Vegas returned to action on Friday night. The team’s season was paused after members of the coaching staff and Alex Pietrangelo were put into COVID protocol. Pietrangelo wasn’t available to play on Friday because he is still on the COVID protocol-related absence list.
The New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche will be looking to do the same once their players are able to resume play from postponements. As of Friday, the Devils had 17 players in COVID protocol; while Buffalo had five; Minnesota had eight; and Colorado had two.
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BOSTON 2 PHILADELPHIA 1
The Bruins earned another come-from-behind win over the Flyers on Friday after rallying for an overtime victory on Wednesday night. Boston has won three straight games and don’t play again until next Wednesday because the team’s series versus Buffalo has been postponed.
James van Riemsdyk opened the scoring with a power-play goal 12 seconds into the third period. His sixth goal of the year stretched his point streak to six consecutive games. JVR has three goals and eight assists during that span.
Erik Gustafsson and Claude Giroux earned helpers on the play.
Brad Marchand tied the game at the 12:01 mark of the final frame and Sean Kuraly gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead just 27 seconds later.
David Pastrnak stretched his point spree to four straight games with an assist. He has five goals and three assists since making his season debut on last Saturday.
Charlie McAvoy, Anders Bjork and David Krejci also registered an assist each in the win. Krejci has a four-game point streak (four assists), while McAvoy has a seven-game point spree (one goal, nine assists).
Brian Elliott stopped 21 of 23 shots in the loss. He could get some additional starts if Carter Hart misses more games due to back spasms.
Tuukka Rask turned aside 23 of 24 shots in the victory.
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DETROIT 1 TAMPA BAY 3
Tampa Bay completed their homestand with a perfect 4-0-0 record with two victories coming against Nashville and another two wins versus Detroit.
Vladislav Namestnikov opened the scoring against the team that selected him 27th overall in the 2011 NHL Draft.
Filip Zadina picked up an assist in his return to the lineup from COVID protocol. Jon Merrill had the other helper on Namestnikov’s second goal of the year.
Pat Maroon’s first goal of 2020-21 tied the game just under four minutes later.
Barclay Goodrow gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead late in the second stanza and he sealed the win with an empty netter. Those were Goodrow’s first two goals of the campaign.
Blake Coleman, Brayden Point, Ryan McDonagh and Jan Rutta chipped in one assist apiece.
Erik Cernak was credited with a game-high seven hits.
Thomas Greiss played well with 29 saves on 31 shots, but he remains winless so far this season with a record of 0-7-2.
Andrei Vasilevskiy blocked 27 of 28 shots for the victory.
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NASHVILLE 1 FLORIDA 2
The Panthers earned a series split against the Predators with Friday’s win following Thursday’s 6-5 overtime loss. Florida’s homestand continues for four more games on Sunday against Detroit.
Colton Sissons got the scoring started with his second goal of the season. He didn’t have a point in eight games going into Friday’s match.
Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis extended their respective point streaks to four straight games with an assist each. They both have one goal and three helpers apiece during that span.
Aleksander Barkov’s fourth goal of the season pulled the Panthers even in the second period. He also assisted on Carter Verhaeghe’s sixth goal in eight games. Barkov has three goals and four helpers during a four-game point streak.
Verhaeghe added an assist in the contest. Owen Tippett and MacKenzie Weegar also contributed one helper each.
Radko Gudas was credited with a game-high nine hits.
Pekka Rinne stopped 34 of 36 shots, but came away with the loss.
Chris Driedger defended 24 shots to give him a 3-0-1 record with a 1.72 goals-against average and .942 save percentage.
LOS ANGELES 2 VEGAS 5
Vegas returned to action for the first time since Jan. 26 with a bang and scored five straight goals to earn a convincing win over the Kings.
Nicolas Hague enjoyed a productive showing with one goal and two assists. He scored his first goal of the season just 50 seconds into the contest. Hague also earned the secondary helper on goals by Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson.
Karlsson also finished the match with one goal and two helpers, while Marchessault recorded a multi-point effort by adding an assist.
Mark Stone also had one goal and one assist.
Max Pacioretty collected three helpers and posted seven shots on goal.
Cody Glass scored his second goal during a Vegas power play. He has three points in four outings.
Shea Theodore, Olli Maatta, Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe registered one assist apiece.
Austin Wagner and Dustin Brown (power play) got the Kings on the board during the third period.
Jonathan Quick was pulled after he surrendered four goals on 10 shots. Cal Petersen made 25 saves on 26 shots in relief.
Marc-Andre Fleury blocked 22 shots through the first two periods before surrendering two goals on seven shots in the third.
SAN JOSE 5 ANAHEIM 4 (SO)
San Jose returned to action for the first time since Jan. 28 and halted a two-game winless skid. The Sharks will play against the Ducks again on Saturday.
Matt Nieto’s third goal of the year opened the scoring. Marcus Sorensen and Alexander Chmelevski, who made his NHL debut on Friday, assisted on the play.
Adam Henrique, Troy Terry and Max Comtois scored three straight goals for the Ducks during the second stanza. Terry also assisted on Henrique’s goal for his first points of the year.
Derek Grant picked up two assists in the match.
Comtois’ second goal of the game and fifth of the year evened the score at the 11:33 mark of the third period after the Sharks mounted a comeback.
Logan Couture, Evander Kane and Brent Burns scored during the third period. Kane and Burns added one assist each for multi-point performances.
Ryan Donato. Carter Rowney, Rickard Rakell, Cam Fowler and Hampus Lindholm had one assist apiece on Friday.
Donato and Kevin Labanc scored the only goals in the shootout to give San Jose the win.
Martin Jones stopped 33 of 37 shots for his fourth win in six starts.
John Gibson made 26 stops on 30 shots in the shootout defeat.
Ryan Getzlaf didn’t play in the game because of a lower-body injury.
