Zucker’s three points power Wild to victory

Las Vegas product’s line stays hot

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Las Vegas product Jason Zucker scored two goals and added an assist as the Minnesota Wild beat the Nashville Predators 5-2 on Saturday.

Mikael Granlund and Mikko Koivu each had a goal and an assist, and Eric Staal scored into an empty net as the Western Conference-leading Wild surpassed last season’s total with their 39th win. Devan Dubnyk made 37 saves.

Since becoming a line on Nov. 25, Zucker, Koivu and Granlund have combined for 110 points. The Wild are 29-6-4 since then.

“I think we feed off each other pretty well, and I think we make sure that we hold each other accountable when we have a bad shift, bad play or bad game, whatever it is,” said Zucker, who tallied his 100th career point with his goal late in the second period.

Zucker also scored unassisted on a breakaway with 3:19 to play.

Minnesota, which is 6-1-1 in its past eight games, has a nine-point lead over second-place Chicago in the Central Division.

Red Wings 3, Capitals 2, SO — At Detroit, Henrik Zetterberg scored a tiebreaking goal on Detroit’s fifth shootout try, and Petr Mrazek then stopped Alex Ovechkin to halt Washington’s six-game win streak.

Sabres 3, Blues 2 — At Buffalo, N.Y., Evander Kane and Nicholas Baptiste each had a goal and an assist to back Robin Lehner, who had 37 saves, as Buffalo stopped St. Louis’ six-game win streak.

Panthers 3, Kings 2 — At Los Angeles, Aleksander Barkov scored the go-ahead goal 15 seconds into the third period to back Roberto Luongo, who had 33 saves, as Florida won its fourth straight.

Jets 3, Canadiens 1 — At Montreal, Patrik Laine and Mathieu Perreault each had a goal and an assist for Winnipeg, which dealt first-place Montreal its third straight loss and seventh in eight games.

Devils 3, Islanders 2 — At Newark, N.J., Travis Zajac had a goal and an assist to back Cory Schneider, who had 40 saves — including one on a penalty shot by New York captain John Tavares.

Senators 6, Maple Leafs 3 — At Toronto, Mark Stone had a goal and four assists, and Derick Brassard added two third-period goals for Ottawa, which recovered after blowing a two-goal lead.

Canucks 2, Flames 1, OT — At Vancouver, British Columbia, defenseman Chris Tanev scored his first goal of the season 34 seconds into overtime to back Ryan Miller, who had 35 saves.

Stars 4, Lightning 3, OT — At Dallas, Antoine Roussel had his first hat trick for Dallas, with Tyler Seguin assisting on all three goals, and Jamie Benn scored with 1:13 left in overtime.

Oilers 3, Blackhawks 1 — At Chicago, league points leader Connor McDavid scored his 20th goal to back Cam Talbot, who had 38 saves, as Edmonton won its third straight.

Sharks 4, Coyotes 1 — At Glendale, Ariz., Brent Burns scored twice to back Aaron Dell, who had 36 saves in San Jose’s first win over last-place Arizona in five games this season.