Pacioretty propels Canadiens to 5-4 shootout win over LA Kings

Paul Byron scored the clinching goal in the fourth round of the shootout, and the Montreal Canadiens avoided a winless swing through California with a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. Max Pacioretty had two goals and an assist for the Canadiens, who won for just the second time in seven road games. Montreal had only one win in its previous 11 games in California before scoring three times in the four-round shootout. Alexander Radulov and Andrew Shaw also scored and Carey Price made 27 saves for the Atlantic Division-leading Canadiens. Jeff Carter and Drew Doughty had a goal and an assist apiece for the Kings, who lost for only the second time in eight games. Peter Budaj stopped 26 shots.

FLYERS 4, PREDATORS 2

Wayne Simmonds scored two power-play goals and Philadelphia beat Nashville to win its fifth consecutive game. Playing in front of a sellout crowd in Nashville, the Flyers earned their second road victory in two days against a Central Division team. They defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Saturday. The Predators lost in regulation for only the second time in 12 home games this season. Simmonds, who leads the Flyers with 13 goals, scored twice against what had been a stingy Nashville penalty-killing unit at home. The Predators did not allow a power-play goal in their first 10 home games, but have given up three in their last two games.

JETS 2, BLACKHAWKS 1

Andrew Copp scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:45 left, Bryan Little got his third goal in three games and Winnipeg edged Chicago. Copp beat Scott Darling on the stick side with a shot from the right circle that slipped just inside the left post. Chicago’s Artemi Panarin scored with 6:54 remaining to tie it at 1, moments after Copp hit the post, to spoil Connor Hellebuyck’s bid for a second shutout against Chicago in less than a month. Panarin completed a give-and-go with Patrick Kane, beating Hellebuyck to the glove side. Hellebuyck finished with 25 saves and outdueled Darling, who started his second straight game for the Blackhawks in place of No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford. Darling made 30 saves, including three on breakaways. Little’s powerplay goal with 43.4 seconds left in the second period was his fourth point in four games since missing 23 with a lower-body injury.

RED WINGS 4, ISLANDERS 3, OT

Danny DeKeyser scored 1:02 into overtime to give Detroit a victory over New York. Mike Green scored twice and Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and assist for Detroit, which improved to 4-1-2 in its last seven games. Peter Mrazek stopped 32 shots to improve to 3-0-2 in his past five starts. Anders Lee, Johnny Boychuk and Josh Bailey scored for New York, which had won a seasonhigh three straight. Jaroslav Halak finished with 30 saves. Detroit’s Frans Nielsen had an assist while facing his former team for the first time since leaving the Islanders for a six-year, $31.5 million deal with the Red Wings last summer. The 32-year-old Danish center was selected by the Islanders in the third round of the 2002 draft and had 119 goals and 230 assists over 10 seasons in New York.

HURRICANES 1, LIGHTNING 0, OT

Phillip Di Giuseppe scored his first goal of the season 1:26 into overtime, giving Carolina a win over Tampa Bay. Viktor Stalberg assisted on Di Giuseppe’s wrist shot from the right circle, which ended a three-game skid for the Canes. It was Carolina’s sixth straight home victory and snapped a three-game skid versus Tampa Bay. The Hurricanes have won just two of their last 10 games against the Lightning. Tampa Bay, without injured star Steven Stamkos, lost for the fifth time in six games. Its last regulation win was over Philadelphia on Nov. 23. Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward had 30 saves in his 25th career shutout. Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop stopped 29 shots.

FLAMES 8, DUCKS 3

Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist in his return from a broken finger, and Calgary scored five times in a 6:04 span of the second period to rout Anaheim. It was a surprise when it was revealed in the morning that Gaudreau would be back in the lineup less than three weeks after surgery that was expected to keep him out four to six weeks. On the first shot of his first shift, he took a drop pass from Sam Bennett and whipped a shot past Jonathan Bernier at 2:09 to make it 1-0. Sixth in the NHL in scoring last season, Gaudreau started off slowly this season with two goals in 14 games. But he was just beginning to heat up with three goals in three games when a slash from Eric Staal against Minnesota on Nov. 15 sidelined him for 10 games.

WILD 2, OILERS 1, OT

Mikko Koivu scored 3:11 into overtime and Minnesota edged Edmonton. Charlie Coyle also scored for the Wild (12-8-4), who snapped a three-game skid. Patrick Maroon had the goal for the Oilers (14-10-3), who had won two straight. Edmonton got on the board less than 3 minutes into the game. Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk was able to stop a point shot by Mark Fayne, but couldn’t recover in time to stop Maroon from scoring his eighth of the season on the rebound. The Wild tied it with 55 seconds to go in the opening period. Coyle was able to muscle in a rebound off Oilers goalie Jonas Gustavsson’s skate for his ninth goal this season. —AP