Detroit: Aleksander Barkov scored on a breakaway 2:04 into overtime, lifting Florida to a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night and giving interim coach Tom Rowe his first victory with the Panthers.
Florida, playing their second game with Rowe, had lost their last two games. Detroit were 3-0-1 after losing four straight and nine of 11.
The Red Wings went ahead 1:23 into the game when Henrik Zetterberg scored on their first shot, ending a six-game drought. But they struggled on offence the rest of the night.
Florida’s Vincent Trocheck had a goal negated late in the opening period when Detroit coach Jeff Blashill challenged that Panthers defenceman Jason Demers was offside. Demers made up for it by scoring with 1:45 left in the first, pulling the Panthers into a tie on a shot that was redirected off Detroit defenceman Danny DeKeyser.
Vladimir Tarasenko scored three goals and Kevin Shattenkirk added two as St. Louis earned their third straight win.
The Blues have won six straight at home. Jake Allen made 22 saves while improving to 12-3-3.
The 5-4 loss saw Tampa Bay lost their season-high fourth consecutive game.
Tarasenko, who leads the team with 13 goals, recorded his fourth career hat trick. He scored twice in the game’s opening 9:37 to stake his team to a 2-0 lead.
Cedric Paquette scored twice for the Lightning, who have been outscored 19-9 during their four-game skid. Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson also scored.
Meanwhile, the Sabres beat the Rangers 4-3 as Jack Eichel scored two goals in the third period, and the Sabres earned their second straight victory.
Buffalo’s winning streak coincides with the return of Eichel, who missed the first 21 games with a high ankle sprain. The 20-year-old centre had a goal and an assist in Buffalo’s 5-4 win in Ottawa on Tuesday and has recorded a point in seven straight games dating to last season.
Johan Larsson and Brian Gionta also scored for Buffalo. Anders Nilsson made 22 saves while subbing for starting goaltender Robin Lehner, who is day to day with a hip injury.
Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash and Marc Staal scored for the Rangers, and Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves.
Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, leading the Penguins to a 6-2 win over the Stars.
Crosby scored his league-leading 16th goal in the second period and assisted on Conor Sheary’s sixth as Pittsburgh scored three goals in the final 4 minutes. Eric Fehr’s third of the season was the 100th of his career and Patric Hornqvist’s seventh came on the power play.
Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves for Pittsburgh. Fleury, who won for the first time in five starts, has six wins in his last nine home games.
Tyler Seguin and Devin Shore scored for Dallas. Antti Niemi, playing in his 400th career game, stopped 34 shots.
The Stars have lost three straight and seven of their last 10.
