NHL Roundup: Point has two goals, two assists as Bolts blank Panthers 5-0

TORONTO — Brayden Point had two goals and two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning blanked the Florida Panthers 5-0 Wednesday in an NHL exhibition game.

Nikita Kucherov also had two goals and added an assist for the Lightning, while Luke Schenn also scored.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 15 shots to pick up the shutout. Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves.

Point put the Lightning up 2-0 after 20 minutes with a pair of first-period goals.

Kucherov struck less than two minutes into the second period with a power-play goal to make it 3-0.

Schenn made it 4-0 just over five minutes into the second, and Kucherov capped the scoring in the third.

The Panthers start a best-of-five playoff qualification series with the New York Islanders on Saturday.

The Lightning play their first game of the seeding tournament among the top four Eastern Conference teams when they face the Washington Capitals on Monday.

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AVALANCHE 3 WILD 2

EDMONTON — Gabriel Landeskog scored the winning goal on a power play in the second period and added an assist as Colorado edged Minnesota 3-2.

Joonas Donskoi opened the scoring 1:25 into the game for the Avalanche while Nathan MacKinnon also scored.

Matt Dumba and Eric Staal scored for the Wild.

Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz combined to make 32 saves for Colorado, while Alex Stalock and Devan Dubnyk teamed up to make 26 saves for Minnesota.

Colorado faces the St. Louis Blues in a Western Conference seeding tournament game on Sunday, while Minnesota opens its best-of-five playoff qualification series against the Vancouver Canucks the same day.

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CAPITALS 3 HURRICANES 2

TORONTO — Alex Ovechkin had a pair of goals, including the eventual winner, as Washington held on to beat Carolina 3-2.

Ovechkin made it 1-0 for the Capitals less than nine minutes into the game, with Evgeny Kuznetsov adding the other in the first period for a 2-1 lead entering intermission. Ovechkin’s scored again at 12:25 of the second period for a two-goal lead.

Vincent Trocheck had a first-period goal for the Hurricanes while Teuvo Teravainen added another in the third to make it a one-goal game.

Braden Holtby and Vitek Vanacek split goaltending duties for Washington, with each allowing a goal on 27 combined shots. Carolina’s Petr Mrazek allowed three goals on 16 shots as James Reimer turned away all nine he faced. 

The Capitals face the Tampa Bay Lightning Monday in an Eastern Conference seeding tournament game, while the Hurricanes open their best-of-five playoff qualification series against the New York Rangers Saturday.

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BLACKHAWKS 4 BLUES 0

EDMONTON — Corey Crawford stopped all 11 shots his way before Malcolm Subban took over as Chicago blanked St. Louis.

Crawford missed the beginning of training camp while he was in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19, but was strong in his 30 minutes of action. Subban made 10 saves after taking over for the second half of the contest.

Dominik Kubalik had a pair of second-period power-play goals to blow the game open for the Blackhawks after Brandon Saad and Dylan Strome scored in the first.

Jordan Binnington stopped 11-of-13 shots in two periods of work for the Blues while Jake Allen kicked out 8-of-10 shots.

Chicago opens its best-of-five playoff qualification series against the Edmonton Oilers Saturday, while St. Louis plays the Colorado Avalanche in a Western Conference seeding tournament game on Sunday.

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ISLANDERS 2 RANGERS 1

TORONTO — Devon Toews’ goal at 15:35 of the third period turned into the winner as the Islanders topped the Rangers.

Toews made it 2-0 for the Islanders after Anthony Beauvillier opened the scoring for his team midway through the second.

Sergei Varlamov stopped all 19 shots he faced while Thomas Greiss tuned away 7-of-8 shots in relief.

Filip Chytil put the Rangers on the board 37 seconds after Toews’ goal. Henrik Lundqvist and Igor Shesterkin combined to make 20 saves.

The Islanders and Florida Panthers start a best-of-five playoff qualification series on Saturday, while the Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes open their best-of-five qualifier the same day.

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JETS 4 CANUCKS 1

EDMONTON — Connor Hellebuyck kicked out 37-of-38 shots as Winnipeg cruised past Vancouver.

Tucker Poolman, Nikolaj Ehlers, Dmitry Kulikov and Blake Wheeler supplied the Jets offence.

Antoine Roussel scored for the Canucks.

Hellebuyck, a Vezina Trophy finalist, was perfect through two periods before getting beaten by one of Vancouver’s 15 third-period shots. Jacob Markstrom turned aside 30-of-33 shots.

Winnipeg opens its best-of-five elimination series against the Calgary Flames Saturday. The Canucks play the Minnesota Wild beginning Sunday.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2020.

The Canadian Press