NHL roundup: Jackets pile up 9 goals in rout of Sabres

 

[December 20, 2023]  Kirill Marchenko recorded a natural hat trick as the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets scored seven consecutive goals en route to a 9-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.

Marchenko needed just 8 minutes, 7 seconds spanning the first and second periods to notch his second career hat trick. He also scored three goals in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 7 of last season.

Rookie Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, Sean Kuraly and Cole Sillinger each scored and set up a goal. Erik Gudbranson also tallied as the Blue Jackets fell one goal shy of their franchise-best total, set in a 10-0 rout of the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 4, 2016.

Rasmus Dahlin recorded a goal and an assist and captain Kyle Okposo, Tage Thompson and Dylan Cozens also tallied for the Sabres, who have lost eight of their past 11 games (3-7-1). Rookie Devon Levi yielded four goals on 18 shots before being relieved by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who made 11 saves.

Flyers 3, Devils 2 (OT)

Owen Tippett scored with 1:35 remaining in overtime as surging Philadelphia beat New Jersey in Newark, N.J.

Tippett secured Philadelphia's third straight win and helped the Flyers improve to 7-0-2 in their past nine games. Ryan Poehling scored a pair of game-tying goals in the second period -- his fifth career multi-goal game -- as the Flyers got their seventh one-goal victory of the season.

Mike McLeod scored late in the first period and Jesper Bratt scored a power-play goal as the Devils lost their second straight game and fell to 8-3-1 in their past 12 games. Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves.

Coyotes 4, Senators 3

Michael Kesselring scored the game-winning goal and Jack McBain tallied one goal and one assist as Arizona erased a three-goal deficit to claim a win over Ottawa in Tempe, Ariz.

J.J. Moser and Clayton Keller also scored for the Coyotes, who have won three consecutive games. Starting goaltender Connor Ingram was pulled after surrendering three goals on six shots and Karel Vejmelka was perfect in stopping 16 shots to claim the win.

Angus Crookshank, Josh Norris and Dominik Kubalik scored for the Senators, who are riding a five-game skid and dropped their first game after D.J. Smith was relieved of his head-coaching duties and replaced by Jacques Martin on Monday.

Wild 4, Bruins 3 (OT)

Kirill Kaprizov buried Joel Eriksson Ek's one-time feed for his second goal of the night as visiting Minnesota came from behind to beat Boston in overtime.

Kaprizov and Ryan Hartman scored consecutive goals in the latter half of the third period as Minnesota climbed out of a 2-1 deficit to take the lead. Marcus Johansson also tallied for Minnesota, which has four wins in its past five games. Marc-Andre Fleury made a season-high 40 saves for the Wild.

Boston's Brad Marchand scored with 1:06 left in regulation to force the extra session. Pavel Zacha had two assists, and Linus Ullmark stopped 26 shots for the Bruins.

Hurricanes 6, Golden Knights 3

Michael Bunting had a goal and two assists, and Carolina used a three-goal second period to take control in a victory against Vegas at Raleigh, N.C.

Andrei Svechnikov scored in his first game back in the lineup, Brady Skjei had a goal and an assist and Jordan Staal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Seth Jarvis also tallied as the Hurricanes equaled their highest goal total of the season.

William Carrier notched two goals and Jack Eichel scored the other for the Golden Knights, who lost for the second time in three games yet still have the NHL's highest point total.

Lightning 6, Blues 1

NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov scored twice as Tampa Bay opened a two-game homestand by thrashing St. Louis.

Nicholas Paul had a goal and two assists while Haydn Fleury managed a goal and a helper for the Lightning. Michael Eyssimont and Tyler Motte also scored, and Steven Stamkos recorded three assists.

Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots but lost his shutout bid late in the third on Justin Faulk's power-play goal. St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington surrendered five goals on 23 shots before being replaced by Joel Hofer, who denied 9 of 10 shots.

Dec 19, 2023; Buffalo, New York, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Kirill Marchenko (86) celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center./Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Rangers 5, Maple Leafs 2

Mika Zibanejad scored twice and visiting New York defeated Toronto.

Alexis Lafreniere, Braden Schneider and Artemi Panarin also scored for the Rangers. Erik Gustafsson and Blake Wheeler had three assists apiece. Igor Shesterkin stopped 31 shots for the Rangers, who lost 7-3 to the Maple Leafs on Dec. 12 in New York.

Auston Matthews scored twice for the Maple Leafs. Matthews, who did not play Saturday because of an illness, has scored in each of his past five games for a total of nine goals. Martin Jones made 31 saves for Toronto.

Islanders 3, Oilers 1

Simon Holmstrom collected another short-handed goal to cap a three-goal second period by New York in a win over Edmonton in Elmont, N.Y.

Anders Lee and Bo Horvat scored the game-tying and go-ahead power-play goals, respectively, before Holmstrom notched his fifth short-handed goal of the season. Holmstrom is just two short-handed goals shy of tying the franchise's single-season record.

Ilya Sorokin allowed Leon Draisaitl to score on the first shot of the game before stopping the final 30 shots he faced as the Islanders snapped a two-game losing streak. Stuart Skinner recorded 17 saves for the Oilers, who have lost three straight (0-3-0) following an eight-game winning streak.

Canucks 5, Predators 2

Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter each had a goal and an assist, and twice visiting Vancouver scored two goals in less than a minute during a victory over Nashville.

Quinn Hughes and Ilya Mikheyev each recorded two assists while Nils Aman, Nils Hoglander and Teddy Blueger also scored for the Canucks, who are 6-0-1 in their past seven games.

Jeremy Lauzon and Cody Glass scored for the Predators, who saw star netminder Juuse Saros pulled early in the third period after allowing his fifth goal on 24 shots. Saros entered Tuesday 6-0-0 with a 1.48 goals-against average in December.

Blackhawks 3, Avalanche 2

Ryan Donato had a goal and an assist, Tyler Johnson and Lukas Reichel also scored and host Chicago beat Colorado.

Connor Bedard and Nikita Zaitsev had two assists apiece and Petr Mrazek turned away 35 shots for the Blackhawks, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

Valeri Nichushkin scored twice and Nathan MacKinnon had an assist to extend his point streak to 16 games. The Avalanche, who took their second loss in three games, were without defenseman Cale Makar (lower-body injury).

Kings 4, Sharks 1

David Rittich made his season debut for visiting Los Angeles and recorded 15 saves in a win against San Jose.

Rittich, a 2020 NHL All-Star with the Calgary Flames, was recalled from Ontario of the AHL on Friday after Pheonix Copley left practice the same day with a lower-body injury. Rittich last played in the NHL on April 13, stopping 21 shots for the Winnipeg Jets in a 4-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist, Trevor Moore, Alex Laferriere and Trevor Lewis also scored and Kevin Fiala had two assists for the Kings. Jacob MacDonald scored to spoil the shutout with 1:19 left and Kaapo Kahkonen made 35 saves for the Sharks.

--Field Level Media

[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]
 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.