Samuel Ersson stopped 12 pucks to help the Philadelphia Flyers defeat the New Jersey Devils 3-1 on Saturday in Newark.
It was Ersson’s fourth straight victory, which tied his longest career streak.
“He found stability. He seems more confident and we hope that continues,” said head coach John Tortorella about his goaltender.
If Ersson was so light, he can give credit to his teammates who blocked 32 shots in front of him.
Matvei Michkov scored his 14th goal of the season, overtaking Macklin Celebrini as the rookie leader.
Bobby Brink and Travis Konecny also scored for the Flyers, who are 4-0-1 in their last five games, including three comebacks. Tyson Foerster collected two assists.
Author of the winning goal, Brink hit the target on the power play with just over seven minutes remaining in the game when his wrist shot found the opening inside the right post.
Dougie Hamilton allowed the Devils to open the scoring in the first period. Former Montreal Canadiens goalie Jake Allen conceded two goals on 17 shots. Allen made his first start in seven games.
The Devils are 2-5-3 in their last 10 games and have lost their last three outings.
Cleared from the scoresheet, Devils captain Nico Hischier became the sixth Swiss to play 500 games in the National Hockey League. He has the highest total of them after 500 matches, 392 points.
The Rangers come to Montreal after a shootout win
Vincent Trocheck scored the only goal of the shootout and the New York Rangers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0.
Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves to get the shutout. This is his second this season and his 17th in his career.
The Rangers won their second straight game and improved to 6-1-2 in January.
They will face the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, who beat the Habs in October and November, 7-2 and 4-3.
Daniil Tarasov made 26 saves and Columbus, who blocked 16 shots, suffered his first loss in seven games.
Trocheck scored in the second round of the shootout, then Shesterkin stopped Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko on the final two shots.
A shutout and an assist for Spencer Knight
At Sunrise, Spencer Knight stopped all 34 shots aimed at him in addition to collecting an assist to lead the Florida Panthers to a 3-0 victory against the Anaheim Ducks.
It was Knight’s second shutout this season and fifth of his career.
Jesper Boqvist opened the scoring and the Panthers became the first team to earn 20 wins after scoring first this season.
Anton Lundell and Gustav Forsling, in an empty net, also hit the target for the Panthers, who have won two of their last three clashes. The Floridians have collected at least one point in their last nine meetings against the Ducks, a streak dating back to November 21, 2019.
-In the loss, John Gibson made 42 saves. The Ducks suffered a third straight loss and a sixth in their last seven games.
The Panthers’ leading scorer, Sam Reinhart, was ejected from the game in the first period for kneeing Isaac Lundestrom.
Things are going well for Dubois and the Caps
In Washington, Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win for the Capitals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Dubois made it 3-1 in the third period by firing a shot high after he won the faceoff at the end of the power play.
Aliaksei Protas also had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who were 7-0-3 in their last 10 games.
Jakob Chychrun and Brandon Duhaime also found the back of the net for the Capitals. Connor McMichael had two assists and Logan Thompson made 18 saves.
Bryan Rust was the only one to beat Thompson and that ended his streak of 198:22 without allowing a goal. That’s the longest of any goalie this season and third longest in Capitals history behind Pat Riggin (203:52) and Jim Carey (200:04).
In the loss, Sidney Crosby passed Marcel Dionne for 11th all-time in assists with his 1041st.
The Penguins have lost 8 of their last 10 meetings. Joel Blomqvist stopped 29 shots.
Big night for Guentzel and Kucherov against Detroit
Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel each provided a goal and three points, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning win 5-1 over the Detroit Red Wings.
Darren Raddysh had a goal and an assist, helping the Lightning win for the third time in four outings.
Brayden Point and Mitchell Chaffee also scored for the winners, while Andrei Vasilevskiy blocked 39 shots, beaten only by Lucas Raymond.
Tampa Bay managed four goals in the second period. Guentzel got the ball rolling after 16 seconds, marking the Bolts’ quickest goal this season to start a period.
It was the 17th time this season that the Lightning had scored three or more goals in a period. This total is a league high, tied with Washington.
The Islanders also make life difficult for the Sharks
Brock Nelson scored a 13th goal and the New York Islanders defeated the San Jose Sharks, 4-1.
Nelson threaded the needle midway through the second period, just 40 seconds after Barclay Goodrow tied the score. Nelson also took part in Ryan Pulock’s goal.
Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson also scored for the Islanders, who had lost their last two games.
San Jose lost by the same score Thursday in Columbus. The Sharks have won just one of their last six games.
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