Acciari records 2nd straight hat-trick, Panthers top Stars

Caps’ Ovi, Backstrom make 900th game memorable, rip Devils 6-3

SUNRISE, Florida, Dec 21, (AP): Noel Acciari completed his second straight hat-trick with a penalty shot and added an assist in Florida’s fivegoal second period in the Panthers’ 7-4 victory over the Dallas Stars. Acciari had the natural hat trick in a Florida-record 3:59 span, pushing his season goals total to a career-high 11.

The 28-year-old former Providence player began the run at 7:26 of the second, struck again at 7:58, and slipped his first career

New Jersey Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (29) deflects a shot as Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) skates in during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Dec 20, in Newark, N.J. (AP)

scored, Aleksander Barkov had two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves.

Capitals 6, Devils 3

In Newark, New Jersey, Nicklas Backstrom had two goals and two assists, and Washington beat New Jersey.

Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson each had a goal and an assist as the Capitals rebounded from Monday’s 3-0 loss at Columbus, improving to 16-3-1 on the road. Jonas Siegenthaler and Richard Panik also scored, and rookie Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves.

Washington’s 26-6-5 record is currently the NHL’s best. It is the only team in the league not to lose consecutive games in regulation this season.

Kyle Palmieri, Blake Coleman and Miles Wood scored for the Devils, who were denied their first three-game winning streak of the season. Mackenzie Blackwood had 21 saves before being relieved by Gilles Senn in the third period. The four points for Blackstrom gave him 900 in his career.

Maple Leafs 6, Rangers 3

In New York, William Nylander and Mitchell Marner each scored their second goal of the game early in the third period as Toronto doubled up New York.

Pierre Engvall and Ilya Mikheyev also scored, and Frederik Andersen made 19 saves as Toronto won its third straight.

Brady Skjei, Ryan Strome and Pavel Buchnevich scored for New York. Alexandar Georgiev made 34 saves as the Rangers’ losing streak reached three games.

Penguins 5, Oilers 2

In Edmonton, Alberta, Tristan Jarry made 26 saves, Jared McCann scored and Pittsburgh beat Edmonton.

Chad Ruhwedel, Joseph Blandisi, Kris Letang and Brandon Tanev also scored for the Penguins, who have won four straight.

Zack Kassian and Riley Sheahan scored for the Oilers, who have lost six of seven. ent decisions for Mumbai City FC players despite multiple brash fouls against ATK in the match at Kolkata stands out as a prime example of referees’ indecision.

In the 25th minute, referee Om Prakash Thakur incorrectly awarded a free-kick in favour of Chennaiyin after what appeared to be a foul from Anirudh Thapa on Seityasen Singh. Nerijus Valskis quickly restarted play which set Chennaiyin on a counter-attack against Blasters defence, as Andre Schembri laid it in Valskis’ path for a simple finish.

This led to a huge outrage from the visiting players who claimed that the free kick was wrong. After a long drawn-out discussion with his assistants, the referee revoked his decision which in turn infuriated the Chennaiyin bench.

Chennaiyin’s two goals by the end of the first period put off the fire for a while, but the decisions taken in this match will add more weight to the ISL’s recent request to the All India Football Federa