Tag: NHL hockey

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Andrei Kuzmenko scored twice and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2 on Saturday night for their season-high fourth straight victory.

J.T. Miller, Nils Aman and Sheldon Dries also scored for Vancouver, and Thatcher Demko made 18 saves.

“We can definitely feel it in the room. I think there’s a buy-in that’s going on right now,” Demko said. “That’s just playing the right way. It’s contagious when everyone’s doing it and it looks good.”

Claude Giroux and Nick Holden had third-period goals for Ottawa. Mads Sogaard made 25 saves in the Senators’ second straight loss.

“It’s frustrating. I didn’t think we played that bad,” Giroux said. “We did a lot of good things but kind of a weird game, to be honest. You think you’re playing a pretty good and then you’re down 4-0. So definitely frustrating.”

Kuzmenko opened the scoring for Vancouver with 4:45 left in the first period. He also had the final goal of the game, scoring a power-play goal into an empty net with 15 seconds to go for his 32nd goal of the season.

Miller and Aman scored in the second period, with Miller making it 2-0 with a short-handed goal at 4:26 and Aman striking with 9:33 to go.

Dries scored at 6:50 of the third for a 4-0 lead.

Giroux ended Demko’s shutout bid with 6:21 to go with his 28th of the season. Holden connected with 4:16 left.

Vancouver allowed only 20 shots.

“It means everybody’s gapping up and the defense are trusting the forwards that they’re backing the defensemen up,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “It’s a lot of different trust factors. You can’t play this game if you don’t trust your teammates, and that’s something we’ve really worked on the last six weeks is trust.”

UP NEXT

Senators: At Calgary on Sunday night in the fourth of a five-game trip.

Canucks: Host Dallas on Tuesday night to finish a six-game homestand.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://www.twitter.com/AP_Sports

CALGARY, Alberta — Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy each had a goal and an assist, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 31 shots for his second shutout of the season as the Minnesota Wild beat the Calgary Flames 3-0 on Saturday night for their fourth straight win.

Marcus Foligno also scored for the Wild, who earned a point for their ninth straight game (8-0-1). Gustavsson improved to 6-0-2 in his last eight starts while allowing only 11 goals in that stretch.

“It didn’t feel that great today,” Gustavsson said. “It was bouncy. Every time i went out and played the puck with my stick it didn’t go the way I wanted. It was a little bit of a funky game. … The pucks hit me so you kind of get into a rhythm. I don’t know, it was a good game anyways.”

Jacob Markstrom finished with 29 saves as he lost his fifth straight start (0-4-1) for the Flames. Calgary has lost five straight (0-3-2).

“It’s two game sin a row we got really good goaltending,” Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. “Goaltending gave us a chance to win but i think we got very little (scoring) for him, especially our top guys.”

The Flames, 1-5-1 in their last seven at home, were booed by the home crowd throughout the closing minutes.

“When you lose, I’d boo, too,” Sutter said. “I don’t think they’re booing the team. … Our top players got to be better players, that’s for sure.”

Calgary trails Winnipeg by seven points for the second wild card in the Western Conference.

Eriksson Ek tipped Marcus Johansson’s deflection of Boldy’s long shot from the high slot to give the Wild a 1-0 lead with 5:08 left in the first.

“I wasn’t sure if it was deflected off me or not,” Eriksson said. “We win as a team and we lose like a team.”

Foligno made it 2-0 with 6:11 left in the third. Frederick Gaudreau’s shot from the left side went over the crossbar and hit the top of the netting and bounced back toward Markstrom and Foligno reached behind the goalie and swatted the puck in out of the air for his fifth.

“We were patient again,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “It’s nice to play with the lead and when we got the lead we didn’t have to do anything as far as cheating the game. We stayed real patient … We were fortunate to get a couple more.”

Boldy capped the scoring with 3 1/2 minutes left as he got Eriksson Ek’s backhand feed from behind the goal line and fired it in past Markstrom for his 17th.

“It was kind of flat on our end from start to finish,” Calgary’s Milan Lucic said. “At this point of the year you should be excited and have a lot of energy to play every single night. THat’s on us as individuals and us as a team. … Energy is something we have to create within.”

CLOSE GAMES

The Flames lead the NHL in one-goal losses with a combined 24 between regulation time (11) and overtime (13). The Wild lead the NHL with 18 one-goal wins.

UP NEXT

Wild: Host Calgary on Tuesday night.

Flames: At Dallas on Monday night to open a two-game trip.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://www.twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAS VEGAS — Shea Theodore scored in the fourth round of a shootout to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.

Jonathan Marchessault had two goals and an assist, and Jack Eichel also scored for Western Conference-leading Vegas, which won for the eighth time in 11 games (8-1-2). Adin Hill had a career-high 46 saves.

“Tonight was kind of a playoff-type game,” Hill said. “I’m glad we got the win. They have some good players and a lot of skill in their lineup. They’re a fast team.”

Coach Bill Cassidy said the Golden Knights weren’t initially ready to handle the Devils’ speed, which showed as they were outshot 16-4 in the first period as Vegas fell behind 2-1.

“Tonight we weren’t prepared to play, but Adin sure was,” Cassidy said. “It was a great performance. Good for Adin, he was really on tonight.”

Dawson Mercer, Jesper Bratt and Miles Wood scored goals for New Jersey, which is 9-2-2 in its last 13 games. Akira Schmid had 25 saves.

After an overtime period in which New Jersey outshot Vegas 8-0, the first seven shooters in the tiebreaker were stopped before Theodore beat Schmid for the win.

Wood tied the score 3-3 with 7:07 left in the third as he converted the rebound of his own shot in front after a centering pass from Jesper Boqvist.

Eichel had given the Golden Knights the lead 3:47 into the third as beat Schmid through the five-hole after a pass from Marchessault on a 2-on-1 rush.

Marchessault got Vegas on the scoreboard first 7:48 into the game as he got his 400th career point (178 goals, 222 assists).

Bratt tied it 1-1 on a power play as he got his 25th of the season with 4:44 left in the first and Mercer put the Devils ahead with 28 seconds left in the opening period as he scored for the eighth straight game.

“I liked the way we started the game,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “But their goalie made a couple of big saves.”

Marchessault tied it 2-2 with his 19th of the season with 7:10 remaining in the second.

NOTES

Mercer’s eight-game goal streak is the longest in the league this year. … The Golden Knights have won eight straight games at home, with their last loss coming Jan. 19, a 3-2 defeat to Detroit. … Knights forward William Carrier left the game near the end of the first period with what Cassidy called a “lower body injury.” Cassidy he’d have a better idea of Carrier’s status on Saturday. … It was the Knights’ fourth overtime in their last six games. … The Devils remained one of only two teams — along with Toronto — that hasn’t been shut out this season.

UP NEXT

Devils: At Arizona on Sunday to finish a three-game trip.

Golden Knights: Host Montreal on Sunday to finish a three-game homestand.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://www.twitter.com/AP_Sports

Patrick Kane is Broadway-bound, and the New York Rangers are far from the only top contender making big moves ahead of the NHL trade deadline.

The Rangers acquired Kane from Chicago in a three-team trade Tuesday night, adding the three-time Stanley Cup champion to their core that reached the Eastern Conference final last year and a couple of recent additions, including prolific scoring winger Vladimir Tarasenko.

“I think Patrick recognized it was a good fit for him and it’s a good fit for us,” general manager Chris Drury said. “We’re certainly excited that he wanted to be traded and that it was to the New York Rangers.”

Adding Kane — hours after Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina made a trade and days after NHL-best Boston got bigger and tougher — moves New York into the thick of the championship race.

“This decision puts me in the best spot to immediately win another Stanley Cup,” Kane said after waiving his no-movement clause to go from the Blackhawks to Rangers. “I look forward to this next step in my career.”

Some of the other top teams around the league did not wait for the Kane trade to happen to get their deals done. Carolina is buying low on an underachieving young scorer, Toronto is making wholesale changes to prepare for the playoffs and two perennial contenders are looking toward the future.

The Hurricanes got Jesse Puljujarvi from the Edmonton Oilers, who were also active in adding Mattias Ekholm from Nashville, and the Maple Leafs completed three separate deals with an eye on navigating a difficult road through the Eastern Conference. Toronto acquired big defenseman Luke Schenn from Vancouver, sent Rasmus Sandin to Washington for a first-round pick and veteran Erik Gustafsson and traded forward Pierre Engvall to the New York Islanders.

General manager Kyle Dubas said it was no secret the Maple Leafs “wanted to become more competitive” and that’s evident now that they’ve brought in six new players in the past two weeks. Engvall, traded for a 2024 third-round pick, is one of two additions for the Islanders, who are chasing one of two wild-card spots in the East and were eager to augment their forward depth.

Out West, Minnesota paid that same price in a deal with Washington for well-traveled forward Marcus Johansson, who has now been traded five times in under six years, including the second time the Wild have added him. Minnesota also got injured winger Gustav Nyquist from Columbus for a 2023 fifth-round pick, which the Wild got from the Bruins for facilitating the trade with the Capitals last week.

“These two players, I think, are what we were missing, what we needed.” Minnesota GM Bill Guerin said. “They’re highly skilled guys, excellent skaters. I think they’re going to provide us with that natural ability out there.”

Keeping true to GM Brian MacLellan’s plan to reset quickly to try to win again as soon as next year, the Capitals sent Boston’s first-round pick that they got last week to Toronto with Gustafsson for Sandin, who turns 23 next week and is signed through next season at the bargain price of $1.4 million.

Nashville, which like Washington is a playoff mainstay, continued selling by trading Ekholm to Edmonton for defenseman Tyson Barrie, forward prospect Reid Schaefer, a first-round pick this year and a fourth-rounder in 2024. Ekholm gives the Oilers, who are giving up more than three goals a game, some balance on the blue line behind the top two scorers in the league: MVP favorite Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

“And I know they have a bunch of other guys that really can put the puck in the net,” Ekholm said. “Coming in as a defensive defenseman, I know that if we can (handle) our defensive side of the game and I guess I’m doing my job, then I think we have a great chance of winning hockey games.”

The Hurricanes would love to roll through the loaded East and figure Puljujarvi can help them do that. They sent the rights to 22-year-old unsigned draft pick Patrik Puistola to the Oilers in a swap of Finnish forwards.

The Hurricanes aim to unlock Puljujarvi’s offensive abilities after the 2016 No. 4 pick has put up just 117 points in 337 NHL regular-season and playoff games. The move helps replace what Carolina expected out of Max Pacioretty before the veteran winger re-tore his right Achilles tendon last month.

“Jesse possesses a great blend of size and skill, and he will add to the depth of our forward group,” Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said. “He has familiarity with some of our other Finnish players, and we see him as a great fit for our team and locker room.”

Puljujarvi, 24, joins countrymen Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Antti Raanta with the Hurricanes. He played on a line with Aho for Finland at the 2016 world junior championship and led the tournament with 17 points in seven games.

“I think I’m going to be a good fit on that team,” Puljujarvi said. “I’m getting a new opportunity, and I’m excited for that. I hope this is going to be good for me, and I’m going to work really, really hard to do everything right and be best player I can be and help the team in Carolina.”

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Freelance writer Brian Hall in St. Paul, Minnesota, contributed.

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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAS VEGAS — Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz got the Dallas Stars to extra time Saturday night.

Then after a scoreless overtime, they both scored in the shootout to lift the Stars to a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in a potential Western Conference final preview.

Wyatt Johnston and Hintz scored in regulation for Dallas, and Jamie Benn had two assists. Jake Oettinger had 41 saves for the Stars, who lead the Central Division with 74 points and ended an 0-3-2 skid.

“We’ve been grinding,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “We needed a win. They played a great game, too. It was a real good game. Anybody that was at this game tonight got their money’s worth.”

Michael Amadio and Jack Eichel scored for Vegas, which extended its point streak to 6-0-3 to remain atop the Pacific Division with 76 points. Laurent Brossoit also had 41 saves, including an acrobatic one 1:02 into overtime that even had the Stars raving about it.

Vegas looked as if it was going to emerge with the victory after Eichel took a cross-ice pass from Chandler Stephenson and scored on a breakaway with 4:37 left in regulation to put the Knights ahead 2-1. It was Eichel’s third game in a row with a goal.

The Knights nearly up went 3-1, but Dallas’ Robertson slid in front of Stephenson to prevent an empty-net goal in the final minute.

“A big play at a big time,” Robertson said. “It was pretty lucky, but you’ve got to sell out in those moments. I got a lucky bounce, and it went the other way. What was more impressive was how composed we were in the final moments.”

Robertson’s stop became especially crucial when Hintz scored with 38 seconds left on a 6-on-5. The NHL office initiated a video review, but the goal was upheld, and the game was soon headed to overtime.

Dallas missed chances early in the game to take a lead with a four-minute power play in the first period and a 5-on-3 for 59 seconds in the second.

The Knights broke through first when Brayden McNabb’s shot from the point was redirected by Amadio with 8 minutes left in the second period. That was the first goal Oettinger has given up this season to Vegas, ending a 92-minute shutout streak.

The Stars scored 2:01 later when Johnston punched in Ty Dellandrea’s pass to the left side of the net.

Vegas had seven shots on goal in the extra period and Dallas had three, but neither team could get anything past the goalies.

BROSSOIT’S SAVE

Brossoit was on his back when Dallas’ Tyler Sequin had what looked like the winning goal in overtime. But Brossoit rolled over and backhanded the puck away.

“That might be the save of the year,” said DeBoer, who was the Knights’ coach the previous 2 1/2 years. “I’m happy for LB. I got the opportunity to coach him, and I know the road he’s had with the surgeries and the recovery, so its nice to see him back in the league at that level.”

When asked what he was thinking when he saw Brossoit’s stop, Oettinger said: “I’m sure that will be all over Instagram tonight. Just an unbelievable save.”

Brossoit didn’t want to take too much credit.

“Some of the best saves means that you’re out of position, and I was,” Brossoit said. “I threw my glove at it, and luckily he shot at the one spot that I could’ve gotten it.”

NOTES

Robertson is 5 for 6 in shootouts this season and 10 for 19 for his career. “He’s like automatic,” Oettinger said. “It’s scary. I hope I never have to face him in a game in a shootout. I don’t even want to in practice.” … Vegas’ Shea Theodore has points in six consecutive games (two goals, seven assists). … D Nic Hague played in his 200th career game, all with the Golden Knights.

UP NEXT

Stars: Host Vancouver on Monday night.

Golden Knights: At Colorado on Monday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CALGARY, Alberta — Mikael Backlund’s power-play goal 1:28 into overtime Saturday night gave the Calgary Flames a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers, snapping their seven-game winning streak.

Andrew Mangiapane and Nazem Kadri both scored in the first minute for Calgary (26-19-11). The Flames pulled even in points with Minnesota for the second wild-card berth in the Western Conference, but the Wild have a game in hand.

“It’s a playoff game every game for us. We can’t afford to lose too many more, so we’ve got to go on a streak here,” Backlund said.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers (33-14-9), who have earned at least one point in each of their last 10 games (8-0-2). They are 14-2-4 in their last 20.

New York is two points behind New Jersey for second place in the Metropolitan Division.

“Going down early like we did, first two shifts of the game 2-0, in order to get a point we had to claw back,” said Rangers center Vincent Trocheck, who had two assists. “I thought we played a good game the rest of the way. Just first two minutes really killed us.”

The Rangers scored 36 goals during their winning streak — which included scoring at least four in seven straight games for the first time since February 1991.

But against a struggling Flames team, they could only solve Jacob Markstrom twice on 21 shots. Markstrom won for just the second time since Jan. 6. He improved to 15-13-7.

Jaroslav Halak, who made 29 saves, fell to 8-6-2.

“We hung him out to dry early. Some of the saves he made were unbelievable,” New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren said.

The game-winner came 38 seconds into a penalty on Adam Fox after the Rangers defenseman caught Dillon Dube with a high stick during a scrum in the corner.

On the 4-on-3 man advantage, Backlund deflected Jonathan Huberdeau’s shot past Halak.

“You know my shot, there’s no way that was going in,” Huberdeau said with a chuckle. “I saw Backs was wide open. He works on that every morning skate, so the work paid off this time. That’s a huge win for us.”

Huberdeau had two primary assists.

“Great shot by him seeing that we had some room in front there,” Backlund said. “He had a good night for us and he played really well, created a lot of chances and looks in the O-zone.”

Calgary was ahead 2-0 less than a minute into the game, but the score remained that way for more than 36 minutes before New York cut the deficit in half at 16:53 of the second period when Tarasenko capped off a pretty three-way passing play with Artemi Panarin and Trocheck.

Panarin’s assist extended his point streak to seven games (six goals, nine assists).

Calgary had numerous chances to regain a two-goal lead in the third, but Halak was excellent.

The Rangers tied it at 12:48 of the third. Lafreniere got a pass from Trocheck and put a shot on net that was partially stopped by Markstrom. As the rebound slithered toward the far post, Lafreniere was able to tap it in before Markstrom could get across.

It was Lafreniere’s first career power-play goal.

“It’s nice to win games when you’re coming back, but you should play better at the start,” Tarasenko said. “Everybody knows that we can play better. I don’t think anybody’s satisfied with the result today.”

Calgary scored two goals eight seconds apart in the opening minute.

Mangiapane got in alone and made a terrific deke to get his 12th goal 38 seconds in.

Right after that, Kadri finished off a tic-tac-toe passing play with Huberdeau and Jakob Pelletier, and his 21st goal of the season had the Saddledome crowd buzzing.

LINDHOLM MISSING

The Flames were without No. 1 center Elias Lindholm, away from the team for the birth of his first child. His spot between Dube and Tyler Toffoli was taken by Adam Ruzicka, who has no points in his last 15 games and has gone 26 games without a goal.

STREAK BUSTER

Chris Kreider had his seven-game point streak snapped while Mika Zibanejad had his six-game point spree halted. Halak also had his seven-game winning streak snapped. He last loss was on Dec. 3, 2022.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Return home to play Winnipeg on Monday.

Flames: Wrap up a three-game homestand with a matinee Monday against Philadelphia.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAS VEGAS — Jonathan Marchessault scored twice in the first period, the first one ending a 13-game goal drought and the second allowed to stand after a replay challenge.

That decision by the Toronto replay office proved crucial as the Vegas Golden Knights remained hot with a 5-4 victory Saturday over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

They extended their winning streak to five games to remain in first place in the competitive Pacific Division. It’s quite a response for the Knights after they entered the All-Star break with a 1-5-2 stretch.

“I did feel it was a playoff vibe,” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I was comfortable with my lines in November and then bunch of guys got hurt, damn it, and so that kind screwed that up. Now we’re back to pretty good health minus (Mark Stone). I like the way they’re operating.”

This was Tampa Bay’s first regulation loss of a four-game trip. The Lightning, who head home Tuesday night to host Anaheim, were 3-0-1 in their previous four games overall.

The Knights got to Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy four times in the first, the first time the two-time Stanley Cup champion has allowed that many goals in an opening period, according to Sportsnet Stats.

Shea Theodore had three points in opening period alone. He has a history of producing against the Lightning, twice putting up four-point games against them and scoring the winning goal with 2.3 seconds in a 2017 meeting.

Reilly Smith had two assists for Vegas, and four Lightning players each had two points — Victor Hedman, Vladislav Namestnikov, Corey Perry and Mikhail Sergachev.

Both teams came out firing, scoring three goals within a 47-second stretch of the first period. Namestnikov and Steven Stamkos scored for the Lightning and Brett Howden for the Knights. Stamkos’ goal, a top-shelf one-timer from the left circle, was on a power play.

Vegas scored three more times in the period, with Marchessault scoring twice and Theodore once. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper immediately challenged the 5-foot-9 Marchessault’s second goal for a high stick, but after the video replay, the goal was upheld.

“Come on,” Cooper said when asked about the goal after the game. “I think Marchessault could stand right here and say he had a high stick on that goal. The rule’s confusing to me now. I thought that was plain as day, but they saw it differently.”

The question was whether Marchessault had a high stick when he swatted the puck to the ice not when he actually shot. In that case, it was a matter if the stick was above his shoulders.

“I thought my stick was around my shoulders and I hit the bottom part of it,” Marchessault said. “I just got a little taller than I was in Tampa (2014-16). They didn’t know that.”

The Lightning got to within a goal in the second period on Perry’s goal. That ended the Knights’ five-game streak of allowing two or fewer goals.

Vegas added the clincher with 1:09 left on Nicolas Roy’ empty-netter from 142 feet. That became especially critical when former Knight Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored with 10 seconds remaining.

NOTES

Stamkos has points in 16 of his past 22 games (nine goals, 21 assists). He also has 11 points in nine career game against the Knights. … Vegas’ Paul Cotter extended his points streak to four games (three goals, one assist) and Theodore to three games (two goals, four assists). … Tampa Bay’s Anthony Cirelli went to the locker room later in the second period after a collision with Vegas’ Brayden McNabb, but returned in the third. … The Knights’ power-play dry spell is at 23 chances in a row, and they have converted one in their past 30 attempts.

UP NEXT

Lightning: Host Anaheim on Tuesday night.

Golden Knights: At Chicago on Tuesday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

OTTAWA, Ontario — Andreas Athanasiou scored at 2:52 of overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.

The Blackhawks overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period, tying it with 3:05 left on Patrick Kane’s second goal of the game. The goal was Kane’s 1,217th point, giving him the third-most points among U.S.-born players.

“Give our team a lot of credit,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. “We have guts and we played hard right until the end. (Our players) really pushed to tie that game up and I’m really glad they persevered and got the win.”

Sam Lafferty cut Ottawa’s lead to one with a short-handed goal with 9:11 left in the third.

Petr Mrazek made 28 saves to help Chicago snap a three-game losing streak.

Kane opened the scoring at 44 seconds of the first, and Shane Pinto tied it midway through the second. Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk scored early in the third to give Ottawa a 3-1 lead.

“We just made too many turnovers to finish off the game,” Tkachuk said.

Mads Sogaard stopped 28 shots for Ottawa.

HONORING NEIL

The Senators raised Chris Neil’s No. 25 jersey to the rafters in a pregame. Neil played 1,026 games across 15 seasons with Ottawa. A number of former teammates were on hand, including Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips, who are the only other two former Senators to have their numbers retired. Richardson, a former teammate and coach of Neil’s, stood to watch the ceremony.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks: Host Toronto on Sunday night.

Senators: Host St. Louis on Sunday.

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AP NHL: www.apnews.com/hub/NHL and www.twitter.com/AP_Sports

“I think we’re just frustrated right now,” Giroux said. “Any time you have a 3-1 lead, you want to be a team that knows how to shut teams down.”

“(I was) just kind of reading what the defenseman was doing,” Kane said. “He looked like he was kind of playing the middle, didn’t really come over at me at the start and then he slipped at the end and I thought I had a good chance to shoot and picked my corner.”