UNIONDALE, NY — Anders Lee scored the tie-breaking goal late in the third period and Thomas Greiss stopped 33 shots as the New York Islanders beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Thursday night.
Adam Pelech also scored in the second period to help the Islanders win for the fourth time in five games to remain two points behind first-place Washington in the Metropolitan Division.
Jordie Benn had the tying goal for Montreal late in the second, and Carey Price finished with 36 saves.
Lee converted on a two-on-one with Matthew Barzal for his team-leading 25th goal of the season with 2:57 remaining.
Lee waited patiently for Barzal to pass him the puck at the edge of the left circle before whipping it past Price.
Lee, who became the team’s captain this season following the departure of John Tavares, has seven goals in the last 13 games.
PENGUINS 5, SABRES 0: Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist, Sidney Crosby added two assists and surging Pittsburgh won at Buffalo, New York.
Nick Bjugstad and Jake Guentzel each had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, which has won 6 of 7 and sits third in the Metropolitan Division.
Brian Dumoulin and Patric Hornqvist also scored, and Casey DeSmith made 26 saves for his fourth career shutout.
Carter Hutton stopped 21 shots for the Sabres, who matched a franchise record with three consecutive shutout losses.
CAPITALS 5, FLYERS 2: Brett Connolly had two goals and an assist to help Washington win at Philadelphia.
Evgeny Kuznetsov added a goal and an assist, and Lars Eller and Tom Wilson also scored for the Capitals. Braden Holtby stopped 22 shots.
James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton scored for Philadelphia, and Carter Hart finished with 27 saves. The Flyers remained five points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
LIGHTNING 5, RED WINGS 4: Steven Stamkos tied Vincent Lecavalier for Tampa Bay’s career lead in goals, Nikita Kucherov scored twice in the third period and the Lightning rallied from a three-goal deficit to win at Detroit.
The Red Wings led 3-0 in the second when Stamkos scored on the power play to start Tampa Bay’s comeback. His 383rd goal pulled him even with Lecavalier, and the NHL-leading Lightning weren’t done. The league’s highest-scoring team added four goals in the third, with Kucherov and Tyler Johnson scoring 26 seconds apart to give Tampa Bay the lead with 11:10 remaining. Kucherov made it 5-3 with 3:22 left.
SENATORS 2, BLUES 0: Anders Nilsson stopped 34 shots for his second shutout of the season as Ottawa won at home.
Christian Wolanin and Chris Tierney scored to help Ottawa snap a three-game losing streak. The shutout was Nilsson’s sixth of his career.
Jake Allen made 19 saves in the loss for the Blues.
The rebuilding Senators had two players making NHL debuts – defenseman Erik Brannstrom and forward Max Veronneau.
STARS 4, WILD 1: Radek Faksa, Roope Hintz and Joel L’Esperance scored for Dallas in a span of 2:22 early in the second period, and the visiting Stars hung on after goalie Ben Bishop was hurt.
Anton Khudobin stopped 14 of the 15 shots he faced in relief of Bishop, who made seven saves and established a franchise record by stretching his scoreless streak to 240:53 before exiting with a lower-body injury.
Alexander Radulov added an empty-netter for the Stars, who have won 6 of 7.
NOTES
SHARKS: Defenseman Radim Simek needs surgery for torn ligaments in his right knee.
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