TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov each had a goal and two assists to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning past the reeling New York Rangers 6-2 on Saturday night. Anthony Cirelli and Ryan McDonagh both had a short-handed goal. Jake Guentzel ...

The New York Rangers conclude the weekend back-to-back, Chicago on Sunday afternoon (3:00 PM ET - TV: ABC - Radio: ESPN 880 AM). New York will play five of its next six games against Western Conference teams.

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are scheduled and offers insight and analysis to help predict who will be victorious in head-to-head matchups.

Brayden Point scored two goals in a three-point night to tie for the NHL lead in goals, Tampa Bay scored four times on special teams, and the host Lightning pounded the reeling New York Rangers 6-2 on Saturday night.

The New York Rangers kick off 2025 by hosting the Boston Bruins at MSG on Thursday night (7:00 PM ET - TV: MSG - Radio: ESPN 880 AM). The Blueshirts will play 14 games in the month of January, including eight at MSG.

One thing is certain, the Lightning aren’t apologizing for a 6-2 win on Saturday. On a night where a struggling New York Rangers team came to town, the Lightning still knew they needed to clamp down early.

TBL 2, NYR 1 18:11 Ryan McDonagh (1) - Anthony Cirelli - SH Defenseman Ryan McDonagh carried the puck the length of the ice and sifted a shot under the blocker of New York goalie Igor Shesterkin from near the right faceoff dot to regain the Lightning lead.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sebastian Aho’s goal at 1:30 in overtime led the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night. Aho added two assists. Seth Jarvis had two goals and Jalen Chatfield also scored for the Hurricanes, who improved to 3-0 against Pittsburgh this season. Dustin Tokarski had 16 saves for the Hurricanes.

Brice Sensabaugh scored 27 points, Collin Sexton added 20 and Walker Kessler grabbed 17 rebounds for the Utah Jazz in a 105-92 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night. Sensabaugh shot 11 for 19 from the field including 5 of 6 on 3-pointers in 28 minutes off the bench.

With the conclusion of a 4-1 loss against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Sunday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning have dropped four straight games, including all three on the California road trip.

Frank Vatrano had two goals and assist after signing a three-year contract extension earlier Sunday in the Ducks’ 4-1 victory over Tampa Bay.

The Leafs have been fortunate that Mitch Marner has been exceptional in the first half. Marner currently sits ahead of Connor McDavid and Nikita Kucherov in league scoring. He will get Hart Trophy votes this season. He hasn’t had many before. He will get some award recognition. He hasn’t had much before.