Jiri Kulich scored two goals for the Buffalo Sabres in their 7-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, overshadowing Sidney Crosby’s record-setting night.
Tage Thompson, Peyton Krebs, Tyson Kozak, and Alex Tuch each scored a goal and added an assist for Buffalo. Defensemen Bowen Byram and Rasmus Dahlin both recorded two assists, and James Reimer made 23 saves. Buffalo has now won five of their last seven games.
Crosby scored to set an NHL record with his 20th season of averaging at least one point per game, breaking a tie with Wayne Gretzky. Blake Lizotte and Kevin Hayes also scored for the Penguins, who have now lost three straight games. Tristan Jarry stopped 8 of 12 shots before being replaced by Alex Nedeljkovic, who made 15 saves.
Wild 4, Capitals 2
Frederick Gaudreau scored twice to help the Minnesota Wild beat the Washington Capitals in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist, and Jon Merrill added a goal for the Wild, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Brandon Duhaime and Matt Roy scored for Washington, which lost in regulation for the second time in its last 12 games.
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin had three shots on goal in 19:03 of ice time but didn’t score. Ovechkin remains at 889 career goals, five short of matching Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record.
Stars 5, Flames 2
Four players for the Dallas Stars each scored a goal and added an assist in their 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames.
Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund, Roope Hintz, and Mikko Rantanen all had a goal and an assist. The Stars are on a four-game winning streak and are now four points behind the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Central Division. Wyatt Johnston also scored, and Casey DeSmith made 46 saves.
Nazem Kadri scored both goals for the Flames, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Dustin Wolf made 14 saves.
Flyers 6, Canadiens 4
After firing their head coach earlier in the day, the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-4 at home.
The Flyers had been on a six-game losing streak (0-5-1) before firing John Tortorella, with Brad Shaw taking over as interim coach. Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov each scored twice and added an assist. Tyson Foerster and Nicolas Deslauriers also scored. Samuel Ersson made 26 saves, handing Montreal its fourth straight loss (0-2-2). Alex Newhook, Cole Caufield, Christian Dvorak, and Patrik Laine scored for the Canadiens, while Jakub Dobes made 24 saves.
Detroit Red Wings (NHL)Senators 4, Red Wings 3
The Ottawa Senators took a 3-0 lead and held off a strong comeback from the Detroit Red Wings.
Thomas Chabot, Tim Stutzle, David Perron, and Michael Amadio scored for Ottawa. Linus Ullmark made 31 saves as Ottawa, which leads the Eastern Conference wild-card race, won the season series 3-1.
Lucas Raymond scored a goal and added an assist for Detroit, and Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored. Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot combined for 28 saves.
Lightning 8, Utah Hockey Club 0
Jake Guentzel scored two goals, and Andrei Vasilevskiy earned his sixth shutout of the season as the Tampa Bay Lightning crushed Utah 8-0.
Guentzel scored his NHL-leading 16th power-play goal in a four-goal second period, and Nikita Kucherov added a goal and three assists. Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for his 40th career shutout.
Brayden Point scored his 300th career goal and added an assist. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice, and Victor Hedman had a goal and two assists. Gage Goncalves also scored. Utah’s goalie Karel Vejmelka allowed four goals on 11 shots before being replaced by Jaxson Stauber, who stopped six shots.
Avalanche 4, Kings 0
Martin Necas and Logan O’Connor scored in a 92-second span during the second period, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-0 in Denver.
Necas finished with two goals and an assist, and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and an assist. Cale Makar had two assists for Colorado, which has now won four in a row. Nathan MacKinnon picked up an assist to extend his home point streak to 23 games.
David Rittich made 22 saves for the Kings, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Blues 3, Predators 2
Dylan Holloway scored twice, including the game-winning goal with 7:41 left, as the St. Louis Blues extended their winning streak to eight games with a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.
Cam Fowler scored to tie the game for the Blues less than a minute before Holloway’s winner. Robert Thomas had two assists, and Joel Hofer made 16 saves for St. Louis.
Fedor Svechkov and Brady Skjei scored for the Predators, who have lost six of their last eight games (2-5-1). Juuse Saros made 18 saves.
St. Louis Blues players celebrates after scoringKraken 6, Oilers 1
Jaden Schwartz scored twice as the Seattle Kraken defeated the Edmonton Oilers 6-1.
Jani Nyman, Andrei Burakovsky, and Jared McCann each had a goal and an assist, while Matty Beniers also scored. Joey Daccord made 36 saves. The Kraken set a franchise record for goals in a period during a home game and ended a three-game losing streak (0-2-1).
Zach Hyman scored for the Oilers, who have lost three of their last four games. Calvin Pickard stopped 24 of 29 shots, and Olivier Rodrigue made 7 saves on 8 shots in his NHL debut.
Sharks 6, Maple Leafs 5 (SO)
Macklin Celebrini scored the shootout winner as the San Jose Sharks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-5 after Toronto scored twice in the final minute to force overtime.
Tyler Toffoli scored twice in regulation and added an assist, and William Eklund had a goal and an assist for the Sharks. Collin Graf and Alexander Wennberg also scored. Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves for San Jose.
William Nylander scored twice, John Tavares had a goal and an assist, and Auston Matthews and Scott Laughton also scored for the Maple Leafs. Mitch Marner had three assists, Matthew Knies added two assists, and Joseph Woll made 30 saves.
