NHL roundup: League-best Avs rally, edge Knights in shootout

Nathan MacKinnon scored his league-leading 31st goal to go with two assists and also scored the game-winner in the fourth round of the shootout as the Colorado Avalanche edged the Vegas Golden Knights 6-5 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

MacKinnon skated down the slot and ripped a wrist shot past the glove side of Carter Hart for the winner as the Avalanche extended their winning streak to seven games and their point streak to 10 games (9-0-1). It was Colorado’s first win in five shootouts this season, and it had to twice rally from two-goal deficits in regulation to get there.

Martin Necas scored two goals, Samuel Girard had a goal and an assist, Sam Malinski had three assists and Artturi Lehkonen scored a 6-on-5 goal with 1:57 to go to force overtime for the Avalanche. Scott Wedgewood finished with 20 saves.

Alexander Holtz had a goal and an assist, Noah Hanifin had two assists and Ivan Barbashev, Ben Hutton, Brett Howden and Colton Sissons also scored for Vegas, which fell to 4-11 in games beyond regulation and 1-5 in shootouts. Hart made 33 saves.

Capitals 4, Devils 3 (OT)

Jakob Chychrun scored the game-winner with 54 seconds left in overtime to lift Washington past New Jersey in Newark, N.J., and end a three-game skid (0-2-1).

Chychrun, who entered the day tied with Columbus’ Zach Werenski for the league lead in goals by defensemen, notched his 15th. Aliaksei Protas scored a goal and assisted on two for Washington. Alex Ovechkin ended a nine-game goalless drought with his game-tying, third-period score that forced overtime and assisted on Protas’ first-period goal. Anthony Beauvillier found the net for the first time since Dec. 2 and Logan Thompson stopped 35 shots.

Jesper Bratt scored twice for the Devils, with Cody Glass getting his seventh of the season. Jake Allen made 29 saves, but New Jersey recorded its third straight defeat.

Sabres 4, Bruins 1

Peyton Krebs scored the eventual game-winner and Mattias Samuelsson factored into all three of Buffalo’s unanswered goals in the second period, leading the host team to a win over visiting Boston.

Ryan McLeod and Krebs scored within a span of 1:33 to turn Buffalo’s 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead and never looked back on the way to the Sabres’ eighth consecutive victory. Samuelsson finished with a goal and two assists, notching the defenseman’s first career three-point game.

Krebs had a goal and an assist, Josh Norris also scored, Jack Quinn and Tage Thompson each had two helpers, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 21 shots for Buffalo. David Pastrnak scored the lone goal and Joonas Korpisalo made 30 stops for the Bruins, who are now winless in five straight (0-4-1).

Islanders 2, Rangers 0

Backup goalie David Rittich stopped all 27 shots he faced for the host New York Islanders, who outlasted the New York Rangers in Elmont.

Rittich has allowed just three goals over three straight starts in place of Ilya Sorokin, who is sidelined with an unspecified injury. The shutout was the second of the season for the 33-year-old, who turned back a penalty shot by Carson Soucy the third period.

Anders Lee scored in the opening minute of the game and Simon Holmstrom added an empty-netter with 16.1 seconds left for the Islanders, who have outscored the Rangers 7-0 in two games this season. The Islanders went 0-4 last season against the Rangers, who outscored them 23-5.

Wild 4, Jets 3 (OT)

Matt Boldy scored his second goal of the night in overtime as Minnesota outlasted host Winnipeg.

Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists while Mats Zuccarello scored and picked up an assist. Quinn Hughes had three helpers in the win in support of Wild netminder Jesper Wallstedt, who saved 23 pucks. Zuccarello converted on a 6-on-4 opportunity to tie the game up at 3-3 with 22 seconds remaining and Boldy finished off the game with a snapshot on a feed from Hughes 39 seconds into overtime.

Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist in the loss. Josh Morrissey was the other goal scorer for the Jets while Gabriel Vilardi chipped in two assists. Connor Hellebuyck made 15 stops for Winnipeg.

Maple Leafs 7, Senators 5

Matthew Knies had two goals and an assist and Toronto held on to defeat visiting Ottawa.

Auston Matthews added a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs, who have won two in a row. Nicholas Robertson contributed a goal and an assist while William Nylander, Bobby McMann and John Tavares (empty net) also scored. Max Domi had three assists, Matias Maccelli had two assists and Joseph Woll made 26 saves.

Jordan Spence had a goal and an assist for the Senators, who have lost two straight. Nick Cousins, Ridly Greig, Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle also scored. Claude Giroux and Stephen Halliday each had two assists. Linus Ullmark allowed four goals on 14 shots for Ottawa before Leevi Merilaine replaced him in the second period and yielded two goals on 18 shots.

Sharks 6, Canucks 3

Igor Chernyshov scored his first NHL goal, Macklin Celebrini had a goal and an assist and visiting San Jose finally beat Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko.

Chernyshov and William Eklund recorded a goal and an assist. Ryan Reaves, John Klingberg and Collin Graf had markers for San Jose, which snapped a three-game skid. Celebrini’s outing stretched the 19-year-old North Vancouver native’s point streak to seven games (five goals, nine assists). Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov stopped 24 shots.

Linus Karlsson, Marco Rossi and Drew O’Connor scored for the Canucks, who lost at home to the Sharks for the first time since 2019. Conor Garland and Filip Hronek had two assists apiece. Forward Elias Pettersson returned to the lineup and skated in his 500th career game. Demko made 32 saves but lost for the first time to San Jose in 14 career decisions.

Kings 6, Ducks 1

Alex Laferriere notched his first career hat trick for Los Angeles in a win against visiting Anaheim.

Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist, Anze Kopitar had the secondary assist on each of Laferriere’s goals and Anton Forsberg made 24 saves for the Kings, who were 1-4-2 in the seven games before the Christmas break.

Mason McTavish scored and Lukas Dostal made 24 saves for the Ducks, who have dropped four of five (1-3-1).

Hurricanes 5, Red Wings 2

Shayne Gostisbehere’s goal and first of two assists came in a three-goal second period for Carolina in its victory against Detroit at Raleigh, N.C.

Andrei Svechnikov also had a goal and two assists, while Jackson Blake, Eric Robinson and Jordan Martinook had goals for the Hurricanes, who dominated segments of the game without much to show for until the middle period. Brandon Bussi stopped 18 shots to improve to 12-1-1 in his rookie season. The outcome snapped Carolina’s season-long three-game losing streak and came in a clash between divisional leaders.

Michael Rasmussen and Andrew Copp scored for Detroit. Goalie John Gibson made 33 saves but lost for the first time in nine December outings.

Blackhawks 4, Stars 3 (SO)

Nick Lardis and Ryan Donato scored in the shootout to give Chicago a win over host Dallas. Matt Duchene scored in the shootout for the Stars to knot the score at 1-1, before Lardis won it in the bottom of the fourth.

Tyler Bertuzzi had two goals and Jason Dickinson scored for the Blackhawks, who snapped their six-game losing streak. Defenseman Alex Vlasic had two assists and Arvid Soderblom made 28 saves.

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists while defenseman Nils Lundkvist and Justin Hryckowian had goals for the Stars, who lost in overtime for the second straight game. Wyatt Johnston contributed three assists and Jake Oettinger stopped 30 shots.

Blues 3, Predators 2

Pavel Buchnevich scored two goals and Joel Hofer made 30 saves to lead host St. Louis to a victory over Nashville.

It was the 22nd multi-goal game of Buchnevich’s career and the first since Oct. 11, 2024. Robert Thomas had two assists and Brayden Schenn also scored for St. Louis, which moved into fifth place in the Central Division with the win.

Tyson Jost and Fedor Svechkov scored goals and Nicolas Hague had two assists for Nashville, which had a three-game winning streak snapped. Juuse Saros finished with 17 saves for the Predators.

Lightning 4, Panthers 2

Nikita Kucherov scored twice, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves as Tampa Bay defeated host Florida in a fight-filled game. The Lightning also got goals from Jake Guentzel and Pontus Holmberg and have won three straight games overall.

There were 45 penalties called, including nine in a massive brawl toward the end of the second period. The Lightning totaled a season-high 87 minutes, the Panthers a season-high 49. Florida went 1 for 9 on its power play while also allowing a short-handed goal. Tampa Bay went 0-for-6 on its power play.

Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand scored for the Panthers. Marchand has a team-high 21 goals, and he also has a seven-game point streak. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.

Flames 3, Oilers 2

Blake Coleman scored the eventual game-winner as host Calgary edged Edmonton to improve to 8-1-1 in its last 10 on home ice.

Yegor Sharangovich and Ryan Lomberg also scored for the Flames, who split the home-and-home with the Oilers. Edmonton thumped Calgary 5-1 on Tuesday. Dustin Wolf made 29 saves to improve to 8-4-2 at home this season.

Evan Bouchard scored and added an assist and Connor McDavid also tallied for the Oilers, who lost for just the third time in regulation in their last 12 (8-3-1). Connor Ingram stopped 29 shots.

–Field Level Media