Hischier scores twice as Devils extend win streak to 5
December 27, 2017
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Top overall draft pick Nico Hischier scored two goals in the first period, and the New Jersey Devils extended their season-high winning streak to five games with a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.
Taylor Hall had two assists, Cory Schneider made 31 saves and the Devils killed off all five Red Wings power plays in extending Detroit's losing streak to three games. Sami Vatanen scored into an empty net with 23 seconds to play for the final margin.
Justin Abdelkader scored for Detroit, which outshot New Jersey 25-19 in the final two periods. Jimmy Howard made 29 saves.
The two-goal game was the second of the season for the 18-year-old Swiss center and it gave him seven for the season.
RANGERS 1, CAPITALS 0, SO
NEW YORK (AP) - Mats Zuccarello and Mika Zibanejad scored in the shootout to lift New York to victory over Washington.
Ondrej Pavelec stopped all 30 shots he faced through overtime and both Washington skaters in the tiebreaker. His first shutout of the season and the 18th of his career helped the Rangers improve to 4-1-1 in their last six games.
Philipp Grubauer had 37 saves for the Capitals, who have lost three straight (0-1-2) since winning 11 of 13.
After neither team could get anything past the backup goalies through 65 minutes, Zuccarello finally put one past Grubauer on the first shootout attempt as he skated in, moved to the right and beat the Washington goalie with a backhand. Pavelec then stopped T.J. Oshie and, after Zibanejad also beat Grubauer from the right side, the Rangers' goalie denied Alex Ovechkin to secure the win.
PENGUINS 5, BLUE JACKETS 4, SO
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scored in the shootout, and Pittsburgh rallied past Columbus.
Crosby and Malkin both beat Sergei Bobrovsky between the legs in the shootout. Matt Murray stopped Pierre-Luc Dubois and then Artemi Panarin to clinch the win.
Crosby thought he had scored the game-winner 23 seconds into overtime, but the goal was overturned because of goaltender interference by Brian Dumoulin.
Four of the last five regular-season meetings between the Penguins and Blue Jackets have gone to overtime. Pittsburgh needed a big third-period rally in this one.
Malkin and Phil Kessel both scored third-period power-play goals for Pittsburgh, while Jake Guentzel netted the equalizer with 1:40 left in regulation. Conor Sheary also scored his 10th for the Penguins, who rallied from three two-goal deficits, including two in the third period. Murray made 29 saves in regulation.
PREDATORS 2, BLUES 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Calle Jarnkrok scored his second goal in two games and Pekka Rinne made 29 saves as Nashville beat St. Louis, snapping its season-high three-game losing streak.
Craig Smith scored his 13th of the season for the Predators, who leapfrogged the Blues to take over first place in the Central Division with 49 points.
Vladimir Sobotka scored his first goal in nine games for St. Louis. Jake Allen made 24 saves, but the Blues lost for the sixth time in their last eight.
The win continued a pattern of dominance for Nashville, which topped its division rival for the sixth time in their last eight regular-season meetings. The Predators also eliminated the Blues from last season's Stanley Cup playoffs in six games in the second round.
COYOTES 3, AVALANCHE 1
DENVER (AP) - Alex Goligoski scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period, and Arizona beat Colorado.
Tobias Rieder scored 54 seconds into the game and Antti Raanta stopped 25 shots for the Coyotes, who won for only the second time in 10 games. Lawson Crouse added his first goal of the season with 4:25 remaining.
Arizona fell to Colorado 6-2 on Saturday prior to the NHL's three-day break.
Goligoski put the Coyotes ahead for good 10:34 into the second with his fourth goal of the season.
Arizona won despite going 0 for 4 on the power play and failing to score on a 5-on-3 chance that lasted 1:53. Colorado's penalty kill has not allowed a goal in its last 28 chances.
BRUINS 5, SENATORS 1
BOSTON (AP) - Riley Nash scored two goals, Kevan Miller got his first of the season and surging Boston beat Ottawa for its 14th win in 18 games.
Tuukka Rask stopped 25 shots for the Bruins, improving to 9-0-1 in his past 10 games. Rask was selected the NHL's first star for last week.
Danton Heinen and David Backes also scored for Boston in the first meeting between the teams since Ottawa beat the Bruins in the opening round of the playoffs last spring. Nash also had an assist on Miller's goal.
Thomas Chabot scored and Craig Anderson made 18 saves for struggling Ottawa, which lost for the ninth time in 11 games (2-7-2).
HURRICANES 3, CANADIENS 1
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Sebastian Aho scored two goals in the third period, and Carolina beat Montreal.
Aho's power-play goal midway through the third put Carolina in front, and he later added an empty-netter. Teuvo Teravainen scored Carolina's other goal, while Alex Galchenyuk tallied for Montreal.
Carolina has won five straight home games and six of seven overall.
Cam Ward stopped 23 shots to improve to 7-0-1 in his last eight games.
Carey Price had 32 saves for Montreal.
JETS 4, OILERS 3
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) - Joel Armia scored twice as Winnipeg halted Edmonton's season-high winning streak at four games.
Bryan Little and Kyle Connor also supplied goals for Winnipeg.
Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, extending his point streak to five games. Jesse Puljujarvi and Jujhar Khaira also had a goal each, and Connor McDavid added a pair of assists.
Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves for the Jets, who are 13-3-1 at home. Cam Talbot stopped 35 shots for the Oilers. He went into the game having won his past seven starts.
The teams were tied 2-2 after the first period, and Winnipeg led 4-3 after the middle frame.
ISLANDERS 3, SABRES 2, OT
NEW YORK (AP) - Mathew Barzal scored 1:08 into overtime to give New York the victory over Buffalo.
New York has won three of five to improve to 20-13-4. Jason Chimera and Josh Bailey also scored for the Islanders.
Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo scored for last-place Buffalo (9-20-8), which has lost four of five.
Jaroslav Halak stopped 34 shots for the Islanders, and Robin Lehner made 33 saves for Buffalo. It marked the eighth time this season Lehner stopped at least 30 shots in a game.
But it was Bailey who made the pivotal play, scoring his 11th goal on a snap shot with 1:09 left in regulation to tie it at 2. Bailey then set up Barzal for the game-winner.
WILD 4, STARS 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Mikael Granlund scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period, and Minnesota beat Dallas.
Jared Spurgeon, Eric Staal and Jason Zucker also scored for Minnesota, which won for just the second time in six games. Charlie Coyle had two assists and Alex Stalock made 24 saves.
Tyler Seguin and Mattias Janmark scored for Dallas.
Granlund, who had a career-high 26 goals last year, has eight this season and only one in his previous 11 games.
With the Wild on the power play and the game tied 2-2, Granlund charged in from the left wall to put home a rebound at 13:08 of the second period.
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Vegas beats Anaheim, wins fifth in a row
December 27, 2017
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Cody Eakin broke a tie with a goal in the second period and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 on Wednesday night.
The victory for the Golden Knights was their fifth in a row and their 10th straight game where they have picked up at least a point. That established an NHL record for the longest such run by a team in its inaugural season, eclipsing the mark of nine contests set by the Panthers in 1993-94 (5-0-4).
The loss for the Ducks broke a stretch of two straight wins as they start three straight games at home following a six-game road-trip.
Golden Knights goaltender Malcolm Subban made 27 saves in the win, while Ducks netminder John Gibson made 24 stops in the loss.
After a slow first period where they were outshot 15-8, the Golden Knights took over in the second and third.
At the 15:12 mark of the second period, Eakin blasted out of the penalty box, beat Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm down the ice and then Gibson through the netminder's legs to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead.
Then 28 seconds into the third, Golden Knights forward William Karlsson took a feed from Jonathan Marchessault and buried a shot past Gibson to put the game at 3-1 in favor of Vegas. Golden Knights forward David Perron scored the empty netter in the final two minutes.
After going down early and being outplayed for most of the first period, a familiar face to Anaheim knotted the game up to send Vegas moving forward.
Former Duck Shea Theodore knotted the game at 1-1 when he skated off the point and fired a shot high to the stick side of Gibson at the 17:50 mark of the first period. For Theodore, that was his second goal and sixth point in his last three games.
At the 1:40 mark of the first period, Ducks forward Rickard Rakell took a feed from Jacob Silfverberg and buried the puck past Subban high to the goaltender's stick side to open the scoring.
NOTES: Ducks forward Ryan Kesler played in his first game of the season following summer hip surgery. He was held without a point and took three shots on goal. ... Referee Dan O'Rourke took part in his 1,000th NHL game.
UP NEXT
Ducks: The Calgary Flames visit the Honda Center on Friday, their first game in the building since ending a 29-game losing streak there.
Golden Knights: The Golden Knights head down the freeway to take on the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday in a back-to-back.
