Canadiens end six-game skid against Lightning

Canadiens end six-game skid against Lightning

December 30, 2015
Montreal Canadiens’ left-wing Max Pacioretty (No. 67) is congratulated by defenseman P.K. Subban (No. 76) and teammates as he scores the game-winning goal during a shootout against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena Monday. — Reuters
Montreal Canadiens’ left-wing Max Pacioretty (No. 67) is congratulated by defenseman P.K. Subban (No. 76) and teammates as he scores the game-winning goal during a shootout against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena Monday. — Reuters

TAMPA, Florida — Max Pacioretty won it in the third round of a shootout and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 Monday night to end a six-game losing streak.

Brian Flynn also scored in the shootout for Montreal. Valtteri Filppula had a shootout score for Tamp Bay.

The Canadiens got goals from Tomas Plekanec, Alex Galchenyuk and Dale Weise.

Nikita Kucherov, Jason Garrison and Ryan Callahan scored for the Lightning, who are 2-1-1 on a six-game homestand. Tampa Bay centers Tyler Johnson and Brian Boyle both returned after being out with upper-body injuries.

Mike Condon made 36 saves through overtime for Montreal, while Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop stopped 31 shots.

Wild 3, Red Wings 1: Power-play and empty-net goals by Mikko Koivu late on, and a strong night between the pipes by Devan Dubnyk helped Minnesota beat Detroit.

Charlie Coyle scored his ninth goal of the season in the first period and Dubnyk had 28 saves for the Wild, who had lost three of their previous four games.

Detroit lost despite a 32-save night in goal by Petr Mrazek. Pavel Datsyuk scored the lone goal for the Red Wings.

Capitals 2, Sabres 0: Braden Holtby made 31 saves, leading the Washington Capitals to a 2-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Alex Ovechkin and Jay Beagle scored second-period goals for the Capitals. Holtby recorded his second shutout of the season and the 29th of his career. Linus Ullmark made 24 saves for the Sabres.

Predators 5, Rangers 3: Craig Smith, Ryan Ellis and James Neal scored in a span of 3:39 in the third period as Nashville dumped New York.

Smith deflected a point blast from defenseman Roman Josi at 7:34, putting Nashville ahead 3-1.

Ellis made it 4-1 with a one-timer on the power play at 9:52, and Neal finished the outburst with his second goal of the game, a rebound at 11:13.

The Rangers (20-13-4), who lost for the 12th time in 16 games, made it a bit more respectable with late goals from Rick Nash and J.T. Miller.

Kings 5, Canucks 0: Center Tyler Toffoli recorded a hat trick and goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 27 shots to earn his 40th NHL shutout as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-0.

Los Angeles rookie defenseman Derek Forbort scored his first career goal and center Anze Kopitar added four assists. Defenseman Brayden McNabb also scored for the Pacific Division-leading Kings (22-11-2). The shutout was the third of the season for Quick.

Avalanche 6, Sharks 3: The San Joe Sharks’ red-hot penalty kill melted on home ice as the Colorado Avalanche rolled to a 6-3 victory.

Center Nathan MacKinnon scored twice with the man advantage as the visitors went 4-for-6 on the power play to hand San Jose a fourth straight home loss to start a pivotal five-game stand at SAP Center.


December 30, 2015
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