Evan Bouchard's second goal of the game broke a tie early in the third period and sent the resurgent Edmonton Oilers to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wild on Friday.

Edmonton won its sixth consecutive game and improved to 8-3-0 under Kris Knoublach, who replaced Jay Woodcroft as head coach on Nov. 12 after the Oilers got off to a 3-9-1 start.

Bouchard added an assist and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had four assists to help the Oilers battle back twice from one-goal deficits. Stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each contributed a goal and an assist to back 17 saves from Stuart Skinner.

The Wild were outshot by a 40-20 margin but kept it close throughout behind 36 saves from Marc-Andre Fleury.

After Draisaitl's power-play goal late in the second period forged a 3-3 tie, Bouchard also converted a power-play chance 1:32 into the third to put Edmonton in front.

Bouchard's first of the night gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead after one period, but Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek each scored in the opening minute of the second to send the Wild ahead. 

McDavid answered just 40 seconds after Eriksson Ek's goal, but Minnesota regained the lead on Connor Dewar's one-timer with 8:02 left in the second.

The Wild have now lost two straight after winning their first four games since John Hynes replaced Dean Evason as head coach on Nov. 28.

Bobrovsky, Panthers extend Penguins' losing streak

Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves and Eetu Luostarinen scored the deciding goal in the third period as the Florida Panthers came through with a 3-1 win over the slumping Pittsburgh Penguins.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Aleksander Barkov also had goals to help the Panthers move to 4-1-1 over their last six games.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, has now lost four straight (0-2-2) after failing to hold on to a 1-0 lead provided by Reilly Smith's goal 8:05 into the second period.

The Panthers drew even when Ekman-Larsson knocked in a rebound late in the second period, then took a 2-1 edge when Luostarinen sent a loose puck past Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry with 6:10 elapsed in the third.

After Florida killed off a late Pittsburgh power play, Barkov sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with 27 seconds remaining.

Jarry stopped 30 of 32 shots for the Penguins, who went 0 for 3 on the power play and have now gone 13 straight games without a man-advantage goal.

Greaves stars in NHL debut as Blue Jackets top Blues

Jet Greaves stopped 41 shots to win his first NHL game as the Columbus Blue Jackets pulled away for a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

Yegor Chinakhov had two of three Columbus goals in the third period to support an outstanding debut from Greaves, called up from the minors Thursday after the Blue Jackets placed regular goaltender Elvis Merzlikins on injured reserve.

The 22-year-old rookie came up with 23 saves alone in the third period, during which Chinakhov scored twice in a span of under six minutes to stretch Columbus' lead to 4-1.

Chinakhov also assisted on Kirill Marchenko's goal that put the Blue Jackets ahead just 1:42 in, though Robert Thomas tied it for St. Louis later in the first period with the first of his two goals.

Adam Fantilli put Columbus back ahead with a shot past Blues goaltender Joel Hofer with 2:59 left in the opening period.

Thomas scored again with 2:22 remaining to get St. Louis within 4-2, but Alexandre Texier's empty-net goal in the final seconds ended any Blues' comeback hopes.

Columbus snapped a three-game losing streak, while the Blues have now dropped three of four. Hofer stopped 17 of 21 shots in defeat.

Cam Talbot stopped 24 shots and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Thursday for their NHL-record 11th straight road win to open the season.

Quinton Byfield had two goals and an assist and Drew Doughty added a goal and an assist for the Kings, who surpassed the mark set by the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres.

Los Angeles is one road win away from matching the NHL record of 12 consecutive road victories at any point during the season.

The Kings have won three straight and eight of nine overall.

Montreal was shut out by the Kings for the second time this season after a 4-0 loss on Nov. 25.

Sharks rally to spoil Kane’s Red Wings debut

The San Jose Sharks overcame a four-goal deficit and spoiled Patrick Kane’s debut with the Red Wings in a 6-5 overtime victory.

Mikael Granlund scored 37 seconds into overtime and Nico Sturm and Tomas Hertl each scored twice for the Sharks, who have rallied from deficits of at least three goals to win consecutive games in OT.

Kane, a nine-time All-Star, signed a one-year contract with Detroit on Nov. 28. He didn’t record a point and hit the post early in the third period.

Michael Rasmussen scored twice for the Red Wings, who had won six of seven.

San Jose has won five of seven after winning just three times in its first 20 games.

Ovechkin hits milestone in Capitals’ shootout loss

Alexander Ovechkin recorded his 1,500th regular season point, but Roope Hintz scored twice in the third period and the Dallas Stars rallied for a 5-4 shootout win over the Washington Capitals.

Ovechkin assisted on Dylan Strome’s second goal of the game midway through the third period to become the 16th player in NHL history to reach that plateau.

Jason Robertson had two assists in regulation and scored the only goal in the shootout as Dallas rebounded from consecutive losses.

Aliaksei Protas and Evgeny Kuznetsov also had goals for the Capitals, who lost their third in a row (0-2-1).

Zach Hyman scored two of his three goals in the Oilers’ four-goal first period and surging Edmonton cruised to a 6-1 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday.

Connor McDavid and Mattias Janmark each had three assists and Ryan McLeod and Mattias Ekholm also scored to help the Oilers win their fifth straight game.

McLeod scored 28 seconds into the game and Ekholm extended the lead just 13 seconds later. Hyman netted his first of the game at 5:46 and Pyotr Kochetkov was replaced by Antti Raanta after allowing three goals on six shots.

Jordan Staal spoiled Stuart Skinner’s shutout bid midway through the third period as Carolina dropped its second in a row following a 3-0-1 stretch.

Skinner finished with 38 saves and has been in net for all five wins during the streak, posting a 1.58 goals-against average.

Kucherov extends streak in Lightning’s win

Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 11 games and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1.

Anthony Cirelli and Tanner Jeannot also scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 23 saves as Tampa Bay won its second in a row following a four-game skid.

Kucherov, the NHL scoring leader with 44 points, has six goals and 15 assists during his streak.

Jake Guentzel had the lone goal for Pittsburgh, which had a five-game point streak snapped (2-1-3).

Marchessault, Eichel lead Knights over Blues

Jonathan Marchessault scored the 200th goal of his career and JacK Eichel had a goal and an assist as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the St. Louis Blues, 6-3.

The Golden Knights had six different goal scorers with Eichel, Marchesault, Keegan Kolesar and Michael Amadio tallying in the second period, when Vegas turned a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 lead.

Vegas is 3-0-3 in its last six games and leads the NHL with 39 points.

Jordan Binnington made a season-high 43 saves for the Blues, who have alternated wins and losses in their last eight games.

The Los Angeles Kings rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period for a 4-3 overtime victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday to match the NHL record with their 10th straight road win.

Drew Doughty scored 33 seconds into overtime after Phillip Danault scored twice in the third period. Arthur Kaliyev scored the equalizer just 90 seconds after Danault drew the Kings within one.

Los Angeles has won seven of eight and matched the road win record of the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres.

Kirill Marchenko, Johnny Gaudreau and Mathieu Olivier scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost eight games this season after holding a lead in the final 20 minutes.

Bratt’s late goal rescues Devils in Hughes brothers’ reunion

Jesper Bratt scored his second goal of the night with 34 seconds remaining and the New Jersey Devils recovered for a wild 6-5 win over the Vancouver Canucks in a game featuring three Hughes brothers.

Jack Hughes had a goal and two assists, while younger brother and teammate Luke Hughes added a power-play goal for the Devils.

Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes had an assist on Sam Lafferty’s third-period goal and Nils Hoglander’s tally with 3:26 remaining forged a 5-5 tie.

Hertl, Sharks stun Islanders with OT win

William Eklund completed the San Jose Sharks’ comeback from a three-goal deficit in the third period with a late overtime goal in a stunning 5-4 win over the New York Islanders.

Tomas Hertl had a hat trick, scoring twice in the final 3 ½ minutes after Kevin Labanc’s goal ignited San Jose’s rally.

Julien Gauthier, Brock Nelson, Mike Reilly and Ryan Pulock scored for the Islanders, who have at least a point in nine of 10 (5-1-4).

The Arizona Coyotes erupted for five first-period goals en route to accomplishing an unprecedented NHL feat with Monday's 6-0 rout of the Washington Capitals.

Arizona rolled to its fifth consecutive victory, with each of those wins coming against the last five franchises to win the Stanley Cup. The Coyotes are the first team in NHL history with such an achievement.

The Coyotes began the streak with a 2-0 win over the reigning champion Vegas Golden Knights before defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and Capitals in succession.

After Logan Cooley and Michael Carcone began Arizona's first-period scoring barrage, Nick Schmaltz recorded goals less than three minutes apart before Jason Zucker extended the lead to 5-0 with 1:21 left in the opening stanza.

Nick Bjugstad scored short-handed in the second period, while Clayton Keller and Alex Kerfoot each recorded three assists to support Connor Ingram's 26-save shutout.

Former Arizona goaltender Darcy Kuemper stopped just 2 of 3 shots before being pulled just over 14 minutes into the contest. Charlie Lindgren turned back 19 of 22 shots in relief as Washington was handed a second straight defeat.

Vasilevskiy stars as Lightning get revenge on Stars

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves to deliver his first shutout since returning from back surgery, and the Tampa Bay Lightning earned a measure of revenge on the Dallas Stars with a 4-0 victory.

Anthony Cirelli scored a pair of goals to help Tampa Bay stop a four-game losing streak that included an 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the Stars in Dallas on Saturday.

Vasilevskiy, the 2018-19 Vezina Trophy winner, was making his fifth start of the season after missing the Lightning's first 20 games recovering from a microdiscectomy procedure performed in late September.

Nikita Kucherov got Tampa Bay on the board 7:47 into the first period, then got an assist when Cirelli made it 2-0 with 1:39 remaining in the opening session.

After Vasilevskiy made 10 saves in the second period to maintain the two-goal edge, Luke Glendening and Cirelli each added goals in the third.

Jake Oettinger finished with 19 saves for Dallas, which had a three-game point streak (2-0-1) come to an end.

Buchnevich’s overtime goal lifts Blues over Golden Knights

Pavel Buchnevich scored 38 seconds into overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in the opener of a home-and-home series between the teams.

Jordan Binnington recorded 33 saves, including 12 in the third period, before Buchnevich fired a feed from Robert Thomas past Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson in the early stages of overtime.

Binnington was working on a shutout before the Golden Knights finally broke through on Jack Eichel’s power-play goal with 7:02 remaining in regulation that tied the contest at 1-1.

Alexey Toropchenko put St. Louis ahead with 21 seconds left in the first period, and the Blues maintained the one-goal advantage before Eichel capitalized shortly after Buchnevich was called for a tripping penalty in the third.

Thompson finished with 25 saves to help Vegas extend its point streak to five games, though it’s gone 2-0-3 over that stretch.

The two teams will meet again in St. Louis on Wednesday.

Neck guards will become compulsory at all International Ice Hockey Federation events including the Olympics and the men’s and women’s world championships, the sport’s governing body has announced.

The move follows the death of Nottingham Panthers player Adam Johnson, who died on October 28 after being hit in the neck by an opposition player’s skate during a match at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena.

The English Ice Hockey Association announced within days of Johnson’s accident at the end of October that neck guards will become compulsory during “all on-ice activities” from the start of 2024.

Neck guards are not yet compulsory in professional leagues including the NHL, while the IIHF is yet to announce a start date for its new ruling, given delays in procuring the required equipment.

An IIHF statement read: “The IIHF Council, on recommendation from its Medical Committee, has decided to mandate the use of a neck laceration protector, specifically designed for this purpose, at all levels of IIHF competitions.

“The exact date this mandate will go into effect for the senior categories will be determined by the supply situation. The IIHF remains in close contact with its suppliers to ensure they are able to respond to the current high demand.

“Until the rule officially goes into effect, the IIHF continues to strongly recommend that neck laceration protectors are worn by all players performing in an IIHF competition.”

A man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of manslaughter following Johnson’s death and has been released on bail to a date in the new year pending further inquiries.

Brad Marchand recorded a natural hat trick in the third period to rally the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.

Marchand's three consecutive goals erased a 1-0 deficit and lifted the Bruins to a third consecutive victory following Monday's 5-2 loss at Columbus. Jeremy Swayman, who was pulled in the second period of that prior meeting, bounced back with 24 saves and Charlie McAvoy assisted on two of Marchand's goals.

After the Blue Jackets' Boone Jenner scored in the final minute of the second period to break a scoreless tie, Marchand had his shot deflect off Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski and into the net to pull Boston even less than two minutes into the third.

A pair of Columbus penalties soon afterward enabled the Bruins to move ahead, as Marchand converted on both power-play chances just over two minutes apart to give Boston a 3-1 lead 7:46 into the final period.

Spencer Martin had 25 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost two of three since Monday's win over Boston.

Panarin's three goals, one assist lift Rangers over Sharks

The New York Rangers' Artemi Panarin also had a three-goal day to help his team extend its own winning streak with Sunday's 6-5 victory over the San Jose Sharks.

Panarin added an assist on K'Andre Miller's eventual game-winning goal in the third period as New York held on for its third consecutive victory. Mika Zibanejad contributed a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who staved off a late comeback attempt after the Sharks scored twice in the final 5 1/2 minutes.

New York's Will Cuylle scored with 3:57 left in the second period to snap a 3-3 tie before Panarin completed his hat trick with less than five minutes elapsed in the third.

Panarin later set up Miller for a shot that beat Sharks' goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood to give the Rangers a 6-3 lead with just under seven minutes remaining.

Fabian Zetterlund and Alexander Barabanov scored 1:12 apart to bring San Jose within one, but the Sharks failed to get the equaliser and fell to 1-11-0 on the road. 

First-period goals from Anthony Duclair and Ryan Carpenter staked San Jose to an early 2-1 lead before Panarin scored his second of the game later in the first period. Zibanejad put the Rangers ahead later in the opening frame before Jacob MacDonald's power-play goal midway through the second period forged a 3-3 tie. 

Blackwood finished with 30 saves and Jonathan Quick made 23 stops for New York.

Kopitar sets Kings' assist record in win over Avalanche

Quinton Byfield scored two goals and Anže Kopitar set a franchise record for career assists to help the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

The Kings scored three unanswered goals in the third period to rebound from Friday's 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals that stopped a five-game winning streak. Trevor Moore and Drew Doughty helped Los Angeles pull away after Byfield snapped a 1-1 tie with 6:34 remaining.

Kopitar helped set up Byfield's second goal for his 758th assist in a Kings uniform, breaking a tie he had held with Marcel Dionne for the most in team history. 

Cam Talbot made 20 saves for Los Angeles, which outshot the Avalanche by a 23-5 margin during a dominant third period.

Josh Manson scored Colorado's lone goal with 7:32 left in the first period, but Byfield answered midway through the second with his first goal of the night.

Alexandar Georgiev stopped 34 of 37 shots for the Avalanche, who had a six-game point streak snapped and fell to 0-1-2 over their last three games.

The Arizona Coyotes continued an impressive stretch with their fourth straight win on Saturday, as Alex Kerfoot had a goal and two assists in a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

Michael Carcone scored for the fourth time in three games and Connor Ingram stopped 31 shots to give Arizona four consecutive wins, all against the last four Stanley Cup champions – Colorado (2022), Tampa Bay (2020-21), Vegas (2023) and St. Louis (2019).

Carcone, Nick Schmaltz and Matias Maccelli scored and the Coyotes limited the Blues to three shots in a dominant first period.

Brandon Saad spoiled Ingram’s shutout bid midway through the third before Kerfoot sealed the win with an empty net goal with 1:15 left.

Stars pound struggling Lightning

Jason Robertson scored twice and the Dallas Stars matched a season high in goals in an 8-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Joe Pavelski had a goal and two assists and Jamie Benn and Mason Marchment each added a goal and an assist as Dallas improved to 7-2-2 in its last 11 games.

The Stars also scored eight goals in an 8-3 win at Minnesota on Nov. 12.

Tampa Bay has lost a season-high four straight and had to replace Andrei Vasilevskiy after two periods. He allowed six goals on 25 shots in his fourth start since returning last week following offseason back surgery.

Marchand lifts Bruins over Maple Leafs in OT

Brad Marchand scored with eight seconds left in overtime to lift the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists and Linus Ullmark made 37 saves to help Boston win its second straight following three consecutive regulation losses.

Marchand snapped an eight-game goal drought with his eighth goal of the season.

Auston Matthews had a pair of goals for Toronto, his second coming with six seconds left in regulation.

Jacob McDonald and Anthony scored two goals apiece and the San Jose Sharks defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-3 on Friday for their first road win of the season.

Kaapo Kahkonen matched a season high with 44 saves and Mikael Granlund had a goal and two assists for the league-worst Sharks, who entered 0-10-0 away from home with just six goals in those games.

Dawson Mercer, Jack Hughes and Ondrej Palat scored as New Jersey had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Akira Schmid stopped just 12 of 17 shots one day after making 44 saves in a 4-3 overtime win at Philadelphia.

Timo Meier returned for the Devils to face his former team after missing seven games with a lower-body injury.

Merzlikins leads Blue Jackets over Senators

Elvis Merzlikins turned aside 41 shots and the Columbus Blue Jackets scored four unanswered goals in a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

Goals by Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk gave Ottawa a 2-0 lead midway through the first period, but Patrik Laine scored on a power play with 5:07 left in the period and Dmitri Voronkov tallied less than a minute later to tie it.

Adam Fantilli and Boone Jenner scored in the second period and Merzlikins was perfect on 16 third-period shots to help the Jackets improve to 4-2-0 in their last six games.

Joonas Korpisalo made 19 saves for the Senators in his first game against the team where he spent the first 7 ½ seasons of his career.

Tristan Jarry scored into an empty net and stopped 39 shots to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-2 comeback win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

With the Penguins protecting a 3-2 lead, Jarry stopped a dump-in and sent the puck end-to-end with 68 seconds remaining.

Jarry is the fourth goalie to score in the past 10 years, and 14th overall in the regular season. He is the first Penguins netminder to score a goal.

Jeff Carter scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Sidney Crosby and Drew O’Connor also found the back of the net for Pittsburgh, which is 2-0-1 in its last three games.

Steven Stamkos and Tanner Jeannot had first-period goals as Tampa Bay dropped its third straight following a 4-0-1 surge.

Dewar has hat trick in Wild’s win

Connor Dewar recorded his first career hat trick and added an assist as the Minnesota Wild rolled to a 6-1 rout, ending the Nashville Predators’ six-game winning streak.

Dewar appeared to score a fourth goal with just over four minutes remaining but was taken away after the Wild were ruled to be offside after a video review.

Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who have won both games under new coach John Hynes.

Hynes served as Nashville’s coach for parts of four seasons before being relieved of his duties this past offseason by new general manager Barry Trotz.

Marner carries Maple Leafs to shootout win

Mitch Marner scored three times in regulation and added the shootout winner to lift the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken.

Marner ended an eight-game drought with his second career hat trick, also accomplished in a four-goal game against Detroit on Feb. 26, 2022.

Auston Matthews also scored in the shootout and had two assists to help the Leafs improve to 5-1-1 in their last seven games.

Jared McCann scored twice as Seattle lost its third in a row (0-2-1).

Charlie Lindgren had a spectacular 37-save performance and Connor McMichael and Anthony Mantha each had a goal and an assist as the Washington Capitals held off the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1 on Wednesday.

Lindgren allowed Arthur Kaliyev’s goal midway through the first period before stopping all 27 shots over the final two periods.

The Kings had a five-game winning streak snapped and lost in regulation for the second time in the last 15 games (11-2-2).

Cam Talbot faced just 15 shots as he dropped to 7-2-0 in his last nine starts.

Rangers rally past Red Wings

Jimmy Vesey scored the go-ahead goal with 4:15 left in the third period and Igor Shesterkin turned away 26 shots as the New York Rangers rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

Second-period goals by Moritz Seider and Robby Fabbri gave Detroit a 2-1 lead but K’Andre Miller drew the Rangers even midway through the third and Vesey batted a rebound out of mid-air and past Ville Husso for the game-winner.

Artemi Panarin also scored for NHL-leading New York, which rebounded from Monday’s loss to Buffalo to avoid losing consecutive games for the first time this season.

Husso made a season-high 38 saves, but Detroit had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Armia’s late goal lifts Canadiens

Joel Armia snapped a tie with 2:57 remaining in regulation to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Alex Newhook and Cole Caufield scored in the second period and Gustav Lindstrom added an empty-net goal as the Canadiens won for the third time in four games following a four-game skid.

Patrik Laine and Yegor Chinakov scored for the Blue Jackets, who had won three of four.

Sam Montembeault made 26 saves to help Montreal close a five-game road trip 3-2. 

Filip Forsberg scored just 14 seconds into overtime to lift the Nashville Predators to their sixth consecutive win, 3-2 over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

Michael McCarron scored twice in the first period and Juuse Saros stopped 29 shots for Nashville, which followed a four-game losing streak with wins in six straight.

Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust had goals for the Penguins, who dropped to 2-4-1 in their last seven.

Gustav Nyquist assisted on McCarron’s first goal to extend his point streak to nine games. He has two goals and nine assists during that stretch.

Pittsburgh went scoreless on both power-play opportunities and is 0 for 20 over the last eight games.

Wild stop slide in Hynes’ debut

Joel Eriksson Ek and Frederick Gaudreau scored first-period goals and the Minnesota Wild snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues in John Hynes’ debut as coach.

Matt Boldy added a goal in the third period and Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots for Minnesota, playing its first game under Hynes after the Wild fired Dean Evason on Monday.

Colton Parayko scored for the Blues, who dropped to 3-4-0 in their past seven games.

Devils score 3 in third period to rally past Islanders

Curtis Lazar scored with 23 seconds left to cap a three-goal third period and rally the New Jersey Devils to a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders.

New York took a 4-2 lead into the third period, but Jack Hughes scored at 5:08 and Nico Hischier netted the equaliser on a 4-on-3 power play with 8:50 remaining.

Michael McLeod and Dawson Mercer also scored for the Devils, who have won two straight after losing six of seven.

Mathew Barzal had a goal and two assists for the Islanders, who had a six-game point streak snapped (3-1-3).

Ryan Johansen scored two goals to back 37 saves from Alexandar Georgiev as the Colorado Avalanche extended their winning streak to four games with Monday's 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Cale Makar added a goal and an assist for the Central Division-leading Avalanche, who also received an empty-net goal from Valeri Nichushkin and two assists from Nathan MacKinnon to stop the Lightning's five-game point streak. Tampa Bay came in 4-0-1 over its last five outings.

Georgiev had 13 saves in the first period and Johansen scored unassisted 7:12 in to put Colorado in front. Johansen struck again 1:48 into the second before Makar made it a 3-0 lead with a power-play goal less than two minutes later.

Anthony Cirelli scored the Lightning's lone goal in the final minute of the second period, but Georgiev stopped all 12 Tampa Bay attempts in the third before Nichuskin scored into an empty net with 3:14 left.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 of 22 shots in the Lightning goaltender's second game back from offseason back surgery.

Blue Jackets send skidding Bruins to third straight loss

Spencer Martin made 31 saves and Yegor Chinakhov had a goal and an assist as the surging Columbus Blue Jackets dealt the suddenly slumping Boston Bruins a 5-2 loss.

Dmitri Voronkov, Ivan Provorov, Kirill Marchenko and Justin Danforth also had goals as Columbus won for the third time in four games following a 4-11-4 start to the season.

The Bruins, meanwhile, have suffered three straight regulation losses following a sizzling 14-1-3 start. 

Voronkov scored the lone goal in the first period before the Blue Jackets extended the lead to 3-0 on goals by Provorov and Chinakhov in the second. Marchenko pushed the margin further with a power-play goal 4:51 into the third.

Matthew Poitras and John Beecher had third-period goals for Boston, which pulled starting goaltender Jeremy Swayman after Provorov scored 5:38 into the second.

Swayman stopped 17 of 19 shots before departing, while Linus Ullmark turned back 18 of 20 chances in relief.

Tuch scores twice as Sabres pull away from Rangers

Alex Tuch had a pair of goals and the Buffalo Sabres scored three times late in the third period to pull away for a 5-1 win over the New York Rangers.

Tuch, Casey Mittelstadt and Kyle Okposo all scored in the final 4:29 of the game after New York cut its deficit to 2-1 on Mika Zibanejad's goal with just over eight minutes elapsed in the third period.

Mittelstadt, Victor Olofsson and Owen Power each had two assists to help Buffalo move to 3-1-1 over its last five games. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen finished with 25 saves for the Sabres.

Buffalo had taken a 2-0 lead on JJ Peterka's goal in the first period and Tuch's first of the night, which came with 27 seconds left in the second.

Igor Shesterkin stopped 34 of 38 shots for the Rangers, who had a three-game winning streak snapped and sustained just their fourth regulation loss of the season. 

The Minnesota Wild fired head coach Dean Evason and top assistant Bob Woods on Monday.

The shake-up comes a day after the Wild’s 4-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings extended their losing streak to seven games. Minnesota is 2-8-3 in their last 13 games.

General manager Bill Guerin released a statement announcing the moves.

“Dean did an excellent job during his tenure with the Minnesota Wild, especially as head coach of our team,” Guerin said. “I am very thankful for his hard work and dedication to our organization … I wish Dean, Bob and their families all the best in the future.”

Guerin’s statement did not mention who would take over coaching duties, but The Athletic reported that former New Jersey Devils and Nashville Predators bench boss John Hynes would be the Wild’s next coach.

Evason, 59, landed his first NHL head coaching job when he took over behind the Wild’s bench mid-season in 2020, replacing Bruce Boudreau.

Evason led the Wild to a franchise-record 113 points during the 2021-22 season and followed up with another 100-point campaign last season.

The Wild had three straight first-round play-off exits under Evason, however, and this year’s frigid start was enough to prompt a change.

Evason had a 147-77-27 record behind Minnesota’s bench.

Roman Josi had a goal and two assists to lead the Nashville Predators to a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday in a clash of two of the Western Conference's hottest teams.

Josi helped set up goals from Yakov Trenin and Gustav Nyquist, while Juuse Saros made 32 saves as the Predators extended their season-high winning streak to five games.

Winnipeg had its season-high five-game winning streak halted after falling behind by a 3-0 score after two periods.

Trenin opened the scoring with 20 seconds left in the first period, and Josi made it 2-0 just 1:26 into the second before Nyquist scored on a power play nearly five minutes later.

Goals from Josh Morrissey and Cole Perfetti 42 seconds apart got the Jets within one with less than nine minutes left, but Winnipeg failed to get the equaliser after pulling goaltender Laurent Brossoit with under two minutes to go. 

Brossoit finished with 23 saves.

McDavid's five points lead Oilers' drubbing of Ducks

Connor McDavid continued his hot streak with a goal and four assists as the Edmonton Oilers returned home to record an 8-2 rout of the Anaheim Ducks.

McDavid followed up a four-assist performance in Edmonton's 5-0 victory at Washington on Friday that capped off a four-game road trip. Zach Hyman added two goals and an assist and Darnell Nurse had three assists in the Oilers' highest-scoring game of the season.

Max Jones scored twice in the first 6:10 of the game to stake Anaheim to an early 2-1 lead, but the Oilers responded with goals from McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman to go into the first intermission with a 4-2 advantage.

Hyman and James Hamblin scored in the second to extend the margin to 6-2, and Edmonton struck twice more in the third on power-play tallies from Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm.

The Ducks have now lost six straight. Starting goaltender Lukas Dostal was pulled 7:20 into the second period after allowing six goals on 16 shots, while John Gibson stopped eight of 10 chances in relief.

Perron reaches milestone as Red Wings extend Wild's skid

David Perron scored the 299th and 300th goals of his career as the Detroit Red Wings extended the Minnesota Wild's losing streak to seven games with a 4-1 victory.

Perron's two power-play goals and a four-point effort from Shayne Gostisbehere helped back 37 saves from Alex Lyon as the Red Wings won their third consecutive game despite being outshot by a 38-23 margin.

Gostisbehere had a goal and three assists, while Dylan Larkin added a goal along with an assist on Perron's milestone tally.

Larkin's eighth goal of the season snapped a 1-1 tie with 3:07 remaining in the second period. Perron extended the margin 1:29 into the second before Gostisbehere scored into an empty net in the final minute to seal the victory.

Lyon prevented any comeback hopes for Minnesota by stopping all 18 shots he faced in the third period.

Perron's first of the day put Detroit in front just 4:06 in, but the Wild answered later on when Joel Eriksson Ek scored on a power play with 12 seconds left in the first period.

Filip Gustavsson stopped 19 of 22 shots for the Wild, who fell to 0-5-2 since Nov. 9.