NHL News

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.

Monday's game is the third stop on the Predators' seven-game trip, which was interrupted by the NHL's Christmas break. Nashville returned to action in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues, and never led in the game despite a 32-20 shots advantage.

Predators coach Andrew Brunette felt his team lacked sharpness playing for the first time in four days.

"I think it was probably your biggest worry coming in, some guys still on Christmas break ... everybody's paddle wasn't in full tilt here a little bit," Brunette said. "I thought we eased into the game, thought we got going in different stretches and we made some mental mistakes off the rush that killed us."

The Mammoth could potentially face the same rust issue Monday. Utah hasn't played since Dec. 23, when the team lost a narrow 1-0 result to the league-leading Colorado Avalanche.

The extended rest could help Karel Vejmelka, as the goalie was a late scratch from last Tuesday's lineup due to an upper-body injury.

Vitek Vanecek would get another start against the Predators if Vejmelka is unable to play. The Mammoth had no update as of Sunday night.

"I don't know, I'm no doctor," Utah coach Andre Tourigny said Dec. 23 when asked if Vejmelka's injury could linger. "They will figure it out, but they seemed to be positive about it, but I didn't have an in-depth conversation."

Vejmelka and Predators goalie Juuse Saros have been workhorses this season, and both goalies are tied for second in the NHL with 29 games played. Saros is expected to start again Monday, looking to bounce back after stopping only 17 of 20 shots at St. Louis.

Saros is 14-12-3 with a 2.92 goals-against average and an .898 save percentage this season.

Vanecek has a 2.81 GAA and an .882 save percentage with a 2-8-1 record in 11 appearances spelling Vejmelka.

On Nashville's health front, forward Jonathan Marchesseault is questionable for Monday. Marchesseault has missed the Predators' last four games due to a lower-body injury.

The Predators are 6-8-2 in away games, tied for the second-fewest (14) road points in the league. The Mammoth haven't really gotten rolling on home ice, with a modest 9-6-1 home record.

After an ugly 6-12-4 start to the season, Nashville is 10-5-0 in its last 15 games. The Predators haven't had consecutive losses since a three-game losing streak from Nov. 16-24.

Utah burst out of the gates with a season-opening 8-2-0 record, then slumped to a 4-10-3 mark over its next 17 games. The Mammoth have since gone an even 6-6-0.

Amidst this inconsistent season, the two constants for the Mammoth have been a struggling power play and an ability to limit opposing scoring chances. Utah's 15% power-play percentage (17-for-113) is near the bottom of the NHL standings, but the Mammoth have held opponents to an elite average of 25.1 shots per game.

Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller share the Mammoth team lead with 32 points apiece, each with 12 goals and 20 assists. Dylan Guenther leads Utah with 16 goals, and Mikhail Sergachev has a team-high 21 assists.

Ryan O'Reilly paces Nashville in both assists (21) and points (32). Filip Forsberg is the Predators' leading scorer with 16 goals.

In their first meeting of the season, the Mammoth earned a 3-2 overtime win over the Predators in Nashville on Oct. 11.

Colorado has won games in a variety of ways -- now seven in a row -- and will try to extend the winning streak to eight when it plays the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night in Denver.

The Avalanche have been on a hot streak since the start of the season, with only two regulation losses in 37 games and points in 27 of their last 28 games. Nathan MacKinnon has led the way with team highs in goals (31), assists (33) and points (64); his goals are the most in the NHL and he is second to Connor McDavid in points.

MacKinnon had a goal, two assists and the deciding goal in the shootout in Colorado's 6-5 win at Vegas on Saturday night. He is making a strong case for his second Hart Trophy this year, but he has a reliable supporting cast as well.

Martin Necas has 49 points (18 goals, 31 assists) and Cale Makar is third on the Avalanche with 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists), which is also the most by an NHL defenseman this season.

Makar and his blueline partner Devon Toews get a bulk of the ice time, but Colorado has a deep defensive corps. That was evident by Sam Malinski's three assists against the Golden Knights on Saturday night to push his season point total to 21 (three goals, 18 assists).

"I think it's a confidence thing. When he's confident, he can do a lot of things in this league that a lot of players can't, so he just needs to know he can do it," MacKinnon said of Malinski.

Los Angeles is coming off a 6-1 win over Anaheim on Saturday night that ended a stretch of six losses in seven games, two in overtime. The six goals were an offensive explosion for the Kings, who had scored just 11 in their previous seven games.

"When we were on that extended streak of not being able to put the puck in the net, you get thinking and you get discouraged a little bit," captain Anze Kopitar said. "So to see a few go in early (Saturday), especially after a break, it's obviously a good thing, and hopefully we can continue building on that."

Alex Laferriere registered his first career hat trick in the win to push his season total in goals to 10. The Kings are led by Adrian Kempe's 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists). Kevin Fiala is second on the team with 24 points (13, 11), Quinton Byfield has tallied 21 points (five, 16) and Kopitar is next with 20 points (six, 14).

This is the second of three meetings. Colorado beat the Kings 4-1 on the road to open the season on Oct. 7, and they will meet again in Los Angeles on March 2.

The red-hot Sabres will look to extend their eight-game winning streak Monday when they open a three-game road trip with a visit to the St. Louis Blues.

Buffalo picked up its most recent triumph on Saturday, 4-1 against the Boston Bruins in the Sabres' first game after the NHL's three-day holiday break. It did so without captain Rasmus Dahlin, who was in Sweden during the break attending to his fiancee, Carolina, who had a heart transplant in the summer. It marked the first time since Dec. 7, 2023, that the Sabres won a game in which Dahlin didn't play.

Dahlin is expected to join the team in St. Louis.

"We've gotten ourselves healthy, the lineup is deeper, the lines have had some continuity to them," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's like a competition between the lines now, who can go out (and) do the best job."

Mattias Samuelsson, Dahlin's partner on the top defense pairing, stepped up against the Bruins and continued what has been a rejuvenation for the defenseman. He not only had a goal and two assists against Boston, but his strong defensive play helped get things going. With the Sabres down 1-0 early in the second period, he snuffed out Bruins forward Morgan Geekie behind the Buffalo net with a hit that forced a turnover and then led the ensuing rush up the ice that resulted in Ryan McLeod's tying goal.

The 25-year-old upped his career-best numbers to six goals, 12 assists and 18 points in 35 games, putting him on pace for 39 points for the season. He entered the current campaign with 43 points in 212 NHL games.

"I think I made a big emphasis on my game this year to try to play more of a 200-foot game," Samuelsson said. "Plays like that, good defensively, end plays, get up in the rush, whether it's the four-man or like that one, lugging the puck up the ice, that's hockey, that's fun, that's making plays."

The Blues head into the contest looking to win consecutive games for just the fourth time this season after a 3-2 home victory against the Nashville Predators on Saturday. They last won two straight on Dec. 6-7 but then went on a two-game losing streak. They've alternated wins and losses over the seven games since, going 4-2-1 in that stretch.

"Anytime you're coming out of the (holiday) break, first periods are usually sloppy, but we came out with purpose and played well and really set the tone for the game," forward Robert Thomas said. "Starts are so important, something we're really emphasizing on. It's nice to feel good about yourself coming out of the first period."

St. Louis has scored 34 goals in the opening frame, tied for 10th in the NHL entering Sunday. It's been a struggle over the final 40 minutes, though, with 32 in each of the second and third, which rank 24th and 29th, respectively. The Blues' season total of 98 through 39 games ranks 30th in the league.

"We're not a confident team (leading after two periods) right now and we've got to build towards that," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said.

It will be the teams' first meeting of the season and the second game since the NHL's three-day holiday break for both after resuming play on Saturday. The Flames beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 for their seventh win in 10 games, while the Bruins' 4-1 loss at the Buffalo Sabres marked their fifth in a row (0-4-1).

David Pastrnak scored the opening goal in Boston's latest game, but a three-goal second period and four unanswered goals overall flipped the game in favor of Buffalo, which is the NHL's hottest team with eight straight wins.

"We came out, played well -- fresher heads, fresher legs (following the break)," Boston forward Sean Kuraly said. "It was literally just a couple minutes that we weren't sharp. That's frustrating. We're all a part of it. You look at yourself first and just wish you could have a couple of moments back."

Pastrnak is on a three-game point streak and now has 110 regular-season points in the 2025 calendar year, making him the third player in Bruins history to reach that mark multiple times. He leads the team with 41 points this season.

Meanwhile, linemate Morgan Geekie (25 goals) remains the NHL's second-leading goal scorer despite a three-game goalless streak.

Saturday marked Boston's fourth time in the last five games scoring two or fewer goals.

"We have to move forward because it's not going to get easier," Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. "It's more on us just to get back to our foundation and back to our game."

Calgary returned from the break for its divisional rivalry game, securing a bounce-back win against the Oilers after a 5-1 loss to them last Tuesday. The Flames have now won six of their seven December home games.

On Saturday, Ryan Lomberg's third goal in a five-game span broke a 1-1 tie in the second period before Blake Coleman added the eventual game-winner in the third.

Coleman's goal was his 11th of the season, matching Matt Coronato for the team lead.

Yegor Sharangovich also scored, while Dustin Wolf (29 saves) won for the sixth time in eight starts while playing his 100th career game.

"We needed our top players to be our top players (in that game), and I felt like they most definitely were," Flames coach Adam Huska said.

Calgary's effort to beat its archrival was significant, especially holding NHL-leading scorer Connor McDavid -- who assisted on all five goals and led a 3-for-6 performance on the power play against the Flames on Tuesday -- scoreless until the final five minutes, making the achievement even more impressive.

"There was a big sense of urgency to come out and play the way we want to play every night," Lomberg said. "Obviously, we weren't happy with how we left things off before the break. We had a handful of days to think about it. We kinda righted the ship. It's big on us to move forward and stay that way."

Boston was a 4-3 overtime winner in both ends of last season's head-to-head series, with a Pastrnak goal deciding the latter game on Dec. 17, 2024, in Calgary. Four of the last five meetings have gone beyond regulation.

The teams will also clash on Jan. 8 in Boston's first game following its current road trip.

In a rematch against their pre-Christmas opponent, the Oilers lost 3-2 to the host Flames on Saturday night, a game largely controlled by their cross-provincial rivals.

"Our start was a little slow and sluggish," Oilers forward Andrew Mangiapane said after the setback in Calgary. "It's a couple of days off, and all that you don't want to use as an excuse because they're going through the same thing. So I would have liked for us to have been a bit more engaged."

Despite the result, Edmonton is still 8-3-1 over its last 12 games, a stretch that has propelled the team back into a playoff spot. However, head coach Kris Knoblauch remains focused on his team continuing to grow beyond their recent success.

"We weren't as sharp as we were before the break," said Knoblauch. "We gave up a lot of odd-man rushes, which we haven't been doing, so we'll have to get back to work. There were a lot of good things, but probably more bad than good coming off the break."

The Jets hoped the Christmas break would help improve their game and lead to wins, but that didn't happen on Saturday. Winnipeg gave up a power-play goal with 22 seconds left in regulation against and then allowed the overtime winner 39 seconds into the extra period, falling 4-3 to Minnesota at home.

Winnipeg is 7-14-4 since Nov. 1 and is currently on a five-game losing streak (0-2-3), with all five losses by just one goal. Adding to the frustration, the loss against Minnesota came despite one of the Jets' most complete 60-minute efforts of the season.

"Nobody's happy. Nobody's happy about that. Nobody's happy about losing. We wanted both points. We need both points. We didn't get it," coach Scott Arniel said after the loss, when asked if his team's consistent effort at least eased some of the sting. "We've got to make sure, in those one-goal games, we've got to find a way. That one had a little bit of a different feel to it. That had a different outcome than maybe some of the past ones have had."

Winnipeg is still in the playoff race, sitting five points out of the final wild-card spot. The Jets have two games in hand on San Jose and three on the Utah, the two teams tied for that final spot.

"It's definitely frustrating. We've been working really hard to get over the hump and get back to our winning ways," said Jets forward Jonathan Toews after Saturday's loss. "(If) we keep playing that way, our bounces are going to come. We talked about really building that belief in our locker room... but we move on, we move onto the next one."

With Tristan Jarry expected to miss a few more weeks with a lower-body injury, Edmonton has Calvin Pickard and Connor Ingram to choose from in goal Monday.

They'll have a chance to do so against the New York Rangers on Monday night in Raleigh, N.C.

The Hurricanes have an Eastern Conference-best 49 points after winning 5-2 on Saturday against the visiting Detroit Red Wings to snap a three-game losing streak.

What was most rewarding for the Hurricanes was holding another third-period lead and not fading after they had surrendered multi-goal leads in the three losses during their skid.

"Especially with what we've just gone through," Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said, "just play."

The Rangers' 2-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday marked the team's eighth shutout defeat of the season.

"Is there ever enough offense? Probably not," Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. "We always wish for more. We didn't finish on the ones we had (against the Islanders)."

Sullivan said the Rangers are capable of being sharper, particularly in decision-making on when to shoot.

The Rangers can gain confidence from having goalie Igor Shesterkin in the nets. Shesterkin saved 24 of 25 shots he faced against the Islanders and has a 2.51 goals-against average.

"We don't always give him the goal support he probably deserves," Sullivan said.

Carolina forward Eric Robinson has a career-best three-game goal streak. Teammate Andrei Svechnikov has a five-game point streak (three goals, six assists).

Svechnikov's goal and two assists against Detroit were signs of the impact that he can make, particularly with his third-period goal coming after the Red Wings trimmed the gap to 3-2.

"We need him on the scoresheet, obviously," Brind'Amour said. "But we need him to be on the No. 1 line, you notice him."

The feel-good moments were all around for the Hurricanes after a rough week leading up to the Christmas break. Veteran forward Jordan Martinook registered his 100th career goal Saturday with an empty-netter, with the milestone coming in his 754th game and following a three-game injury absence.

With Martinook and William Carrier, who had missed one game, back with center Jordan Staal, it gave the Hurricanes a line they've come to count on.

"That's our comfort line," Brind'Amour said. "To have both those guys back is huge for so many reasons."

Carolina will have goalie Pyotr Kochetkov well-rested with at least a week off if the Hurricanes turn to him in net. Or they could stick with Brandon Bussi, who's 12-1-1 with a terrific 2.10 goals-against average in his rookie season.

However, Kochetkov made 26 saves to blank the Rangers 3-0 on Nov. 4 in New York. The Rangers evened the series with a 4-2 triumph Nov. 26 in Raleigh with Carolina using Frederik Andersen in the nets.

The Hurricanes will wait to learn the playing status of defenseman K'Andre Miller, who was a gametime decision and sat out Saturday night with a lower-body ailment. Miller is a former Ranger who has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in his first season in Carolina.

The Panthers, who are set to play host to the Washington Capitals on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla., are also intent on fixing their power play.

On Saturday, the Panthers went 1-for-11 with the man advantage and also allowed a short-handed goal in a 3-2 loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Panthers finished sixth in the NHL last season with a 25.3% conversion rate on its power-play chances. This season, however, the Panthers are ranked in the bottom-half of the league with the man advantage.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice said his team was off track early Saturday, before the situation improved.

"In the first half of the game, it looked like we hadn't played in a while," Maurice said. "Our power play then went from struggling to all the chances you could want."

Perhaps the Panthers can generate more chances Monday and actually convert.

As for feeling beat up, that's what happens when you play a fight-filled game where 39 penalties are called.

Assuming everyone survived that affair in relatively good shape, the Panthers are powered by a pair of 37-year-olds: winger Brad Marchand and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

Marchand, who is on a seven-game point streak, leads Florida in goals and assists with 21 of each.

Bobrovsky, who is 16-8-1 with a 2.79 goals-against average and three shutouts, owns 445 career wins. He needs one more victory to pass Terry Sawchuk for eighth place on the all-time NHL list.

The Panthers, who are 8-3-0 over their past 11 games, could start backup goalie Daniil Tarasov (4-6-1, 2.97 goals against).

Meanwhile, the Capitals are set to arrive in Sunrise following a 4-3 overtime win over the host New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.

Jakob Chychrun -- who was born and raised in Boca Raton, 22 miles north of Sunrise -- scored the game-winning goal with 54 seconds left in OT.

"Just put your head down and see if you can gain a step," Chychrun said of his mindset on Saturday.

Capitals center Aliaksei Protas, who has 14 goals and 13 assists this season, might be Washington's hottest player. He has seven points over his past five games, including four goals.

"I'm moving him around different lines," Capitals coach Spencer Carberry said.

The Capitals, who are just 2-4-2 over their past eight games, are an older-type team in some key spots.

Tom Wilson, who leads the team in goals (17) and points (34), is 31. Future Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin, who is tied for second with 15 goals and has 33 points, is 40. And defenseman John Carlson, who leads Washington in assists (21), turns 36 next month.

Ovechkin and Carlson are in the final year of their contracts.

The Capitals are younger at goalie, where Logan Thompson, 28, continues to improve in his fourth season as a full-time starting goalie in the NHL.

Thompson is 15-9-3 with a career-best 2.27 GAA. He finished fourth in the Vezina Trophy voting last season, and the Capitals signed him to a six-year, $35.1-million extension.

Washington's backup goalie is Charlie Lindgren (5-4-2, 3.07 GAA).

With the United States leading Switzerland 1-0 in the second period of the game in St. Paul, Minn., Hutson was hit in the back of the helmet by a shot on goal by Gian Meier. He fell to the ice and was surrounded by his teammates as he was being evaluated by medical staff.

He was taken to an area hospital and discharged in time to rejoin the team postgame.

"It was a scary situation, no question," USA coach Bob Motzko said after the game, a 2-1 win for the Americans.

"It's a very close group of guys, and they responded. It knocks you back. The building was silent. But the good news is that he was released and is back with us."

Hutson, 19, is a sophomore at Boston University and was named a first-team All-American as a freshman. A native of Chicago, he was selected by the Washington Capitals with the No. 43 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

He won a gold medal in the 2025 junior championships with Team USA and was the first defenseman to lead the tournament in scoring with 11 points on three goals and eight assists.

Hs older brother is Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, who won the Calder Memorial Trophy signifying the NHL rookie of the year last season.

Some subtle line shuffling helped the Blackhawks during Saturday's 4-3 shootout victory in Dallas, and the club hopes the consistency creates more comfort as the slumping Pittsburgh Penguins visit Sunday night.

Tyler Bertuzzi snapped a seven-game pointless streak with a pair of goals for Chicago. He skated on the top line with Jason Dickinson, who also scored, and Landon Slaggert. There were other adjustments to be had with Ilya Mikheyev missing the game for the birth of his child, but the Blackhawks jelled.

"I was trying to keep some continuity from the last game," Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. "I don't like moving lines around every game. We tried to keep the (Ryan) Donato line the same, and we just took Mikheyev out and put another guy that skates pretty well in (Slaggert)."

Chicago recalled Slaggert from the team's American Hockey League affiliate earlier Saturday.

"Him and Micky aren't exactly the same player, but he does bring energy, he does skate," Blashill said. "He brings that line some speed, which I thought was important."

Rookie Nick Lardis sealed the victory for the Blackhawks with a goal in the fourth round of the shootout. The forward is seeking his first career point at United Center -- he scored during a Dec. 20 loss at Ottawa -- but has registered a shot on goal in four of his six career games.

Pittsburgh has been idle since Tuesday's 6-3 loss in Toronto, which dropped the club to 1-5-4 in its past 10 games.

The Penguins bemoaned a bevy of bad bounces, including two Maple Leafs goals on breakaways and another that ricocheted off a Pittsburgh stick.

"We try to do the right things," defenseman Erik Karlsson said. "They caught all the breaks and capitalized on them. That's the way it's gonna go sometimes. ... But we've been giving up too many (odd-man rushes) the last little bit."

Goaltender Stuart Skinner, a recent acquisition from the Edmonton Oilers, made 25 saves on 29 shots while appearing in his 200th career game.

"He was there when we needed him," Penguins forward Rutger McGroarty said. "We just can't give up that many good looks."

Skinner fell to 0-3-0 with a 4.18 goals-against average with Pittsburgh.

Bryan Rust, Anthony Mantha and McGroarty scored for the Penguins. Sidney Crosby earned career assist No. 1,080 to surpass Adam Oates for eighth on the NHL's all-time list.

Crosby has provided a steady hand during the Penguins' December slide, contributing 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 12 games this month.

In 21 career games against the Blackhawks, he has eight goals and seven assists. That includes a game-winning power-play goal that paced the Penguins to a 5-0 rout of visiting Chicago on April 8.

The clubs split a pair of games last season, meeting over a span of three days.

The Habs entered the break solely in second place in the Eastern Conference's Atlantic Division, but they are now tied for second with the Lightning with 45 points in 37 matches after Tampa Bay's 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night in Sunrise, Fla.

The super-snug Atlantic is a curious division to be competing in this season, as eight points separate the first-place Detroit Red Wings and last-place Toronto Maple Leafs.

Even the Buffalo Sabres, an annual cellar-dwelling bunch, have now reeled off eight straight victories to climb over the Leafs.

Montreal has addressed its situation and not stood pat.

Earning points in seven of the past eight matches (5-1-2), the surging Canadiens reunited with an old friend when they traded for defensive-minded center Phillip Danault recently by sending a second-round pick to the Los Angeles Kings, giving the Western Conference club cap relief and a trade asset.

Danault, 32, has played 742 NHL games and was with Montreal for six seasons his first time around.

His arrival should help a porous penalty-kill unit (77.7%, 23rd in the league) and place an emphasis on the defensive side of the puck, likely centering the third line as the club will attempt to fix its second-line pivot spot.

"We had a lot of success together in the past," said right winger Brendan Gallagher. "I know his playing style. He's a guy who does a lot to help his linemates. ... We just added a very good player who will help us in several facets of the game."

Cole Caufield leads with 18 goals, while Oliver Kapanen, Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki (team-high 31 assists) have 11 apiece as the Habs will be skating in the third match of a season-long seven-game road trip.

The Lightning will be playing on the second half of a back-to-back set, and it was a doozy Saturday against their down-state foe in a typically fist-filled match: 136 combined penalty minutes, with 87 meted out to the visitors.

Tampa Bay killed eight of nine Florida power plays but went 0-for-6 on the man advantage. However, Jake Guentzel scored short-handed for the team's first tally.

Nikita Kucherov ran his season total to 15 goals with a pair, including an empty-netter as the Lightning won their third straight and are 5-2-1 in the past eight matches.

"I mean, yeah, we know the rivalry here," said forward Yanni Gourde, who had an assist and six penalty minutes. "We know what to expect. We were ready to meet those challenges."

Injured winger Brandon Hagel participated in morning skate but missed his fourth consecutive match after a high hit from Florida defenseman Seth Jones and leaving the champs' 5-2 triumph in Tampa.

"He's getting close," coach Jon Cooper said of Hagel, who has 18 goals and 13 assists in 32 games. "He's probably in that day-to-day range."

Before the game, the organization announced it had signed defenseman J.J. Moser to an eight-year deal worth an annual average value (AAV) of $6.75 million.

The 25-year-old product from Biel, Switzerland, has three goals and nine assists with a plus-25 rating over 35 games.

Host Detroit holds a tenuous lead in the division, while Toronto resides in the cellar. Both teams will come into the contest on short rest.

The Red Wings lost 5-2 on the road to Carolina on Saturday night. Detroit held a 1-0 lead after the first period, but the Hurricanes scored three unanswered goals in the second. The Red Wings. who had won eight of their last 10 games, pulled within one on Andrew Copp's power-play goal early in the third but couldn't finish the comeback.

"One team had legs, (the Hurricanes) had plenty of jump. They won races to pucks. They really overwhelmed us for two periods," Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. "We found our legs a little bit in the third, but they're a tough team to come back against. Didn't do much in the first 40 and not enough at the end."

Cam Talbot (10-6-2, 3.00 goals-against average, .886 save percentage) is likely to start in goal on Sunday after John Gibson made 33 saves against Carolina. Talbot ended a personal six-game losing streak when he made 31 saves in a 3-2 overtime victory against Washington last Sunday.

"We were coming off three days of rest. We didn't skate real well tonight," McLellan said. "Toronto played, they're just finishing up, too. We're both traveling to Detroit. We have zero excuses that we can lean on. Based on the way our guys skated in the third, I hope we can carry that over to our game against Toronto tomorrow."

The Maple Leafs won a 7-5 thriller at home over Ottawa on Saturday. Toronto entered the third period with a 5-2 advantage, but the Senators scored twice in the first 5:07 of the third. Matthew Knies soon scored his second goal of the game to give the Maple Leafs some breathing room.

Ottawa once again pulled within a goal before John Tavares' empty-netter clinched Toronto's victory.

Auston Matthews had a goal and two assists and Max Domi contributed three assists, but it wasn't all roses for the Maple Leafs.

"You knew coming in, it's a divisional opponent, two teams that don't really like each other much," Matthews said. "Obviously the history, especially with the playoffs from last year. So it was an emotional game, passionate game, and it was going to take until the last second, the last buzzer to get the job done."

Forward William Nylander departed during the second period due to a lower-body injury. Nylander scored his 14th goal on a power play during the first period.

Joseph Woll made 26 saves. Dennis Hildeby (2-5-3, 2.96 GAA, .911 save percentage) could get the nod Sunday in the second game of a back-to-back.

Detroit collected back-to-back victories over Toronto in mid-October. Lucas Raymond led the Red Wings to a 6-3 win with two goals, and Mason Appleton's tiebreaking goal in the final minute gave Detroit a 3-2 victory in the rematch.

They'll finish off the season series in Toronto on Jan. 21.

The New York Islanders are learning the same is not true when it comes to a hockey team and goaltenders.

The Islanders will look to continue their strong play without injured No. 1 netminder Ilya Sorokin on Sunday night, when New York visits the Columbus Blue Jackets in a battle of Metropolitan Division rivals.

The Islanders will be completing a back-to-back set after David Rittich stopped all 27 shots he faced in Saturday's 2-0 win over the visiting New York Rangers in Elmont, N.Y.

The Blue Jackets last played Monday, when they beat the host Los Angeles Kings 3-1.

Rittich is in line for his fourth straight start Sunday in place of Sorokin, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday with a lower-body injury. New York initially hoped Sorokin, who has been dealing with what the club described as "a small nagging issue," could return following the holiday break.

But Rittich, a 33-year-old playing for his sixth NHL team, continued to play well in Sorokin's absence Saturday, posting his second shutout of the season while improving to 9-3-2 and raising his save percentage to .919. Sorokin is 12-10-2 this season with three shutouts and a .910 save percentage.

"I think he has a happy-go-lucky mindset," Islanders center Bo Horvat said of Rittich, whose mask includes a drawing of Homer Simpson in a fisherman's outfit. "He takes the game really seriously, but he likes to have fun out there, too. He enjoys playing, he enjoys playing the game. He's been phenomenal for us all year."

The Islanders improved to 8-3-1 this month despite playing all or much of the schedule without Kyle Palmieri and Alexander Romanov -- each of whom are out for the season with injuries suffered last month -- and Horvat, who returned Saturday from a five-game absence due to a left ankle injury.

"I do believe that we are playing with more confidence, maybe, than we had when the season started," Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. "We have some clarity in what we're doing."

The task ahead is clear for the Blue Jackets, who will be the last NHL team to return from the holiday break. The win Monday was just the sixth in the last 19 games (6-8-5) for Columbus.

The skid has dropped the Blue Jackets into last place in the Eastern Conference despite a .500 record. Columbus (36 points) is six points out of the second wild-card spot.

"To go through the break and feel good about how we played and to get rewarded with two points, hopefully we'll carry (that) through here," Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason said following practice Saturday.

The Blue Jackets will also hope Mason Marchment can build on his hot start with the club -- especially with star defenseman Zach Werenski unlikely to play Sunday. Werenski missed Monday's game with a lower-body injury and didn't practice Saturday.

Marchment, acquired from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a pair of draft picks on Dec. 19, scored two goals Monday after collecting a goal in his Columbus debut on Dec. 20, when the Blue Jackets fell to the Anaheim Ducks 4-3.

"There's going to be different systems, but for the most part, you've just got to play the game," Marchment said. "There's going to be space where there's going to be space and you've got to find it and try to take advantage of it."

MacKinnon skated down the slot and ripped a wrist shot past the glove side of Carter Hart for the winner as the Avalanche extended their winning streak to seven games and their point streak to 10 games (9-0-1). It was Colorado's first win in five shootouts this season, and it had to twice rally from two-goal deficits in regulation to get there.

Martin Necas scored two goals, Samuel Girard had a goal and an assist, Sam Malinski had three assists and Artturi Lehkonen scored a 6-on-5 goal with 1:57 to go to force overtime for the Avalanche. Scott Wedgewood finished with 20 saves.

Alexander Holtz had a goal and an assist, Noah Hanifin had two assists and Ivan Barbashev, Ben Hutton, Brett Howden and Colton Sissons also scored for Vegas, which fell to 4-11 in games beyond regulation and 1-5 in shootouts. Hart made 33 saves.

Capitals 4, Devils 3 (OT)

Jakob Chychrun scored the game-winner with 54 seconds left in overtime to lift Washington past New Jersey in Newark, N.J., and end a three-game skid (0-2-1).

Chychrun, who entered the day tied with Columbus' Zach Werenski for the league lead in goals by defensemen, notched his 15th. Aliaksei Protas scored a goal and assisted on two for Washington. Alex Ovechkin ended a nine-game goalless drought with his game-tying, third-period score that forced overtime and assisted on Protas' first-period goal. Anthony Beauvillier found the net for the first time since Dec. 2 and Logan Thompson stopped 35 shots.

Jesper Bratt scored twice for the Devils, with Cody Glass getting his seventh of the season. Jake Allen made 29 saves, but New Jersey recorded its third straight defeat.

Sabres 4, Bruins 1

Peyton Krebs scored the eventual game-winner and Mattias Samuelsson factored into all three of Buffalo's unanswered goals in the second period, leading the host team to a win over visiting Boston.

Ryan McLeod and Krebs scored within a span of 1:33 to turn Buffalo's 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead and never looked back on the way to the Sabres' eighth consecutive victory. Samuelsson finished with a goal and two assists, notching the defenseman's first career three-point game.

Krebs had a goal and an assist, Josh Norris also scored, Jack Quinn and Tage Thompson each had two helpers, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 21 shots for Buffalo. David Pastrnak scored the lone goal and Joonas Korpisalo made 30 stops for the Bruins, who are now winless in five straight (0-4-1).

Islanders 2, Rangers 0

Backup goalie David Rittich stopped all 27 shots he faced for the host New York Islanders, who outlasted the New York Rangers in Elmont.

Rittich has allowed just three goals over three straight starts in place of Ilya Sorokin, who is sidelined with an unspecified injury. The shutout was the second of the season for the 33-year-old, who turned back a penalty shot by Carson Soucy the third period.

Anders Lee scored in the opening minute of the game and Simon Holmstrom added an empty-netter with 16.1 seconds left for the Islanders, who have outscored the Rangers 7-0 in two games this season. The Islanders went 0-4 last season against the Rangers, who outscored them 23-5.

Wild 4, Jets 3 (OT)

Matt Boldy scored his second goal of the night in overtime as Minnesota outlasted host Winnipeg.

Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists while Mats Zuccarello scored and picked up an assist. Quinn Hughes had three helpers in the win in support of Wild netminder Jesper Wallstedt, who saved 23 pucks. Zuccarello converted on a 6-on-4 opportunity to tie the game up at 3-3 with 22 seconds remaining and Boldy finished off the game with a snapshot on a feed from Hughes 39 seconds into overtime.

Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist in the loss. Josh Morrissey was the other goal scorer for the Jets while Gabriel Vilardi chipped in two assists. Connor Hellebuyck made 15 stops for Winnipeg.

Maple Leafs 7, Senators 5

Matthew Knies had two goals and an assist and Toronto held on to defeat visiting Ottawa.

Auston Matthews added a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs, who have won two in a row. Nicholas Robertson contributed a goal and an assist while William Nylander, Bobby McMann and John Tavares (empty net) also scored. Max Domi had three assists, Matias Maccelli had two assists and Joseph Woll made 26 saves.

Jordan Spence had a goal and an assist for the Senators, who have lost two straight. Nick Cousins, Ridly Greig, Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle also scored. Claude Giroux and Stephen Halliday each had two assists. Linus Ullmark allowed four goals on 14 shots for Ottawa before Leevi Merilaine replaced him in the second period and yielded two goals on 18 shots.

Sharks 6, Canucks 3

Igor Chernyshov scored his first NHL goal, Macklin Celebrini had a goal and an assist and visiting San Jose finally beat Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko.

Chernyshov and William Eklund recorded a goal and an assist. Ryan Reaves, John Klingberg and Collin Graf had markers for San Jose, which snapped a three-game skid. Celebrini's outing stretched the 19-year-old North Vancouver native's point streak to seven games (five goals, nine assists). Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov stopped 24 shots.

Linus Karlsson, Marco Rossi and Drew O'Connor scored for the Canucks, who lost at home to the Sharks for the first time since 2019. Conor Garland and Filip Hronek had two assists apiece. Forward Elias Pettersson returned to the lineup and skated in his 500th career game. Demko made 32 saves but lost for the first time to San Jose in 14 career decisions.

Kings 6, Ducks 1

Alex Laferriere notched his first career hat trick for Los Angeles in a win against visiting Anaheim.

Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist, Anze Kopitar had the secondary assist on each of Laferriere's goals and Anton Forsberg made 24 saves for the Kings, who were 1-4-2 in the seven games before the Christmas break.

Mason McTavish scored and Lukas Dostal made 24 saves for the Ducks, who have dropped four of five (1-3-1).

Hurricanes 5, Red Wings 2

Shayne Gostisbehere's goal and first of two assists came in a three-goal second period for Carolina in its victory against Detroit at Raleigh, N.C.

Andrei Svechnikov also had a goal and two assists, while Jackson Blake, Eric Robinson and Jordan Martinook had goals for the Hurricanes, who dominated segments of the game without much to show for until the middle period. Brandon Bussi stopped 18 shots to improve to 12-1-1 in his rookie season. The outcome snapped Carolina's season-long three-game losing streak and came in a clash between divisional leaders.

Michael Rasmussen and Andrew Copp scored for Detroit. Goalie John Gibson made 33 saves but lost for the first time in nine December outings.

Blackhawks 4, Stars 3 (SO)

Nick Lardis and Ryan Donato scored in the shootout to give Chicago a win over host Dallas. Matt Duchene scored in the shootout for the Stars to knot the score at 1-1, before Lardis won it in the bottom of the fourth.

Tyler Bertuzzi had two goals and Jason Dickinson scored for the Blackhawks, who snapped their six-game losing streak. Defenseman Alex Vlasic had two assists and Arvid Soderblom made 28 saves.

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists while defenseman Nils Lundkvist and Justin Hryckowian had goals for the Stars, who lost in overtime for the second straight game. Wyatt Johnston contributed three assists and Jake Oettinger stopped 30 shots.

Blues 3, Predators 2

Pavel Buchnevich scored two goals and Joel Hofer made 30 saves to lead host St. Louis to a victory over Nashville.

It was the 22nd multi-goal game of Buchnevich's career and the first since Oct. 11, 2024. Robert Thomas had two assists and Brayden Schenn also scored for St. Louis, which moved into fifth place in the Central Division with the win.

Tyson Jost and Fedor Svechkov scored goals and Nicolas Hague had two assists for Nashville, which had a three-game winning streak snapped. Juuse Saros finished with 17 saves for the Predators.

Lightning 4, Panthers 2

Nikita Kucherov scored twice, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves as Tampa Bay defeated host Florida in a fight-filled game. The Lightning also got goals from Jake Guentzel and Pontus Holmberg and have won three straight games overall.

There were 45 penalties called, including nine in a massive brawl toward the end of the second period. The Lightning totaled a season-high 87 minutes, the Panthers a season-high 49. Florida went 1 for 9 on its power play while also allowing a short-handed goal. Tampa Bay went 0-for-6 on its power play.

Eetu Luostarinen and Brad Marchand scored for the Panthers. Marchand has a team-high 21 goals, and he also has a seven-game point streak. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.

Flames 3, Oilers 2

Blake Coleman scored the eventual game-winner as host Calgary edged Edmonton to improve to 8-1-1 in its last 10 on home ice.

Yegor Sharangovich and Ryan Lomberg also scored for the Flames, who split the home-and-home with the Oilers. Edmonton thumped Calgary 5-1 on Tuesday. Dustin Wolf made 29 saves to improve to 8-4-2 at home this season.

Evan Bouchard scored and added an assist and Connor McDavid also tallied for the Oilers, who lost for just the third time in regulation in their last 12 (8-3-1). Connor Ingram stopped 29 shots.

MacKinnon skated down the slot and ripped a wrist shot past the glove side of Carter Hart for the winner as the Avalanche extended their winning streak to seven games and their point streak to 10 games (9-0-1). It was Colorado's first win in five shootouts this season, and it had to twice rally from two-goal deficits in regulation to get there.

Martin Necas scored two goals, Samuel Girard had a goal and an assist, Sam Malinski had three assists and Artturi Lehkonen scored a 6-on-5 goal with 1:57 to go to force overtime for the Avalanche. Scott Wedgewood finished with 20 saves.

Alexander Holtz had a goal and an assist, Noah Hanifin had two assists and Ivan Barbashev, Ben Hutton, Brett Howden and Colton Sissons also scored for Vegas, which fell to 4-11 in game beyond regulation and 1-5 in shootouts. Hart made 33 saves.

Vegas took a 1-0 lead at the 2:43 mark of the first period when Holtz, skating down the slot, redirected Hanifin's pass inside the right post for his first goal since April 12, 2025.

Barbashev extended the lead to 2-0 at the 34-second mark of the second period when he finished an odd-man rush with Mitch Marner with a wrist shot through Wedgewood's pads.

Colorado rebounded to tie it, 2-2, later in the period with the help of a couple of friendly bounces off Vegas defensemen. Girard cut it to 2-1 when his shot into the low slot redirected off the stick of defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and over Hart's left shoulder. Necas followed with a wrist shot that caromed off the hip of defenseman Kaedan Korczak and bounced past the right skate of Hart.

But Vegas answered with two goals in a 29-second span later in the period to take a 4-2 lead. Hutton got the first with a one-timer from above the right circle over Wedgewood's glove. Howden, rushing down the slot, followed with a redirect of a Reilly Smith saucer pass past Wedgewood's blocker side.

The Avalanche rallied to tie it again, 4-4, early in the third period on goals by Necas, who whipped a wrist shot from the left circle over Hart's left shoulder, and MacKinnon, who tapped in a rebound of Malinski point shot that leaked under Hart's right arm and trickled by the goal line.

Sissons made it 5-4 for Vegas with four minutes to go when he rushed down the right wing and put in a backhand shot around Wedgewood, who was pulled for an extra attacker with 2:47 remaining. Lehkonen then tied it with 1:57 left when he one-timed a MacKinnon pass into the slot past Hart's glove side.

Necas and MacKinnon found the net in the shootout, while only Marner beat Wedgewood for Vegas.

Chernyshov and William Eklund recorded a goal and an assist. Ryan Reaves, John Klingberg and Collin Graf had markers for San Jose, which snapped a three-game skid.

Celebrini's outing stretched the 19-year-old North Vancouver native's point streak to seven games (five goals, nine assists). Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov stopped 24 shots.

Linus Karlsson, Marco Rossi and Drew O'Connor scored for the Canucks, who lost at home to the Sharks for the first time since 2019. Conor Garland and Filip Hronek had two assists apiece.

Forward Elias Pettersson returned to the lineup and skated in his 500th career game. Demko made 31 saves but lost for the first time to San Jose in 14 career decisions.

In the first period, Demko made a sprawling save while on his back. The puck came to rest a few inches from the goal line, and Reaves burst in head-first and poked it in at 6:11.

The visitors' great start continued when Celebrini won a faceoff that went back to Klingberg. The defenseman then hammered home a goal low on Demko's glove side to double the advantage just 1:44 after Reaves' tally.

Vancouver used its special teams to get back in it after the Sharks' Vincent Iorio went off for crosschecking at 8:31. Karlsson chipped in a sharp pass from Conor Garland at 10:04.

In the second, Eklund got a piece of a puck and sent it slightly up in the air in the low slot. Facing Demko, Rossi inadvertently clipped the puck and sent it over his netminder. The own-goal was credited to Eklund, his ninth.

Rossi trimmed it to 3-2 just 36 seconds into the third with a shot that Askarov batted with his blocker, yet the puck bounced in to tighten the match.

During a power play, Chernyshov restored the two-goal cushion by hitting the net for the first time at 4:47, but O'Connor ripped a short-handed goal at 10:43 to make it 4-3.

Celebrini put the victory to bed by rocketing his 20th goal on a one-timer with 3:40 left. Graff then tallied into the empty net at 3:05.