Auston Matthews continued a sizzling stretch with two more goals and an assist to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-1 victory Saturday over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Matthews has goals in seven straight games, with 12 goals and 16 points during that span. He leads the NHL with 28 goals.

He is the first player with 27 or more goals through the first 30 games of a season since Jaromir Jagr did it for Pittsburgh in 1996-97.

William Nylander had a short-handed goal and two assists to extend his point streak to 11 games, while John Tavares also scored and Mitch Marner added two assists.

Justin Danforth had the lone goal for the last-place Blue Jackets, who dropped their fourth straight at home.

Stars score 2 in final 15 seconds to stun Predators

Craig Smith and Jani Hakanpaa scored goals in the final 15 seconds to rally the Dallas Stars to a shocking 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators.

With goalie Scott Wedgewood pulled for an extra skater and Dallas trailing 2-1, Smith scored off a goalmouth scramble with 15 seconds to play.

Hakanpaa then scored his first goal of the season with four seconds left to make it 3-2.

The Stars improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games, and became the first team in NHL history to secure a victory after scoring a tying and go-ahead goal in the final 15 seconds of regulation.

MacKinnon extends point streak as Avalanche win

Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to extend his point streak to 18 games and Alexander Georgiev made 24 saves to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes.

MacKinnon assisted on Valeri Nichushkin’s second-period goal to give him the second-longest point streak by a Colorado player, trailing only Paul Stastny’s 20-game run in 2006-07.

It was also MacKinnon’s 25th point in December. He’s three away from matching the franchise record for a single month set by Peter Stastny in February 1981 with the Quebec Nordiques.

Casey Mittelstadt scored twice in a four-goal third period to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 5-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.

Zach Benson and former Golden Knight Alex Tuch also scored in the third and Dylan Cozens had a first-period goal and added two assists to help Buffalo improve to 3-1-1 in its last five games.

Devon Levi turned aside 32 shots and is 3-0-1 with a 1.71 goals-against average since he was recalled from the AHL earlier this month.

Ivan Barbashev and Jack Eichel had goals for Vegas, which had a nine-game point streak stopped (6-1-3).

Pastrnak lifts Bruins over Islanders in shootout

David Pastrnak scored the deciding shootout goal to lift the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins to a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders.

Pastrnak, Morgan Geekie, James van Reimsdyk and Mason Lohrie scored in regulation, with Lohrei netting the equaliser with 3:09 left in regulation on a bank shot from behind the goal line.

Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, Alexander Romanov and Simon Holmstrom had goals for the Islanders, who had won four straight but moved to 6-0-2 in their last eight games.

Stars rally past Senators after Oettinger injured

Miro Heiskanen and Matt Duchene scored 44 seconds apart in the third period to rally the Dallas Stars to a 5-4 win over the Ottawa Senators after losing goalie Jake Oettinger to an early injury.

Oettinger left eight minutes into the game with a lower-body injury after allowing goals on the Senators’ first two shots on net. Scott Wedgewood entered and stopped 25 of 27 shots for the win.

Joe Pavelski, Esa Lindell and Thomas Harley also had goals for Dallas, which won its second straight.

Drake Batherson scored twice for Ottawa and Jake Chychrun had three assists in the Senators’ third consecutive loss.

Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Ross Colton all had goals within a span of just over four minutes in the third period to rally the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-5 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday.

Rantanen scored with 6:29 left to play to tie the game, then earned his second assist of the night when MacKinnon recorded the eventual winning goal on a breakaway with 4:30 remaining.

Colton started Colorado's comeback by knocking in a rebound with 8:40 left that cut the Flames' lead to 5-4.

Calgary had gone ahead on late second-period goals from Connor Zary and Yegor Sharangovich, with the latter prompting Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar to replace goaltender Alexandar Georgiev after the second intermission.

Ivan Prosvetov stopped all 11 shots he faced in relief of Georgiev, who allowed five goals on 22 shots.

Former Colorado center Nazem Kadri put Calgary ahead in the first period before the Avalanche's Tomas Tatar tied it later in the frame. Colorado then took a 2-1 lead when Cale Makar scored on a power play 1:43 into the second.

Goals by Andrew Mangiapane and Blake Coleman sent the Flames back in front, but Ben Meyers scored off a feed from Andrew Cogliano with 5:03 left in the second to briefly draw the Avalanche even at 3-3.

Colorado snapped a two-game losing streak, while Calgary has now lost four of five. Dan Vladar finished with 31 saves for the Flames. 

Islanders blow late, recover to defeat Maple Leafs in overtime

Bo Horvat scored 46 seconds into overtime as the New York Islanders recovered from blowing a late lead to come through with a 4-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto rallied from a two-goal deficit to force overtime when Morgan Rielly scored with seven seconds remaining in regulation. Horvat sent a feed from Mathew Barzal past Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov early in the extra session, however, to give New York its third consecutive win.

Rielly's goal did enable Toronto to extend its point streak to six games, a stretch in which it's gone 4-0-2. The Islanders are now 5-0-1 over their past six.

The Islanders took a 3-1 lead early in the second period on Kyle Palmieri's goal, but John Tavares scored on a redirection 7:43 into the frame to cut the Leafs' deficit to one.

Tavares, the former Islanders' captain, later recorded his 1,000th career point on Rielly's game-tying goal.

Auston Matthews' 19th goal of the season, a power-play score 5:50 into the contest, gave Toronto an early 1-0 edge before the Islanders forged ahead later in the period on goals from Brock Nelson and Casey Cizikas. 

Noah Dobson finished with three assists for New York, while Ilya Sorokin made 14 of his 37 saves in the third period and had two more in overtime.

Samsonov stopped 25 shots for Toronto.

Benn hits assist milestone as Stars down short-handed Red Wings

Miro Heiskanen had two goals and an assist to lead the way as the Dallas Stars rolled to a 6-3 victory over the depleted Detroit Red Wings. 

The Stars scored twice in all three periods, including four straight goals between the first and second, to get back on track after losing three of their four previous games. Esa Lindell and Jason Robertson each delivered a goal and an assist to support a 27-save effort from Jake Oettinger.

Jamie Benn assisted on Heiskanen's first goal, the 500th of the Dallas captain's career.

Detroit was dealt a third consecutive loss while playing without both captain Dylan Larkin and forward David Perron. Larkin is out with an upper-body injury he sustained from a cross-check by Ottawa's Mathieu Joseph in Saturday's loss to the Senators, while Perron began serving a six-game suspension for cross-checking Ottawa's Artem Zub in retaliation.

The Red Wings did take a 1-0 lead when Daniel Sprong scored 5:20 in, but goals by Heiskanen and Lindell later in the first period put Dallas ahead. Robertson and Matt Duchene then scored 2:14 apart in the second to extend the Stars' advantage to 4-1.

Jonatan Berggren quickly answered Duchene's goal to trim Detroit's deficit, and the Red Wings cut the lead to 4-3 when Joe Veleno scored on a power play with 6:39 remaining.

Joe Pavelski countered with a power-play goal 30 seconds after Veleno's strike, however, before Heiskanen sealed the win with an empty-netter inside the final minute.

James Reimer stopped 29 of 34 shots for Detroit.

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).

Ty Dellandrea picked the perfect time for his first career multigoal game, scoring two quick goals in the third period to lift the Dallas Stars to a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Western Conference final.

Luke Glendening and Jason Robertson had the other goals as the Stars escaped elimination again and trimmed the series deficit to 3-2.

Game 6 is in Dallas on Monday and Stars captain Jamie Benn will return after he served a two-game suspension for cross-checking Vegas skipper Mark Stone in Game 3.

The Stars are attempting to become the fifth team in NHL history to rally from a 3-0 series deficit. Current Knights defenseman Alec Martinez was a member of the last team to accomplish that – the 2014 Los Angeles Kings.

Stars' game-winner Dellandrea, who had just one point in his first 13 games this postseason, snapped a 2-2 tie at 10:35 of the third period when he ripped a shot under Adin Hill's arm from the right circle.

Dellandrea put a loose puck past Hill from the slot 87 seconds later to extend the lead.

Jake Oettinger was solid with 27 saves and has stopped 64 of 68 shots since he was pulled early in a Game 3 loss.

Ivan Barbashev and Chandler Stephenson scored for Vegas.

Joe Pavelski rifled home a power-play goal at 3:18 of overtime and the Dallas Stars avoided a sweep with a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday in the Western Conference finals.

Jason Robertson notched his first career multigoal playoff game for Dallas and Jake Oettinger rebounded with 37 saves, two nights after he lasted just over seven minutes in a Game 3 loss.

Vegas' Brayden McNabb was called for a high-sticking penalty 2:28 into overtime, and Pavelski needed just 50 seconds to end it. He took a feed from Miro Heiskanen in the left circle and drilled a one-timer inside the far post and past Adin Hill.

The goal was the ninth in 12 games this postseason for Pavelski, whose 73 career playoff goals are the most among active players.

Dallas played without captain Jamie Benn after he was suspended for two games by the NHL for his cross-check near the neck of Vegas skipper Mark Stone early in Tuesday's Game 3.

Benn will also miss Game 5 on Saturday in Las Vegas.

The Golden Knights missed an opportunity to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.

William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault scored for the Knights and Hill had his five-game winning streak snapped despite making 39 saves.

Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn has been suspended for two games for his cross-check on Vegas Golden Knights skipper Mark Stone.

Benn lunged in on Stone in Tuesday's 4-0 loss, a defeat that left the Stars in a 3-0 hole in the Western Conference finals.

The suspension was announced on Wednesday by the NHL Department of Player Safety.

Benn will now be forced to sit out Game 4, which takes place on Thursday, and should the Stars win to extend the series, Saturday's Game 5 in Las Vegas.

If the Golden Knights complete the sweep, Benn will have to sit out next season's opener.

In Game 3, Benn received a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for his hit on Stone less than two minutes in, with the Stars already trailing 1-0.

After Benn and Stone collided, the latter fell to the ice, landing on his back. Benn then dove downward onto Stone and cross-checked his head and neck area.

In a video announcing the suspension, the league determined that Benn intentionally decided to cross-check Stone while he was vulnerable.

"This is simply an unnecessarily dangerous decision by Benn, and it is delivered with sufficient intent and force to merit supplemental discipline," the league said.

This is the first time Benn has been suspended in his 14-year NHL career.

Benn, who has been Dallas' captain since the start of the 2013-14 season, has three goals and eight assists in this year's playoffs, including one goal in this series.

Adin Hill stopped 34 shots and the Vegas Golden Knights scored three first-period goals in a 4-0 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Jonathan Marchessault, Ivan Barbashev and William Carrier all scored in the first 7 1/2 minutes and Hill took care of the rest as Vegas moved a win away from a sweep and the franchise's second Stanley Cup Final appearance in its six-year existence.

Hill has won five consecutive starts with a 1.98 goals-against average and will try to make it six in a row in Game 4 Thursday in Dallas.

In the history of the NHL playoffs, teams with a 3-0 lead have advanced in 200 of the previous 204 occurrences.

Stars captain Jamie Benn received a five-minute major for a cross-check on Vegas captain Mark Stone less than two minutes into the game, with his team already down 1-0. Barbashev extended the lead to 2-0 with a power play goal just over four minutes later and assisted on Alex Pietrangelo's goal in the second period.

Dallas' Jake Oettinger was pulled after giving up three goals on five shots in the shortest start of his career. He was replaced by Scott Wedgewood, who stopped 10 of 11 shots the rest of the way.

Brett Howden banked the puck off a scrambling Jake Oettinger from behind the net 1:35 into overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

William Karlsson scored his sixth and seventh postseason goals for Vegas, while Teddy Blueger netted his first playoff goal since August 5, 2020.

Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson each had a goal and an assist for the Stars and Jamie Benn's goal with 1:59 remaining in regulation forced the extra period.

Hintz upped his playoff totals to 10 goals and 12 assists in 14 contests and Robertson's goal ended an eight-game stretch without one.

Adin Hill made 33 saves to improve to 4-1 this postseason and Oettinger dropped to 8-6 after turning aside 33 of 37 shots.

Game 2 will take place on Sunday in Las Vegas.

Dallas Stars coach Peter DeBoer feels his young goaltender Jake Oettinger is on a trajectory to join the game's best after Tuesday's 4-0 home shutout win against the Minnesota Wild.

The Stars used goals from Tyler Seguin, Jason Robertson and Mason Marchment to take a 3-0 lead early in the second period of the crucial Game 5 clash, before Ty Dellanrea put in an empty-netter to complete the rout and give Dallas a 3-2 series lead.

Oettinger, 24, collected the first shutout of the playoffs after making 27 saves, following a regular season where his five shutouts tied him for the second-most in the league.

Speaking after the game, DeBoer said the poise of his third-year shot-stopper is remarkable to see.

"He sure doesn’t look like a 24-year-old goalie," he said. "He's doing some special things.

"Being at this stage in the career he's at, when you look at the real good goalies over their history, not many of them at his age are taking the load that he's taking and delivering like he's doing."

Wild coach Dean Evason added: "We've talked about [Oettinger] a lot – he was good again."

DeBoer went on to talk about how he feels the Stars' confidence is only growing the longer this series rolls on.

"I think we're getting better as the series goes on," he said. "We got behind early, we've chased it. We wanted to take the opportunity to get out in front for the first time in the series. 

"The last win is always the toughest, but we've got an elimination game in Minnesota. We've been a real good road team all year. I think our guys are excited."

Dallas Stars coach Peter DeBoer was thrilled with his team's efforts after Monday's 5-2 victory saw them sweep their two-game road series against the Seattle Kraken.

It took less than six minutes for the Stars to jump ahead by two, with Evgenii Dadonov's early opener followed shortly after by Jamie Benn's power-play goal.

The power-play unit consisting of Benn, Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson were dynamic, as Pavelski and Robertson assisted Benn's goal, before Benn turned provider for Pavelski early in the second period, and Benn nabbed another assist when he set up Robertson for the third power-play goal of the night to seal things.

Stars center Wyatt Johnson – who assisted the opener and scored his side's fourth goal – highlighted the impact of getting such incredible production from their power-plays.

"It's huge," he said. "Especially when you're on the road – just getting like three goals on the power play, it's always, always a big help."

Coach DeBoer called it "an important four points" as the Stars hold onto a three-point buffer atop the Central division, and sit one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference.

"You look at the standings and we're in a fight for first in the division, first in the conference," he said. "[Seattle are] in a battle for playoff positioning. 

"They've been playing great all year, so this was a real test for us coming in here for two games and I thought our group really responded."

On the other side, the Kraken blew a golden opportunity to establish themselves as one of the West's top sides, getting leapfrogged by Dallas, the Minnesota Wild and the Los Angeles Kings during their current three-game losing streak.

"Bottom line, we didn't get job done," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "At the end of the day that's what matters.

"We've been a group that's been able to turn the page and go back to the next job at hand. This group has to be able to do that again."

Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery hailed his side's ability to overcome adversity after rallying for a 3-2 overtime win against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

The NHL-leading Bruins improved to a 40-8-5 record with the victory where Pavel Zacha tied the game at 2-2 at 10:12 of the third period, before David Pastrnak fired a one-time finish home from Charlie McEvoy's cross-ice pass with 1:16 remaining in overtime.

Pastrnak's goal came after the Bruins had killed off a Dallas OT power play, thanks to five Linus Ullmark saves, to get the better of the Stars, who lead the Western Conference.

Dallas had fought back from an early deficit from Taylor Hall's strike to lead 2-1 after goals from Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson, before the Bruins rallied. The Stars also failed to capitalise on a five-on-three power play in the second period.

"It was nice to win a game where we had to overcome so many struggles within the game," Montgomery told reporters.

"The penalty kills, then playing really well and not having the lead, trailing. Keep pushing, keep believing.

"There's a lot of belief in that locker room if we play the right way. We have a lot of depth that can overcome a lot of adversity."

The win was Montgomery's 100th in the NHL, including 60 in charge of the Stars before being fired in December 2019. This game marked his first in Dallas as a head coach since that dismissal.

Zacha, who finished the game with a goal and an assist, praised his side's identity.

"That's what our team is about, our identity," he said. "With having the leaders like we do I don't think we get frustrated. We just get to working hard, sticking to the process.

"I think that's one of the game's best third-period teams, so we know our strength."

Dallas Stars coach Peter DeBoer hailed his side's willingness to be unbowed physically by the Minnesota Wild after taking a 4-1 win on Wednesday.

A superb performance between the posts from Jake Oettinger, in which the goaltender made 38 saves, helped the hosts to a first regulation win since January 21.

Roope Hintz scored a goal and proided an assist, while there were also scores from Jamie Benn, Radek Faksa and Jani Hakanpaa as the Stars extended their point streak to seven games.

Having furthered their lead atop the Western Conference, DeBoer was delighted to see his side square up to the physical challenge offered by the Wild.

"[It was a] a good win," he said at American Airlines Center. "They made it difficult. They're a big, physical team that came in here and tried to impose that game on us.

"I loved our response. I thought we didn't back down. Physically, [we] didn't take a step back. I thought we played exactly how you have to play against a team like that."

After a goalless first period, the Stars took charge in the second with three scores and never looked likely to relinquish their lead.

Wild coach Dean Evason felt his side lack a cutting edge, with Joel Eriksson Ek the only man to find the back of the net.

"We just didn't find a way to score a goal," he said. "We''e doing a lot of real good things.

"[There are] a lot of positives in this hockey game. We have to obviously stay as positive as we can. We play tomorrow night."

The Wild next face the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, while the Stars are not back in action until they face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

Los Angeles Kings head coach Todd McLellan reserved special praise for Quinton Byfield after the youngster helped his team to a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars.

After placing forward Arthur Kaliyev on injured reserve last week, Byfield was promoted from the Kings' AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

The 20-year-old – who was the No. 2 overall pick for the Kings in the 2020 draft – claimed an assist in Tuesday's contest at Crypto.com Arena, with goals on the night coming from forwards Rasmus Kupari, Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.

Speaking after the win, McLellan outlined his admiration for Byfield's all-round performance, saying: "I thought he had a tremendous game. He's always been fast and quick, but he really used his body to his advantage.

"He stripped pucks, he created and loosened up pucks for his linemates, backchecking, he caught people from behind, he was responsible defensively and he set up a number of offensive plays.

"To me, that was as good a game as we've seen from Q all year and he had some good ones at the beginning. Real positive sign for him."

Although beaten twice in the contest, first by Miro Heiskanen and then Jason Robertson, Kings goaltender Pheonix Copley made 28 saves as his team produced their seventh win from their last nine games.

"The game as a whole was very competitive," McLellan said. "It was a hard, heavy, physical – not always big hits – but just the battles for loose pucks and for ice, it had a big forecheck component to it.

"That part of it and for us to play the way we did, a lot of things we had to fix from the last time we were in Dallas and I thought we accomplished some of that."

The Kings are now 22-13-6 for the season and sit second in the Pacific Division on 50 points, but their coach is only looking as far as the next game, which comes at home to the Boston Bruins on Friday before a trip to the Las Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday, who sit four points ahead of L.A.

"I think we can be [a 100 point team], we're working towards that, but our goal is to become a 52 point team," McLellan added.

"I know that's not what you want to hear but the team coming in here on Thursday, what are they shooting for, their 70th point, that's the type of challenge that we have.

"Then the next game after that, we've got to go into Las Vegas and play and then after that we have Edmonton coming in. So, this string of games right now, every night is a big battle and I think if we start thinking about big numbers and chunks, it's not going to do us any good. One at a time."

Goaltender Matt Murray enjoyed his first shutout as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs as he saved all 44 of the Dallas Stars' shots in a strong 4-0 win on Tuesday.

Murray, who spent the past two seasons with the Ottawa Senators, tallied three total shutouts during his time there, and his 44 saves is the most he has had since December 2019 when he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

His best stretch of the game came late in the second period, when the Maple Leafs were tasked with killing a five-on-three power play, knocking away five shots in under a minute to protect their 3-0 lead.

Auston Matthews, who won last season's Hart Memorial Trophy winner as league MVP, scored the only unassisted goal of the four, and he made sure to credit his goalie for ensuring it was not a nervous ending.

"I don't know if there's words for [Murray's performance] – that was special," he said. "I thought at the end of the second [period] there, that penalty kill, a lot of credit obviously to 'Murs' for some absolutely incredible saves.

"He made some unbelievable saves, just special."

Matthews also gave credit to Mitchell Marner, who dished an assist to become the fourth active player in the NHL to record a 20-game point streak in their career.

"Echoing what I've been saying for the last two weeks, I guess, but it's been a lot of fun to watch," Matthews said.

"He's been driving the bus for us. He's going to continue to play, and continue to compete for us, and he's been all over it on both sides of the puck. He's a special guy, a special player."

Marner made an effort to deflect the praise away from himself, pointing to his teammates as the key to his success.

"I'm sure like anyone would say, it's not a one-man effort out there," he said. "It's a lot of work from these guys around me, a lot of help from these guys around me.

"It's been a lot of fun in this streak, because we've been winning games as well, but a lot of kudos to these guys around me helping me make plays. I'm just trying to go out there and buzz.

"[Murray was] exceptional. He made some massive saves, especially on that [penalty] kill. Throughout the whole game, just working his bag off, making backdoor plays and saves, it was fun to watch."

With the win, the Maple Leafs now own the third-best record in the Eastern Conference at 16-5-6, while the Dallas Stars remain fourth in the West at 14-7-5.