SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Panthers continue to be one of the NHL’s top teams at home.
Sam Bennett’s second hat trick of the season highlighted the Panthers’ blowout win over the Stars, 7-1.
Bennett finished with four points and Jonathan Huberdeau added a goal and three assists, giving him 51 points. Anthony Duclair got into the act with a goal and two assists for the Cats, who are 7-0-1 since the COVID-19 pause and 19-3-0 overall at home.
Jake Oettinger was pulled after allowing four goals on 17 shots. He was lifted after Carter Verhaeghe and Huberdeau scored 30 seconds apart in the second period.
Roope Hintz had the lone goal for Dallas, which is 4-11-1 on the road this season.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello scored four seconds apart while the Wild collected four goals in the third period of a 7-3 trouncing of the Ducks. Zuccarello finished with two goals and an assist, Boldy and Ryan Hartman had one of each, and Kirill Kaprizov added two assists in his return. Kaapo Kahkonen made 39 saves for the rested Wild, who won their 10th straight against the Ducks.
— Nazem Kadri scored the shootout winner and the Avalanche extended the NHL’s longest home winning streak in nearly four years to 13 with a 4-3 victory over the undermanned Coyotes. Mikko Rantanen, Tyson Jost and Andre Burakovsky scored in regulation for Colorado and Pavel Francouz stopped 23 shots. Arizona took a 3-2 lead on Shayne Gostisbehere’s goal 39 seconds into the third period, but Burakovsky tied it just 29 seconds later.
Maple Leafs put 3 on COVID-19 list as outbreak persists
UNDATED (AP) — The Toronto Maple Leafs have added three more players to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol as an outbreak on the team that started in December continues to drag on. The Leafs say forwards Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie and defenseman Justin Holl have been added to the list.
Twenty Maple Leafs players have entered the protocol since the team’s outbreak began last month. Toronto’s next game is Saturday at St. Louis.
More than 100 games have been postponed this season because of coronavirus concerns.
In other hockey news:
— Islanders forward Ross Johnston was suspended for three games without pay by the league for an illegal check to the head against Devils forward A.J. Greer. Johnston was assessed a minor penalty for illegal check to the head early in the first period of the Islanders’ 3-2 home victory on Thursday.
— A showcase game in Canada featuring prime prospects eligible for the NHL draft has been postponed because of COVID-19 concerns. The 2022 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game was originally scheduled for Feb. 2 at Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, home of the Ontario Hockey League’s Rangers.
— Claude Julien has been named coach of Canada’s men’s hockey team for the Beijing Olympics, and Shane Doan has been named general manager. They replace St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong and Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper, who vacated their positions on the national team when the NHL pulled out of an agreement to send its players to the Olympics last month.
