Thursday in the NHL | Auston Matthews sets Maple Leafs scoring record

Maple Leafs win 4-3 against the Stars

Auston Matthews broke the Maple Leafs goal record by scoring his 55^and goal of the season in the second period then gave the Toronto Maple Leafs the victory in overtime with his 56^and at the expense of the Dallas Stars 4-3 on Thursday.

Matthews has scored 49 goals in his last 49 games.

Besides Matthews, Morgan Rielly and William Nylander have scored for the Maple Leafs.

Jack Campbell stopped 15 shots in the win.

John Klingberg, Joe Pavelski and Tyler Seguin flashed the red light for the Stars.

Scott Wedgewood made 37 saves.

The Maple Leafs will return to Scotiabank Arena for the next three games. The first will be played against the Montreal Canadiens.

Associated Press

The Flyers win with three goals in the second half

Kevin Connauton, Owen Tippett and Noah Cates all scored in the second period for the Philadelphia Flyers to give them a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

Travis Konecny ​​also scored in the third period for the Flyers, who won their second straight road game. Martin Jones stopped 26 shots while Kevin Hayes had two assists.

Eric Robinson scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets, who have lost eight of their last nine games. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 27 shots.

Nicole Kraft, Associated Press

Rangers blank Penguins 3-0

Frank Vatrano and Artemi Panarin scored in the second period, Igor Shesterkin stopped 30 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and the New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 on Thursday.

Dryden Hunt completed the job in an empty net while Mika Zibanejad had two assists for the Rangers, who had one point in seven of their last eight games.

The Penguins removed Sydney Crosby’s name from the roster shortly before the start of the game due to a virus — which is not COVID-19.

It’s a third loss for the Penguins against the Rangers in a short space of time. The Penguins went down 5-1 on March 25 and then 3-2 on March 29 against the Rangers.

Tristan Jarry made 21 saves for the Penguins, who have lost four of their last five meetings.

Allan Kreda, Associated Press

Nashville closes behind to beat Ottawa, 3-2

Roman Josi had a goal and two assists as the Nashville Predators defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Thursday.

Tanner Jeannot tied the game at 7:48 in the third period, then Ryan Johansen scored 4:50 later on the power play.

The referees reviewed the sequence to see if Matt Duchene had touched the puck above the limit, shortly before the goal. They determined not.

Duchesne was the other scorer for the Predators, who benefited from 28 saves from Juuse Saros.

Mathieu Joseph and Josh Norris replied for the Senators, who had won three straight.

Norris has had at least one point in seven straight games. Anton Forsberg blocked 31 shots.

Ottawa will play again Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Darren Desaulniers, The Canadian Press

The Hurricanes confirm their presence in the playoffs by defeating the Sabers

Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal each scored twice as the Carolina Hurricanes rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Buffalo Sabers 5-3 to confirm their playoff spot on Thursday.

The Hurricanes reached 100 points (46-17-8) for only the second time in team history. They still have 11 games to play on the schedule.

Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hurricanes. Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis had two assists. Antti Raanta stopped 18 shots in the win.

Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Victor Olofsson scored for the Sabers, who lost only the second time in regulation in their last 11 games. Former Hurricanes star Jeff Skinner set up the Sabers’ first two goals. Craig Anderson made 27 saves.

Associated Press

Grubauer and the Kraken blank the Blackhawks 2-0

Philipp Grubauer made 29 saves for his second shutout of the season and the Seattle Kraken blanked the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 on Thursday.

Alex Wennberg and Jordan Eberle hit the mark for the Kraken.

Grubauer was little tested by the Blackhawks, who lost a sixth straight game (0-4-2).

Kevin Lankinen stopped 29 shots in the loss.

Prior to the start of the game, the Blackhawks announced that they will retire Marian Hossa’s number 81 next season. He signed a one-day contract with the Illinois team to step down as a member of the Blackhawks.

Hossa played the last eight seasons of his 19-year career with the Blackhawks and was an important cog in the Stanley Cup victories of 2010, 2013 and 2015.

Associated Press