March 5, 2026; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets’ goalkeeper Connor Hellebueck (37) blocks a shot by Tampa Bay Lightning forward Pontus Homberg (29) in the third period at the Canada Life Centre. Mandatory Credit: Terrence Lee-Imagn Image Connor Hellebuyck won a battle of elite goalies, Morgan Barron and Mark Scheifele scored in the second period and the Winnipeg Jets beat the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Thursday night.
In a matchup between two of the five active Vezina Trophy-winning goalies, Hellebuyck made 26 saves, while Tampa Bay’s Andrey Vasilevskiy also stopped 26 shots.
Hellebuyck, a three-time Vezina winner who backstopped Team USA’s 2-1 overtime win over Canada, improved to 8-2-1 in his head-to-head matchup with Vasilevskiy, the 2019 Vezina winner.
Gustav Nyquist scored the first goal for Winnipeg and Kyle Connor added an empty-net goal as the Jets improved to 5-2-3 in their last 10 games.
Brayden Point scored the only goal for the Lightning, who have lost four straight games after going 20-1-1 from Dec. 20 to Feb. 25.
Rangers 6, Maple Leafs 2
Alexis Lafreniere equalized on a diversion in the third quarter, giving hosts New York a win over Toronto.
Will Cuylle scored in the first period and then closed with an empty-net goal with 2:51 left, and Vladislav Gavrikov scored his second tying goal on a power play in the second period. Jaroslav Chmelar and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers.
Matias Maccelli scored 13 seconds into the contest and rookie Easton Cowan scored his second goal before the Maple Leafs allowed five straight goals and tied their worst record of the season with their sixth straight loss.
Senators 4, Flames 1
Dylan Cozens broke a third-period tie and sparked Ottawa to a decisive comeback win over host Calgary.
Lars Eller, Tim Stutzle and Shane Pinto also scored for the Senators, who are 7-1-2 and remain in the playoffs. Ottawa goalie Linus Ullmark made 19 saves. He continues his personal streak of 8-0-3. Ottawa is four points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Martin Pospisil has a record for the Flames, who have lost four straight games (0-3-1) and have just three wins in 13 games (3-7-3), leaving them 12 points out of a Western Conference playoff position.
Kings 5, Islanders 3
Artemi Panarin scored his first goal for the Kings and helped Los Angeles to a win over visiting New York.
Panarin, Adrian Kempe and Mikey Anderson each had a goal and an assist, Samuel Helenus and Alex Laferriere also scored, Brant Clark had two assists and Darcy Kemper made 31 saves for the Kings, who had lost six of their previous seven games (1-5-1).
Bo Horvat, Adam Pelec and Emil Heinemann scored, Jean-Gabriel Pago had two assists and Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 shots for the Islanders, who lost their fifth straight win in a 5-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
Blue Jackets 4, Panthers 2
Ivan Provorov had a goal with two assists and Mathieu Olivier scored twice as host Columbus won its third straight victory.
Boone Jenner also scored and Jet Greaves made 26 saves for the Blue Jackets, who are 14-2-1 since Jan. 11 and just outside an Eastern Conference playoff position. While star Jack Walensky has missed the last three games due to illness, undefeated Columbus posted an 0-6-3 slide against Florida but was outscored nearly 3-0.
The Panthers finally got on the board with 10:52 left in the third period. Daniil Tarasov made 24 saves for the Panthers, whose playoff hopes continue to fade after a four-game losing streak while stuck in a 2-9-0 rut.
Mammoth 3, Flyers 0
Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller had second-period goals and Vitek Vanecek made 16 saves as Utah earned a shutout win over Philadelphia.
Dylan Guenther had two assists and Michael Carcone also scored for Utah, which has won five of its last seven games. Vanecek, making his first start since January 27, recorded his 100th career win (11th shutout).
Dan Vladar had 20 shots for Philadelphia, which snapped a three-game winning streak. The Flyers played without leading scorer Travis Konecny (upper body injury) for the second straight game.
Saber 5, Penguin 1
Josh Norris and Owen Power each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, which earned its fifth straight win over host Pittsburgh.
Ryan McLeod, Alex Tuch and Mattias Samuelsson also scored for the Sabers. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 27 saves.
Brian Rust scored and Artur Silovs made 21 saves for the Penguins, who have lost 3 of 4 (1-2-1).
Predators 6, Bruins 3
Nashville ended the second quarter with three consecutive goals, overturning the one-goal game and giving visiting Boston the win.
Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists and Matthew Wood had two goals in the Predators’ four-goal middle frame. Nicolas Hague, Erik Haula and Luke Evangelista also scored, Steven Stamkos had two assists and Juuse Saros made 20 saves to help Nashville break a three-game skid (0-2-1).
Charlie McAvoy and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal and an assist, Morgan Geekie also scored and Pavel Zacha had two helpers for the Bruins, who have lost six straight games (0-3-3). Joonas Korpisalo stopped 23 shots.
–Field level media
