NHL roundup: Kris Letang's historic night propels Pens past Isles

 

[December 28, 2023]  Jake Guentzel and Evgeni Malkin both scored twice while Kris Letang collected a record five assists during a six-goal second period for the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins, who routed the New York Islanders 7-0 on Wednesday night in Elmont, N.Y.

Rickard Rakell and Radim Zohorna opened and closed the second-period barrage for the Penguins, who scored six goals in a period for the second time this calendar year. The six-goal period was the most prolific road period for the Penguins since they scored six against the Islanders in an 8-2 win at Nassau Coliseum on March 21, 2000 -- which, until Wednesday, was the last time New York gave up six goals in a period.

Letang's five assists are the most by one player in Penguins history in one period and the most by a defenseman in NHL history in one period. Letang helped cap off the scoring in the third by feeding Valtteri Puustinen at the 9:48 mark. He is the first Penguins player with six points in a game since Sidney Crosby had two goals and four assists against the Islanders on Jan. 19, 2010, and tied the record for most assists by a defenseman in NHL history.

Marcus Pettersson added four assists and Tristan Jarry made 22 saves for the Penguins, who earned their fifth win in the last seven games (5-1-1). Ilya Sorokin recorded 19 saves before being pulled after the second for the Islanders, who fell in regulation for just the third time in the last 20 games (11-3-6). Semyon Varlamov stopped six of seven shots in the third.

Blackhawks 2, Jets 1 (OT)

Rookie Connor Bedard scored the winning goal at 2:15 of overtime, giving Chicago a victory over visiting Winnipeg.

Bedard has 15 goals and 32 points in 34 games. Petr Mrazek saved 37 of 38 shots for the Blackhawks, who earned just their second win in eight games.

Morgan Barron collected a goal and Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves for the Jets, who lost for only the third time in 11 games in December (8-1-2).

Coyotes 5, Avalanche 4 (OT)

Jack McBain scored at 4:40 of overtime as Arizona rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat Colorado in Tempe, Ariz.

Defenseman Sean Durzi had a goal and three assists, Jason Zucker and Lawson Crouse had a goal and an assist each, Michael Kesselring also scored and Karel Vejmelka made 20 saves for Arizona.

Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist each, Jonathan Drouin and Logan O'Connor had goals, defenseman Cale Makar added two assists and Alexandar Georgiev turned away 22 shots for Colorado.

Devils 4, Blue Jackets 3 (OT)

Timo Meier scored 2:12 into overtime to give New Jersey a victory over Columbus in Newark, N.J.

Devils defenseman Luke Hughes weaved through the open ice and beat Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins to forge a 3-3 tie with 1:25 remaining in the third. In overtime, New Jersey took advantage of Kent Johnson fanning on a shot, allowing Meier to convert a breakaway for his ninth goal of the season and fourth in his past three games.

New Jersey's Dawson Mercer collected a goal and two assists and Ondrej Palat also tallied. Vitek Vanecek turned aside 26 shots for the Devils, who won the final two contests of their five-game homestand (2-2-1). Justin Danforth, Yegor Chinakhov and Jake Bean scored and Merzlikins made 31 saves for the Blue Jackets.

Rangers 5, Capitals 1

K'Andre Miller had two goals and an assist as New York beat visiting Washington.

Artemi Panarin contributed a goal and an assist and Braden Schneider and Alexis Lafreniere also scored for the Rangers, who have won five of six. Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves. Mika Zibanejad, playing in his 800th NHL game, added two assists.

Anthony Mantha scored in his third straight game (four goals) for the Capitals, who have lost two straight. Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves.

Panthers 3, Lightning 2

Sam Reinhart scored twice to eclipse the 20-goal mark for the season, Aleksander Barkov had three assists and visiting Florida edged Tampa Bay.

Aaron Ekblad potted his first marker of the season and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 shots for the Panthers, who won their second straight game overall and are 11-2-2 against Eastern Conference foes this season.

Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov notched his 300th career goal and Michael Eyssimont also scored. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves, but the Lightning lost for the first time in four games.

Bruins 4, Sabres 1

Charlie Coyle scored two power-play goals as visiting Boston cruised past Buffalo.

The Bruins built an insurmountable 4-0 lead en route to snapping a four-game skid (0-2-2). Mason Lohrei and Morgan Geekie each had a goal, while Jake DeBrusk and Brad Marchand dished out two assists apiece. Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves.

Dec 27, 2023; Elmont, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Jake Guentzel (59) celebrates his goal against the New York Islanders with teammates during the second period at UBS Arena./Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Erik Johnson scored the lone goal for the Sabres, while Devon Levi stopped 21 shots. Buffalo has lost four of five (1-3-1).

Kings 5, Sharks 1

Adrian Kempe scored twice as host Los Angeles scored five unanswered goals en route to a blowout of San Jose.

It was the 23rd multiple-goal game of Kempe's career and his first of the season. Kevin Fiala, Trevor Lewis and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored goals for Los Angeles, which earned its second straight victory and won for the fourth time in five games.

Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which lost its sixth straight game. Kaapo Kahkonen made 38 saves as the Sharks fell to 3-15-1 on the road.

Wild 6, Red Wings 3

Marcus Johansson scored two goals and added an assist and Minnesota pulled away for a win over Detroit in St. Paul, Minn.

Kirill Kaprizov produced a goal and an assist for the Wild, who won their fourth game in a row. Matt Boldy, Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman scored one goal apiece, and Filip Gustavsson turned aside 25 shots to pick up the victory.

Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, who have lost six of their past seven. Patrick Kane and Daniel Sprong also scored, and James Reimer allowed six goals on 31 shots.

Hurricanes 5, Predators 2

Sebastian Aho tallied one goal and three assists while reaching the 500-point milestone as Carolina prevailed at Nashville.

Brent Burns, Andrei Svechnikov, Jack Drury and Seth Jarvis also scored for the Hurricanes, who scored three times on power plays. Burns, Svechnikov and Jarvis had one assist apiece, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 35 saves.

Ryan O'Reilly posted a goal and an assist for the Predators. Gustav Nyquist also scored, while Juuse Saros was pulled after allowing five goals on 19 shots through two periods. Yaroslav Askarov entered and stopped all six shots he faced.

Blues 2, Stars 1

Joel Hofer made 39 saves to lift St. Louis past visiting Dallas, improving to 5-1-0 under interim coach Drew Bannister.

Jason Robertson scored and Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves for the Stars, who saw their three-game winning streak and six-game point streak snapped.

The Stars outshot the Blues 14-8 in the first period but went 0-for-2 on their power play and trailed 2-0 little more than halfway through the game.

Kraken 2, Flames 1

Alex Wennberg broke a third-period tie and goaltender Chris Driedger earned a win in his first NHL game in more than a year as visiting Seattle beat Calgary.

Kailer Yamamoto also scored for the Kraken, who are on a 5-0-2 run that has vaulted them over the Flames in the standings. Driedger made 37 saves while appearing in an NHL contest for the first time since May 1, 2022 -- the finale of Seattle's inaugural season.

Driedger, who played junior hockey in Calgary, sparkled over the final two periods -- blanking the hosts despite facing 31 shots in the final 40 minutes.

Ducks 5, Golden Knights 2

Brett Leason scored two goals, including the first of four in the game's opening 12 1/2 minutes, and Anaheim earned a victory over visiting Vegas, which is on a season-long four-game losing streak.

Jamie Drysdale, Frank Vatrano and Troy Terry also scored goals in the first period as the Ducks won for just the fourth time in their past 19 games while improving to 2-1-0 against the defending champions this season. Mason McTavish had three assists. John Gibson had 30 saves for Anaheim after missing the final three games before the holiday break after the birth of his child.

Alec Martinez and Mark Stone scored goals for the Golden Knights, who have dropped five of their past six games. Logan Thompson made 21 saves for Vegas, who have allowed at least four goals in seven of the last eight games.

--Field Level Media

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