TORONTO (AP) — Alex Steeves scored his first NHL goal as the Toronto Maple Leafs jumped out to an early lead and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3 Saturday night.
Pontus Holmberg had two goals and an assist, John Tavares had a goal and an assist, and David Kampf and Auston Matthews also scored for Toronto. Matthews and Holmberg had empty-net goals after Carolina closed within 4-3 in the third. Holmberg was credited with his first goal after Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal accidentally put the puck in his own net.
The 25-year-old Steeves, who leads the AHL with 29 goals, also had an assist in his 12th NHL game. Anthony Stolarz made 31 saves.
Shayne Gostisbehere and Andrei Svechnikov each had a goal and an assist, and Jaccob Slavin also scored for the Hurricanes. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 17 shots.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Saturday:
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FLYERS 6 OILERS 3
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Matvei Michkov and Sean Couturier each had a goal and two assists, and Owen Tippett scored a pair of goals as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the sloppy Edmonton Oilers 6-3.
In the first game back from the 4 Nations break for both teams, Michkov opened the scoring in the first period when he followed up his own missed shot and put the rebound past Stuart Skinner, who made 26 saves.
In the second period, Michkov made two no-look passes that turned into Flyers’ goals. He found Couturier with a cross-ice pass on the door step and later with a pass into the slot for Tippett’s second tally on a two-on-none breakaway.
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WILD 4 RED WINGS 3 (OT)
DETROIT (AP) — Marco Rossi scored with 1:25 remaining in overtime as the Minnesota Wild rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
Rossi had just come out of the penalty box after being called for hooking. He wound up with a breakaway and his shot squirted past the goal line.
Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist for Minnesota, which rallied from a 3-1 third-period deficit. Marcus Foligno and Vinnie Hinostroza also scored and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots.
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CAPITALS 8 PENGUINS 3
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jakob Chychrun scored twice during a second-period surge and Washington raced past Pittsburgh.
Alexander Ovechkin was held without a goal to remain at 879 for his career, 15 away from tying Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky’s all-time mark. The Capitals hardly needed the Russian superstar in their return from the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Chychrun beat Alex Nedeljokvic twice in less than four minutes to break open a tie game. Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson pushed Washington’s lead to 6-2 by the end of the period as the Metropolitan Division-leading Capitals improved to 13-1-6 in their last 20 games.
Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby — fresh off Team Canada’s victory at 4 Nations — scored his 18th of the season on a pretty backhand 6:36 into the second that briefly tied the game before Washington took firm control. The goal was the 610th of Crosby’s career, tying him with Bobby Hull for 18th in NHL history.
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SABRES 8 RANGERS 2
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Rasmus Dahlin scored twice and had an assist, and Buffalo capitalized on a five-goal first period in a win over New York.
Tage Thompson and Ryan McLeod each scored twice, and Jason Zucker had three assists in the teams’ return from the 4 Nations Face-Off break. Jack Quinn and Henri Jokiharju also scored. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 26 shots and Buffalo improved to 5-1 in its past six games.
New York’s Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad scored second-period goals. The Rangers failed to build on the momentum of their pre-break 11-5-2 run that pushed them to within four points of eight place in the Eastern Conference.
Igor Shesterkin was pulled with 1:39 left in the first period after allowing five goals on 16 shots. Jonathan Quick finished the game allowing three goals on 17 shots.
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PREDATORS 2 AVALANCHE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jonathan Marchessault scored at 9:11 of the third period to give the Nashville Predators a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
Justin Barron also scored and Juuse Saros made 31 saves for the Predators, winners of two straight.
Sam Malinski scored and Scott Wedgewood made 15 saves for Colorado, who had their two-game win streak snapped.
Nearing the midway point of the third, Luke Schenn’s slap shot from the right side missed wide and caromed off the end boards and onto the tape of Marchessault’s stick just off the left post.
Marchessault has points in four straight games.
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STARS 4 DEVILS 2
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Evgenii Dadonov and defenceman Thomas Harley scored first-period goals and Casey DeSmith made 31 saves as Dallas defeated New Jersey.
Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston also scored for Dallas in the teams’ first game after the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament break.
Jack Hughes scored twice for New Jersey. Jesper Bratt and Dougie Hamilton assisted on both goals.
Dadonov opened the scoring at 3:58 of the first with his 16th goal. Harley made it 2-0, beating Devils goaltender Jake Allen at 5:44 with his 10th goal of the season on a power play. Harley leads all Stars defencemen with 30 points.
Hughes ended DeSmith’s shutout bid with a power-play goal at the 10-minute mark of the third before Duchene restored the Stars’ two-goal margin 35 seconds later with his 23rd of the season.
Hughes scored his team-leading 26th of the season at 11:40 to make it 3-2.
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KRAKEN 2 PANTHERS 1
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Jared McCann scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Seattle held on to beat Florida.
Kaappo Kakko also had a goal and Joey Daccord stopped 26 shots for the Kraken, who snapped a three-game losing skid and split the two-game season series against the Atlantic Division-leading Panthers.
Eetu Luostarinen scored for Florida, which played without star forward Matthew Tkachuk after he suffered a lower body injury during the 4 Nations Face-Off while representing the United States.
With the game tied at 1, Shane Wright entered Florida’s zone and centred a pass to Adam Larsson, who found McCann on the left wing. McCann flipped a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky at 7:03 to put the Kraken ahead.
Seattle struck early on Kakko’s power-play goal 6:32 into the first period. Kakko took Matty Beniers’ pass by the left circle and then moved near the crease, where he beat Bobrovsky on the short side for his 10th goal of the season.
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BLUE JACKETS 5 BLACKHAWKS 1
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Zach Werenski scored and had two assists and Kent Johnson scored twice for Columbus in a victory against Chicago to end a four-game losing streak.
Denton Mateychuk and Adam Fantilli each scored, Dmitri Voronkov had two assists and Elvis Merzlikins made 27 saves in the teams’ return from a break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Craig Smith scored and Petr Mrazek made 16 saves for the Blackhawks.
Johnson made it 2-0 at 1:12 of the second period and Mateychuk countered Smith’s power-play goal with his score 12:28 into the second to make it 3-1.
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JETS 4 BLUES 3 (SO)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Gabriel Vilardi tied it with 28 seconds left with goalie Eric Comrie off for an extra attacker, Kyle Connor scored in a shootout and Winnipeg beat St. Louis for their team-record ninth straight victory.
Vilardi also scored in the first period. Nikolaj Ehlers added a goal in regulation and Comrie made 21 saves. The Jets had won eight straight on two previous occasions, the last Oct. 9-26 this season.
Robert Thomas scored twice, Pavel Buchnevich also scored and Joel Hofer made 26 saves for St. Louis. The Blues have won just two of their past nine games.
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DUCKS 3 BRUINS 2 (OT)
BOSTON (AP) — Leo Carlsson scored with 1:21 left in overtime to give Anaheim a 3-2 victory over Boston and extend their winning streak to four straight games.
Trevor Zegras and Frank Vatrano also scored for Anaheim. Ducks goalie John Gibson, a topic of trade talks, stopped 19 shots before leaving after two periods with an unspecified upper-body injury; Lukas Dostal made 10 saves after replacing him.
Anaheim led 2-0 before Elias Lindholm scored on a five-on-three power play after David Pastrnak drew back-to-back tripping penalties. With goalie Jeremy Swayman pulled for an extra skater, Morgan Geekie tied it 2-2 with 1:11 left in regulation on a slap shot from the left circle.
An official review ruled that Lindholm interfered with the goalie in the seconds leading up to the would-be score. After the goal was taken off the board a few fans threw trash onto the ice, drawing a plea from the public address announcer to stop.
But the Bruins then successfully challenged the call, sending the game into overtime.
Swayman stopped 26 shots.
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CANADIENS 5 SENATORS 2
OTTAWA, Ont. (AP) — Brendan Gallagher had a goal and an assist, Sam Montembeault made 25 saves and Montreal beat Ottawa.
Cole Caufield, Patrick Laine, Josh Anderson and Juraj Slafkovsky also scored for the Canadiens. Nick Suzuki had two assists.
Tim Stutzle extended his points streak to nine games with a goal and an assist for Ottawa. Jake Sanderson had the other goal.
Linus Ullmark started in goal for Ottawa, but was pulled midway through the second period after allowing five goals on 15 shots. He was replaced by Anton Forsberg, who stopped all 10 shots he faced.
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KINGS 5 UTAH 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Drew Doughty had a goal and two assists to lead Los Angeles to a win over Utah.
Kevin Fiala, Alex Laferriere, Trevor Lewis and Mikey Anderson also scored as the Kings improved their record at home to 18-3-2. Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves.
Barrett Hayton scored three goals and had the first hat trick for Utah, which was looking for its fourth win in five games. Connor Ingram made 21 saves.
Doughty, who missed the start of the season because of a broken ankle, was back in action after playing for champion Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off and tied the game at 1-1 26 seconds after Hayton opened the scoring in the first. He had the secondary assist on Fiala’s power-play goal and sent a long clearing pass that Laferriere chased down to put the Kings up 2-1 late in the second.
It was Doughty’s 16th career game with at least three points.
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GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3 CANUCKS 1
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Brandon Saad scored off a rebound from the left circle 18 seconds into the third period to put Vegas ahead for good and they extended their winning streak to three games with a victory over Vancouver.
Vegas took sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division, moving two points ahead of the Edmonton Oilers. The Canucks’ three-game win streak ended.
It was Saad’s second goal in five games since joining the Golden Knights. He had three goals in 29 games with the St. Louis Blues.
Ivan Barbashev scored his first goal since Dec. 14, Tomas Hertl also had a goal, and Brett Howden had two assists. Adin Hill made 32 saves.
Jake DeBrusk scored for Vancouver. Kevin Lankinen stopped 32 shots.
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The Associated Press