Habs dump Canucks in overtime
VANCOUVER — Paul Byron scored in overtime as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Vancouver Canucks for the second time this season, 2-1 on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena.
Torrey Mitchell also scored for the Atlantic Division-leading Canadiens (38-21-8), who have won six straight and are 7-2 since head coach Claude Julien was hired. Montreal won 3-0 at home against the Canucks on Nov. 2.
Goalie Carey Price made 27 saves. He’s been on fire recently, with a shutout and only five goals allowed in his last five games — all wins.
Michael Chaput scored for the Canucks (28-31-7), who had a modest two-game win streak snapped and are now seven points back of St. Louis for the second wild card spot. Vancouver goalie Ryan Miller had a busy night with 36 saves.
Despite Vancouver coming out aggressively in the first, outshooting Montreal 5-1 in the opening minutes, it was the Canadiens who scored first. Andrei Markov, from the blue-line, whipped the puck at the net and Mitchell redirected it home at 3:57.
Price made a spectacular glove save on a streaking Markus Granlund eight minutes into the third, prompting chants of “Carey, Carey” to erupt in the upper deck.
The Canucks broke through at 7:11 when Alexander Edler’s wrist shot from near the blue-line was redirected by Chaput.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, RED WINGS 2
TORONTO (AP) — James van Riemsdyk broke out of a scoring slump and the Maple Leafs snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory against the Red Wings.
Alexey Marchenko and Nazem Kadri also scored for the Maple Leafs. Rookie Mitch Marner and Tyler Bozak each had two assists.
Gustav Nyquist scored twice for the Red Wings, while Henrik Zetterberg extended his point streak to seven games with assists on both goals.
Frederik Andersen made 22 saves. Petr Mrazek, making his eighth straight start for Detroit, stopped 25 shots.
ISLANDERS 4, OILERS 1
EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Anders Lee scored a pair of goals and the Islanders earned a victory over the Oilers.
Joshua Ho-Sang, with his first career NHL goal, and Andrew Ladd also scored for the Islanders, who snapped a two-game losing skid with the road victory. Zack Kassian scored for the Oilers, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.
The Islanders kicked off the scoring with 2:37 left in the first period as Ho-Sang scored on a power-play shot from the point that beat Oilers goalie Cam Talbot up high.