NHL roundup: Blankenburg plays OT hero as Predators edge Kings 3-2

Annunen, who was acquired from Colorado in a Nov. 30 trade, improved to 2-1-0 in three games with the Predators.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Saturday:

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FLAMES 6 BLACKHAWKS 4

CALGARY, Alta. (AP) — Jonathan Huberdeau, Connor Zary, Blake Coleman, and Matt Coronato each had a goal and an assist as Calgary beat Chicago.

Nazem Kadri and Mikael Backlund also scored for Flames, who have picked up points in their last four games, going 2-0-2. Dustin Wolf made 24 stops and improved to 10-5-2 in his rookie season.

Tyler Bertuzzi had two goals and an assist, and Connor Bedard added a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who had their three-game winning streak halted. Ilya Mikheyev scored his fourth goal in as many games and Teuvo Teravainen had two assists, extending his multiple-point game streak to four.

Peter Mrazek made 24 saves in his first game for Chicago since he was injured Dec. 7.

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OILERS 3 SHARKS 2 (OT)

EDMONTON, Alta. (AP) — Leon Draisaitl scored 18 seconds into overtime and Edmonton Oilers overcame a slow start to win their second straight game in extra time and beat San Jose Sharks.

Zach Hyman and Mattias Ekholm also scored for the Oilers, who have won 10 of their last 12 contests. Connor McDavid had three assists, while Evan Bouchard had a pair of helpers.

Ekholm, with the goaltender pulled, forced overtime with 18 seconds left in the third period.

Luke Kunin and Jan Rutta scored for the Sharks, who have lost four in a row and seven of their last eight.

Calvin Pickard was only tasked to make 20 stops in net for the Oilers, while rookie goaltender Yaroslav Askarov made 39 saves for the Sharks in just his sixth NHL game.

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BRUINS 3 SABRES 1

BOSTON (AP) — Morgan Geekie scored a tiebreaking, power-play goal with 1:45 left in regulation, and Boston beat Buffalo 3-1, sending the Sabres to their 13th straight loss.

Charlie Coyle scored a first-period goal and Brad Marchand added an empty-netter for the Bruins, who improved to 10-4-1 under interim coach Joe Sacco.

JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, which is on its worst stretch since a club-record 18-game losing streak (0-15-3) in 2021. The Sabres haven’t won since a victory at San Jose on Nov. 23.

Just as a power play was about to expire, Geekie one-timed a shot from the slot for the winner.

Coyle came out of penalty box after his minor for hooking ended. He collected a clearing pass from Nikita Zadorov, going in on a breakaway. James Reimer made a left-skate stop, but, while on his backside, Coyle poked the puck in. Reimer stopped 16 shots.

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ISLANDERS 6 MAPLE LEAFS 3

TORONTO (AP) — Bo Horvat had a goal and two assists, Isaiah George scored his first NHL goal and New York beat Toronto.

Maxim Tsyplakov, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Noah Dobson and Mathew Barzal also scored and Ilya Sorokin stopped 27 shots to help end a two-game losing streak. Alexander Romanov, Simon Holmstrom and Anders Lee each had two assists.

William Nylander scored twice and Bobby McMann added a goal for Toronto, coming off a 6-3 victory in Buffalo on Friday night. The Maple Leafs were without captain Auston Matthews after he took a cross-check to the back late against the Sabres.

Joseph Woll allowed goals on two of the Islanders’ first three attempts on target. He finished with 28 saves. Toronto had won three straight.

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CANADIENS 5 RED WINGS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — Patrik Laine scored on the power play again, and Montreal beat Detroit for the second straight night.

Juraj Slafkovsky, Jake Evans, Emil Heineman and Brendan Gallagher also scored in Montreal’s season-high third straight win. Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson each had two assists.

Sam Montembeault stopped 20 shots in his ninth consecutive start — and second in two nights against Detroit. The Canadiens beat the Red Wings 4-2 in Detroit on Friday.

Joe Veleno opened the scoring early in the first for Detroit, and Alex Lyon made 19 saves.

Laine scored for the eighth time — all with the man-advantage — in nine games since returning from a pre-season knee injury. He beat Lyon with an attempted pass from the left circle with 39 seconds left in the first period.

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DEVILS 3 PENGUINS 0

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists and Jacob Markstrom made 12 saves for his second shutout of the season as New Jersey beat Pittsburgh.

Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils, who won for the fourth time in five games.

Noesen opened the scoring with his career-best 15th goal at 17:32 of the second, with assists from Hischier and Meier. Hischier made it 2-0 at 7:47 of the third, sliding a loose puck in the crease past Penguins netminder Tristan Jarry for his 17th goal of the season. Meier added an empty-net goal.

The 34-year-old Markstrom, who joined New Jersey in a trade from Calgary in June, earned the 22nd shutout of his career.

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FLYERS 5 BLUE JACKETS 4 (OT)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Owen Tippett scored at 3:30 of overtime to punctuate a four-point game and Philadelphia snapped a three-game losing streak with come-from-behind win over Columbus.

Morgan Frost scored twice and Tyson Foerster tied the game with less than two minutes remaining in the third period as Philadelphia won for the fifth time this season when trailing after two periods. Samuel Ersson made 21 saves.

Mathieu Olivier, Mikael Pyyhtia, Kirill Marchenko and Jake Christiansen scored for the Blue Jackets, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.

Tippett assisted on three of the Flyers’ four goals in the third period, including Foerster’s tying score. In OT, he broke in on a 2-on-1 with Noah Cates and beat Columbus goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (25 saves) with a backhand shot.

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JETS 5 WILD 0

WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck made 19 saves for his NHL-leading fourth shutout of the season and 41st of his career to lead Winnipeg to a 5-0 victory over Minnesota, who have lost four in a row.

Cole Perfetti had a goal and two assists and Nikolaj Ehlers and Neal Pionk each scored power-play goals. Morgan Barron and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for the Jets.

Jesper Wallstedt stopped 19 shots for Minnesota, which is 1-5-0 in its last six games.

Ehlers scored his 10th goal of the season six seconds after Minnesota took its first penalty at 6:45 of the first period.

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SENATORS 5 CANUCKS 4 (OT)

VANCOUVER, B.C. (AP) — Jake Sanderson scored 15 seconds into overtime and Ottawa stretched their win streak to six games with a 5-4 victory over Vancouver.

It’s the first time since March 2017 that Ottawa has won six in a row.

Shane Pinto scored twice for the Senators, Claude Giroux added a goal and Josh Norris scored short-handed. Sanderson also contributed a pair of assists.

Leevi Merilainen stopped 21 shots to earn his first NHL victory.

Brock Boeser scored twice for the Canucks, and Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists. Jake DeBrusk rounded out the scoring for a Vancouver side that lost its third straight outing (0-1-2). Kevin Lankinen made 17 saves.

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GOLDEN KNIGHTS 6 KRAKEN 2

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mark Stone had a goal and two assists and Vegas beat Seattle.

After falling behind 1-0 less than three minutes into the game, the Golden Knights scored three unanswered goals in the first period and never relinquished the lead.

After Keegan Kolesar tied the game at 1-all, Brett Howden took Jack Eichel’s pass from behind the net and beat Philipp Grubauer at the doorstep to give Vegas a one-goal edge. Nic Hague’s goal later in the period put Vegas up, 3-1.

William Karlsson and Noah Hanifin also added goals in the third and Ilya Samsonov stopped 21 shots to improve to 8-3-1. Eichel finished with two assists.

Vince Dunn and Jaden Schwartz scored for Seattle while Grubauer made 29 saves and fell to 3-10-0.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

NHL roundup: Blankenburg plays OT hero as Predators edge Kings 3-2

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