NHL News

Buffalo is one victory short of matching the franchise record achieved three times, in 1983-84, 2006-07 and 2018-19.

Noah Ostlund, Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs also scored for the Sabres, and Alex Lyon made 16 saves. Brayden Schenn and Jimmy Snuggerud tallied for the Blues, and Joel Hofer stopped 30 shots.

The Sabres led 1-0 but trailed 2-1 before Tuch tied the game at 15:17 of the second period. Benson put Buffalo back in front at 1:46 of the third period, batting a deflected puck inside the right post. Krebs scored an empty-net goal at 18:44 to seal the win.

Avalanche 5, Kings 2

Brock Nelson and Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist each as Colorado beat Los Angeles in Denver for its eighth consecutive win.

Martin Necas, Cale Makar and Jack Drury also scored and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 21 shots for the Avalanche, who have won 14 in a row at home and are 16-0-2 this season on home ice.

Joel Armia scored a short-handed goal, Corey Perry also had a goal and Anton Forsberg made 21 saves for the Kings, who have lost seven of their past nine (2-5-2).

Canucks 3, Kraken 2 (SO)

Goaltender Kevin Lankinen remained perfect in shootouts this season as Vancouver won at Seattle. Liam Ohgren was the only player to score in the shootout.

Lankinen, who made 37 saves through regulation and overtime, stopped all three Seattle attempts to improve to 17-for-17 this season in winning for the fourth time in shootouts.

Linus Karlsson and Elias Pettersson scored in regulation for the Canucks, while Jared McCann and Ryan Winterton countered for the Kraken. Seattle's Joey Daccord stopped 22 shots.

Hurricanes 3, Rangers 2 (OT)

Jackson Blake scored a power-play goal with 12.6 seconds left in overtime as Carolina beat New York in Raleigh, N.C.

Sebastian Aho registered a goal and an assist, Jordan Martinook tallied a marker and Nikolaj Ehlers provided two assists to help the Hurricanes improve to 9-3 in overtime this season. Rookie Brandon Bussi improved to 13-1-1 with a 17-save effort.

Vladislav Gavrikov and Jonny Brodzinski scored for the Rangers, while Igor Shesterkin stopped 31 shots in a losing effort.

Wild 5, Golden Knights 2

Marcus Johansson had a goal and three assists as Minnesota jumped out to a five-goal lead in the first 27 minutes and then cruised to a victory in Las Vegas.

Matt Boldy, Jared Spurgeon and Joel Eriksson Ek each had a goal and an assist, Jonas Brodin had two assists and Brock Faber also scored for the Wild, who improved to 21-4-3 since Nov. 1. Filip Gustavsson made 14 saves for the Wild as Vegas finished with a season-low 16 shots on goal.

Brayden McNabb and Mark Stone scored goals and Ivan Barbashev had two assists for the Golden Knights, who lost for the fifth time in six games (1-3-2). Carter Hart left in the second period after allowing five goals on 12 shots. Akira Schmid finished up and stopped all 15 shots he faced.

Panthers 5, Capitals 3

Aaron Ekblad scored the go-ahead goal with 6:48 left in the third period as Florida defeated Washington in Sunrise, Fla.

Sam Reinhart also scored twice, including an empty-netter with 35 seconds left that clinched the win. The Panthers, who are 9-3-0 over their past 12 games, also got a goal and an assist apiece from Anton Lundell and Brad Marchand. Ekblad logged an assist, too.

Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves to earn win No. 446, passing Terry Sawchuk for eighth place on the all-time NHL list. The Capitals got two goals and an assist from Tom Wilson and a goal and two assists from Dylan Strome. Logan Thompson made 24 saves in a losing effort.

Oilers 3, Jets 1

Calvin Pickard made 41 saves as visiting Edmonton defeated Winnipeg to hand the host team its sixth straight loss and ninth in its last 10.

Max Jones and Jack Roslovic beat Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck for second-period goals, and Zach Hyman added one into the empty net.

Adam Lowry picked up the lone goal for Winnipeg in the third period, while Hellebuyck made 18 stops.

Blue Jackets 4, Senators 1

Damon Severson, Boone Jenner, Denton Mateychuk and Kirill Marchenko each scored for Columbus as the Blue Jackets won at Ottawa.

Severson also recorded an assist, while Cole Sillinger -- moved to center because Sean Monahan (maintenance) was a late scratch -- and Charlie Coyle each had two helpers. Jet Greaves made 27 saves.

Defenseman Jake Sanderson got the lone goal for the Senators, who have lost three in a row (0-2-1). Tim Stutzle extended his point streak to 10 games with an assist, while Leevi Merilainen stopped 18 shots.

Predators 4, Mammoth 3

Steven Stamkos scored twice in the third period, including his 599th career goal, to give Nashville a comeback win over Utah in Salt Lake City.

The Predators erased three separate one-goal leads before Stamkos finally put them ahead with 6:43 remaining. Luke Evangelista and Roman Josi scored Nashville's other goals, while Ryan O'Reilly had two assists. Juuse Saros stopped 28 of 31 shots.

Dylan Guenther, JJ Peterka and Mikhail Sergachev each scored for the Mammoth. Vitek Vanecek stopped 22 of 26 shots to extend his personal nine-game winless streak (0-8-1).

Flames 2, Bruins 1 (OT)

Connor Zary scored a power-play goal at 1:53 of overtime to propel Calgary to a win over visiting Boston.

Zary was credited with the winning goal after a deflection off defender Hampus Lindholm in front of the net. The goal came with eight seconds left on the 4-on-3 advantage. Blake Coleman scored the game-tying goal in the second period, and Dustin Wolf made 24 saves for the Flames, who have won four of their past five.

Less than a minute before Zary's deciding goal, Wolf stopped Pavel Zacha's short-handed breakaway and a Nikita Zadorov followup. Andrew Peeke scored and Jeremy Swayman stopped 19 shots for the Bruins, who are on a six-game winless streak (0-4-2).

Sharks 5, Ducks 4

Macklin Celebrini registered a goal and two assists as San Jose held on for a victory over Anaheim to win for the fourth time in its past five road games.

Mario Ferraro, Igor Chernyshov and William Eklund added goals as the Sharks improved to 5-3-0 since Dec. 11. Alexander Wennberg logged two assists, while Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves.

Troy Terry notched two goals and an assist, Cutter Gauthier had a goal and an assist and Pavel Mintyukov also scored for the Ducks. Anaheim goaltender Lukas Dostal was pulled after allowing four goals on nine shots. Peter Mrazek saved three of four shots.

Liam Ohgren was the only player to score in the shootout, putting a wrist shot between the pads of Seattle's Joey Daccord on the final attempt in the third round.

Lankinen, who made 37 saves through regulation and overtime, stopped all three Seattle attempts to improve to 17 for 17 this season in winning for the fourth time in the shootout.

Linus Karlsson and Elias Pettersson scored in regulation for the Canucks, who snapped a two-game skid.

Jared McCann and Ryan Winterton countered for Seattle, which had a four-game winning streak halted. Daccord made 22 saves.

The Kraken, who hadn't scored a first-period goal in their previous 10 games, tallied twice in the opening 20 minutes.

McCann opened the scoring on a 4-on-3 power play at 8:50, taking a pass from Vince Dunn and hammering a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle over Lankinen's catching glove and into the near upper corner.

The Canucks tied it at 15:20 after a faceoff win in the offensive zone. Ohgren shoveled a pass ahead to a wide-open Karlsson in the lower slot and he snapped a shot just inside the left post.

The Kraken regained the lead at 19:40. Daccord cleared the puck up the left wing boards to Jacob Melanson, who skated into the offensive zone and sent a backhanded pass across the top of the crease for a Winterton tip-in at the far post.

Pettersson tied it at 2-2 at 5:23 of the second, taking a pass from Evander Kane and putting a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle into the far upper corner of the net.

McCann and Vancouver's Conor Garland dropped the gloves off a faceoff at 15:17 of the first period. McCann was incensed after taking an elbow to the face from Garland that wasn't spotted by the officials on a previous shift, and the players jawed at each other after returning to their respective benches. The next time they were on the ice together, they wasted no time before scrapping.

Forward Jake DeBrusk, who has one goal in 11 December games, was a healthy scratch for the Canucks.

Mario Ferraro, Igor Chernyshov and William Eklund added goals as the Sharks improved to 5-3-0 since Dec. 11. Alexander Wennberg logged two assists and Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves for San Jose, which killed off an Anaheim power play with just over three minutes remaining.

Celebrini delivered his 10th game of at least three points this season. The 19-year-old forward extended his points streak to a season-best eight games (six goals, 11 assists). He now has 60 points on the season.

Troy Terry notched two goals and an assist and Cutter Gauthier had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who lost for the fifth time in six games (1-4-1). Pavel Mintyukov also scored for Anaheim.

Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal made five saves while allowing four goals before he was pulled in favor of Peter Mrazek in the second period. Mrazek turned aside three of the four shots he faced.

Anaheim lost despite a 42-13 advantage in shots on goal.

The Sharks and Ducks have split a pair of games this season while combining to score 22 goals.

Ferraro gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead when he tipped in a cross-ice pass from Wennberg for his 100th career point at 10:43 of the first period. Terry got the Ducks even just over four minutes later on a backhand into an open net after Nikita Nesterenko forced Askarov into a turnover behind the net.

Celebrini put the Sharks ahead for good with 48 seconds remaining in the opening period by tallying his team-best 21st of the season.

Chernyshov and Eklund each scored goals off Celebrini feeds to give San Jose a 4-1 lead in the second period.

Gauthier cut Anaheim's deficit to 4-2 at 16:26 of the middle period, his team-leading 19th.

Mintyukov pulled the Ducks within a goal at 3:07 of the third off a pass from Gauthier.

Ostapchuk scored on a tip-in with 7:13 remaining, and Terry got the Ducks back within a goal just over two minutes later.

Celebrini missed nearly nine minutes of the third period before returning after taking a deflected puck to the face.

It was the second four-point game of Johansson's career and first since March 28, 2017, when he did it with the Washington Capitals against the Wild. Matt Boldy, Jared Spurgeon and Joel Eriksson Ek each had a goal and an assist, Jonas Brodin had two assists and Brock Faber also scored for Minnesota, which improved to 21-4-3 since Nov. 1.

Filip Gustavsson made 14 saves for the Wild as Vegas finished with a season-low 16 shots on goal.

Brayden McNabb and Mark Stone scored goals and Ivan Barbashev had two assists for the Golden Knights, who lost for the fifth time (1-3-2) in their last six games. Carter Hart started his fourth straight game but left in the second period after allowing five goals on 12 shots. Akira Schmid finished up and stopped all 15 shots he faced.

Minnesota, playing the second game of a season-long seven-game, 14-day road trip that began with a 4-3 overtime win at Winnipeg on Saturday, needed just 26 seconds to take a 1-0 lead on Johansson's one-timer from the right circle past Hart's glove side.

Boldy made it 2-0 at the 14:06 mark of the first period with his team-leading 25th goal, finishing a 2-on-1 rush with Eriksson Ek with a wrist shot past Hart's blocker side.

Spurgeon extended the Wild lead to 3-0 at the 26-second mark of the second period with a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle past an Eriksson Ek screen and Hart's glove side.

Faber followed with a wrist shot from inside the blue line and above the right circle that went through traffic and past Hart's blocker side. It marked the third time in the last five games that Vegas trailed 4-0 in a game.

Eriksson Ek made it 5-0 at the 6:56 mark when he redirected Boldy's pass in front of the crease into the left side of the net, chasing Hart.

Vegas, which lost center Tomas Hertl early in the first period to a five-minute boarding penalty and game misconduct for his check on Ryan Hartman, cut the lead to 5-1 late in the second period when McNabb fired a wrist shot from the left circle in off the far right post.

Stone made it 5-2 early in the third period when he jammed in a loose puck on the doorstep through Gustavsson's pads to finish the scoring.

The Predators erased three separate Utah leads, with Stamkos recording the final equalizer with a power-play tally 11:39 into the third period. Just 1:38 later, Stamkos gave Nashville its first lead as Ryan O'Reilly's pass found him in front of the net for the go-ahead snipe.

Stamkos also had an assist, giving the veteran forward 20 points (13 goals, seven assists) over his last 16 games. His second goal was the 599th of his NHL career, putting the superstar forward on the cusp of becoming the 22nd member of the 600-goal club.

Juuse Saros stopped 28 of 31 shots for the Predators, who are 11-5-0 in their last 16 games.

Luke Evangelista and Roman Josi scored Nashville's other goals. O'Reilly had two assists.

The Mammoth are on a two-game skid and are 2-4-0 over their last six games.

Dylan Guenther had a goal and an assist for Utah. JJ Peterka and Mikhail Sergachev had the Mammoth's other goals.

Vitek Vanecek stopped 22 of 26 shots and is on a personal nine-game (0-8-1) winless streak.

The Mammoth opened the scoring on Peterka's power-play goal 5:48 into the first period. Josi equalized for Nashville at the 9:51 mark, when the defenseman's quick shot beat a screened Vanecek.

The second period followed a similar script, as Utah regained the lead and the Predators again responded four minutes later. Sergachev's point shot found its way into the net 3:41 into the second, but Evangelista then deposited a rebound at the 7:51 mark.

Guenther's team-leading 17th goal put Utah ahead once more 4:02 into the third. Strong forechecking from Lawson Crouse and Barrett Hayton resulted in Crouse finding a wide-open Guenther in front of the net for the finish.

After Stamkos' two goals, the Predators held steady despite two Mammoth power plays, including a 5-on-3 advantage over a 25-second span.

Martin Necas, Cale Makar and Jack Drury also scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 23 shots for Colorado, which has won 14 in a row at home and is 16-0-2 this season on its own ice.

Joel Armia scored a short-handed goal, Corey Perry also had a goal and Anton Forsberg made 21 saves for Los Angeles, which has lost seven of its last nine.

The Kings carried the play for the first nine minutes of the game, outshooting Colorado 6-1, but the Avalanche capitalized on a turnover.

Ross Colton stole the puck from Alex Turcotte inside the Los Angeles zone, passed it to Drury as he skated over the blueline, and Drury's shot trickled through Forsberg at 9:24 of the first period.

The Kings tied it with a power-play goal early in the second period when Perry deflected a pass by Kevin Fiala by Blackwood at 5:15.

Colorado went back in front later in the second period. Necas passed to Landeskog at the left post, he put a shot on net that slid along the goal line to the right post and Necas tapped it in at 13:21.

Los Angeles had a couple of scoring chances after that, but the Avalanche struck next when Joel Kiviranta fed Nelson as he entered the offensive zone, and Nelson's wrister beat Forsberg over his left shoulder at 17:30.

The Kings got within a goal when Armia beat Blackwood with a shot through his pads at 4:58 of the third.

It was the seventh short-handed goal of the season for Los Angeles, which is the most in the NHL.

Forsberg came off for an extra skater with 2:26 left, and MacKinnon scored into the empty net at 18:23. It was his 32nd goal of the season and 399th of his career. Makar scored at 19:15 to seal it.

Noah Ostlund, Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs scored, and Alex Lyon made 16 saves for the Sabres.

Brayden Schenn and Jimmy Snuggerud scored for the Blues. Joel Hofer made 30 saves.

Ostlund gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 2:19 of the first period. Josh Norris intercepted a pass attempt by Logan Mailloux inside the St. Louis blue line and took it to the left circle before sending a pass through the slot to Ostlund, who buried a one-timer from low in the right circle.

Schenn tied it 1-1 at 5:08. The puck bounced through defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson just inside the zone, and Otto Stenberg dropped it back for Schenn. The Blues captain took it to the left circle and fired a wrist shot that beat Lyon stick side.

Snuggerud put the hosts ahead three minutes later. He won a battle in the corner and sent it to Robby Fabbri on the back door. Lyon held firm on Fabbri's attempt, but Snuggerud gathered the rebound and tucked the puck into an open hole at the left post to make it 2-1 at 8:09.

Tuch appeared to tie it four minutes into the second period, but the goal was waved off for a distinct kicking motion and the call stood after review.

He got it back later in the frame. Samuelsson led a rush up the ice along the left side, carrying the puck across the blue line before feeding Tuch, who snapped it from the right circle off the far post and in, pulling Buffalo even 2-2 at 15:17.

Benson put the Sabres back in front at 1:46 of the third period. Ryan McLeod sent a no-look backhand feed from the corner to the front of the net. Jack Quinn got a piece of it to deflect it up, and Benson batted it inside the right post.

Krebs scored an empty-net goal at 18:44 to seal the 4-2 win.

Max Jones and Jack Roslovic beat Jets' netminder Connor Hellebuyck for goals, while Zach Hyman added one into the empty net.

Adam Lowry picked up the lone goal for Winnipeg, while Hellebuyck made 18 stops.

Neither team scored in the opening period, although the Jets outshot the Oilers 15-9 during the first 20 minutes. The highlight of the period happened when two unlikely fighters, Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Winnipeg's Neal Pionk, both received fighting majors for a scrap that took place 11:18 into the frame.

The Oilers took the lead with 12:00 remaining in the second period. Logan Stanley turned it over behind the Winnipeg net, allowing Max Jones to tap it in for a 1-0 advantage.

Edmonton added to its lead on the power play at the 12:49 mark of the period. A rush up ice led to a shot from Adam Henrique that rebounded off Hellebuyck and went directly to Roslovic, who buried his shot to make it 2-0.

Through two periods, Winnipeg held a 26-13 advantage in shots but was unable to capitalize on its chances as Pickard turned aside every attempt.

The Jets would get on the board in the third period when captain Lowry cleaned up a loose puck with a backhand shot to cut Winnipeg's deficit to 2-1 with 14:14 remaining. The goal came from the Jets' 31st shot on net.

That would be as close as Winnipeg would get, as Hyman popped the puck into the empty net with 1:23 remaining in regulation to seal the 3-1 win for the Oilers.

Boone Jenner, defenseman Denton Mateychuk and Kirill Marchenko also scored for the Blue Jackets, who won their third straight. Cole Sillinger -- moved to center because Sean Monahan (maintenance) was a late scratch -- and Charlie Coyle each had two assists. Jet Greaves made 27 saves.

Defenseman Jake Sanderson got the goal for the Senators, who have lost three in a row (0-2-1). Leevi Merilainen stopped 18 shots. Tim Stutzle had an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games (eight goals, nine assists, 17 points).

Jenner gave Columbus a 1-0 lead with 4:02 left in the first period. Stationed at the lip of the crease, he tipped in a pass from Sillinger.

Greaves stopped a short-handed partial breakaway by Ridly Greig with 42 seconds remaining in the first.

Severson made it 2-0, 1:21 into the second on a one-time slapper from above the left circle off the rush. He has six points (goal, five assists) in the last four games.

Sanderson put Ottawa on the board 8:16 into the second period when he scored from the left circle on a rush.

Mateychuk gave the Blue Jackets a two-goal lead 1:57 into the third period on a shot from above the high slot.

Marchenko made it 4-1 with 4:06 remaining with his fourth goal in the last three games.

Columbus defenseman Brendan Smith left after an awkward fall with about eight minutes left.

Shane Pinto and defenseman Tyler Kleven returned for the Senators from lower-body injuries. Pinto missed 10 games and Kleven three.

The game was pushed back 30 minutes because the Blue Jackets' plane did not leave Columbus until about 2:40 on Monday afternoon and arrived at around 3:50 in Ottawa. They beat the New York Islanders 4-2 in Columbus on Sunday.

Ottawa recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from AHL Belleville. Linus Ullmark took a leave of absence from the team on Sunday for personal reasons.

Sebastian Aho, who also had an assist, and Jordan Martinook posted Carolina's earlier goals. Nikolaj Ehlers provided two assists. Brandon Bussi made 17 saves to improve to 13-1-1 in his rookie season.

Vladislav Gavrikov and Jonny Brodzinski scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin stopped 33 shots.

The Hurricanes went on an OT power play with 1:59 remaining on Matthew Robertson's tripping penalty and they finally got a shot through to the net. Carolina improved to 9-3 in overtime results this season.

Bussi played because Pyotr Kochetkov, who shut out the Rangers last month, was nixed from the expected lineup. Coach Rod Brind'Amour said before that game that Kochetkov would undergo surgery and is likely to miss the rest of the season.

Martinook's goal came as he battled for position in front of the crease and defenseman Jalen Chatfield's shot ricocheted off the forward for the tying goal with 10:49 left in regulation.

New York managed only five shots on goal in the third period.

The Rangers went ahead 2-1 on Brodzinski's fourth goal of the season with seven minutes to play in the second period, with the puck bouncing to him off the skate of Chatfield. Each of his goals has come in road games.

Both teams scored on first-period power plays.

Garvrikov converted 1:39 into the game, marking only his second point in a 12-game stretch. It was a welcome breakthrough for the Rangers, who were blanked two days earlier by the New York Islanders.

Aho put Carolina on the board with 4:03 left in the period while on a 5-on-3 advantage.

There was a slower pace for much of the second period, with the Hurricanes managing only seven shots on goal.

Martinook scored for the second game in a row for the second time this season.

Sam Reinhart also scored twice, including an empty-netter with 35 seconds left that clinched the win.

The Panthers, who are 9-3-0 over their past 12 games, also got a goal and an assist apiece from Anton Lundell and Brad Marchand. Ekblad logged an assist, too.

Marchand extended his point streak to eight games. He leads Florida in goals and assists -- 22 of each.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves to earn win No. 446, passing Terry Sawchuk for eighth place on the all-time NHL list.

The Capitals got two goals and an assist from Tom Wilson and a goal and two assists from Dylan Strome. Wilson leads the team in goals (19) and points (37).

Logan Thompson made 24 saves in a losing effort. He is 15-10-4 this season, including an 0-2-0 record against Florida.

Ekblad gave Florida the lead with his high blast from the right circle. Reinhart earned the primary assist due to his pass from behind the goal line.

The score was tied 2-2 after an active first period.

Washington, on a rush, opened the scoring just 3:53 into the game. Martin Fehervary's shot was stopped by Bobrovsky, who gave up a long rebound right to Wilson for the goal.

Florida tied it 42 seconds later on Jeff Petry's alert pass to Lundell for a tap-in goal. Eetu Luostarinen and Reinhart set up the play by working the boards, forcing a turnover.

The teams then traded power-play goals. First it was Reinhart from the right circle as he blasted a high shot over Thompson's left shoulder for a 2-1 lead at 12:45.

Then, with just 43 seconds left in the period, it was Wilson again, this time scoring from the slot after Strome's setup pass.

After a scoreless second period, Washington tallied with 16:49 left in the third. Aliaksei Protas started the play by driving the net and drawing a delayed penalty on Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola. Before the Panthers could touch the puck, Strome shot from the point, and Protas' screen kept Bobrovsky from getting to the puck.

Florida tied the score 3-3 with 13:44 left in the third as Marchand batted a rebound out of the air and into the net. Sam Bennett earned the primary assist. The goal came just one second after a Florida power play expired.

Bo Horvat, who had one of New York's goals, called the 4-2 defeat in Columbus "two points that we want to have back, for sure."

The Islanders edged two Metropolitan Division rivals, the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers, on either side of the Christmas break and had collected points in three straight games before Sunday.

Defenseman Ryan Pulock earned an assist to give him 16 this season, three behind center Mathew Barzal for the team lead. The NHL Department of Player Safety fined Barzal $5,000 Monday after a Sunday incident in which he slashed the Blue Jackets' Mason Marchment in apparent retaliation for tripping Islanders rookie and top draft pick Matthew Schaefer.

Barzal was called for slashing and issued a game misconduct for his two-handed chop following the sequence early in the second period.

The Islanders contended that Marchment made knee-to-knee contact with Schaefer and leant their support to Barzal.

"On and off the ice he's a great guy and a great leader, too," Schaefer said. "Obviously, thanks for doing that right there. That just shows, an older guy helping me out there. Just like everyone else."

Chicago fell to 1-7-0 in its past eight games with a 7-3 loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night. The slump includes three consecutive multi-goal defeats at home, all to Eastern Conference foes.

Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill remained confident in the locker room amid a tough season that has seen the club collect only 34 points. That's tied for the second-fewest in the NHL entering the week, yet still only five out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff chase.

"We're going through a hard stretch right now, but I really like this group and I like who they are as people, I like who they are as competitors, I like who they are as hockey players and I like the potential in the group," Blashill said. "You have to grind and it doesn't always go the way you want.

"We can't feel sorry for ourselves. We have to continue to work together, but I am pumped to go work with this group ... and try to get better for the next game."

Count Chicago captain Nick Foligno among the amped, too. Foligno was activated from injured reserve Sunday and scored a second-period goal in his first action since sustaining a left hand injury on Nov. 15.

"I was excited to get back with the group," Foligno said. "You hate being away with some of the injuries we've had."

Tyler Bertuzzi scored in the final second against the Penguins for his 19th goal this season, matching the injured Connor Bedard (upper body) for the club lead.

Blackhawks forward Ilya Mikheyev, who has missed the past two games due to the birth of his son, is expected to return to the lineup Tuesday.

Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (lower body) is set to be re-evaluated in Chicago and could return from injured reserve.

The Devils took some encouragement from a 4-3 home overtime loss Saturday to the Washington Capitals. They had not scored more than two goals in their five previous games (2-3-0), and their 28 goals in their past 14 games ranked 31st entering the week.

"It was good to see some pucks go into the net for those guys up front," goaltender Jake Allen said. "It's a good feeling. We created some momentum there in the second and in the third. You've got to take a lot of decent things away from (the game)."

With Sunday and Monday off, the Devils had a rare chance to practice on two consecutive days, with shooting skills a prominent focus.

"We haven't scored a lot of goals; it's important that we dial it in on that," forward Timo Meier said. "Every shot has to be with purpose. Every rep. At the same time you have to have fun with it. But know when it's time to work and when it's time to dial in and work on it."

Said coach Sheldon Keefe: "(Sunday) we just wanted to make sure we're focused on the scoring element and getting a lot of touches to help up our execution level."

He pointed to Jesper Bratt, who scored twice for New Jersey on Saturday.

"It's been a tough stretch," Keefe said. "When you see a guy like Bratt get two goals, you get 5-on-5 goals, a power-play goal as a team, you hope that's a positive trend that we're going to start to finish here. But you can't sit back and expect it's going to snap back. We know we've generated more scoring chances and opportunities to score than we have actual goals. But the actual goals are the ones that matter the most. We have to find a way to get these over the line."

The Maple Leafs are coming off back-to-back games. They had no trouble scoring on Saturday in a 7-5 home victory over the Ottawa Senators before taking a 3-2 road loss in overtime Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings.

In Detroit, the Maple Leafs were without forward William Nylander, who is considered day-to-day after leaving the Saturday game with a lower-body injury.

The Maple Leafs continued their trend of giving up leads on Sunday. They led 1-0 and 2-1 but let Detroit back in each time.

"I thought they started to push late in the second period and we started turning the puck over," Toronto coach Craig Berube said. "We couldn't get out of our zone and they got the goal, but other than that, it was a good game."

Toronto's power play seems to have been revived since assistant coach Steve Sullivan was promoted from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League last week to replace Marc Savard.

The power play ended a 0-for-12 drought with two goals on Saturday and is 3-for-5 over the past two games.

"Power play looks a lot more confident," Berube said. "It's not static."

"New perspective is good," said Matthew Knies, who had power-play goals in back-to-back games. "New voice is good. We have some new looks, and it's been working out for us."

The Blue Jackets will receive multiple draft picks in the trade, the details of which have yet to be finalized pending a trade call.

Chinakhov, 24, is in his fifth NHL season since Columbus drafted him 21st overall in 2020. In 29 games this year, he has tallied three goals and three assists and was limited to a career-low 10:18 average time on ice.

Chinakhov's best season saw him tally 29 points (16 goals, 13 assists) in 53 games in 2023-24. Through 204 career games with the Blue Jackets, he has recorded 37 goals and 40 assists.

Columbus (16-15-6, 38 points) entered the week at the bottom of the tightly packed Eastern Conference, while Pittsburgh (16-12-9, 41) was not much higher yet on the immediate periphery of the playoff picture.

Which led to a surprise announcement Sunday.

Top-six winger Jake DeBrusk apparently will be a healthy scratch when the visiting Canucks, who are last in the NHL's overall standings, face the rival Seattle Kraken on Monday night in the first of four meetings between the teams this season.

"It sucks. It's embarrassing any time you miss a game," DeBrusk told reporters after practice Sunday. "I'd be wrong to say I wasn't pissed off right now, but I understand I need the jolt. Any time you're in this position, it's a lot of things. I have to control what I can do and just worry about me."

DeBrusk, a nine-year veteran, scored a career-high 28 goals last season, his first in Vancouver after the first seven with the Boston Bruins. But DeBrusk has just nine goals this season -- including only one at even strength. He has just one goal in 11 games this month.

"I believe in him to reset and know we need him to be at the net and getting those goals," Foote said. "This will be good for him. Sometimes, it's good to sit back and rest that brain and come back in."

Forwards Aatu Raty and Nils Hoglander are expected to be back in the lineup Monday as the Canucks attempt to snap a two-game losing streak.

Center Elias Pettersson returned for Saturday's 6-3 loss to visiting San Jose, going a minus-3 in his 500th career contest. Pettersson missed eight games with an upper-body injury.

Forwards Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren and defenseman Zeev Buium made their Rogers Arena debuts Saturday after being acquired from the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 12 for Hughes, the 2024 Norris Trophy winner as the league's top defenseman.

"Quinn is Quinn. We all know how good he is," Pettersson said. "It's tough to lose him -- a friend for a long time for me -- but it's a business at the end of the day. I'm just happy with the return we got. The players are looking good. We just turn the page and move forward.

The Kraken have won four games in a row following a 1-9-1 skid to go from the Western Conference cellar to within a point of a wild-card playoff spot. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves on Sunday night as the Kraken defeated the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 4-1.

"The first game after the (holiday) break is always a little bit scrambly, but yeah, unbelievable job tonight (by the team)," Grubauer said. "You've got to keep building, keep doing the right things."

The Kraken continued to get key performances from a trio of forwards. Eeli Tolvanen had two goals -- both into an empty net -- and an assist to extend his point streak to six games (three goals, seven assists) and give him a team-leading 25 points.

Chandler Stephenson added a goal and an assist and has five goals over the past seven games, and team captain Jordan Eberle scored for a third consecutive game to give him a team-leading 14 goals this season.

"They've contributed and given us a chance to win," Kraken coach Lane Lambert said of the trio. "Certainly, we talked a little bit about offense over the last 15 games or whatever, but it's nice to see (them producing), and it's nice to see for them. It makes them feel good, for sure."

The Kraken also got forward Jared McCann, the franchise's all-time leading scorer, back on Sunday after he missed seven games with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Vince Dunn returned after sitting out the last game before the holiday break with an upper-body ailment.

Trailing 2-1, the Blue Jackets rallied for three goals in the third period on Sunday for a 4-2 victory over the visiting New York Islanders.

"I love the way we played in the third period, that was awesome. Fans were into it and that was great," said Mason Marchment, who recorded one assist on Sunday and has three goals and an assist in three games with Columbus since being acquired from the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 19.

His linemate, Kirill Marchenko, scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with 3:19 left.

"We just try to find our way," Marchenko said. "We communicate a lot and we just do it for each other. It's nice we can score at the end of the game."

His goal came 1:14 after Blue Jackets defenseman Ivan Provorov tied the contest 2-2.

"We got to our game early. I really liked the way my line played," said Adam Fantilli, who centers the line with Marchment and Marchenko. "We stuck with it the whole game, just a lot of line mismatches with penalties and stuff, but I like how we got back to our game every single time. We played hard, we played fast, we played the right way, and it really benefited us."

Cole Sillinger added an empty-net goal with 1:06 remaining.

Sean Monahan and defenseman Denton Mateychuk had two assists each and Jet Greaves made 24 saves.

The Senators had their five-game point streak (3-0-2) snapped on Saturday night in a 7-5 loss to the host Toronto Maple Leafs.

The game was the first for both teams following the three-day Christmas break.

"It was one of those games where you haven't skated in three days, you're on a break, if you get tired, you're going to be in trouble," Ottawa coach Travis Green said. "Some of our shifts were longer because we turned over the puck not just in our zone or the neutral zone but in the offensive zone. Then you have to backcheck and play in your own zone for a while."

The Senators battled back from a 2-0 first-period deficit to tie the contest early in the second, only to see the Maple Leafs score three times in the middle period to make it 5-2 after 40 minutes.

"I really liked our first period, liked our third, didn't like our second," Green said.

Ottawa's Tim Stutzle stayed hot with a goal to extend his point streak to nine games (16 points on eight goals and eight assists) and his goal streak to four games. He had one in each contest.

Defenseman Jordan Spence had a goal and an assist while Nick Cousins, Ridly Greig and Drake Batherson also scored for Ottawa on Saturday.

Claude Giroux celebrated his 1,300th career NHL game with two assists and Stephen Halliday also had two helpers.

Linus Ullmark gave up four goals on 14 shots before being pulled in the second period in favor of Leevi Merilainen, who made 16 saves.

The Senators defeated the Blue Jackets 6-3 in Columbus on Dec. 11.

Cole Sillinger clinched the contest with an empty-netter with 1:06 remaining and Jet Greaves made 24 saves to give the Blue Jackets their first two-game winning streak since Dec. 1-4.

The Islanders played the final 38-plus minutes without Mathew Barzal after he received a game misconduct for slashing Mason Marchment in retaliation for a pair of penalties Marchment drew against rookie Matthew Schaefer.

Marchenko scored the first of his two goals before Max Shabanov tied the game late in the first and Bo Horvat scored the go-ahead goal in the second for New York. David Rittich, who made his fourth straight start in place of the injured Ilya Sorokin, recorded 31 saves as the Islanders' two-game winning streak ended.

Lightning 5, Canadiens 4 (SO)

Gage Goncalves and Brayden Point tallied in the shootout as Tampa Bay won its fourth straight contest by edging visiting Montreal.

After the Lightning squandered a 4-1 lead in the third period, the pair beat Florida-born goaltender Jacob Fowler (18 saves) as the club won the shootout 2-0 on the second night of a back-to-back set. Tampa Bay goalie Jonas Johansson (32 saves) stopped Ivan Demidov and Cole Caufield for the win.

The Lightning's Nikita Kucherov scored two goals, and Nick Paul and Pontus Holmberg tallied. Montreal's Juraj Slafkovsky had two goals and an assist, and Demidov and Noah Dobson each scored and added a helper.

Penguins 7, Blackhawks 3

Justin Brazeau notched a hat trick, Bryan Rust scored twice and Anthony Mantha had a goal and an assist to boost visiting Pittsburgh to a rout of Chicago.

The Penguins potted four of their first seven shots in the opening 12:03 of the game, with Rust scoring both of his tallies during that span. Pittsburgh goaltender Arturs Silovs did his part with 21 saves on 24 shots.

Nick Foligno, Wyatt Kaiser and Tyler Bertuzzi put the Blackhawks on the board, but their efforts weren't enough to prevent Chicago from falling to 1-7 in its past eight games. Spencer Knight managed to stop only five of nine shots, while Arvid Soderblom saved 12 of 15 attempts.

Red Wings 3, Maple Leafs 2 (OT)

Simon Edvinsson scored on a backhander with 3:14 remaining in overtime as host Detroit edged Toronto and maintained a two-point lead in the Atlantic Division.

Moritz Seider and Mason Appleton scored the regulation goals for the Red Wings, while Cam Talbot made 25 saves.

Matthew Knies and Nicholas Robertson had the goals for the Maple Leafs, and John Tavares assisted on both. Dennis Hildeby made 33 saves.

Kraken 4, Flyers 1

Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves and Eeli Tolvanen had two goals -- both empty-netters -- and an assist as Seattle defeated visiting Philadelphia.

Chandler Stephenson added a goal and an assist, and Jordan Eberle also tallied as the Kraken won their fourth consecutive game following a 1-9-1 skid.

Carl Grundstrom scored the lone goal for the Flyers on a wrist shot just under the crossbar to spoil Grubauer's bid for his first shutout since April 9, 2024. Dan Vladar stopped 16 of 18 shots for Philadelphia, which had a two-game winning streak snapped.

Chandler Stephenson added a goal and an assist, and Jordan Eberle also tallied as the Kraken won their fourth consecutive game following a 1-9-1 skid.

Carl Grundstrom scored the lone goal for the Flyers, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Goalie Dan Vladar stopped 16 of 18 shots.

The Flyers outshot Seattle 10-7 in a scoreless first period. It was the 10th straight game the Kraken failed to tally in the opening 20 minutes.

The Kraken opened the scoring at 3:48 of the second period. Matty Beniers carried the puck down the right wing and behind the net. Beniers stopped, spun and sent a pass back to Kaapo Kakko in the corner. Kakko spotted Eberle cruising alone down the slot, and the captain dropped to a knee to lift a shot over Vladar's glove and just inside the right post. It was Eberle's team-leading 14th goal of the season and his fourth over the past three games.

Seattle doubled its lead at 5:49 of the third. Adam Larsson lifted the puck out of his own zone, and it bounced down the ice. Tolvanen won a battle behind the Flyers' net with defenseman Travis Sanheim and fed Stephenson in the slot for a one-timer that beat Vladar to the blocker side just inside the left post. It was Stephenson's 10th goal of the season and his fifth in the past seven games.

Tolvanen, who extended his point streak to six games (three goals, seven assists), scored his first with Vladar pulled for an extra attacker at 17:31 to make it 3-0.

Grundstrom scored at 18:03 on a wrist shot just under the crossbar to spoil Grubauer's bid for his first shutout since Feb. 29, 2024.

The Flyers again pulled Vladar, and Tolvanen tallied his second at 18:24.

Kraken forward Jared McCann, the franchise's career scoring leader, returned after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Vince Dunn was back in the lineup after sitting out Tuesday's 3-2 win at Los Angeles with an upper-body ailment.

Edvinsson skated into the crease and scored on a backhander as the Red Wings maintained a two-point lead in the Atlantic Division.

Moritz Seider and Mason Appleton scored the regulation goals for Detroit, while Cam Talbot made 25 saves.

Matthew Knies and Nicholas Robertson had the goals for Toronto, and John Tavares assisted on both. Dennis Hildeby made 33 saves.

Detroit forward Patrick Kane returned to action after missing the previous six games due to an upper-body injury. Maple Leafs forward William Nylander missed the contest due to a lower-body injury.

Both teams had eight shots on goal during the first period, but neither side broke through. Toronto's Scott Laughton had an early chance on a breakaway, but his backhander hit the post. Hildeby made a quality save against Emmitt Finnie later in the period.

The Maple Leafs' Nicholas Robertson had a breakaway early in the second, but Talbot made a pad save. Toronto was awarded the first power play of the game when Ben Chiarot was called for tripping. The Maple Leafs cashed in at 4:25 of the period.

Auston Matthews passed the puck in front of Knies, who scored while getting knocked down. Tavares recorded the second assist.

Hildeby made some nifty glove saves against Lucas Raymond and Chiarot late in the period.

The Red Wings continued to put on the pressure and scored with 59 seconds left in the period when Seider's shot from near the blue line sliced through traffic and past Hildeby. Raymond picked up an assist.

Robertson and Appleton traded goals 23 seconds apart five minutes into the third period.

Robertson ripped a slapshot past Talbot off a Tavares feed. Appleton answered with a shot from the right circle that eluded Hildeby's glove. Michael Rasmussen and Albert Johansson picked up assists.

Detroit's Andrew Copp hit the post with less than two minutes left.

The Red Wings have a 3-0 season series lead over the Maple Leafs.

Pittsburgh seized control with an explosive first period, beating Chicago goaltender Spencer Knight with four of its first seven shots in the opening 12:03.

Idle since Tuesday, the Penguins won for the second time in three games following an 0-4-4 stretch.

Chicago fell to 1-7 in its past eight games.

Rust appeared to have the early inside track to a hat trick, scoring twice during the barrage that chased Knight from the game in favor of Arvid Soderblom, who helped the Blackhawks to a shootout victory in Dallas on Saturday.

Just out of the penalty box, Rust extended the Pittsburgh advantage to 4-0 with a wrist shot from the right circle.

Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno spoiled the shutout bid of Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs at 10:50 of the second period. Activated from injured reserve before the game, Foligno was in the lineup for the first time since sustaining a left-hand injury on Nov. 15.

He put the Blackhawks on the board and cut the deficit to 4-1 after corralling a Colton Dach rebound in front of the net and backhanding it past Silovs.

Brazeau needed just 2:27 to secure his first career hat trick and extend the Pittsburgh advantage to five goals. With the Penguins on the power play, Brazeau took a pass down low off the draw, rushed the net and beat Soderblom with a backhand.

He scored his third goal of the night on a tip-in 57 seconds later.

Chicago answered with a Wyatt Kaiser goal 13 seconds after that, as a Kaiser shot ricocheted off the end boards, off Silovs and into the net.

Noel Acciari made it 7-2 at 18:48 of the second, burying a rebound off a puck that bounced off the end boards.

The Blackhawks' Tyler Bertuzzi capped the scoring in the final second of the game.

Knight returned to the crease for the third period. He stopped five of nine shots while Soderblom made 12 saves on 15 shots.

Silovs had 21 saves on 24 shots.

Ryan Shea earned three assists for Pittsburgh while Blake Lizotte and Jack St. Ivany had two each.

After Tampa Bay squandered a 4-1 lead in the third period, the pair beat Florida-born goaltender Jacob Fowler (18 saves) as the club won the shootout 2-0 on the second night of a back-to-back set.

Lightning goalie Jonas Johansson (32 saves) stopped Ivan Demidov and Cole Caufield for the win.

Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov scored two goals, and Nick Paul and Pontus Holmberg tallied. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Goncalves posted two assists each. Defenseman Maxim Groshev had an assist in his NHL debut.

Montreal's Juraj Slafkovsky had two goals and an assist, and Demidov and Noah Dobson each scored and added a helper. The Habs slipped to 3-0-2 in their past five matches.

With the Lightning having won their fight-filled Florida feud over the Panthers, 4-2, late Saturday night in Sunrise, the Habs were waiting up in Tampa and brought more energy in the late afternoon start as the clubs met for the second time.

The home side spent most of its time defending in its end and battling Montreal's forecheck, but tensions increased when the Canadiens' Arber Xhekaj hammered Scott Sabourin, sending the Tampa Bay winger face-first to the ice with a straight right hand.

Sabourin needed assistance to the dressing room and did not return, while his teammates left the ice outplayed and down 11-3 in shots for the first period.

At 2:28 of the second, Kucherov scored on a breakaway by beating Fowler, a native of Melbourne, Fla., who made history recently as the first Sunshine State-born netminder in the NHL.

Kucherov added a second nearly 10 minutes later after a Montreal rush ended with the puck hitting the linesman and went back toward the Lightning offensive end. Paul made it 3-0 on a rebound at 14:49.

Demidov scored 66 seconds into the third, but Holmberg tipped in a tally 34 seconds later to restore the three-goal lead.

Slafkovsky wristed in a marker from the high slot at 9:16 before Dobson fired one home to cut it to 4-3.

The Habs played the final 85 seconds with Fowler on the bench, and Slafkovsky one-timed the tying goal with 4 seconds left to force overtime.

Cole Sillinger added an empty-netter with 1:06 left for the Blue Jackets, who have won two straight for the first time since Dec. 1-4. Marchenko gave Columbus an early lead by scoring in the first.

Goalie Jet Greaves made 24 saves.

Max Shabanov tied the game late in the first and Bo Horvat scored the go-ahead goal in the second for the Islanders, who played the final 38-plus minutes without Mathew Barzal after he received a game misconduct for slashing Mason Marchment in retaliation for a pair of penalties Marchment drew against rookie Matthew Schaefer.

Marchment, playing his third game since his acquisition from the Seattle Kraken, was whistled for roughing Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in June's draft, late in the first before he tripped Schaefer in the open ice 1:37 into the second. Barzal responded by slashing Marchment.

David Rittich, who made his fourth straight start in place of the injured Ilya Sorokin, recorded 31 saves as the Islanders' two-game winning streak ended.

Marchenko scored on a breakaway 8:09 into the first before Shabanov tied the score in unusual fashion with 2:44 left, when Jean-Gabriel Pageau's shot glanced off Greaves and the puck bounced off Shabanov's skate and into the net.

Horvat scored following a Provorov turnover with 6:36 left in the second before the Blue Jackets defenseman sparked the comeback with 4:33 remaining in the third, when his shot from the slot sailed through a gaggle of bodies in front of Rittich.

Marchenko collected the game-winner when he took a feed from Adam Fantilli and got a backhand past the extended stick of Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech and beyond Rittich. The Islanders didn't collect a shot before Sillinger scored the empty-netter.

It will be Minnesota's first game back in Sin City since losing to the Golden Knights in six games in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs last spring. It's the second of three regular-season meetings this season. The Wild won the first in Saint Paul, Minn., 3-2, on a Kirill Kaprizov power-play goal with 10 seconds left in overtime Nov. 16.

Minnesota got a well-deserved day off in Las Vegas on Sunday after pulling out a dramatic 4-3 overtime win at Winnipeg on Saturday night. The Wild had a 6 a.m. flight from Minneapolis on Saturday following the mandatory three-day holiday break and then had a morning skate. Following the win, the team made the 3 1/2-hour flight to Las Vegas.

As chaotic as that 18-hour day was, it didn't compare to the final minute of the game with the Jets.

Mats Zuccarello lasered a shot from the high slot past Connor Hellebuyck on a 6-on-4 power play with 22 seconds left to tie it at 3-all. Jesper Wallstedt, who improved to 5-1-1 with a 1.87 goals-against average on the road this season, started overtime with a glove save on a Mark Scheifele grade-A chance before Matt Boldy won it 39 seconds into OT off a nice feed from Quinn Hughes.

"Long trip, and to start off positive and keep the energy up after a long day and an early flight, that's huge for us," said Boldy, who scored twice.

"It's a little easier flight to Vegas than if we lost," Zuccarello said. "Hopefully we can build off this and have a solid road trip. We're gone for two weeks or something and hopefully we can stack up some points here."

Minnesota, 8-1-1 in its last 10 games, improved to 10-6-1 away from Grand Casino Arena, which is being used to host the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship until Jan. 5.

"This is a big stretch of games for us as well as a big trip," Wild coach John Hynes said. "We've got six more big games (on the trip). To start off with a good win in the fashion that it was hopefully should set us up moving forward here."

Vegas, which has lost four of its last five (1-2-2), comes in off a 6-5 shootout loss to the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

The Golden Knights, who dropped to 4-11 in games beyond regulation and 1-5 in shootout contests, twice blew two-goal leads against the Avalanche but led 5-4 following a Colton Sissons goal with four minutes to go. But Colorado tied it on a 6-on-5 goal by Artturi Lehkonen, who one-timed a shot past Carter Hart with 1:57 to go, and Nathan MacKinnon, who had a goal and two assists in regulation, scored the game-winner in the fourth round of the shootout.

The Avalanche outshot Vegas 19-6 over the third period and overtime and finished with 100 shot attempts.

"I thought offensively we generated a lot," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said following practice Sunday. "Had some good looks at the net, had rebound chances at the top of the blue paint, all the things that we wanted to do in that area of the game. ... Third period, they put a lot of pressure on us in the O-zone and we weren't able to put out a fire and choke off plays and get pucks back and sort of get a breather. I think that cost us at the end."

Cassidy said star center Jack Eichel, who has 12 goals and a team-leading 41 points, will miss his sixth straight game with a lower-body injury but didn't rule him out for the New Year's Eve contest against visiting Nashville.

The Sharks ended a three-game losing streak with a 6-3 road victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday as celebrated 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini had a goal and an assist in a homecoming game.

San Jose scored seven total goals during their three-game skid, but their six-goal game Saturday matched their output from each of their previous two victories. The Sharks have scored six goals in a game four times this month and won them all.

They did lose a six-goal game earlier this season, when the Ducks rallied late for a 7-6 overtime victory in Anaheim in the second game on the schedule for each team.

Celebrini delivered his first points of the season in the high-scoring affair with three assists. He currently leads the Sharks in points (57), goals (20) and assists (37).

In Sunday's victory at Vancouver, Celebrini pushed his points streak to seven games, delivering five goals and nine assists during the run. His 20 goals in 38 games made him the fastest teenager to the mark since Auston Matthews (36 games) in 2016.

"I think we all wanted this one pretty bad and it's cool to kind of win here," the Vancouver native Celebrini said.

Collin Graf extended his goal streak to four games for the Sharks while rookie Igor Chernyshov scored his first career goal and added an assist in his fifth career game. Chernyshov has been playing on Celebrini's line.

"Big man that can really protect pucks, really got a knack for the dangerous areas of the ice, and that's why he's had some success up there," Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky said of Chernyshov.

The Ducks opened the season at 11-3-1 but have lost that momentum by going 10-12-1 over the past seven weeks. Anaheim is 6-6-1 in December and has allowed 5.3 goals per game in the seven losses.

Against their Southern California rival Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, the Ducks allowed four first-period goals in an eventual 6-1 loss. Mason McTavish scored the lone goal on a power play in a second period in which the Ducks outshot the Kings 12-1.

Anaheim has shown it knows how to turn the page. After allowing seven goals in a Dec. 3 loss to the Utah Mammoth, the Ducks came back with a victory. The same was true after giving up a season-high eight goals to the Dallas Stars just before the break.

"This team has been pretty resilient," the Ducks' Alex Killorn said, according to the Orange County Register. "When we have had a bad game, we've bounced back with a good one. We just have to build a couple good games in a row."

Anaheim forward Frank Vatrano departed in the third period Saturday and did not return after he crashed into the boards and sustained an upper-body injury.

The Ducks are just 2-4-0 in games started by Lukas Dostal since the goaltender returned from injury Dec. 13.

"Linus has the full support of our organization during this time," Senators president of hockey operations and general manager Steve Staios said in a statement. "Out of respect to Linus, we will not be making any further comments."

Ullmark is Ottawa's primary goaltender, having started 28 of the team's 37 games this season. His leave comes after he allowed four goals on 14 shots to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night and was removed around the halfway point of the eventual 7-5 loss.

Ullmark, 32, is 14-8-5 this season with a 2.95 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage. His 11-year NHL career has seen him suit up for the Buffalo Sabres (2015-21) and Boston Bruins (2021-24) before joining Ottawa via trade in 2024.

He was an All-Star in 2022-23 and won the Vezina Trophy for the league's top goaltender. He also shared the William M. Jennings Trophy with Boston teammate Jeremy Swayman for the goalie tandem with the fewest goals allowed.

Leevi Merilainen is Ottawa's No. 2 option at goalie.