Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry, 35, makes a save against Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho on Sunday in Pittsburgh. Fred Vuich/Associated PressPITTSBURGH — Jesper Fast scored 9 seconds into the third period to break a tie, Sebastian Aho followed with his 22nd goal of the season and the Carolina Hurricanes edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Sunday to move into first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jordan Staal also scored for Carolina, which never trailed in the first meeting of the season between the teams that entered the day tied atop perhaps the league’s most competitive division. Antti Raanta made 31 saves to pick up his 100th career victory.
Evan Rodrigues scored his first goal since Jan. 6 to get Pittsburgh within one with 1:12 remaining, but the Hurricanes held on.
Bryan Rust scored his eighth goal in his past eight games and Sidney Crosby added the 501st goal of his career. Tristan Jarry finished with 26 stops for Pittsburgh and played well despite a series of breakdowns in front of him early on that allowed the Hurricanes to control play for significant stretches.
The Penguins and Hurricanes have spent most of the past two months shadowboxing each other. Carolina sprinted to the division lead following a scorching start in November only to be slowly reeled in by Pittsburgh.
Their first meeting in more than two years provided a litmus test of sorts for both sides. The game comes near the start of a challenging three-week stretch for the Penguins that began with a listless loss to Toronto last Thursday and includes three matchups with the Hurricanes as well as showdowns with Tampa Bay, Florida and the New York Rangers.
CANADIENS 3, ISLANDERS 2: Andrew Hammond made 30 saves and stopped two of three shootout attempts, leading Montreal to a win in New York.
It was Hammond’s first regular-season start since March 28, 2018, and first NHL win since April 9, 2016, when he backstopped the Ottawa Senators to a 6-1 win against the Boston Bruins.
Cole Caufield and Rem Pitlick scored in the shootout and Montreal won its second straight game and first in regulation with Martin St. Louis behind the bench. Jeff Petry and Josh Anderson also scored for the Canadiens.
Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson scored for New York and Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves.
PANTHERS 5, BLACKHAWKS 2: Aleksander Barkov had a goal and two assists and surging Florida on in Chicago for its third straight win.
Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montour, MacKenzie Weegar and Anton Lundell also scored as Eastern Conference-leading Florida won for the seventh time in eight games and finished a five-game road trip at 4-1-0.
Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists to increase his league-leading assist total to 53 and extend his points streak to seven games. He has one goal and 11 assists in the span.
RANGERS 2, SENATORS 1: Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 shots, Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin scored and New York won in Ottawa, Ontario.
Tim Stutzle scored the lone goal for the Senators, who were playing the second half of a back-to-back and coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to Boston. Filip Gustavsson made 31 saves in his first NHL start since Dec. 7.
A balanced first period saw the two teams exchange goals with Stutzle opening the scoring at the four-minute mark when he took advantage of a Rangers turnover and wristed a shot past Shesterkin.
Just over three minutes later, Braden Schneider fired a shot from the point that didn’t get through — but Strome was able to pick it up and beat Gustavsson for his 10th of the season to tie it.
BLUE JACKETS 7, SABRES 3: Dean Kukan had two goals and an assist, Jean-Francois Berube stopped 33 shots in his first NHL start in nearly four years, and Columbus won at home.
Boone Jenner had a goal and an assist, and Zach Werenski, Brendan Gaunce, Gus Nyquist and Justin Danforth also scored for Columbus. Patrik Laine added two assists as the Blue Jackets won for the seventh time in nine games and swept the three-game season series with Buffalo.
Berube last played April 6, 2018, for Chicago in a loss to St. Louis.
Mark Pysyk, Tage Thompson and Kyle Okposo scored for Buffalo. Craig Anderson stopped 32 shots in the Sabres’ third straight loss.
COYOTES 3, STARS 1: Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller each had a goal and an assist and Arizona stopped Dallas’ six-game road winning streak with a 3-1 victory in Glendale, Arizona.
Lawson Crouse scored his 50th NHL goal and Scott Wedgewood made 32 saves for the Coyotes, including 17 while under almost constant pressure in the third period.
With the game tied at 1, Schmaltz scored on a power play to give the Coyotes a 2-1 lead late in the second period. Keller scored into an open net with 34.7 seconds remaining for Arizona, which had lost its last two games.
Roope Hintz scored and Jake Oettinger had 32 saves for the Stars, who had not lost on the road since Jan. 15. Dallas had won four straight and 13 of the last 14 against Arizona.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, SHARKS 1: Jack Eichel scored his first goal since joining Vegas and the visiting Golden Knights beat San Jose Shrks for the 10th straight time.
Eichel’s goal came in his third game back from artificial disk replacement surgery on his neck in November as he finished off a nifty give-and-go with Chandler Stephenson. It was his first goal since Jan. 28, 2021, with Buffalo.
Vegas acquired Eichel in a deal with the Sabres on Nov. 4 and he underwent the surgery the following week. He began practicing with the Golden Knights last month and made his debut last Wednesday as a top-line center.
Eichel’s goal helped snap Vegas’ three-game winless streak and gave Logan Thompson the win in his second career start in goal. Thompson, who lost his first start last month against Nashville, made 35 saves.
WILD 7, OILERS 3: Kevin Fiala had two goals and an assist as Minnesota won in Edmonton, Alberta.
Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello each had a goal and an assist, and Brandon Duhaime, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Connor Dewar also scored to help the Wild snap a two-game losing skid. Kaapo Kahkonen had 30 saves.
Evander Kane, Tyler Benson and Zach Hyman scored for the Oilers, who ended a five-game winning streak with their first loss under new coach Jay Woodcroft. Mike Smith gave up four goals on seven shots before he was pulled with 6:22 left in the first period. Mikko Koskinen replaced him and stopped 12 of the 15 shots he faced.
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