New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff hailed his side's play after extending their win streak to 11 games with Thursday's 3-2 overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Yegor Sharangovich scored on a rebound 57 seconds into overtime, for his fourth goal of the season, while goal-tender Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves as the Devils improved to 14-3-0.
The Devils' 11-game unbeaten run is tied for the second-longest streak in franchise history, with the longest being 13 from 2000-01 when that side were Stanley Cup runners-up.
"I don’t know if we're really focusing on the rest of the league," Ruff told reporters when asked if the win streak was a statement for other teams.
"You've got to have a lot of good things happen to run a streak like this. In this league, a goalie can beat you, a couple of bad bounces can beat you. We've definitely played with a lot of pace and a lot of speed and been able to take it to a lot of teams."
One player who has been central to the Devils' success is captain Nico Hischier, who put his side up with his second-period goal, before William Nylander's quick shot with 2:09 remaining in the third sent it to overtime.
Ruff suggested that Swiss 23-year-old Hischier should be a candidate for the Selke Trophy, the NHL's top defensive award, comparing him to five-time winner Patrice Bergeron.
"He's a power-play guy, he's one of our top penalty killers," Ruff said about Hischier. "You look at where he is with his play away from the puck, I actually think he should be a candidate this year.
"If he can stay healthy, his two-way game is right up there with the likes of Bergeron."
Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe rued his side's 23 giveaways compared to the Devils' 14, acknowledging that is what sets them apart.
"We get the puck back and you give it right back to them," Keefe said. "Can't happen.
"We beat ourselves at times and gave them free goals. They didn't beat themselves at all. That's how you win 11 in a row — you don't beat yourself."
NHL: Edmonton Oilers earn sixth straight win
Evan Bouchard's second goal of the game broke a tie early in the third period and sent the resurgent Edmonton Oilers to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Friday.
Edmonton won its sixth consecutive game and improved to 8-3-0 under Kris Knoublach, who replaced Jay Woodcroft as head coach on Nov. 12 after the Oilers got off to a 3-9-1 start.
Bouchard added an assist and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had four assists to help the Oilers battle back twice from one-goal deficits. Stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each contributed a goal and an assist to back 17 saves from Stuart Skinner.
The Wild were outshot by a 40-20 margin but kept it close throughout behind 36 saves from Marc-Andre Fleury.
After Draisaitl's power-play goal late in the second period forged a 3-3 tie, Bouchard also converted a power-play chance 1:32 into the third to put Edmonton in front.
Bouchard's first of the night gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead after one period, but Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek each scored in the opening minute of the second to send the Wild ahead.
McDavid answered just 40 seconds after Eriksson Ek's goal, but Minnesota regained the lead on Connor Dewar's one-timer with 8:02 left in the second.
The Wild have now lost two straight after winning their first four games since John Hynes replaced Dean Evason as head coach on Nov. 28.
Bobrovsky, Panthers extend Penguins' losing streak
Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves and Eetu Luostarinen scored the deciding goal in the third period as the Florida Panthers came through with a 3-1 win over the slumping Pittsburgh Penguins.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Aleksander Barkov also had goals to help the Panthers move to 4-1-1 over their last six games.
Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has now lost four straight (0-2-2) after failing to hold on to a 1-0 lead provided by Reilly Smith's goal 8:05 into the second period.
The Panthers drew even when Ekman-Larsson knocked in a rebound late in the second period, then took a 2-1 edge when Luostarinen sent a loose puck past Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry with 6:10 elapsed in the third.
After Florida killed off a late Pittsburgh power play, Barkov sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 27 seconds remaining.
Jarry stopped 30 of 32 shots for the Penguins, who went 0 for 3 on the power play and have now gone 13 straight games without a man-advantage goal.
Greaves stars in NHL debut as Blue Jackets top Blues
Jet Greaves stopped 41 shots to win his first NHL game as the Columbus Blue Jackets pulled away for a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues.
Yegor Chinakhov had two of three Columbus goals in the third period to support an outstanding debut from Greaves, called up from the minors Thursday after the Blue Jackets placed regular goaltender Elvis Merzlikins on injured reserve.
The 22-year-old rookie came up with 23 saves alone in the third period, during which Chinakhov scored twice in a span of under six minutes to stretch Columbus' lead to 4-1.
Chinakhov also assisted on Kirill Marchenko's goal that put the Blue Jackets ahead just 1:42 in, though Robert Thomas tied it for St. Louis later in the first period with the first of his two goals.
Adam Fantilli put Columbus back ahead with a shot past Blues goaltender Joel Hofer with 2:59 left in the opening period.
Thomas scored again with 2:22 remaining to get St. Louis within 4-2, but Alexandre Texier's empty-net goal in the final seconds ended any Blues' comeback hopes.
Columbus snapped a three-game losing streak, while the Blues have now dropped three of four. Hofer stopped 17 of 21 shots in defeat.
NHL: Kings shut out Canadiens for NHL-record 11th straight road win to open season
Cam Talbot stopped 24 shots and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Thursday for their NHL-record 11th straight road win to open the season.
Quinton Byfield had two goals and an assist and Drew Doughty added a goal and an assist for the Kings, who surpassed the mark set by the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres.
Los Angeles is one road win away from matching the NHL record of 12 consecutive road victories at any point during the season.
The Kings have won three straight and eight of nine overall.
Montreal was shut out by the Kings for the second time this season after a 4-0 loss on Nov. 25.
Sharks rally to spoil Kane’s Red Wings debut
The San Jose Sharks overcame a four-goal deficit and spoiled Patrick Kane’s debut with the Red Wings in a 6-5 overtime victory.
Mikael Granlund scored 37 seconds into overtime and Nico Sturm and Tomas Hertl each scored twice for the Sharks, who have rallied from deficits of at least three goals to win consecutive games in OT.
Kane, a nine-time All-Star, signed a one-year contract with Detroit on Nov. 28. He didn’t record a point and hit the post early in the third period.
Michael Rasmussen scored twice for the Red Wings, who had won six of seven.
San Jose has won five of seven after winning just three times in its first 20 games.
Ovechkin hits milestone in Capitals’ shootout loss
Alexander Ovechkin recorded his 1,500th regular season point, but Roope Hintz scored twice in the third period and the Dallas Stars rallied for a 5-4 shootout win over the Washington Capitals.
Ovechkin assisted on Dylan Strome’s second goal of the game midway through the third period to become the 16th player in NHL history to reach that plateau.
Jason Robertson had two assists in regulation and scored the only goal in the shootout as Dallas rebounded from consecutive losses.
Aliaksei Protas and Evgeny Kuznetsov also had goals for the Capitals, who lost their third in a row (0-2-1).
NHL: Hyman scores 3 as fast-starting Oilers rout Hurricanes
Zach Hyman scored two of his three goals in the Oilers’ four-goal first period and surging Edmonton cruised to a 6-1 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday.
Connor McDavid and Mattias Janmark each had three assists and Ryan McLeod and Mattias Ekholm also scored to help the Oilers win their fifth straight game.
McLeod scored 28 seconds into the game and Ekholm extended the lead just 13 seconds later. Hyman netted his first of the game at 5:46 and Pyotr Kochetkov was replaced by Antti Raanta after allowing three goals on six shots.
Jordan Staal spoiled Stuart Skinner’s shutout bid midway through the third period as Carolina dropped its second in a row following a 3-0-1 stretch.
Skinner finished with 38 saves and has been in net for all five wins during the streak, posting a 1.58 goals-against average.
Kucherov extends streak in Lightning’s win
Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 11 games and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1.
Anthony Cirelli and Tanner Jeannot also scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves as Tampa Bay won its second in a row following a four-game skid.
Kucherov, the NHL scoring leader with 44 points, has six goals and 15 assists during his streak.
Jake Guentzel had the lone goal for Pittsburgh, which had a five-game point streak snapped (2-1-3).
Marchessault, Eichel lead Knights over Blues
Jonathan Marchessault scored the 200th goal of his career and JacK Eichel had a goal and an assist as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the St. Louis Blues, 6-3.
The Golden Knights had six different goal scorers with Eichel, Marchesault, Keegan Kolesar and Michael Amadio tallying in the second period, when Vegas turned a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 lead.
Vegas is 3-0-3 in its last six games and leads the NHL with 39 points.
Jordan Binnington made a season-high 43 saves for the Blues, who have alternated wins and losses in their last eight games.
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