UNDATED (AP) — Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored a tiebreaking power-play goal in the third period and Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves, leading the New York Islanders to a 3-2 win over the last-place Buffalo Sabres. Pageau got his seventh goal at 15:08 when he banged in a rebound on the backhand after Oliver Wahlstrom’s initial shot was stopped by Buffalo goaltender Linus Ullmark. The Islanders beat the Sabres for the third straight time this season after two victories in Buffalo last week. The Islanders also moved to 5-0-1 at Nassau Coliseum.
Checking the rest of Monday ice action:
— Alex Tuch scored twice as part of Vegas’ three-goal spree in the second period, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 34 shots and the Golden Knights cruised to a 3-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Fleury earned his 64th career shutout in the finale of the four-game series, with the Knights and Avs each recording two wins. Jonathan Marchessault also scored for Vegas in the pivotal middle period. The setting for this one wasn’t nearly as picturesque as what took place Saturday when they played on an outdoor rink located on the 18th fairway of a golf course on the shores of Lake Tahoe.
— David Rittich made 34 saves for his first shutout of the season and fourth of his career as the Calgary Flames beat NHL-leading Toronto 3-0. Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan each had a goal and an assist, and Sam Bennett added a goal for Calgary. Rasmus Andersson added two assists for the Flames. Michael Hutchinson stopped 30 shots in a surprise start for Toronto.
— Dustin Brown scored two goals and Jonathan Quick earned his 54th career shutout as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the St. Louis Blues 2-0. It was the second shutout this season for the 35-year-old Quick, who helped the Kings win two Stanley Cup championships in his career. The Kings extended their winning streak to five games. It was the third time St. Louis has been shut out this season.
— Ondrej Palat snapped a tie 8:04 into the third period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2. Palat, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman each had a goal and an assist for the Lightning, who were shut out in each of their first two matchups with the Hurricanes this season.
— Aaron Ekblad and Keith Yandle scored, Chris Driedger made 24 saves and the Florida Panthers beat the slumping, rusty Dallas Stars 3-1. Aleksander Barkov scored an empty-net goal to seal the Panthers’ sixth win in eight games. Blake Comeau scored for Dallas, and Anton Khudobin stopped 49 of 51 shots. The Stars lost their sixth in a row and eighth of nine overall while playing their first game since Feb. 13 due to the weather conditions in Dallas. The Stars’ season was twice interrupted — first by a coronavirus outbreak in training camp and then by last week’s winter storm in Texas.
