Devils rout Rangers 7-1; Sabres rally in Toronto and Islanders fall in shootout

New Jersey turned a one-goal game into a rout before the second period was five minutes old. The Devils beat the Rangers 7-1 Thursday, scoring four times in the middle period and finishing with a 31-19 advantage in shots.

Luke Hughes scored twice. Evan Rodrigues, Nico Hischier, Arseny Gritsyuk, Stefan Noesen and Cody Glass supplied the other New Jersey goals. The Rangers' only answer came on a Pavel Dorofeyev power-play goal in the third, after the Devils had built a six-goal lead.

The stretch that broke the rivalry game

Rodrigues opened the scoring with 30 seconds left in the first period. Hughes scored 18 seconds into the second. Across the intermission, those goals were separated by just 48 seconds of playing time.

Hischier made it 3-0 at 4:08 of the second. Gritsyuk scored 31 seconds later. A game that had been scoreless late in the first was suddenly 4-0, with most of the second period still to play.

Hughes added his second goal at 16:34. Noesen extended the lead in the third, and Glass scored short-handed after Dorofeyev had broken up the shutout. New Jersey's seven goals came from six different players.

Buffalo erases two-goal deficit, wins 5-4 in overtime

The Sabres' finish in Toronto went the other way. Buffalo trailed 4-2 entering the third, then won 5-4 when Owen Power scored at 3:14 of overtime.

Jack Quinn scored Buffalo's first two goals and assisted on two more, including the winner. Kirill Marchenko's hat trick had put Toronto ahead by two before the second intermission.

Dennis Gilbert brought Buffalo within one at 10:05 of the third. Mattias Samuelsson tied it 2:11 later. The Sabres had answered a hat trick with three straight goals of their own, the last coming from Power with assists credited to Quinn and Noah Ostlund. Buffalo finished with 34 shots to Toronto's 30.

Ottawa wins 2-1 in a shootout

The Islanders took a point from a much tighter game in Ottawa. Matias Maccelli scored unassisted with 12 seconds left in the first period. Ridly Greig tied it at 15:43 of the second.

Neither team scored again through regulation or overtime. Shane Pinto supplied the shootout winner, giving the Senators a 2-1 victory. The Islanders held a 21-19 edge in shots, but their first-period goal was all they could produce before the shootout.

Three regional games produced three different endings: a rivalry rout, a third-period comeback and a result settled after overtime. The Devils delivered the most emphatic statement. Buffalo rescued a game it had trailed by two. The Islanders left with one point rather than two.