UNDATED (AP) — Just one point separates the top three teams in the NHL’s Central Division. The Florida Panthers have moved back into a first-place tie with the Carolina Hurricanes, one point ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Panthers were 4-2 winners over the Blue Jackets as Frank Vatrano scored twice, Anthony Duclair had a pair of assists. Sam Bennett and Radko Gudas also scored for the Panthers, who have won five straight games against the Blue Jackets and gone 6-0-1 in their last seven meetings. Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves.
Yanni Gourde scored 2:50 into overtime to give the Lightning a 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes. Alex Killorn and Brayden Point also scored to support Andrei Vasilevskiy’s 25-save performance.
Andrei Svechnikov and Brady Skjei scored for Carolina, which has only one regulation loss in its past eight games. Petr Mrazek stopped 33 shots.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— Alex Tuch scored the winner in a shootout to send the Golden Knights to their seventh straight win, 3-2 against the Sharks. Robin Lehner stopped 29 shots and Vegas overcame a two-goal deficit behind a pair of power-play goals from captain Mark Stone. Sharks forward Patrick Marleau passed Gordie Howe for the most games played in NHL history.
— Kevin Fiala collected a goal and an assist, while Cam Talbot stopped 22 shots to carry the Wild to their fourth win in a row, 5-2 against the Coyotes. Kirill Kaprizov, Jordan Greenway and Marcus Johansson also scored to help Minnesota strengthen its playoff position. The Wild have 59 points, 14 ahead of fourth-place Arizona in the West Division.
— Luke Kunin and Calle Jarnkrok each scored a goal and added an assist to lead the Predators over the Blackhawks, 5-2. Matt Duchene, Mattias Ekholm and Tanner Jeannot also scored and Mikael Granlund had two assists as Nashville snapped a two-game skid. The Preds have won all six meetings between the teams so far this season as they battle for fourth place in the Central Division.
— Denis Gurianov scored in the fifth round of a shootout to give the Stars a 3-2 victory against the Red Wings. Roope Hintz and rookie Jason Robertson both scored in regulation for the Stars, with Miro Heiskanen assisting on both. Anton Khudobin stopped 20 shots before the shootout, including a glove save reaching around a defender with less than three minutes left in regulation.
— Connor McDavid scored the winner late in the third period and had two assists as the Oilers knocked off the Canadiens, 4-1. Jesse Puljujarvi added a goal and an assist for Edmonton, which trailed 1-0 with about 10 minutes to play. The Oilers stretched their home winning streak to eight games and improved to 2-3-1 against Montreal this year.
— Connor Brown scored a short-handed goal and added an empty-netter for the Senators in a 4-2 win over the host Flames. Josh Norris had a goal and an assist and Brady Tkachuk also scored for Ottawa. Ottawa netminder Matt Murray made 26 saves.
