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  • Panthers beat Capitals 6-3 in matchup of playoff contenders

    Panthers beat Capitals 6-3 in matchup of playoff contenders

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    WASHINGTON — Marc Staal wasn’t too worried about not scoring a goal all season and having a goal drought extend almost a full calendar year.

    That didn’t make his smile any smaller when he ended it and was mobbed by Florida teammates.

    “They were all pumped up and it’s a big goal in a big game, so it was a lot of fun,” Staal said.

    The Panthers have plenty to celebrate lately, especially after Staal’s goal and 28 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky helped them beat the Washington Capitals 6-3 Thursday night in a crucial matchup in the Eastern Conference wild-card race.

    “Everyone played awesome,” said Colin White, who scored after replacing injured center Sam Bennett in the lineup. “We knew how big of a game this is. It felt like a playoff game out there. I thought we brought our best effort, and everybody worked so hard.”

    Florida pulled even with Washington at 62 points, closing an 11-point gap between the teams since New Year’s Day. The Capitals are only ahead in the standings because they’ve played one fewer game.

    If recent trends continue, the Panthers will pass them quickly, having won five of seven to claw into the playoff chase. Despite cutting their deficit to one goal with under three minutes left in regulation, Capitals fell to 0-3-0 on their three-game homestand.

    “Our execution isn’t where it needs to be — I mean all over the ice,” said Nicklas Backstrom, who scored for Washington. “We need to tighten up our game a little bit and just execute better because right now we’re just doing too many mistakes.”

    Washington played without captain and leading goal-scorer Alex Ovechkin, who is away after the death of his father, Mikhail, who received a pregame moment of silence.

    With Ovechkin expected to be out at least one more game and likely longer after going home to Russia, the Capitals need to figure out a way to right the ship before their chances of extending the organization’s postseason streak to nine seasons get slimmer.

    One reason they’re in a precarious spot is the rise of the Panthers, who have been making up ground despite a difficult schedule in 2023.

    “It’s going to be a constant grinder right straight through,” coach Paul Maurice said. “But a win like tonight, on the road, with the schedule we’ve had, they start to believe.”

    Along with Staal scoring for the first time since March 15, 2022, when he was with Detroit, and White getting on the board, defenseman Gustav Forsling and captain Alexander Barkov beat Darcy Kuemper, who allowed four goals on 34 shots. Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart each added an empty-netter in the final couple of minutes to seal it.

    Dylan Strome and Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for the Capitals, who cut their deficit to one with 2:32 but couldn’t complete the comeback after losing Marcus Johansson to injury.

    NOTES: Maurice said he wasn’t concerned about Bennett’s absence being a long one. … Washington center Lars Eller played his 925th regular-season NHL game, tying Frans Nielsen for the most by a player from Denmark. … The Capitals announced winger Carl Hagelin underwent left hip resurfacing surgery earlier this week in New York. Hagelin, who has not played since taking a stick to his left eye last March, is considered out indefinitely and will begin his recovery and rehab immediately.

    UP NEXT

    Panthers: Visit the Nashville Predators on Saturday afternoon.

    Capitals: Face the Carolina Hurricanes outdoors Saturday night in the NHL’s annual Stadium Series game at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

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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

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  • NHLPA names Labor Secretary Marty Walsh executive director

    NHLPA names Labor Secretary Marty Walsh executive director

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    WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — The NHL Players’ Association has hired U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh as its executive director.

    The union said Thursday its executive board with representatives from all 32 clubs unanimously approved Walsh’s appointment. Walsh will begin his new role in mid-March.

    The NHLPA had been searching for a new executive director to take over for Don Fehr since April, when a 10-player search committee was formed to find his successor. Fehr had held the job since December 2010.

    “Marty is a proven leader with a strong union background,” said Buffalo Sabres captain Kyle Okposo, who was a member of the search committee. “His energy and ability to connect with players were immediately evident to the search committee. These were the very qualities we were focused on throughout our search for the next executive director. We look forward to the NHLPA’s future under Marty’s leadership.”

    A fan of the Boston Bruins, Walsh showed an encyclopedic knowledge of the sport in videos posted online during his tenure from 2014 to 2021 as mayor of Boston.

    Walsh, 55, is the first of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet secretaries to leave. He is also the latest politician to shift into sports, following someone Walsh has a close relationship with: former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, who is taking over as president of the NCAA.

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  • Olympics in 2018 showed glimpses of future NHL stars

    Olympics in 2018 showed glimpses of future NHL stars

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    Connor McDavid could not team up with Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon for Canada. Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel did not get the chance to play alongside Patrick Kane for the U.S. Henrik Lundqvist never got a chance to win a second gold medal with Sweden, this time with Victor Hedman in front of him.

    The NHL skipping the 2018 Olympics looks in retrospect like a major mistake, since the world’s best players have yet to face off against each other on the international stage. Turns out, the tournament in South Korea offered a glimpse of what was to come for a handful of players.

    Five years since starring for the Russians on their way to gold, Kirill Kaprizov is now a dominant force for Minnesota. He plays with Jordan Greenway who paused his college career to represent the U.S. in Pyeongchang alongside Seattle forward Ryan Donato. Before joining the Kraken and scoring at will this season, Eeli Tolvanen was roommates with Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who along with then-17-year-old Swede Rasmus Dahlin are among the best at the position.

    Few knew about Czech goaltender Pavel Francouz before he beat the U.S. in an elimination shootout in that tournament; now his name is on the Stanley Cup after helping Colorado win it last season.

    From Kaprizov to Francouz, the success stories from the 2018 Olympics are now playing out in the NHL.

    “It’s a testament to how good the hockey was there,” said Donato, who tied with Kaprizov and Ilya Kovalchuk for the tournament lead with five goals. “You had a lot of guys who played in the NHL for a long time. You kind of got a sense that if those guys could hang around a lot of longtime NHLers, that it would bode well for their career.”

    It has for Kaprizov, who was the best player on the ice for those two weeks while still being an unproven NHL prospect. Only one player had more points than Kaprizov and Tolvanen, who knew all about his Russian counterpart from their time facing off in the KHL.

    “Since the first game we played against them, I knew that he was going to be a really good player,” said Tolvanen, who had three goals and six assists in five games at the Olympics before turning 19. “There was not much talk in North America at that time about him, but everybody that played in the KHL or played against the Russians at the national stage knew that he’s the real deal.”

    Tolvanen and Heiskanen looked like the real deal at the time, too. Heiskanen was the third pick in the draft, Tolvanen went later in the first round and then they were roommates while teaming up for Finland.

    Heiskanen is now a standout for Dallas in the NHL Tolvanen languished with Nashville before going on waivers this season. Claimed by the Kraken, he has since scored nine goals in 20 games.

    “It seems like it’s really helped him to get to the new place and get some more minutes there,” Heiskanen said. “It’s great to see the success.”

    For all their individual successes, Francouz is the only player from the 2018 Olympics to win the Stanley Cup since. The Avalanche became the first team since 1972 to hoist the Cup after two goalies won at least five games each during their run, and they can, in part, thank Francouz’s experience five years ago for putting him on the radar.

    “I think the scouts knew me from the KHL, and they kind of knew what my game looked like,” Francouz said. “But I feel like it definitely helped me that they saw me in person at the tournament and saw what I’m capable of.”

    Dahlin, now with Buffalo, got into just two games with Sweden; New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin played in one for the Russians; and Rangers Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin was the No. 3 goalie behind veteran national team starter Vasili Koshechkin.

    Sorokin said Koshechkin “showed me how he works and plays in very big-pressure games, important games.” Dahlin felt the same way practicing with older Swedes.

    “I was enjoying every second,” Dahlin said. “I didn’t play much, but I had a blast.”

    Now the Sabres’ top defenseman, Dahlin is playing plenty. Only 2010 Olympic gold medalist Drew Doughty and 2022 Norris Trophy winner and playoff MVP Cale Makar — who turned down Canada’s invite to the Olympics five years ago — are seeing more ice time this season than Dahlin.

    Finally seeing quality ice time in the NHL, Tolvanen is thriving with Seattle.

    “It kind of feels like back in 2018: that year when I played in the world juniors and the Olympics and KHL,” Tolvanen said. “That was a fun year, and I kind of feel the same way right now.”

    Now professionals, Donato, Greenway and Co. look back fondly on the bonds built playing at what Donato called a “perfect storm” Olympics with no NHL players.

    “The guys who you did that with and experienced that with, you’ll always have that connection,” Greenway said. “We talk about it. We always will.”

    After pandemic-related schedule interruptions kept the NHL out of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the plan is for players to take part in 2026 in Milan.

    Those who participated in 2018 got enough of a taste to want to go again.

    “You see all the other athletes, you see all the buses going around the Olympic village, and you go see other athletes compete,” Tolvanen said. “It’s a dream come true to play there as an 18-year-old, but it’s something that for sure I want to be a part of again.”

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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

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  • MacKinnon scores again, Avalanche beat Wild 3-2

    MacKinnon scores again, Avalanche beat Wild 3-2

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    ST. PAUL, Minn. — Denis Malgin scored for the second consecutive night, Nathan MacKinnon got his fifth goal in five games since the All-Star break and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Wednesday.

    Andrew Cogliano also scored for Colorado, which recovered from a shootout loss at home to Tampa Bay the previous night. Alexandar Georgiev also bounced back with 41 saves. He allowed 11 goals in the three previous games.

    The Avalanche beat Minnesota in the first meeting between the division foes since Oct. 17 despite the Wild holding a 43-19 edge in shots. Colorado had lost three of four, once in overtime and once in a shootout.

    Kirill Kaprizov scored his 31st goal and Joel Eriksson Ek added his 21st of the season for Minnesota, which has lost five of six since the All-Star break and been outscored 19-10 in the process.

    Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 16 shots for the Wild.

    The Avalanche made the most of their scoring chances.

    Cogliano opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period. Devon Toews brought the puck into the offensive zone and slid a pass to Cogliano charging in. He sent a quick shot past Fleury for his ninth of the season.

    MacKinnon assisted on Malgin’s fourth goal of the season. Malgin, acquired from Toronto in December, wristed a shot with Fleury screened for his second goal with Colorado.

    Eriksson Ek deflected a shot from Mats Zuccarello on the power play midway through the second. Eriksson Ek has seven goals and five assists in his past 12 games.

    But MacKinnon answered later in the period with his 18th goal of the season. MacKinnon had a six-game goal drought heading into the All-Star break but has five goals and three assists in the five games since.

    The Avalanche mustered just 10 shots through two periods, but it was another tough outing for Fleury, who made his first start in three games. He allowed five goals in his last start against Vegas.

    Kaprizov brought the Wild within one with 5:53 remaining on his fourth goal in six games.

    UP NEXT

    Avalanche: Play at St. Louis on Saturday.

    Wild: Host the Dallas Stars on Friday.

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  • Kempe scores for 3rd straight game, Kings beat Sabres 5-2

    Kempe scores for 3rd straight game, Kings beat Sabres 5-2

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    LOS ANGELES — Adrian Kempe scored for the third straight game, Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and two assists, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Monday night.

    Sean Walker. Arthur Kaliyev and Matt Roy also scored to help the Kings get their second straight win after the All-Star break and bye week. Phillip Danault had three assists and Pheonix Copley made 27 saves.

    “We’re just growing our game to get ready for the end,” Danault said. “I thought we played a solid 60 minutes.”

    Dylan Cozens and Peyton Krebs scored, and Craig Anderson allowed five goals on 28 shots for the Sabres, who have dropped four straight games following a five-game win streak.

    “You got to work your way through it,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “We have to compete and work, and you saw some time in the third period where that’s how we need to play.”

    The Kings scored four times in the second period, turning the tables after allowing six goals in the third period of a 6-0 loss at Buffalo on Dec. 13.

    Kempe following up his four-goal eruption against Pittsburgh on Saturday by scoring short-handed at 9:20 of the middle period to open the scoring. It was his seventh goal in three games.

    “Goal-scorer gets hot, and just hot stick, and it goes in. I’ve been in those situations before, and it’s nice to be in that kind of groove,” Arvidsson said.

    Kaliyev hammered in a slap shot on a power play with 7:25 left for the 2-0 lead, and the edge on special teams proved to be decisive. Arvidsson poked in the puck after it took an odd bounce off the boards and ended up at Anderson’s feet 5:14 into the third for the Kings’ second power-play goal in three opportunities.

    Los Angeles held Buffalo to 1-for-5 on the man-advantage, only buckling when Krebs got a consolation goal with five minutes left in the third.

    “When the five guys jump over the boards, whether it’s Danault’s unit or (Anze) Kopitar’s unit, you have a sense that you have a chance,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “Our penalty kill is starting to get to that point where when it jumps over the boards, you’re not holding your breath as much.”

    Walker and Roy scored 33 seconds apart at the end of the second to make it 4-0 with 46 seconds left and effectively put the game out of reach.

    “Overall, it was 10, 15 minutes of collapse by us that cost us the game,” said Cozens, who broke up Copley’s bid for a second straight shutout with 9:44 left in the game.

    RARE AIR

    Kempe is the third Kings player to score five straight goals for the club, joining Tomas Sandstrom (Nov. 22-24, 1990) and Luc Robitaille (Feb. 4-6, 1992).

    “I touched his stick a little bit to get some luck,” Danault joked. “We need that from him ,and he’s stepping up big time.”

    Sandstorm holds the club record with eight goals in a three-game span from Nov. 20-24, 1990.

    DIDN’T WORK

    The Sabres shuffled their forward combinations coming into the game in hopes of trying to end their skid, having Cozens center the top line between Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch and putting Tage Thompson with Casey Mittelstadt and Kyle Okposo on the second line.

    WORTH NOTING

    Copley won his 17th game to set a new career high. He had 16 wins for Washington in 2018-19. … Danault had his fourth three-point game in two seasons since coming to Los Angeles. It was his first three-assist game as a King … The Kings won their 200th game since Rob Blake took over as general manager following the 2017 season. … Middlestadt and Victor Olofsson each had two assists for the Sabres.

    UP NEXT

    Sabres: At Anaheim on Wednesday night.

    Kings: At Anaheim on Friday night.

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

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  • Cirelli scores twice, Lightning defeat Stars 3-1

    Cirelli scores twice, Lightning defeat Stars 3-1

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    DALLAS — Anthony Cirelli scored twice, including the winner with 43 seconds to play, to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

    Victor Hedman took the puck behind the net and attempted a wrap-around, putting the puck in front for Cirelli to tap it past Dallas goalie Scott Wedgewood. Cirelli also assisted on Brandon Hagel’s empty-netter as time expired.

    “I couldn’t really reach around,” Hedman said of his 500th career assist. “I was kind of off balance. I knew we had guys in front.”

    One of those guys was Cirelli, who had scored just three goals in his first 23 games this season.

    “I wanted to be around the goalie,” he said. “I didn’t see (the puck), he put it on my stick. I was just kind of lucky.”

    In the Lightning’s last two games — both wins — Cirelli has two goals and two assists. Hagel has three goals and two assists in that span.

    Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy had 28 saves, allowing only Jamie Benn’s 21st goal this season in the second period. Wedgewood also made 28 saves.

    After being outshot 24-16 in the first two periods, the Lightning took over in the final 20 minutes and having a 16-5 shot advantage.

    “We turned the puck over for two periods,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.

    So what happened in the third period?

    “When you put the puck behind the goal line and now you have to make them work to get it out, that kind of shifted the field position of the game that they had in the first two periods,” he said.

    Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said the last five minutes of the third were an issue.

    “We didn’t give Wedgie enough help. Our execution in the last five minutes was poor,” he said. “You can’t sit in a shell. They pushed in the third; that’s what a real good team like that does. ”

    Each team scored once in the second period, when Dallas outshot the Lightning 12-10. More important may have been Wedgewood making two stops on Steven Stamkos, who came into the day with 20 goals in 23 games against the Stars.

    Cooper knew his team was up against the Stars, who are the points leaders in the Western Conference. Tampa Bay’s win came on the heels of a victory over Colorado and a 7-1 loss to Florida.

    “We played two of the best teams in this conference,” Cooper said of his team, which is 5-1-1 in the last seven games. “A big bounce-back after the Florida game.”

    ABOUT NO. 500

    Hedman was modest in assessing his 500th assist.

    “The last 14 years we’ve had a lot of guys to put pucks in the net. It came in a big game like this, late in the game,” he said. “Those are the moments you live for.”

    INJURIES

    Lightning: LW Nicholas Paul (upper-body) was scratched for the second straight game, so Tampa Bay played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

    UP NEXT

    Lightning: Play the second of four road games at Columbus on Tuesday.

    Stars: Complete a stretch of eight home games on Tuesday against Boston.

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  • Malkin reaches 1,200 points as Penguins beat Ducks 6-3

    Malkin reaches 1,200 points as Penguins beat Ducks 6-3

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    ANAHEIM, Calif. — Pierre-Olivier Joseph had two goals and an assist, and Evgeni Malkin had two assists to become the third player in franchise history to reach 1,200 career points as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-3 Friday night.

    Kasperi Kapanen and Bryan Rust each had a goal and an assist. Jeff Carter and Jake Guentzel also scored while Casey DeSmith stopped 28 shots.

    Malkin reached the milestone with the primary assist on Rust’s goal at 10:04 of the third period, which put Pittsburgh up 5-1. He joined Mario Lemieux (1,723) and Sidney Crosby (1,472) as the only Penguins players to reach that mark.

    Malkin also is the fourth active player in the league to reach 1,200 points, behind Crosby, Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin (1,464) and Chicago’s Patrick Kane (1,214). It was Malkin’s seventh multi-point game in his last 11. He has 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) during that span.

    The Penguins — who have won two straight and three of their last five — dominated play for most of the night as they had 10 players record at least a point. Pittsburgh also had a franchise road record with 59 shots. It was the third-most shots they’ve had in a regular-season game.

    Mason McTavish had a goal and an assist while Trevor Zegras and John Klingberg also scored for the Ducks, who had a five-game point streak snapped. John Gibson made a franchise-record 53 saves.

    Joseph came into the game with two goals this season and three goals in 66 career games before finding the back of the net twice. The third-year defenseman put Pittsburgh on the board nine minutes into the first with a snap shot from the point that went in off the near post.

    Joseph then extended the lead to 4-1 at 14:55 of the second period when he took a pass from Evgeni Malkin and beat Gibson on his blocker side.

    Joseph became the fifth Penguins defenseman age 23 or younger to record a multi-goal game in the past 30 years. Olli Maatta was the last to accomplish it in 2018.

    QUICK GOAL

    Zegras tied it at 1 at 15:26 of the first when he scored two seconds into Anaheim’s power play.

    Adam Henrique won the faceoff in the offensive zone and chipped it to Zegras, who beat DeSmith with a backhand goal. Zegras has 19 goals this season, including four on the power play.

    STREAKING

    Crosby extended his points streak to nine games with an assist on Guentzel’s goal. Crosby has three goals and 11 assists during his run.

    UP NEXT

    Penguins: Remain in Southern California to face the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.

    Ducks: At Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday afternoon.

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  • AP sources: Walsh to leave Biden Cabinet for NHL union

    AP sources: Walsh to leave Biden Cabinet for NHL union

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    WASHINGTON — U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is expected to leave the Biden administration to run the National Hockey League Players’ Association, according to two people familiar with his plans.

    The hockey players’ union has been searching for a new executive director to take over for Don Fehr, who had been in charge for more than a decade. An association spokesperson had no official update on the situation when reached Tuesday.

    A serious fan of the Boston Bruins, Walsh showed an encyclopedic knowledge of the sport in videos posted online during his tenure from 2014 to 2021 as mayor of Boston.

    As labor secretary, Walsh helped broker a temporary work agreement between major freight railroads and their unions, preventing the risk of a strike that could have disrupted the U.S. economy ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Congress later imposed a contract on the unions after workers failed to ratify the agreement.

    An administration official said Tuesday that Walsh was expected to leave his post after President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, as did a second person familiar with Walsh’s plans, who stressed that the plan was not yet final. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss departure plans.

    Walsh was named “designated survivor” for Tuesday’s speech, watching it from an undisclosed location. The idea is to preserve the government’s line of succession in case of an attack or another incident at the Capitol where the president, vice president, speaker of the House and the rest of Biden’s Cabinet were gathered.

    Walsh’s departure would make him the first of Biden’s Cabinet secretaries to leave. White House chief of staff Ron Klain has his last day at the White House on Wednesday. And last week, Biden announced the upcoming departure of Brian Deese, the director of the National Economic Council.

    Incoming chief of staff Jeff Zients has spent the last several months working to prepare the administration for potential staff turnover as Biden hit the two-year mark in office. After two years of unusual stability in the staffing ranks, White House officials have telegraphed that additional changes are likely in the coming months as burned-out staff seek new opportunities and are replaced by those with fresh energy — and as Biden prepares for the expected launch of his reelection campaign in the coming months.

    Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, was a candidate for the Labor position at the start of Biden’s presidency but decided against it because it could have put control of the Senate at risk, since a Republican governor would have picked Sanders’ replacement. He said Tuesday that he was not interested in succeeding Walsh.

    “I like my own job right now very much,” said Sanders, who is now chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which would oversee Walsh’s replacement’s confirmation process.

    Sanders said candidates he liked included Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

    Biden noted in a January speech to mayors that Walsh was making sure that government construction projects paid a prevailing wage and that apprenticeship programs were giving blue-collar workers needed skills.

    Walsh, 55, moved into politics after rising through the ranks of a construction union. At the age of 21, he joined Laborers’ Local 223 and eventually became its president. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1997 and stayed in the legislature until being elected mayor. He was also formerly head of the Boston Building Trades union.

    The NHLPA began its pursuit of a successor for Fehr in late April, naming a seven-player search committee and hiring a firm to assist. Fehr, best known for his lengthy career running the Major League Baseball Players Association, started working for hockey’s union in December 2010 and was quickly named executive director, overseeing collective bargaining negotiations in 2013 and 2020.

    After emerging as the top candidate from a group that included former Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis and longtime NHLPA special assistant to the executive director, Mathieu Schneider, Walsh takes over at a time of growing NHL revenues with three years remaining until the next round of CBA talks. The league is projecting nearly $6 billion this season.

    “I have met Marty a couple of times when he was the Mayor of Boston, but beyond that there’s nothing to add,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Saturday during a state of the league address at All-Star Weekend. “I’m not going to comment on who may or may not be the next executive director. It would be inappropriate, and if I went far enough, could violate the federal labor laws. The fact of the matter is, we’re very respectful of what the players are doing. They’re going to conduct the process for a new executive director as they see fit, and whoever it is we’ll work with.”

    Fehr’s tenure saw NHL players participate in the 2014 Sochi Olympics before the league was unable to reach an agreement to send them in 2018. The league and union negotiated the completion of the 2019-20 season during the pandemic, extending the CBA until 2026.

    The NHLPA had already been looking for a successor when an investigation into the Chicago Blackhawks’ handling of a report a player was sexually assaulted by a video coach in 2010 and a subsequent interview by that player raised questions about what Fehr and others knew at the time and why they did not act. The union launched its own investigation that found Fehr was not at fault, citing instead miscommunication and misunderstanding for the lack of action.

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    AP writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.

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  • Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, the Golden Jet, dies at 84

    Hall of Famer Bobby Hull, the Golden Jet, dies at 84

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    CHICAGO — When Bobby Hull got the puck, he was tough to stop. He had blazing speed, a hard slap shot and tons of confidence.

    Long before today’s biggest stars took the ice, “The Golden Jet” put on quite a show.

    Hull, a Hall of Fame winger and two-time NHL MVP who helped the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in 1961, has died. He was 84.

    The Blackhawks and the NHL Alumni Association announced Hull’s death on Monday. There were no further details provided by either organization.

    The Blackhawks said Hull “delivered countless memories to our fans, whom he adored. Generations of Chicagoans were dazzled by Bobby’s shooting prowess, skating skill and overall team leadership that led to 604 career goals, a franchise record that remains to this day. We send our deepest sympathies to the Hull family.”

    Hull was one of the most prolific forwards in NHL history, scoring 610 times during his 16-year career with Chicago, Hartford and Winnipeg. Nicknamed “The Golden Jet” for his speed and blond hair, he also collected 303 goals while playing for the Jets in the World Hockey Association for seven seasons.

    While Hull starred on the ice, he faced legal and family issues in his personal life.

    Hull was convicted of assaulting a police officer who intervened in a dispute with then-wife Deborah in 1986. He also was accused of battery, but that charge was dropped after Deborah told authorities she didn’t want to testify against her husband, a state attorney told the Chicago Tribune.

    Hull’s second wife, Joanne, accused him of abuse during an interview with ESPN for a 2002 show.

    A Russian newspaper reported in 1998 that Hull said Adolf Hitler “had some good ideas.” Hull denied making the comment, calling it “false and defamatory.”

    Hull was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983 and his No. 9 sweater was retired by the Blackhawks that same year. He was estranged from the team for a while before he was named a Blackhawks ambassador in a ceremony with former teammate Stan Mikita in 2008. Hull and Mikita have adjacent statues outside the United Center.

    The franchise announced in February 2022 that Hull had retired from any official team role, calling it a joint decision.

    “Bobby Hull will always be remembered as one of the greatest Blackhawks players of all time. He was a beloved member of the Blackhawks family,” team owner Rocky Wirtz said in a statement.

    “When I assumed leadership of the organization upon my father’s passing in 2007, one of my first priorities was to meet with Bobby to convince him to come back as an ambassador of the team. His connection to our fans was special and irreplaceable.”

    Hull’s brother, Dennis, played for Chicago for most of his 14 years in the league, and Bobby’s son, Brett, spent 19 years in the NHL. Bobby and Brett each won the Hart Trophy as league MVP, becoming the first father-son duo to accomplish the feat. Bobby won in 1964-65 and 1965-1966, while Brett won in 1990-1991.

    Bobby Hull helped the Blackhawks return to the top of the NHL after they were one of the worst teams in the league for years before his debut during the 1957-58 season. He had 13 goals and 34 assists in his first campaign with the team, finishing second in the Calder Trophy race for rookie of the year.

    It was a steady rise from there. Hull posted 13 consecutive seasons with 30 goals or more from 1959-72, becoming a perennial fixture at the All-Star Game and a regular candidate for the league’s top awards.

    Hull and Mikita powered Chicago to the franchise’s third championship in 1961, beating Montreal and Detroit in the playoffs. Hull had two goals and five assists as the Blackhawks eliminated the Red Wings in six games in the final.

    The Pointe Anne, Ontario, native remains Chicago’s career leader for regular-season and playoff goals. He is second to Mikita on the franchise points list with 1,153.

    Hull left the Blackhawks after the 1971-72 season when he was selected by Winnipeg in the WHA draft. The Jets lured Hull away from the NHL with hockey’s first $1 million contract, according to his bio on the Hall of Fame website.

    The NHL and WHA merged in 1979, and Hull played 27 games with Winnipeg and Hartford in his final season before retiring.

    Hull had 560 assists in 1,063 regular-season NHL games. In addition to his two Hart trophies, he was a three-time winner of the Art Ross Trophy awarded to the league leader in points and took home the 1965 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship combined with stellar play.

    NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in a statement called Hull “a true superstar with a gregarious personality.”

    “When Bobby Hull wound up to take a slapshot, fans throughout the NHL rose to their feet in anticipation and opposing goaltenders braced themselves,” Bettman said. “During his prime, there was no more prolific goal-scorer in all of hockey. … We send our deepest condolences to his son, fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Brett; the entire Hull family; and the countless fans around the hockey world who were fortunate enough to see him play or have since marveled at his exploits.”

    ___

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  • Barzal, Pageau send Islanders to 6-2 win over Canucks

    Barzal, Pageau send Islanders to 6-2 win over Canucks

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    VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Mathew Barzal had a goal and two assists as the New York Islanders beat the struggling Vancouver Canucks 6-2 on Tuesday night.

    Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored twice — once on a power play and then shorthanded late into an empty net. Aatu Raty, Anders Lee and Casey Cizikas also had goals for the Islanders. Barzal has scored in four straight games.

    “He’s skating, he’s making the right decision and he’s shooting the puck more,” Pageau said. “He’s got a great shot. When he’s playing with confidence like that, he’s a player that can make a difference. He’s a key player for us and we’re lucky to have him.”

    Ilya Sorokin stopped 24 shots in his 14th win.

    The Canucks got a pair of goals from Bo Horvat as they dropped their third game in a row. Vancouver’s captain is tied with Alex Ovechkin for third in the NHL with 28 goals.

    “We want to make the playoffs and we want to be in contention and obviously I’m trying to do whatever I can to help make that happen,” Horvat said. “But at the end of the day, it’s not good enough.”

    Defensive mistakes have plagued the Canucks all season, and this marked the 16th time in 37 games that they’ve given up at least five goals.

    Spencer Martin made 23 saves for Vancouver.

    Boos rained down as the final horn sounded and the Canucks fell to 7-10-1 at home.

    “It’s kind of been a similar story for too long now,” defenseman Tyler Myers said. “We talk about our consistency — we had a really good first period and then we came off the gas a bit to start the second. We’ve got to find a way.”

    Cizikas made it 5-2 with his third goal of the season 9:44 into the third period, sending a wrist shot over Martin’s glove from the faceoff dot.

    Islanders rookie Parker Wotherspoon, who grew up a Canucks fan in British Columbia, assisted on the play for his first NHL point.

    New York regained a two-goal cushion 1:46 into the third after Vancouver’s Ethan Bear turned over the puck deep in the Canucks zone.

    Brock Nelson picked it up, spun to keep it on his stick and then sent it to Lee, who put a wrist shot past Martin to make it 4-2 with his 14th goal of the season.

    Vancouver cut its deficit to one late in the second with a power-play goal after Matt Martin was called for hooking.

    Seconds into the man advantage, J.T. Miller sent a pass to Horvat in the slot and he fired a shot past Sorokin to make it 3-2 with his 28th goal.

    Another ugly giveaway quickly turned into an Islanders goal earlier in the second.

    Myers coughed up the puck in the corner and Barzal took advantage, sailing a shot into the top corner to make it 3-1 at the 16:28 mark.

    Barzal has 10 goals this season and five in his last four games.

    Pageau gave New York the lead with a power-play goal 12:56 into the second after Myers was sent to the box for slashing.

    “It’s like as soon as something bad happens to this team, the adversity, we cannot handle it. And it seems like, ‘Oh, here we go.’ And then that’s it,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “As long as we’ve got the lead, we’re fine. But when we get behind, it’s not a good thing. It just seems like the wind goes out of everybody’s sails.”

    HOMETOWN FEAST

    Barzal, from the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam, has hit the scoresheet in all 10 career matchups against his hometown team, amassing 12 points (two goals, 10 assists).

    MILESTONE

    Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn played in his 900th regular-season NHL game.

    UP NEXT

    Islanders: Continue a four-game trip Thursday at Edmonton.

    Canucks: Host the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

    ———

    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Kraken sink struggling Oilers 5-2 with offensive outburst

    Kraken sink struggling Oilers 5-2 with offensive outburst

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    EDMONTON, Alberta — Jaden Schwartz had a goal and two assists as the Seattle Kraken exploded for four consecutive goals in the second period to come away with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.

    “It was nice. I thought the way we played it was good to get rewarded,” said Kraken defender Adam Larsson. “There was a lot of emphasis on what happened last game and that made us even more hungry today. From top to bottom every guy played a solid game.”

    Matty Beniers, Yanni Gourde, Jared McCann and Alex Wennberg also scored for the Kraken (20-12-4) who have won two in a row. Martin Jones made 30 saves in the Seattle net.

    “In the second period, we got that one goal and it gave us some wings offensively and we were able to make more plays offensively, and I think we kept our game pretty simple,” Gourde said. “We weren’t trying too much, we weren’t trying to pass through guys, we were just putting it at the net and trying to work our way there and we got rewarded.”

    Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid responded with goals for the Oilers (20-17-2) who have lost two straight and five consecutive games on home ice.

    “You go up 2-0 and the odds that you win that game are statistically pretty high, right?” said Oilers forward Zach Hyman. “But, unfortunately, we weren’t able to keep the lead and we had 11 minutes where we fell asleep in the second period (and allowed four goals) and suddenly you are playing catch-up.”

    Edmonton’s lethal power play connected to start the scoring with 7:13 remaining in the opening period as a Leon Draisaitl shot attempt went through the crease to Nugent-Hopkins, who sniped home his 19th of the season from a tough angle past Jones.

    Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner kept it a 1-0 game by making a breakaway stop on Daniel Sprong a few minutes later.

    The Oilers went up by a pair just 48 seconds into the middle frame as McDavid got his league-leading 33rd goal of the season.

    The Kraken tied the game with a pair of goals just 31 seconds apart, however.

    Seattle got on the board 4:44 into the second period with a power-play goal as Beniers was able to bat a rebound out of mid-air and it trickled behind Skinner.

    Then with another Oiler penalty on the way, Beniers made a perfect long pass to Schwartz at the back door, and he directed home his first goal in 12 games.

    The Kraken kept coming against a shaken Oilers squad, as the Edmonton defense failed to clear a big rebound, allowing Gourde to score his first goal in nine outings through traffic with just over seven minutes to play in the second.

    Seattle scored its fourth straight goal in the period with 4:12 remaining. The goal chased Skinner from the net after allowing four goals on 20 shots, with Jack Campbell coming in to replace him.

    Edmonton thought it had clawed back to within a goal on an early third period power-play goal by Draisaitl, but it was erased on a coach’s challenge which determined Hyman was offside on the play.

    NOTES

    The teams previously met Friday, with Edmonton rolling to a relatively easy 7-2 victory, highlighted by a five-point performance from McDavid. … With eight of their next nine games on the road, the Kraken actually spend more time in Edmonton than in Seattle during that stretch as they will make a stop at home for one game following their seven-game road swing, only to return right back to Edmonton on Jan. 17. … Draisaitl, the league’s second leading scorer behind teammate McDavid, returned to the lineup after missing two games with an oblique strain.

    UP NEXT

    Kraken: At Toronto on Thursday night.

    Oilers: Host Islanders on Thursday night.

    ———

    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Hagel, Killorn help Lightning beat lowly Blackhawks 4-1

    Hagel, Killorn help Lightning beat lowly Blackhawks 4-1

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    CHICAGO — Tampa Bay forward Brandon Hagel has a lot of fond memories of his time in Chicago.

    A few more after Tuesday night.

    Hagel had a goal and an assist in his return to Chicago, and the Lightning beat the lowly Blackhawks 4-1 for their fourth straight victory.

    The 24-year-old Hagel made his NHL debut with the Blackhawks in 2020. He was in the middle of a breakout season when he was traded to the Lightning in March.

    He faced his old team last year, but Tuesday night was his first game at the United Center since the multiplayer deal.

    “It was obviously a little bit emotional,” Hagel said. “This is where my career started. This is the organization that gave me the opportunity to live my dream.”

    Alex Killorn snapped a tie in the third period as Tampa Bay won for the 11th time in 14 games overall. Pat Maroon and Nicholas Paul also scored in the opener of a three-game trip, and Brian Elliott made 25 saves.

    Killorn was stopped by Alex Stalock on his first try, but he slammed home the rebound as he was knocked down by Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy. Killorn’s 12th goal of the season made it 2-1 at 7:11.

    “It was just sitting there,” Killorn said. “You typically don’t get those rebounds right on your stick, so just fortunate it came right to me.”

    Hagel helped set up Killorn’s move, and then scored his 15th goal when he converted a power-play opportunity with 9:46 remaining.

    “He wasn’t here super long, but I thought he had an impact,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said of Hagel. “He’s having that same impact for us, and he’s such a great kid. It’s great for him. Big thrill.”

    Chicago dropped its fifth straight game, managing five goals during the slide. It is 2-20-1 in its last 23 games overall.

    Seth Jones scored for Chicago, and Stalock finished with 25 stops.

    The Blackhawks dressed seven defensemen after they scratched forward Tyler Johnson against his former team because of an illness. Then Patrick Kane departed with a lower-body injury.

    Defenseman Caleb Jones, Seth’s younger brother, got some ice time as a forward with Johnson out.

    Chicago coach Luke Richardson said Kane got hit during Sunday’s 5-2 loss to San Jose. It wasn’t a major issue, Richardson said, but Kane felt it a bit and then it came on more against Tampa Bay.

    “He’s getting checked out tonight, so we really don’t know much ‘til tomorrow, probably,” Richardson said. “He’ll see the doctors here tonight and tomorrow and get an update on that.”

    Chicago jumped in front when Jones scored his second of the season, knocking Taylor Raddysh’s pass into the net 4:50 into the first period.

    It was the first power-play goal by a Blackhawks defenseman since Murphy got one on May 1, 2021, against Florida, according to Sportradar.

    Tampa Bay then tied it at 1 when Maroon tipped home Victor Hedman’s shot with 8:36 left in the first. It was Maroon’s second of the season.

    The Lightning controlled much of the action in the second, but they were shut out by Stalock and the cage. Hagel, Mikhail Sergachev and Nikita Kucherov each had a shot go off a post or the crossbar.

    GOING AROUND

    Richardson skipped the morning skate because he wasn’t feeling well. Coupled with Johnson’s illness, the coach said he planned to be careful with the players.

    “If anybody feels like that, we’re going to try to keep them away from the team if we can,” Richardson said.

    UP NEXT

    Lightning: At the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.

    Blackhawks: At home against the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night.

    ———

    Follow Jay Cohen at https://twitter.com/jcohenap

    ———

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  • Sam Gagner breaks late tie, Jets beat Flames 3-2

    Sam Gagner breaks late tie, Jets beat Flames 3-2

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    WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Sam Gagner tipped in Ville Heinola’s point shot with 5:40 left to help the Winnipeg Jets beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Tuesday night.

    “Just was able to get my backhand on it,” the 33-year-old Gagner said after his 1,002nd NHL game. “It was a great shot by Ville. He kept it low and allowed me to see it the whole way. It’s definitely a good feeling.”

    Brenden Dillon and Josh Morrissey also scored for Winnipeg and Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves. The Jets improved to 24-13-1 in the opener a three-game homestand, winning their third straight after dropping three in a row.

    Nikita Zadorov and Mikael Backlund scored Calgary and Jacob Markstrom stopped 22 shots. The Flames dropped to 18-14-7.

    “It’s another one that we let go, didn’t find a way to win,” Backlund said. “It’s frustrating, this one and (a recent 2-1 loss to) Edmonton, two games that I think we should have won and could have won and we find a way to lose instead.”

    Morrissey gave Winnipeg a 2-1 lead with 9:38 left. The Flames responded quickly, with Backlund’s backhander getting between Hellebuyck’s pads with 8:02 to go.

    UP NEXT

    Flames: Host New York Islanders on Friday night.

    Jets: Host Tampa Bay on Friday night.

    ———

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  • Predators win 6-3, extend Canadiens’ losing streak to 6

    Predators win 6-3, extend Canadiens’ losing streak to 6

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    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mattias Ekholm, Tommy Novak and Roman Josi each had a goal and an assist to lead the Nashville Predators to a 6-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

    Cody Glass, Colton Sissons and Matt Duchene also scored and Juuse Saros made 24 saves for Nashville. Nino Niederreiter had three assists and Mikael Granlund added two.

    “We haven’t scored too many goals this year, so it’s nice to see, and hopefully that can open up some floodgates for the future,” Ekholm said.

    Cole Caufield, Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher scored and Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots for the slumping Canadiens, who have lost six straight and nine of 10.

    Montreal has allowed 22 goals in the last three games.

    “We shot ourselves in the foot early,” coach Martin St. Louis said. “We can’t kill a penalty right now to save our life. We’ve got to get better in that department. And I think you end up chasing the game all the time.”

    Nashville scored three times in the first 10:42, including a power-play goal by Glass at 4:10. Glass played in his 100th NHL game.

    “I think we’ve been working hard in practice and stuff like that,” Glass said. “It was nice to get a quick one, and then to put up six was a really good feeling for our team.”

    Filip Forsberg, the NHL’s reigning First Star of the Week, assisted on Sissons’ first-period goal. He extended his point streak to four games. Forsberg has five goals and three assists during that span.

    SAVARD RETURNS

    Montreal defenseman David Savard returned to the lineup after missing 13 games with an upper-body injury. He had two shots on goal in 22:43 of ice time.

    PK WOES

    Montreal permitted two power-play goals by Nashville in four attempts. One second separated the Predators from converting another with the man advantage, as Ekholm’s goal at 10:42 of the first came just after Gallagher’s high-sticking penalty expired.

    During their six-game slide, the Canadiens have given up 12 power-play goals in 22 times shorthanded.

    “It’s tough,” Savard said. “We’ve got to find ways to put it deep, put more pressure maybe a little bit and make sure every time we have a chance to clear it, it goes all the way down 200 feet.”

    FABBRO SCRATCHED

    Predators defenseman Dante Fabbro was a healthy scratch. His place in the lineup was taken by Roland McKeown, recalled Monday from Milwaukee of the AHL.

    Fabbro, a first-round draft pick, has one goal and six assists in 34 games this season. He is in the second year of a two-year contract and is slated to become a restricted free agent in the offseason.

    UP NEXT

    Canadiens: Host the New York Rangers on Thursday.

    Predators: Begin a five-game Eastern road trip Thursday at Carolina.

    ———

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  • Brayden Schenn lifts Blues past Maple Leafs, 6-5 in SO

    Brayden Schenn lifts Blues past Maple Leafs, 6-5 in SO

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    TORONTO — Brayden Schenn scored on the power play and again in the shootout to give the St. Louis Blues a 6-5 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.

    Schenn put away the winner in the tiebreaker after Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich scored on Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov.

    Brandon Saad scored twice, including one short-handed, to help undermanned St. Louis get to 18-17-3. Jordan Kyrou and Josh Leivo also scored, and Jordan Binnington made 20 saves.

    “We did some good things offensively,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “Couple power-play goals and short-handed, so special teams were a big factor tonight, for sure. I thought we played pretty solid for two periods and it still was a tight game.”

    St. Louis put star forward Vladimir Tarasenko (hand) and captain Ryan O’Reilly (broken foot) on injured reserve Monday.

    Michael Bunting scored twice, including on a power play, for Toronto. Pierre Engvall, William Nylander and Auston Matthews added goals and Samsonov stopped 27 shots as the Maple Leafs fell to 23-8-7. Matthews also assisted on Nylander’s goal, finishing the game with 501 career points.

    “We were a little sloppy in the second period and they got a couple of goals,” Nylander said. “We were able to score and battle back but kind of a sloppy game from our side.”

    A wild second period saw the teams combine for six goals, three in 1:17 span.

    Kyrou gave St. Louis a 3-1 lead 3:09 into the second. As Kyrou’s goal was still being announced over the public-address system, Nylander scored for Toronto.

    Leivo picked up his own rebound off Samsonov’s pad at 9:32 to give the Blues a 4-2 lead. Bunting replied for Toronto 17 seconds later, putting a rebound past Binnington. A minute later, Saad snapped a shot from the slot to once again give St. Louis a two-goal lead.

    Matthews cut into the Blues’ lead again shortly after to make it 5-4. Bunting tied it at 5 on a power play 7:55 into the third period.

    UP NEXT

    Blues: At New Jersey on Thursday night.

    Maple Leafs: Host Seattle on Thursday night.

    ———

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  • Rangers score 3 in 3rd to stop Hurricanes’ win streak at 11

    Rangers score 3 in 3rd to stop Hurricanes’ win streak at 11

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    NEW YORK — Artemi Panarin, K’Andre Miller and Filip Chytil scored third-period goals as the New York Rangers rallied to beat Carolina 5-3 on Tuesday night, snapping the Hurricanes’ 11-game winning streak.

    Jacob Trouba and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers, who are 10-2-1 in their last 13 games. Igor Shesterkin made 20 saves in the first meeting between the teams since New York eliminated Carolina in seven games during a second-round playoff series last May.

    “It’s a big win for us,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. ”We had some fortunate breaks tonight. They are a tough team to play against.”

    The Hurricanes had points in 17 straight and hadn’t lost in regulation since Nov. 23.

    “They were the better team,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We never really got things going. It was going to happen.”

    Carolina led 3-2 entering the third before Panarin tied it with his 11th goal, scoring on a long shot through traffic 36 seconds into the period. Miller put New York ahead 4-3 with a deflection at 10:27, beating Carolina netminder Pyotr Kochetkov for the defenseman’s third of the season, assisted by Zibanejad and Kaapo Kakko.

    The Rangers have 52 third-period goals this season, third-most in the NHL.

    Kochetkov made 26 saves but lost in regulation for only the second time in 16 decisions.

    “It was about us sticking with it tonight,” Miller said. ”We wanted to come out in the third and give our team the best chance to win.”

    Panarin’s goal was assisted by defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox, who has at least one point in 26 of New York’s 39 games this season. Panarin leads the Rangers with 44 points.

    ”They play hard hockey, pressure everywhere,” Panarin said of the Hurricanes. “For that team, it’s easy to keep focus 100%.”

    Chytil’s goal came on the power play into an empty net at 18:57 as the Rangers won for the fifth time in their last six home games after a 4-6-4 start at Madison Square Garden.

    The Hurricanes were 15-0-2 in their past 17 games. Their previous loss in regulation was 4-0 at home to Arizona just before Thanksgiving. Their most recent defeat was 4-3 in overtime at Anaheim on Dec. 6.

    “We’ve done something special these past few weeks,″ defenseman Brady Skjei said. “Tonight just wasn’t our night. One loss doesn’t change the way we feel about our team.”

    Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield put Carolina ahead 3-2 at 17:14 of the second.

    Carolina scored first when defenseman Brent Burns put the puck past Shesterkin off a scrum in front at 7:24 of the opening period. The goal was the fifth this season for the 37-year-old Burns, in his first season with the Hurricanes after 11 with San Jose. Paul Stastny and Jaccob Slavin assisted.

    The Rangers tied it on the power play when Trouba scored his third at 16:26 of the first.

    Carolina answered right back when Martin Necas fired a shot past Shesterkin just 16 seconds later. The goal was the 17th this season for Necas. Stastny and Andrei Svechnikov assisted. Necas has a point in six straight games.

    Zibanejad scored his team-leading 19th goal at 16:45 of the second on the power play, but Chatfield put Carolina back ahead 29 seconds later. Zibanejad has points in 13 of his last 17 games.

    Carolina was coming off a 5-4 shootout win at New Jersey on Sunday, when the Hurricanes tied a franchise record with points in 12 consecutive road games.

    NOTES: Brind’Amour remained one win shy of 200. … The Hurricanes scratched defenseman Dylan Coghlan. … The Rangers scratched forward Johnny Brodzinski and defenseman Libor Hajek. … The teams play three more times: Feb. 11 and March 23 in North Carolina, and March 21 at Madison Square Garden.

    UP NEXT

    Hurricanes: Host the Nashville Predators on Thursday.

    Rangers: Visit the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

    ———

    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Forsberg makes 22 saves, Senators beat Blue Jackets 4-0

    Forsberg makes 22 saves, Senators beat Blue Jackets 4-0

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    OTTAWA, Ontario — Anton Forsberg made 22 saves for his second NHL shutout, Tim Stutzle had a goal and an assist and the Ottawa Senators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-0 on Tuesday night.

    Derrick Brassard, Drake Batherson and Austin Watson also scored to help Ottawa improve to 18-17-3.

    Stutzle rebounded after a poor first period.

    “I was awful in the first, that’s for sure,” Stutzle said. “We just talked in the intermission that we’ve got to stick with it. We had a couple of bad turnovers here and there, especially our line, but we tried to stick with it, play better in the second period and the third period and I think everyone in here did a great job.”

    The 20-year-old Stutzle has five goals in his last six games.

    “Tim’s one of those guys who has confidence and makes plays that not a lot of players can make,” teammate Claude Giroux said. “Right now, he’s got confidence so we try to get him the puck and we try to get open for him.”

    Joonas Korpisalo stopped 33 shots for Columbus. The Blue Jackets fell to 11-23-2 with their eighth straight road loss.

    After a scoreless first period, four minor penalties in the second cost the Blue Jackets, with Ottawa scoring twice on the power play.

    “We took four,” Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. “What do you expect is going to happen against a good power play? It’s just silly. They’re all penalties, every single one of them.”

    Brassard opened the scoring with a power-play goal after he tipped Jake Sanderson’ shot. Stutzle made it 2-0, grabbing a rolling puck and beating Korpisalo. Batherson followed with Ottawa’s second power-play goal.

    Watson scored short-handed into an empty net late in the third.

    UP NEXT

    Blue Jackets: Host Washington on Thursday night.

    Senators: Host Seattle on Saturday night.

    ———

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  • TNT’s Albert, Olczyk love challenge of calling outdoor games

    TNT’s Albert, Olczyk love challenge of calling outdoor games

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    Kenny Albert and Eddie Olczyk are veterans when it comes to calling outdoor games. Yet, the Winter Classic still resonates for them as one of the biggest games of the season.

    “I certainly wouldn’t trade it in for anything. I would never even consider turning down the assignment because it’s so much fun,” said Albert, who will call the NHL game Monday at Fenway Park between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins.

    This will be the fifth time Albert has worked the Winter Classic, but only his second on television. Olczyk has been the television analyst for most of the Winter Classics since the event started in 2008.

    Monday marks the second time TNT will carry the Winter Classic after it took over rights from NBC.

    Last year’s game in Minneapolis between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues showed that the outdoor games can pose stiff challenges. The temperature was minus 6 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 21 Celsius) at the opening faceoff. Albert tried to keep the windows open during the first period, but they closed them midway through because of the frigid temperatures. Things didn’t get much better when the windows were closed.

    “I think most of the time, all of us like keeping the windows open just to feel the atmosphere,” said Albert, who has called 11 outdoor games. “Last year, you start having trouble formulating words when it is that cold, and you have the headsets on but your face is freezing. So we decided to close the windows midway through the first period. But then we ran into an issue (of) it started fogging up. So at that point, we were having trouble seeing the players on the ice, so we had to open the windows back up.

    “So there are definitely elements involved during these outdoor games that you don’t run into when when calling jams indoors, but it really never gets old calling games and iconic venues.”

    Olczyk has been part of 14 Winter Classics, including the first one in Buffalo 15 years ago when the Penguins defeated the Sabres in a shootout. The snowglobe-like setting and high ratings on NBC showed the league and networks that an outdoor game to ring in the new year was a hit.

    “People were just captivated, you couldn’t have asked for any better setting. Everything that the league and at the time NBC dreamed about came to fruition,” Olczyk said. “The game got so much momentum that everybody wanted to be a part of it. Who would have ever thought going down to the Cotton Bowl (where the 2020 game was held) and have a game between Dallas and Nashville.”

    While some of the broadcast positions have been very close to the action — announcers for the games in Buffalo and at Notre Dame Stadium were near ice level — or extremely far away — like Minnesota last year — this year’s setting at Fenway Park could be the closest that a crew could get to calling a game if it was indoors. Albert and Olczyk will be positioned in a suite along the first-base line at the home of the Red Sox.

    While Fenway Park and the Green Monster will receive plenty of the attention, the game carries importance in the standings. Boston has a league-leading 60 points while Pittsburgh features Crosby, who will be playing in his sixth outdoor game.

    “It is a game and there are two points on the line, but from a broadcast point of view, it’s about the event,” Olczyk said. “It’s fun to be in a different type of setting than we normally are on a night in, night out basis.”

    ———

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

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  • Weegar gets 1st goal with Flames in 3-2 win over Canucks

    Weegar gets 1st goal with Flames in 3-2 win over Canucks

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    CALGARY, Alberta — Flames defenseman Mackenzie Weegar scored his first goal with Calgary and added an assist Saturday night in a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

    Elias Lindholm and Blake Coleman also scored for Calgary (18-13-7), which has points in 12 of its last 15 games (8-3-4).

    “We’re on the right track,” Lindholm said.

    It was Weegar’s first multipoint game since opening night.

    “It feels great. Even better with the two points, obviously,” said Weegar, who scored a career-high eight goals last season with Florida.

    Sheldon Dries and Elias Pettersson scored for Vancouver (16-17-3), which has dropped two straight on the road after winning seven in a row in opposition rinks.

    “I don’t think our first two periods were good. Especially me. I made too many turnovers, too many simple mistakes,” Pettersson said. “Always try to make the hard play, so I’ve got to definitely be better.”

    Jacob Markstrom made 22 stops against his former team to improve to 12-9-4. He is 9-3-1 versus Vancouver with a .921 save percentage.

    Markstrom spent seven seasons with the Canucks before signing with Calgary as a free agent in 2020.

    At the other end, Spencer Martin had 27 saves. His record slipped to 11-6-1.

    “We’ve been playing great on the road so it’s disappointing that we didn’t come home with any points on this trip,” Martin said. “We’re going to have to bounce back and make it really hard to play in Vancouver.”

    After a scoreless first period, Calgary surged in front 1:21 into the second when Lindholm kept the puck on a 2-on-1 rush and fired a shot past Martin.

    The Flames made it 2-0 on a short-handed goal at 9:32 of the second on a sequence set up by a superb outlet pass from Weegar.

    Weegar made it 3-0 at 14:17 when his point shot eluded Martin. And even though it was his first goal, the defenseman’s celebration was muted.

    “It was a weird play. I honestly thought that it was going to be offside. (Chris Tanev) kept a good puck in and I didn’t want to jinx it by over-cellying,” Weegar said.

    He also helped orchestrate Coleman’s short-handed goal five minutes earlier, springing Rasmus Andersson, who set up Coleman on a 2-on-1.

    “It was a turnover at the blue line. I knew that they were kind of tired. I heard the coaches yelling at them to change, so I hung onto the puck a bit,” Weegar said. “I was actually looking for (Coleman) to go for a breakaway. But Ras was yelling at me and I just got it to him.”

    Weegar came over to Calgary with Jonathan Huberdeau in the offseason deal that sent Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers.

    “Weegs is the best, man. He’s a great guy, great teammate. We joked about it this morning — we thought he was gonna get one and he did,” Coleman said. “We’re happy for him. He’s a big part of our team. It’s going to be the first of many. Sometimes it’s just funny how it works like that.”

    Dries got one back for Vancouver at 15:28 on a strange one, knocking a puck in from waist level after it had fluttered into the air on one side of the net and came down on the other side where Dries was the first to spot it.

    The Canucks climbed within one at 4:06 of the third when Pettersson buried a rebound, but Vancouver could not score the tying goal despite pushing hard.

    “Sometimes your best players have to be your best players, and I didn’t think our best players in that second period were our best players,” Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. “Consequently when that happens, you get behind the 8-ball.”

    Calgary played the second half of the game with 11 forwards after Brett Ritchie left early in the second period after appearing to injure his hand or arm in a collision along the boards.

    UP NEXT

    Vancouver: Hosts the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

    Calgary: At the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

    ———

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

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  • Connor McDavid shines as Oilers pound Kraken 7-2

    Connor McDavid shines as Oilers pound Kraken 7-2

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    SEATTLE — Connor McDavid had a goal and four assists, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Seattle Kraken 7-2 on Friday night.

    Zach Hyman and Klim Kostin each scored twice as Edmonton won for the third time in four games. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had four assists, and Darnell Nurse finished with a goal and an assist.

    McDavid extended his point streak to 17 games, matching his career best. He has 16 goals and 21 assists during the stretch.

    “He’s the best player in the world for a reason,” said Seattle’s Adam Larsson, a former teammate with McDavid in Edmonton. “He’s hard to stop. We can do a lot better job stopping him, but when you give him time and space, he’s going to make you look stupid most of the time.”

    Brandon Tanev and Daniel Sprong scored for Seattle in its third consecutive loss.

    Edmonton grabbed control with four goals in the first half of the first period.

    Hyman put the Oilers ahead to stay with a power-play goal at 2:44. It was his 16th of the season.

    Kostin scored at 3:16, and Nurse slipped another shot past Phillipp Grubauer at 3:55. It was the second-fastest trio of goals to begin a game in the NHL this season, behind only Buffalo at 2:13.

    Grubauer was replaced by Martin Jones, but Edmonton made it 4-0 when Jesse Puljujarvi scored his third goal of the season at 9:58.

    McDavid collected three assists in the first period, and Edmonton’s four goals were the most allowed by the Kraken in the first in franchise history.

    Sprong got Seattle on the board 1:50 into the second. It was Sprong’s 11th of the season.

    But Kostin and Hyman scored again for the Oilers in the middle period. McDavid got his 40th assist of the season on Hyman’s 17th goal.

    McDavid closed it out when he scored his NHL-leading 32nd goal 10:43 into the third.

    “I’m always working on my game,” McDavid said. “I’m just trying to get better and some nights it goes well and some nights it doesn’t. That’s the nature of this league, and I’m just trying to help the team win. That’s what I’m paid to do.”

    Earlier this season, McDavid became just the fifth NHL player in the past 25 years to score 30 goals in 35 or fewer games.

    “What he is doing, I think we should all realize, is quite special,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “It’s the best league in the world, and he is off to a career year. He is doing something that the league hasn’t seen for a very long time. So that is special.”

    Each of Seattle’s past three losses have come against Pacific Division rivals.

    “The competitiveness, and that element, and that willingness to check and push and push through hard situations is really important. We weren’t very good there tonight,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “So that’s where, you know, we have to take a close hard look at ourselves. All of us. We’re all in this thing together.”

    WORTH NOTING

    Edmonton played without center Leon Draisaitl, who was scratched with an unspecified injury. Draisaitl has 21 goals and 36 assists in 36 games this season. … Larsson picked up an assist on Tanev’s goal 7:33 into the second. It was Larsson’s career-best fifth straight game with an assist.

    UP NEXT

    Oilers: Host Winnipeg on Saturday night.

    Kraken: Host the New York Islanders on Sunday.

    ———

    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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