UNDATED (AP) — Anders Lee and Brock Nelson scored 62 seconds apart early in the second period and rookie Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves as the New York Islanders defeated the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 for their fifth straight win.
The victory was the Islanders’ sixth straight over the Sabres this season. Sorokin earned his fourth win of the season as the Islanders improved to 10-0-2 at Nassau Coliseum.
Last-place Buffalo lost for the seventh straight time.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
— Alex Ovechkin, Dmitry Orlov and Nick Jensen scored to lead the Washington Capitals to a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. T.J. Oshie had two assists and Ilya Samsonov stopped 36 shots for the Capitals, who have won eight of 11. Washington was without forward Tom Wilson, who served the first game of a seven-game suspension for Friday’s hit on Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo. Joel Farabee scored for Philadelphia, which lost its second straight and finished 3-3 during a grueling nine-day, six-game stretch.
— Yanni Gourde, Ondrej Palat and Victor Hedman each scored a power-play goal in the second period, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3. Pat Maroon added his 100th career goal in the third period, giving Tampa Bay a season-high four goals with the man advantage. Gourde finished with two goals and two assists. The Lightning improved to 3-0-1 taking two of three in the series between Central Division contenders.
— Vincent Trocheck and James Reimer continued to torment their former team, lifting the Carolina Hurricanes to their fifth straight victory with a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers. Trocheck scored for the fourth time this season against the Panthers. Nino Niederreiter, Sebastian Aho and Warren Foegele also had goals for the Hurricanes, who have won eight of 10 home games this season. Reimer made 21 saves to improve to 3-0-0 since being traded by the Panthers. MacKenzie Weegar and Mason Marchment scored for Florida, which had a five-game points streak snapped.
— Sidney Crosby capped a three-goal surge in the first period and the Pittsburgh Penguins coasted to a 5-1 win over the New York Rangers. Crosby scored his eighth of the season, Kasperi Kapanen netted his sixth and John Marino his first as Pittsburgh scored three goals on six first-period shots. Evgeni Malkin and Zach Aston-Reese added goals as the Penguins won for the ninth time in their last 13 games. Casey DeSmith, making his second start since Feb. 11, stopped 22 shots.
— Scott Wedgewood made 40 saves, Kyle Palmieri scored out of a scramble with 4:37 left and the New Jersey Devils snapped a five-game losing streak with a 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins. Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask made 24 saves and remained stuck at 299 career victories. The Bruins have lost four of six games. Palmieri scored about two minutes after Wedgewood robbed Craig Smith’s bid at the end of a Bruins’ power play.
— Roman Josi scored the final shootout goal on a backhander, helping the Nashville Predators beat the Dallas Stars 4-3 after blowing a 3-0 third-period lead. Josi and Forsberg scored in the shootout as the Predators ended a three-game losing streak. Rookie Eeli Tolvanen had a goal and an assist in regulation, Mikael Granlund and Calle Jarnkrok added goals and Pekka Rinne made 35 saves for Nashville. Filip Forsberg added two assists as the Predators built a 3-0 lead through two periods.
— Shootout goals by Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson allowed Ottawa to come away with a 4-3 verdict over the Flames in Calgary. The Flames picked up a point on goals by Johnny Gaudreau and Noah Hanifan, but they fell to 0-1-1 since hiring Darryl Sutter as head coach. Connor Brown, Colin White and Ryan Dzingel tallied in regulation for Ottawa.
