Streaking Avs capture 9th consecutive W * Leafs beat Senators
Erik Johnson, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and an assist for Colorado as the Avalanche stretched their winning streak to nine with a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers in a Saturday matinée in Denver.
The Avalanche have scored first in all nine of these games.
MacKinnon leads the Avalanche in goals (23), assists (36) and points (59), and he came through for them again on Saturday, getting a hand in the first two of his team’s goals.
Bruins 4, Canadiens 1
David Pastrnak scored twice in a three-point game and Boston continued its incredible roll with a victory in Montreal.
Torey Krug also collected three points in a one-goal, two-assist performance and goalie Tuukka Rask made 20 saves for the Bruins, who have put together a 12-0-4 record since their last loss in regulation time on December 14.
The Bruins took control of the game with a pair of goals less than two minutes apart late in the second period to erase a 1-0 deficit, with Pastrnak scoring one and setting up the other.
Sharks 2, Penguins 1
Tomas Hertl converted a power-play opportunity into a tie-breaking goal early in the third period and host San Jose held on to defeat Pittsburgh.
The teams were meeting for just the third time since the Penguins defeated the Sharks 4-2 in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2016. The Penguins’ final two wins in that series came in San Jose, including 3-1 in Game 6.
Hertl’s game-winner, 1:53 into the final period, came just four seconds after the Penguins’ Jamie Oleksiak was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking Joonas Donskoi.
Wild 5, Lightning 2
Minnesota got goals from Jared Spurgeon, Zach Parise, Nate Prosser, Jason Zucker and Marcus Foligno to beat Tampa Bay. It was the third consecutive loss for Tampa Bay and the first game of a season-long eight-game road trip.
Brayden Point scored twice for the Lightning, who are in the midst of their season-worst losing streak. They got 30 saves from goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. For Minnesota, goalie Devan Dubnyk had 21 saves as the Wild earned at least a point at home for the eighth consecutive game.
Stars 7, Sabres 1
Mattias Janmark scored twice and had an assist in the first 26 minutes, as Dallas ended a four-game road streak by rolling past hapless host Buffalo.
The Stars earned seven of a possible eight points on the road trip and head home in fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
Dallas scored early and often against the Sabres’ porous defense and goaltender Robin Lehner, who allowed four goals in the first 30 minutes of play before being lifted for Chad Johnson.
Maple Leafs 4, Senators 3
Connor Carrick’s go-ahead goal midway through the third period helped visiting Toronto erase a two-goal deficit to beat Ottawa in the Battle of Ontario.
Carrick fired his dragging wrist shot through a crowded crease and past Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson for the decisive strike with 11:02 remaining in the game, his third goal of the season.
Zach Hyman, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner each scored a goal for Toronto, which snapped its season-high four-game losing streak (0-1-3).
The Maple Leafs had lost four straight against Ottawa and were 1-6-3 in the past 10 meetings.
Flyers 3, Devils 1
Michal Neuvirth stopped 28 of 29 shots, and Philadelphia got goals from three different skaters in a victory over visiting New Jersey.
Travis Konecny, Valtteri Filppula and Ivan Provorov each scored a goal in the first 12:15 of the opening period to help the Flyers win their second straight game after Thursday’s 3-2 overtime victory against Toronto.
Philadelphia has now won six of eight games (6-2-0) since the calendar flipped to 2018.
Coyotes 5, Blues 2
Christian Dvorak led Arizona with two goals as visiting Arizona stunned hometown St. Louis.
Zac Rinaldo, Brendan Perlini and Christian Fischer scored for the Coyotes, who ended their losing streak at five games. Meanwhile, Clayton Keller and Max Domi each had two assists for the victors. Arizona outshot St. Louis 43-27.
Brayden Schenn and Alex Steen replied for the Blues, who suffered their first loss in three games.
Predators 4, Panthers 3
Nick Bonino, Kevin Fiala and P.K. Subban scored in the second period as Nashville tallied three unanswered goals to erase an early deficit en route to a home victory over Florida.
Fiala also had a first-period goal for the Predators, who won a fourth straight on their ongoing, five-game homestand. The win was Nashville’s fifth straight overall.
Vincent Trocheck, Derek MacKenzie and Keith Yandle scored for Florida, which has alternated losses and wins in its last five games.
Oilers 5, Canucks 2
Jesse Puljujarvi had a goal and an assist late to break a tie as host Edmonton outlasted Vancouver.
The Oilers won their third game in a row, building a 2-0 lead on goals by Patrick Maroon and Jujhar Khaira before the Canucks rallied.
Vancouver knotted the game at 2-2 by midway through the second via goals from Daniel Sedin and Brandon Sutter, only to see the Oilers rally.
Hurricanes 3, Red Wings 1
Elias Lindholm scored two power-play goals to lead Carolina past host Detroit.
Lindholm increased his season total to 14 goals. Justin Williams added a goal in the late going for Carolina, which had lost six of eight. The Hurricanes were playing for the first time since losing to Calgary 4-1 on Sunday. Justin Faulk added two assists and Cam Ward made 23 saves for the Hurricanes.
Tomas Tatar scored the lone goal for Detroit, which has lost four of its last five games.
Jets 2, Flames 1 (SO)
Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler both tallied in the shootout to give Winnipeg a victory that snapped host Calgary’s seven-game winning streak.
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck denied Mark Jankowski and Sean Monahan on their shootout opportunities and stopped 30 shots through overtime to snap his team’s two-game losing skid.
Islanders 7, Blackhawks 3
Rookie defenseman Ryan Pulock collected five points, and Anthony Beauvillier scored twice as New York rolled to victory over Chicago.
Pulock was involved in New York’s first five goals and became the first rookie defenseman in team history to get five points. He also became the first New York defenseman to get five points since Uwe Krupp on March 20, 1993, at Vancouver.
Patrick Kane became the fifth player in Chicago history to reach 800 points as he scored twice and added an assist. Defenseman Erik Gustafsson scored the other goal for Chicago in his first game of the season. (Reuters)