Wild yank goalie in OT, stun Predators
Minnesota pulled its goaltender in overtime, and Matt Boldy scored to lift the Wild past Nashville 4-3 on Sunday in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Wild goalie Marc-andre Fleury skated off with 1:30 left the extra session, giving Minnesota a 4-on-3 advantage. Twenty seconds later, Boldy got a pass from Mats Zuccarello and beat Predators goalie Juuse Saros to cap Boldy’s three-point game.
“We need two points,”
Wild coach John Hynes said, explaining the reason for pulling Fleury. “One point, zero points, it’s not doing us any good. Two points is what we need.”
Fleury, an original Golden Knight in his 20th NHL season, said he couldn’t recall the last time he was pulled for an extra attacker in an overtime game.
“I’ll remember this one,” Fleury said. “It was such a great feeling, great ending to the game here.”
Boldy assisted on goals by Jonas Brodin and Kirill Kaprizov as Minnesota moved to 3-0-1 in its past four games.
Ryan O’reilly scored a powerplay goal with 2:02 left in regulation, helping the Predators avoid what would have been their first regulation loss since Feb. 15. They are 10-0-2 in their past 12 games.
“(Pulling Fleury) was a gutsy play by them,” O’reilly said.
“It’s frustrating. We’re good in shootouts. Who knows, we get there, we have another chance to get two (points).”
■ Oilers 4, Penguins 0:
At Pittsburgh, Calvin Pickard stopped 41 shots in his sixth shutout and second this season, Connor Mcdavid had a goal and two assists, and defenseman Darnell Nurse scored twice in the third period. Edmonton halted a two-game skid, and Pittsburgh lost its third in a row and sixth in seven games.
■ Blackhawks 7, Coyotes 4: At Chicago, Colin Blackwell notched his first NHL hat trick, and Connor Bedard added two goals and an assist for Chicago, which had lost eight of its previous nine games. Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones had a career-high four assists. Clayton Keller scored twice for Arizona.
■ Hurricanes 7, Flames 2: At Raleigh, N.C., Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov each had a goal and two assists for Carolina, which got goals from seven players and won its third straight and fifth in six games. Calgary lost its second in a row after a six-game win streak.
■ Islanders 6, Ducks 1:
At Anaheim, Calif., Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 22 shots in his first victory since Dec. 13 — also against Anaheim — as New York won its sixth in a row.