Artemi Panarin scored three goals and Igor Shesterkin got the win on his 28th birthday to lift the NHL-leading New York Rangers to a 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

Vincent Trocheck had a goal and three assists and Mike Zibanejad had an assist to extend his point streak to a career-high 10 games.

Shesterkin stopped 34 shots and the Rangers rebounded from Friday’s loss to the Panthers to improve to 6-0 in the second of back-to-back games this season. They are the first team to reach 50 points.

NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov scored his 25th goal as the Lightning dropped their second straight.

 

MORE BREAD, PLEASE.

The full hatty. pic.twitter.com/UkWHQGGvzx

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 31, 2023

Panthers beat Canadiens for 4th straight win

Eetu Luostarinen scored two power-play goals and Anthony Stolarz made 18 saves as the Florida Panthers won their fourth straight, 4-1 over the Montreal Canadiens.

Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe added third-period scores for the Panthers, who have allowed only eight goals during the four-game win streak, one shy of their season high.

Cole Caufield had the lone goal for Montreal, which has lost two straight in regulation following a five-game point streak.

 

TWO FOR TWO pic.twitter.com/LCkEZ97pKX

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) December 31, 2023

Ryan’s shootout goal gets surging Oilers over Kings

Derek Ryan scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout and the Edmonton Oilers extended their winning streak to four games, 3-2 over the Los Angeles Kings.

Connor McDavid scored one goal and set up another by Leon Draisaitl in his 600th career game and Stuart Skinner made 26 saves for the Oilers, who improved to 11-3-0 in their last 14 games.

Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe had goals as the Kings dropped to 7-6-4 at home.

Oil Country on a wave pic.twitter.com/M1JSqtCTQH

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 31, 2023