this season. Anthony Mantha, another candidate to be dropped from the roster when Backstrom and Wilson return from long-term injury, played just 9:48.
Charlie Lindgren made 19 saves but wasn’t to blame for the Predators’ goals. The Capitals saw their nine-game one-point streak snapped.
Stephen Whyno, Associated Press
Alex Stalock and the Blackhawks blank the Coyotes 2-0
PHOTO: ERIN HOOLEY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock (32) blocks a puck sent in the first period.
Alex Stalock stopped 22 shots to get his 10e career shutout — the first in nearly three years — and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Arizona Coyotes 2-0 on Friday.
Jake McCabe and Tyler Johnson hit the mark to help the Blackhawks end a five-game losing streak and win the second game in their last 15 meetings (2-13-0).
Connor Ingram made 30 saves for the Coyotes, who lost for the fourth straight time.
Blackhawks star forward Patrick Kane missed his first game with an injury since 2015. It was the same lower-body injury that kept him out of action in the third period of the game against the Tampa Lightning Bay, Tuesday night.
Associated Press
Jacob Markstrom stops 23 shots as Flames defeat Islanders 4-1
PHOTO SERGEI BELSKI, USA TODAY SPORTS
Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25)
Jacob Markstrom made 23 saves and helped the Calgary Flames beat the New York Islanders 4-1 on Friday night.
Milan Lucic, Blake Coleman, Nikita Zadorov and Nazem Kadri rocked the ropes for the Flames (19-14-7).
Zach Parise provided the response for the Islanders (22-17-2), who were playing their second game in as many nights and were without their leading scorer, Mathew Barzal.
Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped 17 shots in his first start since Dec. 17. He suffered a groin injury in a game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Barzal, who has 11 goals and 30 assists this season, did not play Friday after scoring his fifth goal in as many games in a 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers the previous day.
The Islanders tweeted just before the initial puck drop that Barzal will be reassessed daily and he is dragging a lower body injury.
The Canadian Press
Kyle Connor scores a historic goal and plays heroes against the Lightning
PHOTO JOHN WOODS, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Josh Morrissey (44), Kyle Connor (81) and Nate Schmidt (88) congratulate Winnipeg Jets teammate Pierre-Luc Dubois (80) on his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
A historic Kyle Connor power play goal at 5:38 of the third period led the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday.
Morgan Barron confirmed the Jets’ fourth straight win with a shorthanded goal into an empty net with 1:26 to go.
Connor scored his 41e game-winning goal, passing Ilya Kovalchuk for the most game-winning goals in Jets and Atlanta Thrashers history.
Connor also had an assist and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice for the Jets (25-13-1). Josh Morrissey added three assists and Mark Scheifele two.
In the win, Connor Hellebuyck stopped 26 shots.
Anthony Cirelli, with a goal and an assist, and Nikita Kucherov hit the mark for the Lightning (24-13-1), which finished a three-game road streak with a 1-2-0 record. The Lightning are 9-9 on the road.
After missing two straight games due to illness, Andrei Vasilevsky stopped 16 of 19 shots he faced for the Lightning.
Judy Owen, The Canadian Press
The Panthers defeat the Red Wings 3-2
PHOTO PAUL SANCYA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Aaron Ekblad (5) is congratulated by his Panthers teammates for his second goal against the Red Wings in the third period.
Aaron Ekblad scored twice on the power play as the Florida Panthers posted their eighth straight victory over the Red Wings, beating the Detroit club 3-2 on Friday.
Ekblad scored more than one goal in a game for the first time since Dec. 2, 2021, against the Buffalo Sabres. Gustav Forsling also hit the target for the Panthers and Eric Staal collected his 600e career assist on Forsling’s goal.
In the win, Alexsander Barkov had two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves.
Robby Fabbri scored in his second game of the season after recovering from anterior cruciate ligament surgery. Jonatan Berggren also hit the mark for the Red Wings, who have lost three of their last four games. Ville Husso made 17 saves.
Associated Press