NHL Recaps: Aleksander Barkov saves Panthers against Bruins, Sharks bite Pens, and more

NHL Recaps:  January 28, 2023

It was a busy night in the NHL with 11 games on the schedule. A majority of teams closed out the evening and headed into their breaks in preparation for the All-Star game in Sunrise, Florida.

That’s where we begin our recaps with a huge comeback victory by the Florida Panthers over league-leading Boston Bruins thanks to Aleksander Barkov’s heroics.

NHL Recaps: Aleksander Barkov to the rescue

Panthers 4 vs Bruins 3 (OT)

Aleksander Barkov tied the game with 2.4 seconds remaining in regulation, then recorded his 600th career point by assisting on Sam Reinhart’s goal 17 seconds into overtime as the Florida Panthers stunned the Boston Bruins with a 4-3 victory on Saturday night in Sunrise, Fla.

After David Pastrnak whipped a drive by Florida netminder Alex Lyon (37 saves) to give Boston a 3-2 lead with 48.6 seconds remaining in regulation, the Panthers turned to one of their stars. With Lyon pulled, Barkov’s shot made it through traffic and by Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman (33 saves) to tie it in the waning seconds.

Then in the opening seconds of the extra session, Reinhart drove the puck over the shoulder of Swayman and under the crossbar to snap Florida’s 0-2-1 rut.

Barkov also assisted on Brandon Montour’s goal, and Sam Bennett scored for the Panthers. Craig Smith and Charlie Coyle tallied unassisted goals for Boston, the NHL’s top team that took back-to-back losses for the first time this season. The Bruins fell 3-2 at Tampa Bay on Thursday.

“I think that’s a very important game for us, to show the confidence in this group,” Bennett said. “That was a massive win against a very good team.”

Lightning 5 vs Kings 2

Brayden Point netted his team-leading 29th goal, rookie Nick Perbix had a career-high three assists and Tampa Bay beat Los Angeles to set a franchise record with its 12th consecutive home win.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Corey Perry, Ross Colton and Victor Hedman potted even-strength markers for the Lightning. Steven Stamkos stretched his point streak to 11 games with an assist. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves as Tampa Bay finished January at 9-4-0.

Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Phillip Danault scored goals for the Kings, whose three-game winning streak ended. Jonathan Quick stopped 20 shots in the loss.

Islanders 2 vs Golden Knights 1 (OT)

Mathew Barzal scored with 31.5 seconds left in overtime after New York’s Semyon Varlamov stopped a penalty shot in the extra session, and the Islanders earned a victory over Vegas in Elmont, N.Y.

Barzal took a pass from Anthony Beauvillier and then cut across the high slot before rifling a wrist shot past the blocker of Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson and into the top right corner of the net. Anders Lee also scored for New York, which won its second straight game and prevailed for just the third time in 13 games (3-7-3).

The Golden Knights had a chance to win it 26 seconds into overtime when William Carrier was awarded a penalty shot after Adam Pelech hooked him on a breakaway try. However, Varlamov made a pad save on Carrier’s five-hole try. Carrier scored the only goal for Vegas, which lost its fourth straight game (0-2-2) and fell for the seventh time in eight games (1-5-2).

Wild 3 vs Sabres 2 (SO)

Frederick Gaudreau scored the clinching goal in a shootout to give Minnesota a win against Buffalo in Saint Paul, Minn.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Jared Spurgeon scored in regulation and Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves for the Wild, who have won two straight immediately after a three-game losing streak.

Jack Quinn and Zemgus Girgensons scored for the Sabres, whose five-game winning streak ended. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 33 saves.

Avalanche 4 vs Blues 2

Alex Newhook, J.T. Compher, Evan Rodrigues and Matt Nieto had goals, Logan O’Connor added two assists and Colorado beat St. Louis in Denver.

Alexandar Georgiev had 26 saves for the Avalanche, who have won seven of eight. Colorado forward Valeri Nichushkin sat out for the second straight game with an upper-body injury.

Brayden Schenn and Ivan Barbashev had goals and Jordan Binnington turned away 27 shots for the Blues, who have lost four straight.

Flyers 4 vs Jets 0

Carter Hart made 40 saves as Philadelphia defeated host Winnipeg.

It was Hart’s first shutout of the season and the fourth of his NHL career. It was also the fourth time this season Hart has faced 40 or more shots, and the Flyers have won each of those games. Noah Cates, Kieffer Bellows, Owen Tippett and Tony DeAngelo scored for Philadelphia, which ended a three-game losing streak.

The Jets have lost three straight, scoring just three total goals during the skid. Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck allowed all four goals on 30 shots before he was replaced in the third period.

NHL Recaps: Sharks bite Penguins

NHL Recaps San Jose Sharks
Jan 28, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; San Jose Sharks right wing Timo Meier (28) clears the puck against Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) in front of the Sharks net during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. The Sharks won 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Sharks 6 vs Penguins 4

Logan Couture, who finished with five points, scored the go-ahead goal on a shot that squeaked under Pittsburgh goaltender Casey DeSmith’s pad at 15:35 of the third period as visiting San Jose won.

Couture had two goals, including an empty-netter, and three assists. Alexander Barabanov added a goal and two assists, and Mikey Eyssimont, Erik Karlsson and Noah Gregor also scored for the Sharks, who ended a four-game losing streak. San Jose’s Kaapo Kahkonen made 37 saves.

Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist, Sidney Crosby a goal and an assist and Ryan Poehling a goal for the Penguins, who lost their second straight. DeSmith made 26 saves.

Senators 5 vs Canadiens 0

Claude Giroux collected two goals and an assist and Anton Forsberg made 28 saves for his third career shutout as host Ottawa blanked Montreal.

The multi-point performance was the third in as many games for Giroux. He has four goals and as many assists during his four-game point streak. Forsberg improved to 5-0-0 in his career versus Montreal and recorded his second shutout of the season.

Alex DeBrincat opened the scoring and Mathieu Joseph and Derick Brassard also tallied to send the Senators to their third straight victory and hand the Canadiens their third consecutive loss (0-2-1). Sam Montembeault made 31 saves for Montreal.

Kraken 3 vs Blue Jackets 1

Morgan Geekie broke his 29-game goalless drought as Seattle defeated visiting Columbus and moved into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division.

Alex Wennberg and Eeli Tolvanen also scored for the Kraken, who went 3-1-1 on a five-game homestand. Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves.

Rookie Kent Johnson tallied for Columbus, which completed a 1-2-1 trip. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 28 of 31 shots for the Blue Jackets, who have the fewest points (33) in the league.

Oilers 7 vs Blackhawks 3

Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman each collected one goal and two assists and host Edmonton scored four goals in the second period on the way to a rout of Chicago.

Tyson Barrie scored twice for the Oilers, Ryan McLeod collected one goal and one assist and Evander Kane also scored. Edmonton’s Jack Campbell made 25 saves before emergency backup goalie Matthew Berlin, a university goalie who was signed to an amateur tryout contract because Stuart Skinner was ill, played the final 2:26 and stopped the lone shot he faced.

“We meant no disrespect to Chicago, we were just trying to give a cool moment to someone that was here and lived out a moment to play in the NHL,” McDavid said. “He’s still young and playing for a good program in [Alberta], and maybe we’ll see him in the League one day.”

NHL.com

Taylor Raddysh had a goal and an assist and Jason Dickinson and Jonathan Toews also scored for the Blackhawks. Patrick Kane contributed two assists, and Petr Mrazek stopped 36 shots.

Ducks 2 vs Coyotes 1 (OT)

Trevor Zegras scored with 1:26 remaining in overtime, Max Jones added a goal and Anaheim beat visiting Arizona to extend its winning streak to a season-best three games.

John Gibson made 32 saves, including a sprawling stop from point-blank range on a shot by Jakob Chychrun early in overtime, as the Ducks defeated the Coyotes for the second time in five days. Anaheim won 5-2 at Arizona on Tuesday.

Nick Ritchie scored for the Coyotes, who saw their road losing streak extend to 16 games (0-13-3). Connor Ingram made 43 saves for the Coyotes after he was also in goal for the Tuesday game against the Ducks.

–Field Level Media

–The Daily Goal Horn contributed to this article

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