Saturday in the NHL | Nino Niederreiter scores two goals and the Jets beat the Wild

Nino Niederreiter scored two goals and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Saturday.

Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Alex Iafallo also scored for the Jets. Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman responded for the Wild.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 34 shots in front of the Jets net, who played in front of a sold-out crowd of 15,325 spectators at the Canada Life Center for the first time this season.

At the other end of the ice, Filip Gustavsson made 19 saves before being replaced by Marc-André Fleury after the second intermission. Fleury stopped nine shots.

The Wild reduced the gap to 3-2 just 20 seconds into the third period, when Boldy took advantage of a comeback after a shot from Kirill Kaprizov.

Jonsson-Fjallby restored the Jets’ two-goal cushion at 2:46, beating Fleury from a tight angle.

The Wild saw their winning streak cut to four.

The Jets have now held the opponent to three goals or less in their last 24 games, a team record.

Jim Bender, The Canadian Press

The Sabers win 3-2 against the Blue Jackets despite the absence of Don Granato

Jeff Skinner scored in overtime and the Buffalo Sabers defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Saturday, despite the absence of head coach Don Granato due to illness.

Skinner scored his 15^e campaign net with a slap shot. He has scored five goals in his last nine games.

Casey Mittelstadt and Jack Quinn also scored for the Sabres, who had lost two games in a row before this meeting. Owen Power had two assists and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves.

Granato was absent due to an illness, the nature of which was not specified. Seth Appert, who manages the Rochester Americans’ farm club in the American League, was called back to replace him.

Granato likely won’t be behind the bench for Sunday’s game against the Senators in Ottawa, but the Sabers have indicated he should be back after the three-day break that follows.

Adam Fantilli and Damon Severson found the back of the net for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four of their last five games. Daniil Tarasov blocked 39 pucks.

Associated Press

Doubles for Pastrnak and Shattenkirk, the Bruins defeat the Devils 5-2

David Pastrnak and Kevin Shattenkirk scored doubles and the Boston Bruins came from behind to win 5-2 against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

The Massachusetts team scored four goals in the second period. Jake DeBrusk scored one of them. Linus Ullmark blocked 31 shots.

Charlie Coyle had two assists and the Bruins won their second straight game after a four-game losing streak.

Shattenkirk’s two goals were his 100^e and 101^e in career.

Luke Hughes and Nico Hischier found the back of the net for the Devils, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end. Vitek Vanecek made 27 saves and former Montreal Canadiens forward Tyler Toffoli was complicit in his team’s two goals.

Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy left the game in the third period with a left leg injury. He collided with his goalkeeper when he tried to retreat to avoid a two-on-one.

For the Bruins, center Georgii Merkulov played his first game in the National Hockey League.

Ken Powtak, Associated Press

A hat trick for Artemi Panarin, the Rangers defeat the Lightning 5-1

Artemi Panarin scored a hat trick, Igor Shesterkin made 34 saves on his 28th day^e anniversary and the New York Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 on Saturday.

Vincent Trocheck scored a goal and added three assists. Chris Kreider was the other scorer for the Rangers, who sit atop the overall standings in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Quebecer Alexis Lafrenière was complicit in two Rangers goals. Mika Zibanejad had an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games – a career high for him.

The Rangers are the first team to reach the 50-point plateau this season. The last time they achieved this feat was in 1993-94, the season in which they won the Stanley Cup.

Andrei Vasilevskiy blocked 16 shots and Nikita Kucherov scored the only goal for the Florida club.

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos played a 1037^e career match. He tied Vincent Lecavalier for first place in games played in the organization’s history.

Mark Didtler, Associated Press

Malkin and Crosby lead Penguins to 4-2 win over Blues

Evgeni Malkin scored a goal and added an assist, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Saturday.

Malkin scored his 14^e goal of the season during a power play. It was his third goal in two games. The Russian also set up Drew O’Connor’s fourth goal since the start of the campaign.

Jeff Carter scored in the third period, then Sidney Crosby reached the 20-goal plateau in an empty cage. Tristan Jarry blocked 25 pucks.

Crosby is one point away from joining Joe Thornton at 12^e rank in National Hockey League (NHL) history for points. He became the 19^e player to score 400 goals at even strength and the 22^e with at least 16 seasons of 20 goals or more.

The Penguins have won six of their last eight meetings.

Robert Thomas threaded the needle for the Blues. It was his 15^e of the season, a high for the Missouri team. Former Penguins Kasperi Kapanen was the other scorer for the visitors.

Joel Hofer made 26 saves for the Blues, who lost their second straight game after winning three in a row. They are 5-3-0 under interim head coach Drew Bannister.

Dan Scifo, Associated Press

The Hurricanes win their third straight game, 3-2 against the Maple Leafs

Sebastian Aho scored a goal and two assists and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Saturday.

Michael Bunting and Seth Jarvis also scored for the Hurricanes, who won their third straight game. Pyotr Kochetkov made 26 saves.

Timothy Liljegren and Nicholas Robertson responded for the Maple Leafs. Martin Jones stopped 25 shots.

The Maple Leafs have lost five of their last six games.

The Hurricanes took advantage of two of their four power play opportunities, while the Maple Leafs were 0-for-3.

Bunting opened the scoring on the power play just 2:24 into the game. Aho spotted him from behind the net and beat Jones between the pads.

Jarvis widened the gap by scoring on the power play at 13:52 of the middle period. He deflected a pass from Andrei Svechnikov into the goal.

Liljegren brought the spectators back to life by scoring at 4:16 of the final period. He took advantage of a good effort from Max Domi and beat Kochetkov with a powerful shot.

Aho scored an insurance goal that proved important, scoring into an empty net with 54.7 seconds left.

Robertson cut the lead to one goal again with seven seconds left on the clock. Kochetkov caught his shot with his glove, but replays showed that the Russian goalkeeper’s glove was behind the goal line.

The Maple Leafs, however, ran out of time to complete the comeback.

Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press

Josi ties Weber’s record for Predators, who defeat Capitals 3-2

Roman Josi scored his 166^e goal, tying Shea Weber’s record for a defenseman in Nashville Predators history, in a 3-2 shootout victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O’Reilly made the red light shine in the shootout.

Josi scored shortly after Luke Evangelista in the first period to make it 2-0. Josi reached this plateau the day after a fight against Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat that his teammates and head coach Andrew Brunette enjoyed.

Yaroslav Askarov made 26 saves to sign his first career victory. It comes in his third match, but in his second start. It also became the 171^e goalkeeper to be thwarted by Alexander Ovechkin.

The Capitals captain has scored 829 career goals and is now 65 goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s all-time lead.

Beck Malenstyn was the other scorer for the Capitals, who lost their fourth straight game. Hunter Shepard stopped 33 pucks in the loss.

Stephen Whyno, Associated Press