BUFFALO, N.Y. — Taylor Hall scored in his first game after missing three with an injury to his right hand, and the New Jersey Devils snapped a four-game skid with a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.

Kyle Palmieri scored an empty-netter and added an assist, and Miles Wood also scored for the Devils. Backup goalie Keith Kinkaid stopped 27 shots in his first game since missing three with a groin injury. He started in place of Cory Schneider, who missed his fourth game since also hurting his groin.

Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe spoiled Kinkaid’s shutout bid by scoring a power-play goal with 5:02 remaining. Buffalo, however, failed to convert on another power-play opportunity when Devils rookie Nico Hischier was penalized for cross-checking with 2:45 remaining.

PANTHERS 4, ISLANDERS 1: Harri Sateri stopped 32 shots for his first career victory, and Florida won at New York.

Mike Matheson, Evgenii Dadonov, Keith Yandle and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for Florida, which snapped a three-game skid

HURRICANES 2, SENATORS 1: Sebastian Aho and Victor Rask scored in the third period, helping Carolina win at home.

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Cam Ward made 29 saves for Carolina in the opener of a season-long eight-game homestand.

WILD 3, BLUE JACKETS 2: Zach Parise and Chris Stewart scored in the shootout, and Minnesota won at Columbus, Ohio.

Devan Dubnyk had 28 saves for Minnesota (27-18-5), which earned its 10th road win of the season. Jason Zucker scored his 20th goal, and Charlie Coyle added his fifth in the third period.

Columbus lost for the fourth time in six games.

PENGUINS 5, SHARKS 2: Evgeni Malkin got his 12th career hat trick and Bryan Rust scored two goals as Pittsburgh rallied to win at home.

Malkin’s 24th goal of the season late in the second period tied it. His 25th early in the third gave Pittsburgh the lead for good and his 26th rolled into an empty net with just more than a minute remaining as the Penguins won for the eighth time in 10 games.

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Matt Murray stopped 40 shots in his first start since the death of his father, James, this month.

Brent Burns and Logan Couture scored power-play goals for the Sharks but San Jose dropped its second straight game without Joe Thornton, who is out indefinitely with a right leg injury.

Martin Jones finished with 26 saves but also gave the puck away behind the San Jose net in the third period. Patric Hornqvist intercepted Jones’ sloppy clearing attempt and fed it in front to a streaking Malkin, who had little trouble putting it into an open net 6:01 into the third.

Rust, hindered by injuries this season, doubled Pittsburgh’s advantage 13:58 into the third thanks to a pretty between-the-legs drop pass from Tom Kuhnhackl before Malkin finished off Pittsburgh’s sixth straight home victory.

The Penguins returned from the All-Star break looking to build off their best extended play of the season.


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