Newcomer O’Reilly has hat trick, Leafs beat Sabres 6-3
BUFFALO, N.Y. >> Newly acquired center Ryan O’Reilly scored twice on Toronto’s first two shots on net and added an empty-net goal in the Maple Leafs’ 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.
Playing his third game in four nights since being acquired from St. Louis, O’Reilly scored 37 seconds apart in the opening period and the Maple Leafs led 4-0 on goals in a span of 8:18.
O’Reilly added two assists and sealed the win with the first five-point outing of his career by scoring into an empty net with 1:10 remaining — and after the Sabres scored three times to cut Toronto’s lead to 5-3.
O’Reilly’s new linemates got in on the fun, with captain John Tavares scoring and adding three assists, and Mitchell Marner setting up five goals. Michael Bunting and William Nylander also scored, and Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves.
Alex Tuch, with the 100th goal of his career, Jack Quinn and Jeff Skinner scored for Buffalo.
RED WINGS 3, CAPITALS 1 >>
Pius Suter scored twice, Robert Hagg ended a 75game goal drought and Detroit beat Washington.
The Red Wings won for the sixth time in seven games, moving ahead of the Capitals in the Eastern Conference wild-card race and taking another step to ending their six-year playoff drought. Washington lost a fifth in a row in regulation — its longest stretch without a point since January 2014, the last time the team missed the postseason.
Detroit kept rolling despite Dylan Larkin getting ejected 12:43 in for cross-checking T.J. Oshie in the face. Larkin, a pending free agent and the Red Wings’ captain, had been their best player during this run with seven goals and six assists in six games since the NHL All-Star break.
No Larkin, no problem, with Hagg scoring for the first time since Oct. 25, 2021 — two teams ago — and Suter getting one goal short-handed in the first period and another at even strength in the third. Ville Husso made 26 saves.
Washington’s only goal came on a major penalty to Larkin, when Tom Wilson redirected a shot from Erik Gustafsson past Husso. Alex Ovechkin missed a fourth consecutive game for the death of his father.
LIGHTNING 6, DUCKS 1 >> Nick Paul had the first of four Tampa Bay goals in a span of 5:55 in the second period, Brayden Point scored his 200th NHL goal and the Lightning dealt Anaheim its sixth straight loss.
Ross Colton, Anthony Cirelli and Zach Bogosian also scored during the secondperiod outburst, and Point and Corey Perry scored in the third. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 24 saves.
HURRICANES 4, BLUES 1 >> Andrei Svechnikov scored twice in the first eight minutes to break a 19-game goal drought and Carolina beat St. Louis.
Sebastian Aho had a second-period goal, and Seth Jarvis added a goal and two assists. Svechnikov also had an assist as the Hurricanes won their fourth game in a row and for the 11th time in their last 12. Frederik Andersen stopped 35 shots for his fifth consecutive victory.
CANADIENS 5, DEVILS 2 >>
Sam Montembeault stopped three breakaways and made 37 saves to help Montreal end New Jersey’s six-game home winning streak.
Defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic and Nick Suzuki scored in a 1:13 span in the second period to put Montreal ahead. Justin Barron, Rem Pitlick and Mike Matheson also scored for the Canadiens.
WILD 2, KINGS 1 >> Ryan Hartman scored twice and Filip Gustavsson made 33 saves and Minnesota beat Los Angeles.
Gustavsson won for the fourth time in five games as Minnesota won its third straight.
PREDATORS 5, CANUCKS 4, SO >> Matt Duchene scored the only goal in the shootout as Nashville held off Vancouver.
Vancouver’s Conor Garland made it a one-goal game with 1:0t to go, and Andrei Kuzmenko tied it with his second goal of the night with 15.4 seconds left.
Duchene beat goalie Collin Delia as Nashville’s second shooter.. Goalie Juuse Saros stopped Kuzmenko, J.T. Miller and Elias Petterson for the win.
Cole Smith, Philip Tomasino, Nino Niederreiter and Mikael Granlund each had a goal for Nashville, winners of two of its last three. Sheldon Dries also had a goal for Vancouver, which has lost four of five.