Nikita Kucherov stopped an 11-game goal drought, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27

TAMPA http://www.sanjosesharksteamshop.com/authentic-joe-thornton-jersey , Fla. (AP) Nikita Kucherov stopped an 11-game goal drought, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves for his NHL-best 32nd victory, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Thursday night.Yanni Gourde, Adam Erne, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman also scored for the Lightning, who returned home after a 5-3 trip.Vancouver’s Brock Boeser scored his 26th goal and Anders Nilsson stopped 31 shots.Kucherov opened the scoring on his 28th goal by converting a rebound 14:36 into the first period.After Gourde got his 20th goal during a power play at 1:38 of the second, Erne made it 3-0 with 6:20 left in the second in his first NHL game this season.Stamkos completed Tampa Bay’s three-goal second when he picked his up 20th goal late in the period.COYOTES 4, WILD 3, OT.ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Clayton Keller scored Arizona’s fourth straight goal at 3:55 of overtime to give the Coyotes a comeback victory over Minnesota.Nick Cousins scored twice for Arizona. His second goal tied it with 18.3 seconds remaining in regulation after Arizona pulled goalie Antti Raanta for an extra attacker.Kevin Connaughton also scored, and Raanta stopped 25 shots.Eric Staal, Matt Cullen and Mike Reilly scored to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead.GOLDEN KNIGHTS 5, SHARKS 3SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – James Neal and Jonathan Marchessault scored in a 3 1/2-minute span in the third period, helping Vegas to the win.Brayden McNabb, William Karlsson and Erik Haula also scored for the Golden Knights, who closed out a 4-2 road trip. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 35 shots.Joe Pavelski scored twice for the Sharks, who lost their second straight. Timo Meier also scored, and Martin Jones made 28 saves.STARS 4, BLACKHAWKS 2CHICAGO (AP) – Tyler Seguin scored twice, Ben Bishop made 37 saves and Dallas beat fading Chicago for its fourth straight win.Tyler Pitlick connected with 4.5 seconds left in second period, and Stephen Johns also scored for the Stars, who strengthened their hold on the top wild card in the Western Conference and remained one point behind third-place St. Louis in the Central Division.Jonathan Toews and Artem Anisimov scored for Chicago Womens Joonas Donskoi Jersey , which lost its fourth straight overall and sixth straight at home. Anton Forsberg blocked 26 shots.SABRES 4, ISLANDERS 3BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Sam Reinhart poked in a rebound with 4:14 left, and Buffalo beat New York after squandering a three-goal lead.Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, and Ryan O’Reilly also scored. Robin Lehner stopped 26 shots to help Buffalo salvage the finale of a five-game homestand after going 0-3-1 in its previous four games.John Tavares, Anders Lee and Ross Johnston scored for New York.SENATORS 4, PREDATORS 3, OTOTTAWA, Ontario (AP) – Mike Hoffman scored 3:01 into overtime, lifting Ottawa past Nashville.Chris DiDomenico, Max McCormick and Magnus Paajarvi also scored to help the Senators win for the fourth time in five games. Craig Anderson made 35 saves for his 15th win of the season.P.K. Subban scored twice for the Predators (32-12-9), and Calle Jarnkrok picked up his 13th goal. Juuse Saros stopped 32 shots.Veteran forward Kyle Turris returned to Ottawa for the first time since he was traded to the Predators in November. He received a standing ovation during a video tribute in the first period.BLUES 6, AVALANCHE 1ST. LOUIS (AP) – Brayden Schenn scored twice and Vince Dunn had a career-high three assists to help St. Louis beat Colorado.Paul Stastny had a goal and an assist, and Ivan Barbashev, Kyle Brodziak and Alex Pietrangelo also scored. The Blues scored more than four goals for the first time since Dec. 9.Carter Hutton made 23 saves as St. Louis beat Colorado for the fourth straight time. The Blues have earned points against the Avalanche in 12 consecutive games. Gabriel Bourque scored for the Avalanche.FLYERS 5, CANADIENS 3PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Travis Konecny scored twice and Claude Giroux had a goal and two assists to help Philadelphia beat Montreal.Jakub Voracek and Ivan Provorov also scored, and Shayne Gostisbehere had three assists. Logan Shaw, Artturi Lehkonen and Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal.FLAMES 3, DEVILS 2NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Johnny Gaudreau scored the go-ahead goal and set up linemate Sean Monahan’s second of the game, and Calgary won its third straight.Backup David Rittich made 30 saves, giving Mike Smith a rare night off and helping the Flames improve to 15-5-5 on the road. Taylor Hall and Pavel Zacha scored for New Jersey. WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) Not many people Justin Braun Jersey Kids , if any, expected the Winnipeg Jets to have one of the NHL’s best teams this season.Vegas Golden Knights assistant general manager Kelly McCrimmon was one of the few.The former owner, general manager and coach of the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings said he watched Winnipeg play 20 times last season, giving him a peek at what was to come.”It was pretty easy to see that it was going to happen,” McCrimmon said. ”This year, certainly it has.”The Jets earned 114 points during the regular season, trailing only Nashville.Winnipeg advanced in the playoffs for the first time since moving from Atlanta in 2011. The Jets lost only once to Minnesota in the first round, and eliminated the top-seeded Predators on the road in Game 7 of the second round.The Jets clearly looked like the better team in a 4-2 win Saturday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against Vegas, the darling of the NHL in its expansion season.Suddenly, Winnipeg might have the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup, especially if it wins Game 2 at home on Monday night.The Jets have a pair of fantastic lines up front along with two solid ones and a strong group of defenseman led by Dustin Byfuglien , and 24-year-old Connor Hellebuyck has been one of the best goaltenders this postseason.How has a franchise, which has largely been an afterthought in the league, gone from finishing fifth or worse in its division the previous three seasons to having one of the world’s best hockey teams?”They put on a clinic in drafting and developing,” McCrimmon said. ”Along with that, great patience and leadership from Mark Chipman as an owner.”What they did takes time.”Unlike other NHL teams, which fire general managers and coaches if they don’t quickly have success, the Jets have allowed general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to build a championship contender since hiring him in 2011 when they left Atlanta. He was just 20 games above .500 in his first five seasons as Winnipeg’s GM, and its only previous postseason appearance in 2015 lasted just four games against Anaheim.Coach Paul Maurice, likewise, was afforded the opportunity to lead the team for fourth-plus season this year. He made the most of it by helping the Jets go 52-20-10 during the regular season.But ultimately, it comes down to having talented, unselfish players Youth Kevin Labanc Jersey , and the Jets have plenty.When Winnipeg had high draft picks, as it often did as a struggling team, it didn’t miss.Patrik Laine, a 20-year-old winger, was drafted second overall two years ago and is one of the league’s best young players. He had 70 points in the regular season and scored his fourth goal of the playoffs in Game 1.Mark Scheifele, selected No. 7 overall in 2011, leads all postseason scorers with 12 goals and has averaged more than a point per game the past two seasons. On the back end, defenseman Jacob Trouba has been exceptional in the playoffs as the franchise hoped he would be eventually after taking him No. 9 overall in 2012.The Jets have also hit on some late-round picks, including Hellebuyck, whom they took No. 130 overall six years ago.”Hit home run after home run in the draft,” captain Blake Wheeler said . ”A lot of our marquee players are guys we drafted and have taken huge steps in the last year or two to be impact players.”Winnipeg didn’t draft its best player, Wheeler, but the franchise acquired him from Boston in a trade while it was in Atlanta in 2011 and has built around him. That same year, the Thrashers took advantage of Chicago’s need to get rid of salaries by dealing for Byfuglien.And like the front office and coaching staff, it seems the players were patient about the process of slowly building a winner when the team moved to Canada.”We weren’t coming here expecting to blow the doors off right away,” Byfuglien said. ”We knew it was going to be a process of building and finding the right group of guys.”But when it looked like the Jets had a shot to contend this season, they were willing to give up a first-round pick to St. Louis just before the trade deadline to add veteran center Paul Stastny to chase the Stanley Cup. And now, they might just be the team to beat.”The story of Winnipeg and the Jets, for far too long, has been about being underdogs and underrated,” Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said. ”But not anymore.”—Follow Larry Lage at https://twitter.com/larrylage—