Maple Leafs hold off Oilers
Curtis McElhinney made 41 saves for his first shutout of the season and sixth overall, and Zach Hyman scored in the first minute in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 1-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night.
McElhinney was making his fifth start of the season, giving starter Frederik Andersen a rest after he played in a 4-3 victory Saturday night in Pittsburgh. Toronto improved to 2010-1 to move within three points of Tampa Bay for the Eastern Conference lead.
Laurent Brossoit made 22 saves for the Oilers. They were coming off a 6-2 victory in Montreal on Saturday night.
It took Toronto only 34 seconds to take the lead. Jake Gardiner’s point shot made its way through traffic and was tipped by Hyman past Brossoit on the first shift. Gardiner was originally credited with the goal before it was switched to Hyman’s sixth of the season.
• Toronto star forward Auston Matthews was held out of the Maple Leafs’ game against the Oilers because of an upper-body injury.
Matthews was originally listed as a game-time decision, with Mike Babcock saying at the morning skate that the 20-yearold forward was “one of those guys with bumps and bruises.”
Matthews took an accidental hit to the head from teammate Morgan Rielly with 2:50 remaining in the third period of a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. He stayed on the bench and played two more shifts prior to the end of the game.
Matthews also missed four games in early November with an upper-body injury. He has 13 goals and 13 assists in 26 games. BLACKHAWKS 3, COYOTES 1>> Corey Crawford made 31 saves, Artem Anisimov scored with 4:47 left in the third period and Chicago beat Arizona.
Former Shark Tommy Wingels and Nick Schmaltz also scored in the third as Chicago earned its second straight win after dropping five in a row. Patrick Kane had two assists to run his career total to 781 points, breaking a tie with Doug Wilson for fifth on the franchise scoring list.
Kane found an open Anisimov in the right circle for the center’s team-high 13th goal, giving the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead. The connection occurred just 71 seconds after Anthony Duclair tied it at 1 with his seventh goal for Arizona, tipping home Alex Goligoski’s pass in front.
Kane then set up Schmaltz with a slick pass with 3:02 left. It was Schmaltz’s first goal since Nov. 27 and No. 5 on the season.
Scott Wedgewood made 34 saves for Arizona, which dropped its fourth straight game.
The Coyotes were coming off a 1-0 loss at Columbus on Saturday night, but they skated right with the Blackhawks for most of the game. BLUES 3, SABRES 2 >> Vladimir Tarasenko scored with 35 seconds left in overtime, and short-handed St. Louis beat Buffalo. Brayden Schenn and Paul Stastny also scored, and Joel Edmundson recorded two assists as the Blues topped the Sabres for the 10th time in their past 11 meetings. Jake Allen made 22 saves, improving to 5-1 in six career starts against Buffalo.
Evan Rodrigues, in just his third game this season, scored both goals for the Sabres, who have lost six of seven. Robin Lehner made 42 saves.
Tarasenko used his speed to get around the Sabres defense and notch his 14th goal of the season. It was just his second goal in his past nine games.
The Blues won their fourth straight despite being without second-leading scorer Jaden Schwartz and top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, taking 58 combined points out of the St. Louis lineup.
Both suffered lowerbody injuries in the Blues’ 6-1 win at Detroit on Saturday afternoon. Schwartz was placed on injured reserve, but Pietrangelo is day-to-day.