SATURDAY FLORIDA HOCKEY ROUND-UP: LIGHTNING, PANTHERS BOTH WIN

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Victor Hedman scored in the sixth round of the shootout and the Tampa Bay Lightning stopped a four-game home losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

The Lightning won the shootout 2-1 to tie Detroit for the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot. The Red Wings have two games at hand,

“Two points is the most important thing in a game like this,” Hedman said. “You take them any way you can.”

Tampa Bay got goals from Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Tyler Motte. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves in regulation to tie Tiny Thompson for 49th place in wins with 284.

NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov picked up an assist and now has 105 points. The Lightning right wing lost an edge and went hard into the boards midway through the second but returned a short time later.

Joel Armia, Jake Evans and Josh Anderson scored for the Canadiens, who are 2-7-2 over their last 11 games. Cayden Primeau stopped 30 shots during regulation. Montreal was coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to NHL-leading Florida on Thursday night.

“Well, ultimately I’m pleased with the results but we can’t come out the way we did and spot an NHL team two goals and give yourself two periods come back,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “That’s not the recipe for success.”

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Visit the red-hot Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

DETROIT (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky recorded his 42nd career shutout, Sam Reinhart scored his 42nd goal of the season, and the Florida Panthers silenced the Detroit Red Wings 4-0 on Saturday.

Bobrovsky made 21 saves for his fourth shutout this season and fifth of his career against the Red Wings. He also recorded a shutout at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on Nov. 2.

Bobrovsky has won nine of his last 10 starts.

“He’s incredible,” Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues said. “It’s nice when your D can be aggressive, your forwards can be aggressive and if you make a mistake, he’s back there and he’s going to bail you out.”

Reinhart has three goals in the last two games for the Panthers, who are battling for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Florida has won 11 of its last 12 meetings with the Red Wings.

Reinhart has a franchise-record 24 power play goals, including a league-high 14 on the road.

Brandon Montour had a goal and two assists, Rodrigues had a goal and an assist, and Carter Verhaeghe added a power-play goal.

Florida, which is 28-0-3 when leading after two periods, owns a league-high 21 road wins.

Alex Lyon made 33 saves for Detroit, which was blanked for the third time this season.

The game was scoreless after the first period but the Panthers were unfazed.

“It’s part of our game, it’s part of our DNA. We love playing in tight games,” Rodrigues said. “We don’t get frustrated when the puck’s not going in. We stick to our game plan.”

After the Panthers killed off two penalties earlier in the second period, Montour ended the deadlock at 8:50 with his sixth goal this season. He knocked in a rebound after Lyon made a skate save against Rodrigues.

“Those two penalty kills were critical,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

Reinhart notched his power-play goal at 13:06 of the period. With Jake Walman in the penalty box for holding, Reinhart scored from the slot. His shot deflected off defenseman Jeff Petry’s stick and over Lyon’s left shoulder.

“They just have every aspect covered,” Detroit defenseman Moritz Seider said of the Panthers’ power play. “They have a good amount of low plays, they have good shooting from the sides and they move the puck really well up top. You’ve got to be prepared for everything, and for the most part we did a good job, but we let a couple creep in.”

Bobrovsky made a pad save against Patrick Kane on a breakaway later in the period. Kane’s 10-game point streak was snapped.

“His hands are so quick,” Bobrovsky said. “He made a hell of a move, so I just got my pad on it and got lucky.”

Rodrigues scored his ninth goal of the season at 4:39 of the third on a slapshot from the right side.

Verhaeghe scored after Walman was given a 10-minute misconduct for roughing and slashing Gustav Forsling.

The Panthers reached the Stanley Cup Finals last season and Detroit coach Derek Lalonde believes they could do it again.

“If they win the Stanley Cup, I would not be surprised,” he said. “In my mind, they are the hands-down favorite.”

UP NEXT

The Panthers visit the New York Rangers on Monday.

(Associated Press)