UNDATED (AP) — Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Spezza has been suspended for six games without pay for kneeing Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk.
In the third period of Sunday’s game between the Jets and Maple Leafs, Pionk had a knee-on-knee hit on Toronto’s Rasmus Sandin. Sandin skated off the ice after the hit on his right knee. Pionk received a two-game suspension for the hit on Monday. After the hit on Sandin, Spezza drove his left knee into the face of Pionk, who was without a stick and on his knees trying to clear a puck. Spezza will forfeit $22,500 in salary.
In other NHL news:
—The Dallas Stars are sending goalie Ben Bishop on a conditioning assignment in the minor leagues as their former starter continues a long recovery from a knee injury. Bishop hasn’t played since the NHL’s playoff bubble in Canada in August 2020. Dallas could have trouble finding a spot for the 35-year-old after a stint with the Texas Stars of the AHL. Braden Holtby and Jake Oettinger have been the starters recently.
Josi’s highlight goal spurs Preds over Red Wings 5-2
UNDATED (AP) – Roman Josi beat four Detroit defenders for a first-period goal, Ryan Johansen scored on a power play and the Nashville Predators beat the Red Wings 5-2.
The loss snapped Detroit’s five-game winning streak and its five-game home winning streak. Josi took a feed from Dante Fabbro as he sped into the Red Wings’ zone and skated 1-on-4 through the defense before beating Alex Nedeljkovic on the forehand. Nashville’s Nick Cousins, Eeli Tolvanen and Fabbro scored in the third period, and David Rittich stopped 14 shots. Detroit’s Michael Rasmussen also had a third-period goal.
Elsewhere in Tuesday action:
— Tomas Hertl scored his fourth career hat trick and the San Jose Sharks used a three-goal barrage in the second period to beat the Calgary Flames 5-3. The Pacific Division-leading Flames broke out to a 3-1 lead early in the second before the Sharks responded with goals from Erik Karlsson, Logan Couture and Hertl to take the lead. Hertl sealed it with an empty-netter for his first hat trick since Jan. 22, 2019, against Washington. Dillon Dube, Johnny Gaudreau and Adam Ruzicka scored for the Flames.
—Chicago Blackhawks forward Jujhar Khaira was stretchered off the ice after he was leveled by Jacob Trouba in the second period of the New York Rangers’ 6-2 victory. Artemi Panarin had two goals and two assists against his first NHL team, passing 500 career points and helping New York to its seventh straight win. Trouba, Chris Kreider, Kevin Rooney and Barclay Goodrow also scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves. The Rangers also beat the Blackhawks 3-2 on Saturday night in New York.
— Cam Talbot made 38 saves against his former team and the Minnesota Wild shut down the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 for their seventh straight victory. Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and an assist. Marcus Foligno, Victor Rask and Dmitry Kulikov also scored for the Wild, who are off to the best start in franchise history with 37 points through 25 games. Jesse Puljujarvi scored for the Oilers, who have lost three in a row.
—Trevor Zegras flipped a pass over the net to set up the go-ahead goal, Anthony Stolarz made 25 saves and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-0. Zegras scooped the puck onto the blade of his stick behind the net and lobbed it over goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s head. Sonny Milano was waiting on the right edge of the crease and batted the feed past Luukkonen’s glove for his eighth goal 5:14 into the second period. Zegras leads rookies with 16 assists.
—Martin Necas and Vincent Trocheck scored power-play goals, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Jaccob Slavin and Sebastian Aho each had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes. Nino Niederreiter had two assists. Frederik Andersen made 16 saves for Carolina, in the opener of a five-game road trip. Nikolaj Ehlers and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 30 shots as Winnipeg wrapped up a four-game homestand (2-2-0) .
—Anders Leehad had two goals and the New York Islanders snapped an 11-game losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. Oliver Wahlstrom, Kieffer Bellows and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored for New York, which last won on Nov. 6. Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 shots. Josh Norris, Nick Holden and Alex Formenton scored for Ottawa, which had its three-game winning streak halted.
—Ondrej Palat scored with 38 seconds left in the third period, giving the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Patrick Maroon and Corey Perry also scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves. Nick Suzuki and Mike Hoffman scored for Montreal. Jake Allen stopped 24 of 27 shots.
—Pavel Buchnevich scored a wrap-around goal 53 seconds into overtime and the St. Louis Blues beat the Florida Panthers 4-3. The Blues earned a split in their back-to-back with Florida. Both games went to overtime.
—Auston Matthews scored twice, defenseman Morgan Rielly set up four goals and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 to stop a two-game skid. Rielly set up power-play goals by William Nylander and John Tavares, and two more from Matthews. His second goal came seven seconds after Tavares put the Maple Leafs in front 4-1 late in the second period. Nick Ritchie scored his first goal in his 27th game with Toronto late in the first period. Jack Campbell made 28 saves for his NHL-leading 14th win.
