EDMONTON — Connor McDavid scored the game’s lone goal midway through the first period and Mikko Koskinen collected a 24-save shutout as the host Edmonton Oilers held on for a 1-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
The Oilers have won three straight games, and posted a 7-2-1 record since Ken Hitchcock took over as head coach on Nov. 20, to pull themselves to within striking distance of the playoff picture.
Koskinen has won all six starts on home ice this season, three of them with shutouts. McDavid’s winning goal came at 12:18 of the first period by finishing a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play. At the other end, Flames goalie David Rittich stopped 29 shots in the loss that snaps his team’s five-game winning streak.
McDavid started the odd-man rush up the ice before moving the puck to Leon Draisaitl, who put it over to Alex Chiasson. Chiasson sent a cross-ice pass that McDavid one-timed for the tally, his 11th goal in 14 career games against Calgary.
Ducks 6, Devils 5
Daniel Sprong and Ryan Getzlaf scored in the shootout as host Anaheim outlasted New Jersey in a wild game that started fast as the two teams combined for six goals, three apiece, in the first 14 minutes of the first period.
The goals by Sprong and Getzlaf were the only tallies in the shootout, which came after 65 minutes in which there were three lead changes and five ties.
Golden Knights 4, Stars 2
Marc-Andre Fleury had 22 saves to pick up his league-leading 17th victory of the season to help lead Vegas over visiting Dallas in Las Vegas.
William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Alex Tuch and Ryan Carpenter each scored goals for Vegas, which improved to 8-2 in its last 10 games, won its fifth straight home contest, and bounced back from a 5-1 loss at Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon. Colin Miller added two assists.
Martin Hanzal and Esa Lindell each scored power-play goals for Dallas.
Canadiens 3, Blackhawks 2
Carey Price made 37 saves and Tomas Tatar scored the winning goal with 1:17 remaining in the third period as Montreal overcame numerous trips to the penalty box to beat host Chicago, whose losing streak reached seven games.
The Canadiens got the winner after the Blackhawks failed to clear Shea Weber’s long wrist shot from the point. The puck bounced to Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who whipped a pass to Jeff Petry near the right point. Petry fired a rising shot and Tatar lifted his stick in time for the deflection.
Bruins 2, Senators 1 (OT)
Boston’s Torey Krug scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the Bruins beat host Ottawa thanks in large part to goalie Tuukka Rask’s 27-save effort.
In the 3-on-3 overtime session, David Kremjci skated around the Ottawa net and slid a pass back through the crease to Krug, who buried his second goal of the season at 3:07 for the victory. Mark Stone scored for the Senators, and backup goalie Mike McKenna recorded 42 saves.
Jets 7, Flyers 1
Connor Hellebuyck made 36 saves, and Mark Scheifele collected three assists in the second period as Winnipeg cruised past visiting Philadelphia.
Hellebuyck became the fourth goaltender to reach 13 wins and did his best work during a scoreless game in the opening minutes. Hellebuyck made 10 saves before Winnipeg scored and stopped 16 overall in the opening 20 minutes.
Canucks 6, Blues 1
Brock Boeser scored three goals and Elias Pettersson had a goal and four assists as visiting Vancouver ripped St. Louis as Bo Horvat and Nikolay Goldobin also scored for the Canucks, who gained their second straight victory after having won just once in their previous 13 games. — Reuters
