NHL roundup: Oilers stars hit milestones in rout of Kings
Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist for his sixth straight 100-point season, Leon Draisaitl notched his eighth straight 30-goal campaign, and the Edmonton Oilers ended a season-high four-game skid with an 8-1 romp over the host Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
McDavid has reached triple digits nine times overall in his career, third most in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (15) and Mario Lemieux (10).
Draisaitl had a goal and three assists, Zach Hyman a goal and two assists, Jake Walman scored twice, Andrew Mangiapane produced a goal and an assist and Connor Ingram made 21 saves for the Oilers, who were coming off a 6-5 loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
Warren Foegele scored for the Kings, who have dropped five in a row (0-4-1) to remain three points out of a playoff spot. Darcy Kuemper stopped 11 of 15 shots before he was replaced by Anton Forsberg, who finished with 18 saves for Los Angeles.
Wild 5, Avalanche 2
Matt Boldy had two empty-net goals and added two assists, Joel Eriksson Ek also scored twice and Minnesota beat Colorado in Denver in a matchup of two of the league's top teams.
Filip Gustavsson made 44 saves for Minnesota, which has won six in a row and tightened the race in the Central Division. Mats Zuccarello also scored, and Kirill Kaprizov had two assists.
Martin Necas had two goals, Nathan MacKinnon contributed two assists and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 31 shots for the Avalanche. Colorado leads the NHL with 85 points and the Wild have 80, tied for second most in the league.
Hurricanes 5, Lightning 4
Carolina's Sebastian Aho broke a third-period tie with a power-play goal and the Hurricanes overcame blowing a three-goal lead to beat Tampa Bay in a matchup of the Eastern Conference's top two teams in Raleigh, N.C.
Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall both had a goal and an assist and Nikolaj Ehlers also scored -- all in the opening seven minutes -- for the Hurricanes, who were in their first game since the Olympic layoff. Seth Jarvis also supplied a goal and an assist and Andrei Svechnikov assisted on two goals for Carolina. Brandon Bussi made 24 saves.
Brandon Point posted a goal and an assist for the Lightning, who opened their post-break schedule a night earlier by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brandon Hagel, Nikita Kucherov and Dominic James also scored for the Lightning, who were without head coach Jon Cooper for the second night in a row following the death of his father.
Red Wings 2, Senators 1 (OT)
Dylan Larkin scored his second goal of the game at 1:50 of overtime as visiting Detroit beat Ottawa.
John Gibson made 26 saves for the Red Wings, who had lost four of five (1-3-1) before the break. Lucas Raymond notched two assists.
Brady Tkachuk scored for the Senators, who had won five of six before the break. Linus Ullmark turned away 18 shots.
Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 1
Brad Marchand scored two goals as Florida resumed play following the Olympic break with a win over Toronto at Sunrise, Fla., in a battle of teams looking to climb into Eastern Conference playoff contention.
Evan Rodrigues added a goal and an assist for the Panthers while Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk also scored. Anton Lundell added two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots for Florida, which was on a 1-5-0 run ahead of the break.
John Tavares scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost their first two games after the break. Joseph Woll made 32 saves.
Bruins 4, Blue Jackets 2
Boston erased an early one-goal deficit with three straight goals and held on to defeat visiting Columbus.
Viktor Arvidsson tallied twice and Sean Kuraly and Morgan Geekie also lit the lamp for the Bruins, who are 5-0-3 in their past eight games. Joonas Korpisalo made 36 saves, and Michael DiPietro stopped two shots after Korpisalo briefly exited in the second period with an injury.
Adam Fantilli had a goal and an assist, Kirill Marchenko also scored and Mason Marchment assisted on both goals for the Blue Jackets, whose seven-game winning streak ended. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 19 shots.
Islanders 4, Canadiens 3 (OT)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the game-winner at 1:46 of overtime as New York rallied for a victory at Montreal.
Matthew Schaefer scored twice, Anders Lee tied the game late and Simon Holmstrom had two assists for the Islanders, who have won three in a row. Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves.
Noah Dobson tallied twice against his former team, Cole Caufield added a goal and Samiel Montembeault made 22 saves for the Canadiens, who have lost two of three (1-0-2) but extended their point streak to six (4-0-2).
Penguins 4, Devils 1
Connor Clifton and Egor Chinakhov scored 50 seconds apart during a three-goal third period to help Pittsburgh, minus superstar Sidney Crosby, break open a tight contest and beat visiting New Jersey.
Tommy Novak opened the scoring, Evgeni Malkin recorded two assists, Blake Lizotte added an empty-netter and Arturs Silovs was stout in making 28 saves for Pittsburgh. Crosby will miss at least four weeks with a lower-body injury suffered while playing for Canada at the Milan Cortina Games earlier this month.
Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who are second-to-last in the Eastern Conference standings and matched a season high with their fifth consecutive loss, which is part of a 1-7-0 rut. Jacob Markstrom made 31 saves.
Predators 4, Blackhawks 2
Ryan O'Reilly scored a game-winner late in the third period to help power Nashville past visiting Chicago.
Roman Josi made a beautiful pass to O'Reilly, who tipped the game-winning goal past Spencer Knight to secure the victory for the Predators with 3:16 left . Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos and Matthew Wood also scored, while Justus Annunen improved to a perfect 4-0 in his career against the Blackhawks with the 21-save performance.
Connor Bedard was dominant in the loss while scoring for the Blackhawks and Tyler Bertuzzi also found the back of the net. Spencer Knight finished with 22 saves for Chicago.
Flyers 3, Rangers 2 (OT)
Matvei Michkov scored twice, including the overtime winner, as Philadelphia battled back to edge host New York and extend the Rangers' slump.
Michkov skated around J.T. Miller and snapped a shot five-hole past Igor Shesterkin at 2:10 of the extra frame for his 15th of the season. Trevor Zegras scored the other goal for the Flyers, who trailed 2-0 midway through the game.
Samuel Ersson made 23 saves as Philadelphia won for just the fourth time in its past 11 games (4-4-3). Sam Carrick and Alexis Lafreniere had the goals for the Rangers, who have dropped five straight (0-4-1) and are 2-11-2 since their Winter Classic victory over the Florida Panthers on Jan. 2.
Flames 4, Sharks 1
Nazem Kadri scored twice and goaltender Dustin Wolf continued his mastery against the team he grew up supporting as visiting Calgary beat San Jose. The Flames have won 50 consecutive games when scoring four or more goals.
Connor Zary and Mikael Backlund both netted one goal and one assist for the Flames, who posted a second consecutive victory. Wolf, who hails from nearby Gilroy, Calif., made 34 saves to win for the 10th time in 12 career clashes with the Sharks.
Tyler Toffoli opened the scoring for the Sharks, who have lost five straight (0-4-1). Yaroslav Askarov stopped 25 shots.
Blues 5, Kraken 1
Dylan Holloway came off the injured list to produce three goals and an assist, leading St. Louis past visiting Seattle.
Pius Suter had a goal and two assists for the Blues, who won for just the second time in 10 games (2-7-1). It was St. Louis' first game after the three-week Olympic break. Jordan Kyrou also scored for St. Louis. Jonatan Berggren and Justin Faulk earned two assists and Joel Hofer made 23 saves.
Kaapo Kakko scored for the Kraken, who have lost their first two games coming out of the break. Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves.