In a game between the top two teams in the NHL, the Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 on Thursday night thanks to shorthanded goals from Brad Marchand and Danton Heinen in the first period.
It was Linus Ullmark’s first shutout of the season, stopping 17 shots. The Bruins overcame a 4-1 deficit at home against Calgary on Tuesday, with to goals from Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, and Charlie Coyle.
Boston, who equaled Vancouver atop the league standings with 73 points, won eight out of ten games.
For the Canucks, Thatcher Demko made 21 saves, but his winning run of nine games ended. Vancouver had won ten of the previous twelve games, losing the other two in shootouts and overtime.
Carolina defeated Colorado despite switching goalies twice, thanks to a natural hat trick from Martin Necas in the opening 17 minutes—his first three-goal game of the season.
Necas, whose hat trick was the fastest to start a game in franchise history, gave the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead with 3:09 remaining in the first quarter.
Carolina escaped what would have been its first two-game scoreless streak in two months thanks to goals from Michael Bunting and Seth Jarvis as well as a career-high four assists from Teuvo Teravainen.
During the first and third periods, Pyotr Kochetkov made 16 saves. Antti Raanta, who was substituted in his place, got injured in his lower body and left the game after just the second quarter. In nine shots, Raanta was outscored.
The Avalanche scored two goals in the last minute of the first period through recent free agent addition Zach Parise and Samuel Girard.
With 6:52 remaining, Ryan Lomberg scored the game-winning goal, Matthew Tkachuk finished with three points, and Florida triumphed over Washington.
With a fast shot from the slot off a feed from Dmitry Kulikov, Lomberg ended a 35-game drought with his third goal of the year and first since Nov. 14. The Panthers won for the first time since the All-Star break and their fifth in their last six games.
For the Panthers, Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, and Eetu Luostarinen also scored. Paul Maurice, the coach of Florida, earned his 849th career regular-season victory, tying Ken Hitchcock for the fifth-most in NHL history. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots.
For Washington, Anthony Mantha also scored a goal, and Alex Ovechkin scored his 833rd goal overall. Curtis Kuemper stopped 37 shots.
Ever since breaking an eight-game drought on January 27, Ovechkin has scored goals in three straight games.