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RALEIGH, N.C. — Eric Staal had a goal and two assists and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Thursday night.
Ryan Murphy, Jay McClement, Alexander Semin and Andrej Nestrasil scored for Carolina, which had been 0-3-3 in its last six home games since a 7-4 win over Edmonton on March 8. Brad Malone had a pair of assists as Carolina won for the first time in its last five home games against the Penguins.
Brandon Sutter and Ian Cole scored for the Penguins, who had won the previous four season series with Carolina before the teams won two games apiece this time.
Capitals 3, Devils 2 (OT)
WASHINGTON — On a quiet night for Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, Washington got rare goals from Matt Niskanen, Karl Alzner and Eric Fehr, along with 29 saves from Braden Holtby, to beat New Jersey in overtime.
Defenseman Niskanen’s fourth goal of the season came 73 seconds into the extra period, off an assist from Alzner.
Washington led 2-0, but the Devils got one goal on Travis Zajac’s short-handed score with a little more than five minutes left in the second period, then tied it on Steve Bernier’s goal with 29.2 seconds remaining in regulation.
Islanders 3, Kings 2
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Anze Kopitar scored with 4:23 left, defenseman Alec Martinez had two assists, and Los Angeles won a third straight on its road trip by beating slumping New York.
Kopitar, who had a goal and five assists in his previous three games, got to a deflected puck off a drive by defenseman Andrej Sekera and fired it past Jaroslav Halak for his 16th goal.
Jonathan Quick made 25 saves in his 400th NHL game. He has won at New Jersey, the New York Rangers, and the Islanders on this trip that has two games left. Nick Shore netted his first career goal in his 28th game, and Tyler Toffoli also scored for the playoff-hopeful Kings.
Coyotes 4, Sabres 3 (OT)
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Sam Gagner scored 56 seconds into overtime to lift Arizona to a win over Buffalo, earning cheers from the last-place Sabres’ fans hoping to get the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft.
Jordan Szwarz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and David Moss also scored for Arizona, which has won consecutive games for just the second time in 2015.
The 29th-place Coyotes moved six points ahead of the Sabres, delighting the home crowd clamoring for the best odds at the top pick.
Tyler Ennis, Brian Gionta and Rasmus Ristolainen scored in the Sabres’ fourth-consecutive loss. It’s the seventh time this season Buffalo has a skid of at least four games.
Predators 3, Lightning 2
TAMPA, Fla. — Pekka Rinne made 28 saves for his 40th win, and Nashville moved into first place in the Central Division by beating Tampa Bay.
Mike Ribeiro, Paul Gaustad and Mike Santorelli scored for the Predators, who took a one-point lead over St. Louis.
Tampa Bay got goals from Vladislav Namestnikov and Brian Boyle.