Mitch Marner scored three goals in a row within the first two periods, recording his third career hat trick, and helped the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat Todd McLellan’s Red Wings 5-2 in Detroit on Friday night. Marner scored twice in the first period and added another goal in the second, giving the Maple Leafs a 5-0 lead. He had scored a career-high four goals against Detroit on February 26, 2022.
David Kampf scored his first goal of the season in his 500th career game. Nicholas Robertson also scored for Toronto, and John Tavares added two assists. Joseph Woll made 23 saves for the win.
McLellan, the former head coach of San Jose, Edmonton, and Los Angeles, was hired on Thursday to replace Derek Lalonde. Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson scored for Detroit, which has now lost four straight games. Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon combined for 18 saves.
Avalanche 4, Utah Hockey Club 1
Artturi Lehkonen scored his first career hat trick, and Nathan MacKinnon had three assists to lead Colorado to a victory over Utah in Salt Lake City.
Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, who signed a five-year, $26.25 million contract extension with Colorado, made 34 saves, marking his fourth win in five starts with the team. Mikko Rantanen also scored for the Avalanche, who have won four consecutive games and eight of their last 10.
Nick Schmaltz scored Utah’s only goal. Utah is winless in its last three games (0-2-1) and now has a record of 5-7-4 at home this season. Goalie Karel Vejmelka stopped 33 shots.
Golden Knights 6, Sharks 3
Brayden McNabb and Jack Eichel scored short-handed goals just 23 seconds apart in the third period, leading visiting Vegas to a comeback victory over San Jose.
Vegas recorded its league-leading 14th comeback win of the season and extended its winning streak to five games. Eichel, McNabb, Mark Stone, and Brett Howden each finished with a goal and an assist. Noah Hanifin and Pavel Dorofeyev also scored goals for Vegas.
Will Smith had a goal and an assist, and Shakir Mukhamadullin and Tyler Toffoli also scored for San Jose, which lost its sixth straight game (0-5-1). Fabian Zetterlund added two assists, and Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves.
Sabres 6, Blackhawks 2
Alex Tuch’s third career hat trick led Buffalo to a win over Chicago.
Jack Quinn and Dylan Cozens each had a goal and an assist, Rasmus Dahlin had two assists, and Zach Benson also scored for Buffalo. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 15 of 17 shots for his 10th win in 25 starts this season.
Tyler Bertuzzi and Seth Jones scored for the Blackhawks, who have lost their last three games. Chicago is 1-10-1 in its last 12 away games. Blackhawks starting goalie Petr Mrazek allowed four goals on 11 shots before being replaced at the first intermission. Arvid Soderblom stopped 22 of 24 shots in the remaining two periods.
Wild 3, Stars 2 (OT)
Brock Faber scored on a wraparound just 35 seconds into overtime, lifting visiting Minnesota to a comeback win over Dallas.
Jonas Brodin and Marcus Foligno scored in the third period, and Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves for the Wild, who had lost four of five games before the Christmas break.
Wyatt Johnston and Evgenii Dadonov each had a goal and an assist, and Jake Oettinger made 15 saves for Dallas, which lost a 2-0 third-period lead. The Stars extended their point streak against Minnesota to 12 games (8-0-4).
Devils 4, Hurricanes 2
Jacob Markstrom’s two-game shutout streak ended, but he made 29 saves in New Jersey’s win over Carolina in Newark, N.J.
Markstrom extended his personal win streak to six games and improved to 9-0-1 in his last 10 starts. Luke Hughes had a goal and an assist for his third two-point game in the last four. Ondrej Palat, Nico Hischier, and Dawson Mercer also scored. Hughes was one of five defensemen who recorded an assist for the Devils, who have won three straight games and six of their last seven.
Brent Burns had a goal and an assist for Carolina, and Eric Robinson also scored. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 19 shots for the Hurricanes, who have lost three of their last four games.
Blue Jackets 6, Bruins 2
Columbus used a four-goal second period and went 3-for-3 on the power play to cruise past Boston in the first half of their home-and-home series.
Dmitri Voronkov had two goals and an assist in the second period, while Sean Monahan also scored twice for Columbus. The Blue Jackets scored three times in a 2:47 span to break open what was a 1-1 game after the first period. Columbus also got a goal and two assists from Kirill Marchenko, Adam Fantilli scored, and Zach Werenski tied a career high with four assists.
Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves as Columbus improved to 3-0-1 in their last four games before the Saturday rematch in Boston. Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle scored for the Bruins, and Joonas Korpisalo (27 saves) took the loss. Boston had a five-game point streak (4-0-1) snapped.
Blues 7, Predators 4
Robert Thomas and Zack Bolduc scored on St. Louis’ first two shots, and Thomas added another goal in a 7-4 win over visiting Nashville.
The quick goals helped St. Louis, which never trailed but didn’t break away from Nashville until late. They earned their second straight win after a 1-3-2 stretch. Cam Fowler added a goal and two assists, Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist, and Philip Broberg and Colton Parayko also scored. Dylan Holloway had two assists. Joel Hofer made 26 saves.
Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos each had a goal and an assist for Nashville, and Nick Blankenburg and Mark Jankowski also scored. Juuse Saros was pulled late in the second period after allowing five goals on 15 shots. Justus Annunen stopped 12 of 13 shots in relief.
