NHL News

The 35-year-old Nashville forward scored the 600th goal of his career as the Predators defeated the host Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 in a Wednesday matinee.

Stamkos will look to add to his total when the Predators play Thursday night in Seattle.

Stamkos became the 22nd player in NHL history to reach the 600-goal milestone and just the third active skater, joining Alex Ovechkin (912) and Sidney Crosby (646).

No. 600 for Stamkos came on the power play on a slap shot from the left faceoff circle at 15:37 of the first period after a cross-ice pass from Filip Forsberg, tying the score at 2-2.

"I haven't scored a ton of those this year, but I guess if it was going to be No. 600, it was kind of like I've scored a lot of other ones," Stamkos said. "Awesome to do it in a win like this. ... That's how you envision doing something special like that. Really cool to have the guys come on the ice and share that moment."

Stamkos scored six times over the past six games and totaled 12 goals in December, including four against St. Louis on Dec. 11. That boosted his team-leading total for the season to 18.

Per the NHL's PR department, Stamkos' tally Wednesday was the 119th tying goal of his career, equaling Luc Robitaille for 10th place on the league's all-time list.

Stamkos also has 98 winning goals, tied with Bobby Hull and Guy Lafleur for 11th place.

The Predators improved to 3-1-0 on a seven-game trip that will conclude with stops Saturday in Calgary and Tuesday in Edmonton, moving within a point of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

"You want to roll into a new year with some momentum, and we have," Stamkos said. "Proud of the guys, and we're looking forward to the next year."

The Kraken, meanwhile, had a four-game winning streak snapped Monday with a 3-2 shootout loss to visiting Vancouver.

Seattle ended a drought of 10 consecutive games without a first-period goal, tallying twice in the opening 20 minutes against the Canucks. But the Kraken couldn't net another.

"Toward the end there, we sat back a little bit, kind of gave them some chances. And it's not the way you win games," said Jared McCann, who scored 8:50 into the contest. "We had some good opportunities offensively, hemmed them in their zone quite a bit. We should be proud of ourselves."

Kraken coach Lane Lambert agreed.

"We keep playing that way, we'll have success more often than not," he said.

The Kraken's resurgence, which comes after a 1-9-1 skid, has been helped by their special teams. Seattle has scored with the man advantage in eight of its past 11 games, though it failed to convert a chance in overtime Monday.

"I thought we had some good chances and that goalie (Kevin Lankinen) made some big saves for them," said McCann, who fell an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick after dropping the gloves with Vancouver's Conor Garland. "But all in all, we got a good point out of this and now we move forward."

The Stars are coming off a 4-1 loss Wednesday to the Buffalo Sabres, dropping Dallas to 0-1-2 in their past three outings following a 12-2-1 stretch. It's Dallas' longest losing streak since the team dropped four games in a row (0-3-1) from Oct. 16-23.

Dallas heads into Thursday's game looking to avenge a 4-3 shootout loss to the Blackhawks less than a week ago, on Dec. 27 in the first game out of the NHL's holiday break. The Stars have allowed four goals in each of their past three losses while totaling just seven goals.

"I think we've created enough to score, but then we have given up too much which we usually don't do, and I think we have to fix that and then get back on track," center Roope Hintz said.

And though the Stars entered Wednesday with the second-best power play in the league, they couldn't convert on the two opportunities they had against the Sabres, managing just one shot on goal. They're 2-for-14 with the man advantage in their past four games.

"I think we have had trouble now on the entry, so I think we got to fix that and then get that power play back going and then go from there," Hintz said.

The Blackhawks will look to snap out of a funk of their own, having lost eight of their past nine games (1-7-1), with their lone triumph being the last matchup against Dallas.

Most recently, Chicago fell 3-2 in a shootout to the New York Islanders on Tuesday. Teuvo Teravainen and Nick Lardis each scored late in the second period to erase a 2-0 deficit before all three Blackhawks shooters were stopped in the tiebreaker.

"You can look at it two ways," Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. "You can look at it (as a) good job recovering from a bad start, and you go out and play real good the rest of the way. ... I thought from just our heads being in it, I didn't think we were where we needed to be with the mental focus for that first 10 minutes. So, to me, you kind of let it slip away because you're not prepared to make sure that you play great hockey for 60 minutes."

The Blackhawks' slump coincides with the loss of center Connor Bedard to an upper-body injury in the last second of a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 12. The 20-year-old recently started rehab skating, but a definitive timeline for his return has yet to be determined.

The Jets finished 2025 on an 0-4-3 skid after their 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday in the opener of Winnipeg's three-game road trip. Six of the past seven losses have been by one goal.

The Jets will face a rested Maple Leafs team that is coming off a 4-0 home win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.

"It's just frustrating when the results aren't coming," Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. "We've got an opportunity here. I know we're not at all close to where we want to be, or feel that we could be with the type of team that we have."

Typical of how the season is going for the Jets came at 18:22 of the third period of their Wednesday game when their forward Gustav Nyquist clanked a shot off the post.

"At the end of the day, it's such a fragile situation," Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. "You make a mistake, and we're seeing what happens. That's been kind of the story here, especially recently here, when we have been playing good hockey.

"We cannot change in the sense of how we're playing and in the sense of how hard we're playing, how hard we're competing and the amount of opportunities that we're getting. But, man oh man, we've got to find a way somehow. We'll move off of 2025 and maybe in 2026, we can start scoring some goals."

The Maple Leafs are not known to be a gritty team when the going gets tough, but they changed that narrative somewhat on Tuesday.

Toronto was without Auston Matthews and William Nylander because of lower-body injuries, Chris Tanev with a groin injury and Dakota Joshua with a kidney injury. But they beat the Devils with strong goaltending from Joseph Woll, who made 33 saves, and a goal and an assist each from Bobby McMann and Nicolas Roy.

"The determination right now and the attitude we have around here, I think the attitude has been really good, even before Christmas," Toronto coach Craig Berube said Wednesday. "Things always don't go your way, but the guys come the next day with a positive attitude, and we're going to have to continue to do that. It's going to be a dog fight in January. We know that, but I love the attitude we have right now."

There was some bad news Wednesday, however. Tanev and Joshua will be out for a significant time.

Tanev has been limited to 11 games this season, and the defenseman's ability to move the puck, his calm presence and toughness are missed when he is out of the lineup.

"You're not going to replace that, but we have a lot of heart-and-soul guys in here," Berube said. "Like last night's game, guys just went out and did their job and checked, and everybody stepped it up a little. We're going to have to continue to do the same thing."

The news on Matthews was better.

"He had a good day today," Berube said Wednesday. "Tomorrow, see how it feels in the morning. He'll probably go on the ice and we'll go from there."

As for Nylander, Berube said: "We'll see tomorrow if he is able to get on the ice."

Coach Dan Muse's team dispatched the Carolina Hurricanes, who lead the Metropolitan Division, 5-1 on Tuesday, and next up is the Atlantic Division-leading Red Wings, who won for the fifth time in six games in a 2-1 home victory Wednesday over the Winnipeg Jets.

Pittsburgh's offense has been on its game since the holiday break, scoring 12 goals in its last two contests. It's quite a turnaround from the eight-game losing streak (0-4-4) the Penguins endured from Dec. 7-20, when the team mustered only 20 goals and was shut out in back-to-back games.

The Penguins have seen increased production from their bigger players. Justin Brazeau, a 6-foot-6 forward, followed his hat trick in Chicago on Sunday in a 7-3 victory with a goal and an assist in the win over the Hurricanes. Anthony Mantha has goals in three straight contests, including a pair in Tuesday's win.

"These guys, they're huge bodies that can get to the net, and they're doing that right now," Muse told reporters after the win over the Hurricanes. "You saw them get rewarded with that here, but they've got a skill set where they're able to make plays. I think there's a good balance to the way they're playing right now."

Sidney Crosby also scored a goal on Tuesday to extend his points streak to four games. The 38-year-old center leads the team with 21 goals and 40 points in 38 games.

Detroit, meanwhile, is coming off a highly successful December, with coach Todd McLellan's team going 11-3-1.

McLellan told reporters after his team beat Winnipeg that he sees a lot of differences between this season's squad and last year's team, which finished sixth in the division and extended Detroit's playoff drought to nine seasons, the longest stretch of futility for the Original Six franchise.

"We're not panicking as much," McLellan said. "We play with less risk. We don't extend shifts as much as we did last year. We give up a little bit of offense at times to manage situations properly."

Dylan Larkin scored his team-leading 21st goal in Wednesday's victory. Lucas Raymond got the secondary assist on that goal to give him points in four of his last five games. He leads the Red Wings with 32 assists and 43 points.

With John Gibson getting the win Wednesday, Cam Talbot may start in net for the Red Wings in Pittsburgh. Talbot, 38, is 11-6-2 in 20 games (18 starts) with a 2.94 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage. In 13 career games against the Penguins, he owns a 4-4-4 record with a 3.14 GAA and a .904 save percentage.

Pittsburgh goalie Stuart Skinner, who got his first win in his fourth start with the team on Tuesday, could face the Red Wings for a third time this season. Acquired from Edmonton on Dec. 12, Skinner is 2-2-1 against Detroit in his career with a 2.57 GAA and a .920 save percentage.

He was 1-1 against them this season for the Oilers. That includes a 27-save win over the Red Wings in a 4-1 win on Dec. 11, his last appearance for Edmonton.

Thursday's game will be the first of a home-and-home set between Detroit and Pittsburgh. The teams will meet in Detroit on Saturday.

The Kings are coming off a 5-2 loss on Monday at the Colorado Avalanche, who lead the league with a whopping 67 points. Los Angeles stayed within striking distance until surrendering an empty-net goal with 1:37 left and an even-strength goal with 45 seconds remaining.

"Here's the positive for me," Kings coach Jim Hiller said after the loss. "Over the last few games, we look a little bit more like (ourselves). We're playing a little freer, a little looser. We look more dangerous; we've got more speed coming through the neutral zone. There's lots of things to like from a big picture. In the end, we've got to win games. If we can play like this, we'll win games."

The Kings have been held to two goals or less in eight of the past nine games, but they continue to play solid defensively, giving up an average of 2.55 goals a game, which is second lowest in the NHL.

"Defensively, we're still doing the right things. Checking wise, effort wise, I think we're still doing the right things," Los Angeles forward Adrian Kempe said. "I think that's the most important thing, that we're still relying on our identity, all that kind of stuff. Hopefully the goals will start coming."

The Kings activated goalie Darcy Kuemper from injured reserve on Tuesday after he was unavailable the past six games because of an upper-body injury.

Kuemper learned on Wednesday he had been selected to the 2026 Canadian Olympic team.

"Darcy has a great resume," Team Canada general manager GM Doug Armstrong said. "He's got the Kings in a good spot, and he's a Stanley Cup champion (with Colorado in 2022)."

Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty made the same team, his third Olympic selection.

"Drew is an unbelievable competitor," Armstrong said. "He was excited, he's honored, he wants to put his best foot forward. He wants to win again. His passion, he wears it on his sleeve, and that's infectious for everybody."

The Lightning, meanwhile, are coming off a 4-3 overtime win at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday afternoon, their fifth win in a row and one that kept them in second place in the Atlantic Division.

"We've come a long way from having one win in our first seven games," said Tampa Bay's Jon Cooper, who coached his 1,000th NHL game on Wednesday. "There's a lot of trust in that group, and they've played the game a bunch of different ways and, in the end, they keep finding ways to sneak points out and, most nights, win."

The Lightning had three players make the Canadian Olympic team: forwards Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli.

Hagel contributed three assists in the win against the Ducks.

"It gives me shivers," Hagel said of his Olympic selection. "Being able to play for the flag is a dream come true. I never would have thought about it in many years and now, obviously, I get the opportunity. People believed in me to give me a chance to go try and win gold, play for the country, and to play for that flag on the front of the chest means the world to me."

Washington defeated the visiting New York Rangers 6-3 on Wednesday, the same day the Capitals learned that forward Tom Wilson and goalie Logan Thompson were named to Team Canada for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Wilson celebrated by producing two goals and an assist vs. New York. Justin Sourdif also scored twice, and Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as Washington avenged a 7-3 loss to the Rangers on Dec. 23, when the Capitals led 3-2 in the third period.

"It was a good response by us," Lindgren said. "Obviously not happy about the last time we played these guys. We want to be dominant on home ice. I thought we had a really good game tonight against a Metro opponent, division rival."

The Capitals struggled through much of December but ended the month by winning two of three games. Beginning Thursday, they will play every other day until they have back-to-back games on Jan. 23-24.

On Wednesday, the Rangers pulled within 3-2 on Adam Fox's goal late in the second period, but Aliaksei Protas and Wilson scored to increase the margin in the third.

It was an eventful day for Wilson. His second goal was career No. 200, he set up Sourdif's empty-netter, and he engaged in a fight against Sam Carrick, giving him a Gordie Howe hat trick.

"I mean, he brings that type of mentality every game though," Sourdif said of Wilson. "He just leads the charge. His physicality, his presence. Back-checking, blocking shots, scoring goals. He kind of does it all. It helps the group a lot, and we feed off of that."

Ottawa ended 2025 on a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) after winning four games in a row. The Senators will play the second contest of a four-game homestand that opened with a 4-1 loss to Columbus on Monday.

Ottawa outshot the Blue Jackets 21-10 over the final two periods but only got one puck past Jet Greaves in that span. Columbus pulled away with a two-goal third period.

"Not very good. There wasn't a lot of good in our game tonight," Ottawa coach Travis Green said. "I don't say that very often, but that was probably one of our worst games of the year, I think."

Jake Sanderson scored for the Senators, and Leevi Merilainen made 18 saves. Tim Stutzle had an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games (eight goals, nine assists).

"Obviously, not good enough," Senators center Shane Pinto said. "I think we left Leevi out to dry there a little bit. Just didn't play our game. I think we had a tough home showing, but we've got to come back better on (Thursday) and try to win a game."

Pinto returned after missing 10 games because of a lower-body injury.

In the teams' first meeting of the season, Ottawa won 7-1 at Washington on Oct. 25 in Alex Ovechkin's 1,500th career game. Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson each scored twice for Ottawa.

With Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark going on a leave of absence earlier this week, Merilainen could be in line for another start despite losing six of his past seven games. He took an overtime loss in his lone career appearance against Washington, stopping 25 of 26 shots on Jan. 16, 2025.

Thompson, who figures to start on Thursday, is 2-4-1 in his past seven games. He owns a 5-0-1 record with a 2.30 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage vs. the Senators.

The Bruins led 2-0 at the first intermission and produced two goals in each period. Pastrnak's goals bookended the scoring.

Elias Lindholm and Hampus Lindholm each notched a goal and an assist, Jonathan Aspirot and Casey Mittelstadt also scored and Viktor Arvidsson and Fraser Minten dished out two assists apiece to help Boston snap a 0-4-2 run.

Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman stopped 34 of the 36 shots he faced, backstopping a 5-for-5 penalty kill.

Zach Hyman and Jack Roslovic scored and Connor Ingram made 23 saves for Edmonton, which has lost two of its past three games.

Connor McDavid extended his point streak to 14 games (13 goals, 21 assists) with the primary helper on Hyman's goal.

The Bruins built an early 6-1 edge in shots on the strength of their power play. Seconds after a 5-on-3 power because a 5-on-4 edge, Pastrnak put Boston up 1-0 when he took the carom off the end wall and banked in a shot off Ingram's pad from the goal line at 7:28.

Swayman sprawled out to save a McDavid breakaway with 6:02 left in the first. The Bruins goaltender also made multiple close-range stops on the Edmonton captain during a kill that started less than a minute later.

Mittelstadt doubled the Boston lead with 1:47 left before the first intermission, taking Arvidsson's drop feed entering the zone and ripping home a short-side shot from the left dot.

The hosts clawed back at 2-1 as McDavid weaved through the defense and dished a backhand feed for Hyman to one-time by Swayman with 40.2 seconds to go in the period.

Arvidsson started the play that led to Hampus Lindholm's goal at 7:05 of the second. After Arvidsson brought the puck over the line and fed it back to Fraser Minten, the defenseman got the puck and fired a high shot past Ingram from the left side just after a power play expired.

The Boston lead grew to three with 1:41 left in the middle frame, as Aspirot forced a turnover in the defensive zone before jumping up and burying a Pastrnak feed at the end of a rush.

Following Swayman's stop of a Roslovic break-in off the third-period draw, Elias Lindholm continued the Bruins' run with a snap shot that deflected in off Ingram at 4:20.

Roslovic did net a wrister from the left circle to make it 5-2 at 7:22.

Pastrnak scored off Minten's one-time feed with 5:26 remaining.

Calgary, which improved to 10-1-1 in its past 12 home games, wrapped up December with a 9-4-0 record.

Mikael Backlund, Jonathan Huberdeau, Rasmus Andersson and Yegor Sharangovich also scored for the Flames, who are 15-4-2 in games played on New Year's Eve since the 2000-01 season.

Matt Coronato and MacKenzie Weegar each added a pair of assists for Calgary, which has won five of its past six games overall. Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf made 25 saves to extend his home win streak to seven games.

Travis Konecny tallied for the Flyers, who lost for just the second time in five games. Samuel Ersson stopped 20 shots.

Zary made it 5-1 at 9:37 of the third, picking up the loose puck off the Nikita Grebenkin turnover behind the Flyers' net and snapping a shot past Ersson.

The Flames scored three times in the second period to open a 4-1 lead.

Calgary went up 2-0 at 3:08 of the middle frame as Huberdeau's shot hit Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale and got past Ersson.

Konecny got the Flyers on the board at 8:49 of the second period as Flames forward Nazem Kadri knocked in the rebound off Konecny's shot.

Andersson restored the Flames' two-goal lead on a 5-on-3 power play, one-timing a Zary pass by Ersson.

Calgary made it a three-goal margin on a power play at 17:52 of the second as Sharangovich snapped a shot past Ersson.

Philadelphia outshot Calgary 4-3 in the first period, but it was the Flames with a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Backlund opened the scoring at 13:30, one-timing a Coronato feed glove-side past Ersson. With the goal, the Flames captain extended his point streak to six games (five goals, four assists).

On Wednesday afternoon, the Flyers made a minor league trade, acquiring forward Philip Tomasino from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenseman Egor Zamula.

Valeri Nichushkin notched his second career hat trick, Brock Nelson had a goal and added an assist, the 300th of his career, and Josh Manson produced two assists for Colorado.

MacKinnon, who now has 401 goals, is the third player in franchise history to reach the mark and the first to do it all with Colorado. Joe Sakic, the franchise leader with 625, had 391 with the Avalanche, and Michel Goulet is second with 456, all with the Quebec Nordiques.

Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 12 shots for Avalanche but was denied his third shutout of the season when Dalibor Dvorsky scored late in the third period.

Colorado remains unbeaten in regulation at home (17-0-2), where it has won 15 straight. The Avalanche have just two regulation losses through 39 games.

Jordan Binnington made 37 saves for St. Louis, which has dropped two straight and had a season-low shot total.

The Avalanche blitzed the Blues from the start, scoring four times in the first 4:39. Nichushkin started the onslaught a minute into the game, and MacKinnon atoned for his goaltender-interference infraction that erased a potential Cale Makar goal when he knocked in a rebound at 3:13.

Nichushkin got his second 13 seconds later, and MacKinnon's one-timer 1:13 after that made it 4-0. It was the fastest four goals to start a game in franchise history and third fastest in NHL history.

MacKinnon now has 34 goals, which leads the NHL, and he has 70 points. The Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid, who was the league leader, also collected his 70th point on Wednesday.

The score remained 4-0 until midway through the second period when Nelson scored a rare power-play goal for Colorado. The Avalanche hadn't connected on a man advantage in the previous three games. Dvorsky tallied at 14:32 of the third, and Nichushkin answered at 16:06.

Josh Doan and Bowen Byram each had a goal and an assist and Noah Ostlund notched two assists for the Sabres, who also won 10 in a row in 1983-84, 2006-07 and 2018-19. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves for his third consecutive victory.

Mavrik Bourque scored and Casey DeSmith stopped 27 shots for the Stars, who have lost three straight (0-2-1). Dallas hadn't dropped three in a row since an 0-3-1 stretch in October.

Bourque gave Dallas a 1-0 lead 15 seconds into the contest. Luukkonen stopped Miro Heiskanen's point shot that deflected off Jason Robertson's stick, but the rebound bounced in front and Bourque got his stick on it to put it past Luukkonen stick side.

Buffalo wasn't fazed and pushed the pace in the opening period in pursuit of the equalizer but still trailed 1-0 at the first intermission.

The Sabres finally broke through at 7:44 of the second period, courtesy of Doan. Thompson gathered a loose puck at the Stars' blue line, held it in the corner and then took it behind the net, where he protected it before feeding Doan in the left circle for a snap shot that beat DeSmith short side to tie it 1-1.

Byram put the Sabres ahead 2-1 at 17:05 of the middle frame. Ostlund took a short pass from Alex Tuch inside the defensive zone and sent it across the ice into the neutral zone for Byram, who had jumped up on the other side. The defenseman then carried it to the right circle and snapped it far side.

Thompson pushed the lead to 3-1 at 9:21 of the third period. DeSmith stopped Byram's shot from the blue line and Doan's whack at the rebound, but Thompson wouldn't be denied on the doorstep blocker side.

Thompson tallied his 20th of the season to make it 4-1 just over two minutes later. He took a centering feed from Ostlund at the top of the slot and fired a snap shot inside the right post.

Mason Marchment and Charlie Coyle scored in the first and second for the Blue Jackets before Kirill Marchenko sparked the Devils' rally by getting whistled for hooking 2:45 into the third.

Hischier won the subsequent faceoff deep in the Blue Jackets' zone and cut the gap in half four seconds later when Luke Hughes' shot from the slot glanced off his stick and trickled under the legs of teammate Stefen Noesen and Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves.

Gritsyuk capped an end-to-end rush and tied the score 55 seconds later, when his shot from the right faceoff circle sailed beyond Greaves' glove.

Another faceoff win for the Devils led to Luke Hughes' go-ahead goal at 4:45. Cody Glass outdueled Adam Fantilli to begin the sequence that ended with Luke Hughes beating Greaves stick side from the left faceoff circle.

Jake Allen made 33 saves for the Devis, who snapped a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) as they finished December with a 5-9-1 record.

Greaves recorded 30 saves for the Blue Jackets, whose three-game winning streak ended.

Marchment extended his point streak with his new club by scoring 6:18 into the first. Allen got a glove on Marchenko's shot from the slot but couldn't corral it before Marchment reached in and buried the rebound over Allen's blocker.

The Blue Jackets doubled the lead in similar fashion late in the second. Columbus defenseman Dante Fabbro stole the puck from Jack Hughes at the Devils goal line and passed to Cole Sillinger, whose shot glanced off Boone Jenner as he collided in the crease with New Jersey defenseman Colton White. With Jenner and White on the ice, Coyle swooped in and again put the puck over Allen.

Larkin and Mason Appleton scored in the first period for the Atlantic Division-leading Red Wings. John Gibson made 24 saves for Detroit, which finished 11-3-1 in the month of December. All but three of those victories were decided by a single goal.

Logan Stanley scored the lone goal for the Jets, who have lost seven straight. All but one of those defeats were decided by one goal.

Connor Hellebuyck made 17 saves.

The Jets were the more physical team, getting credited with 24 hits compared to the Red Wings' 14. However, the Red Wings defenders helped preserve the lead by blocking 20 shots.

With John Morrissey in the penalty box for roughing, the Wings grabbed the lead midway through the first period. Larkin fired a shot that eluded Hellebuyck's glove, with Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond collecting assists.

Appleton made it 2-0 after a Jets turnover at center ice. J.T. Compher collected the puck, skated into Winnipeg territory and passed it to Appleton, whose shot bounced off Hellebuyck's pads, deflected off defenseman Luke Schenn and into the net.

There were four penalties called, two on each side, in the second period, and Winnipeg had an 11-6 shots on goal advantage but it didn't affect the score.

Stanley scored with 12:56 remaining to pull the Jets within one. He took a pass from Jonathan Toews and skated into the right circle. His shot from a tough angle managed to squeeze through Gibson's pads.

Shortly thereafter, Detroit killed off a penalty against Larkin. Gibson made a quality save against Gustav Nyquist with 1:38 remaining to clinch the Red Wings victory.

Detroit now plays a home-and-home set against Pittsburgh, beginning with a road game on Thursday. The Jets will try once again to end their slide at Toronto on Thursday.

The Islanders and Mammoth will each hit the midway point of their season Thursday, when New York faces Utah in a New Year's Day clash in Elmont, N.Y.

The Islanders last played Tuesday, when they frittered away an early two-goal lead before beating the host Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2, in the shootout. The Mammoth have been off since Monday, when they squandered a third-period lead in a 4-3 loss to the visiting Nashville Predators.

Despite a spate of injuries and a lengthy offensive slump, the Islanders went 9-4-1 in December and will enter the new year three points behind the first-place Carolina Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division.

New York lost right winger Kyle Palmieri (left knee) and defenseman Alexander Romanov (right shoulder) to season-ending surgeries in November and played five games in December without leading scorer Bo Horvat (lower-body injury).

The Islanders have scored three goals or fewer in eight straight games, a span in which they've gone 4-3-1. New York has played the last five games without starting goalie Ilya Sorokin, who is sidelined with an unspecified injury. David Rittich has gone 3-1-1 in his absence.

But perhaps aware of how thin the margin of error is in the parity-ridden NHL, the Islanders weren't thrilled by nearly squandering two points against the Blackhawks, whose 35 points entering Wednesday were tied for the second-fewest in the league.

"I thought we had a really good first," said Horvat, who scored the Islanders' second goal and the only one in the shootout. "After that, I just think our whole team just sat back a little bit too much. We weren't as crisp in the second. I thought we did a little bit better in the third, but overall, I think we can be a lot better as a team."

The Mammoth are in a similar spot after ending the calendar year with 11 losses in the final 17 games (6-11-0). Utah, which missed the playoffs by seven points last season following the franchise's move from Arizona, will enter Thursday two points out of a wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

The Utah/Arizona franchise hasn't made the playoffs since the pandemic bubble in 2020, when the Coyotes beat the Predators in the qualifying round before falling to the Colorado Avalanche. The Coyotes last qualified for the postseason in a full campaign in 2011-12.

The Mammoth emerged as a contender by going on a seven-game winning streak from Oct. 15-26. But Utah has won consecutive games just three times since, a span in which it has endured four losing streaks of at least three games.

The Mammoth have scored three goals or fewer in 24 of the last 31 games. They have been shut out three times since Nov. 29 and lost the following game each time. Utah responded to a 1-0 loss to the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 23 by taking a trio of one-goal leads Monday before Steven Stamkos scored the tying and go-ahead goals in a span of 1:38 in the third period for Nashville.

"As they say, you have to learn from your mistakes and not repeat them," Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev said. " ... There's (going to) be some lapses and stuff, but we've got to get into it and play much better there in the crucial last 10 minutes of the game."

Igor Chernyshov also registered a goal and an assist in the win, while Jeff Skinner added his fifth goal of the season.

Yaroslav Askarov made 20 saves in regulation and stopped both shots he faced in the shootout as San Jose won its third straight.

Marcus Foligno tallied his first goal of the season, while Vladimir Tarasenko and Mats Zuccarello also scored for the Wild.

Jesper Wallstedt stopped 25 shots, including a pair by Celebrini in overtime, to force the shootout.

Minnesota claimed the first lead on Tarasenko's goal midway through the first period. He potted his eighth of the season, blasting a shot past Askarov on a 2-on-1 breakaway with Ryan Hartman, who got the primary assist.

San Jose jumped ahead with a pair in the second period. Chernyshov scored his third of the season -- and third in as many games -- just 74 seconds into the period. Celebrini earned the primary assist, his 40th of the season, to extend his points' streak to nine games.

By reaching that milestone in his 40th game of the season, the 19-year-old became the third-fastest teenager to reach 40 assists in a season. Sidney Crosby holds the record, getting 40 in 34 games in 2006-07, and Wayne Gretzky reached it in 36 games 45 years ago.

Skinner's power-play goal from the high slot put the Sharks ahead with 3:13 left in the second period, and Celebrini gave San Jose a two-goal lead on his 22nd of the season just 4:16 into the third. Chernyshov recorded his fifth assist in seven NHL games.

The Wild rallied to force overtime, scoring a pair just 2:07 apart. Foligno scored a tight-angle goal from the right circle, and Zuccarello's fourth of the season was unassisted with 11:13 remaining in regulation after he intercepted a pass from Celebrini in the Wild's attack zone.

Minnesota's Quinn Hughes had a breakaway chance midway through the 5-minute overtime that Askarov came out to stop.

After Celebrini scored in the second round of the shootout, William Eklund clinched the win with a goal in the third round.

Each team only took one minor penalty apiece in the contest.

The Sharks won all three games in the season series -- the first two ended in overtime with Celebrini and Collin Graf tallying the game-winners.

The defenseman took a feed from Brandon Hagel and flipped in the game-winner, beating Lukas Dostal (25 saves) after the goaltender stopped Anthony Cirelli one-on-one with no Ducks player nearby shortly before.

In their fifth straight win, the Lightning opened the three-game West Coast road swing by receiving goals from J.J. Moser, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov.

Kucherov and Raddysh also added assists. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots, and Hagel assisted on three goals.

Coach Jon Cooper was behind the bench for his 1,000th NHL game as Tampa Bay went 7-6-1 in December.

Jansen Harkins, Beckett Sennecke and Mason McTavish scored, but Anaheim fell to 1-4-2 in its past seven.

Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak (hand) was back in the lineup for the first time since Nov. 22, but Anaheim blue-liner Radko Gudas (illness) missed his second straight match.

At 11:19 of the second meeting between the clubs, Point scored at the far post, but he crossed into the offensive zone early after Nikita Kucherov fumbled the puck near the blue line. The Western Conference squad successfully challenged for offside, and the goal was taken off the board.

However, a strong series of passing led to Moser letting Ducks defenseman Ian Moore slide by through the left circle before ripping in the match's first marker at 13:30.

Late in the second, Lightning defenseman Charle-Edouard D'Astous coughed up the puck trying to leave the defensive end, and Ross Johnston intercepted it. Harkins tied it with a sharp-angle goal on a two-on-one at 15:17.

Point regained the lead with 49 seconds left by chipping in a wide shot by Max Crozier for a 2-1 edge after 40 minutes.

Sennecke notched his 12th goal, the most among rookies, to tie it 2-all at 3:57 into the third, but Kucherov one-timed the tiebreaking tally from the right circle on his club's second man advantage.

On his team's third power play, Pavel Mintyukov made a great play keeping the puck in the offensive zone, and McTavish knotted it for a third time at 13:02.

Stamkos roofed a one-timer from the left circle off a Filip Forsberg crossing pass at the 15:37 mark of the first period to tie the game, 2-2, and become the 22nd player in NHL history to reach 600 and the first to do it since Sidney Crosby accomplished the feat on Nov. 23, 2024. It was his 12th goal in 14 games in December and his 18th of the season.

Nick Perbix, Reid Schaefer and Michael Bunting also scored goals and Luke Evangelista had two assists for Nashville, which won for the fifth time in its last six games. Justus Annunen made 29 saves for the Predators.

Mark Stone and Ben Hutton scored goals and Pavel Dorofeyev had two assists for Vegas, which lost its third straight game and the sixth in seven games. Akira Schmid finished with 15 saves.

Vegas jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on a power-play goal by Stone, who tapped in a Dorofeyev crossing pass by the right post, and Hutton, who deflected a Tomas Hertl one-timer five-hole for his career-high sixth goal.

Nashville rallied to take a 3-2 lead with three goals in a five-minute span later in the opening period. Perbix made it 2-1 at the 11:20 mark when he ripped a wrist shot from inside the blue line past a Erik Haula screen and Schmid's glove side.

After Stamkos' milestone goal tied it, the Predators took a 3-2 lead 44 seconds later when Reid Schaefer's wrist shot from the left circle caromed in off Smith.

Nashville scored its fourth consecutive goal midway through the second period when Bunting, stationed by the left post, deflected Nick Blankenburg's shot from the right point.

Cole Smith had a chance to make it 5-2 at the 7:31 mark of the third period when he was awarded a penalty shot after being dragged down by Hutton on a breakaway but his wrist shot from the slot clanged off the right post.

Vegas, which played without center Jack Eichel and defenseman Shea Theodore for the seventh straight game, lost defenseman Brayden McNabb to a left arm injury following a nasty collision with Bunting in the neutral zone midway through the second period.

That is not the preferred route to victories, so the Canadiens would not mind altering the formula when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes for Thursday night's game at Raleigh, N.C.

"I think the resolution for the new year should be to get the lead first," Montreal winger Cole Caufield said. "(You should) remember that you're always in it and it's a good place to learn from. ... You want to get the lead, but it's nice to come back."

The Canadiens played beyond regulation in three of their past four games, including Tuesday night's 3-2 overtime triumph at Florida. It has been more than two weeks since Montreal lost in regulation.

The Canadiens needed to wipe out a 2-0 deficit in the last five minutes of regulation before Nick Suzuki's winning goal against the Panthers. They pushed the Tampa Bay Lightning to a shootout Sunday by erasing a late 4-1 deficit on Juraj Slafkovsky's equalizer with four seconds left.

"We don't want to put ourselves in that position all the time, but we've got the pieces to do it," Suzuki said.

While the Hurricanes are atop the Metropolitan Division, the Canadiens are just one point out of first place in the Atlantic Division. With 21 victories, the Canadiens have their most success in a season entering January in seven years.

Carolina lost four of its last six games, including 5-1 on Tuesday night at Pittsburgh. The Hurricanes trailed for more than 56 minutes.

"We were behind the eight ball and never got rolling," coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It was tough sledding. It was not a good effort, that's clear. You can't play and win in the NHL like that. We needed to get off to a better start."

Slow starts have caught up to the Hurricanes at times.

"That's on all of us in the locker room," winger Mark Jankowski said. "We've got to do a better job."

The Hurricanes will have rookie goalie Brandon Bussi back in net as he aims to improve on his 13-1-1 record.

Brind'Amour has generally praised the Hurricanes for their play recently, but he also has identified glitches.

"It is a mindset," he said. "You've got to get ready to play. It's a hard game you have to play to be successful, certainly our team. It's not like we're going to go up and down and score 10 goals. You have to do it the right way."

With injuries impacting Carolina's lineup on a regular basis, the grind of the schedule has not been kind. Thursday will mark the team's fourth game in six nights.

"Every single team in this league is going through the same thing as us," Jankowski said. "It's not just us. You can say the schedule is hard, there's travel, this and that, but every single team is doing the same thing."

This will be Montreal's fifth consecutive road game, and the third since the Christmas break.

Wilson celebrated being named to the Canadian Olympic team earlier in the day by surpassing 20 goals and reaching 200 for his career.

Justin Sourdif also scored twice, Aliaksei Protas had a goal and an assist and Anthony Beauvillier added a goal for the Capitals, who won for the third time in 10 games (3-5-2). Connor McMichael and defenseman Rasmus Sandin each had two assists and Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves.

New York defenseman Adam Fox had a goal and an assist in his return after missing 14 games with an upper-body injury. Vincent Trocheck and defenseman Braden Schneider also scored for the Rangers, who are 1-3-1 in their last five. Artemi Panarin had two assists and Jonathan Quick stopped 21 shots.

The Capitals scored twice in less than four minutes in the second period to take a 3-1 lead.

Wilson broke a tie with his 20th goal 7:33 into the middle period with a one-timer from in front.

Seconds earlier, Wilson laid a big check on the Rangers' Noah Laba along the boards in the neutral zone. Laba stayed down, was helped off after the goal and did not return due to an upper-body injury.

New York's Sam Carrick fought Wilson in retaliation less than two minutes later. Carrick got an extra minor for roughing.

One second remained in the power play when Sourdif swatted in a loose puck with 8:48 left in the period.

Fox's power-play goal with 4:43 left in the second period made it 3-2.

Protas scored with 6:26 remaining and Wilson's second came with 3:23 left.

Schneider got his goal with 1:44 remaining, but Sourdif scored into an empty net in the final minute.

The Rangers' Conor Sheary (lower-body injury) left in the second period.

Beauvillier gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead with 7:33 left in the first period.

Trocheck tied it with 40 seconds left in the opening period for his 600th career point.

Washington goaltender Logan Thompson was also named to the Canadian Olympic team Wednesday.

Olympic rosters had to be submitted by Wednesday. USA Hockey plans to announce its roster Friday morning on NBC's "Today." This is the first time in 12 years that NHL players will compete in the Olympics.

The tournament begins in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 11. The U.S. is scheduled to oppose Latvia on Feb. 12, Denmark on Feb. 14 and Germany on Feb. 15.

The aforementioned trio joins six players previously named to the U.S. team -- forwards Jack Eichel of the Vegas Golden Knights, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators and Matthew Tkachuk of the Panthers and defensemen Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild and Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins.

Except for Hughes, who was injured at the time, those players were part of the 4 Nations Face-Off team that lost to Canada in the tournament final last February in Boston.

Under head coach Mike Sullivan of the New York Rangers, Team USA seeks its first Olympic gold medal since the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team won gold in Lake Placid, N.Y.

"The expectation is to go to Milan and win the gold medal," Eichel said at the U.S. Olympic orientation camp in September. "I think anything short of that, it would be disappointing."

Keller, 27, is no stranger to Team USA. He served as captain at the World Championships last May when the Americans earned their first gold medal at the event since 1933.

Keller, a St. Louis area native who was the No. 7 overall pick of the Arizona Coyotes in 2016, posted a career-best 90 points last season and is currently tied for the Mammoth's team scoring lead with 33 points (12 goals, 21 assists) in 40 games. Keller's 10th NHL season has already been filled with emotions after his father, Bryan, died unexpectedly in November.

Thompson, 28, was selected No. 26 overall by the St. Louis Blues in 2016 and is enjoying another strong season with the Sabres, who acquired the Phoenix native in the 2018 trade that sent forward Ryan O'Reilly to the Blues.

Thompson leads the Sabres in scoring with 34 points (18 goals, 16 assists) in 38 games this season, his ninth in the NHL. He scored in overtime against Switzerland to lift Team USA to a 1-0 win in the gold-medal game at last May's World Championships.

Jones, 31, the son of former NBA player Popeye Jones, is playing in his 13th NHL season and earned his first Stanley Cup ring with the Panthers in June.

An Arlington, Texas, native, Jones has posted 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) this season in 39 games. He was the No. 4 overall pick of the 2013 draft by the Nashville Predators and has also played for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Chicago Blackhawks.

Pittsburgh sent forward Philip Tomasino to Philadelphia in the swap.

Zamula, 25, was squeezed out of the Flyers' defense rotation in his sixth NHL season. The Russian recorded one assist and averaged 14:02 of ice time in 13 games prior to being waived and reassigned to the American Hockey League in mid-December.

Zamula is signed through the end of the season with his contract's average annual value $1.7 million. He totaled eight goals and 41 points in 168 career games with the Flyers, who inked him as an undrafted free agent in 2018.

Tomasino, 24, signed a one-year, $1.75 million contract and opened the season with Pittsburgh but notched just one assist in nine games before being demoted to the AHL in mid-November.

Tomasino has 34 goals and 95 points in 218 career games with the Penguins and Nashville Predators (2021-24), who drafted him in the first round (24th overall) in 2019 and dealt him to Pittsburgh in 2024.

The Flyers (20-11-7, 47 points) entered Wednesday as the third-place team in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins (17-12-9, 43 points) were two points back of the Eastern Conference playoff cutline.

Lyon was injured Monday as the Sabres won 4-2 on the road against the St. Louis Blues for their ninth consecutive victory.

"We'll let our doctors take a look," Ruff said. "We know it's going to be a bit of time."

Lyon, who turned 33 on Dec. 9, won his last seven games. He is 10-6-3 with a 2.82 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in 21 games (19 starts) in his first season with Buffalo.

For his career, Lyon is 61-44-14 with a 2.96 GAA and .903 save percentage in 134 regular-season games (119 starts) for the Philadelphia Flyers (2017-21), Carolina Hurricanes (2021-22), Florida Panthers (2022-23), Detroit Red Wings (2023-25) and Sabres.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (6-5-1, 2.58 GAA, .897 save percentage) moves up to Buffalo's No. 1 goalie spot. Colten Ellis (4-3-0, 3.25 GAA, .895 save percentage) was set to be activated off injured reserve Wednesday and serve as Luukkonen's backup.

Ellis had been in concussion protocol since Dec. 9 when the Sabres won 4-3 in overtime at Edmonton.

Marchand received a two-minute roughing minor in overtime. His penalty was about to expire when Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki tapped in the winning goal.

Sportsnet reported Marchand would not have a hearing or be suspended or fined by the NHL's Department of Player Safety.

Marchand avoided further discipline because his hit was penalized on the ice and was not egregiously forceful, a league source told ESPN.

The 37-year-old veteran was honored before the game for tallying his 1,000th career point earlier in the season. Marchand opened the scoring midway through Tuesday's third period, but the Panthers squandered a two-goal lead in the waning minutes of regulation.

Marchand has recorded a team-high 23 goals and 45 points over 38 games in his first full season with Florida, the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions.

Although he has not been suspended since 2022, Marchand's eight career suspensions for dirty play are the most in league history.

Separately on Wednesday, Hockey Canada named Marchand to its 25-man roster for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.

Marchand is a first-time Olympian but previously won gold medals with Canada at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the 2016 IIHF World Championship.

Tanev's short-lived return to health ended after three games. The 36-year-old sat out Toronto's 4-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday after skating in recent matchups with the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins.

An upper-body injury that forced Tanev to leave a Nov. 1 visit to the Philadelphia Flyers wound up shelving him for 23 games.

Berube also ruled out forward Dakota Joshua for an extended period. Joshua remained in Detroit to receive treatment for a kidney injury that knocked him out of the Maple Leafs' 3-2 overtime loss Sunday.

Star forwards Auston Matthews and William Nylander missed the New Jersey game with lower-body injuries but planned to skate Thursday and possibly return at home that night against the Winnipeg Jets.

Tanev is a 16-year NHL veteran in his second season with the Maple Leafs, his hometown team. He has two assists in 11 games this season and 210 points in 878 career appearances with four teams.

Joshua, 29, has six goals and 10 points in 36 games since joining Toronto in an offseason trade.

General manager Doug Armstrong's 25-man team features five players, including Celebrini, who were not part of the gold medal-winning lineup at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February. The others are forwards Nick Suzuki and Tom Wilson and goaltenders Darcy Kuemper and Logan Thompson.

NHL scoring leaders Connor McDavid (69 points) and Nathan MacKinnon (66 points) were named to the team in June along with perennial captain Sidney Crosby, fellow forwards Sam Reinhart and Brayden Point, and defenseman Cale Makar.

Celebrini, who has 60 points for the San Jose Sharks in his second NHL season, will make his Olympic debut at the tournament that runs from Feb. 11-22, 2026, in Milan, Italy.

The remaining forwards Armstrong selected Wednesday are Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, Bo Horvat, Brad Marchand, Mitch Marner and Mark Stone.

Canada's Makar-led defense corps includes 4 Nations returnees Drew Doughty, Thomas Harley, Josh Morrissey, Colton Parayko, Travis Sanheim, Shea Theodore and Devon Toews.

Kuemper and Thompson join 4 Nations starter Jordan Binnington as Canada's goalies.

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper will man the Canadian bench with assistance from veteran counterparts Bruce Cassidy, Peter DeBoer and Rick Tocchet.

The Canadians are grouped at the Olympics with Czechia, their first opponent, on Feb. 12; Switzerland, the opponent on Feb. 13; and France, whom they face Feb. 15.

Forwards dropped from the 4 Nations team to make room for Celebrini, Suzuki and Wilson were Sam Bennett, Seth Jarvis and Travis Konecny. Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault were unused goaltenders at the event.

Canada edged the United States in overtime to win the 4 Nations final in Boston.

USA Hockey plans to announce its Olympic roster Friday morning on NBC's "Today."

The initial six American selections were forwards Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk, and defensemen Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy.

The U.S. is scheduled to oppose Latvia on Feb. 12, Denmark on Feb. 14 and Germany on Feb. 15.

They also might end the month tied in the standings, which neither team could have imagined 30 days ago.

The Blue Jackets will look to remain hot while the Devils will try to stop their slide Wednesday night when Columbus hosts New Jersey in a New Year's Eve battle of Metropolitan Division rivals.

The Blue Jackets earned their third straight win Monday night, earning a 4-1 road victory over the Ottawa Senators.

The Devils are completing a back-to-back road set after taking a 4-0 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.

The defeat kept the Devils just two points ahead of the Blue Jackets, who sit alone in the Eastern Conference basement with 40 points. Columbus opened December six points behind New Jersey.

The month hasn't been an entirely smooth one for the Blue Jackets, who won two straight to begin December -- including a 5-3 victory over in New Jersey on Dec. 1 -- before losing seven of eight (1-6-1) from Dec. 6-20.

However, the Blue Jackets bookended the holiday break by outscoring the Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders and Ottawa 11-4. Columbus, which scored three goals in the final five minutes to stun the visiting Islanders on Sunday, never trailed against the Senators despite dealing with a spate of flight delays that forced faceoff to be pushed back half an hour.

"Our guys don't care -- they don't care," Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. "They just play hockey. They've done that. Yeah, maybe we didn't have the results earlier in the year, but for the most part, we've played the same way. Our guys don't care about any of the distractions outside of that dressing room and in the arena, and that allows them to have a chance to win hockey games."

The December results have gone one way for New Jersey, which is 4-9-1 this month. The four-game losing streak is the second time in the last five weeks the Devils have dropped at least four straight. They lost five in a row from Nov. 29 through Dec. 6.

The Devils have been outscored 13-5 during the current skid, which followed New Jersey's only set of back-to-back wins this month -- a pair of 2-1 road wins over the Vegas Golden Knights, in a shootout on Dec. 17, and the Utah Mammoth, on Dec. 19.

The shutout loss on Tuesday was the third of the month for the Devils, who have scored three or fewer goals in seven straight games and 11 times overall in December. New Jersey's 103 goals this season are the fewest among Eastern Conference teams.

Devils captain Nico Hischier attempted to provide a spark in the third period on Tuesday when he fought Maple Leafs left winger Matthew Knies, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 232 pounds -- 2 inches taller and 32 pounds heavier than Hischier. However, Toronto scored 13 seconds later when Calle Jarnkrok's shot glanced off New Jersey defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler and in to put the hosts up 3-0.

"Do we need some guys to step up and show some emotion and show some (courage) and play with some urgency and step out of character?" Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Yeah, we need more of that. I like that Nico did it, and hopefully it rubs off on the rest of the group in a positive way. Your captain is out there taking on a big guy, stepping out of character. We'll see what we have."