New Jersey Devils shut down Los Angeles Kings, win 5-1
McDavid scores as Oilers hammer Blue Jackets
LOS ANGELES: Taylor Hall scored twice and Cory Schneider made 16 saves as New Jersey beat Los Angeles 5-1 on Tuesday night. The win snapped New Jersey’s two-game skid and halted the Kings’ eightgame winning streak, the longest in the NHL this season and one shy of the longest in franchise history. Hall recorded his second multi-goal game of the season, while Travis Zajac, Brian Boyle and Brian Gibbons also scored for the Devils. Torrey Mitchell scored a thirdperiod goal for the Kings.
LIGHTNING 3, BLUES 0 Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov each scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves to lead Tampa Bay to its fifth consecutive win. The Lightning moved into sole possession of the top spot in the NHL standings, breaking a tie with the Blues, who had won four straight. Tyler Johnson added an empty-net goal with 22 seconds to play.
FLYERS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 2
Claude Giroux scored one goal and set up Sean Couturier’s game-winner with a spectacular between-the-skates pass in the closing minutes of regulation to give Philadelphia a victory over Toronto. Taylor Leier and Scott Laughton also scored for the Flyers, who won for the fourth straight time following a 10-game losing streak. It was the Flyers’ first win at Wells Fargo Center since Nov 9, snapping an 0-4-2 streak. Brian Elliott earned the win with 20 saves. Patrick Marleau and James van Riemsdyk scored for the Maple Leafs, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Frederik Andersen stopped 35 shots in the loss.
OILERS 7, BLUE JACKETS 2
Mark Letestu scored a short-handed goal and had an assist, and Connor McDavid tallied a goal and three assists to lead Edmonton over Columbus. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Milan Lucic, Matt Benning, Zack Kassian and Jesse Puljujarvi also scored for the Oilers and Puljujarvi, Anton Slepyshev, Michael Cammalleri, Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse each contributed an assist. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jack Johnson scored for the Blue Jackets.
CAPITALS 5, AVALANCHE 2 Evgeny Kuznetsov had three assists, Braden Holtby stopped 22 shots as Washington defeated Colorado. Jakub Vrana, John Carlson, Matt Niskanen, Brett Connolly and Devante Smith-Pelly scored for the Capitals, and Madison Bowey had two assists. Colin Wilson and Tyson Jost scored for the Avalanche, and Semyon Varlamov made 22 saves against his former team.
Flyers’ first win at Wells Fargo Center
SABRES 3, SENATORS 2 Evander Kane, Kyle Okposo and Benoit Pouliot scored to lead Buffalo over Ottawa. Buffalo has points in its last four games (2-0-2) after losing 11 of 12 games (1-9-2). Robin Lehner made 24 saves. Cody Ceci and Derick Brassard scored for the Senators, who have lost 12 of their past 13 games. Mike Condon made 23 saves. Blackhawks 3, Panthers 2 (OT) Patrick Kane scored at 2:24 of overtime, and Brandon Saad tallied a goal and an assist as Chicago defeated Florida for its third straight victory. Corey Crawford made 35 saves to help preserve the victory. Jonathan Toews’ goal with 6:02 remaining drew the Blackhawks even when he beat Panthers goalie John Reimer, who finished with 25 saves. Jamie McGinn and Nick Bjugstad scored for the Panthers.
WILD 2, FLAMES 1 (SO)
Chris Stewart and Mikael Granlund scored in a shootout, lifting Minnesota over Calgary. The Wild got a regulation goal from Matt Cullen and 16 saves from goalie Alex Stalock en route to their third consecutive win. Devan Dubnyk started the game in goal for Minnesota but left with an injury. The Flames got a regulation goal from Micheal Ferland and 21 saves from goalie Mike Smith but saw their two-game winning streak snapped. Johnny Gaudreau had Calgary’s only shootout goal.
HURRICANES 3, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2 (SO) Phil Di Giuseppe scored the decisive goal in a shootout to give Carolina the win over Vegas, snapping the home side’s four-game winning streak. Cam Ward, who notched his 300th career win, finished with 22 saves. Marcus Kruger and Trevor van Riemsdyk scored in regulation for the Hurricanes. Both were traded by Vegas to the Hurricanes during the summer for draft picks. The goals were the first of the season for each player. Deryk Engelland and Reilly Smith lit the lamp for the Golden Knights. The game marked the return of Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who had missed 25 games since Oct. 13 with a concussion. Fleury, a 14year veteran, made 35 saves. — Reuters