NHL News

With the Blues' current form (9-11-7) looking similar to the up-and-down start (8-9-3) that ended his time with the Bruins last November, Montgomery's current and former clubs will meet for the first time since he changed benches on Thursday night when he returns to his former stomping grounds.

"Professionally, it's a bag of mixed emotions. Some great times and some very, very disappointing times," Montgomery said of his tenure in Boston, highlighted by a record-setting 2022-23 regular season.

St. Louis is 3-3-4 in its past 10 games, but a 4-1 home loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Monday was its first regulation setback in a four-game span (2-1-1). Montgomery was in the headlines for a verbal exchange with Jordan Binnington after pulling the goaltender in the first period, but cooler heads prevailed quickly in the aftermath.

"He's a competitor, he raises his games in big moments all the time. I love him," Montgomery said. "He walked off the ice, he said, 'I love you.' I said, 'I love you, too.' We're both competitors by nature, and at the end of the period, he waited for me, we apologized, we moved on."

Beyond Binnington's start (two goals allowed on five shots), the Blues saw their offensive struggles continued. They were 0-for-6 on the power play and failed to score more than two goals for the eighth time in nine games. Jordan Kyrou netted the lone goal.

"It was just one of those games where we couldn't get a lot of momentum going," Blues defenseman Cam Fowler said.

The Blues also have had a tough week on the health front. Montgomery has to figure things out regarding a slew of regulars as the team begins a three-game road trip.

Forwards Jimmy Snuggerud (wrist surgery) and Nathan Walker (upper-body injury) were placed on injured reserve and are expected to miss around six and eight weeks, respectively. Alexey Toropchenko remains week-to-week after burning his legs in an accident at home.

Health has also been a factor in the Bruins' recent run of play. A 5-4 road loss against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday was Boston's fifth defeat in an eight-game span (3-5-0), with only one win coming in regulation.

With top scorer David Pastrnak on the shelf with an undisclosed injury that has kept him out the past three games, the Bruins lost another defenseman Michael Callahan (lower-body injury) just as forward Viktor Arvidsson returned from a seven-game absence on Tuesday.

Boston chased the game at Detroit, climbing back from 3-0 and 5-2 deficits to get within one goal.

"For some reason, we can't stay healthy. We had five D all night, four D for (part of the third period)," Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. "Guys battled hard, but we just have to play smarter 5-on-5 to get some points out of here."

With Callahan likely unavailable on Wednesday, Sturm expects Frederic Brunet or Victor Soderstrom to be the extra defenseman called up from AHL Providence.

In the Tuesday game, Boston got two goals from Alex Steeves. Jonathan Aspirot netted his first career NHL goal, and Hampus Lindholm (three) and Morgan Geekie (two) dished out multiple assists.

Lindholm echoed Sturm about the team's effort.

"We've shown moments where we can be a really hard team to play against, but we can't turn that on every now and then," he said. "We have to do that for 60 minutes."

Cole Caufield had the most important contribution of the night, netting the only goal in the shootout. Dobes stonewalled Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele before getting a little help from the post as Gabriel Vilardi couldn't keep the game going.

Caufield also registered an assist, while Juraj Slafkovsky and Oliver Kapanen buried markers for Montreal. Dobes stopped 29 of 31 shots, and Ivan Demidov, Nick Suzuki and Alexandre Texier tallied helpers as well.

Comrie matched Dobes with 29 saves on 31 shots before blinking first in the shootout. Scheifele and Connor each potted their team-best 14th goals of the season while assisting on each other's markers, and Vilardi and Dylan DeMelo had a helper apiece. Winnipeg has now dropped six decisions in seven games (1-5-1).

Stars 3, Devils 0

Jake Oettinger made 30 saves for his 14th career shutout and second of the season as Dallas defeated New Jersey in Newark.

Defenseman Miro Heiskanen had a goal and an assist and Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen also scored for the Stars, who extended their point streak to eight games (6-0-2). Jamie Benn and defenseman Esa Lindell each had two assists.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 25 of 28 shots as the Devils lost their third straight game. Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon was honored before the opening faceoff for playing in his 1,000th career game Monday.

Mammoth 7, Ducks 0

Lawson Crouse and Dylan Guenther scored goals in the opening 11 minutes and Utah ended a four-game losing streak with a dominant road victory over Anaheim.

JJ Peterka tallied two goals and two assists, Clayton Keller notched a goal and two helpers and Guenther and Ian Cole each had a goal and an assist. Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves for his first shutout of the season and seventh of his career as the Mammoth earned their first win in the fourth contest of a six-game road trip.

Ducks goaltender Ville Husso got the start with Lukas Dostal and Petr Mrazek out due to injuries, making 17 saves on 21 shots in two periods. Vyacheslav Buteyets turned aside 10 of 13 shots in the third period in his NHL debut.

Flyers 5, Sabres 2

Travis Konecny, Noah Cates and Bobby Brink each had a goal and an assist to guide Philadelphia past visiting Buffalo.

Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett also scored for the Flyers, who won for the sixth time in eight games. Samuel Ersson made 27 saves.

Jason Zucker and Bowen Byram scored for the Sabres, who failed in a bid for their first three-game winning streak of the season. Colten Ellis turned aside 30 shots.

Capitals 7, Sharks 1

Rookie Ryan Leonard scored two goals and had two assists and Alex Ovechkin added two goals as visiting Washington earned its sixth straight victory.

It was the 181st multi-goal game of Ovechkin's career, second only to Wayne Gretzky's 189 in the NHL history. The two goals were No. 910 and No. 911 of his career, extending his league career record. Brandon Duhaime had a short-handed goal and an assist, Matt Roy logged three assists and Sonny Milano and Dylan Strome scored a goal apiece for Washington.

Pavol Regenda scored a power-play goal for San Jose, which has alternated wins and losses for eight games. Alex Nedeljkovic, who took over for starter Yaroslav Askarov at the 17:07 mark of the first period, finished with 15 saves. Askarov stopped eight of 12 shots before being pulled.

JJ Peterka had two goals with two assists for the Mammoth. Clayton Keller contributed a goal and two assists, while Guenther and Ian Cole each had a goal and an assist. Liam O'Brien also scored, and Jack McBain and Nick Schmaltz had two assists apiece.

Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves for Utah, which is 1-3-0 on a six-game road trip. Vejmelka earned his first shutout of the season and the seventh of his career.

Ducks goaltender Ville Husso allowed four goals on 21 shots in two periods. Vyacheslav Buteyets turned aside 10 of 13 shots in the third period while making his NHL debut. Anaheim goalies Lukas Dostal and Petr Mrazek are out due to injuries.

The Ducks have alternated wins and losses for the past eight games.

Crouse scored 5:59 into the game on a backhand from his knees off a pass by Michael Carcone from behind the goal. Guenther made it 2-0 at 10:30 of the opening period when he moved in from center ice and scored between Husso's legs.

Cole tallied at 5:43 of the second period for a 3-0 lead on a blast from the left circle.

An apparent goal from Anaheim's Mason McTavish in the second period was taken away on replay when the Ducks were ruled to be offside.

The Mammoth opened the advantage to 4-0 at 14:34 of the middle period when Peterka scored from a sharp angle off a cross-ice pass from Nick Schmaltz.

O'Brien made it 5-0 in the third period on a deflection off the skate of Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson. Peterka scored again, on a power play, and Keller added a goal in the final 10 minutes.

Vejmelka, who was removed in the first period of a loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday after allowing three goals in 13 minutes, kept one of the NHL's highest-scoring teams in check. The Ducks entered the day second in the league with an average of 3.62 goals per game.

It was the 181st multi-goal game of Ovechkin's career, second only to Wayne Gretzky's 189 in the NHL history. The two goals were No. 910 and No. 911 of his career, extending his league career record.

Brandon Duhaime had a short-handed goal and an assist, Matt Roy logged three assists and Sonny Milano and Dylan Strome scored a goal apiece for Washington, which moved two points ahead of the idle Carolina Hurricanes into sole possession of first place in the Metropolitan Division. Trevor van Riemsdyk added two assists.

Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves and also had an assist while winning his fourth straight start for the Capitals, who prevailed for the ninth time in 10 games.

Pavol Regenda scored a power-play goal for San Jose, which has alternated wins and losses for eight games. Alex Nedeljkovic, who took over for starter Yaroslav Askarov at the 17:07 mark of the first period, finished with 15 saves. Askarov stopped eight of 12 shots before being pulled.

Washington led 4-0 after the first period and 6-0 after the second.

The Capitals jumped out to a 1-0 lead at the 8:25 mark when Ovechkin chipped in a rebound of a Roy shot.

Milano then put in a wrist shot from the left circle to make it 2-0 at 10:05, and Leonard roofed a rebound of a van Riemsdyk shot from the bottom of the left circle for the Capitals' third goal in the span of 5:10.

Duhaime, off a highlight-reel drop pass from Aliaksei Protas, extended the lead to 4-0 with a short-handed goal at 17:07.

Ovechkin got his second goal of the night on a power play at the 2:41 mark of the second period with a one-timer from the left circle.

Strome deflected a Roy shot to make it 6-0 just before the end of the middle period.

Leonard scored his second goal to make it 7-0 at 1:03 of the third period when he drove the net and put in a backhand shot. He became the first rookie to record a four-point game in the NHL this season.

Regenda ruined Lindgren's shutout bid with 7:02 remaining when Dmitry Orlov's point shot deflected into the net off his skate.

Whether that proves true should be evident Thursday night, when the Kraken return to the ice in Edmonton for a rematch with the Oilers.

The Kraken went 0-for-6 with the man advantage on Saturday, including a 5-on-3 edge for 1:45 in the first period. It was Seattle's third straight defeat (0-2-1).

"A lot of times when you don't capitalize on a 5-on-3, it sort of reaches up to bite you in a game," Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. "We had a good look at that. We had a long time to have that 5-on-3, and the fact we didn't capitalize on it was disappointing. ...

"We can move pucks quicker (on the power play). When we get teams on the ropes, when there's a shot and there's a rebound, we're too slow to move the puck, and therefore, (the opposing penalty-killers) are able to reset."

In contrast, the Oilers converted on both of their man advantages.

Jaden Schwartz, the Kraken's scoring leader with a meager 15 points (eight goals, seven assists), sat out on Saturday and is expected to miss the next six weeks with a lower-body injury.

The Kraken just got forwards Jared McCann and Kaapo Kakko back last week. McCann, the franchise's all-time leading goal- and point-scorer, missed 17 games. Kakko has been sidelined twice already this season with injuries, his latest absence costing him six games.

The injuries and offensive struggles might prevent Kraken rookie Berkly Catton from being loaned to Team Canada for the World Junior Championships that begin Dec. 26.

Catton has yet to get his first NHL goal -- though he came close Saturday against the Oilers. He has five assists through his first 19 games and hasn't looked out of place.

"At least getting good looks," said Catton, who had 54 and 38 goals the previous two seasons with the WHL's Spokane Chiefs. "It'll be a sense of relief (to score), for sure.

"Just trying to not just focus on that, and think there's lots of other components of the game that I can contribute with."

Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner bounced back after getting pulled from his previous start to make 26 in the shutout at Seattle.

"I was able to play a solid game," Skinner said. "I thought you saw that from everybody, and I think this is one of the games where we were able to play a really solid 60-minute game."

Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers on Saturday.

"(We were) just steady right from the get-go," said Nugent-Hopkins, who returned after missing nine games due to an undisclosed injury. "I thought we controlled the pace early, but we took some penalties that, obviously, you need your goalie to be kicking on the PK, so he did a great job of that."

While the Kraken have been idle since Saturday, the Oilers opened a five-game homestand with a 1-0 home loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.

"Obviously, you're disappointed any time you lose," said Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch, whose team has dropped five of its past seven games (2-4-1). "You're looking for the negatives, you look to critique the things we didn't do ... but overall, I thought we played a game that more often than not would result in us coming out victorious and feeling good about ourselves.

"I'm disappointed that we lost, but it was more of what we need."

Cole Caufield opened the shootout with the only goal, and after stopping Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele, Dobes saw Gabriel Vilardi's shot ring off the post to give the Canadiens the second point and snap a two-game losing streak.

Juraj Slafkovsky and Oliver Kapanen got Montreal on the board, with Caufield, Ivan Demidov, Nick Suzuki and Alexandre Texier registering assists.

Dobes made 29 saves for the Canadiens.

Scheifele and Connor both scored their team-best 14th goals of the season in regulation for the Jets, and the linemates also assisted on each other's goals. Vilardi and Dylan DeMelo added helpers, too.

Comrie rejected 29 shots for the Jets, who lost in a shootout for the first time this season.

After giving up three first-period goals and getting yanked on Monday, Comrie stood tall against the Canadiens in the first 20 minutes. He stopped all 11 shots and came up big on four of those when Montreal sought to capitalize on a couple of defensive zone giveaways.

Comrie's play enabled the Jets to take the lead with 1:25 remaining in the first thanks to Scheifele. The center trailed on the play as Connor got to the puck in the Canadiens' zone, and Scheifele scored as he skated into the high slot.

The teams combined for three goals in a 4:04 stretch of the second period.

Slafkovsky scored a power-play goal with 10:01 to go. Connor put the Jets back up with 8:07 left as the Jets sustained pressure in the Habs' end, partially because Slafkovsky lost his stick.

Montreal equalized again with 5:57 remaining when Kapanen beat Comrie.

Neither team could net the game-winner in either the third period or overtime, with Comrie making five saves in overtime. He could not match Dobes, though, in the shootout as the Jets lost for the sixth time in seven games (1-5-1).

Winnipeg will host four of their next five contests.

Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia, which has won six of its last eight games. The Flyers were playing their first game since losing Tyson Foerster, their leading goal scorer, for 2-3 months with an upper-body injury.

Jason Zucker and Bowen Byram scored for Buffalo, which was trying to win a third straight game for the first time this season. Colten Ellis turned aside 30 shots for the Sabres, while Samuel Ersson made 24 saves for the Flyers.

Zucker opened the scoring at 4:08 of the first period when he rammed home a power-play goal off a nice feed from Josh Doan. However, Philadelphia responded shortly thereafter with three goals in less than a minute, beginning with a pair of power-play tallies.

Konecny started the surge when his shot got past Ellis, who was battling traffic in front of the net. Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff challenged the play for goaltender interference, but the goal was upheld, giving Philadelphia another power play.

The Flyers promptly cashed in when Zegras' pass caromed off an opponent's skate and into the net.

Shortly after the ensuing faceoff, the Sabres turned it over and Brink deposited a rebound for his seventh of the season.

Philadelphia tacked on two more goals in the second period.

Less than two minutes into the session, Cates scored on a setup from Brink, shortly after a Flyers power play had expired.

Byram got Buffalo within 4-2 midway through the second period, but Tippett answered less than a minute later. His initial shot was stopped by Ellis, but Tippett swatted the rebound out of midair and into the net.

Defenseman Miro Heiskanen had a goal and an assist and Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen also scored for the Stars, who extended their point streak to eight games (6-0-2). Jamie Benn and defenseman Esa Lindell each had two assists. It was Oettinger's second shutout of the season.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 25 shots for the Devils, who lost their third straight, all on home ice.

Dallas scored twice in the second half of the second period to take a 2-0 lead after New Jersey dominated the first half.

Heiskanen made it 1-0 with 8:26 left in the middle period when he beat Markstrom from the right circle.

Robertson put in a shot from the bottom of the right circle with 2:24 remaining in the second after a give and go with Lindell.

Rantanen made it 3-0, 7:05 into the third period. He tipped Lindell's shot out of the air down and between Markstrom's legs and then tapped the puck into the net from the crease.

Oettinger made two big saves on Dawson Mercer late in the second.

He denied Mercer on a tip attempt from the lip of the crease with 3:37 left in the second and, with New Jersey short-handed, made an outstanding stop on Mercers's shot from the bottom of the right circle with 1:08 remaining in the middle period.

Oettinger stopped Juho Lammikko on a partial breakaway and Luke Glendening hit the goal post on the rebound in the last 90 seconds of the first period.

It was an up and down, but close checking opening period with the Devils registering an 8-6 shots advantage.

It was Dallas' first game without Tyler Seguin, who is likely out for the season with an ACL injury suffered in Tuesday night's OT loss road loss to the New York Rangers.

New Jersey defenseman Brenden Dillon was honored before the opening faceoff for playing in his 1,000th career game on Monday.

The Kings will host the Blackhawks again on Saturday night before Chicago closes its four-game road trip on Sunday at the Anaheim Ducks.

The Blackhawks opened the road trip with a 4-3 shootout loss against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.

Chicago has dropped six of seven (1-4-2) after getting off to a 10-5-4 start, but Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill was pleased with their latest effort.

"We did a lot of good stuff," Blashill said. "On the road against a team that's probably considered one of the Stanley Cup favorites, certainly one of the teams that looks like they could come out of the West. In the end, we outchanced them. We're in the position to win the hockey game, and part of this whole process is I put people in situations where they grow."

The only glaring mistake by the Blackhawks occurred in the final minutes of regulation when a mis-timed line change allowed Braeden Bowman to score the tying goal for Vegas.

"There's spurts in the game where we looked really good and we were outplaying them," Chicago forward Frank Nazar said. "Just continuing to get rid of those small little mishaps."

The Blackhawks are 1-6 in games that have gone beyond regulation, something they'd like to flip if they hope to be serious playoff contenders.

"We've got some young, young guys out there in critical moments," Blashill said. "That's good. That's what this is about, continuing to grow."

Connor Bedard scored his team-best 17th goal, giving Chicago a 3-2 lead early in the third period.

The Kings ended a five-game point streak (4-0-1) by the Blackhawks with a 3-1 victory in Chicago on Oct. 26.

The Kings lost 3-1 to the visiting Washington Capitals on Tuesday night, ending a five-game point streak (2-0-3) of their own.

Los Angeles has been held to two goals or fewer in four of the past five games and six of eight.

"It seems like every night we have a close game going into the third period," Kings forward Alex Laferriere said. "I think it's really good building blocks for our team and it's a long season, and we're going to need those to be wins at the end of the year. I think for us, it's just about staying positive."

Los Angeles forward Phillip Danault is among those who are overdue.

The 12-year veteran does not have a goal in 26 games this season. He scored 17 goals in 78 games for the Kings in 2023-24, but was limited to eight goals in 80 games last season.

He's averaging 16:24 of ice time, his lowest since 2016-17 with the Montreal Canadiens, and played just 12:58 against the Capitals.

"Probably the ice time is a bit of a reflection on the evaluation, right?" Kings coach Jim Hiller said. "He just hasn't really got it going yet this year and he's not playing special teams as much."

Hiller moved Quinton Byfield onto a line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe during the loss to Washington, but still came up empty.

"(Byfield) wasn't getting a lot done in the middle with (Kevin Fiala and Joel Armia), so we go back and see if there's any magic from the old days," Hiller said.

Kempe scored the Kings' lone goal against the Capitals. He leads the team with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists).

Having carded a 1-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday to open a four-game road trip, the Wild are riding a 10-0-2 run in which they have smothered the opposition.

Minnesota has held opponents to two or fewer goals in all but two of those contests, and the team's goaltending duo of Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt have authored shutouts in five of those outings.

Wallstedt has recorded a shutout in four of his last six games, including the Edmonton victory, when he recorded 33 saves.

"It's been so much fun to the start of the year," said the 2021 first-round draft choice. "I know what it's like to not have so much fun, so I appreciate every day that is, and I'm having a lot of fun right now."

Wallstedt is the fourth rookie goalie in league history and first in 87 years to post four shutouts in a six-game stretch, joining Frank Brimsek (1938-39 Boston Bruins), Dolly Dolson (1928-29 Detroit Cougars) and Tiny Thompson (1928-29 Bruins).

Wallstedt's performance this season (8-0-2 record with a 1.74 goals-against average and .944 save percentage) is amazing, but Gustavsson has also been effective. Gustavsson has held the opposition to two or fewer goals in six of his last eight starts and posted a 5-1-2 mark after he and the team struggled to find their footing in October.

"No matter how we play, they always show up," defenseman Brock Faber said. "To have two goalies like that, it makes our job really easy, both physical and mentally. The confidence they have back there just bleeds throughout the whole lineup."

Jonas Brodin recorded the lone goal of the game in Edmonton. Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild with 17 goals, fourth most in the NHL entering Wednesday night's games.

The Flames return home after ending a five-game road swing with a dud of a performance in Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators.

Calgary, which has one win in four games and sits last in the league standings, was outclassed from the drop of the puck and needed a late power-play goal to prevent being shut out in two consecutive outings.

"We didn't play a game that we're going to be pleased with, that's for sure," coach Ryan Huska said. "I don't think we had a lot of speed to our game, and maybe more so speed when we didn't have the puck. We were really slow to work to support tonight all over the place."

Morgan Frost scored the man-up goal for the Flames, while Nazem Kadri earned an assist. The 35-year old Kadri leads Calgary with 22 points (five goals, 17 assists).

Calgary, the NHL's only squad with a sub-.400 winning percentage, will play its next four games at home.

"We know we can play better, but we're going to go home and bounce back. ...," captain Mikael Backlund said. "Now we mentally prepare for Minnesota, have a good homestand and go from there."

Although a playoff position is a long shot at best with only a little more than one-third of the campaign completed, the Flames are not that far out of a postseason spot -- six points going into Wednesday's action.

The chance to gain any traction is now, with play 11 of their next 14 games at the Saddledome.

"We have to do a good job of taking care of the time we have to spend at home here the next little while," Huska said. "Turn the page and make sure we're much better against Minnesota."

The Toronto Maple Leafs have sped up as well, so this could make for a good matchup when the teams meet Thursday night at Raleigh, N.C.

The Maple Leafs have won two games in a row and three of their last four. They won 4-1 on Tuesday at Florida.

"One of the fastest-pace games we've played all year," Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said.

With 11 goals in the past two games, it's Toronto's most productive two-game stretch of the season.

The Hurricanes, who've been off since Sunday's 1-0 overtime victory against the Calgary Flames, will play three games in a four-day stretch.

Even though the Hurricanes were scoreless through regulation in their last game, they were able to collect two points while seeing what opponents might try to do to slow them down.

Coach Rod Brind'Amour stated that was a valuable, yet frustrating, experience. He said he expects Carolina can handle those situations better in the future.

"We were trying to do things that just didn't work," Brind'Amour said. "It wasn't like we were really giving up a ton."

Carolina forward Taylor Hall said the team's latest shutout came despite unusual developments.

"They forced us into making mistakes. They forced us into forcing plays," Hall said. "For a lot of the night, we didn't play the way we're accustomed to. I don't know how many breakaways or two-on-ones they had, but it was a lot. There are definitely some things to clean up."

Even though the combination of Nikolaj Ehlers and Hall produced the winning goal in the Calgary game, don't expect to see them on the ice together often. But an occasional situation might warrant the left wingers together for a shift.

"We're looking for those opportunities, three-on-three, four-on-four," Brind'Amour said. "Got them out there and they helped us out."

Toronto could be showing some different combinations. The Maple Leafs can't afford to stick with units that aren't working, thus Berube said he'll have a quick trigger on mixing up units. That was the case with the power play earlier this week.

"I switched it up," he said.

Toronto goals leader John Tavares scored Tuesday to snap a personal four-game stretch without a goal.

The Hurricanes received a boost at the end of the weekend with the return of captain Jordan Staal, who had missed three games.

"We know what he brings, the face-offs, taking the stress off some of our other guys," Brind'Amour said. "He's so important to our group."

Brind'Amour, whose team has four games remaining as part of a seven-game homestand, should have options when it comes to selecting a goalie for Thursday night's game. Rookie Brandon Bussi has played in two straight games, improving his record to 7-1-0. Frederik Andersen should be well-rested. Pyotr Kochetkov has returned to practice since dealing with discomfort, so he could be available as well.

The Hurricanes had veteran defenseman Jaccob Slavin on the ice for noncontact work this week. Brind'Amour said Slavin doesn't remain close to returning to game action, pretty much dismissing that possibility for this week.

Forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi could be closer to returning, Brind'Amour said. He has been out for almost three weeks.

The club's captain, leading scorer and do-everything center will lead the Penguins into a clash with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night in a contest that might show just how far the visitors have climbed above expectations.

The Lightning occupy the penthouse of the Atlantic Division thanks to a recent seven-game winning streak that began with a 5-1 win over New Jersey on Nov. 18.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Division side beat the rival Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 in its last game, with Crosby leading with two goals, including the deciding one to bring his season total for game-winning tallies to two.

The captain now has 18 goals in just 25 games, which ranks third in the entire NHL entering Wednesday night.

"I don't think he ever ceases to amaze us. And he just keeps going, keeps working hard, keeps wanting to get better, keeps wanting to win," said Bryan Rust, who managed a goal and two assists against the Flyers. "And I think for him to be able to have the success that he's had, and to continue to have that fuel, I think speaks volumes to him as a person."

Crosby's career totals in goals (59) and points (137) are the most in NHL history against the Flyers, the Penguins' cross-state nemesis.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion is now just seven points from Mario Lemieux's franchise record of 1,723.

His leads the team in goals and points (29) this season. Evgeni Malkin leads with 20 assists and has 26 points. Rust has 21 points on eight markers and 13 assists.

In Tampa Bay's streak-stopping 2-1 loss at the New York Islanders on Tuesday night, the visitors trailed 1-0 for most of the match before former Lightning winger Anthony Duclair made it 2-0.

Dominic James' second goal kept Tampa Bay from being shut out for the first time, but goaltender Ilya Sorokin was strong in the crease for the victory.

"Sometimes you win some games when you don't play that well (and) don't deserve it," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper, whose group is 10-3-0 in its last 13 outings. "Sometimes you lose games when you've leaned on a team and did everything quite possible, and it doesn't go in for you.

"The bounces, I guess, ran out for us."

His club heads home for a two-game stretch, which features a return match against the Islanders, before trekking north for a four-game trip.

Forward Brandon Hagel skated in his 400th career game but saw his five-game point streak (eight goals, four assists) end.

Hagel has 15 goals and 12 helpers in 25 games, tying him with Jake Guentzel for second on the team with 27 points. Nikita Kucherov leads the group with 32 points -- 11 goals and 21 assists in 24 matches.

The top line's right wing, Kucherov needs just one point to notch 100 for his fourth straight calendar year. He would join Edmonton Oilers star forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, each of whom has done it four times from 2021 to 2024, as the only active players to do so.

The Senators are set for their first home date since Nov. 15 after the club went 4-3-0 on a season-long seven-game road trip. The final stop on the trip was Tuesday in Montreal, where the Senators earned a 5-2 win over the Canadiens.

"We came in with a mindset that we wanted to get this road trip over on an over-.500 record, and that would be a successful trip," Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk said. "So it was a great game by absolutely everybody on the team."

Tkachuk scored the Senators' final tally on Tuesday for his first goal of the season. The forward has played in only six games due to thumb surgery.

The Rangers lead the NHL in road wins as they've gone 11-4-1 while averaging 3.38 goals per game. Alas, the team's home results have gone in the other direction, as the Rangers are 3-8-1 with only 1.67 goals per game scored in New York.

Tuesday's 3-2 overtime home win over the Dallas Stars was therefore important on a few fronts. The Rangers ripped a season-high 41 shots, responding strongly from a season-low 13 shots in their previous game -- a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

New York coach Mike Sullivan felt his team did well at finding ways to boost its attack while not abandoning the Rangers' defensive identity.

"There's another element to the game where we can manufacture offense by putting more pucks in play and creating broken plays and making it hard on our opponents," Sullivan said. " ... There's no better way, I think, to break coverage down than a shot on goal. It's hard to defend that next play."

Both Will Cuylle's equalizer late in the third period and Vladislav Gavrikov's overtime winner came on converted rebounds in front of the Dallas net.

The Rangers will be challenged to continue this offensive pressure against the Senators, who have allowed only 25.5 shots per game. However, Ottawa has conceded an average of 3.31 goals per game primarily due to shaky goaltending and one of the league's worst penalty-kill units.

Since Oct. 28, the Senators are second-to-last in the NHL in both penalty-kill percentage (70.5%) and power-play percentage (9.3%).

Linus Ullmark has a 3.05 goals-against average and an .876 save percentage over 20 starts this season. Backup goalie Leevi Merilainen hasn't been any better, so Ullmark is likely to continue as Ottawa's first choice in net.

Igor Shesterkin is enjoying another excellent season despite a lack of offensive help. The New York goaltender has a 2.45 GAA and .912 save percentage over 22 starts.

Artemi Panarin leads the Rangers with 28 points (eight goals, 20 assists). Mika Zibanejad has five points (two goals, three assists) during the forward's four-game point streak.

Tim Stutzle leads the Senators with 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists). Jake Sanderson is also on a four-game points streak, as the Ottawa defenseman has six points (three goals, three assists) during his hot stretch.

Good thing, because their tasks aren't getting any easier.

The Islanders close out a seven-game homestand Thursday night when New York faces the red-hot Colorado Avalanche in the final regular-season meeting between the clubs in Elmont, N.Y.

Both teams were off Wednesday after earning wins Tuesday night at home. Ilya Sorokin carried a shutout bid deep into the third period and finished with 30 saves as the Islanders edged the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1. The Avalanche ran their point streak to 17 games by beating the Vancouver Canucks, 3-1.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) for the Islanders and ended the seven-game winning streak for the Lightning, who lead the Atlantic Division with 34 points.

The victory was also the Islanders' second of the homestand over a team that entered Wednesday in a playoff spot. New York edged the Seattle Kraken, 1-0, in a shootout on Nov. 23.

The Islanders are 10-6-2 this season against teams that entered Wednesday in a playoff spot. Among New York's defeats was a 4-1 loss to the Avalanche on Nov. 16 in which Colorado scored twice in the final minute.

The end of the homestand marks the beginning of a challenging stretch for the Islanders, who visit the Lightning and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in a back-to-back set Saturday and Sunday. New York then returns home next week to face the Vegas Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks, two of the top three teams in the Pacific Division, before hosting the Lightning again on Dec. 13.

"I think we've played some of the best so far," Islanders captain Anders Lee said. "We went into Colorado and played a great game there, came up short. We've fared well with the top (teams)."

Nobody has fared better than the Avalanche, who are 14-0-3 since taking their lone regulation defeat on Oct. 25 when they fell to the Boston Bruins. 3-2. Colorado authored the NHL's longest winning streak of the season, a 10-game run from Nov. 4-26 during which it won in regulation nine times.

The Avalanche lead the NHL with 106 goals while surrendering 53 goals, the fewest in the league. The 2010-11 Vancouver Canucks, who reached the Stanley Cup Final, were the last team to score the most goals and allow the fewest over a full season.

"I'm happy with what I've seen, for sure," said Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog, who had two assists Tuesday. "I think that's one of the keys to our game, that commitment to defending. That's where our offense starts. That buy-in from everyone has been awesome from the get-go."

The Avalanche overcame a pair of hiccups Tuesday. The Canucks' Linus Karlsson gave the visitors an early lead by scoring 2:55 after the opening faceoff.

NHL scoring leader Nathan MacKinnon began the Avalanche's comeback by collecting a goal with 37 seconds left in the period, but Colorado goalie Scott Wedgewood exited shortly beyond the midway point of the second period with back tightness.

Head coach Jared Bednar said he believed Wedgewood would accompany the team on the road trip, but didn't know whether a third goalie will be added to the roster.

MacKenzie Blackwood stopped all 10 shots he faced and earned the win when Brock Nelson and MacKinnon scored in the final 6:08 of the second.

Detroit begins a six-game road swing on Thursday night in Ohio against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Red Wings snapped a four-game losing streak on Tuesday by holding off Boston, 5-4. Detroit lost on Saturday at Boston, 3-2, in a shootout.

"It's always better to get on a plane with three of our last four points against a rival," McLellan said. "So we'll take that. We still have work to do as a team and maybe getting out on the road will be something good for us."

The Red Wings played 10 of their last 13 games at home, but they failed to take advantage of that stretch by going 5-6-2. The six-game journey, which continues with stops at Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Chicago, could prove pivotal to a team trying to end a nine-year playoff drought.

"It's been about a month since we've actually really been gone," McLellan said. "So this one's going to be a long one. It won't be an easy one. But I'm looking forward to it. It will be a good challenge for our players."

Future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane had three assists in the two games against the Bruins but will be looking to break a nine-game goal-less streak on Thursday.

"He's got 495 of them, doesn't he? So I'm not too worried about Patrick Kane not scoring," McLellan said. "He gets some chances, he makes some real good plays. When you score that many, you don't forget how to score. It'll come and you've seen before, when it comes it usually comes in bunches."

The Blue Jackets ended a four-game losing streak -- including three that went into overtime -- with a 5-3 victory over New Jersey on Monday. The first of those losses came against Detroit, when Alex DeBrincat scored in OT for a 4-3 win on Nov. 22.

The Devils had an early 2-0 lead on Monday, but the Blue Jackets scored four unanswered goals. After New Jersey pulled within a goal, Miles Wood scored the clincher with 6:29 remaining.

"Lately, things haven't been going our way (in the third period), so you can say it's going to be the same old song and dance when they made it 4-3, but we just keep playing the right way," said Blue Jackets forward Charlie Coyle, who had a goal and two assists. "It's a big goal to extend the lead and then play with the lead and keep our momentum going that way."

Columbus finds itself in last place in the tightly bunched Metropolitan Division, so the victory was much needed.

"With everything that unfolded (Monday), it was just us sticking up for each other and having each other's back," said Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski. "I think that's important in a long season, and it's a great win for our group."

The Florida Panthers - the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions - are in last place among 16 teams in the Eastern Conference with 25 points.

Florida, which has lost three straight games, will try to get back on the winning track Thursday night against the Nashville Predators in Sunrise, Fla.

This could be the perfect opponent for Florida because Nashville is tied for the fewest points in the Western Conference with 22.

The Predators are just 3-5-2 on the road as compared to Florida's 8-6-1 home record. Then again, Nashville is coming off a 5-1 home win over Calgary on Tuesday.

Nashville is led by coach Andrew Brunette, who went 51-18-6 as Florida's interim coach in 2021-2022. He gave way to Paul Maurice, who has led the Panthers to the mountaintop in each of the past two years.

Other familiar faces on the Predators - especially for Panthers fans - are Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos, both of whom scored in Tuesday's win.

Marchessault was brilliant in his one season in Florida, providing 30 goals and 21 assists in 2016-2017. He's had just one better season in terms of goal scoring - 42 tallies with Vegas in 2023-2024.

This season, Marchessault - who turns 35 later this month -- has five goals and three assists in 21 games. He enters on a two-game point streak after snapping a nine-game point drought.

Stamkos, 35, played most of his career for Florida's biggest rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning. He won two Stanley Cup titles with Tampa Bay before signing a four-year contract with Nashville ahead of last season.

On Tuesday, Stamkos became just the sixth active player to reach 1,200 points.

"It's special," Stamkos said of the milestone. " ... I think it's more of a thing when your career is over, and you can look back. But you certainly have a moment of appreciation for everyone who has helped you achieve (this milestone)."

Over his last four games, Stamkos has three goals and five points.

Meanwhile, the Panthers have lost four straight home games.

"We have to get better, right?" Maurice said. "We have to get some higher-end performances out of some guys."

The Panthers have played the whole season so far without two of their biggest stars in center Aleksander Barkov (knee injury) and winger Matthew Tkachuk (groin). Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is expected to miss five months due to an upper-body injury, and role players such as Eetu Luostarinen, Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek and Cole Schwindt are also on the injured list.

Brad Marchand leads Florida in goals (15) and points (27), and Sam Reinhart ranks second in both categories (14 and 24).

But Maurice is likely looking for more from players such as Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett and defenseman Gustav Forsling.

Verhaeghe scored 42 goals in 2022-2023 but has seen his production slip each season since (34 goals, 20 goals and four goals so far this campaign). He missed Tuesday's game as he and his wife are awaiting the birth of their child.

Bennett scored 25 goals last season but has just six this year. Forsling scored 11 goals last season but has just one this year.

In addition, star goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is off to a slow start (10-8-0, 2.89 goals-against average, .883 save percentage).

"There's some tension on the stick," Maurice said. "That's normal and you see that when you've lost a few in a row."

Seguin sustained the injury after getting tangled up with Rangers defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov along the boards during the first period of Dallas' 3-2 overtime loss on Tuesday in New York. Seguin needed assistance to get off the ice and into the locker room.

"Unfortunately, Tyler, he's got an ACL (injury), and he'll be out for months," Gulutzan said on Wednesday. "We didn't get great news today. Haven't spoken to Tyler yet, but probably just letting everybody know that he's going to be out for a significant amount of time -- probably the rest of the season."

An exact timeline for Seguin's absence has yet to be determined.

Seguin, 33, has recorded 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 27 games this season. He is playing in the seventh season of his eight-year, $78.8 million contract with Dallas.

"It's a tough day for us today with the news, but other guys now have to step in and play," Gulutzan said. "... The rest of the league is in the same boat. There's lots of injuries piling up, and lots of games, so we just got to keep moving forward."

A Stanley Cup champion with Boston in 2011, Seguin has totaled 826 points (367 goals, 459 assists) in 1,016 regular-season games for the Bruins (2010-13) and Stars. He also has 79 points (29 goals, 50 assists) in 151 playoff games.

He was selected by Boston with the second overall pick of the 2010 NHL Draft.

The four-game winning streak was snapped by a 3-2 overtime loss to the host New York Rangers on Tuesday night. Still, the Stars are 5-0-2 in their recent efforts.

Dallas led 2-1 late in the third period but the Rangers tied it with 2:13 left with the goalie pulled for the 6-on-5 advantage.

"I didn't love our effort," Stars' coach Glen Gulutzan said. "I thought that we got a point because of our goalie and our penalty kill. Our penalty was real good. Our goalie was even better. I think that's where we got our point from, otherwise I think we were outplayed."

Casey DeSmith made 38 saves for Dallas, which killed all five of New York's power-play opportunities.

"Not the way I would have liked that one to end," DeSmith said. "It was too good of a game for it to end like that. So, I'm pretty bummed."

Mikko Rantanen and Kyle Capobianco scored for the Stars. It was Capobianco's first goal since March 4, 2023.

Dallas' Tyler Seguin left with a lower-body injury just 1:44 into the game. Gulutzan said after the contest that Seguin was being evaluated and there would be no word about his availability for the game against the Devils until Wednesday.

The Stars are 7-0-4 on the road since Oct. 26, and 9-1-4 away from home overall in 2025-26.

Tuesday night was Dallas captain Jamie Benn's 1,200th game. He has spent his entire career with the Stars.

It was an emotional and physical game that featured 74 penalty minutes, 64 in the second period.

New Jersey has lost two in a row after dropping a 5-3 decision to the Columbus Blue Jackets in Newark on Monday night in which they squandered a 2-0 first-period lead.

Defenseman Brenden Dillon skated in his 1,000th game but he will not remember it fondly. He went to the locker room after a fight with Dmitri Voronkov, 1:01 into the second period. Dillon was back late in the second but he did not play in the third period.

New Jersey led 2-1 at the time of the fight but the Blue Jackets tied it 27 seconds later.

"After [Dillon left], emotions were high," captain Nico Hischier said. "It was 2-2, the game was open, and some mistakes cost us."

Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler was lost 3:58 into the second period when he was assessed a game misconduct for not having his jersey tied down correctly during a fight.

"I don't like how we handled those situations emotionally," Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Obviously, not long after the situation with [Dillon] they scored, so I don't like that. We've got to do a better job of staying in it emotionally, as hard as it might be."

Hischier had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to six games (12 points on six goals and six assists). Timo Meier also has a six-game scoring streak (eight points on five goals and three assists) after a goal on Monday.

The Capitals' 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night served as their fifth straight win and eighth in the last nine games. Washington is tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the top spot with 34 points, one point ahead of third-place New Jersey.

The contest with San Jose will be the third of a four-game road trip that began with a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders on Sunday. Tuesday's game with the Kings kicked off a three-games-in-four-days California trip that concludes back in Southern California on Friday against the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks.

Anthony Beauvillier scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, captain Alex Ovechkin had two assists and Logan Thompson made 24 saves as the Capitals completed a regular-season series sweep of the Kings.

Beauvillier, driving down the slot, tapped in a Connor McMichael pass at the end of an odd-man rush that included Ovechkin.

"I just figured I'd jump into the play in case there was a rebound and (McMichael) found me on the backside there and I just put it in," Beauvillier said.

Aliaksei Protas sealed the win with an empty-netter with 1:42 to go.

"Tomorrow is obviously a quick turnaround, got to go up to San Jose, and then finish (the trip) off in Anaheim," Beauvillier said. "Obviously playing some really good teams, and to start it off with two wins is massive for us."

Ovechkin, who has nine goals and eight assists in his last 12 games, became the seventh player in league history to record 800 career road points. He now has 463 goals and 337 assists in 760 career road contests.

San Jose, fourth in the Pacific Division, comes in off a 6-3 victory over the visiting Utah Mammoth on Monday and has won seven of its last eight home games. It's been quite the turnaround on home ice for the Sharks. Only Colorado (11-0-1) has more home wins than San Jose (9-4-3), which finished with the worst home record in the league (12-27-2) last season.

Tyler Toffoli had two goals and two assists, Will Smith had two goals and an assist and Macklin Celebrini had three assists for San Jose, which led 6-2 midway through the second period.

"The last couple of games we've had some really good games, did some really good things," Toffoli said. "Tonight was nice to get going there in the first, and another big win."

"I thought we played with the momentum probably better than we have probably all year," San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "We pushed the pace and pushed the play a little bit."

Warsofsky was happy with the way his team responded following a 4-3 loss on Saturday to the Vegas Golden Knights.

"You want to win, you want to play better," Warsofsky said. "I didn't think we played bad by any means in Vegas. We just gave up some goals that are very easy to give up, that are preventable. And I thought we did a little bit of that again tonight. Still things for us to work on, but it's a good effort by us to put six on the board and get two points."

Ivan Barbashev and Braeden Bowman each had a goal and an assist and Ben Hutton also scored for Vegas, which won its second straight game and prevailed for just the second time in 10 contests that went beyond regulation.

Hart was making his first NHL start in 22 months and 12 days following his acquittal in a sexual assault trial in July at London, Ontario. The 27-year-old stopped two shootout tries, including Frank Nazar's backhand attempt to begin the fourth round. Theodore then lofted a backhand shot past Spencer Knight's glove side for the game-winner.

Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist and Connor Bedard and Oliver Moore also scored for Chicago, which took its sixth loss in seven games (1-4-2). Knight finished with 25 saves.

Wild 1, Oilers 0

Jesper Wallstedt stopped all 33 shots he faced en route to his fourth shutout over his past six starts as Minnesota earned a road win over Edmonton.

The NHL's hottest goaltender earned his seventh straight win while extending the Wild's point streak to 12 games (10-0-2). Three days after the Oilers shut out the Seattle Kraken, Wallstedt and the Wild gave Edmonton a taste of their own medicine as they were unable to find the scoresheet for the first time all season.

Jonas Brodin tallied the game's lone goal at 13:11 of the first period. The Minnesota defenseman blasted a slap shot past Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner (23 saves).

Avalanche 3, Canucks 1

Nathan MacKinnon scored twice to maintain his NHL lead, Brock Nelson also scored, and Colorado beat Vancouver in Denver.

Gabriel Landeskog contributed two assists and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away all 10 shots he faced in relief of Scott Wedgewood for the Avalanche, who have won nine straight at home. Wedgewood left midway through the second period with an upper-body injury after making 10 saves.

Linus Karlsson had a goal and Kevin Lankinen made 28 saves for the Canucks, who have lost six of their past seven.

Rangers 3, Stars 2 (OT)

Vladislav Gavrikov scored on a rebound 69 seconds into overtime as New York recorded a rare home win by beating Dallas.

Gavrikov scored his fourth career overtime goal as the Rangers played their first game without top defenseman Adam Fox (shoulder). The Rangers forced overtime when Will Cuylle netted the tying goal with 2:13 remaining in regulation.

Kyle Capobianco produced a tying goal midway through the first period for the Stars, who lost Tyler Seguin to an apparent leg injury in the opening minutes. Seguin got hurt when he collided with Gavrikov along the boards in the second minute of the contest. Dallas saw a four-game winning streak stopped and lost for only the third time in its past 13 contests (10-1-2).

Islanders 2, Lightning 1

Bo Horvat and Anthony Duclair each scored a goal and Ilya Sorokin carried a shutout deep into the third period as New York prevailed in Elmont, N.Y., to snap Tampa Bay's seven-game winning streak.

Sorokin finished with 29 saves for the Islanders, who ended a three-game losing streak (0-2-1) and improved to 2-3-1 on their seven-game homestand e.

Dominic James had the goal for the Lightning, who outscored opponents 30-10 during their winning streak. Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded 21 saves.

Red Wings 5, Bruins 4

Moritz Seider produced a goal and two assists to lead host Detroit to a victory over Boston.

Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat each contributed a goal and an assist. James van Riemsdyk and Ben Chiarot also scored for Detroit to snap a four-game winless streak. John Gibson made 34 saves as the Red Wings avenged a 3-2 shootout loss to the Bruins on Saturday. Detroit had gone 0-3-1 in its previous four games.

Boston defenseman Jonathan Aspirot scored his first career goal during the second period. Alex Steeves supplied two goals and Marat Khusnutdinov also scored for the Bruins.

Senators 5, Canadiens 2

Brady Tkachuk scored his first goal of the season and also recorded an assist as visiting Ottawa won over rival Montreal.

Tkachuk was playing just his sixth game and third since missing 20 with a thumb injury. He assisted on Artem Zub's tiebreaking goal in the first period. Fabian Zetterlund also had a goal with an assist, while Jake Sanderson and Drake Batherson scored 1:10 apart in the second period for the Senators, who got 19 saves from Linus Ullmark.

Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki scored for Montreal, which has lost seven of 10.

Maple Leafs 4, Panthers 1

Toronto topped injury-riddled Florida at Sunrise, Fla., in the teams' first encounter since the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Troy Stecher scored his first goal as a Leaf before adding an assist. Dakota Joshua, Scott Laughton and John Tavares were Toronto's other goal scorers, and Joseph Woll turned away 26 shots.

Sam Reinhart netted the Panthers' only goal, and Sergei Bobrovsky saved 26 of the 29 shots he faced.

Capitals 3, Kings 1

Tom Wilson scored in his third straight game as visiting Washington beat Los Angeles.

Anthony Beauvillier and Aliaksei Protas also scored for the Capitals, who have won five straight and eight of their past nine. Alex Ovechkin had two assists, and Logan Thompson made 24 saves.

Adrian Kempe scored in his second straight game for the Kings, who had collected points in five straight (2-0-3). Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves.

Predators 5, Flames 1

Steven Stamkos tallied to collect his 1,200th career point while both Reid Schaefer and Ozzy Wiesblatt scored their first career goals as host Nashville trounced Calgary.

Michael Bunting netted one goal and one assist and Jonathan Marchessault added a goal for the Predators, who have won three of four games. Goaltender Juuse Saros made 27 saves and Nicolas Hague posted a pair of assists.

Morgan Frost replied with a late goal for Calgary. Starting goalie Devin Cooley stopped 12 of 16 shots for Calgary before being pulled after two periods. Dustin Wolf made 11 saves in mop-up duty.

Anthony Beauvillier and Aliaksei Protas also scored for the Capitals, who have won five straight and eight of nine. Alex Ovechkin had two assists, and Logan Thompson made 24 saves.

Adrian Kempe scored in his second straight game for the Kings, who had collected points in five straight (2-0-3). Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves.

The Capitals beat the Kings 2-1 in Washington on Nov. 17.

Washington went 1-for-2 on the power play; Los Angeles was 0-for-2.

Wilson gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 14:50 of the first period. Kuemper made a pad save on Ovechkin's shot from the left circle, but Ryan Leonard got the rebound and passed in front to Wilson for the tip in.

Wilson, who was named the NHL's third star of the past week on Monday, extended his point streak to six games (five goals, five assists).

Washington outshot Los Angeles 12-3 in the first period.

Kempe tied the score 1-1 at 5:28 of the second period. Anze Kopitar carried in to the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 rush and fed across to Kempe, who chipped the puck past Thompson for his ninth goal of the season.

Beauvillier gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead at 1:18 of the third period. Ovechkin came out of the penalty box and took a pass from Connor McMichael on a 3-on-1 rush. He carried in along the left side and passed across the slot to McMichael, who fed the trailing Beauvillier in front for the tip in.

Ovechkin has points in five straight games (two goals, five assists). He became the seventh player in NHL history with 800 career road points (463 goals, 337 assists).

Protas scored into an empty net at 18:18 for the 3-1 final.

Ivan Barbashev and Braeden Bowman each had a goal and an assist and Ben Hutton also scored for Vegas, which won its second straight game and prevailed for just the second time in 10 contests that went beyond regulation.

Hart was making his first NHL start in 22 months and 12 days following his acquittal in a sexual assault trial in July at London, Ontario. The 27-year-old stopped two shootout tries, including Frank Nazar's backhand attempt to begin the fourth round. Theodore then lofted a backhand shot past Spencer Knight's glove side for the game-winner.

Tyler Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist and Connor Bedard and Oliver Moore also scored for Chicago, which took its sixth loss in seven games (1-4-2). Knight finished with 25 saves.

Bedard gave Chicago its first lead at the 4:45 mark of the third period. He broke in one-on-one against Theodore, deked around him and then snapped a wrist shot from the high slot past Hart's blocker side and off the crossbar and in for his team-leading 17th goal.

Bowman tied it 3-3 with 2:28 left in regulation when he backhanded in a rebound of his own shot over Knight's right pad.

Vegas needed just 27 seconds to take a 1-0 lead when Barbashev's crossing pass from the left circle for Bowman hit the skate of Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser and caromed into the net.

Chicago tied it 56 seconds later when Moore ripped a wrist shot from the right circle past Hart's blocker side and into the top left corner.

The Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period, taking advantage of a Hart blunder in the process. Hart, aggressively coming out to clear a puck in front of his crease, instead passed it to Bertuzzi, who then chipped the loose puck past the sprawling goaltender.

The Golden Knights tied it 2-2 at 17:19 of the middle period when Hutton's one-timer from inside the blue line deflected in off Chicago defenseman Matt Grzelcyk stationed by the right post.

Gabriel Landeskog contributed two assists and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away all 10 shots he faced in relief of Scott Wedgewood for Colorado, which has won nine straight at home.

Wedgewood left midway through the second period with an upper-body injury after making 10 saves and was ruled out before the third period. Wedgewood leads the NHL in wins with 13.

Valeri Nichushkin returned after missing eight games with a lower-body injury.

The Avalanche remained unbeaten in 13 home games (11-0-2) and earned at least a point in their 17th straight game (14-0-3). Colorado has just one regulation loss in 26 games. It is the second longest into a season with just one regulation loss, trailing only the 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers (37 games).

Linus Karlsson had a goal and Kevin Lankinen made 28 saves for Vancouver. The Canucks have lost six of their last seven and are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games.

Vancouver forward Evander Kane left the game late in the third period holding his left wrist. He went straight to the locker room and didn't return.

Karlsson gave Vancouver the lead just 2:55 into the game when he got a pass from Arshdeep Bains, stickhandled on Wedgewood and beat him with a backhander in close.

MacKinnon tied it in the final minute of the first period. Devon Toews took a shot from the right side, the rebound went to MacKinnon in the left circle and he chipped it over Lankinen's right pad at 19:23.

Nelson, who had four points in a 7-2 win over Montreal on Saturday, gave Colorado the lead when Landeskog fed him as he skated down the slot and he wristed it over Lankinen's right shoulder at 13:52.

MacKinnon again struck in the final minute of a period when his one-timer on a pass from Landeskog beat Lankinen at 19:26.

MacKinnon leads all NHL skaters in goals (22) and points (46).

The NHL's hottest goaltender earned his seventh straight win while extending the Wild's point streak to 12 games (10-0-2).

Three days after the Oilers shut out the Seattle Kraken, Wallstedt and the Wild gave Edmonton a taste of their own medicine as they were unable to find the scoresheet for the first time all season.

Jonas Brodin tallied the game's lone goal at 13:11 of the first period. The Minnesota defenseman blasted a slap shot past Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner (23 saves).

Brodin stepped in and one-timed a won faceoff by Nico Sturm, not long after the Wild were unable to capitalize on the game's opening power play.

The Oilers were on the man advantage with 13:02 left in the second period when Wallstedt robbed Zach Hyman.

Hyman took a pass out front of the net and made a quick move to the backhand, only for the red-hot goaltender to kick out his pad to deny the possible game-tying goal.

With 9:35 remaining in the second, Evan Bouchard hooked up with Leon Draisaitl for a give-and-go, but the Oilers' top defenseman soared his shot over the net.

With just under five minutes left in the middle frame, Draisaitl came storming down on a 3-on-2 and handed it off to Andrew Mangiapane, but once again Wallstedt stepped up and turned away another high-quality chance.

Edmonton star Connor McDavid finally recorded his first shot on goal with 6:43 left in the contest, but Wallstedt was once again up to the task.

Minnesota's Matt Boldy took a penalty with 40 seconds left in the game, but the Oilers were unable to find some late-game heroics.

Draisaitl saw his eight-game point streak (five goals, eight assists) come to an end.

Wedgewood started in net and allowed one goal on 11 shots in 32:28, but was replaced by Mackenzie Blackwood midway through the second period.

Wedgewood entered Tuesday leading all goaltenders in wins with 13 in 18 games, tied for second in goals-against average (2.08) and in save percentage (.921)