UNDATED (AP) — Just two points separate the top four teams in the NHL’s highly-competitive Central Division following a shutout win by Tampa Bay and a shutout loss by Florida.
Ross Colton scored in his NHL debut and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots in the Lightning’s 3-0 win at Carolina. Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow also scored, and Alex Killorn had two assists in the third of four straight games between the two teams.
Vasilevskiy had his 22nd career shutout and first since March 2020 against Montreal.
The Stars’ six-game winless streak is over after Anton Khudobin stopped 43 shots in a 3-0 victory over the Panthers.
Khudobin has shut out Florida three times in nine career starts and has 10 career shutouts overall.
John Klingberg put the Stars ahead for good just 53 seconds into the game. That was all the scoring until Esa Lindell tallied 2:17 into the third and Joel Kiviranta added an empty-netter.
Florida tops the division with 26 points, one more than the Lightning and Hurricanes. The idle Blackhawks are two back.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Nico Sturm tallied twice and Kaapo Kahkonen was sharp in making 30 saves in the Wild’s fourth win in a row, 6-2 at Colorado. Mats Zuccarello, Zach Parise, Marcus Foligno, and Ryan Hartman also scored as the Wild completed a 4-1 road trip.
— It’s now a six-game winning streak for the surprising Kings after Alex Iafallo and Andreas Athanasiou scored in the second period of a 2-1 verdict over St. Louis. Cal Petersen made 35 saves and Los Angeles dropped St. Louis to 1-5-1 in its last seven home games.
— The Coyotes rallied from a three-goal deficit for the second straight game and beat the Anaheim Ducks, 4-3 on shootout goals from Conor Garland and Christian Dvorak. Tyler Pitlick and Jakob Chychrun tallied less than two minutes apart in the third period to make it 3-2 before Phil Kessel tied it with 3:21 left in regulation.
— James van Riemsdyk and Shayne Gostisbehere each scored a power-play goal and the Flyers overcame Chris Kreider’s hat trick in a 4-3 win over the Rangers. Claude Giroux had three assists in his return after a two-week absence due to COVID-19.
— The Maple Leafs are a league-best 15-4-2 after William Nylander furnished the tying and winning goals in a 2-1 overtime win against the Flames. Nylander tied it with 1:28 left in regulation and scored 1:06 into overtime to give Toronto a split of its two-game set with Calgary.
