Igor Shesterkin made 17 of his 41 saves in a perfect third period and the New York Rangers beat the Dallas Stars 3-1 Tuesday to extend their winning streak to eight games.

Adam Fox, Kaapo Kakko and Vincent Trocheck each scored for the Rangers, who improved to 9-1-1 over their last 11 games.

New York (36-16-3) expanded their lead in the Metropolitan by defeating a fellow division leader. The Rangers’ current streak includes wins over contenders Dallas, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche.

Miro Heiskanen had the lone goal for the Stars (34-15-8), a second-period power play tally, despite Dallas carrying a 42-26 advantage in shots on goal.

 

MacKinnon, Avs win West showdown over Canucks

Nathan MacKinnon extended his home point streak, Ryan Johansen scored two goals to end his scoring slump and the Colorado Avalanche beat the NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks 3-1.

MacKinnon assisted on Artturi Lehkonen’s empty-net tally, giving him at least one point in each of Colorado’s 27 home games. MacKinnon pulled into a tie with Guy Lafleur (1979-80) for the seventh-longest home-point streak in league history.

27-game home point streak.
22 goals.
34 assists.
56 points.

Nathan MacKinnon. pic.twitter.com/SgsZ3OuUxw

— NHL (@NHL) February 21, 2024

J.T. Miller put the Canucks up 1-0 mid-way through the first period, but Colorado net-minder Alexandar Georgiev held up the rest of the way and finished with 24 saves.

Johansen lit the lamp for the first time since Dec. 29, tying the game early in the second period. He scored the game-winning goal 1:35 into the third period, putting the Avs up for good.

Colorado (35-18-4) picked up two points on the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars, while Vancouver (37-15-6) still leads the league despite a third straight regulation loss.

 

Panthers take over top spot in East

Anton Lundell scored at 1:36 of overtime to lift the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators, their sixth consecutive victory.

The win catapulted the Panthers (37-15-4) ahead of the idle Boston Bruins for the top record in the Eastern Conference.

Florida led 2-0 at the second intermission with goals by Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, but Thomas Chabot and Tim Stuetzle scored in the third for Ottawa to even the score, setting up Lundell’s thrilling game-winner.

“It must have been one of the coolest moments in this building (for me) for sure,” Lundell said. “Out there in overtime, I just waited for my opportunity, got the puck, saw the short side was open, so I tried to pick the corner.”

Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves for the Panthers, who improved to an NHL-leading 19-3-2 since Dec. 23.