Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored third-period goals to back Stuart Skinner's 38 saves as the Edmonton Oilers got back on track with Monday's 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Bouchard and Leon Draisaitl each finished with a goal and an assist as the Oilers halted a three-game losing streak and dealt the surging Kings just their second loss in seven games. 

Edmonton had to rally to do so, as it trailed 2-1 before Draisaitl scored on a power play with 4:04 remaining in the second period.

Skinner then stopped all 14 shots he faced in the third to protect a 3-2 lead he inherited when Bouchard blasted a shot from near the blue line past Los Angeles goaltender David Rittch just 1:25 into the period.

Nugent-Hopkins later put the contest out of reach by scoring off a give-and-go with Connor Brown with 3:29 remaining.

After Los Angeles' Trevor Moore and Edmonton's Zach Hyman traded goals in the first period, Alex Laferriere put the Kings back ahead 7:34 into the second.

Rittich recorded 27 saves for Los Angeles, which had a three-game road winning streak stopped.

Kraken win in shootout as Bruins' skid reaches three games

Kailer Yamamoto scored the lone goal in the shootout as the Seattle Kraken dealt the formidable Boston Bruins a third straight loss by coming through with a 4-3 victory.

Yamamoto opened the shootout by beating Boston goaltender Linus Ullmark glove-side, and Philipp Grubauer made the lead stand by stopping all three Bruins skaters he faced in the deciding phase after making 29 saves in regulation and overtime.

Boston, which got two goals and an assist from David Pastrnak, still managed to extend its point streak to six games when Charlie Coyle scored on a power play with 2:52 left in regulation to forge a 3-3 tie.

The Bruins had lost each of their two most recent games in overtime and are 2-0-4 during the run. 

Pastrnak had the only goal of a first period in which the Bruins recorded an 11-7 shot advantage, then put Boston back ahead late in the second with his 38th of the season. Jordan Eberle had tied the game earlier in the period when Ullmark's attempted clearing pass deflected off the Seattle forward, who promptly tapped the puck into an open net.

The Kraken then took their first lead of the night on third-period goals from Vince Dunn and Oliver Bjorkstrand, the latter coming with 5:30 left in regulation.

Ullmark finished with 24 saves for Boston, which moved one point ahead of the New York Rangers for first place in the Eastern Conference with the result.

Islanders win in overtime to continue Stars' slump

Bo Horvat scored with 2:06 remaining in overtime as the New York Islanders extended the Dallas Stars' recent slump with a 3-2 victory.

Horvat one-timed a feed from Mathew Barzal past Dallas goaltender Scott Wedgewood to hand the Stars a fifth loss in six games (1-2-3), though Dallas did move two points clear of the second-place WInnipeg Jets in the Central Division by forcing overtime. 

The outcome was a familiar one, as Horvat also had the game-winner in overtime when these teams last met in New York on Jan. 21.

Ryan Pulock had a goal and an assist to help the Islanders snap a two-game losing streak, while Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 of 32 shots.

After Pulock registered the lone goal of the first period, the scoring picked up in the second as Matt Duchene converted a Dallas power play to tie the game 7:11 into the period.

Kyle MacLean put New York back ahead later in the second, but the Stars again drew even when Logan Stankoven beat Sorokin with a wrist shot with 1:43 left in the period for his first NHL goal.

Stankoven, playing in his second career NHL game, added an assist on Duchene's goal. 

Wedgewood finished with 25 saves.

 

 

The Columbus Blue Jackets got three second-period goals and a sensational 38 saves from Elvis Merzlikins to end the New York Rangers' 10-game winning streak with Sunday's 4-2 victory.

Jack Roslovic scored the tie-breaking goal during the second-period surge and added an assist to help the Blue Jackets, the last-place team in the Eastern Conference, prevent the conference co-leading Rangers from establishing a new franchise record for consecutive wins. Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov also had a goal and an assist for Columbus.

After the Rangers tied the game at 2-2 on Adam Enstrom's goal with 8:49 left in the second period, Roslovich put Columbus back ahead just 46 seconds later when he buried a pass from Johnny Gaudreau past New York goaltender Jonathan Quick on a 2-on-2 rush.

Roslovich later set up Ivan Provorov's goal with 1:25 left in the period that extended the margin to 4-2, and Merzlikins made the lead stand by coming up with 18 saves in the third period.

Voronkov's power-play goal 4:34 into the contest gave the Blue Jackets an early advantage, but the Rangers drew even later in the first period on Artemi Panarin's 33rd goal of the season.

Columbus went back ahead when Marchenko scored off a behind-the-net feed from Voronkov just 18 seconds into the second.

Quick finished with 37 saves and had a personal four-start winning streak snapped.

 

Red Wings' Kane scores overtime winner in return to Chicago

Patrick Kane capped his return to Chicago with a dramatic goal 1:43 into overtime as the former Blackhawk great lifted the surging Detroit Red Wings to a 3-2 come-from-behind win over his ex-team.

Kane added an assist on a game-tying goal in the third period by Alex DeBrincat - another former Blackhawk - in the nine-time All-Star's first appearance in Chicago since being traded by the Blackhawks to the New York Rangers almost exactly one year ago.

The 35-year-old Kane spent the first 15-plus seasons of his NHL career with Chicago and was part of three Stanley Cup champion teams.

DeBrincat's goal on a bad-angle shot tied the contest at 2-2 with 4:16 left in regulation, and the forward later found Kane all alone for a breakaway that the veteran finished with a shot over the shoulder of Chicago goaltender Petr Mrazek that gave the Red Wings a fifth consecutive win.

Chicago, which has now lost four straight and 12 of 13 (1-9-3), took a 2-1 lead on second-period goals by MacKenzie Entwistle and Nick Foligno after Daniel Sprong's power-play tally late in the first period put Detroit ahead.

James Reimer recorded 33 saves for the Red Wings, while Mrazek stopped 28 shots.

 

Crosby's four points help Penguins hold off Flyers

Sidney Crosby recorded a goal and three assists and the Pittsburgh Penguins scored three times in the third period to earn a wild and much-needed 7-6 win over the rival Philadelphia Flyers.

Bryan Rust added two goals and an assist to help Pittsburgh to its second straight victory as it continues to fight for a playoff berth. The Penguins currently sit in 11th place in the Eastern Conference and are nine points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the final wild card spot.

The Flyers were dealt a third loss in four games despite receiving two goals and an assist from both Tyson Foerster and Scott Laughton. Philadelphia was outshot by a 32-21 margin, however, as the Penguins prevailed despite a shaky 15-save performance from goaltender Tristan Jarry.

Pittsburgh struck twice early in the third period to take a 6-4 lead, as Drew O'Connor blasted a close-range shot past Philadelphia goaltender Cal Petersen 6:41 into the session and Rickard Rakell deposited a Crosby feed into the Flyers' net less than two minutes later.

Cam York's goal with 9:50 remaining got the Flyers back within one, but Kris Letang restored Pittsburgh's two-goal cushion by firing a loose puck by Petersen with 4:47 left to play.

Foerster's power-play score with 2:03 to go cut the deficit to 7-6, but the Flyers were unable to get a shot on goal over the final stages.

Goals from Crosby and Rust that followed Laughton's first of the day gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 edge after one period, but Foerster scored just 55 seconds into the second to tie the game.

Rust and Emil Bermstrom scored 2:23 apart later in the period to put the Penguins up 4-2, though the Flyers would answer with two quick goals of their own before the intermission. After Travis Sanheim rocketed a shot past Jarry off a faceoff win, Laughton converted a chance with Philadelphia shorthanded to knot the score at 4-4 just 1:03 after Sanheim's goal.

Petersen finished with 25 saves.

 

Igor Shesterkin turned aside 39 shots and the New York Rangers held off the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 to tie a franchise record with their 10th straight victory on Saturday.

Alexis Lafreniere scored in the second period and Matt Rempe tallied the first of his NHL career to snap a third-period tie as the Rangers matched 10-game runs by the 1939-40 and 1972–73 teams. They can set the franchise record Sunday on the road against last-place Columbus.

New York, which hasn’t lost since Jan. 26, moved into a virtual tie with Boston for the Eastern Conference lead.

Tyson Foerster had the lone goal for the Flyers, who have lost three of four (0-2-1) after four consecutive wins.

Philadelphia played without leading scorer Travis Konecny, who sat out with an upper-body injury.

 

Streaking Maple Leafs score late to beat Avalanche

Tyler Bertuzzi scored his third goal of the game on a power play with 2:51 remaining and the Toronto Maple Leafs edged the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 for their seventh straight win.

Bertuzzi, playing on his 29th birthday, scored his first goal of the game with 6:18 left in the first period to pull the Leafs within 2-1 and tallied his second of the contest with 5:15 to play in the second to make it 2-2.

He completed his third career hat trick and first since Oct. 14, 2021, with Mikko Rantanen in the penalty box for sending the puck out of play.

The seven-game streak is Toronto’s longest since an eight-game run from Nov. 22-Dec. 6, 2003.

Rantanen had a goal and an assist and Nathan MacKinnon set up three scores for the Avalanche, who had a six-game home winning streak snapped.

MacKinnon has recorded at least one point in all 28 home games this season.

 

Canucks rally past Bruins for overtime win

Brock Boeser scored his second goal of the game on a power play in overtime to complete the Vancouver Canucks’ 3-2 comeback win over the Boston Bruins in a matchup of division leaders.

Boston took a 2-0 lead into the third period but Boeser scored with 7:11 remaining and Filip Hronek tied it with 71 seconds left.

J.T. Miller assisted on all three goals for the NHL-leading Canucks, who had lost a season-high four straight.

Jesper Boqvist and Danton Heninen had goals for the Bruins, who played past regulation in their fifth consecutive game. They are 2-0-3 during that span.

Matt Boldy scored twice and Filip Gustavsson stopped 41 shots to lead the surging Minnesota Wild to a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.

Jonas Brodin and Mats Zuccarello also scored to help the Wild improve to 6-1-1 in their last eight games.

Boldy has been a key catalyst for Minnesota with six goals and seven assists in his past seven contests.

Leon Draisaitl scored one goal and set up another and Connor McDavid had a pair of assists for the Oilers, who have lost two straight for the first time since a three-game skid from Dec. 14-19.

Edmonton is 4-4-1 since winning a franchise-record 16 straight games.

McDavid has gone eight games without a goal but has 19 assists during that span.

Connor lifts Jets over Blackhawks in OT

Kyle Connor scored 25 seconds into overtime and the Winnipeg Jets recovered after squandering a two-goal lead in a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks

Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice for his first goals in 11 games as the Jets won their fifth in six games to pull within one point of Central Division-leading Dallas.

Colin Blackwell scored in the second period and Tyler Johnson netted the equaliser with 43 seconds left in regulation, but the league-worst Blackhawks dropped to 1-9-2 in their last 12 games.

Sabres edge Blue Jackets

Connor Clifton scored his first goal in nearly a year to snap a tie and the Buffalo Sabres held on for a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Clifton’s goal at 3:05 of the third period was his first since March 2, 2023, when he played for Boston.

Zemgus Girgensons had the other goal and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 25 shots as Buffalo won its second straight and fourth in six games.

Dmitri Voronkov tallied for the last-place Blue Jackets, who failed to win consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 22 and 24.

Igor Shesterkin took a shutout late into the third period and Alexis Lafreniere scored twice as the New York Rangers rolled to their ninth straight victory, 5-1 over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.

Vincent Trocheck had a goal and an assist and Artemi Panarin set up three scores for the Rangers, who moved within one point of Boston for the Eastern Conference lead.

Shesterkin finished with 39 saves, allowing only Jack Hughes’ goal with 2:07 remaining, and also picked up his first assist of the season.

The Rangers killed off all five New Jersey power plays and have remained perfect since a loss to Stanley Cup champion Vegas on Jan. 26.

New York’s nine-game streak is tied for the third-longest in franchise history, bettered only by 10-game runs in 1939-40 and 1972-73.

The Devils lost their second straight and third in four games.

 

Hurricanes end Panthers’ 11-game road winning streak

Sebastian Aho scored with 18.9 seconds left and Pyotr Kochetkov turned aside 44 shots to help the Carolina Hurricanes to a 1-0 victory, snapping the Florida Panthers’ 11-game road winning streak.

Kochetkov stopped 16 shots in the first period, 12 in the second and 16 more in the third for his third shutout of the season and seventh of his career.

Florida’s 11-game road streak was one short of matching the NHL record.

Carolina has won four straight and six of seven to tighten its grip on second place in the Metropolitan Division.

The Panthers played the final two periods without star forward Matthew Tkachuk and defenseman Gustav Forsling.

 

Maple Leafs handle Golden Knights

Auston Matthews kept up his torrid pace with his league-leading 52nd goal and the Toronto Maple Leafs rolled past the Vegas Golden Knights, 7-3 for their sixth straight win.

Matthews was held off the scoresheet until he tallied midway through the third period to extend Toronto’s lead to 7-3.

He has goals in five straight games with 10 during that span and has 18 with nine assists in his past 14 contests.

Max Domi scored twice and Pontus Holmberg, David Kampf, Jacke McCabe and John Tavares also had goals to help the Maple Leafs win their 10th in 12 games.

Vegas set a season high in goals allowed and lost its fourth in five games.

Auston Matthews scored his 50th and 51st goals of the season to become the fastest to 50 in 28 years and the Toronto Maple Leafs won their fifth straight, 6-3 over the reeling Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.

Matthews, from nearby Scottsdale, Arizona, reached the milestone in his 54th game of the season to become the fastest to 50 goals since Mario Lemieux accomplished it in 50 games with Pittsburgh in 1995-96.

Wayne Gretzky holds the record, scoring his 50th in his 39th game for Edmonton in 1981-82 on his way to a record 92 goals. Matthews is the fastest to 50 among U.S.-born players.

Matthews, who added his 51st of the season in the second period, is on pace to surpass 70 goals, which hasn’t been done since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny each had 76 in 1992-93.

William Nylander also scored twice and Mitch Marner had three assists as the Maple Leafs won for the ninth time in 11 games (9-0-2).

The Coyotes lost their 11th in a row and have allowed at least five goals in five of their last seven contests.

 

Bruins edge Oilers in overtime

Charlie McAvoy scored in overtime and the Boston Bruins snapped the Edmonton Oilers’ eight-game home winning streak, 6-5.

McAvoy was the sixth different goal scorer for the Bruins, who got three assists from Mason Lohrei to extend their road point streak to 10 games (7-0-3).

Warren Foegele had a pair of goals for the Oilers, who hadn’t lost at home since a 5-1 defeat to Florida on Dec. 16.

 

Flyers beat lowly Blackhawks

Samuel Ersson stopped 22 shots and Travis Konecny and Garnet Hathaway scored third-period goals to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-1 win over the league-worst Chicago Blackhawks.

Travis Sanheim had the other goal as the Flyers improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven games.

Colin Blackwell scored the lone goal for Chicago, which has lost 10 of 11.

Arvid Soderblom made 30 saves to lose his 12th consecutive start. He is 0-11-1 since defeating Toronto on Nov. 24.

Igor Shesterkin made 17 of his 41 saves in a perfect third period and the New York Rangers beat the Dallas Stars 3-1 Tuesday to extend their winning streak to eight games.

Adam Fox, Kaapo Kakko and Vincent Trocheck each scored for the Rangers, who improved to 9-1-1 over their last 11 games.

New York (36-16-3) expanded their lead in the Metropolitan by defeating a fellow division leader. The Rangers’ current streak includes wins over contenders Dallas, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche.

Miro Heiskanen had the lone goal for the Stars (34-15-8), a second-period power play tally, despite Dallas carrying a 42-26 advantage in shots on goal.

 

MacKinnon, Avs win West showdown over Canucks

Nathan MacKinnon extended his home point streak, Ryan Johansen scored two goals to end his scoring slump and the Colorado Avalanche beat the NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks 3-1.

MacKinnon assisted on Artturi Lehkonen’s empty-net tally, giving him at least one point in each of Colorado’s 27 home games. MacKinnon pulled into a tie with Guy Lafleur (1979-80) for the seventh-longest home-point streak in league history.

J.T. Miller put the Canucks up 1-0 mid-way through the first period, but Colorado net-minder Alexandar Georgiev held up the rest of the way and finished with 24 saves.

Johansen lit the lamp for the first time since Dec. 29, tying the game early in the second period. He scored the game-winning goal 1:35 into the third period, putting the Avs up for good.

Colorado (35-18-4) picked up two points on the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars, while Vancouver (37-15-6) still leads the league despite a third straight regulation loss.

 

Panthers take over top spot in East

Anton Lundell scored at 1:36 of overtime to lift the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators, their sixth consecutive victory.

The win catapulted the Panthers (37-15-4) ahead of the idle Boston Bruins for the top record in the Eastern Conference.

Florida led 2-0 at the second intermission with goals by Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, but Thomas Chabot and Tim Stuetzle scored in the third for Ottawa to even the score, setting up Lundell’s thrilling game-winner.

“It must have been one of the coolest moments in this building (for me) for sure,” Lundell said. “Out there in overtime, I just waited for my opportunity, got the puck, saw the short side was open, so I tried to pick the corner.”

Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves for the Panthers, who improved to an NHL-leading 19-3-2 since Dec. 23.

 

Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek each recorded three goals and three assists to lead a record-setting day for the Minnesota Wild, who set a franchise single-game high for goals in Monday's frantic 10-7 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

Matt Boldy and Mats Zuccarello delivered a goal and three assists each for Minnesota, which overcame a three-goal second-period deficit by lighting the lamp seven times during the third to set a team record for goals in a period as well.

The Wild's offensive outburst also overshadowed a three-goal, one-assist performance from Vancouver's J.T. Miller. The game was the first to have three players record hat tricks since the Los Angeles Kings accomplished the feat in an 11-4 win over the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 8, 1992.

After Zuccarello's power-play goal with 33 seconds left in the second period cut the Canucks' lead to 5-3, the Wild scored five straight times in the first 5:12 of the third. Eriksson Ek and Kaprizov each struck twice during the flurry, which also included a goal from Marco Rossi.

The six goals in a span of 5:45 made the Wild the first team to score six times in that short a time frame since the Washington Capitals did so in a 4:47 stretch in a 10-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 3, 1999.

The Pacific Division-leading Canucks fought back, though, as goals from Nikita Zadorov and Brock Boeser got them within 8-7 with 2:08 left to play. Minnesota's Jonas Brodin scored into an empty net 61 seconds later, however, before Kaprizov completed his fourth career hat trick and second this season with an empty-netter in the final stages.

Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek matched the @mnwild record for points in a game while combining for a feat not witnessed in more than three decades.#NHLStats: https://t.co/wuATxuTB8f pic.twitter.com/Ga6OXyAPpY

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 19, 2024

Marc-Andre Fleury was credited with the victory after the Wild veteran stopped six of eight shots after replacing starter Filip Gustavsson to begin the third period. Minnesota extended its point streak to six games (5-0-1) despite Gustavsson yielding five goals on 16 shots.

The Canucks, meanwhile, have dropped two straight following a forgettable afternoon for netminder Casey DeSmith, who let in eight goals on just 25 shots.

Matthews' 49th goal helps Maple Leafs top Blues

Auston Matthews continued his recent goal-scoring tear by recording his league-leading 49th of the season, which helped the Toronto Maple Leafs stay hot as well with a 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

Matthews' seventh goal in three games snapped a 1–1 tie 45 seconds into the third period, and the 2021-22 Hart Trophy recipient had an assist earlier to spark Toronto to a fourth consecutive win.

Mitchell Marner had three assists for Toronto, which also got a key short-handed goal from William Nylander that extended the Leafs' lead to 3-1 with 12:31 left to play.

After a scoreless first period, the Maple Leafs struck quickly in the second as Matthews set up Matthew Knies for a close-range shot that the rookie rocketed past St. Louis goaltender Joel Hofer just 22 seconds into the period.

Brandon Saad's power-play goal late in the second drew the Blues even, though the tie was short-lived as Matthews deposited a feed from Marner into the Blues' net in the opening minute of the third.

The Blues cut the deficit to 3-2 on Pavel Buchnevich's goal with 1:08 to play, but Bobby McMann sealed the win for Toronto with an empty-net score with 38 seconds left.

Hofer stopped 25 of 28 shots for St. Louis, which has lost two straight following an 8-2-0 stretch from Jan. 20-Feb. 15. Ilya Samsonov finished with 19 saves for Toronto.

Bruins stop four-game slide with shootout win over Stars

Charlie McAvoy scored in the ninth round of the shootout as the Boston Bruins rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars to halt their four-game losing streak.

McAvoy added two assists in regulation for Boston, which forced overtime on David Pastrnak's goal with 1:45 left in the third period. 

The Bruins later extended the game further when Brad Marchand beat Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger in the third round of the shootout to tie the deciding phase at 1-1.

Both Oettinger and Boston's Jeremy Swayman turned aside the next five skaters each faced before McAvoy converted his chance. Swayman then denied Craig Smith to end the game and hand Dallas a second straight defeat, though the Western Conference contenders did extend their point streak to five games (3-0-2).

Swayman finished with a career-high 43 saves before stopping eight of nine opponents in the shootout.

Goals from Boston's Jesper Boqvist and Dallas' Wyatt Johnston sent the teams into the first intermission tied at 1-1, and the Stars' Ryan Suter and the Bruins' Justin Brazeau scored 28 seconds apart less than two minutes into the second period.

Dallas went back ahead when Esa Lindell scored on a 2-on-1 rush with 9:16 left in the third, but Pastrnak later one-timed a feed from McAvoy past Oettinger with Swayman pulled for an extra attacker to tie the game at 3-3.

Oettinger finished with 27 saves.

 

 

Artemi Panarin scored 10 seconds into overtime to cap a furious rally for the New York Rangers, who extended their winning streak to seven games with Sunday's 6-5 victory over the New York Islanders in an NHL Stadium Series matchup.

The Rangers trailed 4-1 early in the second period before scoring five of the final six goals in front of a near-capacity crowd of 79,690 at MetLife Stadium, the home of the NFL's New York Giants and Jets.

Vincent Trocheck had two of those goals and added an assist, while Panarin had two assists in addition to his game-winner. 

Noah Dobson collected three assists for the Islanders, but his turnover deep in his own end led to Panarin's close-range shot which trickled past Isles goaltender Ilya Sorokin to give the Rangers the first comeback win from a three-goal deficit in the 41 regular-season outdoor games held by the NHL.

It only took Artemi Panarin 10 seconds into overtime to help the @NYRangers become the first team in NHL history to post a three-goal comeback win in an outdoor game. #StadiumSeries #NHLStats: https://t.co/y6npR84NBs pic.twitter.com/aVpYib1ueJ

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 19, 2024

Trocheck began the rally with a power-play goal 5:36 into the second period, and he later poked in a rebound to send the Rangers into the third intermission down 4-3.

Alexander Romanov restored the Islanders' two-goal advantage 1:53 into the third, but the Rangers got power-play goals from Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad in the final 4:08 of regulation to force overtime. Zibanejad's score came with 1:29 left to play.

After Erik Gustafsson blasted a shot past Sorokin 1:28 into the contest to give the Rangers an early lead, the Islanders struck three times before the end of the first period to move ahead.

Brock Nelson tied it less than three minutes after Gustafsson's goal, and Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal scored 16 seconds apart shortly afterward to stake the Islanders to a 3-1 edge.

The Islanders increased the margin further when Anders Lee converted a power play 1:03 into the second.

Sorokin finished with 32 saves in the Islanders' third consecutive loss (0-1-2), while Igor Shesterkin had 36 for the Rangers.

 

Kings rally late to spoil Penguins' celebration of Jagr

Adrian Kempe scored two goals in the final 6:11 of regulation to lift the visiting Los Angeles Kings to a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on a night the home team retired the jersey of franchise legend Jaromir Jagr.

Kempe's second goal came with the Kings short-handed and the game tied at 1-1 with 3:10 left to play. Anže Kopitar forced a Penguins' turnover in the neutral zone before relaying the puck to his teammate, who ripped a shot past Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry with Los Angeles on a 2-on-1. 

Cam Talbot aided the comeback by making 11 of his 29 saves in the third period to help the Kings to their third straight victory and fifth in six games.

Pittsburgh took a 1-0 advantage on Sidney Crosby's power-play goal with 1:17 left in the first period, and Jarry made the lead hold up by coming up with 23 saves through the first two frames.

Kempe ended the shutout bid, however, when he one-timed a Drew Doughty feed into the Penguins' net with 6:11 to go.

Jarry recorded 31 saves in the Penguins' fourth loss in five games.

Prior to the game, the Penguins hung Jagr's iconic No. 68 jersey to the rafters in honour of the 52-year-old, whose 1,921 career points trails only Wayne Gretzky for the most in NHL history. Jagr spent the first 11 of his 24 NHL seasons with Pittsburgh from 1990-2001 and was a part of two Stanley Cup champion teams with the Penguins.

 

MacKinnon extends home point streak as Avalanche continue Coyotes' woes

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist for his 26th consecutive home game with at least one point, which helped the Colorado Avalanche extend the Arizona Coyotes' losing streak to nine games with a 4-3 come-from-behind win.

After MacKinnon tied the game at 3-3 midway through the second period with his 33rd goal of the season, Devon Toews put Colorado ahead when his wrist shot with 6:35 remaining got past a screened Arizona goaltender Karel Vejmelka.

The Avalanche then killed off an Arizona power play in the final 1:21 to earn their second win in three games since ending a season-high four-game losing streak from Feb. 5-10.

MacKinnon's home point streak is now the second-longest to begin a season in NHL history, behind only Wayne Gretzky's 40-game run with the Los Angeles Kings in 1988-89. The Colorado All-Star entered the game in a tie with Hall of Famer Bobby Orr for second place.

Arizona, now 0-8-1 in its last nine games, trailed early when the Avalanche's Ross Colton scored 4:10 into the contest, but moved ahead on first-period goals from Matt Dumba and Lawson Crouse.

Colorado's Jack Johnson tied the game at 2-2 with 5:20 elapsed in the second, but Logan Cooley briefly put the Coyotes back in front when he scored on a 4-on-2 rush with 10:08 left in the period.

Vejmelka registered 33 saves in the loss, while Colorado's Alexandar Georgiev had 27 stops.

 

Anthony Stolarz stopped 45 shots for his first shutout of the season and the Florida Panthers extended their franchise record road winning streak to 10 games with a 4-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.

Carter Verhaeghe scored twice for the Panthers, who became the 11th NHL team to win 10 consecutive road games.  Their run is two short of matching the record held by Detroit (2005-06) and Minnesota (2014-15).

Florida improved to 19-7-2 on the road, where it hasn’t lost since a 3-1 defeat at Calgary on Dec. 18. The Panthers are 17-3-2 in their past 22 games overall and moved into a tie with Boston atop the Eastern Conference.

The Sabres failed to build off a 7-0 win over Los Angeles on Tuesday after announcing prior to the game that goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen would be out with a lower-body injury.

Eric Comrie stopped 27 shots in his place and dropped his sixth straight start.

 

Kreider leads Rangers to sixth win in row

Chris Kreider notched his first hat trick of the season and Adam Fox had four assists to propel the New York Rangers to their sixth consecutive victory, 7-4 over the Montreal Canadiens.

Mika Zibanejad had a goal and two assists and Artemi Panarin added three assists as the Rangers pulled within one point of Boston and Florida for the Eastern Conference lead.

Jonathan Quick, 38, stopped 31 shots for his fourth straight win. He is the oldest goaltender in Rangers history with a four-game winning streak and is three victories away from tying Ryan Miller for most among American-born goalies at 391.

Cole Caufield scored twice for Montreal, which has lost three of four.

 

Matthews scores 3 more in Leafs’ OT win

Auston Matthews increased his league-leading goal total to 45 with his fifth hat trick of the season and William Nylander scored in overtime to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Matthews completed his 12th career hat trick in a 7:49 span in the second period. He’s on a 71-goal pace through 51 games, seeking to become the first player to hit 70 since Teemu Selanne and Alexander Mogilny each had 76 in 1992-93.

Matthews tied the franchise record for hat tricks in a season, matching Reg Noble (1917-18), Babe Dye (1924-25) and Darryl Sittler (1980-81).

Travis Konecny had a goal and an assist as the Flyers battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period to move to 4-0-1 in their past five games.

Anton Lundell scored twice and Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists as the Florida Panthers extended their franchise-record road winning streak to nine with a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.

Aaron Ekblad and Johan Gadjovich also had goals for the Panthers, who improved to 16-3-2 since Dec. 23 to pull within two points of Eastern Conference-leading Boston.

Tkachuk has been a key catalyst with 13 goals and 19 assists in Florida’s last 17 games.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves to win his fifth consecutive start with a 1.58 goals-against average during that span.

Bryan Rust and John Ludvig scored for the Penguins, who lost their third straight to remain seven points behind the final playoff spot in the East.

Hellebuyck shuts out Sharks

Connor Hellebuyck needed to make just 17 saves for his third shutout of the season and Morgan Barron scored in the Winnipeg Jets’ 1-0 win over the San Jose Sharks.

Hellebuyck stopped four shots in the first period, eight in the second and five in the third for his 35th career shutout.

He became the 10th goaltender in NHL history to allow three goals or fewer in 30 consecutive games in the regular season.

Barron scored with 2:13 left in the opening period and Hellebuyck made it stand up as the Jets won their second straight following a five-game skid.

Wild defeat reeling Coyotes for 4th straight win

Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist and Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 25 shots as the Minnesota Wild won their fourth consecutive game, 3-1 over the Arizona Coyotes.

Jonas Brodin and Joel Eriksson Ek had the other goals for the Wild, who have won seven of their last nine games.

Logan Cooley scored the lone goal as Arizona lost its seventh game in a row.

Connor McDavid notched his first career six-assist game and the Edmonton Oilers won their eighth straight at home, 8-4 over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

McDavid matched a career high with six points, done previously against Colorado on Nov. 14, 2019, when he had three goals and three assists.

His third assist of the game was the 600th of his career and came in his 616th game. He is the fourth-fastest to 600 assists, trailing Wayne Gretzky (416), Mario Lemieux (514) and Bobby Orr (608).

McDavid has 12 goals and 34 assists during a 19-game home point streak.

The Oilers are one victory shy of matching their franchise record of nine consecutive home wins, done in 2017 and 2022.

Alex DeBrincat, Joe Veleno, Patrick Kane and David Perron had goals for the Red Wings, who dropped to 10-3-2 since Jan. 1.

Ovechkin extends goal streak in loss

Alex Ovechkin scored in his sixth straight game, but Artturi Lehkonen had two goals and two assists as the Colorado Avalanche snapped a four-game skid with a 6-3 victory over the Washington Capitals.

Ovechkin’s goal was his 14th of the season and 836th of his career, leaving him 59 shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record.

Ross Colton and Miles Wood each had a goal and an assist for Colorado, which won for the first time – in the fifth game of a six-game Eastern Conference road trip.

Nathan MacKinnon had a pair of assists for the Avalanche to end a season-high three-game pointless streak.

Marchand has two assists in 1,000th game

Brad Marchand set up two goals and nearly scored in overtime, but Brayden Point scored the lone shootout goal to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins.

Marchand became the eighth player in franchise history to reach the milestone, and the Bruins said they will honour him with a ceremony before Monday’s game against Dallas.

Andrei Vasilevskiy denied Marchand in overtime and finished with 36 saves as the Lightning concluded their road trip 2-2-0.

Charlie McAvoy and James van Riemsdyk scored for the East-leading Bruins, who dropped to 1-3-1 in their last five home games.

Connor McDavid notched his first career six-assist game and the Edmonton Oilers won their eighth straight at home, 8-4 over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

McDavid matched a career high with six points, done previously against Colorado on Nov. 14, 2019, when he had three goals and three assists.

His third assist of the game was the 600th of his career and came in his 616th game. He is the fourth-fastest to 600 assists, trailing Wayne Gretzky (416), Mario Lemieux (514) and Bobby Orr (608).

McDavid has 12 goals and 34 assists during a 19-game home point streak.

The Oilers are one victory shy of matching their franchise record of nine consecutive home wins, done in 2017 and 2022.

Alex DeBrincat, Joe Veleno, Patrick Kane and David Perron had goals for the Red Wings, who dropped to 10-3-2 since Jan. 1.

 

Ovechkin extends goal streak in loss

Alex Ovechkin scored in his sixth straight game, but Artturi Lehkonen had two goals and two assists as the Colorado Avalanche snapped a four-game skid with a 6-3 victory over the Washington Capitals.

Ovechkin’s goal was his 14th of the season and 836th of his career, leaving him 59 shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record.

Ross Colton and Miles Wood each had a goal and an assist for Colorado, which won for the first time – in the fifth game of a six-game Eastern Conference road trip.

Nathan MacKinnon had a pair of assists for the Avalanche to end a season-high three-game pointless streak.

 

Marchand has two assists in 1,000th game

Brad Marchand set up two goals and nearly scored in overtime, but Brayden Point scored the lone shootout goal to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins.

Marchand became the eighth player in franchise history to reach the milestone, and the Bruins said they will honour him with a ceremony before Monday’s game against Dallas.

Andrei Vasilevskiy denied Marchand in overtime and finished with 36 saves as the Lightning concluded their road trip 2-2-0.

Charlie McAvoy and James van Riemsdyk scored for the East-leading Bruins, who dropped to 1-3-1 in their last five home games.

Igor Shesterkin turned back 30 shots for his first shutout of the season as the New York Rangers recorded a 2-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Monday in a clash of teams sporting extended winning streaks.

Shesterkin out-dueled counterpart Jacob Markstrom to lead the Rangers to a fifth consecutive victory and halt Calgary's four-game winning streak. 

Markstrom was sharp in defeat, as he stopped 29 of 30 shots to keep the Flames in it until Jimmy Vesey sealed New York's win with an empty-net goal with 19 seconds remaining.

The Calgary goaltender came up with 11 saves during a scoreless first period, but his lone blemish came when Will Cuylle knocked in a rebound with 6:29 left in the second to give the Rangers a 1-0 advantage.

Shesterkin protected the lead with 13 second-period saves and 11 more in the third to finish off his 12th career shutout.

The win increased New York's lead over the second-place Carolina Hurricanes to six points in the Metropolitan Division standings. 

Flyers rally to top Coyotes, extend winning streak to four games

Travis Konecny had a goal and two assists and helped spark a third-period rally that lifted the surging Philadelphia Flyers to a 5-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes.

The Flyers trailed 3-2 after two periods before getting goals from Jamie Drysdale, Scott Laughton and Owen Tippett that kept them unbeaten since the All-Star break. Philadelphia is now 4-0-0 since the stoppage.

Laughton added an assist on Konecny's 25th goal of the season, while both of Konecny's assists came during Philadelphia's third-period comeback.

Drysdale began the rally when his shot deflected off Arizona defenseman Matt Dumba and trickled past goaltender Karel Vejmelka to tie the game at 3-3 with 6:12 elapsed in the third period.

Laughton put the Flyers ahead just over four minutes later by beating Vejmelka on a wraparound attempt, and Tippett's empty-net goal with 1:21 left put the game out of reach.

Dumba scored the lone goal of an otherwise quiet first period, but the action picked up in the second as both teams scored twice. 

Morgan Frost successfully converted a penalty shot 4:23 into the period to get the Flyers on the board, but Matias Maccelli sent the Coyotes back ahead by sneaking a shot past Philadelphia goaltender Samuel Ersson just 3:34 later.

Philadelphia answered on Konecny's goal midway through the second before Alex Kerfoot scored on a partial breakaway to give Arizona a 3-2 edge heading into the third. 

Vejmelka stopped 29 of 33 shots in the Coyotes' sixth consecutive loss (0-5-1), while Ersson finished with 20 saves. 

Eriksson Ek's two goals help Wild down Golden Knights

The Minnesota Wild lengthened a winning streak of their own with Monday's 5-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights that was sparked by a pair of goals from Joel Eriksson Ek.

Minnesota scored three times in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie and record its third consecutive win and sixth in eight games. Matt Boldy netted the eventual game-winner with 12:31 left to play and added two assists on the night.

The Wild's Marco Rossi broke the deadlock by knocking in a rebound 6:28 into the third period. Just 61 seconds later, Boldy fired a loose puck over the shoulder of Vegas goaltender Adin Hill to give Minnesota a 4-2 advantage.

Mark Stone's goal with 10:20 remaining got the Golden Knights within one, but the Wild held on before putting the game away on Eriksson Ek's empty-net tally with 22 seconds left.

Vegas started the game strong, taking a 1–0 lead just 22 seconds in when Jonathan Marchessault's chip attempt deflected off a Minnesota skater and trickled past goaltender Filip Gustavsson.

Mats Zuccarello and Eriksson Ek scored 81 seconds apart later in the first period to put the Wild on top before the Knights' Michael Amadio scored on a power play to forge a 2-2 tie. 

Gustavsson finished with 27 saves while Hill stopped 24 of 28 shots for Vegas, which was dealt just its second regulation loss in its last 10 games. The Knights entered the contest 7-1-1 over their last nine outings.

 

 

J.T. Miller scored the deciding goal with 4.8 seconds remaining in overtime as the Vancouver Canucks stopped a two-game losing streak with Sunday's 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Washington Capitals.

Miller took advantage of a giveaway from Capitals centre Connor McMichael in the Washington zone with time winding down, as the veteran forward fired the resulting loose puck past goaltender Darcy Kuemper to enable the Western Conference leaders to avoid their first three-game skid of the season.

The Canucks twice overcame one-goal deficits to prevail, including a 2-1 hole created when Caps legend Alex Ovechkin's shot deflected off a Vancouver skater and past goaltender Thatcher Demko 7:37 into the second period.

Vancouver answered just over a minute later, however, when Nils Hoglander beat Kuemper on a backhand attempt.

The Canucks also trailed early as Nic Dowd gave Washington a quick 1-0 lead just 1:08 in, though Vancouver's Connor Garland came through with the equaliser with just under nine minutes to go in the first period.

Ovechkin now has a goal in five straight games after recording just eight over his first 40 outings of the season, though the Capitals still lost for the seventh time in eight games as Demko came up with 31 saves.

Kuemper ended with 26 saves for Washington.

 

Krug's five assists help Blues blow out Canadiens

The St. Louis Blues, meanwhile, continued their strong recent stretch by rolling to a 7-2 rout of the Montreal Canadiens behind Torey Krug's five assists and four points from Robert Thomas.

Thomas finished with a goal and three assists and Jordan Kyrou had two goals to help the Blues to their seventh win in eight games. St. Louis also received goals from Alexey Toropchenko, Colton Parayko, Nathan Walker and Jake Neighbours as well as 30 saves from Jordan Binnington.

The Blues led virtually from start to finish, as Toropchenko opened the scoring just 25 seconds into the game. Parayko's blast from near the blue line that got past Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen extended the lead to 2-0 with just 5:05 elapsed, and Kyrou later scored on a power play after Montreal's Nick Suzuki's goal to send St. Louis into the first intermission ahead by a 3-1 score.

Walker's second-period goal and Thomas' power-play conversion increased the margin to 5-1 just 31 seconds into the third period.

Joel Armia got Montreal a bit closer when he redirected teammate David Savard's shot past Binnington 3:06 into the third, but Neighbours scored on a power play just over four minutes later for a 6-2 St. Louis advantage.

Krug's fifth assist came on Kyrou's goal with 4:27 left to play. The defenseman tied a franchise single-game record most recently achieved by Thomas on April 14, 2022.

Allen recorded 29 saves in Montreal's sixth loss in its last eight games, while Suzuki's goal extended his point streak to seven games.

 

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.