ELVIS MERZLIKINS

Linus Ullmark made 30 saves for his fifth career shutout, Charlie Coyle scored short-handed and the NHL-leading Boston Bruins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 on Friday for their fifth straight victory.

Sidney Crosby scored with 2:14 left to rally Pittsburgh over the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 Sunday night and bolster their hold on second place in the Metropolitan Division. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist, Chad Ruhwedel also scored, and Bryan Rust added two assists in Pittsburgh’s second straight win. Casey DeSmith stopped 32 shots to improve to 3-0 against Columbus.

Departing the White House on Friday, President Biden responded to a reporter’s asking if he had a message to social media companies like Facebook regarding COVID-19 misinformation. Biden said, “They’re killing people,” and added, “The only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated.”

The Columbus Blue Jackets are dealing with the sudden death of 24-year-old goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks in a Sunday night fireworks accident.

Columbus Blue Jackets players celebrate their goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)COLUMBUS, Ohio – Hours after trading disgruntled center Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Columbus Blue Jackets got three first-period goals and beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 Saturday. Nick Foligno, Mikhail Grigorenko, Vladislav Gavrikov, Zach Werenski and Eric Robinson scored, and Elvis Merzlikins had 30 saves as the Blue Jackets played their most explosive game of the season. The Blue Jackets tied it 17 seconds later when Foligno knocked in a rebound off Vasilevsky's stick. The Blue Jackets host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday and Thursday.

The NHL did not specify which team prompted the postponement, though four Hurricanes players were added to the COVID-19 list Tuesday. The NHL already postponed the start of the Dallas Stars' season after six players and two staff members tested positive for the virus. Hurricanes players Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin and Teuvo Teravainen joined captain Jordan Staal on the unavailable list because of COVID-19 protocols. The teams aren’t scheduled to play again in Nashville until the end of the season with back-to-back games on May 7-8. Now the Predators, who gave players Tuesday off after the postponement, are scheduled to visit Dallas on Friday night for the Stars' season opener.

TORONTO, ONT Brayden Point scored 10:27 into the fifth overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Tuesday in the fourth-longest game in Stanley Cup playoff history. Point scored from just above the left circle, beating Joonas Korpisalo after the goaltender made an NHL-record 85 saves. Point also scored way back in the first period of Game 1 of the best-of-seven series. The teams combined for 151 shots most in a NHL game since the league began officially tracking the statistic in 1955-56. Its tiring for sure but then it gets fun at some point," Point said.

TORONTO, ONT Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper took exception to the Columbus Blue Jackets being referred to as a blue-collar team. Is that a positive or a negative? Cooper said Monday, a day before his Eastern Conference second-seeded Lightning open the first round of the NHL playoffs against the seventh-seeded Blue Jackets. Thats in the history books forever, Cooper said, noting how both teams have made various changes to their lineups. Id call them a really good team.Familiarity is breeding respect among the East opponents entering the first round. The Islanders hold a 5-2 playoff series edge over Washington.