Lars Eller and Garnet Hathaway scored 45 seconds apart to break a third-period tie in the Washington Capitals’ win over the host Tampa Bay Lightning, who lost Nikita Kucherov — the NHL’s MVP and points leader last season – to injury in the middle of the second period Saturday.
Dec 14, 2019; Tampa, FL, USA;Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Alex Killorn (17) shoots as Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) defends during the third period at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Kucherov did not return after he took a blast from John Carlson directly on the laces at the top of his right skate and fell to the ice.
Washington improved to an NHL-best 24-5-5 overall and 15-2-1 on the road. T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom each contributed a goal and an assist, and Tom Wilson tallied for the Capitals, who are also 15-3-2 since the start of November. Backup goalie Ilya Samsonov recorded 26 saves to move to 8-2-1.
Brayden Point netted his 12th goal, and Jan Rutta scored his first as a member of the Lightning, who played their fourth game in six days (2-2-0).
Bruins 4, Panthers 2
David Pastrnak scored twice to extend his league-leading tally to 28 and power Boston past host Florida to break a five-game losing streak (0-4-1), its longest skid since March 2016.
Backup goalie Jaroslav Halak earned the win, making 31 saves and improving his record to 8-3-3. Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci also scored for the Bruins, who built a 3-0 lead and hung on for the win. Torey Krug and Brad Marchand added two assists each.
Panthers star Aleksander Barkov left the game with 1:23 left in the third due to a possible leg injury. Sergei Bobrovsky, who had allowed just six goals in his past four games, took the loss. He had 38 saves on 41 shots. Mark Pysyk and Keith Yandle scored for Florida.
Maple Leafs 4, Oilers 1
Alexander Kerfoot had a goal and an assist as Toronto defeated host Edmonton.
Ilya Mikheyev, Frederik Gauthier and Mitchell Marner also scored for the Maple Leafs, who went 3-1-0 on a four-game trip that included stops in St. Louis, Vancouver and Calgary. Goaltender Frederik Andersen made 36 saves for his 200th NHL victory.
Alex Chiasson scored the lone goal for the Oilers, whose winless streak reached a season-high four games (0-3-1). Mikko Koskinen stopped 28 of 31 shots. Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, the league’s leading scorer, was held pointless.
Islanders 3, Sabres 2 (OT)
Anthony Beauvillier scored with 1:56 left in overtime as host New York edged Buffalo in Uniondale, N.Y.
Beauvillier picked up a loose puck at the Sabres’ blue line, raced up the ice and shuffled the puck a handful of times as he neared goaltender Linus Ullmark before firing a shot into the far corner of the net.
Michael Dal Colle and Jordan Eberle scored for the Islanders, who have won three straight and four of five. Goalie Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves. Victor Olofsson scored in the second period for the Sabres, and Jack Eichel forced overtime by tying the game late in the third, extending his league-high active point streak to 16 games.
Blues 4, Blackhawks 3
Justin Faulk scored the game-winning goal as host St. Louis rallied from a 3-0 third-period deficit to defeat Chicago.
Tyler Bozak scored twice for the Blues in his 700th NHL game, and Jacob de la Rose scored the game-tying goal in the third period. Jordan Binnington made 19 saves in his first career appearance against the Blackhawks.
Brandon Saad scored twice, Jonathan Toews earned two assists and Patrick Kane also scored for the Blackhawks, who are winless (0-3-1) in their last four games. Corey Crawford stopped 34 of 38 shots.
Wild 4, Flyers 1
Eric Staal scored two goals, and Alex Stalock finished with 17 saves as Minnesota extended its home point streak to 12 games with a victory over Philadelphia in Saint Paul, Minn.
Zach Parise and Carson Soucy also scored goals, and Jonas Brodin added two assists for Minnesota, which improved to 10-1-4 over its last 15 games. The Wild, who began the season with just one win and two points in their first seven games (1-6-0), moved within two points of the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
James van Riemsdyk scored for Philadelphia, which lost its second straight game and for the third time in four games. Carter Hart stopped 24 shots.
Devils 2, Coyotes 1
Kyle Palmieri scored the go-ahead goal at 11:34 of the third period, and New Jersey ended a seven-game losing streak with a win over Pacific Division-leading Arizona in Glendale, Ariz.
Jesper Boqvist scored the other New Jersey goal, Miles Wood and Michael McLeod each had two assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 31 shots for the Devils, who got their first win since Nov. 28. Blackwood improved to 9-9-4 in net on the season.
Alex Goligoski scored the Coyotes’ only goal, and Vinnie Hinostroza recorded his fourth assist in two games. Darcy Kuemper had 31 saves on 33 shots.
Stars 4, Predators 1
Blake Comeau scored a short-handed goal, the first of four Dallas goals in the second period, to breeze to a victory over host Nashville.
Roope Hintz scored his team-leading 12th goal, and Andrew Cogliano and defenseman Jamie Oleksiak also tallied for the Stars, who continued to fluster the Predators after eliminating them in six games during their first-round playoff series in the spring.
Anton Khudobin finished with 37 saves to improve to 4-1-0 in five appearances at home this season. The Predators’ Pekka Rinne yielded four goals on 22 shots in his first start against Dallas since making 49 saves in an overtime loss in Game 6 of the first-round series. Austin Watson scored the Predators’ only goal.
Hurricanes 4, Flames 0
James Reimer made 32 saves for his second shutout of the season, and Brock McGinn and Dougie Hamilton scored second-period goals, as visiting Carolina cooled off streaking Calgary.
Warren Foegele added two short-handed goals late in the third period for the Hurricanes, who improved to 4-0-1 over their last five games. Reimer wasn’t overly tested, but solid nonetheless in recording the 23rd shutout of his career. His other one this season came at Detroit on Nov. 24.
Calgary, meanwhile, saw its season-high seven-game winning streak and nine-game run with at least a point end. It was also the Flames’ first defeat in seven official games under coach Geoff Ward, who took over when Bill Peters resigned after he admitted to using a racial slur toward a former player.
Senators 4, Blue Jackets 3 (OT)
Anthony Duclair completed his third-career hat trick with a power-play goal 1:56 into overtime, as Ottawa won for the seventh time in eight home games, 4-3 over Columbus.
The ex-Blue Jacket Duclair, who took over the team lead with 18 goals, one-timed a pass from Thomas Chabot past Joonas Korpisalo (17 saves) for the winner. It was Duclair’s third multi-goal game in the last four, and gave Ottawa five points in its last three contests.
Columbus trailed 3-1 in the third before Alexandre Texier recorded the first two-goal game of his career. His first was at 4:44 into the period, while the second came when he drove in a failed wraparound rebound by teammate Pierre-Luc Dubois (two assists) with 8:29 left in regulation.
Penguins 5, Kings 4 (SO)
Bryan Rust, who earlier had two goals and an assist, scored the only goal in the shootout as Pittsburgh downed visiting Los Angeles.
Rust, the seventh shooter, beat Jonathan Quick on a backhander in the shootout. Jack Johnson and Teddy Blueger also scored, and Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang each had three assists for the Penguins, who have won five of six and picked up their league-leading 14th home win. Tristan Jarry made 38 saves.
Kyle Clifford had a goal and an assist, and Austin Wagner, Tyler Toffoli and Michael Amadio also scored for the Kings, who had won two straight. Quick made 23 saves.
Ducks 4, Rangers 3 (SO)
Jakob Silfverberg scored a goal in regulation and added the deciding score in a shootout as Anaheim rallied late for a victory over visiting New York.
Ondrej Kase also scored in the shootout for the Ducks, after Hampus Lindholm forced overtime with 1:46 remaining on a power-play goal from the deep slot. Rickard Rakell had an assist on all three Anaheim goals in regulation, and the Ducks logged a season-high 42 shots on goal.
Mika Zibanejad scored two goals, including one 10 seconds into the game, as the Rangers closed out a four-game West Coast road swing with a 2-1-1 record.
Sharks 4, Canucks 2
Logan Couture and Evander Kane each netted one goal and one assist, and goaltender Aaron Dell sparkled in net as San Jose won for the first time in seven games with a home-ice victory over Vancouver.
It was the first win for interim coach Bob Boughner since he took over the bench duties from the fired Pete DeBoer during San Jose’s losing skid — four straight defeats in regulation and a 0-5-1 slide.
Dell made 33 saves and was especially strong in the first half-dozen minutes of the third period, when he denied J.T. Miller, Tanner Pearson and Brock Boeser on chances caused by his team’s turnovers.
Red Wings 2, Canadiens 1
Jonathan Bernier made 42 saves, Mike Green had a goal and an assist and visiting Detroit held off Montreal.
Bernier nearly recorded the Red Wings’ first shutout this season until the Canadiens scored in the final minute. Tyler Bertuzzi had the first goal for Detroit, which has won two straight following a 12-game losing streak.
The Wings also won at Montreal 4-2 earlier this season. Prior to that game, the Wings hadn’t won in regulation in Montreal since 2007. Tomas Tatar scored the lone Canadiens goal, while Carey Price stopped 18 shots.
—Field Level Media