Tuesday in the NHL | Letang scores twice on his comeback

Kristopher Letang scored his second goal of the game with 54 seconds left in overtime as the Pittsburgh Penguins won 7-6 against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

Letang, who hadn’t played since Dec. 28 with a lower-body injury, also had two assists. His power-play goal allowed the Pens to win only a fourth game in overtime this season, as the team currently sits eighth and last in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.

The victory gives the Penguins a small cushion lead, while the Panthers are behind in ninth position.

Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Danton Heinen all had a goal and two assists in the victory. Rickard Rakell and Drew O’Connor also scored for the Penguins, who beat the Panthers for an 18^e times in their last 21 visits to Pittsburgh.

Casey DeSmith struggled in the game as he replaced Tristan Jarry, who was dropped from the lineup at the last minute. DeSmith stopped 33 shots, including two in overtime, to win just the third game in his last 10 starts.

Will Graves, Associated Press

Red Wings beat Sharks in overtime

Andrew Copp hit the target from the 25^e second of overtime and the Detroit Red Wings beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Copp scored by driving a return shot into the back of the net after goalie James Reimer blocked a shot from Michael Rasmussen.

Rasmussen and Adam Erne scored in regulation as Dylan Larkin hit the 400 NHL career points mark.

Ville Husso made 26 saves for the Red Wings.

Timo Meier scored his fifth goal in seven games for the Sharks. Logan Couture also moved the ropes while Erik Karlsson amassed two assists.

Reimer stopped 29 shots for the Sharks, who were playing the third of eight straight road games.

Dana Gauruder, Associated Press

Flyers lose in overtime

Kevin Fiala ended the debate at the 69^e second of overtime and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Anze Kopitar scored twice as Samuel Fagemo found the back of the net on one occasion for the Kings.

James van Riemsdyk, Wade Allison and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for the Flyers.

The Kings dominated the third period, but were unable to break the deadlock before overtime. Fiala took possession of the puck and made it two-on-one before beating goaltender Carter Hart.

Pheonix Copley made 28 saves for the Kings. Hart finished the game with 34 saves.

Both teams set the tone for the clash by threading the needle twice each in the first period.

Aaron Bracy, Associated Press

Hamilton scores twice late to give Devils victory

Dougie Hamilton scored late late in the third period before scoring the game-winning goal with 1:06 remaining in overtime as the New Jersey Devils beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on Tuesday night.

The Devils defender tied the game with 1:10 to go on a point shot that appeared to deflect off a defender.

Ondrej Palat also had a goal and Vitek Vanecek made 28 saves to help the Devils improve to 7-0-1 in their last eight games.

For Vanecek, it’s a personal career high with eight straight wins, becoming the first goaltender in the franchise to achieve the feat since Martin Brodeur in 2007-08.

Ben Hutton and William Karlsson scored for the Golden Knights, who are 2-5-1 in their last eight meetings. All-star rookie Logan Thompson stopped 35 shots in the loss.

Tom Canavan, Associated Press

The Lightning have the upper hand over the Wild

Steven Stamkos broke the tie with 5:38 remaining in the game and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Tuesday night.

Stamkos extended his one-goal streak to four games when he broke the deadlock when his shot hit the post, touched Wild forward Ryan Hartman before beating goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

Nikita Kucherov sealed the game in an empty net to inflict the Wild a third defeat in a row.

Prior to the game, the Lightning honored Stamkos for reaching the 500 NHL goal milestone. He accomplished the feat against the Vancouver Canucks last week.

Corey Perry scored twice in the second period for the Lightning, who recorded a 10^e straight win at home. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished the game with 35 saves to get a 250^e victory in the NHL.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov threaded the needle for the Wild. Fleury stopped 33 pucks.

John Kreiser, Associated Press

Predators beat Jets 2-1

Tanner Jeannot scored early in the third period and Juuse Saros made 32 saves to help the Nashville Predators beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Tuesday night.

With 5:38 down in the last period, Jeannot took advantage of a rebound from Tommy Novak’s shot to beat goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck around the net.

That goal not only broke a 1-1 tie, but ended a 38-game scoreless streak for Jeannot, who scored 24 last season.

Cody Glass scored the other goal for the Preds, winners of four of their last five games.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored and Hellebuyck blocked 39 shots for the Jets, who wrapped up their longest road trip of the season with a record of two wins and three losses.

Jim Diamond, Associated Press

Thompson and Skinner lead the Sabers to victory

Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner both had a goal and two assists to guide the Buffalo Sabers to a 5-3 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

Thompson had at least one point in a fifth straight game for the third time this season. It was also his ninth game of three or more points in 2022-23.

Skinner also had at least one point in a fifth straight game. This is the second such streak for him this season.

Alex Tuch had a goal and an assist, while Owen Power and Dylan Cozens also scored for the Sabers, who snapped a nine-game losing streak at St. Louis. This shortage dated back to January 21, 2012.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves for the Sabers, who improved to 2-6-1 this season in the second game of a two-game streak in 24 hours.

Ivan Barbashev, Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou scored for the Blues, who finished their longest home stay of the season with a 3-4 record. Jordan Binnington stopped 26 shots.

Joe Harris, Associated Press

Avalanche beat Capitals 3-2

Artturi Lehkonen, Andrew Cogliano and Alex Newhook beat former teammate Darcy Kuemper and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Logan O’Connor added two assists for the Avalanche as Nathan MacKinnon picked up an assist to record a 700^e NHL career point.

Alexandar Georgiev made 37 saves to help the Avalanche claim a sixth straight win, a season high. The Colorado team climbed a third place in the Central Division.

At his 500^e game behind the Avalanche bench, Jared Bednar set a team record with a 266^e victoire. He edged out former Quebec Nordiques head coach Michel Bergeron.

Alex Ovechkin returned to action and scored his 31^e goal of the campaign. Conor Sheary also threaded the needle for the Capitals.

Kuemper gave up three times on 26 shots in his first game in Denver since helping the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in June. The crowd gave him a standing ovation when a video tribute appeared on the scoreboard in the first period.

Mike Cranston, Associated Press

Cam Fowler scores twice in Ducks win

Cam Fowler scored two goals and an assist to lead the Anaheim Ducks to a 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.

After slow starts recently, the Ducks quickly took a 4-0 lead by taking advantage of a game misconduct awarded to Juuso Valimaki.

Hole Terry recorded a goal and two assists for the Ducks while Frank Vatrano added a goal and an assist. Adam Henrique made the red light flicker in an empty net.

Anthony Stolarz stopped 37 shots for the Anaheim squad, which had come back from a three-goal deficit in its last two games, recording a victory and a loss.

The Coyotes turned up the heat after Fowler’s second goal, closing the gap to two when Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz found the back of the net. Henrique slowed down the comeback attempt.

Connor Ingram stopped 39 pucks for the Coyotes, who have lost 12 of their last 14 outings.

John Marshall, Associated Press