Hockey  

Nemec scores 1st goal of career and Schmid makes 37 saves as Devils top Kraken 2-1

SEATTLE (AP) — It took all of three NHL games for Simon Nemec to score his first goal. And it was a game-winner, no less.

Nemec scored midway through the second period, Akira Schmid made 16 of his 37 saves in the third and the New Jersey Devils beat the skidding Seattle Kraken 2-1 on Thursday night for their fifth victory in six games.

“He was able to jump in and find the lane. Great shot,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said of Nemec. "He had a couple opportunities where he was in on good offensive plays. His hockey sense, his ability to pick the right time, it’s been good.”

Nemec, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft, made his debut last week at home against San Jose and had two assists in his first game. His first goal was largely due to the play made by Jesper Bratt carrying the puck after Seattle was unable to clear its defensive zone. Bratt circled behind the net and allowed Nemec to slide unmarked into the slot, where he beat Philipp Grubauer into an open side.

It was Bratt’s 19th assist of the season.

“I was really happy. I didn't look happy, but I was,” Nemec said.

Ondrej Palat scored his fourth goal late in the first period to give New Jersey the early lead. Schmid rebounded nicely after giving up five goals on 17 shots in his previous game against San Jose.

Schmid was peppered for a big chunk of the third and came up with several big stops. He robbed Jared McCann twice midway through the period, stuffed Alex Wennberg’s chance in front and watched Jordan Eberle’s backhand shot slide through the crease during a Seattle power play.

Jared McCann hit the crossbar on a 2-on-1 with 3:01 left in what was Seattle's last good look.

“There was a couple opportunities where they could have gained some momentum and he made some big saves for us,” Ruff said.

Tye Kartye scored his fifth of the season at 7:12 of the second period off a feed from Wennberg, but Seattle lost its sixth straight game. The slide is the longest for the Kraken since dropping seven straight in February 2022, midway through the franchise's first season.

“I thought our guys did a really good job of that today, not allowing anything that’s in the past or anything that’s coming in front of us affect our day or game today,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “We have to continue doing that. And we worked hard tonight. We competed extremely hard.”

Andre Burakovsky returned for Seattle after being out since Oct. 21 with an upper-body injury, but went to the locker room with about three minutes left in the second. Burakovsky was back on the ice for the third, but played only two shifts. Hakstol said Burakovsky was unavailable for most of the period.

Grubauer made 15 saves.

“We've got to change something. I mean, obviously, we can't let this just keep going,” Wennberg said.

Ryker Evans, Seattle’s second-round pick in the 2021 draft, made his NHL debut after being called up from Coachella Valley of the AHL. He became the fourth draft pick by the Kraken to play in an NHL game, joining Matty Beniers, Shane Wright and Ryan Winterton.

UP NEXT

Devils: Play at Calgary on Saturday.

Kraken: Will host Tampa Bay on Saturday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

DeSmith earns shutout as Canucks snap Wild's four-game winning streak in 2-0 victory

VANCOUVER — Casey DeSmith remains undefeated against the Minnesota Wild.

He earned the latest win after a 26-save shutout as the Vancouver Canucks snapped Minnesota's four-game winning streak with a 2-0 victory over the Wild on Thursday night at Rogers Arena.

The shutout was DeSmith's first since April 21, 2022.

"I didn’t know that," he said about his perfect record against the Wild. "I don’t think it’s anything in particular, I just try to show up every game and sometimes it goes your way."

DeSmith last played on Nov. 25, with starting goalie Thatcher Demko earning the other four starts.

"I’ve always been somebody who can have a long layoff and hop back in and do my job," DeSmith said.

"I think it’s an extra focus in practice, a little extra gear that I have to have so when I go into a game, the game doesn’t feel that much faster.”

Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet praised his netminder's perfect performance.

"Was it two weeks since he's played? That's what Casey does. He's done that in his career when he's had inactivity. he was solid for us," said Tocchet.

Nils Hoglander and Teddy Blueger scored for Vancouver (17-9-1).

Filip Gustavsson stopped 15-of-17 shots for Minnesota (9-11-4), which had won its last eight meetings against Vancouver.

The Canucks lost three of their last five entering Thursday's game.

Meanwhile, the Wild outscored their opponents 18-5 during their win streak.

“We're going to go through those lulls and the inconsistency," Tocchet said. "If you can stay away from those three, four, five, six game losing streaks, it builds confidence."

Much of the first period was one-way traffic from Minnesota, with Vancouver going without a shot until there was 6:42 remaining. The Wild outshot the Canucks 12-4 in the frame.

Hoglander opened the scoring with 1:55 left in the first for his ninth of the season. The left-winger brought the puck up ice from his own zone, cut into the slot from just above the right faceoff circle and beat Gustavsson with a wrist shot.

"I think they came out pretty hard in the first," said Hoglander about his winner. "I don’t think that was our best first period. That was a big goal that our line scored."

While the second period was scoreless, things had changed. The Canucks recorded 10 shots to the Wild's four, with Filip Hronek and Elias Pettersson having the closest scoring chances for Vancouver.

"I felt like we had full control in the first period there and then they made a great read great screen there," said Gustavsson about his team's performance.

"Hoglander was just waiting there and he saw an opportunity to put it just in there. Then second period, they had more control over it and I think I came up with some good saves, DeSmith did that too and we just couldn't break through him."

Blueger got in on the action 2:05 into the third period with his second of the season. After Conor Garland's pass split the Wild's defence, Blueger deked Gustavsson from in close, going backhand then forehand to beat the sprawling goaltender. 

Gustavsson was pulled in the final two minutes as the Wild looked to stage a comeback.

NOTES

Canucks forward Philip Di Giuseppe made his return after being a healthy scratch the past two games … Vancouver's home game was its first "Firefighters’ Night" to honour firefighters' work during a historic wildfire season this past summer.

UP NEXT

Vancouver hosts the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. 

Minnesota heads to Edmonton to face the Oilers on Friday in the third of its four-game road trip.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2023.

Connor Hellebuyck's 250th career win helps Jets to a 4-2 victory over Avalanche

DENVER (AP) — Kyle Connor scored twice, Connor Hellebuyck stopped 32 shots in his 250th career win and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Thursday night.

The Jets won their third straight coming off a three-game skid. Also, third-place Winnipeg moved within two points of Central Division-leading Colorado.

“We talked about it this morning – if we want to be considered an elite team, you’ve got to beat the teams ahead of you," Jets coach Rick Bowness said. "We proved tonight that we can play with anybody.”

Josh Morrissey finished with a goal and an assist for Winnipeg, giving him 12 points in his last nine games. Adam Lowry also scored.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and assist and Joel Kiviranta also scored for Colorado. Alexandar Georgiev finished with 24 saves.

MacKinnon extended his overall point streak to 10 games and home point streak to 12. It was the 223rd multi-point game of MacKinnon's career, moving him past Peter Forsberg and into third place in franchise history.

“I thought he was outstanding," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "We’ve got to get more guys going in the same direction. We’re kind of hit and miss throughout our lineup for the last little bit. It’s costing us.”

Thursday’s win marked the 15th consecutive game that the Jets didn’t allow more than three goals, a stretch in which they’re giving up only 2.13 goals per game, the second-best mark in the NHL during that period. A team that had the worst road penalty kill percentage in the league this season held the high-powered Avalanche scoreless on their four power-play opportunities, which included a 5-on-3 advantage.

“Anytime you can kind of hold off a team that’s throwing (Mikko) Rantanen, MacKinnon and (Cale) Makar out there, you’ve got to feel good about yourself," Lowry said.

Winnipeg never trailed and built a two-goal lead on three different occasions.

Lowry started the scoring with a buzzer-beating goal with two seconds remaining in the first period off Axel Jonsson-Fjallby's first assist of the season. The goal was set up by an uncharacteristic giveaway by Devon Toews on a pass to MacKinnon near the Avalanche goal.

After Connor’s first goal extended the advantage to 2-0, the Avalanche cut into its deficit with MacKinnon’s 10th goal of the season. Morrissey then scored on a blistering slap shot, with Georgiev’s view obstructed by teammate Sam Malinski.

“I felt like we handed them some goals tonight," Bednar said. “We didn’t make them earn them."

Two days after recording his 500th career assist, MacKinnon sent a backhanded pass to Kiviranta, who crashed the net and got the puck past Hellebuyck with 31 seconds remaining in the second period, pulling Colorado within a goal. Both Bowness and Hellebuyck said they thought there was goalie interference on the play.

Connor added an empty-netter in the final minute to seal the win.

Hellebuyck is just the eighth U.S.-born goaltender to reach 250 wins and the eighth active goaltender to do so, regardless of nationality.

Colorado was without right wing Valeri Nichushkin, who missed his second consecutive game with an illness.

“I think that’s what a good playoff team is made of," Hellebuyck said. "Those are the games you get yourselves into quite a bit if you’re a contending team.”

UP NEXT

Jets: At Anaheim in the second game of a four-game road swing.

Avalanche: Host Philadelphia on Saturday in the third game of a five-game homestand.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Calgary Flames overtake Carolina Hurricanes for 3-2 victory

CALGARY — Blake Coleman's short-handed winner and a 28-save outing by Dustin Wolf helped the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 come-from-behind win Thursday over the visiting Carolina Hurricanes.

Trailing 2-0, the Flames scored three times in the third period. 

Calgary (11-12-3) gave up the first goal an eighth straight game and for the 13th time in 17 dating back to Nov. 1. The Flames have managed to go 9-6-2 since that date.

"Flames' recipe right there," Coleman said. "That's just the way it's going. Guys stuck with it and fought back. We're doing everything we can to start better."

"Guys are searching for ways to do it, but it's a results business. It's a win in the column for us, so it's important."

Coleman produced the short-handed winner at 11:44 of the third period. Rasmus Andersson and Connor Zary both scored in an 81-second span starting at 5:42 in front of an announced 16,983 at the Saddledome.

Calgary's power-play was booed in the second period — the Flames went 0-for-3 in the game — but the building energized in the third as the hosts mounted a comeback.

"To know that you have that ability to come back in games late in the year is important because last year we didn't have that ability," Coleman said. "If we can figure out the ways to get ahead of teams and hold on to leads . . . there's really only two ways to have to win in this league and we've got one of them down pretty dang well. 

"If we can figure out the other half, we're going to be in good shape." 

Stefan Noesen and Michael Bunting had a goal apiece for the Carolina Hurricanes (14-11-1). 

Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 24 shots a night after he was pulled early in a 6-1 loss to the Oilers in Edmonton, and where captain Jordan Staal had called the team's performance "all-around crap".

Carolina looked destined for a recovery win in Calgary before letting the game slip away for a third straight loss.

"There should be a huge sense of urgency going into a period like that, especially when you've got a two-goal lead to close it out," Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook said.

"For us to sit back and let them come, we didn't have any pushback. Especially where we're at right now, I don't know. It's hard to fathom. We're in a rut right now."

Wolf's third career start was against the most prolific club in the league in shots on net, and the stingiest in shots allowed.

"He's got an unflappable swagger, if that makes any sense, where whether he's let five or six in, doesn't change him. If he lets one in, it doesn't change him. If he lets none in, it doesn't change him," Flames head coach Ryan Huska said. 

"He obviously grew up the right way or learned some lessons early on as a goaltender on how to turn a page and flush it if something goes by because he does a really good job at that."

Calgary successfully challenged for goaltender interference what would have been Sebastian Aho's equalizer with just under five minutes remaining in the game.

WOLF AND THE WIN

The 22-year-old Wolf, who was called up Tuesday, improved to 2-1 in three NHL starts. 

The American Hockey League's most valuable player and top goalie last season had played almost two periods in relief of Dan Vladar in Tuesday's 5-2 loss to Minnesota.

Which goalie can assert himself in Jacob Markstrom's absence has been the buzz around the Flames since Markstrom fractured a finger on his right blocker hand in Monday's practice. Markstrom's status is week-to-week.

Wolf received a loud ovation when he drew Tuesday's game and heard a lot of support Thursday at the Saddledome.

"It's pretty special right?" the Californian said. "Any time you get a call to come play with Calgary, it's a blessing. Try to take every moment and make the most of it and try and have a smile on my face while I'm doing it."

UP NEXT

Calgary concludes a six-game homestand Saturday afternoon against the New Jersey Devils.

The Hurricanes continue their nine-game road swing Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2023.

Konecny scores twice, Flyers beat Arizona 4-1 to end Coyotes' winning streak at 5

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Travis Konecny scored twice, Carter Hart made 25 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers beat Arizona 4-1 on Thursday night to end the Coyotes' winning streak at five.

Cam York had a goal and an assist and Joel Farabee and also scored for the Flyers. They have won three straight, four of six and nine of 13.

“We've worked a lot on coming together and building something special,” said forward Sean Couturier, who had an assist on Konecny's first goal. “Guys are buying in. We just have to keep building and start believing in ourselves. I think we are out to prove people wrong. There doesn't seem to be much pressure on us. I don't know if we are just naive or young, but we just go out and play hard and aggressive hockey.”

Lawson Crouse scored for the Coyotes, who made NHL history by beating the last five Stanley Cup champions during the winning streak.

Connor Ingram, who made 22 saves, also had his five-game winning streak broken. He gave up only five goals during the streak, which included each of his two shutouts this season.

Philadelphia killed all three of its minor penalties and limited the Coyotes to one shot on the power play.

“I thought it was an ugly hockey game, both clubs,“ Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. ”I didn't think it was that fast by either team. I didn't think there were a lot of great plays by either team. It was just one of those games that you have to figure out how to win, and we did that."

Konecny opened the scoring off a faceoff midway through the first period. Couturier won the faceoff at the right circle and passed the puck back between his legs to Konecny, whose one-timer bounced off Ingram’s left shoulder and into the net. Couturier has a four-game points streak.

“We set that one up for a shooter,' Couturier said. ”It just worked out perfect."

Farabee made it 2-0 three minutes later when he skated in alone hit an open left side from right in front after a cross-ice pass from Cam Atkinson.

Crouse cut it to 2-1 on a wrist shot from the slot after a pass from Matias Maccelli late in the first. The goal came three seconds after a penalty to Travis Sanheim expired. Crouse, who had 10 goals in November, had his first in three December games.

Konecny scored a short-handed goal for a 3-1 lead at 15:22 of the second.

“It's been that way this year,” Tortorella said. “The aggression of the (penalty kill), of them all moving together, has given us some great momentum in the games. That was a big goal for us tonight.”

Defenseman York skated into the left circle unimpeded and scored through Couturier's screen for a 4-1 lead two minutes into the third.

“I want to be shifty out there,” York said. “I want to be able to make moves that other ‘D’-men maybe can't. It's been a good stretch of hockey for us. Kind of a weird building to play in, not going to lie. Especially for an NHL game. It can kind of be a trap game sometimes but I thought we managed it well.”

Arizona State University's Mullett Arena has a capacity of 4,400, the smallest building in the league.

“We didn't start the game with enough urgency,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. “We gave them free looks, they scored, and that's a tough team to play against. It took too long for us to adjust and play a simple game."

Coyotes first-line defenseman Sean Durzi missed a game for the first time this season after leaving in the first period of a 6-0 victory over Washington on Monday night because of a lower-body injury.

UP NEXT

Flyers: At Colorado on Saturday night.

Coyotes: at Boston on Saturday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Petr Mrazek makes 37 saves as Chicago Blackhawks beat Anaheim Ducks 1-0

CHICAGO (AP) — Petr Mrazek made 37 saves in his 25th career shutout, and the Chicago Blackhawks stopped a four-game slide with a 1-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.

Philipp Kurashev scored for last-place Chicago, which had dropped 10 of 12 overall. It was the Blackhawks' first win this season when they scored fewer than four goals.

“It was a great, I think, game overall — especially the special teams and Petr,” Kurashev said. “It was nice to get a win again.”

Connor Bedard picked up an assist while Leo Carlsson was mostly quiet in a matchup of the top two picks in this year's NHL draft. Bedard went No. 1 overall to Chicago, followed by Carlsson going to Anaheim.

Bedard and Carlsson became friends in the run-up to the June draft. Bedard said they were on the ice at the same time for one shift, and he asked Carlsson what he thought of his first experience with the United Center crowd cheering along with the national anthem.

“He said it was pretty cool. So that's it. ... I mean, he was great tonight,” Bedard said, “so it was fun to go against him and that team.”

It was Mrazek's first shutout since April 4, 2021, for Carolina against Dallas.

“I would say first period, they were coming early and got a few shots there,” Mrazek said. “So that's where you feel comfortable.”

Lukas Dostal made 24 stops for Anaheim, which lost for the 10th time in 11 games.

“In the third period we got too seduced by playing on the outside and not putting the pucks down there,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “Now we've got to try to adjust what we're doing and just get some blue-collar goals.”

Chicago went in front in the second period on its third power-play goal in five games and ninth this season. The team ranked 29th in the NHL at 10.7% with the man advantage coming into the day.

With Anaheim defenseman Tristan Luneau serving a double minor for high-sticking, Bedard skated into the left circle before serving the puck to Kurashev for a slap shot that he blew by Dostal for his fifth goal at 9:21.

“I think we still have some work to do on entries and possession, but I think when we're in there, I think we've been moving it quicker and I think they're seeing the results,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said of his team's power play.

The Ducks had a couple of chances to tie it in the second, but Mrazek was there each time. He denied Ryan Strome at the side of the net about 11 minutes in, and turned away Brett Leason alone in front with 1:40 left in the period.

Dostal was pulled with 1:47 left, but Anaheim wasn't able to generate any serious pressure on Mrazek the rest of the way. The Ducks went 0 for 3 on the power play.

“Overall, I mean, we did the right things to win. Just got to execute and find ways to put the puck in the net,” Anaheim forward Troy Terry said.

UP NEXT

Ducks: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday night.

Blackhawks: Host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Hintz scores twice as the Stars rally to beat the Capitals 5-4 in a shootout

WASHINGTON (AP) — While Alex Ovechkin reached another milestone, the Dallas Stars handed him and the Washington Capitals another loss in a game they felt they desperately needed to win.

Roope Hintz scored twice in the third period and the Stars rallied to beat the Capitals 5-4 in a shootout Thursday night, ending their two-game skid and spoiling the celebration of Ovechkin reaching 1,500 career points. Scott Wedgewood made 23 saves in regulation and overtime and three more in the shootout to send Dallas home happy from its road trip.

“We have no panic in here," said Matt Duchene, who played in his 1,000th regular-season NHL game. “It doesn’t really matter what we get down. We’re a very even-keeled, mature, veteran group. I don’t think we ever thought we were going to lose that game, even when we got down 3-1. We just had to pick it up, start playing our game.”

Duchene assisted on Mason Marchment's goal in the second period to cap a special night for him with family in attendance, which included his father and son reading the lineup in the locker room beforehand. Tyler Seguin scored a night after leaving the team's game Wednesday at Florida early, and Jason Robertson had the only goal in the shootout after getting two assists in regulation.

Well before overtime, Ovechkin got a standing ovation from the home crowd after Washington’s longtime captain assisted on Dylan Strome’s second goal for his 1,500th point. Ovechkin became the 16th player in league history to reach that mark, and he remains in pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record, needing 68 to break it.

“It’s a pretty cool number," Ovechkin said. "I always say without my teammates, I would never reach (this). It’s pretty cool.”

Fellow Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov was in the spotlight earlier in the night, scoring in his first game back after being a healthy scratch. The underachieving Russian center getting on the scoresheet was a good start to the reset Capitals coach Spencer Carbery was hoping for by sitting Kuznetsov, who had just nine points in his first 19 games to open the penultimate season of a $62.4 million contract that pays him $7.8 million annually.

“I think he was feeling it,” Ovechkin said of Kuznetsov. "Controlling the puck, speed through the neutral zone, created some chances for everybody. He was good.”

Aliaksei Protas also scored, and Charlie Lindgren made 34 saves as the Capitals lost for a fifth time in seven games. Strome's two goals gave him a team-leading 10 this season.

Duchene has 20 points in 24 games this season, his first with Dallas after getting bought out by Nashville. Even though he's a newcomer, the 32-year-old has been embraced by the Stars — and is fitting in perfectly.

“To play in the NHL isn’t easy and to stay for 1,000 games and play at the level he’s playing at is amazing,” coach Peter DeBoer said. “Happy to have him.”

UP NEXT

Stars: Open a three-game homestand Saturday against defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas.

Capitals: Host the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers on Saturday.

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Ryan McDonagh, Roman Josi lead Predators past Lightning, 5-1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ryan McDonagh and Roman Josi each had a goal and an assist, and the Nashville Predators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 on Thursday night.

Juuso Parssinen, Filip Forsberg and Yakov Trenin also scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville, which has won three straight and nine of 11.

Alex Barré-Boulet scored and Jonas Johansson made 25 saves for the Lightning, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.

The Predators went 2-for-3 on the power play while holding the Lightning scoreless on their four chances with the man advantage. It was the first multiple power-play goal game for Nashville in more than a month. Tampa Bay entered Thursday with the NHL’s second-best power play success rate at 31.9%.

“I’m really happy for the penalty kill to step up the way they did against arguably one of the greatest power plays of all time,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said.

Barré-Boulet scored the game’s first goal with 6:28 remaining in the opening period on a one-timer from the right circle.

Parssinen tied it 1-1 with 2:46 left in the first on the power play. McDonagh’s shot from the right point hit Philip Tomasino in the slot and the puck landed right on Parssinen’s stick, and he beat Johansson with a wrist shot on the glove side.

Forsberg’s power-play goal at 2:37 of the second gave Nashville a 2-1 lead.

Just seven seconds after Brandon Hagel was assessed a high-sticking penalty, Forsberg scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season.

“Obviously, power play was good, but the penalty kill was the key of the game for sure,” Forsberg said. “We gave them a few too many opportunities, but that’s the game right there.”

McDonagh scored when he found a loose puck on the left side and swatted a backhand past Johansson for his first goal of the season at 4:32 of the second.

“I was just trying to keep the puck alive, creep down there and keep something alive,” McDonagh said. “The puck just squirted out to me and I tried to get as much as I could on it and beat the goalie back. It’s a good feeling for sure.”

Trenin scored an empty-net goal with 6:47 remaining after Lightning coach Jon Cooper pulled Johansson with more than eight minutes left.

“We’re playing a decent road game, and then they get two quick ones in the second and once that happened, we didn’t punch back,” Cooper said. “That’s probably the most disappointing thing about the game.”

UP NEXT

Lightning: Visit Seattle on Saturday.

Predators: Visit Toronto on Saturday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Barzal and Horvat lead the Islanders to a 7-3 win vs the Blue Jackets

NEW YORK (AP) — Mathew Barzal had two goals and two assists, Bo Horvat also scored twice and picked up an assist, and the New York Islanders beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-3 on Thursday night.

Pierre Engvall, Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Palmieri also scored for New York, which extended its point streak to four games (3-0-1). Semyon Varlamov finished with 32 saves in his first win at home this season.

“We did a good job of sticking with our game,” Horvat said. “We didn’t have any panic. You would think after last game it might be on the back of our minds. ... We can’t be sitting on our heels, letting them come at us. We did a good job of turning pucks up quick and playing in the offensive zone. I think that helped us out a lot tonight and Varlamov obviously made some huge saves to back us up.”

Adam Fantilli scored twice and added an assist for the Blue Jackets, who lost their third straight. Emil Bremstrom also scored and Spencer Martin made 28 saves.

Columbus pulled within one early in the third period when Fantilli scored his second of the game at 1:27.

The Islanders have squandered third-period leads 11 times in nine games this season (3-1-5), including a 5-4 overtime loss Tuesday to San Jose. But they responded Thursday and scored three consecutive goals after Fantilli’s second to stretch their lead to 7-3 and ease nerves on the bench.

“We would love to have third periods like that all the time,” captain Anders Lee said. “It was more execution, too. We kept our foot on the gas and just kept going after them.”

Barzal buried a pass from Horvat at 5:33 and then Horvat scored two of his own to seal it.

“Our forward group can play with anybody and outscore anybody,” Barzal said. “Somebody has to let the doors open and let us go a little bit. We did that tonight.”

New York got three goals in 4:49 late in the second period to open a 4-2 lead.

Barzal gave New York a 3-2 advantage when he corralled a loose puck and beat a sliding Martin at 18:51. Palmieri then finished a tic-tac-toe passing sequence at the back post for an easy tap-in goal on the power play in the final minute of the period.

“We feel like we can score and we want to attack,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “We want to play on our toes. When you get your special teams going and your power play going it helps with that.”

Clutterbuck tied it at 2 with his fourth of the season. Hudson Fasching made a spinning pass from the boards and found the Islanders alternate captain all alone in front.

Fantilli connected on a one-timer off a pass from Kent Johnson to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 edge at 10:11 of the second. Columbus selected the 19-year-old Fantilli with the third pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

“A couple of breakdowns, a couple of bad bounces," Fantilli said. "I thought for the most part of that game we were playing really well, we were playing our best. A couple of breakdowns ended up in the back of our net.”

GO BLUE!

It was the first time in NHL history that four players from the University of Michigan (Nick Blakenburg, Fantilli, Johnson, Zach Werenski) played on the same team — and all four were on the ice for Bremstrom’s fourth goal of the season.

WINTER WONDERLAND

The Islanders announced that two public pond hockey rinks will open later this month on the grounds of Belmont Park adjacent to UBS Arena. The rinks will host 4-on-4 pond hockey tournaments and instructional programs.

UP NEXT

Blue Jackets: Host the St. Louis Blues on Friday.

Islanders: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Sharks rally to spoil Patrick Kane’s Detroit debut, beating Red Wings 6-5 in OT

DETROIT (AP) — Mikael Granlund scored 37 seconds into overtime and the San Jose Sharks spoiled Patrick Kane’s Detroit debut, overcoming a four-goal deficit to beat the Red Wings 6-5 in overtime Thursday night.

Nico Sturm and Tomas Hertl each scored twice for San Jose. Hertl, who has five goals in the last two games, and Fabian Zetterlund had the Sharks’ first two short-handed goals of the season. Hertl tied it with 1:29 left on a rebound after San Jose pulled its goaltender for an extra skater.

The 35-year-old Kane, a nine-time All-Star who signed a one-year contract with Detroit on Nov. 28, didn’t record a point. He hit the post early in the third period. Kane had his right hip surgically repaired six months ago.

Michael Rasmussen scored two goals in a 13-second span for Detroit. Klim Kostin, Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin also scored.

STARS 5, CAPITALS 4, SO

WASHINGTON (AP) — Roope Hintz scored twice in the third period and Dallas rallied to beat Washington in a shootout to end an two-game skid and spoil Alex Ovechkin’s latest milestone.

Jason Robertson scored the only goal in the shootout to hand the Capitals a third consecutive defeat, despite Ovechkin recording his 1,500th regular-season NHL point. Scott Wedgewood made 23 saves in regulation and overtime and three more in the shootout.

Matt Duchene, playing his 1,000th game with family in attendance, assisted on Mason Marchment’s goal in the second, and Tyler Seguin also scored for Dallas.

Ovechkin assisted on Dylan Strome’s second goal for his 1,500th point. Ovechkin became the 16th player in league history to reach that plateau, and he remains in pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record, needing 68 to break it.

Fellow Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov was in the spotlight earlier in the night, scoring in his first game back after being a healthy scratch. Aliaksei Protas also scored.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 0

MONTREAL (AP) — Quinton Byfield had two goals and an assist, Cam Talbot made 24 sabes and Los Angeles beat Montreal for its NHL-record 11th straight road victory to open the season.

The Kings (16-4-3) broke the mark of 10 set by Buffalo in 2006-07 and are one away from matching the NHL record of 12 consecutive road victories at any point during the season.

Drew Doughty had a goal and an assist and Trevor Moore also scored for Los Angeles. Samuel Montembeault stopped 38 shots for Montreal.

FLYERS 4, COYOTES 1

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Travis Konecny scored twice, Carter Hart made 25 saves and Philadelphia beat Arizona to end the Coyotes’ winning streak at five.

Cam York had a goal and an assist and Joel Farabee and also scored for the Flyers. They have won three straight, four of six and nine of 13.

Lawson Crouse scored for the Coyotes, who made NHL history by beating the last five Stanley Cup champions during the winning streak. Connor Ingram made 22 saves.

BLACKHAWKS 1, DUCKS 0

CHICAGO (AP) — Petr Mrazek made 37 saves for his 25th career shutout and Chicago beat Anaheim to end a four-game slide.

Philipp Kurashev scored for last-place Chicago, which had dropped 10 of 12 overall.

Connor Bedard picked up an assist while Leo Carlsson was mostly quiet in a matchup of the top two picks in the NHL draft. Bedard went No. 1 to Chicago, and Carlsson No. 2 to Anaheim.

Lukas Dostal made 24 stops for Anaheim. The Ducks lost for the 10th time in 11 games.

JETS 4, AVALANCHE 2

DENVER (AP) — Kyle Connor scored twice, Connor Hellebuyck stopped 32 shots in his 250th career victory and Winnipeg topped Colorado.

The Jets won their third straight coming off a three-game skid. Also, third-place Winnipeg moved within two points of Central Division-leading Colorado.

Josh Morrissey had a goal and an assist for Winnipeg, giving him 12 points in his last nine games. Adam Lowry also scored.

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and assist and Joel Kiviranta also scored for Colorado. MacKinnon extended his overall points streak to 10 games and home streak to 12.

SABRES 3, BRUINS 1

BOSTON (AP) — Devon Levi made 30 saves and Buffalo beat Boston to snap a four-game losing streak.

JJ Peterka, Tage Thompson and Victor Olofsson scored for Buffalo, which beat the Atlantic Division-leading Bruins for the first time in nearly a calendar year. The Bruins had won three straight against Buffalo.

Brad Marchand scored for Boston, which had its four-game winning streak halted. Marchand also recorded the 1,000th penalty of his career. Linus Ullmark finished with 33 saves.

DEVILS 2, KRAKEN 1

SEATTLE (AP) — Simon Nemec scored his first career goal midway through the second period, Akira Schmid made 16 of his 37 saves in the third and New Jersey beat Seattle for its fifth victory in six games.

Nemec, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft, made his debut last week at home against San Jose and had two assists in his first game. Ondrej Palat also scored for New Jersey.

Tye Kartye scored for Seattle. The Kraken have lost six in a row.

MAPLE LEAFS 4, SENATORS 3

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Joseph Woll made 29 saves before leaving because of an injury midway through the third period and Toronto held on to beat Ottawa.

Woll left after stopping a shot from Rourke Chartier. Toronto led 3-2 at the time, and William Nylander made it 4-2 with 6:57 remaining.

Mitch Marner, David Kampf and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for the Maple Leafs, and Martin Jones stopped none of 10 shots in relief of Woll.

Josh Norris, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Claude Giroux scored for Ottawa. Anton Forsberg stopped 18 shots.

PREDATORS 5, LIGHTNING 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ryan McDonagh and Roman Josi each had a goal and Nashville beat Tampa Bay for its third straight victory and ninth in 11 games.

Juuso Parssinen, Filip Forsberg and Yakov Trenin also scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves.

Alex Barré-Boulet scored and Jonas Johansson made 25 saves for Tampa Bay,.

ISLANDERS 7, BLUE JACKETS 3

NEW YORK (AP) — Mathew Barzal had two goals and two assists, Bo Horvat also scored twice and added an assist and New York routed Columbus.

Pierre Engvall, Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Palmieri also scored to help New York extend its points streak to four games. Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves in his first home win this season.

Adam Fantilli had two goals and an assist for Columbus. Emil Bremstrom also scored.

CANUCKS 2, WILD 0

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Casey DeSmith made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season and 10th in the NHL and Vancouver ended Minnesota’s winning streak at four.

Nils Hoglander and Teddy Blueger scored to help Vancouver improve to 17-9-1.

Filip Gustavsson made 15 saves for Minnesota. The Wild had won their last eight meetings with Vancouver.

FLAMES 3, HURRICANES 2

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Blake Coleman broke a tie with a short-handed goal midway through the third period and also had an assist in Calgary’s victory over Carolina.

Ramus Andersson and Connor Zary also scored in the third to help Calgary overcome a 2-0 deficit. Dustin Wolf made 30 saves in his second career NHL start.

Stefan Noesen and Michael Bunting scored for Carolina.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Leafs lose Woll in third period, hold off Senators to earn 4-3 victory

OTTAWA — Joseph Woll suffered a setback after playing a major role in Toronto's victory Thursday night.

Woll made 29 saves in a stellar performance as the Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-3. However, Woll exited midway through the third period with an injury after making a save on Rourke Chartier and was in obvious pain, requiring assistance to leave the ice.

Prior to that, he made two huge saves on Vladimir Tarasenko and stopped Mathieu Joseph and Brady Tkachuk on a breakaway, among other key saves.

“It’s unfortunate, right,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. “He’s been playing so well. He was building such great momentum here on his season and his career. It’s a setback here now. 

"He’s going to miss some time, for sure. We’ll determine the extent of it once we get home. Obviously, he’s the big reason why we get two points here tonight.”

Toronto led 3-2 at the time of Woll’s exit, but William Nylander provided some breathing room with his 13th of the season.

Mitch Marner, David Kampf and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for Toronto (13-6-4), while Martin Jones stopped 9-of-10 shots in relief.

“That team does a really good job of just putting pressure on you in your own zone,” said Marner. “I think we did a pretty good job of … getting out of our zone pretty quickly. When we needed to defend, we did a good job and obviously our goalies made a couple of massive saves for us.”

Josh Norris, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Claude Giroux scored for Ottawa (10-11-0), which got 18 saves from Anton Forsberg. 

The Senators made it a one-goal game when Giroux scored on a one-timer with 1:53 remaining. But Ottawa was unable to complete the comeback despite pulling Forsberg and having a power play for the final 50.3 seconds.

“We did a lot of good things,” said Giroux. “Definitely frustrating right now. If we play like that every night we’re going to win more than we lose. 

"As frustrating as it is right now, we played a pretty solid game and we’re trying to build something here so we’ve just got to keep pushing and try not to get too down here. Let’s keep pushing and go one game at a time.”

Jakob Chychrun fed Norris a perfect stretch pass to break in alone and beat Woll with 26 seconds remaining in the period.

Marner tied the game 1:42 into the second on a near-identical play to the Senators' opening goal.

Morgan Rielly sprung Marner open with a long pass and Marner wristed a shot past Forsberg stick side.

Kampf, with his first goal since Nov. 11, put the Leafs ahead after poking it past Forsberg from in close with 2:20 left in the middle frame.

“If you look at the whole picture, you know, we shot ourselves in the foot with a bad turnover, two bad turnovers and the second one was in the net,” said Ottawa coach D.J. Smith. “They’re going to get chances; they’re a good team and they’ve got good players. 

"I thought we did a lot of really good things … unfortunately we didn’t get the result.”

Jarnkrok gave Toronto a 3-1 edge 3:35 into the third period with a wrist shot. It was his sixth of the season and capped a run of three unanswered goals by the Leafs.

But under two minutes later, Bernard-Docker made it a one-score game with his first career NHL goal on a point shot.

“It was really cool,” said Bernard-Docker. “I probably celebrated like I’ve never scored one in my life, but it’s the first one so I figured I may as well, you know, give it a little celebration.”

After the game, Smith said defenceman Thomas Chabot, who missed his second straight game after suffering an injury last Saturday against Seattle, would be placed on long-term injured reserve and would likely miss the next four weeks with a lower-body injury.

INTERESTING STAT

Toronto entered Thursday's game having picked up points in all but one game since its last meeting against Ottawa on Nov. 8.

NOTES

Ottawa’s Mark Kastelic practised for the first time since his injury Dec. 2. … Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov (illness) did not dress for the game.

UP NEXT

Ottawa: Takes on the Detroit Red Wings Saturday night.

Toronto: Hosts the Nashville Predators Saturday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2023.

Granlund scores in OT, Sharks rally to spoil Kane's Red Wings debut, 6-5

DETROIT (AP) — Mikael Granlund scored 37 seconds into overtime and the San Jose Sharks spoiled Patrick Kane’s Detroit debut, overcoming a four-goal deficit to beat the Red Wings 6-5 on Thursday night.

Nico Sturm and Tomas Hertl each scored twice for San Jose. Hertl, who has five goals in the last two games, and Fabian Zetterlund had the Sharks’ first two short-handed goals of the season.

Hertl tied it with 1:29 left on a rebound after San Jose pulled its goaltender for an extra skater.

“When we got our first goal, we knew we were going to come back,” said Zetterlund, who assisted on Granlund's winner. “That’s a great feeling to have.”

The teams traded three-goal outbusts during a 3:01 span of the second period. That just missed the NHL record for the shortest span of six goals. Washington and Quebec scored six in exactly three minutes on Feb. 22, 1981.

“One of the craziest sequences I’ve had in my career, for sure,” Sturm said. “Probably not so fun for Coach’s heart but for the fans, it was probably great to watch tonight.”

The 35-year-old Kane, a nine-time All-Star who signed a one-year contract with Detroit on Nov. 28, didn't record a point. He hit the post early in the third period.

Kane had his right hip surgically repaired six months ago and is shooting to become the third NHL player to come back from the invasive procedure.

“It was just fun to get out there and play again," Kane said. "Obviously, it would’ve been a little bit better getting the win. It seemed like we were rolling there at 4-0.”

Michael Rasmussen scored two goals in a 13-second span. Klim Kostin, Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin also scored for the Red Wings.

Kostin scored the game's first goal midway through the second period.

Detroit soon piled up three goals in a 49-second span to take a 4-0 lead. Rasmussen notched both of his goals on deflections, redirecting shots by Daniel Sprong and Ben Chiarot. Raymond completed the eruption with a shot from the slot.

San Jose scored three times in a 1:44 span to cut the Red Wings' lead to 4-3. Hertl and Zetterlund converted their short-anded goals on breakaways, and Sturm capped the flurry with 4:08 left in the period.

Sturm scored again in the final minute of the period, slipping the puck under Ville Husso's left pad, to tie it at 4. It was his first two goals this season.

“I could say monkey off my back but that was a full-sized gorilla on my back,” Sturm said. “I know my role, I know the points are not my priority but I paly hockey to enjoy these kinds of moments -- to make plays, score goals. That’s what we all dream of.”

Detroit regained the lead when Larkin scored with 6:40 remaining.

“We were casual and got outworked all night," Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. "It’s another learning lesson. We have to be on all the time.”

UP NEXT

Sharks: Complete six-game trip at Vegas on Sunday night.

Red Wings: Host Ottawa on Saturday night

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl