NHL

NHL: Oilers cool off Kings, Kraken edge Bruins

By Sports Desk February 27, 2024

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.

 

 

Related items

  • NHL: Surging Vegas scores 4 in 1st to beat Canucks NHL: Surging Vegas scores 4 in 1st to beat Canucks

    Jonathan Marchessault and Jack Eichel each had a goal and an assist in a four-goal first period and the Vegas Golden Knights extended their point streak to seven games with a 6-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

    Anthony Mantha and Noah Hanifin also scored in the opening period and Brett Howden also tallied for Vegas, which has gone 6-0-1 in its last seven games to pull within three points of Edmonton for second place in the Pacific Division.

    Logan Thompson made 27 saves to win his sixth straight start in his 99th career game.

    Quinn Hughes scored twice for the Canucks, who have lost three of four but are five points up on the Oilers for first in the Pacific.

    Ullmark perfect in Bruins’ win

    Linus Ullmark turned away 32 shots and assisted on Charlie Coyle’s short-handed, game-winning goal in the third period to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-0 victory over the Nashville Predators.

    David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha had a goal and an assist apiece to help Boston win for the third time in four games and extend its Atlantic Division lead to four points over Florida.

    Juuse Saros made 30 saves for the Predators, who dropped their third in a row following a franchise-record 18-game point streak.

    Surging Penguins rally past Devils

    Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby each scored twice during the Penguins’ five-goal third period and Pittsburgh remained in the playoff race with a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.

    The Devils took a 3-1 lead into the third period, but Crosby scored on a power play at 6:48 and Malkin’s first goal of the game just over a minute later tied it.

    Rickard Rakell’s goal with 3:44 left put the Penguins ahead and Malkin made it 5-3 32 seconds later. Crosby’s empty-net goal closed the scoring.

    Pittsburgh is 4-0-2 in its last six games and had moved within three points of Washington for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

  • NHL: Matthews scores 2 more in Leafs' win NHL: Matthews scores 2 more in Leafs' win

    Auston Matthews scored two more goals to push his league-leading total to 62, and the Toronto Maple Leafs withstood a third-period rally from the Florida Panthers to hold on for a 6-4 win in a potential first-round play-off matchup on Monday.

    Matthews added an assist to help Toronto to its third consecutive victory, which moved the Maple Leafs within four points of Florida for second place in the Atlantic Division. The two teams are currently on course to meet in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals.

    Nicholas Robertson and Matthew Knies each contributed a goal and an assist for Toronto, which built a 5-1 lead after two periods before the Panthers scored three straight goals in the third.

    Robertson and Matthews both lit the lamp in the opening period to stake the Leafs to a 2-0 advantage before Florida trimmed the deficit on Brandon Montour's goal 47 seconds into the second.

    Toronto responded quickly as Tyler Bertuzzi scored off a Matthews feed just 39 seconds later, and goals by David Kampf and Knies before the end of the period increased the Maple Leafs' cushion to 5-1.

    The Panthers pulled goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky at the second intermission after the veteran stopped just 11 of 16 shots.

    Florida's offence came to life in the third, as Vladimir Tarasenko redirected Niko Mikkola's shot past Toronto netminder Ilya Samsonov just 2:12 into the period and Sam Reinhart cut the lead to 5-3 with 8:02 left to play on his 52nd goal of the season.

    With replacement goaltender Anthony Stolarz pulled for an extra attacker, Sam Bennett brought Florida within one when his wrist shot beat Samsonov with 1:50 remaining. 

    The Panthers couldn't come up with the equaliser, though, and Matthews sealed the outcome with an empty-netter with 46 seconds left.

    Tarasenko ended with a goal and two assists for Florida, which has lost three of four. Stolarz stopped all six shots he faced in relief.

    Samsonov finished with 26 saves.

     

    Crosby, Penguins halt Rangers' win streak

    Sidney Crosby led the way with two goals and an assist as the Pittsburgh Penguins put an end to the New York Rangers' five-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory.

    Bryan Rust also scored twice to back 28 saves from Alex Nedeljkovic as the Penguins extended their point streak to five games (3-0-2). Pittsburgh currently sits five points out of a play-off spot in the Eastern Conference.

    Nedeljkovic made 10 first-period saves and Rust quickly put Pittsburgh ahead by knocking in a rebound of Crosby's shot just 18 seconds into the contest.

    Crosby made it a 2-0 lead midway through the opening period and after a scoreless second, Emil Bernstrom converted a breakaway chance 9:51 into the third to increase the Penguins' margin.

    The Rangers regrouped to cut their deficit to 3-2 on goals by Kaapo Kakko and Jack Roslovic, the last coming with 3:07 left to play. New York pulled goaltender Igor Shesterkin in the closing stages, but fell further behind as both Rust and Crosby scored into an empty net inside the final 2 1/2 minutes. 

    Shesterkin turned aside just 15 of 18 shots to have a three-start winning streak snapped.

     

    Blues continue post-season push with overtime win over Oilers

    Brandon Saad scored 2:09 into overtime as the St. Louis Blues continued their late-season push for a play-off spot with a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

    Brayden Schenn accounted for both St. Louis goals in regulation to help the Blues improve to 8-2-1 over their last 11 games. The surge has brought St. Louis within three points of the Los Angeles Kings, who were dealt a 4-3 loss by the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, for the Western Conference's final wild-card berth.

    The Blues trailed 1-0 after one period, but Jordan Binnington stopped all 13 Edmonton shots in the second and Schenn tied the game with a power-play goal 8:15 into the middle stanza.

    Schenn struck again 1:44 into the third before the Oilers drew back even when Leon Draisaitl stuffed a feed from Connor McDavid past Binnington with 5:25 remaining in regulation.

    Edmonton committed a costly giveaway in the neutral zone during overtime, though, which led to Saad scoring on a breakaway for his fifth goal in six games.

    Mattias Ekholm recorded the Oilers' first goal and added an assist on Draisaitl's 39th tally of the season. 

    Binnington ended with 36 saves and Stuart Skinner stopped 26 shots for Edmonton. 

  • NHL: Canucks extend Ducks' woes NHL: Canucks extend Ducks' woes

    Dakota Joshua scored two goals, including the game-winner with 2:13 left to play, as the Vancouver Canucks bounced back with Sunday's 3-2 victory over the downtrodden Anaheim Ducks.

    Arturs Silovs made 20 saves to win his first NHL start in over a year and help Vancouver halt a two-game losing streak as well as extend its lead atop the Pacific Division. The Canucks now own a four-point advantage over the second-place Edmonton Oilers.

    The Ducks rallied from a 2-0 deficit on third-period goals from Olen Zellweger and Mason McTavish before ultimately being dealt a fifth consecutive loss and 12th in 13 games.

    Silovs, whose last NHL appearance came on March 6, 2023, stopped all 17 shots he faced through the first two periods as the Canucks built a 2-0 lead on a pair of power-play goals. Brock Boeser had the first 11:26 into the first period and Joshua backhanded a close-range shot past Anaheim goaltender Lukas Dostal midway through the second.

    The Ducks then came to life early in the third, as Zellweger and McTavish scored 1:11 apart to even the game less than five minutes into the period. Zellweger's goal was the first of his NHL career.

    The score remained 2-2 until Joshua knocked in a behind-the-net pass from Conor Garland with under 2 1/2 minutes left.

    Dostal finished with 27 saves for Anaheim.

     

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.