NHL roundup: Matthew Tkachuk posts hat trick as Panthers win 8th straight

 

[January 10, 2024]  Red-hot Matthew Tkachuk scored a hat trick and earned an assist as the visiting Florida Panthers defeated the St. Louis Blues 5-1 Tuesday for their eighth straight victory.

Tkachuk, who grew up in St. Louis, has six goals and nine assists during his six-game point streak.

Kevin Stenlund and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers and Anthony Stolarz made 29 saves in his first start since Dec. 30.

Brayden Schenn scored and Joel Hofer made 26 saves for the Blues, whose two-game winning streak ended.

Coyotes 4, Bruins 3 (OT)

Nick Schmaltz scored at the 4:04 mark of overtime as Arizona came from behind to beat Boston in Tempe, Ariz.

Schmaltz took a feed from Clayton Keller and slid into the low left circle for the winner, which snapped the Coyotes' three-game skid. Keller and Dylan Guenther each had a goal and an assist for Arizona, and Matias Maccelli also scored. Connor Ingram made 29 saves.

David Pastrnak, Jesper Boqvist and Jake DeBrusk scored in Boston's second straight loss. Morgan Geekie had two assists. Linus Ullmark (32 saves) left in discomfort after a save in overtime.

Maple Leafs 7, Sharks 1

Mitchell Marner scored two goals and added two assists as host Toronto blew out San Jose.

Jake McCabe added a goal and two assists and Morgan Rielly had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who have won four in a row. Auston Matthews, Pontus Holmberg and Nicholas Robertson also scored for Toronto. William Nylander, who signed an eight-year, $92 million contract extension on Monday, contributed three assists. Martin Jones made 22 saves.

Henry Thrun scored for the Sharks, who have lost 12 consecutive games, all in regulation. Kaapo Kahkonen allowed four goals on 20 shots before being replaced by Mackenzie Blackwood early in the second. Blackwood made 22 saves.

Lightning 3, Kings 2 (OT)

Nick Perbix scored a nifty backhanded goal as Tampa Bay opened a four-game homestand with an overtime win over visiting Los Angeles.

Brandon Hagel and Tyler Motte scored third-period goals to erase a two-goal deficit as the Lightning moved to 12-1-0 in their past 13 meetings with Los Angeles. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper recorded his 500th career victory.

The Kings' Phillip Danault broke an 11-game goal drought and Matt Roy scored. Trevor Moore recorded two assists in his 300th NHL game.

Ducks 5, Predators 3

Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano and Mason McTavish scored first-period goals and visiting Anaheim held on for a win against Nashville in the opener of a six-game road trip.

Troy Terry had a goal and an assist, Jackson LaCombe and Alex Killorn each had two assists and Lukas Dostal made 39 saves for the Ducks, who had lost five in a row.

Alexandre Carrier, Philip Tomasino and Denis Gurianov scored and Juuse Saros made 28 saves but surrendered five goals for the fourth time in his past five starts for Nashville, which had won three of four.

Canucks 5, Islanders 2

Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes scored within a span of 2:17 late in the first period for visiting Vancouver, which continued surging with a win over New York in Elmont, N.Y.

Jan 9, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) reacts after scoring a hat trick against the St. Louis Blues during the third period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports/ File photo

Elias Pettersson and Tyler Myers scored in the second and Dakota Joshua added an empty-netter with 1:28 left in the third for the Canucks, who have collected 17 goals while winning three straight to improve to 3-1-0 on a season-long seven-game road trip. Goalie Casey DeSmith made 18 saves.

Brock Nelson scored twice for the Islanders, who have lost four of five (1-3-1) and eight of 12 (4-5-3). Goalie Ilya Sorokin recorded 29 saves.

Kraken 5, Sabres 2

Jaden Schwartz, who missed the previous 16 games with an upper-body injury, had a goal and an assist as Seattle defeated host Buffalo.

Yanni Gourde, Vince Dunn, Alex Wennberg and Matty Beniers also scored and Eeli Tolvanen and Will Borgen each had two assists for Seattle, which won its seventh consecutive game and extended its franchise-record point streak to 11 games (9-0-2). Goaltender Joey Daccord made 36 saves.

Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch each had a goal and an assist and Casey Mittelstadt added two helpers for the Sabres, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Devon Levi stopped 21 of 26 shots.

Flames 6, Senators 3

Yegor Sharangovich and Blake Coleman each scored twice and host Calgary rode a four-goal third period to beat struggling Ottawa to snap a two-game skid.

Noah Hanifin scored once in a three-point game and Connor Zary collected one goal and one assist for the Flames, while goalie Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves. Nazem Kadri collected two assists, including his 600th career point.

Jacob Bernard-Docker, Dominik Kubalik and Brady Tkachuk scored for the Senators, who have lost four straight games and sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Goalie Joonas Korpisalo stopped 30 shots and Ridly Greig collected two assists.

Canucks 5, Islanders 2

Cole Perfetti scored twice and picked up an assist and Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for the shutout as Winnipeg blanked visiting Columbus for its seventh straight win.

The Jets extended their point streak to 13 games (11-0-2).

Daniil Tarasov stopped 18 shots for Columbus.

Oilers 2, Blackhawks 1

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl scored and Stuart Skinner made 25 saves to lift streaking Edmonton to a road victory against Chicago.

Edmonton matched a season high with its eighth consecutive victory. Six wins during the Oilers' current tear have come away from Rogers Place. McDavid stretched his team points lead to 55 with the go-ahead goal at 1:32 of the second period.

Chicago has lost 12 of 15 and was thwarted in its bid for its first three-game home winning streak of the season. Jason Dickinson capped a frenzied sequence to open the scoring at 5:52 of the first period.

--Field Level Media

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