BOSTON (AP) — Connor McDavid scored on a shorthanded breakaway and set up the score on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' power play to help the Edmonton Oilers beat the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Thursday night.
Former Boston University player Quinn Hutson scored his first NHL goal as the Oilers won for the sixth time in eight games.
Edmonton goaltender Tristan Jarry left with an apparent injury with 3:52 left in the second period after he quickly slid left to right while attempting to save. He stopped 12 shots on 13 chances, and Calvin Pickard made 12 saves in relief.
Pavel Zacha scored on the power play for Boston, which has won five of its last six games. Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves.
Hutson scored off a Max Jones shot to give Edmonton a 2-1 lead with 5:22 left in the second period after Swayman made a glove stop but couldn't handle the puck.
McDavid received a pass from Nugent-Hopkins, ran up the middle, switched to a backhand and tucked the puck into the right post to make it 3-1 just under two minutes into the third.
CAPITAL 4, MAPLE LEAVES 0
WASHINGTON (AP) — Logan Thompson earned his second shutout of the season, Jakob Chykrun scored twice and Washington bounced back from a pair of ugly losses with a win over Toronto.
The Capitals lost 10-1 to Winnipeg and Minnesota, but Alexei Protas and Chykrun scored in the first period against Toronto. Thompson led the way first, making 22 saves for his eighth career shutout.
Chykrun made it 3-0 with his 14th goal of the season in the third period, tying him with Alex Ovechkin for second on the team behind Tom Wilson's 17th. Chikrun nearly completed his hat trick when he hit the post with about 3.5 minutes to play.
John Carlson also scored in the final period.
CANADIENS 4, BLACKHAWKS 1
MONTREAL (AP) — Zachary Bolduc scored twice and Lane Hutson had three assists as Montreal beat Chicago.
Noah Dobson also scored for Montreal, Nick Suzuki had an empty-net goal and an assist and Jakub Dobes stopped 14 shots.
Frank Nazar scored for Chicago in the team's second game without injured star Connor Bedard. Spencer Knight made 32 saves as the Blackhawks lost their fourth straight game.
Nazar opened the scoring with Chicago's first shot, redirecting a pass behind Dobs after breaking through the Canadiens' defense at 7:27 of the first period.
Bolduc scored a one-time goal from the slot on an assist from Cole Caufield and tied the game later in the period with his eighth goal of the season, first at home, to a standing ovation from the crowd at the Bell Center.
Bolduc, 22, added his second goal with a deflection 20 seconds into the third period. Dobson made it 3-1 in the 10th minute with a rebound.
WILD 5, BLUE JACKETS 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy each had a goal and two assists and Minnesota beat Columbus for its sixth straight victory.
Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal and an assist, and Ryan Hartman and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for Minnesota. Yakov Trenin had two assists and Jesper Wallstedt stopped 27 shots.
Zach Werenski scored twice for Columbus and Jet Greaves finished with 23 saves. The Blue Jackets have lost six of their last seven games (1-5-1).
The Wild allowed just nine goals during their winning streak, allowing no more than two goals in any game with one shutout.
Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 3-2 lead with 8:10 left, scoring on the left wing after Greaves stopped his first attempt.
Kaprizov scored with 1:52 left for his 22nd goal of the season, and Boldy added one 38 seconds later.
KINGS 2, LIGHTNING 1
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Adrian Kempe scored twice in the second period and Los Angeles beat Tampa Bay.
Anton Forsberg stopped 31 shots, helping the Kings snap a four-game skid (0-2-2) and earn just their third win in nine games (3-4-2).
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 18 saves. Tampa Bay has lost three straight (0-2-1) and seven of its last nine (2-6-1).
The Lightning outshot the Kings 13–3 in the third period but were unable to score the tying goal on Forsberg.
Bjorkstrand gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead with 7:06 left in the first period with a power-play goal and a shot through Forsberg's pads after the goalie stopped his first attempt.
Kempe then scored twice 10 1/2 minutes apart in the second to give the Kings the lead. First, he beat Vasilevskiy between the circles with a score of 5:21 and tied the score. He then fired a backhand past the goalie from the right wing on a breakaway with 4:02 left in the period and his team-leading 13th for a 2–1 lead with 4:02 left in the period.
SENATORS 4, PENGUINS 0
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Linus Ullmark made 24 saves in his first shutout of the season, Brady Tkachuk scored twice and Ottawa beat Pittsburgh to extend its losing streak to seven.
David Perron and Claude Giroux also scored goals, with Perron reaching 800 career points.
Arturs Silovs made 22 saves for Pittsburgh. The Penguins are 0-3-4 in the seven-game series. The last time they won was December 4th.
Early in the second period, Perron redirected Jordan Spence's shot off the goal line for a 2–0 lead. Just over three minutes later, Giroud made a forward pass, turned and beat Silov.
Ottawa opened the scoring on the power play as Tim Stutzle found Drake Batherson down low and sent a backdoor feed to Tkachuk at the net. Tkachuk also scored the third goal.
SABERS 5, FLYERS 3
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Tage Thompson and Noah Ostlund scored 2:36 apart in the final minutes of the second period and Buffalo beat Philadelphia for its fourth straight win.
Josh Norris, Jack Quinn and Ryan McLeod also scored for the Sabers in their first game since Jarmo Kekalainen took over as general manager on Monday. In replacing Kevin Adams, Kekalainen emphasized the players' display of character and team consistency, two qualities that were missing during the NHL's record 14-year playoff drought.
Alex Lyon made 24 saves, accounting for all four wins during Buffalo's season-best performance.
Travis Konecny, Cam York and Noah Cates scored for the Flyers, who lost in regulation for the first time in six games (2-1-3). Samuel Ersson stopped 23 shots.
RANGERS 2, BLUES 1, OT
ST. LOUIS (AP) — JT Miller scored 2:21 into overtime and New York beat St. Louis.
Rookie Gabe Perreault scored his first NHL goal for the Rangers, and Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves. New York has lost two in a row and five of six (1-3-2).
Jonathan Berggren, who was picked up by Detroit earlier this week, scored for St. Louis, which has lost four of six games. (2-3-1). Jordan Binnington finished the game with 28 saves.
Miller was open in the slot and scored the game-tying goal as New York snapped a five-game losing streak in St. Louis.
Shesterkin ended a 12-game streak of allowing multiple goals in each game. His last game in which he scored only one goal came on November 15 in a shootout victory over Columbus.
FLAME 4, KRAKEN 2
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Mikael Backlund scored two goals and Calgary scored three times in the third period to beat Seattle.
Matt Coronato and Nazem Kadri also scored for the Flames, while Rasmus Andersson had three assists. Dustin Wolf made 21 saves to help Calgary improve to 6-1-1 in its last eight home games.
Chandler Stephenson and Kaapo Kakko scored for the Kraken, who have lost seven of eight in December (1-7-0). Joey Daccord stopped 42 shots.
Kadri's one-time power-play goal at 9:56 of the third tied the game at 2–2.
Coronato gave the Flames the lead with 8:41 remaining when he received a pass from Andersson in the neutral zone, rolled up and beat Daccord high on the glove side. Jonathan Huberdeau provided an assist for his 800th career point.
Backlund scored on an empty net with 8 seconds left.
STARS 5, SHARKS 3
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Wyatt Johnston scored twice and Dallas beat San Jose.
Roope Hintz had a goal and an assist, and Justin Hrikovian and Jamie Benn also scored for Dallas. Esa Lindell and Mikko Rantanen each had two assists, and Jake Ettinger stopped 30 shots.
Colin Graf scored two goals, and Shakir Mukhamadullin also scored for the Sharks, breaking a three-match winning streak. McLean Celebrini had two assists and Alex Nedeljkovic finished with 25 saves.
Hintz opened the scoring for Dallas with 7:35 left in the first period, scoring his 10th goal of the season, and Johnston made it 2-0 with 2:22 left.
Mukhamadullin got the Sharks on the scoreboard at 1:43 of the second period, scoring his second goal of the year.
Johnston responded at 8:40 with his second score of the game and 19th of the season, moving him one behind Jason Robertson for the team lead. Rantanen recorded his second assist of the night and his 32nd of the season in the game.
Graf closed the gap again with a rebound at 3:16 midway through the period, but Dallas responded quickly as Grikovian made it 4-2 with 43 seconds left.
Graf finished with two goals at 4:32 of the third period and Celebrini recorded his 35th assist.
