Oilers snap six-game losing streak
Darnell Nurse gave reeling Edmonton an early boost by scoring 2:15 into the first period, and the Oilers stopped a six-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory Thursday night over Minnesota that sent the Wild to their fourth straight loss.
Ty Rattie, Leon Draisaitl and Zack Kassian also scored, Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had two assists, and Cam Talbot made 35 saves for the Oilers, who were just 513-2 in their previous 20 games.
Joel Eriksson Ek had the Wild’s lone goal 2:50 into the third period, an encouraging sign for a team that just lost captain, centre and defensive stalwart Mikko Koivu to a seasonending knee injury. Eriksson Ek was recalled from the AHL to take Koivu’s place.
Minnesota’s momentum was wiped out less than three minutes later. Jason Zucker checked Edmonton defenceman Kris Russell hard and sent him hurtling face first into the left post, angering the Oilers and drawing an interference penalty the Wild disputed. Twenty seconds into the power play, Draisaitl knocked in a pass from Alex Chiasson to push the lead back to two.
Kassian, who also had an assist, scored on an empty-netter after the puck skipped out to him following a denial of Mikael Granlund on the other end by Talbot.
With a snowstorm swirling outside all day and keeping some fans away, the energy in the arena was already substandard. Then the Oilers took the lead on the first shot on goal of the game, when Nurse stepped into a pass from McDavid and let the puck fly from the top of the left circle past goalie Devan Dubnyk’s glove.
SHARKS 5, FLAMES 2
CALGARY — Evander Kane scored twice and added an assist leading San Jose over the Calgary Flames in a Pacific Division showdown.
Kane has nine goals and 13 points for San Jose in games against the Flames since a trade last February.
Tomas Hertl also had two goals for San Jose (32-16-7) with Brent Burns adding the other.
Four consecutive wins moves the Sharks to within two points of Calgary for top spot in the division.
Mark Jankowski and TJ Brodie replied for Calgary (34-15-5), which lost at home in regulation for the first time in nine games.
CAPITALS 4, AVALANCHE 3 (OT)
WASHINGTON — Evgeny Kuznetsov scored in overtime, backup Pheonix Copley made 34 saves and the Washington Capitals beat Colorado to hand struggling Avalanche their fifth consecutive loss.
Matt Niskanen and Andre Burakovsky also scored for Washington.
Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Colin Wilson scored for Colorado.
KINGS 3, FLYERS 2, SO
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tyler Toffoli scored the deciding goal in a shootout and Los Angeles ended Philadelphia’s winning streak at eight games.
Jonathan Quick made 30 saves, and Adrian Kempe and Austin Wagner scored in regulation to help Los Angeles win its third straight and fourth in five games. Philadelphia’s Jakub Voracek scored with 18.2 seconds left in regulation. Sean Couturier also scored for the Flyers.
CANADIENS 5, JETS 2
MONTREAL (AP) — Jonathan Drouin had two goals and two assists for his first four-point game and Montreal beat Winnipeg for its third straight victory.
Captain Shea Weber, Phillip Danault and Jesperi Kotkaniemi also scored to help the Canadiens improve to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.
Mark Scheifele and Brendan Lemieux scored for the Jets.
PANTHERS 3, PENGUINS 2, OT
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Mike Matheson scored 4:14 into overtime to lift Florida past Pittsburgh.
Evgenii Dadonov and former Lethbridge Hurricane Colton Sceviour also scored for the Panthers.
Marcus Pettersson and Jared McCann scored for the Penguins.
ISLANDERS 2, DEVILS 1, SO
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Josh Bailey scored in the fourth round of the shootout, Thomas Greiss made 30 saves aS New York beat New Jersey.
Mathew Barzal scored in regulation to help New York win for the seventh time in 10 games (7-1-2).
Kevin Rooney scored for New Jersey.
HURRICANES 6, SABRES 5, OT
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Teuvo Teravainen scored his second goal of the game 3:25 into overtime, and Curtis McElhinney stopped 34 shots to help Carolina beat Buffalo.
Brock McGinn Greg McKegg, Justin Faulk and Nino Niederreiter also scored for Carolina.
Jeff Skinner scored his 32nd and 33rd goals for Buffalo, and Jason Pominville, Evan Rodrigues and Marco Scandella added goals.
BLUES 1, LIGHTNING 0, OT
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Brayden Shenn scored with 58.2 seconds left in overtime and rookie Jordan Binnington made 32 saves to help St. Louis beat Tampa Bay for its fourth straight victory.
PREDATORS 3, STARS 2, OT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ryan Johansen scored 43 seconds into overtime and Nashville beat Dallas.
Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist, and Craig Smith also scored for Nashville. Taylor Fedun and Miro Heiskanen scored for Dallas.
KNIGHTS 4, RED WINGS 3
DETROIT (AP) — Jonathan Marchessault scored twice in a threegoal second period in Vegas’ victory over Detroit.
William Karlsson and Brayden McNabb also scored to help Vegas snap Detroit’s three-game winning streak. Gustav Nyquist, Michael Rasmussen and Thomas Vanek scored for the Red Wings.
SENATORS 4, DUCKS 0
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Anders Nilsson stopped 45 shots for his first shutout of the season, Matt Duchene had two goals and Ottawa beat Anaheim to snap a five-game losing streak. Brady Tkachuk and Mark Stone also scored.