NHL roundup: Connor McDavid lifts Oilers over Lightning

Jan. 20 – NHL-leading Connor McDavid’s 39th goal broke the tie in the third period and proved to be the winner as the host Edmonton Oilers earned their fifth straight victory , beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 Thursday night.

After a solid forecheck from Edmonton to open the third, McDavid used his speed to round Lightning defenseman Ian Cole on the right and score the go-ahead goal 2:10 into the period Zach Hyman had two goals while McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each had a goal and an assist for the Oilers. Ryan McLeod scored and Edmonton goaltender Jack Campbell made 28 saves for his fifth straight start.

The Lightning received a goal and an assist from Brayden Point, and Brandon Hagel and Steven Stamkos scored. Victor Hedman posted two assists while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots but lost for the first time in five games.

Edmonton swept the season’s two-game series against the defending Eastern Conference champions and improved to 8-3-1 in its last 12 games. The Oilers are 5-1-0 against Atlantic Division teams.

Bruins 3, Rangers 1

Jeremy Swayman made 31 saves as Boston scored early in each period and extended their road winning streak to six games by beating New York.

Pavel Zacha and Patrice Bergeron scored in the first two periods before Connor Clifton netted in the third for the Bruins, who have improved to 26-4-4 since their 5-2 win at New York on Nov. 3. Brad Marchand and David Krejci had two assists apiece as the Bruins improved their overall road record to 15-4-1.

Defenseman Ben Harpur scored with 4:23 left in the third for New York.

Maple Leafs 4, Jets 1

Auston Matthews scored twice early in the second period, Ilya Samsonov stopped 37 shots and Toronto beat visiting Winnipeg.

Mitchell Marner scored a shorthanded goal to extend his team-record home scoring streak to 20 games. Mark Giordano scored an empty-netter and Michael Bunting added two assists for the Maple Leafs, who have won two in a row. The Maple Leafs have won both games against the Jets this season.

Kyle Connor scored for the Jets, who lost for the third time in their last 11 games. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 shots for the Jets, who also lost the opener of their five-game road trip Tuesday to the Montreal Canadiens.

Sabers 3, Islanders 2 (OT)

Dylan Cozens scored 12 seconds into overtime to propel host Buffalo to a win over New York.

Victor Olofsson scored midway through the third period and Alex Tuch scored his career-best 22nd goal of the season. Dahlin had two assists and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 24 saves for the Sabers, who earned just their second victory in their last seven games (2-4-1).

New York’s Brock Nelson scored to end a 14-game drought and Matt Martin scored as well. Ilya Sorokin stopped 42 shots for the Islanders, who have lost three in a row and seven of their last eight games (1-4-3).

Capitals 4, Coyotes 0

Dylan Strome scored twice as Washington defeated Arizona in Tempe, Arizona.

Washington goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for his fifth league-leading shutout of the season and 30th of his career. Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who have won nine of their last 10 road games. Sonny Milano also scored, and Dmitry Orlov and Evgeny Kuznetsov each had two assists. Nicklas Backstrom became the 46th player in NHL history with 750 assists.

Karel Vejmelka has made 29 saves for the Coyotes, who have lost 10 of 11. Vejmelka has lost each of his last eight starts.

Panthers 6, Canadians 2

Goaltender Alex Lyon made his Florida debut after an early injury to starter Sergei Bobrovsky, leading the visitors to a win over Montreal.

The Panthers scored four power-play goals, the first time they’ve accomplished that feat since a game against Pittsburgh 10 years ago. Matthew Tkachuk, who leads Florida with 24 goals, scored twice with the man advantage. Bobrovsky, the 2013 and 2017 Vezina Trophy winner, left the game with a lower-body injury.

The Panthers also got power-play goals from Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett and even-strength goals from Givani Smith and Ryan Lomberg. It was Smith’s first goal as a member of the Panthers. Montreal goaltender Sam Montembeault, who started his career with the Panthers, made 28 saves as the Canadiens saw their two-game winning streak shattered. Rem Pitlick and Josh Anderson scored the goals for Montreal.

Blues 5, Predators 2

Brandon Saad and Robert Thomas each had a goal and an assist as St. Louis recorded a win over visiting Nashville.

Alexey Toropchenko, Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou also scored while Tyler Pitlick had two assists as St. Louis improved to 4-2-0 in its last six games. It was an offensive breakthrough for a team that had scored just five goals in total in its previous three games. Twelve Blues players collected at least one point in the well-rounded offensive effort.

Jordan Binnington stopped 24 of 26 shots for the win. It was another solid outing for Binnington against the Predators, having completed a 25-save shutout in the Blues’ 1-0 win over Nashville on Dec. 12. Colton Sissons and Mattias Ekholm scored for the Predators, whose two-game winning streak ended. Juuse Saros made 28 saves.

Hurricanes 5, Savage 2

Brady Skjei, Jalen Chatfield and Martin Necas each had a goal and an assist and Carolina finally managed to pick up a win over visiting Minnesota.

Brent Burns and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for Carolina, which scored zero in the first 29 minutes and then scored five in the next 16 1/2 minutes. The Hurricanes have won only the third time in their last eight games, but they sit atop the Metropolitan Division.

The Wild, riding a three-game winning streak, scored the game’s first and last goals with Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy scoring.

Blackhawks 4, Flyers 1

Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist as Chicago beat host Philadelphia Flyers, ending one of professional hockey’s oldest losing streaks.

The Blackhawks’ last regular season win in Philadelphia was on Nov. 9, 1996, with the Blackhawks losing 14 straight regular season games in the city over 22 years.

Reese Johnson, Tyler Johnson and Philipp Kurashev each added a goal for the Blackhawks, who have won five of six games. Morgan Frost scored the only goal for the Flyers, who had won eight of 10.

Ducks 5, Blue Jackets 3

John Gibson stopped all 18 shots he faced after relieving starter Anthony Stolarz and his visit to Anaheim erased a three-goal deficit to beat Columbus.

Adam Henrique scored his 16th team-leading goal for the Ducks, who snapped a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) despite falling 3-0 in the first period.

Mathieu Olivier, Jack Roslovic and Nick Blankenburg scored for the Blue Jackets. Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins couldn’t protect the lead, allowing five goals on 33 shots to take the loss.

–Field-Level Media

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