TORONTO — Jussi Jokinen scored two strange goals to help lift the Florida Panthers to a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
Jokinen wasn’t attempting to score on either goal against the Maple Leafs, with two passing attempts pinging off Toronto sticks and beating Jonathan Bernier, who made his third straight start in goal.
Jaromir Jagr and Teddy Purcell added empty-net goals for the Panthers, who won for the fourth time in five games. Florida is three wins from matching its franchise record of 43.
PENGUINS 4, HURRICANES 2: Sidney Crosby scored a pair of highlight-reel goals as Pittsburgh rallied at home for a fourth straight victory.
Crosby beat Eddie Lack with a slick backhander in the first and added a redirect from his knees in the second to extend his points streak to 10 consecutive games as Pittsburgh strengthened its grip on seventh place in the crowded Eastern Conference playoff race.
DEVILS 7, WILD 4: Devante Smith-Pelly, Mike Sislo and Adam Henrique scored two goals apiece as New Jersey had its best offensive performance of the season in a win at home.
Reid Boucher also scored, Tyler Kennedy added three assists and Keith Kinkaid had 28 saves for New Jersey.
PREDATORS 4, ISLANDERS 2: James Neal and Ryan Johansen each scored a goal and added an assist to lead host Nashville.
Ryan Ellis and Austin Watson also scored for the Predators, who have recorded at least one point in the standings in 16 of their last 17 games.
RED WINGS 3, BLUE JACKETS 1: Henrik Zetterberg and Darren Helm scored in the third period to lead Detroit to a win at Columbus, Ohio.
Luke Glendening also scored and Jimmy Howard stopped 27 shots as Detroit moved a point ahead of Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card playoff spot. Howard improved to 12-6-3 in his career against Columbus.
NOTES
DALLAS: Brenden Morrow wanted to reach 1,000 games in the NHL, so he held off on retirement just to make sure a team wasn’t looking for a veteran to help with another Stanley Cup run.
The offer never came this season, and Morrow walked away Thursday after a 15-year career that started and ended with trips to the final.
“I know I didn’t leave anything out there,” Morrow said after signing a ceremonial one-day contract with Dallas, where he spent his first 12-plus seasons as a first-round pick from 1997.
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