Rangers beat Red Wings to extend point streak to eight games

Vincent Trocheck scored a pair of goals to help the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers extend their point streak to eight games with a 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

After having a six-game winning streak end with Saturday’s shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild, Trocheck put the Rangers (9-2-1) ahead early, scoring 1:40 into the contest.

Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin each had a goal and an assist during a four-goal second period for New York, which hasn’t lost in regulation since a 4-1 setback to the Nashville Predators on October 19.

The Rangers converted two of three power-play opportunities while holding the Red Wings (7-5-1) without a score on their six chances with the extra skater.

Panarin’s goal was his seventh of the season as he extended his season-opening points streak to 12 games. The only longer points streak to begin a season by a Ranger is Rod Gilbert’s 14-gamer to open the 1972-73 season.

Lightning score four in first period in win over Canadiens

Nikita Kucherov stayed hot and Matt Tomkins earned his first career win in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 5-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

A night after blowing a three-goal lead in Monday’s 6-5 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Lightning (6-3-4) jumped out to a fast start with Kucherov scoring 22 seconds into the game for his 10th goal of the season. Tampa Bay led 4-0 in less than 14 minutes, with Nicholas Paul, Alex Barre-Boulet and Michael Eyssimont also scoring in the first period.

Paul later scored on the power play in the third period to give him seven goals on the season, with Kucherov and Steven Stamkos being credited with assists.

With 11 points in his last three games, Kucherov now leads the league with 22 points on the season.

Tomkins stopped 22 shots to notch his first NHL win in his third career start. His bid for a shutout ended when Nick Suzuki scored 6:50 into the third period.

Michael Pezzetta and Christian Dvorak also scored for Montreal (5-5-2), which lost its fourth in a row with the last three coming in regulation.

Avalanche score three in third period to pull away from Devils

After being embarrassed the last time they took the ice, the Colorado Avalanche responded with a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.

Tied at 3-3 after two periods, Ryan Johansen scored the go-ahead goal 7:37 into the third period with Nathan MacKinnon scoring his fifth goal of the season just over two minutes later.

Mikko Rantanen later added an empty-netter for Colorado (8-3-0), which was playing for the first time since Saturday’s 7-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. That marked the Avs’ third defeat in four games, with all three losses being shutouts.

All of Colorado’s defeats, however, have been on the road, as the Avs improved to 4-0-0 at home.

The Devils (7-4-1) took advantage of successive boarding and cross-checking penalties on Ross Colton, that resulted in a seven-minute trip to the penalty box, during which Timo Meier and Dougie Hamilton scored power-play goals.

Tyler Toffoli opened the scoring for New Jersey with his team-leading eighth goal of the season 3:43 into the game.