Connor McDavid’s NHL-leading 39th goal broke a third-period tie and proved to be the game-winner as the host Edmonton Oilers earned their fifth straight victory, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Thursday night.
After a strong Edmonton forecheck to open the third, McDavid used his speed to swoop around Lightning defenseman Ian Cole on the right and shovel in the go-ahead goal 2:10 in the period Zach Hyman had two tallies while McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers. Ryan McLeod scored, and Edmonton goaltender Jack Campbell made 28 saves to win his fifth consecutive start.
The Lightning received a goal and an assist from Brayden Point, and Brandon Hagel and Steven Stamkos scored. Victor Hedman posted two assists while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots but lost for the first time in five games.
Edmonton swept the two-game season series against the reigning Eastern Conference champions and improved to 8-3-1 in its past 12 games. The Oilers are 5-1-0 against Atlantic Division teams.
Bruins 3, Rangers 1
Jeremy Swayman made 31 saves as Boston scored early in each period and extended their road winning streak to six games by beating New York.
Pavel Zacha and Patrice Bergeron scored in the first two periods before Connor Clifton tallied in the third for the Bruins, who improved to 26-4-4 since their 5-2 win in New York on Nov. 3. Brad Marchand and David Krejci collected two assists apiece as the Bruins improved their overall road record to 15-4-1.
Defenseman Ben Harpur scored with 4:23 left in the third for New York.
Maple Leafs 4, Jets 1
Auston Matthews scored twice early in the second period, Ilya Samsonov stopped 37 shots and Toronto defeated visiting Winnipeg.
Mitchell Marner scored a short-handed goal to extend his team-record home point streak to 20 games. Mark Giordano scored an empty-net goal and Michael Bunting added two assists for the Maple Leafs, who have won two in a row. The Maple Leafs have won both games against the Jets this season.
Kyle Connor scored for the Jets, who lost for the third time in their past 11 games. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 shots for the Jets, who also lost the opener of their five-game road trip Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Sabres 3, Islanders 2 (OT)
Dylan Cozens scored 12 seconds into overtime to fuel host Buffalo to a victory over New York.
Victor Olofsson scored midway through the third period and Alex Tuch netted his career-best 22nd goal of the season. Dahlin notched two assists and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 24 saves for the Sabres, who posted just their second win in their last seven games (2-4-1).
New York’s Brock Nelson scored to snap a 14-game goal drought and Matt Martin also tallied. Ilya Sorokin turned aside 42 shots for the Islanders, who have lost three in a row and seven of their last eight games (1-4-3).
Capitals 4, Coyotes 0
Dylan Strome scored two goals as Washington defeated Arizona in Tempe, Ariz.
Washington goalie Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for his league-leading fifth shutout of the season and 30th of his career. Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who have won nine of their last 10 road games. Sonny Milano also scored, and Dmitry Orlov and Evgeny Kuznetsov each had two assists. Nicklas Backstrom became the 46th player in NHL history with 750 assists.
Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves for the Coyotes, who have lost 10 of 11. Vejmelka has lost each of his past eight starts.
Panthers 6, Canadiens 2
Goaltender Alex Lyon made his Florida debut after an early injury to starter Sergei Bobrovsky, leading the visitors to a victory over Montreal.
The Panthers scored four power-play goals, the first time they accomplished that feat since a game against Pittsburgh 10 years ago. Matthew Tkachuk, who leads Florida with 24 goals, scored twice with the man advantage. Bobrovsky, the Vezina Trophy winner in 2013 and 2017, left the game due to a lower-body injury.
The Panthers also got power-play goals from Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett and even-strength tallies from Givani Smith and Ryan Lomberg. It was Smith’s first goal as a member of the Panthers. Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault — who started his career with the Panthers — made 28 saves as the Canadiens’ had their two-game winning streak snapped. Rem Pitlick and Josh Anderson scored Montreal’s goals.
Blues 5, Predators 2
Brandon Saad and Robert Thomas each had a goal and an assist as St. Louis recorded a win over visiting Nashville.
Alexey Toropchenko, Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou also scored while Tyler Pitlick had two assists as St. Louis improved to 4-2-0 in its past six games. It was an offensive breakout for team that had scored only five total goals in its previous three games. Twelve Blues players collected at least one point in the well-rounded attacking effort.
Jordan Binnington stopped 24 of 26 shots to earn the win. It was another strong outing for Binnington against the Predators, after he delivered a 25-save shutout in the Blues’ 1-0 OT win over Nashville on Dec. 12. Colton Sissons and Mattias Ekholm scored for the Predators, whose two-game win streak came to an end. Juuse Saros had 28 saves.
Hurricanes 5, Wild 2
Brady Skjei, Jalen Chatfield and Martin Necas each had a goal and an assist and Carolina finally got clicking in a victory over visiting Minnesota.
Brent Burns and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for Carolina, which didn’t have a goal in the first 29 minutes, then racked up five in the next 16 1/2 minutes. The Hurricanes won for only the third time in their last eight games, yet they’re atop the Metropolitan Division.
The Wild, which had a three-game winning streak snapped, had the game’s first and final goals with Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy scoring.
Blackhawks 4, Flyers 1
Jonathan Toews had one goal and one assist to lift Chicago past host Philadelphia Flyers, ending one of the oldest losing streaks in professional hockey.
The Blackhawks’ last regular-season win in Philadelphia came all the way back on Nov, 9, 1996, with the Blackhawks losing 14 straight regular-season games in the city over 22 years.
Reese Johnson, Tyler Johnson and Philipp Kurashev each added a goal for the Blackhawks, who have won five of six. Morgan Frost scored the lone goal for the Flyers, who had won eight of 10.
Ducks 5, Blue Jackets 3
John Gibson stopped all 18 shots he faced after entering in relief of starter Anthony Stolarz and visiting Anaheim erased a three-goal deficit to beat Columbus.
Adam Henrique scored his team-leading 16th goal for the Ducks, who snapped a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) despite falling into a 3-0 hole in the first period.
Mathieu Olivier, Jack Roslovic and Nick Blankenburg scored for the Blue Jackets. Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins couldn’t protect the lead, allowing five goals on 33 shots to take the loss.
–Field Level Media
