Steven Stamkos had a big game right after saying goodbye to a popular teammate.
The All-Star forward scored his league-leading 41st and 42nd goals of the season and added an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Tuesday night.
The Lightning traded right wing Steve Downie to Colorado as part of a three-team trade before the game that resulted in Tampa Bay getting a first-round draft pick and minor league defenseman Sebastien Piche from Detroit. Tampa Bay obtained Kyle Quincey from the Avalanche and then dealt the defenseman to the Red Wings.
“It was a tough game for the whole team,” Stamkos said. “For me personally, he’s a great friend. A couple of us saw him before the game and it was emotional.”
Stamkos put the Lightning up 1-0 when he poked a loose puck past goalie Jonas Hiller on a power play 28 seconds into the game. The center, who has five goals and eight points during a three-game point streak, made it 2-0 with an in-close rebound goal at 17:58 of the first.
“You’ve got to find a way to win, and we found a way to do that,” Stamkos said. “So we’ve got to keep moving forward.”
Tampa Bay also got a goal and two assists from Teddy Purcell. The Lightning, 11th in Eastern Conference and five points behind eighth-place Toronto, have won three in a row and are 10-3-2 in the last 15 games.
Tampa Bay was without captain Vincent Lecavalier, who will be sidelined indefinitely by a broken right hand. The team announced during the first period that Lecavalier, hurt in Saturday night’s 2-1 win over Washington, has a non-displaced fracture.
BLACKHAWKS 2, RED WINGS 1 Corey Crawford made 31 saves to lead host Chicago to a victory over Detroit in a matchup of Central Division rivals missing their top centers.
Jimmy Hayes scored the tying goal in the second period and set up Marcus Kruger’s winning score in the third as Chicago earned its fourth consecutive victory since a nine-game losing streak.
Valtteri Filppula scored a power-play goal for NHL-leading Detroit, which had won six in a row.
PENGUINS 2, RANGERS 0 Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots to tie Tom Barrasso’s franchise record for career shutouts and carry host Pittsburgh past New York.
Evgeni Malkin scored his 33rd goal of the season and added an assist on Steve Sullivan’s tally to help the Penguins bounce back from a listless loss in Buffalo on Sunday and handle the Eastern Conference’s top team with relative ease.
DEVILS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3 (OT) Mark Fayne scored 1:18 into overtime to give visiting New Jersey a victory over Toronto.
Fayne’s weak shot from the point found its way through goalie Jonas Gustavsson.
Petr Sykora had a goal and an assist for New Jersey, and David Clarkson and former Maple Leafs forward Alexei Ponikarovsky also scored. The Devils have won four games in a row.
STARS 3, CANADIENS 0 Ryan Garbutt scored his first NHL goal, and Kari Lehtonen made 31 saves as visiting Dallas beat Montreal.
Mike Ribeiro, in his regular-season return to Montreal, and Tom Wandell also scored for the Stars.
Carey Price stopped 33 shots for the Canadiens, who have lost four of five after a four-game winning streak.
BLUE JACKETS 6, SHARKS 3 Jeff Carter had three goals two on the power play during Columbus’ four-goal first period and the last-place Blue Jackets handed visiting San Jose its season-high fourth straight loss.
SABRES 3, ISLANDERS 1 Ryan Miller made 30 saves, including stopping Matt Moulson on the doorstep with 4:04 left, and led host Buffalo to a win over New York.
FLYERS 5, JETS 4 (OT) Jaromir Jagr scored at 4:16 of overtime to lift visiting Philadelphia past Winnipeg.
PREDATORS 3, CANUCKS 1 Mike Fisher scored a power-play goal and added two assists as host Nashville downed Vancouver.
