Chiasson leads Oilers to third straight victory
Alex Chiasson scored the goahead goal in the third period to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-2 comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, extending their win streak to three games.
Riley Sheahan, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Josh Archibald, into the empty net, also scored for the Oilers (24-17-5), who were down 2-0 in the second period. Mike Smith, making his fourth consecutive start between the pipes, had 35 saves.
Phillip Danault and Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored for the Canadiens (18-207), who have dropped eight straight games for the second time this season. Carey Price stopped 22-of-25 shots while falling to 3-9-1 lifetime against Edmonton.
Montreal also lost eight straight (0-53) from Nov. 16 to Dec. 1.
The visitors overcame a two-goal hole and scored four unanswered, including three in the third period.
After the Oilers won a hard-fought puck battle along the half wall, Sheahan went top corner on Price to make it 2-1 at 7:16 of the second.
Edmonton’s top-ranked power play got to work in the third period when Danault took a hooking penalty. Thirtynine seconds in, Connor McDavid fed Nugent-Hopkins, who was alone in the slot, for the five-hole goal at 2:16.
Dave Tippett’s men took their first lead at 9:40 of the third when Chiasson redirected Oscar Klefbom’s shot off the post and in, just out of Price’s reach.
Archibald added the empty-netter with 34 seconds on the clock.
The Oilers improved to 3-0-1 on their current five-game road trip.
The Canadiens have been good at creating offence on the rush this season and it led to the game’s first goal.
Tomas Tatar crossed the Edmonton blue-line with speed and dropped the puck to Danault. The first-line centre fired a shot off Smith’s pad before netting the rebound glove side at 12:35 of the first. Another fast break led to Montreal’s second goal. Artturi Lehkonen entered the zone and found an unmarked Kotkaniemi, who beat Smith with a quick-release wrist shot at 2:24 of the second. It was Lehkonen’s fourth point in his last four games.
BRUINS 5, JETS 4
BOSTON — David Pastrnak had a hat trick to extend his point streak to 12 games and Jake DeBrusk added two goals, including the go-ahead score in the third period, to help the Boston Bruins hold off the Winnipeg Jets.
It was Pastrnak’s third hat trick this season and eighth of his career. He has nine goals and 10 assists during his current point streak, and his 35 goals overall lead the NHL.
Kyle Connor, Andrew Copp, Neal Pionk and Mark Scheifele had goals for the Jets. Nikolaj Ehlers added a pair of assists.
Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck rested on the second night of the Jets’ back-to-back. Backup Laurent Brossoit, who hadn’t started since Dec. 23, finished with 31 saves.
Backup Jaroslav Halak also got the start for the Bruins. He stopped 17 shots.
RANGERS 6, DEVILS 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Tony DeAngelo recorded his first career hat trick and added two assists as New York beat New Jersey.
Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists, and Jesper Fast and Chris Kreider also scored for New York.
Kreider, Ryan Strome and Mika Zibanejad each had two-point games for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin made 46 saves and collected his second NHL victory in as many starts.
Blake Coleman scored twice and Kevin Rooney added a goal for the Devils, who lost their third straight. Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves before being replaced by Louis Domingue at the start of the third period. Domingue finished with 11 saves.
PANTHERS 5, CANUCKS 2
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Noel Acciari scored two goals and Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves in his first start in three games to lift Florida over Vancouver.
Mike Hoffman, Evgenii Dadonov and
Mark Pysyk also scored for Florida. Jonathan Huberdeau had two assists to move within one point of tying Olli Jokinen for the most in Panthers franchise history (419).
Tyler Motte and Brock Boeser scored for the Canucks. Thatcher Demko made 44 saves.
The Canucks lost their second in a row after winning seven straight, and have given up 14 goals in those two losses.
LIGHTNING 4, COYOTES 1
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov had two goals, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves and Tampa Bay beat Arizona for its ninth consecutive victory.
Alex Killorn and Mikhail Sergachev also scored for the Lightning, who are one win from tying the franchise record of 10 straight set in February 2019.
Arizona’s Adin Hill, making his fourth appearance this season, stopped 30 shots as the Coyotes’ four-game winning streak ended. Arizona’s top goalies, Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta, are out with lower-body injuries.