NHL News

They are 1-3-2 in their last six games heading into Thursday night's contest against the injury-depleted Blues.

New York has just 10 goals during the downturn and has been shut out twice, including 3-0 by the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

The Rangers controlled much of the game but couldn't score.

"I thought we defended hard. I thought we controlled territory," New York coach Mike Sullivan said. "We had a significant amount of O-zone time. The power play had a lot of good looks. We're trying to solve it for sure, but is it a little bit concerning at this point? Yeah."

The key to a turnaround, Rangers captain J.T. Miller said, is to "bear down" offensively.

"Like myself, I had chance after chance, I feel like," said Miller, who has failed to score a goal in seven of his last eight games. "It's just not enough. It's not enough to my standard, it's not enough to the team's standard to just play well, outplay the other team and not bury your chances.

"We deserve better a lot of these nights, but that being said, we're not bearing down and the other teams are. We're kind of stuck. Win three, lose a couple, win three, and we are where we are. It's very frustrating."

Vincent Trocheck has gone 10 games without scoring a goal, former top overall pick Alexis Lafreniere has just one goal in his last nine games, and Will Cuylle has only three goals in his last 17 games.

The Rangers called up Gabe Perreault and fellow prospect Brennan Othmann from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Wednesday to refresh their supporting cast.

Jonathan Quick started in goal against the Canucks on Tuesday, so the Rangers likely will turn to Igor Shesterkin against the Blues. He made 19 saves when New York defeated visiting St. Louis 3-2 on Nov. 24.

Joel Hofer allowed three goals on 21 shots for the Blues in that game. He blanked the Winnipeg Jets 1-0 on Wednesday night while making his career-high fifth straight appearance, but Jordan Binnington could get the call against the Rangers.

With five forwards on their injured list with long-term ailments, the Blues had two newcomers in their lineup Wednesday night: Prospect Otto Stenberg made his NHL debut, and former Red Wing Jonatan Berggren made his Blues debut are arriving on a waiver claim.

St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said he liked Berggren's playmaking contributions against the Jets, and he praised Stenberg's defensive play.

"Some high-end passes (by Berggren), the backhand one, that's high-end vision to send in (Dalibor) Dvorsky on the breakaway, the slip play he makes in the offensive zone to (Pius) Suter who almost stuffs it in on the weak side," Montgomery said. "You can tell he has really good vision, supports pucks really well.

"I thought Stenberg was really responsible and good (in) puck support. His intelligence keeps the team connected. We don't get too spread apart. He has really good habits. ... He made some really good reads on our penalty kill and our D-zone coverage, too. So I thought it was a really good start to his career."

The Lightning will try to get on the north side of their .500 home mark on Thursday night when they host the Los Angeles Kings in the first of two meetings between the clubs in a two-week span.

The Florida Panthers bolted to a 2-0 lead vs. Tampa Bay on Monday in the first four minutes and took full advantage of fewer chances. They killed all five Lightning power plays in a 5-2 win that took a toll on Cooper's club.

"Honestly, I thought it was a brutal hockey game," Cooper said after Tampa Bay fell to 2-5-1 in its past eight games. "(Florida was) on the fourth game of a road trip in a couple of different time zones, so they're tired. You've got us in our fifth game ... in five different cities. It was basically what I thought were two tired hockey teams."

Brandon Hagel, who had 10 goals and 14 points during a recent seven-game stretch, was injured on a hit by Florida's Seth Jones. Hagel skated on just two shifts in the third period before leaving the game.

Hagel, who did not practice Wednesday, joins a list of injured Lightning players that included defensemen Victor Hedman, Erik Cernak, Ryan McDonagh and Emil Lilleberg. McDonagh, however, was at practice Wednesday while Hagel was not.

Tampa Bay reassigned Brandon Halverson to Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Tuesday, putting fellow goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy back in the lineup.

The club's defensemen were responsible for producing both goals against the Panthers: J.J. Moser scored his third goal of the season, and Max Crozier added the first of his NHL career in his 33rd game.

Like the Lightning, the Kings made a pair of moves involving their goaltending on Tuesday as they prepared to play the Panthers on Wednesday.

Starter Darcy Kuemper was knocked out of Monday's 4-1 setback to the Stars by Dallas' Mikko Rantanen, sending the No. 1 goalie to the injured list and prompting the recall of Pheonix Copley from the Ontario Reign of the AHL.

On Oct. 2, the Lightning claimed Copley off waivers from Los Angeles but returned the netminder to the Kings two weeks later in a trade for future considerations.

Against Florida on Wednesday night, scoring frustrations resurfaced as the Panthers beat the Kings 3-2 despite a late power play and 6-on-4 push by the visitors in the final minutes.

Los Angeles also was stopped three times on breakaways by Panthers goalie Daniil Tarasov, who denied Trevor Moore twice and Kevin Fiala once.

Over the past 15 games, the Kings have scored two or fewer goals on 11 occasions.

"To grow a lead would be nice," defenseman Drew Doughty said after the defeat to Dallas. "The bottom line is we're not putting pucks to the net. I mean, it's the same old thing about having guys at the net and screening the goalie and getting tips and dirty goals.

"I still don't believe we have enough of that. We're too perimeter."

Connor Brown scored a goal and Jesper Bratt scored the game-winner in the shootout for New Jersey, which moved into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with the win.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored a late power-play goal and Carter Hart finished with 32 saves for Vegas, which had a seven-game point streak snapped.

New Jersey took advantage of a Vegas turnover in its own zone to take a 1-0 lead at the 4:50 mark of the second period. Zach Whitecloud failed to control Noah Hanifin's clearing pass along the left boards and Brown scooped up the loose puck and then drove the net, deking Hart and then tucking a wrist shot around his left pad and inside the right post for his second goal in the last three games.

Vegas took advantage of a Juho Lammikko tripping penalty on Ben Hutton to tie it with 4:11 left in regulation. Dorofeyev roofed a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle off a Mark Stone crossing pass for his ninth power-play goal of the season, tied for second with Detroit's Alex DeBrincat in the NHL behind Wyatt Johnston of Dallas (12).

Vegas had several chances to win it in overtime with a 4-on-3 power play after Dawson Mercer went to the box for hooking Stone with 1:53 to go, but Mitch Marner had two shots ring off the post while Stone had another shot bounce off the far post.

Bratt deked Hart and roofed a backhand to start the second round of the shootout and Allen then gloved Stone's wrist shot. After Hart made a pad save on Dougie Hamilton's try, Allen poke-checked the puck off Marner's stick to seal the win. The puck caromed into the net off Marner's skate but was quickly disallowed for a double-hit.

The Golden Knights played without leading scorer Jack Eichel (illness) and defenseman Shea Theodore (upper-body), who both missed their first games this season.

Justin Faulk scored for the Blues, who won for the second time in their past three outings.

Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves for the Jets, who have lost five of their past six (1-4-1).

The Blues broke the deadlock with 6:43 left in the second period. Pavel Buchnevich forced a turnover along the back wall on the forecheck, and then Robert Thomas fed Faulk coming down the middle for his goal.

Panthers 3, Kings 2

Carter Verhaeghe scored the go-ahead goal in the second period as Florida rallied to defeat Los Angeles in Sunrise, Fla.

Verhaeghe has scored nine goals in his past 11 games, and he has 11 for the season. The Panthers, who are 6-1-0 over their past seven games, also got goals from Anton Lundell and Sam Bennett plus two assists from Brad Marchand. Panthers backup goalie Daniil Tarasov made 27 saves and improved his record to 4-5-1.

Joel Armia and Kevin Fiala scored for the Kings, who got 25 saves from Anton Forsberg.

Mammoth 4, Red Wings 1

Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist and Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves as Utah topped host Detroit.

Jack McBain also scored, Dylan Guenther notched his sixth goal in six games and Kevin Stenlund added late insurance for the Mammoth. Karel Vejmelka allowed 14 goals over his previous four starts but was stout throughout while making 27 saves to win his third start in a row.

Emmitt Finnie scored for the Red Wings, who took just their second regulation defeat in 10 games (6-2-2). Cam Talbot stopped 23 shots.

Hurricanes 4, Predators 1

Sebastian Aho had two goals and an assist as Carolina prevailed at Nashville, extending its winning streak to five games.

Jackson Blake registered a goal and an assist, Seth Jarvis also scored and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists for the Hurricanes. Pyotr Kochetkov made 25 saves.

Filip Forsberg scored and Juuse Saros made 33 saves for the Predators, who lost for just the fourth time in their past 11 games (7-4-0).

"We win a lot of games by a goal, or even two goals, but I think we can do a better job of continuing to end games early when we're feeling it and have that hunger," Duchene said.

Dallas showed that desire Monday against the visiting Los Angeles Kings, scoring three goals in the third period to pull away for a 4-1 win that snapped a two-game skid.

"That's the stingiest hockey team in the league and we just came off (a 4-0 loss to the Florida Panthers) and we're talking about staying with it when there's tight checking," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. "I thought our guys did a really good job of just staying with it and it finally started to break through."

After getting outshot 24-14 through the first two periods, the Stars outshot the Kings 12-4 in the final period.

"I liked how we stayed with a killer instinct to end the game," said Duchene, who contributed a goal and an assist. "That's something I don't think we've done enough of."

Dallas' Mikko Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston added a goal and an assist apiece against Los Angeles after combining for no goals and one assist in the previous two losses.

"When we're healthy, we've got a really deep lineup and a good four lines that can roll games," said Rantanen, who leads Dallas with 44 points (14 goals, team-high 30 assists). "So, it's good for our coaches, too. Roll four lines and it's going to pay dividends at the end of the year."

The Sharks have won three in a row and can match their longest winning streak of the season with a victory against the Stars, who beat San Jose 4-1 on Dec. 5 in Dallas.

The Sharks are 4-1-0 since, most recently toppling the visiting Calgary Flames 6-3 on Tuesday.

San Jose forward Igor Chernyshov, a second-round pick of the Sharks in the 2024 draft, made his NHL debut against Calgary and assisted on a goal by Macklin Celebrini.

"I thought he was really good," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said of Chernyshov, 20. "He's going to be another one. He's going to be a good player. He can make plays. He's big. Did not look overwhelmed by the moment whatsoever."

Celebrini, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft, had two goals and two assists against the Flames to give him 51 points (18 goals, 33 assists) on the season.

The 19-year-old needed just 34 games to reach 50 points, the fourth fewest to reach that mark by a teenager in NHL history. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins reached 50 points in 28 games in the 2006-07 season, and Wayne Gretzky reached that mark in 32 games in both the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons for the Edmonton Oilers.

"He proves each and every night why he's one of the best players in the league," Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow said of Celebrini. "We're all pretty happy he's on our team."

Goodrow logged two goals and an assist on Tuesday, ending his personal 10-game point drought.

Now the Kraken are searching for something to spark a rebound as they kick off a four-game road trip against the Calgary Flames on Thursday.

Seattle arrives in Calgary on the heels of a 5-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, which put them in a three-game slump. The Kraken have just one win in their last 10 outings (1-8-1).

Adding to the frustration is how close they were to claiming a huge victory over the league-leading Avalanche.

"We played hard, like we have been," coach Lane Lambert said. "We just couldn't find a way to get it over the finish line."

Seattle held a 3-2 lead going into the third period but surrendered it. The Kraken had a golden chance to again pull ahead, but Jordan Eberle could not convert a penalty shot in the eighth minute of the final frame, clanging a shot off the post.

Less than a minute later, Colorado took the lead for good.

"For the most part, we played a better game. We were with them," Eberle said. "It comes down to I missed a penalty shot to possibly take the lead, and they scored on the power play right after. That's the difference right there.

There was no update on Wednesday about the status of defenseman Brandon Montour, who left the game early in the third period. He's reportedly set to miss Thursday's game, per Emerald City Hockey.

On the positive, Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson scored against Colorado to run his point-scoring streak to six games (three goals, three assists).

Both clubs are seven points outside of a playoff position, although Calgary has played three more games.

The Flames return home after a 6-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday which ended a two-game road trip. It was a clash in which they erased an early two-goal deficit but almost immediately fell behind again.

Trailing 3-2 entering the third period, the Flames allowed three goals in the final 20 minutes to let a close game get away from them.

"I didn't like the chances we gave up early in the game to put ourselves in a hole. I liked how we came back," coach Ryan Huska said. "Some of the plays we made were poor plays with the puck. They have a lot of team speed, and we didn't manage that."

Calgary is on a 9-5-2 run but has lost two of three games and now leads only the Vancouver Canucks in the league standings.

The onus is on the Flames if they want to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, to play to their identity, unlike in San Jose.

"We kind of played their style all (game)," forward Blake Coleman said. "It was more of a track meet, run-and-gun type of game, and that's generally not the way that we find success."

Although the Flames wasted an important opportunity to pull closer to a playoff spot, since San Jose held the Western Conference's second wild-card position going into Wednesday's action, they believe a push is possible.

"Turn the page," Huska said. "We'll review a few things with the guys and then we've got to get ourselves ready for our next opponent."

Jackson Blake had a goal and an assist, and Andrei Svechnikov had two assists for the Hurricanes. Pyotr Kochetkov made 25 saves.

Filip Forsberg scored and Juuse Saros made 33 saves for the Predators, who lost for just the fourth time in their past 11 games (7-4-0).

Carolina dominated the first period, building up a 6-1 advantage in shots on goal and 10-2 in total shot attempts just past the six-minute mark. Nashville didn't get its second shot on goal until seven minutes in.

The Hurricanes finally capitalized on one of their chances, with Blake giving them a 1-0 lead at 13:00. Saros made the save on a Logan Stankoven shot from the right circle, but the rebound bounced off his pad and deflected off defenseman Nick Perbix in front. Blake collected the loose puck and backhanded it past Saros' right skate.

Aho doubled the lead on the power play at 2:43 of the third period. Blake sent a pass from the bottom of the right circle to Aho at the near hashmark, where he quickly fired a wrist shot that beat Saros blocker side.

Seth Jarvis made it 3-0 less than two minutes later. Nikolaj Ehlers carried the puck into the zone before sending a short feed over to Aho, who then dished a cross-ice feed to Jarvis for a one-timer from the left face-off dot at 4:33.

Forsberg cut it to 3-1 at 8:06. Kochetkov stopped Ryan O'Reilly's shot off the rush but couldn't contain the rebound at the right side of the crease, and Forsberg, at the top of the paint, spun around to put the puck into an open net.

Aho capped off the scoring with an empty-net goal at 19:15.

Predators forward Jonathan Marchessault and Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook both left the game in the second period with lower-body injuries.

Justin Faulk scored for the Blues, who won their second game in their last three outings.

Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves for the Jets, who have lost five of their last six (1-4-1).

St. Louis built an 11-1 shots advantage at one point in the first period while testing Hellebuyck from every angle.

Faulk fired a shot through traffic on a power play. Robert Thomas hit the post on a clean break-in. Hellebuyck turned away Pius Suter coming down the middle and Logan Mailloux bolting in from the right point.

The Jets didn't generate much offense until they got a late first-period power play that carried over into the second period. They put four shots on goal with the man advantage, but couldn't break through.

After Winnipeg mustered two shots on its next power play, the Blue regained control.

Thomas came down the middle unchecked for a shot from the slot, then Brayden Schenn took a lead pass from Philip Broberg for a breakaway.

Hellebuyck made the saves to keep the game scoreless.

The Blues finally broke the deadlock with 6:43 left in the second period. Pavel Buchnevich forced a turnover along the back wall on the forecheck, then Thomas fed Faulk coming down the middle for his goal.

Winnipeg made a push in the third period. Hofer made a glove save on Kyle Connor's turnaround shot during a goalmouth scramble, then he made stops on Nino Niederreiter and Cole Perfetti to protect the lead.

With 41.6 seconds left to play, a 5-on-5 fracas broke out in the Blues' zone. Jets defenseman Logan Stanley took the extra penalty, allowing the Blues to close out the victory on the power play while Hellebuyck was trapped in his net.

Second on the team with 28 points, Keller was blanked in each of the previous four games, but the captain was Utah's offensive standout. Jack McBain also scored, Dylan Guenther notched his sixth goal in six games and Kevin Stenlund added late insurance for the Mammoth, who capped a 2-1-0 trip with their third win in four contests.

Vejmelka allowed 14 goals over his previous four starts, but was stout throughout while winning his third start in a row.

Emmitt Finnie scored for Detroit, which suffered just its second regulation defeat in 10 games.

Following a scoreless first period, it took Utah just 1:44 into the second to open the scoring. Off Nick Schmaltz's shot on goal from the right wing, Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot (23 saves) gave up a juicy rebound that an unmarked, trailing Keller was there to push in.

The Red Wings had a chance to equalize through two power-play opportunities later in the period but failed to convert on either. Utah then made it 2-0 when McBain was on the doorstep to put in the puck from Michael Carcone with 5:43 remaining in the middle frame.

After Utah failed on its fourth power-play chance, the hosts finally broke through. With the Red Wings amid their own man-advantage, Andrew Copp, from the ice, got the puck from behind the Utah net over to John Leonard, who found Finnie in the slot to beat Vejmelka with 10:05 remaining in regulation.

However, the Mammoth answered with 4:08 left in the third as Guenther was in the right spot to pounce on a loose puck that glanced off Talbot. Just 31 seconds later, Utah sealed the contest when Keller found Stenlund in the slot for a successful snap shot.

The Mammoth have won four of their last six on the road.

Verhaeghe has scored nine goals in his past 11 games, and he has 11 for the season.

The Panthers, who are 6-1-0 over their past seven games, also got goals from Anton Lundell and Sam Bennett, and two assists from Brad Marchand.

Panthers backup goalie Daniil Tarasov made 27 saves and improved his record to 4-5-1. Tarasov twice stopped Trevor Moore on breakaways, the second one with 4:54 left on a shot that would've tied the score.

Joel Armia and Kevin Fiala scored for the Kings, who also got 25 saves from Anton Forsberg.

Los Angeles has now lost four straight games, which is tied for their longest skid of the season.

The first two goals of the game were nearly identical - deflections on the power play.

Los Angeles scored first as Armia redirected a shot from Brandt Clarke with 6:21 left in the initial period. After the deflection, the puck dipped down and went between Tarasov's pads.

Florida tied the score with 17:46 remaining in the second as Lundell tipped in a shot by Aaron Ekblad. Had it not been for Lundell's stick, Ekblad's shot likely would have gone wide of the net.

The Panthers took a 2-1 lead with 12:56 left in the second as Verhaeghe spun around and knocked in a rebound off the right leg of Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson. Jeff Petry earned the primary assist as it was his shot from the point that started the sequence.

Florida wasted no time in extending its lead to 3-1 as the Panthers scored just 10 seconds into the third period. Marchand got the primary assist as his perfect pass connected with a charging Bennett, who tipped the puck to the short side of the net, past Forsberg.

The Kings - thanks to a fortuitous bounce -- closed their deficit to 3-2 with 15:12 left in the third. Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling tried to clear the puck in his own end, but his attempt caromed off Fiala, beating Tarasov five-hole.

A high-sticking penalty on Lundell with 3:05 left gave the Kings a key power play. Los Angeles eventually pulled Forsberg for a 6-4 advantage, but the Panthers held on for the win.

The Flyers are 2-0-3 in their last five games, but they had dropped three consecutive games in overtime or a shootout before Tuesday's 4-1 road win over the Montreal Canadiens.

Alexandre Texier scored to give the Habs a 1-0 lead 19:00 into the first period, but Carl Grundstrom's equalizer just 39 seconds later triggered four unanswered Philadelphia goals. It was also the first of three late daggers for the Flyers, who scored in the final two minutes of each period.

Forward Trevor Zegras praised his teammates' "pretty timely goals," noting that Grundstrom's goal in particular was "massive, giving us a whole lot of confidence going into the room and then obviously into the second (period)."

Philadelphia has a league-best 12 victories this season when allowing the game's opening goal. The Flyers (12-6-4) and the league-leading Colorado Avalanche (7-1-3) are the only teams who have won more than they've lost when trailing first in a game.

The Sabres are returning home after a six-game road trip that began with a 5-2 loss on Dec. 3 in Philadelphia. Buffalo dropped the first three games of the trip before rebounding for three consecutive victories to earn the club's longest winning streak of the season.

Buffalo remains in last place in the Eastern Conference, however, which has led to an organizational shake-up. Thursday marks the Sabres' first game under Jarmo Kekalainen, who was named general manager on Monday after Kevyn Adams was fired.

Lindy Ruff remains behind the Sabres' bench, and the head coach said that the outlook has remained the same since the front office change.

"(Kekaleinen's) message is keep putting the work in," Ruff said. "Keep trying to coach these players up and win hockey games."

A victory on Thursday would be the 915th of Ruff's career, making him the fourth-winningest coach in NHL history. He currently shares fourth with Barry Trotz, who currently serves as the Nashville Predators' general manager.

Defenseman Michael Kesselring is expected to play Thursday after missing Buffalo's last 14 games with a lower-body injury. Forward Peyton Krebs is questionable after missing Wednesday's practice with an illness that Ruff said was hampering several Sabres players.

Buffalo has one of the NHL's top penalty kills, but the unit has hit a bit of a slump. The Sabres killed only 15 of 21 penalties during their six-game road trip. The Flyers might still be hard-pressed to take advantage, as Philadelphia's struggling power play is 0-for-13 over its last six games.

Zegras and Buffalo's Tage Thompson lead their respective teams in both goals and points, and both star forwards are on four-game goal streaks. Zegras' scoring run comes within a larger five-game points streak that has seen the Flyers center amass seven points (four goals, three assists). Thompson also has seven points (four goals, three assists) during his scoring streak.

Alex Lyon has gotten the win in each of Buffalo's last three games. He has not started more than three consecutive games since opening the season in net for Buffalo's first five, but he could start again Thursday if the Sabres want to ride the hot hand. For the season, Lyon is 6-6-3 with a 2.99 goals-against average and .905 save percentage.

The Flyers have gotten good goaltending from both Daniel Vladar and Samuel Ersson this season, though Vladar has had the majority of starts. Vladar has started four of the Flyers' last five games, posting a 1.70 GAA, .926 save percentage and 2-0-2 record in those four outings.

The Leafs came away with a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in their fifth consecutive home game on Tuesday. Auston Matthews and Dakota Joshua scored eight seconds apart to complete the comeback from 2-0 down.

"I think we talked about it after the first (period) a little bit, to get pucks behind and go to work and be on them a little bit more," said defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who netted Toronto's first goal halfway through the third period. "I thought we did that a little bit more in the third and not passing up a lot of those chances we had."

Even so, pressure is mounting on the Maple Leafs, who find themselves on the wrong side of the playoff line with the halfway mark of the season fast approaching. Toronto finished the homestand with a 2-1-2 record. Reporters noted after Tuesday's game how frequently Toronto coaches and players appeared animated on the bench.

"Oh, it could have been a number of things," Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube responded when asked what had provoked a particularly irate reaction in the first period. "I'm not sure exactly which one."

Toronto can take solace in having won its last three games away from home by a combined score of 16-4. The last team to best the Leafs on the road were none other than the Capitals, who won 4-2 on Nov. 28.

Washington returns home after a tumultuous two-game road stretch in which it was outscored 10-1. The last outing was a 5-0 beating at the hands of the Minnesota Wild, also on Tuesday night. Filip Gustavsson turned away all 25 Capitals shots to hand them their second shutout loss of the season.

"There's no doubt, the majority of our group right now is struggling to execute and finish," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said after the game. "You can see that for the last couple of games -- it's probably been three or four (games). Usually you go through this -- I've talked about this before -- but it just feels like our whole group is like that right now."

Washington, which has dropped three straight games, remains in a playoff spot. In the face of adversity, the team remains confident it has the same quality as last season, where the Capitals topped the Eastern Conference with 111 points.

"I think we are at that level," defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk said when asked if the team had learned anything from the humbling road trip. "Obviously, we didn't show it these last two games, but we're a team that when we play our best, we're right up there with the best in the league."

Toronto's battered back end hopes to be rejoined by veteran Chris Tanev, who has finally been cleared for regular practice after sustaining an upper-body injury on Nov. 1. The Leafs continue their makeshift goalie tandem of backups Joseph Woll and Dennis Hildeby with the ongoing absence of Anthony Stolarz (upper-body injury).

The Pittsburgh Penguins will look to snap a six-game winless skid (0-2-4) on Thursday when they visit the Ottawa Senators.

"The season's always going to be a bit of a roller coaster, and obviously right now we're in it in a downswing," Rust said after he extended his goal-scoring streak to four games in a 6-4 setback to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.

"And I think we can't just go around here moping around and coming in every day with long faces. I think each day is a new day. Think about this one for the rest of the night, learn our lessons, move on. Obviously, we've had a few too many lessons to learn here recently, but we can't sit and sulk and dwell on it."

Penguins head coach Dan Muse is well aware of his team's recent fortunes.

"It obviously adds up," Muse said. "It wears on you. As I've said before, it's going to be different every night. No two games are the same. So, we have to just focus on the things that we do."

Defenseman Erik Karlsson and Tommy Novak each collected a goal and an assist and Danton Heinen also tallied on Tuesday for Pittsburgh.

Captain Sidney Crosby notched an assist for his 1,722nd career point to move within one point of tying Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for the franchise record.

With a fruitless five-game homestand in the rearview mirror, the Penguins hope some time away from the Steel City will do them some good. They own a five-game road point streak (3-0-2) and are 8-3-4 away from home this season.

The Senators recorded a 3-2 overtime victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday to conclude a 2-1-0 road trip.

Tim Stutzle capped his ninth career three-assist performance by setting up captain Brady Tkachuk's goal at 2:11 of overtime.

Stutzle has totaled nine points (four goals, five assists) during his four-game multi-point streak, which is one shy of the franchise record. He is set to play in his 400th career NHL game on Thursday.

"I'm just really happy with the two points," Tkachuk said. "We lead the league in one-goal (regulation losses entering play on Wednesday), and we made an emphasis on that 6-on-5 that we weren't going to get denied. Maybe it took a little puck luck, but I think we were due for that."

The Senators are expected to turn to workhorse Linus Ullmark on Thursday. The goaltender is on pace to play in 60 games this season, well above the 44 last season and 49 during his Vezina Trophy-winning campaign with the Boston Bruins in 2022-23.

Signed to a four-year, $33 million extension, Ullmark has a 3.00 goals-against average and .879 save percentage this season. Those numbers are well behind his respective career averages (2.58, .915).

"There has been a lot of talk about his game this year," Ottawa head coach Travis Green said of Ullmark "You could really see that he was dialed in (on Monday). He came big for us in the third period and in overtime."

Looking to avoid a fourth straight defeat, the visiting Blackhawks also will be trying to reverse their recent fortunes against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

Competitive out of the gate, the young Blackhawks were dealt a serious blow Friday when Bedard, among the NHL's best with 44 points, injured his shoulder late in a 3-2 loss Dec. 12 at St. Louis. Bedard will miss the rest of December, and Chicago totaled two goals in losing its first two games without its superstar in the lineup.

"You have to understand process," Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. "You're gonna have to go back at it. We're gonna have to do a good job of having a short-term memory.

"They are all learning lessons," the coach added. "We'll learn from it and move on."

The reality is that the Blackhawks are 3-9-2 since Nov. 20, but have even less margin for error without Bedard because he leads the club with 19 goals, 25 assists and a plus-8 rating. It hasn't helped that budding star Frank Nazar has not tallied any of his 20 points in the last six games -- and has not scored a goal since Oct. 28.

After blowing a 2-0 lead in Tuesday's 3-2 loss at Toronto, Chicago has managed just five goals during a four-game road losing streak that began Dec. 6.

The Blackhawks also are mired in a 2-4-1 rut against Montreal, which spoiled their 2025-26 home opener with a 3-2 victory on Oct. 11. Canadiens stars Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki combined for five points in that contest.

Caufield is second on the team with 33 points, but he was blanked in each of the team's last two games.

After totaling 12 goals during a 2-0-1 stretch, the Canadiens followed with a 4-1 home loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday. Alexandre Texier, who has recorded all three of his goals this season in the last four games, provided the only scoring for Montreal.

The Canadiens also have allowed 37 goals while amid a 4-5-1 stretch.

"Frustrating," Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson said. "We've got to try to stack a couple wins here."

Montreal rookie Jacob Fowler stopped 17 of 20 shots on Tuesday in his third career start. He'll continue to back up Jakub Dobes with the struggling Sam Montembeault on a conditioning assignment with AHL Laval.

Dobes has a 5-4-0 record and 3.27 goals-against average at home this season.

Spencer Knight made 24 saves on Tuesday for the Blackhawks and has yielded 12 goals while losing three consecutive road starts. Meanwhile, backup Arvid Soderblom sports a hefty 5.81 GAA during his four-start losing streak that began Nov. 21.

In addition to Nazar's struggles, Chicago veteran Tyler Bertuzzi has failed to record a point in three straight contests. He does have three goals with three assists in his last eight games versus Montreal.

Talented Blackhawks defenseman Artyom Levshunov, among the team's top performers with 14 points in 31 games, could be back in the lineup after he was a healthy scratch for, reportedly, arriving late to a recent practice.

Meanwhile, veteran Canadiens blueliner Mike Matheson could miss a second straight contest due to an upper-body injury.

Suzuki has seven points in 10 career games versus Chicago, but none have come in the five meetings he has played at home.

The Bruins earned a 4-1 victory Tuesday over the Utah Mammoth in their return from a three-game road trip.

After Morgan Geekie scored the tying and go-ahead goals to erase Utah's early 1-0 lead, a two-goal third period led Boston into sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Division standings with its fifth win in the last six games and fourth straight at home.

"It's not easy with all the travel, coming back," Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. "It felt different in the first period, even for me, being home again. The players, I think, felt the same way, but they know, ‘OK, we've got to get better.' That's exactly what they showed in the second and third."

With Jeremy Swayman (20 saves) in goal, Boston allowed Utah to take just eight shots after the first period and pitched a shutout in the third. Casey Mittelstadt and Mikey Eyssimont scored insurance goals in the third to put the game away.

"I think we've really found an identity," Mittelstadt said. "Marco's come in firm and strong on that. I think the way he wants to play fits the personnel we have as well."

Geekie is coming off another big night, registering his fifth two-goal game of the season. His 24 goals remain second in the NHL to the 28 from Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche.

"Fun to see him get better every day, and he's been proving it the whole year this year," Pastrnak said of Geekie.

The Bruins claimed defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok off waivers from the Dallas Stars prior to Tuesday's game and he joined his new team for the first time for practice on Wednesday afternoon. Jonathan Aspirot (upper body) was placed on injured reserve.

Edmonton, which is 5-1-1 since Dec. 4, comes to Boston for the fourth game of a five-game trip following a 6-4 road win Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Connor McDavid (two goals, two assists) and Leon Draisaitl (four assists) each were productive against former teammate Stuart Skinner, who was traded to Pittsburgh last week in a deal that moved fellow goaltender Tristan Jarry to Edmonton.

Tuesday was a history-making night for Draisaitl, who joined McDavid in reaching the 1,000-point plateau for his career. He is the first German-born player and the fifth-fastest player born outside of North America to hit that milestone.

"Regular-season success, playoff success, he's such a big-time player scoring big-time goals," Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. "He gets a lot of attention for a lot of things -- goal scoring and play making, but I don't think he gets enough credit for his defensive play. A really remarkable player."

McDavid has delivered nine goals and 11 assists across a seven-game point streak and is the reigning NHL First Star of the Week.

"He's been dominant," Draisaitl said of McDavid. "He has stretches like that every season where he seems unstoppable. So hopefully, he can carry this on for a while."

The duo led the Oilers to a 3-of-4 showing on the power play against Pittsburgh, marking the team's second time scoring more than two man-advantage goals in seven games.

Zach Hyman (four-game goal streak) and Evan Bouchard each had a goal and an assist, while Vasily Podkolzin and Matt Savoie also scored.

Minnesota took down the Washington Capitals, 5-0, on Tuesday to cap a perfect four-game homestand. Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and assisted on Danila Yurov's goal, while Yurov earned the primary assist on both of Tarasenko's scores.

However, defenseman Daemon Hunt played less than four minutes before leaving with a lower-body injury that occurred when his left leg collided with Capitals forward Ethen Frank's left leg. Minnesota already was playing without blueliners Jonas Brodin, Jake Middleton and Zach Bogosian. The club placed Brodin on injured reserve on Wednesday and promoted defenseman Carson Lambos from its AHL affiliate in Iowa.

After Tuesday's win, coach John Hynes said the team's perseverance through the injuries shows it is gaining confidence.

"We've had some guys out, but I think that we're playing a strong collective team game and everyone that's in the lineup's contributing and playing hard, playing together," Hynes said. "I think when you do that, you give yourself a good chance to win most nights."

Minnesota already bolstered its defensive corps during the winning streak by getting two-time All-Star Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks. Hughes has played only two games for the Wild, but he has points in both. He netted an assist in Tuesday's victory and scored a goal in the Wild's 6-2 win over Boston on Sunday.

In 28 games between the Canucks and Wild, Hughes has 22 assists and 25 points.

As the battered Wild play with confidence, the Blue Jackets hope their 4-3 overtime win Tuesday against the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks serves as a launching point for the team that sits in last place in the Metropolitan Division.

The Blue Jackets saw their 3-1 lead disappear and nearly lost the game in regulation. However, they ended their five-game losing streak (0-4-1) on Adam Fantilli's goal at 3:32 of the added session.

To Columbus coach Dean Evason, how Fantilli scored his 12th goal of the season was just as big as the victory itself. The third overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft took the puck in the Blue Jackets' end and skated across the rink with it. Rather than waiting for linemates to join him in the attack zone, the 21-year-old went in 1-on-3 and used Anaheim defenseman Olen Zellweger as a screen to prevent Ducks goaltender Ville Husso from getting a clean look at his shot.

"I honestly wish we did that more," Evason said. "We've been harping on our group to not see the whites of the goalie's eyes before we end up shooting pucks.

"That's just a tremendous shot. I mean, why not create a screen? ... We don't do it enough, and we've worked on it, we've talked about it. I'm glad that we can reinforce that one."

Thursday's contest, which ends a four-game homestand for Columbus, will feature a pair of candidates for the Norris Trophy that goes to the league's top defenseman. Besides the Wild's Hughes, who won the award in 2024, the Blue Jackets are led by Zach Werenski, who placed second in voting for the award last season. Werenski, who tops Columbus with 25 assists and 36 points, scored twice and assisted on Fantilli's game-winner Tuesday. He has six points (two goals, four assists) in his last three games.

Brodin, 32, last played on Dec. 11 in a 5-2 home win over the Dallas Stars and has missed three games due to a lower-body injury. He has nine points (three goals, six assists) and is a plus-11 with six penalty minutes, 66 blocks and seven hits while averaging 22:05 of ice time in 30 games.

For his career, Brodin has 269 points (61 goals, 208 assists), a plus-114 rating, 268 penalty minutes, 1,557 blocks and 453 hits while averaging 22:15 of ice time in 883 regular-season games over 14 seasons, all with the Wild.

The native of Sweden also has two goals and 15 assists with a minus-6 rating, 18 penalty minutes, 11 blocks and six hits in 73 playoff games.

Minnesota selected Brodin 10th overall in the 2011 NHL Draft.

Lambos, 22, was selected 26th overall by the Wild in the 2021 draft. He could make his NHL debut when the Wild visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

The price for the club is expected to be between $1.7 and $1.8 billion, per reports.

The final sale of the club requires approval by the NHL's Board of Governors.

Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool of the English Premier League and RFK Racing in NASCAR, purchased controlling interest of the Penguins from franchise icon Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle and David Morehouse in 2021 for $900 million. Lemieux and Burkle initially bought the team out of bankruptcy in 1999.

The Hoffmann Family of Companies -- which is a multi-generational family-owned private equity firm -- has owned the Florida Everblades of the ECHL since 2019.

Per ESPN, the group has been in discussions with the Penguins since at least the summer.

David Hoffmann has previously expressed interest in purchasing an NHL or NBA team in an interview with the Naples Daily News.

The Penguins have won five Stanley Cups, including three in the Sidney Crosby era (2009, 2016, 2017), and are valued by Forbes at $1.75 billion.

Per Sportico in October, the average NHL franchise is worth an estimated $2.1 billion.

The timeline would keep Foerster out past the end of the regular season and into the playoffs, should the Flyers qualify.

Foerster was injured shortly after scoring his then-team-leading 10th goal of the season in the second period of the Flyers' 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 1. He sustained the injury while taking a shot on goal, as he clutched his right shoulder while coming off the ice.

Foerster was placed on injured reserve two days later and was expected to be out two-to-three months.

Further evaluation, however, led to the decision for Foerster to have surgery on Monday as opposed to just rehabilitation alone.

Foerster, 23, got off to a fast start while playing in the first season of a two-year, $7.5 million contract. He added three assists and a plus-7 rating in 21 games.

He set career highs across the board with 43 points (25 goals, 18 assists) in 81 games last season, his second full campaign with Philadelphia.

Foerster has totaled 96 points (58 goals, 38 assists) in 187 career games since being selected by the Flyers with the 23rd overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

Meanwhile, the Utah Mammoth are still struggling to string together some victories.

The Red Wings eye a third consecutive win when they host the Mammoth on Wednesday night.

Amid a 6-1-1 stretch, Detroit followed its impressive 4-1-1 road trip with a 3-2 home victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday. The Red Wings trailed 1-0 after two periods before scoring three times in the third, highlighted by Alex DeBrincat's tiebreaking 20th goal of the season, a power-play tally with 2:17 left in regulation.

Detroit, which last made the playoffs in 2015-16, has dropped just three points in eight December games. The Red Wings hold a one-point lead over the Boston Bruins atop the Atlantic Division.

"Foot on the gas," Red Wings star Dylan Larkin said. "... You can play good and not win, but you have to win. You have to accumulate points in this league. ... It's about looking forward and continuing to try to win."

With a second-straight two-goal contest on Tuesday, DeBrincat has recorded at least 20 goals in eight of his nine NHL seasons. He has posted eight goals and five assists in eight games this month.

Detroit's John Gibson stopped 16 of the 18 shots he saw against the Islanders and improved to 6-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .935 save percentage in December. However, teammate Cam Talbot, amid an 0-3-2 rut with a 3.77 GAA, could get the start in the conclusion of a back-to-back set.

Utah is 8-14-3 since winning eight of its first 10 games of the season. The Mammoth haven't won more than two straight during the recent stretch, again failing to win three in a row when they fell 4-1 at Boston on Tuesday.

Barrett Hayton opened the scoring early in the first period, but that was all the offense Utah could muster against the Bruins after scoring five goals in each of its previous two games.

"It's something we've been struggling with all year. Just our consistency," Mammoth defenseman John Marino told KSL Sports. "From period to period. Being able to play full 60-minute games. ... We'll have some (games) where we dominate and some where we get outplayed. We have to work on it."

Perhaps even more concerning than the team's overall consistency is the fact that Utah star Clayton Keller has failed to register a point in four consecutive games, and he has recorded just two of his 28 points over the past six. However, Keller has eight goals and eight assists in 13 career games against Detroit.

The Mammoth's Dylan Guenther saw his four-game goal streak, which featured five tallies, end vs. Boston.

Utah's Vitek Vanecek stopped 19 of 23 shots on Tuesday, and he has a 3.43 goals-against average while going 0-5-1 in his last six appearances. Karel Vejmelka, who is likely to be back in the Mammoth net for this contest at Detroit, has allowed 14 goals in his past four starts, but he has won two in a row.

Detroit's Lucas Raymond recorded three assists on Tuesday, his 11th multipoint outing on the season.

Brock Nelson scored the tiebreaking goal and Artturi Lehkonen and Samuel Girard also tallied for the Avalanche, who improved to 5-0-1 in their past six games. Martin Necas, Cale Makar and Valeri Nichushkin each had two assists, and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 34 saves.

Shane Wright, Jordan Eberle and Chandler Stephenson scored for Seattle, which lost its third straight and fell for the ninth time in 10 games (1-8-1). Goalie Philipp Grubauer stopped 33 of 37 shots against his former team.

Nelson got what proved to be the winner on the power play at 8:25 of the third period. MacKinnon's slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle went wide of the near post, but the puck ricocheted off the end boards and came out the other side of the net, where Nelson knocked it in as Grubauer dove to get across the crease.

MacKinnon added an empty-netter at 19:36, his league-leading 28th goal of the season. He also leads the NHL in points with 58.

Trailing 3-2, the Avalanche tied the score on MacKinnon's blistering slap shot from the top of the left faceoff that deflected off the rear end of Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson and past Grubauer at 2:40 of the third.

Seattle was awarded a penalty shot at 7:49 of the third after Josh Manson was whistled for covering the puck with his hand in the crease. Eberle's attempt went off the post, leaving the score tied at 3-3.

The Avalanche opened the scoring at 12:19 of the first period as Lehkonen redirected Necas' shot from the blue line past Grubauer.

The Kraken tied it on an odd-man rush at 3:03 of the second, with Wright batting in a rebound after Jani Nyman's shot went off the post.

Seattle took a 2-1 lead at 5:48 of the second as Eberle backhanded a rebound into an open net after Blackwood made a sprawling save.

The Avalanche tied it at 13:29 of the middle frame on Girard's slap shot from just outside the top of the right faceoff circle.

The Kraken regained the lead on a man advantage with six seconds left until the second intermission. Stephenson's shot from the right faceoff circle deflected off the skate of defenseman Brent Burns and between Blackwood's pads.

A scuffle 54 seconds into the third period led to Colorado's Burns and Manson and Seattle's Mason Marchment and Brandon Montour all getting double minors for roughing. Montour went to the locker room and didn't return.

John Klingberg and Tyler Toffoli also scored for the Sharks, who won a third straight game.

Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov made 27 saves, including a handful early in the third period when the Flames had a chance to pull even.

Blake Coleman, Ryan Lomberg and Nazem Kadri scored for the Flames, who have lost two of three games.

Goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 20 shots.

Goodrow broke the 2-2 tie with 18.4 seconds remaining in a wild first period. Celebrini's shot was denied, but the loose puck ended up on the line for Goodrow to shove home for his second of the period.

Celebrini added an insurance marker at 2:46 of the third period. After a fantastic spin move, Celebrini shot as he drove to the net. Wolf stopped the attempt but the puck bounced off Celebrini's leg and into the cage for his 50th point of the season.

He is the third-fastest teenager in league history to reach 50 points in a season (34 games), trailing only Sidney Crosby (28 games) and Wayne Gretzky (32 games).

After Toffoli extended the San Jose lead to 5-2 with a sharp-angled shot with 7:07 remaining for his 300th career tally, Kadri responded 38 seconds later to give Calgary hope.

However, Celebrini's empty-netter rounded out the scoring and capped an impressive outing.

Klingberg opened the scoring 62 seconds into the clash with a one-timer set up by Celebrini's cross-ice pass. Klingberg has scored in three straight games and racked up five goals and three assists in a five-game point streak.

Goodrow doubled the lead at the six-minute mark when he pounced on a puck that bounded to the front of the Calgary net after Zack Ostapchuk fired it from his own blueline to the corner of the rink.

The Flames responded with a pair of goals of their own. Coleman put Calgary on the board at 11:01 with a rocket of a one-timer from the right faceoff dot, and Lomberg tied the clash three minutes later with his first goal of the season to snap a 32-game drought.

Edmonton captain Connor McDavid collected two goals and two assists and Zach Hyman and defenseman Evan Bouchard had one of each. Rookie Matt Savoie and Vasily Podkolzin also tallied as the Oilers improved to 5-1-1 in their past seven games.

Edmonton's Tristan Jarry got the better of Pittsburgh's Stuart Skinner in a battle of goaltenders that were traded for another on Friday. Jarry made 26 saves, while Skinner -- who still was sporting his Oilers mask -- yielded five goals on 22 shots.

Bryan Rust scored a goal in his fourth straight game and defenseman Erik Karlsson and Tommy Novak each had a goal and an assist for the reeling Penguins, who have lost six in a row (0-2-4). Sidney Crosby notched an assist for his 1,722nd point to move within one point of Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for the franchise record.

Bruins 4, Mammoth 1

Morgan Geekie clinched his fifth multi-goal game of the season before Boston separated with a pair of third-period tallies on the way to a win over visiting Utah.

Geekie's eventual game-winner 23 seconds into the second period was his 24th goal of the season, keeping him in second in the NHL. Casey Mittelstadt and Michael Eyssimont also scored, while David Pastrnak registered two assists to help the Bruins win their fourth straight at home.

Barrett Hayton scored the only goal for the Mammoth, while Vitek Vanecek stopped 19 shots to fall to 0-6-1 in his last seven starts.

Blue Jackets 4, Ducks 3 (OT)

Adam Fantilli scored at 3:32 of overtime to give Columbus a win over visiting Anaheim, snapping a five-game losing streak.

Zach Werenski logged two goals and an assist, Boone Jenner had a goal and an assist and Kent Johnson recorded two assists for the Blue Jackets. Jet Greaves made 24 saves for the victory.

The Ducks' Mikael Granlund had a goal and an assist, Ryan Strome and Jackson LaCombe also scored, and Ryan Poehling had two assists. Ville Husso stopped 24 shots in the finale of the five-game road trip for Anaheim.

Red Wings 3, Islanders 2

Alex DeBrincat scored two power-play goals, including the game-winner with 2:17 left, to lead host Detroit to a come-from-behind win over New York.

Defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka was the only other Red Wing to reach the back of the net. Lucas Raymond assisted on all three goals, defenseman Moritz Seider had two assists and John Gibson stopped 16 shots to help Detroit improve to 6-1-1 over its past eight games.

Emil Heineman and Scott Mayfield scored for the Islanders, but that wasn't enough to prevent the end of the team's three-game winning streak. Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves.

Flyers 4, Canadiens 1

Travis Konecny had a goal and an assist as Philadelphia snapped a three-game skid (0-0-3) with a road victory against Montreal.

Carl Grundstrom, Trevor Zegras and Bobby Brink scored for the Flyers, and Dan Vladar made 21 saves. Zegras, playing in his 300th NHL game, scored his 33rd point of the season in his 32nd game, eclipsing his total from last season in 57 contests.

Alexandre Texier scored and Jacob Fowler made 17 saves for the Canadiens, who have lost four of six (2-3-1).

Canucks 3, Rangers 0

Evander Kane and newcomer Liam Ohgren scored early in the opening two periods and Thatcher Demko recorded a 23-save shutout as retooled Vancouver earned a victory over New York to continue the Rangers' home woes.

Conor Garland tallied the other Canucks goal with an empty-net short-handed marker. Vancouver has now won both of its games since sending Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild in a blockbuster trade, just the second time this season the team has won consecutive contests.

Jonathan Quick made 14 saves for New York. The Rangers are now 4-10-3 at home, and they've been shut out at Madison Square Garden six times this season.

Maple Leafs 3, Blackhawks 2

Host Toronto scored twice in eight seconds late in the third period and went on to edge Chicago.

Auston Matthews scored on a power play at 16:51 of the third period to tie the game at two. Dakota Joshua came right back to score the go-ahead goal at the 16:59 mark. Oliver Ekman-Larsson also scored in the third period for the Maple Leafs, Goaltender Joseph Woll returned from injured reserve and made 23 saves. He missed four games with a lower-body injury.

Wyatt Kaiser and Jason Dickinson scored for the Blackhawks, who have lost three straight. Spencer Knight stopped 24 shots.

Wild 5, Capitals 0

Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals and dished one assist as host Minnesota pulled away for the win over Washington.

Danila Yurov finished with one goal and two assists, Matt Boldy scored a goal and goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped all 25 shots he faced for his third shutout this season to help the Wild pull out the victory. Kirill Kaprizov also notched his 70th career power-play tally to move past Zach Parise and set a new team record.

Alex Ovechkin failed to muster a shot on goal and Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren allowed five tallies on 32 shots. Washington was shut out for the second time this season and first since Oct. 28.

Danila Yurov finished with one goal and two assists for Minnesota, which won its fifth consecutive game. Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy scored one goal apiece.

Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped all 25 shots he faced for his third shutout this season. He made 11 saves in the first period, nine in the second and five in the third.

Alex Ovechkin was held without a shot on goal for Washington, which was shut out for the second time this season. The other occurrence was a 1-0 road loss to the Dallas Stars on Oct. 28.

Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren allowed five goals on 32 shots.

The Wild started the scoring 2:09 after the opening faceoff. Yurov slid a pass toward the high slot for Tarasenko, who ripped a rising wrist shot above Lindgren's glove and into the net.

Minnesota made it 2-0 on the power play midway through the second period. Quinn Hughes fired a long shot from the blue line that did not get through to the net, but Kaprizov spotted the loose puck and punched it in.

The play marked Kaprizov's 70th career power-play goal with the Wild, which set a team record. Kaprizov moved past Zach Parise.

Tarasenko struck again to increase Minnesota's lead to 3-0 at 4:23 of the third period. He scored off a faceoff for his second of the game and fifth of the season.

Less than five minutes later, Tarasenko played a key role in Yurov's goal to make it 4-0. As Washington's defensemen struggled to keep pace, Tarasenko skillfully handled the puck between his legs and shoved a backhand pass to Yurov, who buried a one-timer.

Boldy finished the scoring when he notched a short-handed goal with 5:48 remaining.

Edmonton captain Connor McDavid collected two goals and two assists and Zach Hyman and defenseman Evan Bouchard had one of each. Rookie Matt Savoie and Vasily Podkolzin also tallied as the Oilers improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven games.

Edmonton's Tristan Jarry got the better of Pittsburgh's Stuart Skinner in a battle of goaltenders that were traded for another on Friday. Jarry made 26 saves, while Skinner -- who still was sporting his Oilers mask -- yielded five goals on 22 shots.

Bryan Rust scored a goal in his fourth straight game and defenseman Erik Karlsson and Tommy Novak each had a goal and an assist for the reeling Penguins, who have lost six in a row (0-2-4).

Captain Sidney Crosby notched an assist for his 1,722nd point to move within one point of Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for the franchise record.

Draisaitl sent a cross-slot feed to McDavid, who quickly feathered a pass in front that Hyman tapped home on a power play to open the scoring with 8:22 remaining in the first period. Hyman's goal was his eighth of the season and sixth in his last four games.

McDavid doubled the advantage 14 seconds later after skating around Pittsburgh defenseman Parker Wotherspoon before tucking the puck past Skinner. McDavid added his 20th goal of the season by scoring into an empty net to give Edmonton a 6-3 lead.

Novak trimmed the Oilers' advantage to 2-1 with 45 seconds left in the first period before Savoie regained the two-goal edge at 4:35 of the second with a sharp wrist shot from the left circle.

Karlsson trimmed the deficit to 3-2 under two minutes later before Bouchard's wrist shot from the high slot beat Skinner at 9:36 of the second period.

Draisaitl picked up his third assist of the contest on that goal and his fourth on Podkolzin's tally in the third period to increase his point total to 1,003 (416 goals, 587 assists) in 824 games since being selected by the Oilers with the third overall pick of the 2014 NHL Draft.