UNDATED (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings were able to celebrate a victory in Tampa for the first time in almost six years.
The Wings had dropped 17 straight in Tampa before five different Detroit players scored in a 5-1 win over the Lightning. Mark Staal, Valterri Filppula, Michael Rasmussen, Darren Helm and Dylan Larkin provided the goals for the Red Wings, who beat the Bolts for just the second time in their last 23 meetings.
The Wings took control by scoring three times in a 2:53 span of the second period.
Thomas Greiss finished with 27 points for Detroit and Christopher Gibson stopped just 12 shots in a matchup of former Islanders teammates.
The loss also drops the Lightning out of a first-place tie in the Central Division, falling two points behind Florida.
Chris Driedger posted his third career shutout and the Panthers picked up their sixth straight win by downing the Blue Jackets, 3-0. Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist to back Driedger’s 32-save performance.
Frank Vatrano and Gustav Forsling also scored, and MacKenzie Weegar had two assists for Florida.
The Hurricanes are within one point of the Panthers following a 1-0 shutout of Dallas. Petr Mrazek made 28 saves in his first game since suffering a thumb injury on Jan. 30.
Jordan Martinook’s second-period goal was enough scoring for Carolina.
Stars coach Rick Bowness didn’t return to the bench for the third period because of what the team announced was a COVID protocol. The team says Bowness is fully vaccinated, adding that it believes it was a false positive test.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Alex Ovechkin notched his 725th career goal as the Capitals completed an eight-game season sweep of the Devils, 5-4. It was Ovechkin’s 265th power-play goal, tying him with Brett Hull for second on the all-time list. He also had two assists in helping the Caps sweep an eight-game season series for the first time in team history.
— Jakob Chrychrun capped his first career hat trick by scoring 1:47 into overtime, pushing the Coyotes past the Ducks, 3-2. Adin Hill made 18 saves in Arizona’s fifth win in six games. Anaheim netminder John Gibson made 28 saves, including stopping Clayton Keller’s penalty shot 1:41 into overtime.
— The Maple Leafs notched a 4-2 win over the Flames as Auston Matthews and John Tavares each had a goal and an assist. Morgan Rielly and Alex Galchenyuk also scored to help the North Division leaders move to 6-3-1. Joakim Nordstrom and Andrew Mangiapane scored for the Flames, who are 2-8-0 in their last 10 and 5-8-0 since Darryl Sutter took over as head coach.
