Oilers’ streak hits 4 as Avalanche falls
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice as part of visiting Edmonton’s four-goal second period, Mikko Koskinen stopped 39 shots and the Oilers extended their winning streak to four games with a 6-4 victory over the host Avalanche on Tuesday night.
Connor McDavid added a goal and an assist as the Oilers improved to 8-2-1 since head coach Ken Hitchcock took over the struggling team Nov. 20.
Kyle Brodziak scored his first goal in more than a month, Leon Draisaitl added another in his 300th NHL game and defenseman Darnell Nurse got into the scoring act with a slap shot early in the third.
Mikko Rantanen, the league’s leading scorer, had a goal and three assists to give him at least a point in 12 straight games.
Gabriel Landeskog had two goals and Colin Wilson added another for the Avalanche.
Capitals 6, Red Wings 2: Alex Ovechkin scored his 21st hat trick and first this season to lift host Washington over Detroit. Ovechkin entered the night as the NHL’s goal leader and stretched his total to 25 through 30 games.
Bruins 4, Coyotes 3: Brad Marchand scored two goals and assisted on another during a four-goal, secondperiod flurry to lead host Boston over Arizona. The Coyotes led 2-0 before Boston scored four times in five minutes, starting when Danton Heinen and David Pastrnak delivered 33 seconds apart.
Predators 3, Senators 1: Ryan Ellis scored his first game-winning goal of the season, Pekka Rinne made 25 saves and host Nashville defeated Ottawa. Austin Watson and Craig Smith also scored for the Predators.
Canucks 3, Blue Jackets 2: Jake Virtanen scored the tie-breaking goal with less than two minutes remaining and Jacob Markstrom stopped 34 shots as visiting Vancouver rallied to beat Columbus.
Wild 7, Canadiens 1: Matt Dumba scored twice, Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves and host Minnesota took out some recent frustrations on Montreal. The Wild scored four times in the second period.
Sabres 4, Kings 3: Jeff Skinner scored a power-play goal 1:49 into overtime and host Buffalo overcame a 3-1 deficit in the third period to beat Los Angeles. The Sabres snapped an 0-3-2 skid that immediately followed their franchiserecord-tying 10-game winning streak.
Maple Leafs 4, Hurricanes 1: William Nylander had two assists and Morgan Rielly scored the go-ahead goal to lift visiting Toronto over Carolina. The assists were the first points of the season for Nylander, who missed the first 28 games.
Blues 4, Panthers 3: Brayden Schenn capped host St. Louis’ four-goal third period as the Blues beat Florida. David Perron had two goals, and Ivan Barbashev also scored for St. Louis.
Jets 6, Blackhawks 3: Kyle Connor scored twice and host Winnipeg gave Chicago its eighth straight loss. Mark Scheifele and Tyler Myers each had a goal and assist, The Blackhawks (9-18-5) also lost eight straight earlier this season.