UNDATED (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes made a triumphant return to the ice after having several games postponed due to COVID-19 protocols.
The Hurricanes still were without five regulars on Thursday as they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 1-0 in overtime. Martin Necas provided the lone goal 72 seconds into OT on a feed from Jordan Staal, who was among six Hurricanes to land on the NHL’s daily unavailability list last week.
Petr Mrazek stopped 31 shots in his second shutout of the season and 23rd of his career.
The Hurricanes were back in action just as Thursday’s game between the Blues and Golden Knights had to be postponed due to COVID-19 issues with Vegas.
The NHL says a Golden Knights player and another coach have entered COVID-19 protocol, which could mean a positive test, potential exposure or something else.
The Knights played Tuesday without their entire coaching staff as general manager Kelly McCrimmon ran the bench with the minor league coaching staff.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— The Capitals trailed 3-0 before erupting for five goals in the second period of their second win over the Islanders in three days, 6-3. Conor Sheary scored twice to ignite the comeback before Garnet Hathaway, John Carlson and Zdeno Chara followed with goals.
— Patrice Bergeron scored twice and Jaroslav Halak stopped 16 shots in the Bruins’ fourth consecutive win, 4-1 versus the Penguins. Chris Wagner and Sean Kuraly also scored to help Boston beat Pittsburgh for the second time in three days.
— Nazem Kadri had two goals and an assist in the third period of Colorado’s 3-0 shutout of the Sharks. Andre Burakovsky also tallied and Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves in his second shutout of the season and 13th of his career.
— Carter Hart made 33 saves and fourth-line forward Michael Raffl scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period of the Flyers’ 3-1 victory over the Devils on Thursday night. Captain Claude Giroux notched his first goal of the year and defenseman Nate Prosser had his first since April 2018 to help Philadelphia complete a two-game sweep in New Jersey.
— Alexandre Texier slickly beat Chris Driedger five-hole in the fourth round of a shootout to lift the Blue Jackets over the Panthers, 3-2. Mikko Koivu and Max Domi scored and Elvis Merzlikins had 33 saves as Columbus dealt Florida its first loss in four games this season.
— No. 1 draft pick Alexis Lafreniere scored his first career goal 2:47 into overtime to lead the Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Sabres, ending New York’s four-game losing streak. Artemi Panarin had a goal and set up Ryan Strome’s game-opening goal.
— Ty Dellandrea had his first NHL goal and first assist, both coming in the final 5:08 of the Stars’ 7-3 rout of the Red Wings. Denis Gurianov had a goal and two assists to help Dallas finish unbeaten on its season-opening, four-game homestand.
— Kirill Kaprizov scored the second goal of his rookie season to cap the Wild’s three-goal first period in a 5-3 decision over the Kings. Marcus Johansson had a goal and an assist, and Kaapo Kahkonen made 32 saves as Minnesota stopped a two-game slide.
— The Coyotes pulled out a 3-2 win over the Ducks on Christian Dvorak’s second goal of the night, a power-play tally with 4 1/2 minutes to play. Darcy Kuemper stopped Kevin Shattenkirk on a short-handed breakaway just before Dvorak’s second goal.
— Carey Price made 23 saves and the Canadiens improved to 5-0-2 by winning their home opener, 4-2 against the Flames. Brendan Gallagher, Shea Weber, Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli did the scoring for Montreal, while Jonathan Drouin and Jesperi Kotkaniemi each had two assists.
— Auston Matthews scored on a power play with 6:24 left to lift the Maple Leafs to their fourth win in a row, 4-3 at Edmonton. Jason Spezza had a goal and an assist, for Toronto, which also received goals from William Nylander (NEE’-lander) and Wayne Simmonds in improving to 7-2.
— Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist in leading the Canucks to their third straight win over the Senators in four nights, 4-1. Elias Pettersson scored and had an assist for Vancouver, while Tanner Pearson tallied a goal and Quinn Hughes each chalked up two assists.
