UNDATED (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes have built a five-point lead over the New York Rangers in the battle for NHL’s Metropolitan Division lead.
The Canes outshot the Blue Jackets, 50-19 in a 4-0 shutout victory. Frederick Andersen had an easy time posting his third shutout of the season.
Nino Niederreiter and Vincent Trocheck scored 36 seconds apart in the opening minutes of the third to blow the game open. Jordan Staal and Teuvo Teravainen also tallied for Carolina.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Gabriel Landeskog notched his second hat trick versus the Jets this season while the Avalanche were scoring six unanswered goals in a 6-3 victory. Andre Burakovsky gave Colorado the lead for good 56 seconds into the final period and capped the scoring. The Avs lead the NHL with 80 points after winning for the 16th time in their last 19 games.
— Jordan Kyrou had two goals and an assist in the Blues’ 5-3 win against the Sabres. Ville Husso had 35 saves for St. Louis to improve to 10-1-1 since the start of 2022 — and 9-1-0 at home. Colton Parayko snapped a 3-3 tie with 6:03 remaining.
— Nick Schmaltz scored twice in the third period and Scott Wedgewood stopped 43 shots as the Coyotes knocked off the Golden Knights, 3-1. Schmaltz tipped in Anton Strålman’s thigh-high shot from between the circles at 3:16 of the third period to put Arizona up 2-1. Shayne Gostisbehere also scored for the Coyotes, who had lost seven of the previous nine against Vegas.
— The Kings knocked off the Ducks, 4-1 as Jonathan Quick became the fourth American-born goalie to reach 350 victories in the NHL. Adrian Kempe scored twice and Los Angeles extended its winning streak to four. Anze Kopitar added a goal and an assist for the Kings.
— Patrick Kane and Brandon Hagel each had had tricks to lead the Blackhawks’ 8-5 win over the Devils. Kane and Hagel completed their hat tricks with empty-netters after Kirby Dach provided the tiebreaking goal with 5:56 remaining. Alex DeBrincat and Seth Jones each had three assists, and Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves in Chciago’s third win in 10 games.
Pens lose Matheson
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury sustained in Thursday’s loss to New Jersey.
Matheson has seven goals and 14 assists in 50 games this season while paired with Chad Ruhwedel.
Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said Matheson is “week to week.”
Elsewhere around the NHL:
— The Arizona Coyotes have signed defenseman Dysin Mayo to a three-year contract. Terms of the deal were not announced. The 25-year-old Mayo has three goals and three assists in 42 games with Arizona this season. A fifth-round NHL draft pick in 2014, Mayo became the eighth defenseman in franchise history to score in his debut and leads the team with 83 blocked shots and t he team’s defensemen with 63 hits. He played 258 career American Hockey League games before getting his first NHL playing time this season.
