NHL roundup: Nathan MacKinnon hits milestone in Avs' win

 

[December 22, 2023]  Nathan MacKinnon scored four goals, including the 300th of his career, for his fifth career hat trick as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Ottawa Senators 6-4 on Thursday in Denver.

MacKinnon also had an assist and extended his point streak to 17 games, which matches his home point streak. He is the first Avalanche player to have a four-goal game since the team moved to Denver and the fifth player in franchise history (including the Quebec Nordiques) to reach the 300-goal mark.

Mikko Rantanen scored twice, Valeri Nichushkin had three assists, Cale Makar had two assists in his return and Alexandar Georgiev turned away 41 shots for Colorado.

Drake Batherson had a goal and an assist while Josh Norris, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Ridly Greig also scored and Joonas Korpisalo had 33 saves for Ottawa.

Flames 3, Ducks 0

Goalie Jacob Markstrom earned his 200th career win and Nick DeSimone scored his first career goal as visiting Calgary extended its winning streak to a season-long three games with a victory over Anaheim.

Markstrom made 25 saves to achieve his milestone in his first shutout of the season. It was his eighth win of the season (8-8-2) and 90th in four seasons with Calgary. Elias Lindholm had a goal and two assists and A.J. Greer had a goal for the Flames, who snapped a four-game road losing streak.

Lukas Dostal made 41 saves in his second consecutive start for the Ducks with regular goalie John Gibson out after the birth of his child. Gibson, who has been mentioned in trade rumors, was available in a backup role.

Capitals 3, Blue Jackets 2 (OT)

Alex Ovechkin snapped a career-worst, 14-game scoring drought when he scored with 53 seconds left in overtime to lift Washington to a win at Columbus.

Ovechkin took a cross-ice pass from Dylan Strome and scored on a wrist shot from the left circle. It was his 26th overtime goal, the most in NHL history. Anthony Mantha scored twice, John Carlson had three assists, Ovechkin also had an assist and Charlie Lindgren made 35 saves. Washington is 5-1-2 in its past eight games.

Cole Sillinger and Yegor Chinakhov scored and Elvis Merzlikins made 29 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost six of their past nine games.

Wild 4, Canadiens 3 (OT)

Kirill Kaprizov scored the overtime winner and added two assists as Minnesota edged Montreal in Saint Paul, Minn.

Kaprizov one-timed a Marcus Johansson feed past Sam Montembeault with 4.9 seconds remaining for his second overtime winner in two games. Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Brock Faber had the other goals for the Wild, who have won five of their past six. Filip Gustavsson made 22 saves for the win.

David Savard, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky each had a goal and an assist for Montreal, and Mike Matheson added two assists. Montembeault stopped 20 shots for the Canadiens, who have lost 10 straight in Minnesota dating back to November 2013.

Lightning 5, Golden Knights 4

Nicholas Paul capped a three-point night by scoring the go-ahead goal with 1:13 remaining as Tampa Bay earned a wild win over visiting Vegas.

Brayden Point scored twice and had an assist to eclipse 500 career points and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists for the Lightning. Alex Barre-Boulet scored, Victor Hedman had three helpers and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots.

The Golden Knights' Jonathan Marchessault scored twice, Paul Cotter had a goal and an assist and Ivan Barbashev potted a goal. Jack Eichel earned two assists to extend his franchise-record point streak to 12 games, and Jiri Patera made 31 saves.

Stars 4, Canucks 3 (OT)

Matt Duchene scored with 9.2 seconds left in overtime as Dallas rallied to beat Vancouver and extend its home-ice winning streak to four games.

Duchene raced in alone and slipped the puck between the legs of Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko, allowing the Stars to improve to 4-0-1 in their past five games overall. Duchene and Thomas Harley each had a goal and an assist and Tyler Seguin and Roope Hintz also scored. Scott Wedgewood finished with 17 saves.

Joshua and Conor Garland each logged a goal and an assist, Brock Boeser produced a goal and Teddy Blueger had two assists for Vancouver, which wrapped up a 2-0-2 road trip. Demko made 32 saves.

Penguins 2, Hurricanes 1 (SO)

Sidney Crosby scored in regulation, then produced the only goal in a shootout to give Pittsburgh a win over visiting Carolina.

Crosby, Pittsburgh's second shooter in the tiebreaking competition, clanked a shot in off the right post. Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (23 saves) stopped Carolina's Stefen Noesen, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen in the shootout.

The Penguins earned their second win in a row and their fourth in the past five games. Teravainen scored the only goal for the Hurricanes, who have lost three of four (1-0-3). Carolina goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov made 24 saves.

Blues 4, Panthers 1

Pavel Buchnevich scored twice in a three-point game while Jordan Kyrou netted one goal and one assist as St. Louis rode a three-goal second period to a victory in Sunrise, Fla.

Alexey Toropchenko also scored for the Blues, who have won three of four games since Drew Bannister was named interim head coach following the firing of Craig Berube. Joel Hofer made 37 saves, and Robert Thomas collected three assists.

Eetu Luostarinen replied for the Panthers, who have lost four of five games. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots.

Predators 4, Flyers 2

Philip Tomasino scored two goals to lift Nashville past host Philadelphia.

Cole Smith and Gustav Nyquist each added one goal for the Predators, and Colton Sissons and Filip Forsberg contributed two assists apiece. Juuse Saros made 29 saves in the victory.

Morgan Frost and Sean Couturier scored for the Flyers, who had their nine-game point streak snapped. They had been 7-0-2 over that span. Samuel Ersson stopped 27 shots.

Sabers 9, Maple Leafs 3

Jeff Skinner scored two goals and Jordan Greenway also tallied to highlight their respective returns to the lineup, lifting host Buffalo over Toronto.

Skinner, who also had an assist, missed his team's last three games while Greenway had been out nine games due to upper-body injuries. Kyle Okposo scored twice, Tage Thompson collected a goal and two assists and Alex Tuch notched a career-high four assists. Rookie Devon Levi made 24 saves as the Sabres rebounded from yielding nine goals in their previous game.

Toronto's Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 26th goal of the season and 12th in his past eight games. Max Domi and Calle Jarnkrok also scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost two straight and. Ilya Samsonov yielded five goals on 19 shots before being replaced by Martin Jones (11 saves).

Oilers 6, Devils 3

Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Adam Erne scored in a 69-second span early in the third period for Edmonton, which squandered an early lead before storming back to win in Newark, N.J.

Ryan McLeod scored twice and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also tallied and Sam Gagner and Mattias Ekholm chipped in two assists apiece for the Oilers, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Calvin Pickard made 23 saves.

Dawson Mercer had a goal and an assist, Timo Meier and Jonas Siegenthaler also scored and Michael McLeod added two assists for the Devils, who have lost three straight (0-2-1). Vitek Vanecek recorded 28 saves and took the loss in relief of Akira Schmid, who was chased after allowing two goals on six shots.

Coyotes 5, Sharks 2

Clayton Keller and Alex Kerfoot each had a goal and two assists to lead Arizona to a victory at San Jose.

Nick Schmaltz had a goal and an assist, Sean Durzi had two assists and Michael Kesselring and Lawson Crouse also scored for the Coyotes, who extended their winning streak to four games. Karel Vejmelka finished with 29 saves.

Anthony Duclair and Filip Zadina scored for the Sharks, who lost their fourth straight game. Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves.

--Field Level Media

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