BUFFALO, N.Y. — Jack Eichel scored two goals in the third period, and the Buffalo Sabres beat the New York Rangers 4-3 on Thursday night for their second straight victory.

Buffalo’s back-to-back wins coincide with the return of Eichel, who missed the first 21 games with a high ankle sprain. The 20-year-old center had a goal and an assist in Buffalo’s 5-4 win in Ottawa on Tuesday and has recorded a point in seven straight games dating to last season.

Buffalo Sabres goalie Anders Nilsson made 22 saves as Buffalo topped the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers 4-3 on Thursday night. Associated Press/Jeffrey T. Barnes

In his first home game of the season, Eichel scored on a power play with 7:15 remaining and netted the winning goal 1:43 later. Buffalo is now 10-3-1 when Eichel has more than one point.

PANTHERS 2, RED WINGS 1: Aleksander Barkov scored on a breakaway 2:04 into overtime, lifting Florida to a win at Detroit and giving interim coach Tom Rowe his first victory with the Panthers.

Florida, playing its second game with Rowe, had lost its last two games.

PENGUINS 6, STARS 2: Sidney Crosby broke the game’s final tie and assisted on another score in the third period as Pittsburgh won at home.

Crosby scored his league-leading 16th goal in the second period and assisted on Conor Sheary’s sixth as Pittsburgh scored three goals in the final 4 minutes.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves for Pittsburgh.

Tyler Seguin and Devin Shore scored for the Stars, who are 3-11 on the road.

BLUES 5, LIGHTNING 4: Vladimir Tarasenko recorded his fourth career hat trick and Kevin Shattenkirk added two goals as St. Louis won its third straight game and sixth in a row at home.

Tarasenko scored twice in the game’s opening 9:37 to stake his team to a 2-0 lead. Shattenkirk, who also had two assists, added two power-play goals, the second coming just 1:44 into second period for a 4-1 lead.

Cedric Paquette scored twice for the Lightning, who lost their fourth straight.

ISLANDERS 3, CAPITALS 0: Shane Prince, Brock Nelson and Jason Chimera produced three goals in less than 41/2 minutes of the third period, leading the New York Islanders to their first three-game winning streak of the season with a victory at Washington.

Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak made 38 saves for his 40th career shutout.

FLYERS 3, SENATORS 2: Claude Giroux scored his second goal of the game 40 seconds into overtime to give Philadelphia a win at Ottawa.

Michael Del Zotto also scored, and Steve Mason made 19 saves. The Flyers have won three in a row.

Mike Hoffman and Ryan Dzingel scored for Ottawa. Mike Condon made 29 saves.

BLACKHAWKS 4, DEVILS 3: Marian Hossa scored his team-leading 12th goal through a screen at 1:31 of overtime to lift Chicago to a victory at home.

New Jersey’s Travis Zajac scored his third goal of the game at 8:49 of the third to tie it 3-all after scores Artem Anisimov and Niklas Hjalmarsson late in the second had put the Blackhawks ahead.

Taylor Hall returned to the Devils’ lineup after missing eight games with a torn meniscus in his left knee.

OILERS 6, JETS 3: Mark Letestu and Leon Draisaitl each had two goals and an assist and Edmonton used its power play to double up host Winnipeg.

The Oilers went 3 for 4 on the power play, including Letestu’s pair. Patrick Maroon and Benoit Pouliot also scored, and Connor McDavid had three assists.

Jets rookie Patrik Laine had two power-play goals to lift his overall season total to 15, one off the NHL lead. Bryan Little also scored for Winnipeg.

Cam Talbot made 21 saves for his 12th win of the season.

NOTES

CHILDREN’S TICKETS: The NHL has changed how it lets young kids attend special events such as its All-Star Game.

The league said in a statement Thursday that spectators younger than 3 years old can sit in the lap of a fan with a ticket, starting with this season’s Winter Classic in St. Louis. In the past, people of any age had to have a ticket to enter an arena for the NHL’s All-Star and outdoor games.

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