Andrew Campbell of the Arizona Coyotes scrums with Max Pacioretty (R) of the Montreal Canadiens during the third period of their NHL game at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, Saturday. — AFP

 

NEW YORK — Goaltender Carey Price has carried Montreal on his back all season and he did it again Saturday, stopping 29 shots for his seventh shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory over Arizona.



The 27-year-old leads the NHL in goals against average, save percentage, wins (37) and is tied for second in shutouts.



Montreal was in dire need of Saturday’s win after losing in San Jose and Anaheim and falling in a shootout in Los Angeles. Their lead over Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division had dwindled to two points.



Avalanche 4, Blue Jackets 0: Goaltender Semyon Varlamov had 44 saves and Colorado rode a big early lead to victory over Columbus at Nationwide Arena.



It was Varlamov’s fifth shutout of the season and the 18th of his career. The Avalanche, who took a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes, got goals from Jarome Iginla, Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene and Alex Tanguay.



Lightning 5, Stars 4: As good as Tampa Bay have been this season, the Lightning have not had success rallying in the final period. But they did just that Saturday, getting three goals in the third to beat Dallas 5-4 at Amalie Arena.



The Lightning trailed 3-2 to open the period but struck for two goals in less than two minutes against the Stars for a rare late comeback.



Bruins 3, Flyers 2: Boston’s Brad Marchand deflected home a 6-on-4 power play goal with 14.1 seconds left in regulation and then scored the winner with 1:08 remaining in overtime as Boston beat Philadelphia 3-2. Marchand was obviously delighted with the goals.



Capitals 6, Sabres 1: Having already lost to Buffalo once this season, Washington was determined not to slip up again against the league’s worst team and thrashed the Sabres 6-1.



Sabres call-up goaltender Matt Hackett bore the brunt of the damage, leaving the game after allowing four goals on 23 shots at the Verizon Center.



Blues 6, Maple Leafs 1: Vladimir Tarasenko, T.J. Oshie and Jaden Schwartz each had a goal and an assist as St. Louis hammered Toronto 6-1 at Air Canada Centre.



Blues’ center Jori Lehtera had three assists in the win while Brian Elliott made 23 saves.



Jets 3, Predators 1: Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler and Drew Stafford scored to give Winnipeg a 3-1 win over Nashville at sold-out Bridgestone Arena.



Winnipeg entered the game with a two-point lead over Los Angeles for the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot. The Jets have 16 games left.



Panthers 4, Islanders 3 (SO): Jonathan Huberdeau scored the only goal in the shootout and Florida goaltender Dan Ellis stopped all three shots in the Panthers’ 4-3 win over the Islanders. John Tavares, Nick Leddy and Josh Bailey scored for New York. — Reuters