NHL roundup: Penguins, without two stars, edge Rangers

Philip Tomasino’s tiebreaking score highlighted a three-goal second period as the Pittsburgh Penguins, minus superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, gutted out a 3-2 road win over the New York Rangers on Friday night.

Blake Lizotte and Rickard Rakell also scored and Alex Nedeljkovic made 22 saves for the Penguins, who improved to 3-0-1 in their last four.

Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist and Adam Fox also scored for New York, which was trying for a third straight win. Igor Shesterkin stopped 23 shots.

Malkin (lower-body injury) was out a fifth consecutive contest, while Crosby (upper-body injury) had his streak of 229 regular-season games played end. It marked the first time since Nov. 13, 2021, that the Penguins were without Crosby and Malkin for the same regular-season game.

Jets 4, Islanders 3

Gabriel Vilardi scored two goals and Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves as Winnipeg ran its winning streak to eight games with a victory over visiting New York.

The eight-game run matches the longest winning streak in franchise history, dating back to the 1999-2000 Atlanta Thrashers. Two of the Jets’ four all-time eight-game winning streaks have come this season, as Winnipeg also went 8-0-0 in its first eight games.

Alex Iafallo and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Jets, and Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had two assists. Simon Holmstrom, Marc Gatcomb and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Islanders, who lost for only the second time in 10 games. Ilya Sorokin stopped 23 shots.

Avalanche 5, Oilers 4

Martin Necas scored with 4:22 remaining in the third period to lift visiting Colorado past Edmonton despite losing a 4-2 lead.

Cole Makar had two goals and an assist and MacKinnon finished with a goal and three assists for the Avalanche, who have won four of five games. Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and an assist, Devon Toews registered two assists and Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves.

Leon Draisaitl and Corey Perry each scored two goals for the Oilers, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two assists. Stuart Skinner allowed three goals on 12 shots in the first period. Calvin Pickard made 17 saves over the final two periods.

Blackhawks 6, Predators 2

Ryan Donato had two goals and two assists to lead host Chicago to a win over Nashville.

Frank Nazar, Connor Bedard and Seth Jones had a goal and an assist each and Patrick Maroon also scored for the Blackhawks, who snapped a three-game skid. Teuvo Teravainen and Alex Vlasic each had two assists, and Petr Mrazek stopped 31 shots.

Colton Sissons and Tommy Novak scored for the Predators, who lost their sixth straight. Juuse Saros made 24 saves.