NHL Roundup: Bruins Rout Penguins 6-2, Jets Hammer Canucks 6-2

Nine of Thursday night's 11 NHL games are final, and the Eastern Conference did most of the damage. Boston won 6-2 in Pittsburgh, Carolina won 5-3 on Long Island, Tampa Bay beat Chicago 4-1 and the New York Rangers rallied past Philadelphia 3-2. Out west, Winnipeg routed Vancouver 6-2 in the night's widest margin. Two games needed extra time. New Jersey beat St. Louis 5-4 in overtime after blowing a three goal lead, and Montreal beat Utah 5-4 in overtime at the Bell Centre. Columbus beat Dallas 2-1 in a shootout, and Vegas won 2-1 in Detroit. The two late games, Anaheim at Edmonton and Nashville at Colorado, were still in progress at press time and are not included in the finals below.

Werenski saves Columbus, then the shootout finishes Dallas

Columbus went 46 minutes and 27 seconds without a goal at Nationwide Arena before Mikko Rantanen put Dallas ahead 6:27 into the third period. Zach Werenski tied the game 1-1 with 3:14 left, his first goal of the season, on his fifth shot of the night. Valeri Nichushkin and Kent Johnson scored in the shootout, and Cam Talbot made 27 saves through overtime for his fourth straight win in net. Casey DeSmith stopped 29 shots for Dallas. Columbus improved to 7-7-0, and Dallas fell to 9-5-2, still with a point from the shootout loss.

Bratt wins it after the Blues erase a three goal lead

New Jersey led St. Louis 4-1 after two periods at Prudential Center. Anthony Mantha scored twice in the second period, Luke Hughes opened the scoring in the first, and Jesper Boqvist added a goal late in the second. St. Louis then scored three times in 3 minutes and 8 seconds in the third. Mason McTavish started the rally, Philip Broberg followed, and Dalibor Dvorsky tied the game 4-4 with about five minutes left. Jesper Bratt ended it on a breakaway 1:26 into overtime. The Devils moved to 11-5-0. The Blues took a point and stand 7-7-2.

Caufield calls game in Montreal

Montreal beat Utah 5-4 in overtime at the Bell Centre. Nick Suzuki returned to the lineup and recorded three points. Kirby Dach tied the game late, which gave Montreal at least a point for the ninth straight game, and Cole Caufield scored the overtime winner. Montreal improved to 10-3 in the standings shown by the league feed, and Utah fell to 10-6. It was the second 5-4 overtime finish of the night.

Boston's first period buries Pittsburgh

Boston scored three straight goals late in the first period and never trailed again in a 6-2 win at Pittsburgh. Pavel Zacha scored twice. Elias Lindholm had the eventual game winner, Morgan Geekie added a goal and an assist, and Mark Kastelic and Fraser Minten also scored. David Pastrnak and JJ Peterka each had two assists. Backup goaltender Michael DiPietro won for the fourth time in five outings. Justin Brazeau and Nick Robertson scored for Pittsburgh, which has lost four straight at 0-3-1. Bruins rookie James Hagens left the game in the third period after a cross-check in the back from Pittsburgh's Samuel Girard.

Carolina gives two leads back, then takes the game anyway

Carolina led 2-0 and 3-2 at UBS Arena and lost both leads before William Carrier backhanded in a rebound of an Andrei Svechnikov shot with 5:08 left to beat the New York Islanders 5-3. Logan Stankoven and Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored early in the first period, Svechnikov scored in the second, and Jalen Chatfield added an empty net goal with 49.3 seconds left. Brandon Bussi made 24 saves, including a point blank stop on Bo Horvat seconds before the empty net goal. Mitchell Chaffee, Brayden Schenn and Victor Eklund scored in the second period for the Islanders, who have lost two straight. Carolina leads the NHL with 13 wins and 28 points and has won five of its last six.

Six scorers in Winnipeg, and a fourth straight loss for Vancouver

Winnipeg beat Vancouver 6-2 at Canada Life Centre with goals from six different players, a season high for the Jets. Alex Iafallo opened the scoring on a power play deflection in the first period. Dawson Mercer scored his first goal of the season, and Mark Scheifele finished with a goal and an assist. Cole Koepke, Neal Pionk and Mario Ferraro also scored. Kyle Connor and Dylan DeMelo each had two assists, and Stuart Skinner made 24 saves. Liam Ohgren and Brock Boeser scored for Vancouver. The Canucks have lost four in a row and are 1-13-1 in their last 15 games. Leevi Merilainen stopped 23 of 29 shots.

Tampa Bay and the Rangers close out the East

Tampa Bay beat Chicago 4-1 behind two goals from Ilya Mikheyev. Victor Hedman opened the scoring on the power play at 4:12 of the first period, Mikheyev made it 2-0 late in the first, and Ryan McDonagh and Mikheyev scored in the third. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves. Arvid Soderblom stopped 31 of 35 shots for Chicago, which fell to 4-12. At Madison Square Garden, Ty Kartye scored the go ahead goal with 4:39 left as the Rangers rallied to beat Philadelphia 3-2. Pavel Dorofeyev tied the game on a power play, Gabe Perreault also scored, Dylan Garand made 23 saves, and Adam Fox had two assists. Noel Acciari and Simon Benoit scored for the Flyers, who are 4-10-4. Vegas won the remaining early final, 2-1 at Detroit.

Why it matters

Carolina's win keeps the Hurricanes on top of the league standings a month into the season, and Boston's third straight win keeps the Bruins level with them in the East's top group. At the other end, Vancouver's slide is now the story of the Western Conference. Four straight losses and one win in 15 games is a hole that gets deeper with every week it continues.

What happens next

The two late games in Edmonton and Denver finish the 11 game slate overnight. The Rangers travel to Seattle on Saturday, and the Flyers go to Calgary on Sunday, per the Associated Press schedule. Montreal hosts Toronto on Saturday. The league schedule continues Friday with a new set of games across both conferences.

Key numbers

• Final: Boston 6, Pittsburgh 2
• Final: Carolina 5, New York Islanders 3
• Final: Columbus 2, Dallas 1, shootout
• Final: Vegas 2, Detroit 1
• Final: Montreal 5, Utah 4, overtime
• Final: New Jersey 5, St. Louis 4, overtime
• Final: New York Rangers 3, Philadelphia 2
• Final: Tampa Bay 4, Chicago 1
• Final: Winnipeg 6, Vancouver 2
• Carolina: 13 wins and 28 points, best in the NHL
• Vancouver: 1-13-1 in its last 15 games