Leafs notch high-scoring win over visiting Hurricanes
Blues score four in first period, cruise past Kings
TORONTO: Mitch Marner had two goals and three assists, and the Toronto Maple Leafs scored twice in six seconds to take the lead during the third period on the way to defeating the visiting Carolina Hurricanes 86 on Monday afternoon. John Tavares added a goal and two assists for Toronto. Auston Matthews, Tyson Barrie and Jason Spezza each had a goal and an assist, and William Nylander and Pierre Engvall each had a goal. Zach Hyman had three assists for the Maple Leafs, who have won five straight. Frederik Andersen made 34 saves for Toronto. Martin Necas had two goals and two assists for the Hurricanes, and Erik Haula added two goals and an assist. Brock McGinn and Andrei Svechnikov also scored goals while Lucas Wallmark and Ryan Dzingel each had two assists.
BLUES 4, KINGS 1
Brayden Schenn scored two goals in a first-period onslaught as visiting St. Louis extended its winning streak to six games with a victory over Los Angeles. Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn also scored in the opening period as the Blues improved to 2-0-0 on their current three-game road trip after winning all four of their games on a homestand that ended last week. Jordan Binnington made 29 saves as the Blues improved to 2-0-0 against the Kings this season after rolling to a 5-2 victory at home on Oct. 24. Alex Iafallo scored a first-period power-play goal for the Kings, who lost their third consecutive game (0-2-1).
AVALANCHE 7, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored two goals, and Valeri Nichushkin added a goal and assist to lead Colorado to a victory in Las Vegas. It was the first twogoal game of Bellemare’s career. Gabriel Landeskog, playing in his 600th NHL game, scored a goal for the Avalanche, as did Mikko Rantanen, Matt Nieto and Nazem Kadri. J.T. Compher added two assists while Pavel Francouz had 29 saves to improve to 9-0-1 in his past 11 starts. Max Pacioretty, William Carrier and Ryan Reaves scored for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 31 saves while allowing seven goals in a regularseason game for just the second time in his career.
DEVILS 7, BLACKHAWKS 1
Jack Hughes snapped a nearly two-month goal-scoring drought in the first period to begin a stretch of seven unanswered goals by New Jersey, which enjoyed its most lopsided win in more than a year by routing host Chicago. Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves. P.K. Subban scored the go-ahead goal 51 seconds into the second period for the Devils, who also received goals from Damon Severson, John Hayden, Travis Zajac, Blake Coleman and Pavel Zacha. New Jersey hadn’t won a game by six goals since blanking the Washington Capitals 6-0 on Oct. 11, 2018. Zack Smith scored early in the first period for the Blackhawks, who absorbed their most lopsided loss since falling to the Florida Panthers 7-0 on March 25, 2017.
SENATORS 3, SABRES 1
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored two goals, and Ottawa defeated visiting Buffalo. Brady Tkachuk had an emptynet goal and two assists, and Craig Anderson made 43 saves for the Senators in his first game since Dec. 7, when he sustained a lower-body injury against the Philadelphia Flyers. Zemgus Girgensons scored for Buffalo, which is 1-3-1 in its past five games, and Linus Ullmark made 27 saves. Jack Eichel didn’t produce a point after he managed at least one in 18 consecutive games played. His streak officially ended after 17 games when he sat out Thursday due to an upper-body injury.
FLYERS 5, RANGERS 1
Travis Sanheim scored two goals and added one assist while Kevin Hayes scored two goals to carry host Philadelphia past New York for its fourth straight win. Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored one goal while James van Riemsdyk and Justin Braun had two assists apiece for the Flyers, who scored five unanswered goals after falling behind 1-0. Flyers goaltender Carter Hart made 34 saves and improved to 11-1-2 at home. Jesper Fast scored the lone goal for the Rangers. New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped 25 shots.
WILD 3, FLAMES 0
Devan Dubnyk turned aside all 22 shots he faced, and Joel Eriksson Ek scored in his return from injured reserve as Minnesota shut out Calgary in Saint Paul, Minn. Luke Kunin also tallied in the second period and set up Eric Staal’s empty-net goal in the third as the Wild enter the NHL’s holiday break on a 12-4-4 run. Minnesota had allowed 19 goals over the previous four games (1-3-0) but answered a 6-0 shellacking by Winnipeg in its last contest with a sterling performance against Calgary. Dubnyk was making his third appearance following a pronounced absence due to a serious health issue involving his wife, Jennifer. The 33year-old followed up a relief appearance against the Jets by turning aside all seven shots he faced in the third period to preserve his first shutout of the season and the 32nd of his career.
BRUINS 7, CAPITALS 3
Patrice Bergeron scored twice, and David Krejci had a goal and two assists to lead Boston past visiting Washington. The Bruins scored four goals in the first period, during which the Capitals committed five penalties. Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle had a goal and an assist, and Jake DeBrusk and Anders Bjork also tallied as the Bruins picked up their second win in their past 10 games (2-4-4). Tuukka Rask made 39 saves. Alex Ovechkin, Lars Eller and Garnet Hathaway scored for the Capitals, who lost for only the third time in their past 13 games. Braden Holtby (seven saves) was pulled from the net by Washington at the end of the opening period. Ilya Samsonov took over and allowed a goal on four shots the rest of the way. — Reuters