Thursday in the NHL | Marc-André Fleury signs his 75th career shutout

The Wild defeats the Ducks 2-0

Marc-André Fleury made 16 saves to score his 75^e career shutout on Thursday in the Minnesota Wild’s 2-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks.

Fleury is 11^e in National Hockey League history in shutouts, one behind Ed Belfour and Tony Esposito. The 39-year-old goaltender benefited from the help of his teammates, who blocked 16 shots.

Kirill Kaprizov and Zach Bogosian shook things up for the Wild, who improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games. The Wild started this game six points behind the Vegas Golden Knights and a place in the playoff picture in the Western Conference.

Kaprizov extended his point streak to six games with his eighth goal during this stretch

Lukas Dostal blocked 29 pucks for the Ducks, who lost a fourth straight game.

Patrick Donnelly, Associated Press

Victory for Jake Allen in his debut with the Devils

Dawson Mercer, Timo Meier and Tomas Nosek all scored in a span of two and a half minutes early in the second period, and the New Jersey Devils beat the Dallas Stars 6-2 on Thursday night.

Former Montreal Canadiens Jake Allen conceded two goals on his first three shots, but then recovered well to finish the match with 35 saves.

It was Allen’s first start with the Devils, who acquired him in a trade with the Habs last week. Allen is the fifth goalie to play a game for the Devils this season.

Meier’s goal at 3:52 of the second period chased Jake Oettinger out of the game. The goalkeeper only made six saves.

Nosek welcomed Scott Wedgewood into the game by scoring his first goal of the year at 5:12 of the game. Wedgewood finished the game with eight saves.

Meier and Chris Tierney both scored and added an assist. Erik Haula and Alexander Holtz also scored for the Devils.

Wyatt Johnston and Craig Smith lit the red light for the Stars.

Both teams scored on their first shot of the game.

Associated Press

Red Wings lose 4-1 to Coyotes

Michael Carcone broke a tie midway through the second period and the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Thursday.

Connor Ingram made 28 saves for the Coyotes, who also defeated the Red Wings 4-0 last week.

Rookie Logan Cooley made a move on the penalty kill in the first period. Nick Bjugstad made it 3-1 and Clayton Keller added a goal in an empty net late in the game.

The Red Wings have now lost seven games in a row and have slipped outside the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. They were also booed on Thursday.

The Michigan team had won six consecutive games before their current streak.

Alex Lyon stopped 23 pucks.

The Coyotes, for their part, have won only a fourth meeting in their last 22.

Larry Lage, Associated Press

The Penguins curb their losing streak

John Ludvig and Rickard Rakell scored two minutes apart in the third period and the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks 6-3 on Thursday.

Ludvig scored his second goal of the season with a shot from the left point 2:38 into the third period. Rakell then deflected Pierre-Olivier Joseph’s shot to make the score 5-3, 4:48 into the game.

The Penguins stopped their losing streak at four games.

Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Jeff Carter and Noel Acciari also scored in the victory. Tristan Jarry made 30 saves.

Fabian Zetterlund, Marc-Édouard Vlasic and Klim Kostin scored the goals for the Sharks, who have lost 11 of their last 12 games. Magnus Chrona stopped 25 shots.

Acciari opened the scoring midway through the first period. It was a first goal in 22 games for the Penguins forward.

The Sharks took a 2-1 lead in the final minute of the first period. Vlasic headed a shot from a tight angle and the puck hit defenseman Marcus Pettersson in front of Jarry, before ending up in the net.

Malkin gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead at 11:34 of the second period.

Kostin tied the game 3-3 at the end of the period.

Rust completed the score in an empty net.

Dan Scifo, Associated Press

The Lightning wins 6-3 against the Rangers

Brayden Point had a hat trick and added three assists, Nikita Kucherov scored and had four assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Rangers 6-3 on Thursday night.

Steven Stamkos and Anthony Duclair also scored for the Lightning. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 pucks.

The Lightning lost 2-0 and 3-2, eventually winning 6-3.

Stamkos scored the winning goal on the power play with 7:15 remaining in the third period.

Point completed his fourth hat trick 2:03 later, before getting an assist on an empty-net goal from Kucherov with 3:38 left in the game.

Point’s six points were a career high, as well as tied for the most points in a single game by a Lightning player.

Kucherov and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers are the only two active players with at least three seasons of 70 or more assists.

Jack Roslovic had a goal and an assist, while Artemi Panarin and Braden Schneider also scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin finished the game with 22 saves.

Mark Didtler, Associated Press

Maple Leafs win 6-2

Tyler Bertuzzi scored the first of three goals for his team in the first period and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 6-2 on Thursday.

Samuel Ersson was chased from the net after the first period. The Maple Leafs scored three more goals in the third period.

Bertuzzi scored his 13^e goal of the campaign after only 2:01 of play.

Pontus Holmberg beat Ersson with a wrist shot to make it 2-0, midway through the period.

Timothy Liljegren scored to make it 3-0, with the Maple Leafs only having nine shots on net at the time.

Auston Matthews and William Nylander scored eight seconds apart in the third period to make it 5-1. Matthew Knies also found the back of the net in the third period.

Ilya Samsonov stopped 26 pucks in the victory. Matthews scored his 55^e net of the season, a league high.

Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster scored the Flyers’ goals.

Dan Gelston, Associated Press

Claude Giroux gives the Senators victory in shootout

Claude Giroux scored in regulation and in a shootout to help the Ottawa Senators win 3-2 against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

Giroux beat Elvis Merzlikins in the third round of the shootout with a slap shot. The Senators came from behind, erasing a two-goal deficit to sign a second victory in a row after a seven-game loss.

Giroux also scored at 7:25 of the third period to close the gap. Tim Stutzle tied the game with 7:33 left in the third period. Anton Forsberg made 35 saves.

Boone Jenner had previously opened the scoring for the Blue Jackets. Alex Nylander was the other scorer for Ohio, which lost a third straight game. Merzlikins blocked 35 pucks.

Mitch Stacy, Associated Press

Sabers shut out Islanders 4-0

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 21 shots to record his fifth shutout of the season and the Buffalo Sabers defeated the New York Islanders 4-0 on Thursday night.

The Sabers matched their best streak this season with three straight wins.

Victor Olofsson, Dylan Cozens and Zach Benson scored 5:13 apart in the second period, as the Sabers outshot the Islanders 29-11 after 40 minutes and 37-21 overall.

Benson finished it off in an empty net with 4:54 left in regulation.

The Sabers are 8-3-1 in their last 12 outings.

The Islanders, who lost 3-0 to the Kings in Los Angeles on Monday, were shut out for the sixth time this season. The team has not found the back of the net in 121:48 of play, since Sunday in a 6-1 win against the Ducks in Anaheim.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 33 shots for the Islanders.

The Islanders’ last victory in Buffalo dates back to February 16, 2021, a 3-0 win. Since then, the team has gone 0-5-2 in its last seven games.

John Wawrow, Associated Press

Hurricanes win 4-0 against Panthers

Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his first goal with the Carolina Hurricanes in a 4-0 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Thursday.

In his fourth game since being acquired from the Washington Capitals, Kuznetsov also collected an assist. Seth Jarvis, Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov also hit the target. Jaccob Slavin collected two assists.

Frederik Andersen stopped 21 pucks to record his first shutout in over a year. He also signed a third victory in eight days. He has 25 career shutouts.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves. The Panthers have lost only their second game in their last 10.

The Panthers had to make do without Sam Bennett, who was dealing with an undisclosed injury. He had not been excluded from training since the beginning of November.

Bob Sutton, Associated Press

The Flames have the upper hand over the Golden Knights 4-1

Blake Coleman scored two goals, including the game-winning net, and the Calgary Flames erased a deficit to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 on Thursday.

Yegor Sharangovich hit the target and added an assist. Matt Coronato completed the scoring for the Flames, who ended a three-game losing streak. Dryden Hunt was complicit in two goals.

Quebecer Anthony Mantha scored the only goal for the Golden Knights, who have suffered five defeats in their last seven meetings. They remain second and last among drafted teams in the Western Conference, four points ahead of the Minnesota Wild.

Freshman goaltender Dustin Wolf stopped 28 pucks in his first start since February 15. He improved to 2-3-1 this season. His other gain was on December 7.

At the other end of the ice, Adin Hill has blocked 33 shots and is now 17-9-2.

Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press