Thursday in the NHL | The Stars crush the Sabers 10-4

Victory without appeal of the Stars against the Sabers

Jamie Benn had a goal and two assists, Radek Faksa had two goals and the Dallas Stars had their best offensive performance in 14 years in their 10-4 win over the Buffalo Sabers on Thursday night.

Joe Pavelski, Joel Kiviranta, Wyatt Johnston, Evgenii Dadonov and Mason Marchment also scored in a game where the Stars saw 16 players register at least one point. Jake Oettinger stopped 25 shots in the game.

Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist for the Sabres. Jordan Greenway, acquired in a trade last week from the Minnesota Wild, Kyle Okposo and Victor Olofsson also scored. Eric Comrie stopped 39 shots, ending a four-game winning streak.

The Stars took advantage of numerous Sabers errors to take a 3-0 lead with 35 seconds left in the first period when Pavelski and Jamie Benn scored 18 seconds apart.

The game’s turning point came midway through the second period, when Okposo surprised Oettinger at 9:51 to cut the Stars’ lead to 4-2.

The game turned into a rout in the third period, as the Stars outscored the Sabers 5-2.

John Wawrow, Associated Press

McDavid injured in Oilers win over Bruins

NHL leading scorer Connor McDavid limped off the ice during the third period Thursday night, minutes after Darnell Nurse scored the game-clinching goal with 4:49 remaining and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2.

McDavid struggled to get off the ice after colliding knee-to-knee with teammate Derek Ryan. The two-time NHL Most Valuable Player, who has scored 54 goals this season, has no points in a game for just the seventh time this season.

The Bruins led 2-0 after the first period, but Evan Bouchard scored in the second period and Ryan McLeod equalized six minutes into the third period.

Stuart Skinner made 26 saves and robbed the Bruins of a chance to be the first team in the league to clinch a playoff berth.

Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak scored and Jeremy Swayman stopped 19 shots for the Bruins.

The Oilers won for the fourth time in five games.

Jimmy Golen, Associated Press

Islanders beat Penguins 4-3

Brock Nelson hit the target on a breakaway in overtime and the New York Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Thursday night.

Nelson beat goaltender Tristan Jarry on the tackle side at 2:13 into the extra period.

The Islanders, trailing 3-1 late in the third period, swept the season series against the Penguins for the first time in franchise history. The New Yorkers also showed a positive record in Pittsburgh for the first time since the 2014-15 season.

Nelson has scored five goals and eight points in four games against the Penguins this season.

Anders Lee, twice, and Hudson Fasching also moved the ropes for the Islanders, who forced overtime with two goals in the final 5:29.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 33 shots and assisted on Nelson’s game-winning goal. The Islanders hold a two-point lead over the Penguins for first among Eastern Conference draft teams.

Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker and Josh Archibald have found the back of the net for the Penguins, who have lost two of their last three outings. Jarry blocked 24 pucks.

Dan Scifo, Associated Press

Hurricanes blank Flyers 1-0

Pyotr Kochetkov returned from the minor leagues and made 19 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 on Thursday night.

Andrei Svechnikov scored his first power-play goal and it was enough for the Hurricanes, who have won four straight and nine of their last 11.

The Hurricanes have posted two straight shutouts in front of home fans and haven’t allowed a goal in three of their last four home games.

Kochetkov was recalled from the American Hockey League for his first NHL game since Jan. 15 after goaltender Antti Raanta was injured Tuesday night in Montreal against the Canadiens.

Kochetkov was rarely tested, seeing just 13 shots in the first two periods combined. He was able to stop Joel Farabee’s breakaway in the second period.

The Flyers’ Felix Sandstrom was unlucky despite making 27 saves. His record slipped to 1-9-1 this season.

The Flyers have won only one of their last seven games (1-5-1). Their only chance on the power play came with less than nine minutes left, but ultimately didn’t materialize.

Svechnikov scored his 23^e goal of the season after 2:09 of play, on the power play. Martin Necas delivered an aid on the action.

The Hurricanes had three power plays in the first period, and made five shots on those — and six total shots in the period.

Bob Sutton, Associated Press

Timo Meier gives Devils shootout victory

Timo Meier scored the game-winning goal in the shootout as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Thursday night.

Acquired before the trade deadline, Meier was the only scorer in the shootout.

Erik Haula and Dawson Mercer scored within 37 seconds for the Devils, who have won five of their last seven games.

Akira Schmid made 20 saves before the shootout and was perfect in front of four shootout attempts. The Devils are only four points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the top of the Metropolitan Division.

Trevor van Riemsdyk and Dylan Strome have shone the red light for the Capitals, who have lost nine of their last 12 games.

Darcy Kuemper stopped 38 pucks, but saw his career record slip to 0-6-2 against the Devils.

Stephen Whyno, Associated Press

Golden Knights win in overtime

Alec Martinez hit the target 3:09 into overtime and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Thursday night.

Jack Eichel’s shot from the crease was blocked by Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, but the puck slipped through his pads and stayed in the half circle. Martinez pushed her into the net.

William Karlsson, Chandler Stephenson and Keegan Kolesar also scored for the Golden Knights, who defeated the Lightning for the seventh time in 10 games.

Jonathan Quick blocked 34 shots for his second win in as many starts with the Nevada team.

Brayden Point had two goals and Nikita Kucherov added a goal for the Lightning, who have won just one of their last seven outings.

Vasilevskiy concluded the encounter with 17 saves.

John Kreiser, Associated Press

Vrana scores his first goal for the Blues in a 4-2 win

Jakub Vrana scored his first goal for the St. Louis Blues, who defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Thursday night.

Vrana made his debut for the Blues on Tuesday night in a 6-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes. He was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings before the trade deadline.

Robert Thomas, Samuel Blais and Torey Krug have also threaded the needle for the Blues, who have won two of their last nine games, but those victories have come against the Sharks.

Jordan Binnington stopped 32 pucks in his 50^e start of the season for the St. Louis troupe.

Tomas Hertl and Erik Karlsson replied for the Sharks. Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves.

Warren Mayes, Associated Press

Kings win 5-2 against the Avalanche

Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault both scored twice as the Los Angeles Kings beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Thursday night.

Gabriel Vilardi scored the other goal for the Kings, who posted a fifth straight win to stay tied with the Vegas Golden Knights at the top of the Western Conference.

Anze Kopitar participated in three goals for his team and Joonas Korpisalo stopped 28 shots for the Californian formation.

No Western team has had a better streak than the Kings since the All-Star Game break. They have a 10-2-1 record.

Evan Rodrigues and Nathan MacKinnon have scored for the Avalanche, who are 1-3-1 in their last five games.

MacKinnon’s goal gave him at least one point in a 15^e away game at home.

Pat Graham, Associated Press

Coyotes win 4-1 over Predators

Rookie goaltender Ivan Prosvetov stopped 39 shots as the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Nashville Predators 4-1 on Thursday night.

The Coyotes recalled Prosvetov from their AHL farmhouse and the Russian was perfect until Cody Glass cheated with two minutes left in the game.

In his first game as a Coyotes, Brett Ritchie found the back of the net. Barrett Hayton, Jack McBain and Nick Schmaltz also scored.

Juuse Saros also saved 39 pucks for the Predators, who couldn’t support their goaltender by being shut out in six power plays.

After scoring six goals in a recent victory over the St. Louis Blues, the Coyotes were quick to get going and they fired 18 shots on Saros’ net.

Ritchie opened the scoring, but it was the successes of Hayton and McBain, within 49 seconds of the second period, that made the difference.