Hurricanes blank depleted Bruins 6-0 behind Aho and Andersen

BOSTON (AP) — Sebastian Aho scored twice, Frederik Andersen made 34 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes shut out the short-handed Boston Bruins 6-0 on Thursday night.

Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and two assists, Vincent Trocheck, Brett Pesce and Jordan Staal also scored, and Teuvo Teravainen added three assists to help Carolina complete a season sweep of Boston with another rout. The Hurricanes outscored the Bruins 10-1 in the first two games before capping the sweep with their second shutout in the three meetings.

The Bruins lost for the third time in four games and were already reeling from the loss of three top players — their leading scorer, team captain and winningest goalie in franchise history — over the previous 48 hours.

Brad Marchand served the first of a six-game suspension for going after Pittsburgh goalie Tristan Jarry late in a 4-2 loss Tuesday night. Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron missed the game with a head injury sustained against the Penguins. And on Wednesday, goalie Tuukka Rask announced he was ending his bid to return from offseason hip surgery and retiring.

Linas Ullmark started in net and allowed six goals on 43 shots.

AVALANCHE 3, LIGHTNING 2

DENVER (AP) — Gabriel Landeskog, Devon Toews and Valeri Nichushkin scored for Colorado, which withstood a last-minute blitz by Tampa Bay in a matchup between two of the NHL’s top teams.

Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point scored for the Lightning, who pulled goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for an extra skater with just over three minutes remaining but could not beat Darcy Kuemper again.

Returning from the All-Star break, the Avalanche won for the 11th time in 12 games overall and extended their franchise-record home points streak to 22 games (20-0-2).

CAPITALS 5, CANADIENS 2

MONTREAL (AP) — Joe Snively had his first career two-goal game and Washington spoiled the debut of Montreal interim coach Martin St. Louis.

Connor McMicheal and Carl Hagelin also scored and Tom Wilson added an empty-netter to help the Capitals (26-14-9) snap a two-game skid. Ilya Samsonov made 42 saves.

Cole Caufield broke a 17-game goal drought and Rem Pitlick added his ninth of the season for Montreal, which lost its eighth straight game (0-6-2). The Canadiens have dropped six in a row in regulation and have the NHL’s worst record at 8-31-7.

St. Louis replaced Dominique Ducharme, who was fired on Wednesday, but it was more of the same for the Canadiens. For the fifth time in six games, they pulled their starting goalie. Cayden Primeau allowed four goals on 15 shots before Samuel Montembeault blocked all eight he faced.

PENGUINS 2, SENATORS 0

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Casey DeSmith made 26 saves in outdueling former Penguins star and teammate Matt Murray as Pittsburgh blanked Ottawa for its fifth straight road win.

Jeff Carter scored in the second period. Sidney Crosby blocked a late shot in close before assisting on Bryan Rust’s empty-net goal in the waning seconds. The Penguins are 8-1-3 in their last 12 games.

Murray, who helped the Penguins win consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and ’17 before being traded to Ottawa in 2020, made 42 saves in his first start against his former team.

DEVILS 7, BLUES 4

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nico Hischier and Yegor Sharangovich triggered a five-goal flurry in the third period and Jon Gillies made 27 saves as New Jersey rallied to beat St. Louis.

The Devils, playing their third game in four nights, won back-to-back road games for the first time this season after defeating Montreal on Tuesday.

St. Louis, playing its first game in 12 days, had won 12 of the previous 13 meetings between the teams.

Brayden Schenn had two goals for the Blues. Klim Kostin and Justin Faulk also scored.

Hischier scored twice, including an empty-net goal with nine seconds left.

Jimmy Vesey, Jesper Boqvist, P.K. Subban and Michael McLeod also scored for the Devils.

BLUE JACKETS 4, SABRES 3, OT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jakub Voracek scored 16 seconds into overtime to give Columbus a comeback win over Buffalo.

Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jack Roslovic and Brendan Gaunce also had goals for the Blue Jackets, who won for the fourth time in five games and second straight on a five-game road trip. Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves.

Rasmus Dahlin, Kyle Okposo and Alex Tuch scored for the Sabres in their first game back from the All-Star break. Tage Thompson had two assists and Dustin Tokarski stopped 30 shots. Buffalo has lost three in a row.

Boone Jenner’s faceoff win and Zach Werenski’s team-leading 20th assist set up Voracek for the winning goal on a shot from the right circle.

FLAMES 5, MAPLE LEAFS 2

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Led by Noah Hanifin’s goal and assist, Calgary scored four times in the second period to beat Toronto for its fifth victory in a row.

Andrew Mangiapane, Oliver Kylington, Elias Lindholm and Rasmus Andersson also scored for the Flames (25-13-6), who are heating up on home ice as well. They’ve won five consecutive games at the Scotiabank Saddledome, outscoring the opposition 24-4.

Rasmus Sandin and Michael Bunting scored for the Maple Leafs (30-11-3), who had won six straight. Mitch Marner had his eight-game goal and point streaks snapped (10 goals, nine assists).

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