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NHL roundup: Eric Staal scores in OT to cap Habs debut

[April 06, 2021] Eric Staal scored the overtime winner in his Montreal debut to give the host Canadiens a clutch 3-2 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Staal, who was acquired by trade from the Buffalo Sabres, made his mark at 4:02 of the extra frame when he ripped a wrist shot from the right circle for his fourth goal of the season.

Josh Anderson and Tomas Tatar netted third-period goals for Montreal to erase a 2-0 deficit, while goaltender Carey Price stopped 21 shots. Montreal has won four of five meetings with the Oilers this season.

On the down side for Montreal, forward Brendan Gallagher left late in the first period after a slap shot from teammate Alexander Romanov hit his hand. Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme said after the game that Gallagher broke his right thumb.

Avalanche 5, Wild 4

Nathan MacKinnon and Andre Burakovsky each had a goal and an assist, Brandon Saad, J.T. Compher and Gabriel Landeskog also scored, and Colorado beat Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minn.

Philipp Grubauer stopped 21 shots and Samuel Girard had two assists for the Avalanche, who extended their points streak to 15 games (13-0-2).

Ryan Hartman had a goal and two assists, Nick Bjugstad and Marcus Johansson had a goal and an assist each, Kevin Fiala also scored and Cam Talbot made 31 saves for the Wild. Minnesota had its 11-game home winning streak snapped.

Flyers 3, Bruins 2 (OT)

Travis Sanheim scored 3:08 into overtime as Philadelphia won at Boston.

Travis Konecny and Sean Couturier provided goals, Ivan Provorov posted two assists and Brian Elliott stopped 27 of 29 shots for the Flyers, who won for the first time in six tries (1-3-2) against Boston.

Bergeron's power-play goal moved him past Rick Middleton and into fourth in all-time Bruins scoring with 899 points. Karson Kuhlman also scored for Boston. With Jaroslav Halak going on the COVID-19 list, goalie Dan Vladar started for the Bruins and made 29 saves.

Golden Knights 6, Blues 1

Alec Martinez scored two goals and Vegas used a four-goal second period to end a three-game losing streak with a victory over at St. Louis.

William Carrier, Jonathan Marchessault, Nicolas Hague and Martinez all had second-period goals as second-place Vegas was able to stay within reach of the West Division-leading Avalanche.

Tomas Nosek added a goal, and Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner had 31 saves. Tyler Bozak scored a goal for the Blues, who have lost seven consecutive games (0-6-1) and have scored just eight combined goals in those contests. St. Louis has not won at home since Feb. 18 (0-6-2).

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Montreal Canadiens forward Eric Staal (21) prepares for a face off against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Maple Leafs 5, Flames 3

Auston Matthews, the NHL's leader in goals, scored twice, including the game-winner midway through the third period, to lead Toronto past host Calgary.

Maple Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell made 26 saves to tie a franchise record with nine consecutive wins to start a season. Jason Spezza, Wayne Simmonds and John Tavares also scored and William Nylander notched two assists for Toronto, which is on a 7-0-1 roll that has solidified its spot atop the North Division.

Mikael Backlund scored twice for the Flames. Andrew Mangiapane added a goal, and Elias Lindholm had two assists. Jacob Markstom stopped 25 shots in his 300th career game, but Calgary lost its fourth straight games and fell to 1-8-0 in the past nine.

Jets 4, Senators 3

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored two goals for Winnipeg in a win against visiting Ottawa.

Adam Lowry and Kyle Connor also scored, Andrew Copp and Nikolaj Ehlers had two assists each and Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves for the Jets, who avoided what would have been their first three-game losing streak of the season.

Ryan Dzingel and Connor Brown each had a goal and an assist for the Senators. Josh Norris added a goal and Anton Forsberg made 42 saves in his second straight start and third since he was claimed off waivers from Carolina on March 17.

Coyotes 5, Kings 2

Michael Bunting produced his first hat trick in his ninth NHL game and visiting Arizona topped Los Angeles.

Adin Hill made 36 saves in his seventh straight start, all within the past 14 days, and the fourth-place Coyotes expanded their cushion over fifth place in the West Division to five points. Arizona is on a 6-1-0 run.

Derick Brassard scored one of three power-plays goals for Arizona, Christian Dvorak added a goal and Alex Goligoski, Jakob Chychrun and Conor Garland contributed two assists each. Drew Doughty and Andreas Athanasiou scored and Calvin Petersen made 28 saves for the Kings, who have lost six of seven.

--Field Level Media

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